Bridget Phillipson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Of course, Mr Speaker.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I do not know whether the right hon. Lady listened to what I just said. It is not coming out of school budgets. [ Interruption. ] We are investing—

• 1 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The OBR published projections about SEND costs alongside the Budget. They were hypothetical illustrations, which the right hon. Lady would know if she went away and read the OBR document. The Treasury has been clear that the cost will be covered across overall budgets, but we are investing more in SEND and more in capital. We are delivering for our children and will be setting out further plans for reform next year. If she wants to work with us to get this right, I would be grateful—

• 1 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I recognise the very real worry that parents across the country have about the system of support for children with SEND, which the hon. Gentleman and the Conservative party left on its knees. He would do well to reassure parents, not to scaremonger. I suggest that he goes away from here, reads the Budget document and what the OBR has to say, and does not listen to those on his Front Bench.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  It is not coming from the core schools budget—I could not be more clear. It will come from across Government budgets, and it is a matter for the next spending review. [ Interruption. ] It is! Alongside that, we will set out reforms in the new year to improve outcomes for children with SEND—something that the right hon. Member and the Conservative party failed to do over 14 years. They should hang their heads in shame at what they left behind.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Let me be absolutely clear: these are council deficits. They will not be coming from school budgets. Over the course of this Parliament, we are investing more in SEND. We are picking up the pieces of a system on its knees left behind by the party opposite. Either the right hon. Lady has not read what the OBR has to say, or she is wilfully seeking to mislead parents and to scaremonger. It was not a priority for her in her conference speech; it is not a priority for her now.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We are investing the international student levy into support around skills and access to high-quality further and higher education colleges targeted at students who most need that support in subjects most closely aligned to our industrial strategy and Government priorities. That will make a huge difference to young people from not very well-off backgrounds, allowing them to access university. We are backing our universities with the measures that we have set out on tuition fee increases, which will give our institutions stability.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Universities: Chinese Influence · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman references a particular institution, and the House will appreciate that I am not in a position to comment, given the ongoing investigations in that area. I can be clear to this House that any attempt to intimidate and coerce universities will not be tolerated. I should also be clear that as a country, we welcome Chinese students. Chinese students enrich our campuses and our communities. They will always be welcome, but where there is evidence of concerning behaviour or attempts to intimidate, universities can and must take action.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Universities: Chinese Influence · Hansard source

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  I recognise the right hon. Gentleman’s long-standing interest in this area. Our national security is of the utmost importance, and the Office for Students already has extensive powers to require information from providers to investigate any breaches. If we are to introduce new reporting requirements, we must ensure that they add value without being overly burdensome, but I can be absolutely clear to the right hon. Gentleman and to this House that we expect universities to be alert to risks and to take action.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Universities: Chinese Influence · Hansard source

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  The UK wants a consistent and mutually beneficial relationship with China. We should be frank about where we disagree, but also find targeted opportunities to collaborate. We are clear that any attempt by a foreign state to intimidate and coerce universities in the UK will not be tolerated. My Department is working with vice-chancellors to further our resilience.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising her concern. We are working with the Home Office and with colleagues across Government in developing the child poverty strategy. We will focus on ensuring that vulnerable children are protected and their welfare is safeguarded, and that vulnerable migrant children receive the support they require.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  I recognise the particular challenges faced by many rural communities, and I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising them. We have been considering such matters through the development of the strategy. The taskforce has been working across Government, including with colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to understand some of the challenges. We are expanding childcare and new free breakfast clubs, and the lifting of the two-child limit will make a big difference to children and their life chances in every corner of our country.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  Tackling child poverty is a moral mission for the Labour party, because we believe that someone’s background should not determine what they go on to achieve in life. Scrapping the two-child limit will mean that we can deliver the largest reduction in child poverty in a single Parliament, and we will publish the child poverty strategy in the coming weeks.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  Labour’s free breakfast clubs have already served 5 million meals, including in Knockhall primary school and Sedley’s primary school in Dartford. Applications are now open to join the next wave from April, with 2,000 more schools set to join in the next financial year, making the clubs available to half a million more children. I encourage eligible schools to get their applications in by the end of the week, so that we can give children in Dartford, and across our country, the best start to their day.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  Yes, we are looking at that question and at the issue of temporary accommodation that the hon. Member raises. This is a cross-Government strategy and not for the Department for Education to solve alone, although the lifting of the two-child limit is an investment not just in our children and their life chances but in our schools and education. I have heard too many stories of teachers and staff across the country having to pick up the pieces because of wider societal failure. Ending the two-child limit rights that wrong, and invests in our young people.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review: Progress 8 · Hansard source

