Bridget Phillipson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  I agree with my hon. Friend, and we want to ensure that no parent faces parenthood alone. Being a parent is a wonderful joy, but it sometimes comes with many challenges. That is particularly true when a parent is worried that their child is struggling and not quite making the progress they would expect, so being able to access family support services close to home is absolutely critical. He is also right to draw attention to the need for better support for children with SEND. That is why we will make sure that Best Start family hubs have a dedicated professional working with families of children with additional needs.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the important work of voluntary and community groups, which will have a central role to play, not least because they are often better able to access and support families who might otherwise find it difficult to go through the doors of a centre, and who might feel a certain kind of reluctance about statutory services. Their role and work is critical to what we will take forward. My hon. Friend is right that the last Labour Government did amazing things, and today’s announcement builds on the proud record of Sure Start.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is absolutely right: as well as the real benefits to children and families, there are clear economic benefits. He describes what I have heard from so many school and college leaders and university vice principals across our country. They tell me, “If you can do one thing, invest in the early years—that’s where you will make the single biggest difference.” That is what this Labour Government are doing.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Member is right to seek to ensure that families facing extra challenges or struggles and the most disadvantaged families have access to Best Start family hubs. Again, the evidence, particularly from the first phase of Sure Start, demonstrated that engagement with parents and communities—good outreach work—is critical to building that. I recognise what she says about some of the gaps, including in what are otherwise perceived as prosperous communities. That is why we are putting a lot of emphasis on support for reception year to make sure that, as children arrive at school, they have the support they need to thrive, and to make sure that our brilliant staff working in early years and reception are able to identify need much more quickly and put in place the support required.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  The right hon. Lady asks about the needs of children with special educational needs and disabilities. I would say to all parents of children with SEND that there is no responsibility I take more seriously than our responsibility to some of the most vulnerable children in our country. We will ensure as a Government that children get better access to more and strengthened support with a much sharper focus on early intervention. We are investing more in support for children with SEND; there is the extra £1 billion at the Budget, £740 million for more places, and better training and support for staff working with children with SEND. No group suffered more under the last Government than children with SEND. A degree of humility on the right hon. Lady’s part is well overdue. This is a serious and complex area that the Government are determined to get right. The Conservatives ducked the difficult decisions and failed to put in place the support needed, to the extent that the previous Education Secretary described the system as “lose, lose, lose”. This Government will ensure that all our children get the best start in life, including children with SEND. Through the schools White Paper, which will come out later this year, we will ensure that all our children, including those with SEND, get better outcomes. We will step up and deliver the change that our children need, and will ensure through our “best start in life” strategy that families once again get early support, timely intervention, access to healthcare, and the chance to speak with other parents about the challenges and joys of parenting. I am so proud that in the first year of the Labour Government, we are delivering more than the Conservatives achieved in 14 years.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  The extra investment that is going into Best Start family hubs runs alongside the additional £500 million that we are committing to early support and preventive services along with our colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A number of other Members have asked about the adoption and special guardianship support fund. We recognise its importance, which is why we have provided a budget of £50 million for the next year. We have had to make decisions to ensure that more children can benefit from such support, but that goes hand in hand with the kinship allowances and improved support for foster carers that we are determined to deliver as part of our wider reform of children’s social care.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  We will ensure that voluntary and community groups have an important role to play in our family hubs. I am grateful for everything my hon. Friend does to champion Harlow and his community. Harlow will now benefit from the extra investment that I am announcing today through the “best start in life” strategy. It is through his election to this place and a Labour Government that his constituents will once more see the services they need and deserve.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend saw at first hand the difference that Sure Start made. Through his election to this place, a new generation of children in his constituency will once again benefit from the kind of support that was so essential, and we will support his local authority with additional funding for that. He is right to say that this is about children growing up in poverty and the wider failures in our children’s social care system. That is why I am so proud that, thanks to the actions of a Labour Government, more children will receive free school meals through the expansion of eligibility to all families in receipt of universal credit. Alongside that, we will deliver the biggest reform in a generation to children’s social care, to make sure that families are better supported to stay together where they can, with early help and targeted intervention. Where that is not possible, we will make sure that our most vulnerable children do not see wholly inadequate and terrible placements that fail to deliver the kind of support that we would expect for our own children. That is the difference that a Labour Government will make.