Contributions
423 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEducation: Supply TeachersMy Lords, the DfE has issued advice to schools not to lay off supply staff and to ensure that safety arrangements allow them to continue to be employed where needed. This has not…22 Feb 2021HANSARDSchools: Online TeachingMy Lords, the Government’s new Education Recovery Commissioner, just referred to by the Minister, has said that schools could be working to help children make up for lost…11 Feb 2021HANSARDElectronic Commerce Directive (Education, Adoption and Children) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2021My Lords, I very much doubt that this is a unique situation with respect to the consideration of regulations. But, in more than 23 years in your Lordships’ House, this is the…10 Feb 2021HANSARDSchools: Online LearningMy Lords, based on the figures just given by the Minister, of the 1.3 million laptops promised by the Government, one-quarter are yet to be delivered. At the current rollout pace…02 Feb 2021HANSARDSchools: Exam-year PupilsMy Lords, by half-term next week, the total loss in face-to-time in school will amount to around half a normal school year. The Government urgently need to provide exceptional…02 Feb 2021HANSARDEducational Settings: ReopeningMy Lords, we all want to see schools reopen as soon as possible but that must happen only when there is scientific evidence that it is safe to do so, and that evidence must be…27 Jan 2021HANSARDEducation: The HolocaustMy Lords, the theme for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is “Be the light in the darkness”. It encourages everyone to reflect on the depths that humanity can sink to, and also…27 Jan 2021HANSARDEducational Settings: ReopeningThank you. Parents are already struggling to juggle jobs and home schooling their children. They need support and an indication of a pathway out of school closures, and they…27 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: Early Years SectorMy Lords, a survey carried out on behalf of the DfE last October into the effects of Covid-19 on childcare and early years providers showed that only 45% of private nurseries and…20 Jan 2021HANSARDFree School Meals: Food ParcelsTo ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to monitor the quality of food parcels currently being supplied to families in lieu of free school meals.14 Jan 2021HANSARDFree School Meals: Food ParcelsMy Lords, it is a case of another week, another U-turn, this time resulting from the scandal of companies that supply free school meals parcels being exposed as profiteering.…14 Jan 2021HANSARDCovid-19: Educational SettingsMy Lords, we are here today because of the latest in a long line of government U-turns on education, often just days after a denial that any such change of policy would happen. As…07 Jan 2021HANSARDChild WelfareMy Lords, the Minister says that the Secretary of State for Education is responsible for driving forward policy on children, yet, on the DfE website, the welfare of children is…07 Jan 2021HANSARDSchools: ExamsMy Lords, the Government could not quite complete yet another 180-degree turn of the sort we have become all too familiar with in education policy, stopping short by leaving it to…06 Jan 2021HANSARDSchools: ExamsTo ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure exams which were originally scheduled to take place in January can take place safely; and when they plan to…06 Jan 2021HANSARDExams and Accountability in 2021Well, my Lords, we have had to wait quite some time for the Secretary of State to respond to the concerns of pupils, parents, school leaders and trade unions, all of whom have…08 Dec 2020HANSARDCovid-19: GCSE and A-level ExamsMy Lords, the Government have finally listened to calls from Labour, school leaders, trade unions and parents by setting out a plan for next year’s exams, but this really should…03 Dec 2020HANSARDAdult Learning: Union Learning FundMy Lords, while I do not believe that the Minister herself had a hand in it, she has been sent out to defend what is nothing less than a gratuitous attack on trade unions and…24 Nov 2020HANSARDCross-Government Policy to Strengthen FamiliesMy Lords, the Minister may have seen research by Action for Children that was published in September and showed that the pandemic caused financial pressures on more than one-third…18 Nov 2020HANSARDChildren in Care: Unregulated AccommodationMy Lords, the report by the Children’s Commissioner—a government appointee, it should be remembered—is a shocking indictment of the neglect found in the unregulated sector. Last…17 Nov 2020