Catherine McKinnell MP: speeches

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Speeches

28 Apr 2025 · SEND Support · Hansard source
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Colleagues across the House will know about the “lose, lose, lose” system—to use the Tories’ own words—that we inherited. We are investing an extra £1 billion into high-needs budgets, £740 million into creating new places, and have restructured the Department to put SEND at its heart. The system needs far-reaching reform. We are engaging with parents and we have brought experts on board to assist us in this important work.
28 Apr 2025 · SEND Support · Hansard source
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We know that local authorities have been impacted by the increasing demand for education, health and care plans and workforce capacity issues, so much more efficient and effective service delivery and communication with schools and families will be central to making those improvements. We are working with local authorities and across the Department to ensure that there is as much effective early identification as possible. I am more than happy to continue engagement with the hon. Gentleman on these important issues.
28 Apr 2025 · SEND Support · Hansard source
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The hon. Lady sets out what is unfortunately a common picture for far too many children and families. We know that the system needs reform, and we are working at pace to deliver on that. We are working with experts and engaging with families and local authorities. We are determined to deliver a better outcome for children with special educational needs and disabilities and their families, and we will continue to update on progress as we make it.
28 Apr 2025 · Pupil Referral Units · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is a champion for young people with SEND and their families in his constituency. The Government have invested an extra £1 billion into high needs budgets to help local authorities to maintain their pupil referral units. Of course, the system we inherited from the Conservatives is broken, but we are paving the way for far-reaching reform to restore parents’ confidence and to support every child to achieve and thrive.
28 Apr 2025 · Pupil Referral Units · Hansard source
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The hon. Gentleman raises an important point, and it is one that we are looking at as a Department. Obviously, home-to-school transport is an important aspect of accessing education, but it needs to be safe for all children. I would be more than happy to discuss the issue further with him.
28 Apr 2025 · Pupil Referral Units · Hansard source
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I agree that it is important that funding is available to support young people back into mainstream education. Staffordshire county council is being allocated, through the high needs funding block, over £143 million of its 2025-26 dedicated schools grant, and will need to consider how best to deploy that funding to achieve this aim. I know that my hon. Friend’s constituents will be best served by a Labour council delivering on this issue and will want to think about that ahead of this Thursday.
28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend is a passionate advocate for better outcomes for the young people in her constituency, and I commend her approach for engaging so widely with parents, who I know share her concerns. I am more than happy to give her that commitment. Everything we do in the Department is about driving opportunity, and that means driving up standards in every school, in every part of the country.
28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Support staff, temporary staff and agency staff can provide important support to schools where it is needed, but that must be done in a fair way that helps to manage school budgets and provide the outcomes for children that we know a stable teaching force can bring. I would be more than happy to discuss the particular issues that my hon. Friend raises with him.
28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Yes, I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman.
28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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We are always looking for good approaches to raising standards, whether in phonics, maths or oracy, and to giving children the confidence that will set them up for life. I would be keen to hear more details about the programme that the hon. Gentleman describes.
28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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The hon. Lady and I have discussed some of the challenges in her local area in relation to delivering better outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and she is right to raise this issue of ensuring that the health workforce can back up the change needed in education settings. We are working closely with colleagues across Government to ensure that we take a joined-up approach to improving outcomes.
28 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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I appreciate the concerns that the hon. Gentleman raises. I know that the Isle of Wight local authority is working to address the issue of surplus primary places in the best way. I recognise the challenge around funding. It will take some time to look at that, but the system is designed not to give every school the same amount of money but to address some of the needs that he outlines. I am more than happy to continue this discussion, as I appreciate the issue is very important in his constituency.
28 Apr 2025 · SEND Teachers · Hansard source
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Improving the quality of teaching is the best way to drive up standards in schools, which is why the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will get expert teachers in front of the classroom, driving high and rising standards. We are improving teacher training so that teachers are equipped to properly support pupils with SEND to achieve and thrive, but we know there is more to do. We are paving the way for far-reaching reforms through our plan for change.
28 Apr 2025 · SEND Teachers · Hansard source