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  I do love modern languages, and I was a very keen student of them myself, but I am afraid that, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, the EBacc did not drive improved access to modern foreign languages. He knows that—he will have looked at the data. I do not think that the system as it stands provides the right balance: it unnecessarily constrains student choice, it affects students’ engagement, and it has hampered progress in subjects that strengthen our economy and society. I believe in high standards, strong foundations and academic achievement, but I also believe that access to music, sport and vocational subjects should be the right of every child, not just the lucky few.

• 1 Dec 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review: Progress 8 · Hansard source

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  Last month, the independent curriculum and assessment review published its final report, and I would like to reiterate my thanks to Professor Becky Francis and the panel for all their work. We will reform progress 8 to balance a strong academic core with breadth and student choice, so that every child can both achieve academically and thrive personally, and we will consult on this shortly.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  I always listen to my hon. Friend’s contributions on these important subjects. Given what we have heard from business, parents and young people, we want to make sure that young people have a better grounding in key concepts in financial education, be that mortgages, savings or the difference between a debit and a credit card—something I was discussing yesterday with in a wide-ranging conversation with a group of year 6 students.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  The review set out recommended changes in a number of related areas to those that the hon. Lady has raised. Through revised programmes of study, we will look carefully at how we deliver that. There will be opportunities for consultation throughout the process, before a full national roll-out.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  It was wonderful to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency and meet so many of the wonderful school leaders who are changing children’s lives. We will work with our teachers and school leaders to implement the new national curriculum to ensure that they have the support and that we have the right time allocated to implementation. There will be four terms’ notice, so there will be ample chance for teachers to adjust their teaching ahead of rolling out the new curriculum. I am delighted that my hon. Friend welcomes our emphasis on financial education and the benefits that it will bring to his community in Bournemouth.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising this issue; I know she always bangs the drum for her constituency, and we have discussed this many times. If she requires an update on wider issues, I will be more than happy to make sure that she gets one from the new Minister.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  The review took an evidence-driven approach, informed by the data, with input from across the sector and experts, to make sure that we get this right. However, it did not seek to fix things that are not broken. I recognise that young people in England sit more hours of exams than their peers in many other countries. We will therefore work closely with Ofqual and exam boards to reduce GCSE exam time by two and a half to three hours. Ofqual is confident that that can be achieved while maintaining the integrity and validity of the qualifications system.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  That sounds like a wonderful project in my hon. Friend’s constituency. When our children study history, it can often be brought to life by local examples that demonstrate a wider connection to our nation’s past but also allow us to shape our future. It is in precisely those kind of examples where I want teachers to have more opportunities to expand children’s minds and provide them with greater opportunity.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  No, Madam Deputy Speaker. As I set out earlier, it is important that young people have the opportunity to study triple science. I recognise that the implementation and delivery of that will be important, and we will work with the sector to do that. The number of those entering initial teacher training in subjects such as physics has increased massively this year, but there is more to do, including through subject knowledge enhancement, which we also want to provide to more teachers in other science subjects. I recognise what the right hon. Gentleman says about computing; it is important to get this right. Every area where there will be change will be subject to full consultation with expert input. Computing is one area where we also need to ensure that there is the opportunity to refresh content more regularly, given the pace of change. We will of course ensure that the qualification is rigorous. The right hon. Gentleman talks about the review and welcomes much of Professor Francis’s work, for which I am grateful. The review found that the EBacc measure did not translate into increased study of those subjects at 16 to 19 and unnecessarily constrained student choice, affecting students’ engagement and achievement. Our revised Progress 8 measure will balance a strong academic core with breadth and student choice. I believe that is the right approach, but we will consult on the options.

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  I agree with the right hon. Member in so far as he is saying that we should make sure that a range of subjects are available to young people, including languages, and that young people should have a good range of options, including the chance to go on and study at university. I think it is important alongside that, as the Prime Minister set out in his target, that two thirds of young people move into higher-level learning—be that through an apprenticeship or university. That is why we are also investing more in post-16 education. I do not accept what he has to say about the EBacc or Progress 8. It did not work as intended, and it has not solved the problem that he suggests it would. Our revised Progress 8 measure will ensure that we have a strong academic offer for all young people alongside the breadth and choice that they deserve.