Contributions
1,330 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDFree Schools and AcademiesI do not believe that the noble Baroness is arguing for the end of the STRB. The STRB is responsible for setting that framework for pay and conditions and can be instructed in its…23 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachWhat I said was that we would bring forward a policy paper to outline how we were going to put in place the decisions that we have made on this. I am sorry if the noble Baroness…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI thank the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, and the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, for their responses to the Statement. I am glad that the noble Baroness welcomed the decisions made by…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsTo be completely clear, I said that it is a responsibility of local authorities to provide swimming pools. I also conceded that, over recent years, those local authorities have…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsI am trying not to be grumpy in answering this Question today, as I was a bit grumpy yesterday. However, the noble Earl has a bit of a cheek talking about the crisis in PE…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsMy noble friend is right. I have already identified the decrease in the number of public pools, as others have. He also makes an important point about ensuring that there is…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsThe noble Baroness identifies probably one of the many barriers that prevent parents and their children being able to swim if they are living in poverty. I am not aware of whether…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsI strongly agree with the noble Lord. As he says, there are 500 fewer public-access swimming pools operational in England now than there were in 2010. Alongside that, there has…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsThe noble Lord makes a very important point about the discrepancies in achievement in children’s swimming. He is absolutely right that if someone comes from a well-off background…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsI thank the noble Baroness for her question. I was reminiscing about a previous life in which we worked together as Ministers to considerably increase the sporting opportunities…21 Jan 2025HANSARDPrimary Schools: Swimming LessonsMy Lords, swimming and water safety is a compulsory element of the primary PE national curriculum. We do not collect data from every primary school about how many lessons pupils…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachThe noble Baroness probably identified the issue in her statement. The engagement of the EHRC in the legal case legitimately made it much more difficult for us to meet during the…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI am looking forward to coming to the noble Baroness, but I will answer this question first. I thank my noble friend and strongly agree that there is an appropriate role for…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachIt was exactly the position that the noble Baroness has taken that brought us to this conclusion. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are at the heart of what is good and…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI will limit myself to the provisions on non-disclosure agreements within this legislation. It is our intention to commence the ban on non-disclosure agreements for staff and…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI thank my noble friend for his advice at the point at which we were making the decision and for his ongoing commitment to ensuring we are tackling anti-Semitism widely in higher…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI hope that is the approach that I have tried to take. With that pragmatic approach, I reiterate that I expect student unions to behave in a way that safeguards and promotes…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachThe right reverend Prelate exactly outlines the balance that we need to strike. It is wholly reasonable that students engage in protest. In fact, I engaged in a fair amount of…21 Jan 2025HANSARDHigher Education Regulatory ApproachI think I have made the position with respect to student unions pretty clear. In my discussions with vice-chancellors, they recognise their responsibility under the legislation to…21 Jan 2025HANSARDErasmus ProgrammeThe Erasmus scheme may well have been a major advantage, but we had to leave that scheme at the point at which we left the EU in 2020.20 Jan 2025