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  Through the measures announced today, my hon. Friend’s local authority will now benefit from funding to make that a reality. She is right to say that even when services are available, it can be confusing for parents to know where to go to access high-quality, trusted advice. The digital offer we are developing with NHS colleagues will ensure that all parents, regardless of where they are or what their family circumstances are, can access good-quality information alongside that.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend speaks with real power, real expertise and personal experience on these matters, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to discuss much of this with her, including her experiences as a parent and as a constituency MP and what needs to change. I can give her the absolute and categorical assurance not just that that work will happen, but that it is already under way. I am spending much time listening to and speaking with parents of children with SEND, campaigners, charities, school leaders and others. There is broad acceptance that the system just is not working, and the guiding principle of any reform that we bring forward will be rooted in better life chances for our children with SEND. We want more support, strengthened support and more timely support. However, we are already delivering, backed by extra investment going into the system. I appreciate the important need to build parents’ confidence in the system ahead of any wider reform, and that is why we are taking action already. We are determined to get longer term reform right, and I look forward to working with my hon. Friend on making that a reality.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  Following today’s announcement, my hon. Friend’s community will benefit for the first time from funding that will allow for a Best Start family hub and wider services delivered through that. She is right to identify that although the falling birthrate, including in her community, presents a challenge, it allows us to think about how we can use the schools estate to better deliver support for children. It is a key priority of this Labour Government to deliver more specialist provision in the mainstream. I have seen some brilliant examples from right across the country of children being able to go to school in their local community with the targeted, specialist support that is needed. They can spend some of their time in a mainstream setting but also get the additional specialist support required. Through our capital settlement at the spending review, we will deliver more support for children in her constituency and right across the country.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend’s community will benefit from the extra investment in today’s announcement, alongside the wider announcements in the “best start in life” strategy, which focuses on a number of important areas, including early-years education, reception, the support we put in place for parents, and the funding to deliver that. My hon. Friend is right to draw attention, as others have, to the needs of communities that are geographically isolated, including rural communities. Some of the best and most effective work that we have seen has included outreach work with communities and families directly—work to understand their needs and tailor and deliver services accordingly. Being responsive to what parents are telling services would be best and most effective.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  As the hon. Lady will understand, I cannot comment on individual cases, but if she writes to me with the details, I can make sure that Ofsted looks carefully at the matters she has set out and provides her with a full response.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  While I recognise the hon. Gentleman’s concern about ensuring that his constituents get the support that they deserve, including children with SEND, I gently say to him that it does no one any favours to scare parents. The guiding principle of any reform to the SEND system that we will set out will be about better, strengthened and improved support for children both inside and outside special schools. We want improved inclusivity and more specialist provision in mainstream schools and absolutely to draw on the expertise of the specialist sector and create the places where we need them. There will always be a legal right to the additional support that children with SEND need. The hon. Gentleman and the Conservatives left behind a system that had lost the confidence of parents—he describes the waits, the delays and the bureaucracy that too many parents have had to endure. A period of reflection and an ounce of humility would get the Conservatives a long way.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  The right hon. Gentleman has set out with great clarity why the system we have at the moment just is not working. His experience is that of many Members across this House; I, too, have met many constituents who have struggled for far too long to get the support that their children deserve. That is why, while we are investing through the Budget and the spending review in more training for staff, more places and better support for children with SEND, we are also taking our time to get this right. I am listening very carefully to parents, campaigners, charities and others, so that the reform we set out deals with precisely the concerns that the right hon. Gentleman has raised—how hard and adversarial it can be, and how parents have lost confidence in the system. On a more positive note, though, his local authority will benefit from today’s announcement, and will receive additional funding towards a Best Start family hub in his community.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I have heard much about the work going on in Stoke, including the Thrive At Five programme, and I know my hon. Friend met the Minister to talk about that. I would be happy to visit, or perhaps one of my colleagues might be able to, but I would love to see or hear more about what is going on there, because I have heard wonderful things. It demonstrates the value of ensuring that services are responsive to what parents want, as well as there being a clear set of expectations about minimum levels of support alongside that, really targeted to the needs of communities and parents. That was where Sure Start was at its best: listening to communities, working with communities and building that trust, including among families who might otherwise not feel able to access that kind of service. My hon. Friend mentions the national year of reading. I am delighted with the role he has played to make it a reality that today we are announcing that 2026 will be a national year of reading. It will be a welcome and timely opportunity to spread the joy and love of reading throughout our country to ensure that all our children have access to a fantastic range of books. Perhaps we, as adults, can lead by example by reading a little bit more and not scrolling quite so much.