Bridget Phillipson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 28 Jan 2026 · Children in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Housing issues were a key feature of our work on the child poverty taskforce. Colleagues across Government are taking up such work. I am concerned about the cases that the hon. Lady raises. If she would like to share some details, I will make sure that a Minister looks into them and provides a response.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Children in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Those are truly shocking statistics. I know that my hon. Friend, Anas Sarwar and all Scottish Labour colleagues are working to kick out the SNP and show how Labour can make the NHS fit for the future, alongside our child poverty strategy, which will lift thousands of children in Scotland out of poverty. That is the difference that a Labour Government here in Westminster are making in Scotland.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Children in Poverty · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a real champion for local families, and I would be grateful if he extended my thanks to all the staff team at the Bishop David Sheppard primary school for the work that they are doing. Breakfast clubs make a huge difference to parents and children by expanding learning and giving our children a great start to the day, and this Labour Government will deliver a national roll-out of breakfast clubs across our country.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Children in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Tackling child poverty is a moral mission for this Government, and someone’s background should not determine what they go on to achieve in life. I am proud that we have now published our historic child poverty strategy, which will deliver the largest reduction in child poverty within a single Parliament by scrapping the two-child limit, expanding free school meals and backing families.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Children in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Alongside the expansion of our new free breakfast clubs, we are massively expanding free school meals and extra childcare for families. That runs alongside our work to roll out Best Start family hubs in every area, building on the proud Labour legacy of Sure Start to support families early when their children are young.

• 28 Jan 2026 · Children in Poverty · Hansard source

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  Our child poverty strategy will deliver the biggest reduction in child poverty in any Parliament ever. That is the difference that a Labour Government are making. The hon. Members will surely recognise that the majority of children in poverty are in working families—people doing the right thing and working hard—and we are determined to support them.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND: High-quality School Places · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend rightly identifies that there are pockets of brilliant provision right across our country, and our schools White Paper will ensure that we spread that best practice and make it a reality for all children. Through the £3 billion of investment, we will deliver 50,000 more specialist places for children with SEND to ensure that children get the education and support that they need close to home. It was wonderful to visit my hon. Friend just last year at Peareswood primary, another school in his community that is doing fantastic work, but I would be delighted to go back and see some of the work that is under way to support children with SEND in other provision in his constituency.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND: High-quality School Places · Hansard source

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  We are backing councils with extra capital investment, including in Staffordshire, but we need councils to work with us to create the provision that children desperately need. We are also strengthening accountability. We have heard from parents time and again that their voices are not heard and that change does not happen quickly. That is why making inclusion a key area of Ofsted inspection for the very first time is central to building parents’ confidence. It would be remiss of me not to remind the House what Reform has had to say about support for children with SEND and their parents: it has said that this is about naughty children, bad parenting, and “a class of victims”. That is just some of the language that Reform Members have chosen to use. I invite them and others to go and speak to parents of children with SEND, and understand just how desperate things have become and the change that is needed.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND: High-quality School Places · Hansard source

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  I am sure my hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards will be happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss those particular cases. We are investing more in support for local authorities, including through capital budgets. The hon. Lady will know that local authorities have until 27 February to tell us whether they wish to proceed with the projects or whether they intend to create the places in other ways. This is about bringing forward investment and making sure the places are created much more quickly than they are right now. That runs alongside more investment into our schools through the high-needs budget and £200 million of extra investment for training that, again, is sorely needed.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND: High-quality School Places · Hansard source

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  The Department has announced at least £3 billion in high needs capital between 2026-27 and 2029-30 to support local authorities to deliver sufficient high-quality school places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. This will create provision within mainstream schools that can deliver more flexible support, adapted to pupils’ needs.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND: High-quality School Places · Hansard source

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  We are giving councils significant extra capital investment to create places and provision much more quickly than many of them would otherwise have been able to. We are offering most local authorities a choice between continuing with their free school or accepting some alternative funding to deliver the same number of specialist places. Some projects without trusts appointed, which had opening dates very far into the distance, would not have created the places that we need as quickly as we need them. This is about bringing forward the places, giving parents confidence, and making sure that we are not sending children far away from home, which, as the hon. Member correctly identifies, we should not be doing. Children should be able to go to a great local school with their friends, and not travel long distances in taxis.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND: High-quality School Places · Hansard source

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  That is simply not right. We are investing billions into creating much-needed places for children with SEND. We did take the decision not to proceed with a number of mainstream free school projects where we had determined that the places were no longer needed. These were projects that, in some cases, provided questionable value. We are making sure that we are prioritising investment for children with SEND to create more than 50,000 places so that children can go to school much closer to home. On the wider question around reform of the SEND system, the hon. Gentleman and the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott) recognise, as I do and as Members across the House do, that this is a huge challenge facing communities up and down our country. I would be delighted to work with them to make sure that we can get this right for children and young people. Yes, of course they will push us on certain areas, but I would like us to build a consensus, to take this forward and to make sure that children get the support that they need.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND: High-quality School Places · Hansard source

