The authority of head teachers is being undermined by centralisation of teaching methods, the shadow education secretary says today.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, Damian Green claims that schools should have individual control over how pupils are disciplined, which would consider the views of parents.

However, he concedes that this could create a disjointed approach.

"I think schools will know what the parents want and will be able to respond better," he said.

"Therefore, it may well be that schools respond in different ways, but it seems to me that, within a broad framework, it should be up to the schools to decide how to best impose discipline in their schools.

"Schools will find it much easier to impose discipline and reduce the risk of exclusions in the long run if it's accepted that inside the school gates the head teacher's word is law.

"For too long, the government has undermined the authority of head teachers, and that's why we're seeing the increase in disciplinary problems that we have in far too many schools."

Green also gave his support to giving head teachers more say on how funds are allocated.

"The point I'm making, which applies to all schools, is that far too much of their money is now directly controlled by the DfES," he argued.

"At the moment, heads have to bid for money to spend in certain ways that have been approved by the minister.

"But I believe that, broadly speaking, head teachers and governors know how to spend money better in their schools than politicians sitting in Whitehall.

"What I want to do is simplify the structure to give more freedom to the schools to decide how to spend their money."