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I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, and congratulate him on being on his feet after running the London marathon. We are absolutely committed to improving attendance rates of all children, but particularly those with SEND, and to addressing challenges in the school setting to ensure that children have the support to achieve and thrive. I would be happy to engage with him on any good practice in this area that can support us in our endeavours.
28 Apr 2025 · SEND Teachers · Hansard source
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This work is already ongoing. I recognise what the right hon. Gentleman is saying—we want to ensure that every teacher gets that high-quality training from their initial teacher training to their first years in a school to ensure that they are confident and able to teach children of a whole range of abilities. We are determined to have the right number of teachers with those skilled professional qualifications so that they are able to thrive in the profession, and, indeed, to support children to thrive, too.
28 Apr 2025 · SEND Teachers · Hansard source
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The Secretary of State had a useful and interesting visit to a school in Derbyshire to see for herself where progress is being made—or, unfortunately, where not enough is being made—to support children with SEND. We know that high-quality teacher training, particularly in SEND, is vital to ensure that every teacher is a teacher of special educational needs and disabilities. We will continue to work to ensure that local authorities deliver on their obligations to all the children in their local area, but particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities.
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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I absolutely recognise the challenges Prudhoe community high school is facing, in particular those due to sit their GCSE and A-level exams. I wish good luck to them and to all young people who over the Easter holidays have been working very hard towards their exams. Officials have been working closely with the school to ensure they are accommodated in the right way, but my hon. Friend raises a really important point about how a school built eight years ago is crumbling, and indeed all the schools across the country that are crumbling, after 14 years of a Tory Government that did not prioritise education.
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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The Government are committed to supporting teachers to stay in the profession and to thrive, which is why we accepted the schoolteachers pay review body 2024-25 recommendation in full, implementing a 5.5% pay award. That means that teachers and school leaders have had a combined increase of 17% over the last three years. We really need some humility from Conservative Members about where these problems stem from.
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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This Labour Government have made some tough decisions to fix the foundations of our economy and our public services. We make no apologies for doing what the last Government failed to do while in office. The extra money from national insurance contributions means we can protect key educational priorities. The Conservatives should be honest: what would they cut to pay for our schools?
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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The Tories left a trail of devastation across our schools, with buildings crumbling and teachers leaving in their droves. Through taking tough decisions at the Budget to fix the foundations, Labour has been able to increase school funding by over £3.2 billion. As a result, there is a forecast of £400 million of headroom in schools’ budgets nationally. The Tories’ only plan is to cut school budgets to restore private schools’ tax breaks. We are getting on with the job of delivering for children.
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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The right hon. Lady has a firmer grip on anonymous briefings in the papers than on the details of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. She is more focused on petty political games in Westminster than on improving the lives of children and families up and down the country. The Bill will get qualified teachers in front of classrooms. It will teach a cutting-edge curriculum. It will drive down the costs of sending children to school. It will provide breakfast clubs for children who need them. It will stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks. It is a single most important piece of child protection legislation in a generation. The Conservatives voted against it. They can snipe from the sidelines; we will get on with delivering change.
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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This is just scaremongering from the Conservative party, because the Tories have no plan for the future of our education system. They have no plan to deliver high and rising standards. Their only education priority is to hand tax breaks back to private schools, which means cutting free breakfast clubs, cutting school-based nurseries and cutting school building.
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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Schools funding is increasing by over £3.2 billion compared with 2024-25, meaning that core school budgets will total over £64.8 billion this year. The last Government sat on the pay review recommendations, leaving it for this Government to clean up. The Conservative party’s record on education was dismal; school buildings were crumbling and teachers were leaving the profession. This Government are focused on returning education to the centre of public life.
28 Apr 2025 · School Costs and Employer’s National Insurance Contributions · Hansard source
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We absolutely support children to have the ability to play, and that is really important in school as well. We understand that some schools require additional support. We are working closely with the sector to ensure the best outcomes for all children, not just some children, as the previous Government focused on.

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