THE Government yesterday dismissed calls for education policy to be shaped in the North-East - despite evidence that the region's secondary schools are lagging behind the rest of the country.

Government figures show that while the region's children are performing as well at primary school, they are being overtaken by the rest of the nation at secondary level.

Lord Andrew Adonis, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, described the situation as concerning and admitted the figures demonstrated "levels of failure which are pretty acute".

He said: "We have a massive job to do to empower those schools at the bottom."

But he resisted calls to replace national education policy with a system designed in the North-East, saying Government reforms outlined in this week's White Paper would give schools all the flexibility they needed.

Speaking at yesterday's forum debate on whether a national education and skills policy is right for the North-east, he said: "I don't believe there is any panacea in seeking to redesign the system from scratch in terms of massive devolution of power to the region.

"What we need is the maximum degree of flexibility to meet need within a broad national framework and that is precisely what our system offers."

Lord Adonis was responding to calls from Professor Lynn Dobbs, director of the Centre For Public Policy at Northumbria University, for devolution of power to shape education policy to the region.

She said extensive research carried out by the centre showed that poverty and deprivation were the root cause of the region's problems of low attainment.

Prof Dobbs said: "Young people living in areas with high levels of deprivation are less likely to engage with school or enjoy their schooling.

"It is about poverty, it is about deprivation and it is about class. The North-East is not below the national average because of the teachers, the schools or the kids, it is because we have high levels of deprivation.

"The national policy is failing our region. We should demand a policy which is designed and shaped in the region."

She was backed by Councillor Peter Arnold, the Liberal Democrat leader of Newcastle City Council, which was bottom of the regional league table for attainment by primary school children.

He said: "One of the problems we have is that the National Curriculum is a straitjacket and it needs to be loosened. The plethora of targets has to be simplified.

"We have real problems in the North-East and they aren't the same as London. Give us the opportunity to solve them."

Lord Adonis denied that the link between poverty and poor attainment was as clear-cut as was being suggested and argued that performance in schools in the most deprived areas was improving at a faster rate than elsewhere.

"There is no straight link between deprivation and results, he said.

"Although there is a relationship, it isn't a straight relationship be any means."

He said the Government's programme of investment and reform was leading to a marked improvement in performance by pupils.

He said: "It is clear from all the data that the model does work, but it must be pushed much further and much faster and that means more investment, but it also means more reform."

John Cuthbert, managing director of Northumbria Water Group and chairman of the regional Skills Partnership, said: "One size clearly doesn't fit all, our challenges and our needs are very different from the South-East. A national strategy is right for the North-East if it is also flexible to meet regional needs.

"I am optimistic. I believe here in the region we are improving our ability to articulate what it is we need to do and there are signs that the Government is beginning to listen."