Estelle Morris has given headmasters and teachers a real chance to succeed

The cautious welcome given by the education world to the £12.8bn rise in the Secretary of State's budget might be considered a grudging response to the Chancellor's generosity. But it spoke volumes about the realisation among teachers' leaders and ministers that the time has come to deliver on reforms that will raise school standards.

Estelle Morris upped the stakes yesterday, in two respects. First, she warned that money may be withheld if there is no agreement in the crucial talks on modernising the profession (or reducing teachers' workloads, as the unions like to refer to it). Second, she left poorly performing headteachers in no doubt that they would be out of the door as part of the Government's determination to raise standards. As a token of its intent, the Government is for the first time making grants available to schools to buy off weak heads.

An initial reaction to this tough talk from the Department for Education and Skills is surprise: surely, we are not so awash with potential headteachers that we can afford to dispense with any? But the Government's reforms have to be reviewed as a package – and perhaps even a 10-year package at that. Ms Morris, in her interview with The Independent, admitted that it was just not possible to guarantee that, by the time of the next election, there would be no poorly performing schools or poorly performing headteachers in the state education system.

That changes have been set in train to try to raise the calibre of headteachers for the next generation of schoolchildren, however, is a positive development. A National College for School Leadership will ensure that all future heads have a certificate proclaiming their leadership capacity. In the past, school governors tended to make appointments on the mere hunch that a teacher had good leadership potential. In future, too, the best headteachers will take responsibility for more than one school – a practice that has been growing of late with impressive success.

The threat to withhold new funding from those who do not enact reforms is a strategy that should concentrate teachers' minds wonderfully as they negotiate an agreement on their workloads. Headteachers, in particular, will be anxious to reach an accommodation so they can get their hands on the extra cash. So let us have flexibility and no more ridiculous demands from the unions, like the one for a 35-hour week, that would bedevil negotiations.

Difficulties over the use to which classroom assistants can be put – another thorny element in the negotiations – should readily be resolved once there is a clear career path for them to follow. This should allow those who have a yen to teach to obtain formal training to do so. In a helpful sign yesterday, Ms Morris said that there would be guaranteed time for primary school teachers to spend out of the classroom during the school day for marking and preparation.

Now that the money has been made available, there is no reason why the teachers should not take a realistic attitude to the negotiations. First, the unions should abandon the threat of industrial action this autumn. If all parties seize the opportunity presented by Ms Morris, the result should be what the Government, teachers and parents want: an improved education service, better schools and higher standards.