I was the first person in my family to go to university. As a working-class kid who grew up in Bradford that made me unusual. But it is why I am passionate about ensuring that our education policy delivers our ambitions on social mobility.

Alan Milburn’s recent interview with Progress set out the scale of the challenge. He set out the numbers, which are shocking. Over 55 per cent of permanent secretaries, 43 per cent of newspaper journalists and 71 per cent of senior judges all attended private schools which educate just seven per cent of the population.

But we also know it from what we see in our own lives: too many working-class students shut out from our top universities and our top professions. Not because they are not smart enough, but because the status quo does not work for them.

That is why the next Labour government must have a laser-like focus on spreading wealth, power and opportunity more fairly in Britain.

And that is why Tristram Hunt’s announcement today on making the private education sector pull its weight for the benefits it enjoys is so important.

Just as private schools game the system for their pupils, so they game the system for their funding. While they already claim to do their bit for the state sector, we know that simply is not true.

Labour will ensure private schools fulfil the responsibilities in exchange for the rights they enjoy – including the charitable status that saves them millions of pounds in taxes. The business rate relief they receive from local authorities is one way to do this effectively.

For many private schools this represents their largest single financial benefit for the status they enjoy. That is why Labour will legislate to make this subsidy payable only when schools meet a tough new Schools Partnership Standard.

So, for example, they should share that knowledge which they have to help state school students get into top universities, they should open up their facilities for more than just a few open days. And they should work in partnership with state schools, because there is plenty the private sector can learn from the excellent work being done in schools across this country.

Let me be clear: this is not about saying private good and public bad. Far from it. I see amazing results from the schools in Ashfield. Schools like Quarrydale where over 52 per cent of the students on free school meals gained A*-C in English, maths and science – well above the national average. This year it sent 95 per cent of their sixth formers to university, despite 82 per cent of their parents never having been themselves.

Our state school teachers achieve great results for our kids and have to deal with challenges those in the private sector are shielded from. But that does not mean there is nothing to learn from greater partnership as part of our commitment to greater career progression and development for teachers.

We need to remove the divide that currently exists so that we are making sure every resource at our disposal is used to improve the educational opportunities of those in the state sector. It is our historic mission and contemporary challenge to do so.

Private schools are here to stay. Labour will not waste time trying to abolish them. The issue is the balance between what they get from the state and what they give back.

If we are to be a country that works for the many and not just the privileged few, then we need to break down the divisions in our school system so that we really are transforming the life chances of the next generation of kids not just from coalfield communities like the one I represent, but right across the country.

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Gloria De Piero MP is shadow minister for women and equalities. She tweets @GloriaDePieroMP

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Photo: karamanis