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  We are giving councils a greater role in this process because we recognise that many will be able to create places much more quickly through a different way of allocating funding. We want children and young people to receive the support they need in a local school, not a long distance away. In some cases, that can involve expanded specialist provision in mainstream schools, but I also recognise the critical role that the specialist sector plays—the needs of some children can be met only in specialist provision. That is why we have taken the approach of prioritising funding, and that runs hand in hand with much wider investment running through the system. The hon. Lady knows that I will work with her to make sure we get this reform right and to make sure that children and their education are right at the heart of it.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Teacher Retention · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is right to push us on this issue. I know he has been working very closely with my ministerial colleague who is responsible for this area, and I can assure him that we will move as fast as we can. We understand the pressure that this is placing on the school and on the local community, and I will make sure he gets an update following this session.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Teacher Retention · Hansard source

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  We will look carefully at any sensible proposals to ensure that we can keep our children safe online. I recognise the broader issues that the hon. Lady has raised, about behaviour being a factor that affects teachers’ experiences and about some of the wider pressures including those relating to safeguarding. I am proud of the fact that we are expanding free school meal provision and ending the two-child limit, lifting more than half a million children out of poverty, because we know that poverty is a big driver of many of the challenges faced by our brilliant teachers and school staff.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Teacher Retention · Hansard source

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  Labour is boosting teacher recruitment and retention in order to put 6,500 new expert teachers in front of our classrooms. We have boosted teachers’ pay by nearly 10% and have taken action to improve wellbeing, and we continue to offer the targeted retention incentive, which is worth up to £6,000 after tax. Under the Tories, teachers were leaving schools in droves; under Labour, we have seen one of the lowest leaver rates since 2010.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND Support: Access · Hansard source

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  I agree strongly with my hon. Friend, and I am grateful for all the work he has done in this area. He is right that parents should not have to wait. Even though we need to see a longer term shift in the system overall, we need to see change now. That is why we have taken action. One of the very first things I did as Secretary of State was to restructure the Department to put SEND right at its heart. We are investing billions to create more special needs places and also more places in mainstream settings, alongside improved programmes to support teachers and that £200 million of investment that I just mentioned. My hon. Friend is also right that early support and early intervention are critical. That is why I am delighted that we will make sure that there is a SEND professional in every Best Start family hub as they roll out.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND Support: Access · Hansard source

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  I have had many conversations of a similar nature with school leaders and others. The hon. Lady is right about the need for not only early identification but early access; they are not always the same thing. That will apply beyond the school gate, to speech and language support, occupational therapy support and much more besides. I can assure the hon. Lady that everything she has mentioned is central to our thinking in respect of the reform that we intend to introduce through the schools White Paper, and I should be more than happy to continue to work with Liberal Democrat Members on areas of concern so that we can seek to get this right and build a consensus.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND Support: Access · Hansard source

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  In December, I announced at least £3 billion in high needs capital, which will support local authorities to deliver high-quality places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. However, while places are necessary, alone they are not enough. We know that high-quality teaching is essential to achieving the best outcomes for all pupils and students. That is why I am delighted that we are investing £200 million over the course of this Parliament to deliver more SEND training than ever before, to upskill staff in every school, college and nursery and ensure that more children and young people receive the right support at the earliest opportunity.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND Support: Access · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman makes an understandable appeal on behalf of his constituency and his region. We are looking carefully at questions of funding. They are not easy questions, and he will recognise that many of the ways that funding has previously been allocated have continued because of the necessary timescales around that. However, his constituents will also benefit from the big investment that we are putting into capital and into extra training and support for all teachers, early years professionals and college staff. I want us to try, across the House, to find the ability to work together to tackle this big and deep challenge that we all face: support for children with SEND.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND Support: Access · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend for all the work she is doing to make sure that the voices of parents and children are heard during the reform that we intend to bring forward. As she will have heard through those conversations, the system just is not working for children and families. Through that national conversation on SEND, I have heard directly from parents, educators and experts across the country, and they echo the themes that my hon. Friend has just set out from parents in Pimlico and elsewhere in her community. Accountability is an issue that I take extremely seriously, and we will set out more detail in the schools White Paper.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The Government and I are absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom. It was a Labour Government who first enshrined freedom of expression into law through the Human Rights Act. I cannot comment on what might or might not be considered for future legislation, but I will act to protect freedom of speech and academic freedom, and we are considering options.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I would of course be happy to meet, or to arrange for a Minister to meet, the hon. Gentleman and colleagues. He will appreciate that changes of the manner he describes will often take time, to make sure we get them right. It has been necessary, because of the timelines available to us, to provide funding on the basis on which it was allocated previously, but we are considering other options through the schools White Paper.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I expect that to happen very rapidly.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Let me update the House: I am crystal clear that schools must be a place of safety and that no MP should ever be stopped from doing their job, but sadly, this is not the first concern about antisemitism in schools and this alone is not the only challenge we face. We will leave no stone unturned, as the right hon. Lady said. I have asked the trust to commission an independent investigation into what happened. I will launch a review to ensure that all schools and colleges have the right systems and processes in place. I will set out more in due course as to the shape of that, but we will of course consider any area in which antisemitism needs to be tackled. I would be happy to meet her to discuss this further because this is an issue, when it comes to tackling antisemitism, that all of us right across the House must show leadership on.