Contributions
793 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEducation: Climate Change ScienceI respectfully disagree with the noble Baroness; we are not resting on our laurels. I just gave some examples of the things we are doing and how we are leading the developed world…16 May 2019HANSARDEducation: Climate Change ScienceMy Lords, I am not sure whether my right honourable friend Michael Gove will be meeting Mr Trump, but I am sure that he would raise those issues with him. I want to put a slightly…16 May 2019HANSARDEducation: Climate Change ScienceI assure the noble Lord that we are improving the curriculum all the time. For example, in 2018, 96% of pupils in state-funded schools were entered for the science component of…16 May 2019HANSARDEducation: Climate Change ScienceMy Lords, there is absolutely no suggestion that there is denial of climate change by this Government. Indeed, we have seen some of the most dramatic improvements in dealing with…16 May 2019HANSARDEducation: Climate Change ScienceI absolutely agree with the noble Lord that this is not party-political but a generational issue, and it is our responsibility as the older generation to protect the environment…16 May 2019HANSARDEducation: Climate Change ScienceMy Lords, the Government believe that it is vital that children are well informed about climate change. For this reason, relevant topics are included throughout the geography and…16 May 2019HANSARDSchools: Adopted ChildrenMy Lords, I am pleased to answer this Question for Short Debate and thank the noble Lord for raising the important issue of the education of adopted children, including those…14 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsI will write to the noble Earl with the exact figures, but there is good news; I have come reasonably prepared for this question. The percentage of BAME apprentices—black, Asian…13 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsThe noble Lord is right that schools are still not engaging enough to encourage apprenticeships. I accept that as fair criticism, but we are improving. We have just had the Youth…13 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsOn the right reverend Prelate’s first point about universities, I encourage him to write to me and I will pass that to the Universities Minister. We have put a tremendous impetus…13 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsMy Lords, in the first half of 2018-19, there have been 214,000 apprenticeship starts: 38% were at intermediate level, 44% were at advanced level, and 18% were at higher level.…13 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsI disagree with my noble friend on EBacc, but applaud all the work he has done on UTCs and their role in the apprenticeship programme.13 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsI refer the noble Baroness partly to my earlier answer where I spoke about the surveys that we are carrying out with schools. For example, the Compass data encourage seven…13 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsI agree. It is interesting to note that, for example, a level 2 apprenticeship can boost earnings by 11% and a level 3 apprenticeship by 16%, so these are career-changing…13 May 2019HANSARDApprenticeshipsAs the noble Lord is aware, we have listened consistently to feedback from employers since the scheme began two years ago, which is why we extended the time employers could use…13 May 2019HANSARDSchool Exclusion: Timpson ReviewMy Lords, without sounding complacent, I think it is important to give some perspective to the current exclusion rate. It is about the same as it was 10 years ago; it improved but…07 May 2019HANSARDSchool Exclusion: Timpson ReviewI accept that there is a ladder of escalation, which starts with sanctions that gradually move up in their impact. I disagree slightly with the noble Baroness on the strength of…07 May 2019HANSARDSchool Exclusion: Timpson ReviewMy Lords, to answer the noble Earl’s question on teacher training, we are increasing awareness of the training available on such things as having mental health leads in schools.…07 May 2019HANSARDSchool Exclusion: Timpson ReviewMy Lords, I do not have a specific answer to those questions at the moment. I am happy to write to the noble Lord. The Tom Bennett behaviour initiative will be available to the…07 May 2019HANSARDSchool Exclusion: Timpson ReviewI thank my noble friend Lord Baker for his supportive comments, and I agree with everything that he said. There are 30 recommendations in the Timpson report, and we are broadly…07 May 2019