 Hello, I'm Graham Stewart and I'm Chairman of the Education Select Committee in the House of Commons. The committee consists of 11 MPs, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative. We're independent of government and in fact holding the government to account is a central part of what we do. The committee's job is to look at the policies, the administration and the expenditure of the Department of Education. We mainly do this through conducting enquiries. We gather written evidence from the public, from schools, teachers, social workers, parents and in fact anybody who chooses to write to us. Then we hold oral evidence sessions where we ask questions of a wide range of witnesses and that all helps us finalise a report which contains recommendations for government on how to improve what it's doing and the government then has to respond to us within two months. The committee chooses which areas to look at, so it's not constrained by government or told what to do, it can look at any area in the remit of the Department for Education. So that's education up to the age of 19, family and youth policy, children's services and childcare. Recent Education Committee enquiries have looked at teacher training and supply, the exam system, off-stead and inspection, services for young people and child protection amongst other things. Now as well as formal evidence, we hold seminars and private events where we meet young people, parents and others engaged with policy at the front line and indeed who have to live with the outcomes of those policies at the front line. And we try to get out of Westminster as much as possible. We've had great visits to York, various London boroughs, Doncaster, Rugby, Barnsley, Leicester, Birmingham and Tyneside. Hearing from the public makes our enquiries much more valuable so that we can produce better reports and it also is one of the most interesting and enjoyable parts of actually being on the committee. Please have a look at our website, look at our current enquiries and please then let us know what you think and do participate in any future enquiries, make submissions however short or long, make sure your voice is heard and that way we can make better recommendations to government where we can improve the world of education and childcare for the future.