Contributions
1,330 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDApprenticeships: Entry RequirementsMy noble friend is a valued advocate for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and her work is important in helping us to understand what more the education system needs to do to…10 Mar 2025HANSARDApprenticeships: Entry RequirementsMy Lords, apprenticeships are jobs with training, so it is employers who make recruitment decisions. But we have introduced flexibilities, so that adult apprentices no longer need…10 Mar 2025HANSARDIndustrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2025I thank noble Lords who have attended today for their contributions to this debate—we are of quality rather than quantity. I will endeavour to cover all of the questions raised;…10 Mar 2025HANSARDIndustrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2025My Lords, I thank the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee and the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments for the scrutiny they have provided to this order. This statutory…10 Mar 2025HANSARDIndustrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2025That the Grand Committee do consider the Industrial Training Levy (Construction Industry Training Board) Order 2025. Relevant document: 18th Report from the Secondary Legislation…10 Mar 2025HANSARDApprenticeships: Entry RequirementsTo be clear, the issue is not that not having maths and English prevents you starting an apprenticeship. That is up to the employer to determine who they recruit to the job that…10 Mar 2025HANSARDApprenticeships: Entry RequirementsThe noble Lord is right to ask us about the growth and skills levy. The current apprenticeship levy and system are—employers tell us—too inflexible and do not allow some of the…10 Mar 2025HANSARDApprenticeships: Entry RequirementsWe provided a continuation of the expectation that young people who have not achieved level 2 in English and maths continue to have the ability to study those subjects. We…10 Mar 2025HANSARDApprenticeships: Entry RequirementsMy noble friend is right about that. I will write to him with some of the details about the occupational standards that already exist to enable apprenticeships in the maritime…10 Mar 2025HANSARDApprenticeships: Entry RequirementsThe noble Lord is right that assistive technology can make a big difference both to children in school and to young people as they enter training and higher education. That is…10 Mar 2025HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesMy Lords, we know that using mobile phones in schools can lead to online bullying, distraction and classroom disruption, which can lead to lost learning time. The Government’s…06 Mar 2025HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesFirst, it is clearly unacceptable if lessons are being disrupted. That is, in many ways, a broader issue than whether mobile phones are being used and goes to the behaviour…06 Mar 2025HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesThere are schools in the UK that are already using the Yondr wallets that the noble Lord refers to. On the whole, schools are not using the approach of making individual teachers…06 Mar 2025HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesMy Lords, the noble Lord makes a really important point. I suspect that where schools are implementing this most effectively is where they have engaged not just parents but pupils…06 Mar 2025HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesThe noble Lord makes an important point, but sometimes parents are right. Perhaps, for example, there are circumstances where there is a long journey to and from school and…06 Mar 2025HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesWe are of course in a place that reflects the guidance issued by the last Government—probably by the noble Baroness, actually—less than a year ago. On other occasions, quite…06 Mar 2025HANSARDInternational Women’s DayThat this House takes note of International Women’s Day and the steps being taken to promote women’s participation and leadership in science and technology in the United Kingdom…06 Mar 2025HANSARDInternational Women’s DayMy Lords, I first say how pleased I am to open this International Women’s Day debate on my first full day as the Minister for Women and Equalities. In doing so, I take the…06 Mar 2025HANSARDSchools: Mobile PhonesThe noble Baroness makes a very important point. I have not had those discussions myself, but I have heard about some of the innovations. I would make a broader point about how…06 Mar 2025HANSARDErasmus ProgrammeI am not wholly clear which other schemes the noble Lord is talking about, but I am happy to follow that up with him. If he is saying that we need to ensure that any scheme we…05 Mar 2025