This afternoon Ms Oona Stannard (Chief Executive and Director of the Catholic Education Service) and I had a helpful and positive 20 minute meeting with the Secretary of State, Rt. Hon Alan Johnson MP.

Mr Johnson listened attentively to our concerns.

In particular, I stressed the importance for the Catholic community that the admissions authority for any new Catholic school remained the Governing Body and that Catholic pupils were not turned away from new schools which will have been planned by the Catholic Church with them in mind. These are points on which we were most insistent.

In the course of the meeting, possible ways forward were presented by the Secretary of State and further discussions are now taking place between officials.

I look forward to the detail of the Government’s amendment when it has been made public.