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is right that her local authority will benefit from the funding announced today. It will share in a £12 million development grant, and further funding will follow alongside that. We will support the local authority to get up and running and then ensure that it has the services it needs. This scheme will have a real focus on disadvantaged children while being available and accessible to all parents. The guidance we are issuing to local authorities will reflect that.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I know the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) has visited and seen at first hand the difference that is making and the impact it is having. We are very keen, through this programme and wider developments in the strategy, to draw on the brilliant practice and expertise that is out there. I would be happy to discuss that further with my hon. Friend to really understand what York is doing well and how we might think of that as the basis for further developments right across the country.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the shocking failure to support so many children growing up in poverty or going through the social care system. The outcomes are often tragic. That failure is inexplicable, given the trauma that many of those young people have experienced. We are bringing forward reform to children’s social care to make sure that all our children get the best start in life. The Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby), is leading that work; she brings her experience of social work to bear, so that we understand how we can do more. I will be more than happy to meet my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) to discuss how we can go further, but her local authority will benefit shortly from extra investment around the development grant and wider funding across the spending review period.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  Yes. As a result of today’s announcement, my hon. Friend’s local authority will now receive funding to roll out those services. I join in his sheer incredulity at the fact that such effective, brilliant services were closed. How short-sighted, and what an impact we have seen on children and their life chances! I know from my visit to Peareswood in my hon. Friend’s constituency how much brilliant work is going on, thanks to the amazing staff who work in our schools and in early years education. I also know what a brilliant Member of Parliament staff there have championing their cause in the House.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Lady is absolutely right about the importance of mental health in our schools, which is why we are rolling out mental health support teams right across the country. What I can confirm to the House today is that, as well as making sure we have funding in place for the areas that do not currently receive funding—65 local authorities—we will also be rolling out additional investment to all local authorities. We will confirm allocations for all local authorities in the autumn, but this is an extra half a billion pounds of investment over the course of the spending review period—a significant extra investment in our children and their life chances.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  At the Budget and at the spending review, we allocated additional investment to support councils. However, I recognise what the hon. Member says about the importance of timely support in identifying need much more quickly and putting in place the support required, which is why we are investing an extra £1 billion in SEND support. We are providing councils with £740 million to support them to create more specialist places in mainstream schools to make sure we build parents’ confidence in the system and create the places needed, alongside additional investment to support the workforce to better support children with SEND.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  Absolutely. The impact on children and their life chances is clear, but the work of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which we have looked at carefully, is also clear about the wider economic benefits. I am delighted that my hon. Friend’s constituents will now benefit from a Best Start family hub. The reason why they, including the children she just mentioned, will benefit is that the people of her constituency sent her to this place and elected a Labour Government.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  Yes, we will consider the factors that my hon. Friend mentioned. Later in the autumn, we will confirm the allocations across all local authorities for the next phase. That runs alongside the development grant that will go to local authorities that do not currently receive funding. It will be a massive boost to my hon. Friend’s constituents and to people right across the country; it is half a billion pounds over the course of the spending review period.

• 7 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

  More

  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for everything she does to champion our armed forces communities, not least given their importance to her constituency. I will make sure that we reflect further on how we can ensure that our forces families are able to access services. My hon. Friend’s local authority is one area that currently does not receive funding but, after today’s announcement, it will shortly receive funding. Her area will share in a £12 million development grant that we will confirm in the next few weeks, to help it hit the ground running and get set up from April next year. There will then be ongoing support throughout the spending review period. I do, though, take seriously my hon. Friend’s challenge about making sure that forces families are able to access and benefit from the services. I would be happy to have a conversation with her, or if she can provide more information about what would be helpful to her constituency, I will happily look into it.