Contributions
1,330 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDCreative Industries: QualificationsMy Lords, I start by thanking my noble friend Lady Keeley for introducing this debate, and noble Lords around the House for congratulating me on maintaining my role. I am…23 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentEvery year, we review the recruitment trajectory for different subjects. Given the need to safeguard public money and ensure we are spending it efficiently, and given that we have…20 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentMy Lords, alongside improved teacher retention, 369 music teacher trainees started training last year—a 55% increase compared to academic year 2023-24. Music teachers are a key…20 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentWe look at the subjects to be covered by the bursary on the basis of need and difficulty in recruitment. Given the encouraging improvements in music teacher recruitment over…20 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentOh dear. We are definitely investing £76 million annually in music hubs, which of course means that the 43 music hubs can continue their important work to help children,…20 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentThe noble Lord is absolutely right. Schools provide children who cannot access it through private means the opportunity to benefit from music and instrumental education. Through…20 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentTax reliefs are of course the purview of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I am sure the Chancellor—whoever they might be—will be listening very carefully to my…20 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentThis lady only got as far as grade 7, I am afraid—I am grade 6 in cello. The noble Lord makes an important point about the use of volunteers, but the key issue is whether we have…20 Jul 2026HANSARDMusic Teachers: RecruitmentI am sorry if my noble friend thinks that I have not looked enthusiastic about this. I was emphasising the progress that this Government are making in ensuring that qualified…20 Jul 2026HANSARDLifelong Learning (Fee Limits) Regulations 2026That the draft Regulations and Order laid before the House on 18 May and 1 June be approved. Relevant document: 3rd Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee .…20 Jul 2026HANSARDGovernment Record on Education, Employment and WelfareMy Lords, I thank the House for some really interesting and wide-ranging contributions today, and the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, for bringing this debate to the House this…16 Jul 2026HANSARDMaximum Temperature for Indoor WorkplacesMy Lords, we recognised in our manifesto and our Make Work Pay plan concerns about high workplace temperatures in certain sectors causing serious health and safety concerns. We…15 Jul 2026HANSARDLifelong Learning (Fee Limits) Regulations 2026My Lords, I thank the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee for the scrutiny of this instrument they have provided. I believe…15 Jul 2026HANSARDLifelong Learning (Fee Limits) Regulations 2026To be fair to them, that might be because I am frequently banging on about the opportunities of modularity and different ways of providers being able to offer courses. The noble…15 Jul 2026HANSARDMaximum Temperature for Indoor WorkplacesFirst, I would say that the figures that the noble Lord cites about excess deaths from heat are obviously very worrying. Not all of those, clearly, would be related to workplaces.…15 Jul 2026HANSARDMaximum Temperature for Indoor WorkplacesI suspect, without being an expert on this, that one reason is that for most of the year we do not need to use them. Therefore, I think it is not unreasonable of government,…15 Jul 2026HANSARDMaximum Temperature for Indoor WorkplacesObviously, the responsibility for ensuring the safety of their workforce rests directly with employers. The HSE provides important guidance about how to ensure that that happens.…15 Jul 2026HANSARDMaximum Temperature for Indoor WorkplacesI know that this is something that my noble friend has raised on numerous occasions, quite rightly. That is the reason why the Health and Safety Executive is and will be engaged…15 Jul 2026HANSARDMaximum Temperature for Indoor WorkplacesHaving learned more than I thought I was going to know about workplaces and excessive heat, I am afraid that that was not one of the bits of revision: so, if it is okay, I will…15 Jul 2026HANSARDMaximum Temperature for Indoor WorkplacesI know that my colleagues in the MHCLG are concerned about this issue. They understand that, as climate risks intensify, integrating adaptation into home upgrade policy is…15 Jul 2026