Contributions
1,330 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillThe children who are subject to child protection inquiries and plans are among our most vulnerable and the children who attend special schools are likely to have the highest…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillThis legislation introduces the consent process. People have not gone through this process, with the specific, narrow categories of children and families for whom it applies. Does…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillLet us not talk about what will happen and when in terms of engagement with my officials. Just to be clear: as I said at the beginning of my remarks, that engagement will enable…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillCan I just clarify whether my noble friend is concluding the group or intervening on me?03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillDoes my noble friend want me to respond again? That is what I would like to know.03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillThe questions that my noble friend asks are, I think, the subject of amendments in later groups, which is when I had presumed we would come to those details. I will stick to that,…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillIn group 4, we have an interesting combination of some amendments suggesting that the Government are going too far in their proposals around the hurdle for having to seek consent…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillI recognise that point. On the special school point, it is not sufficient to have an EHCP to need consent to withdraw your child to home-educate; it is if they are in a special…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillYes, I recognise that. There are still questions about burden there, but I understand the noble Baroness’s point, and particularly her reference to the Sara Sharif case. On that…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, I shall speak to the amendments in group 5. These amendments mainly concern the requirement to seek consent should a parent wish to withdraw their child from school in…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillSorry, yes, I remember that the noble Lord asked about that. I will write to him on the broader issue of the speed with which young carers are getting their assessments. I will…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillI understand the noble Lord’s point. If I am wrong on this then I will clarify afterwards, but you could envisage a situation where the problem was not the nature of the education…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillAt the heart of this group of amendments is the concern about the use and definition of the expression “best interest of the child”. The noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and others…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillThat is what I was saying. You could envisage circumstances in which there is a child on a child protection plan, notwithstanding that there might be suitable education, where the…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillAmendment 212, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Wei, seeks to raise the threshold for the local authority to refuse consent to home-educate. This would mean that, if a parent was…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillI certainly think it is right that we should attempt to ensure that people with lived experience are a key part of all areas of policy. That is why, for example, I talked earlier…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillMy Lords, I rise to speak to the amendments in group one. Just to be clear, the Government believe that uniforms have an important role to play in our schools, for many of the…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillOn the sports competition, I think it is wholly possible to envisage that the school would provide a set of branded uniform for the school sports team, while not suggesting that…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillWhat I said was that this measure does not prevent schools providing or loaning branded uniform items, such as competition kit, but, if that were to be compulsory, that of course…03 Jul 2025HANSARDChildren’s Wellbeing and Schools BillI am certainly willing to continue thinking about the issue of school sports, because it is very much not the intention of the Government to prevent the loaning of branded items…03 Jul 2025