Contributions
3,240 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDOfsted: Pupil Absence RatesI would be delighted to meet with the charities and families to which my noble friend refers. She makes an important point, and it goes back to the point made earlier by the noble…13 Feb 2024HANSARDOfsted: Pupil Absence RatesThe Government remain committed to legislating to set up a register of children not in school. The noble Lord may be aware that the honourable Member for Meon Valley has…13 Feb 2024HANSARDOfsted: Pupil Absence RatesThe Government are doing a great deal, starting with their investment in a dramatic increase in the number of specialist places for children with the kinds of special needs and…13 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsMy Lords, ensuring everyone, regardless of need, gets the best education possible is vital. Our SEND and AP improvement plan will ensure all children get the support they need. So…12 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsThe noble Lord will be aware that our whole approach is about meeting the needs of the child and not requiring a diagnosis to get support. That is incredibly important for our…12 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsI understand well the point the noble Baroness makes, but I refer again to the very recently published changes that we are making to the initial teacher training and early career…12 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsThe Government have enormously increased support for children with special educational needs. The high needs capital investment is £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025, which will…12 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsAs my noble friend knows, for some of the issues with waiting lists for assessment—which I recognise are incredibly worrying for parents and their children in particular—those…12 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsAgain, I stress that not every special educational need requires a diagnosis. Children should get support regardless. If we look at the age at which children get an education,…12 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsThe noble Baroness knows that absence rates for children with special educational needs have always, rightly or wrongly, been higher than those for children without special…12 Feb 2024HANSARDSchools: Special Educational NeedsI can only refer again to what I just mentioned: the £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver additional new specialist places, which will of course be closer to where…12 Feb 2024HANSARDConversion Therapy Prohibition (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) Bill [HL]My Lords, I first congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Burt of Solihull, on securing this important Second Reading debate on her Bill and thank her for the tone in which she…09 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsThere is plenty of room in the curriculum; I refer the House to the 2011 review of these matters by the noble Baroness, Lady Wolf, which made it clear that the curriculum has…08 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsThe Government are very proud of their track record on apprenticeships. I hear the noble Lord’s reflections in terms of technical apprenticeships, but actually 70% of our economy…08 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsThe Government’s view would be “both/and”. I think it is critical, for the reasons that the right reverend Prelate sets out, that modern languages form part of our curriculum. We…08 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsThe Government absolutely share the noble Lord’s concern, and one of the things we announced alongside the introduction of the advanced British standard is a review of how we can…08 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsMy Lords, we are raising standards and increasing the number of pupils in high-performing schools. Since 2010, we have reformed the curriculum and the organisational structure of…08 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsI respect my noble friend enormously, but I think that the evidence overall does not support that. We need to make sure that children have a really strong grounding in…08 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsI just cannot agree with the noble Baroness. I am not sure which subjects in the EBacc she would suggest dropping. In 2010, 8% of children from disadvantaged homes were doing the…08 Feb 2024HANSARDEducation: 11 to 16 Year-oldsI absolutely agree with my noble friend that the committee’s report requires careful study and the Government will shortly respond formally. I cannot agree with him, however,…08 Feb 2024