Catherine McKinnell MP: speeches

Speeches

• 19 Jun 2025 · Water Safety Education · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Member is right to recognise how fundamental swimming is, but it is really important to recognise that it is not enough, as has come across very strongly in this debate. But being able to swim is the foundation that every child should have. As the right hon. Gentleman will know, it takes a cross-Government effort to make sure that we have the facilities that children and everybody else can use to learn how to swim. The national curriculum for PE, as has been noted, includes mandatory requirements on swimming and water safety at primary school. As has been acknowledged, pupils should be taught to swim 25 metres unaided, to perform a range of strokes, and to perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. Academies and free schools are not currently required to follow the national curriculum, but they do have to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which was introduced in December 2024 and is making its way through the House, places a requirement on all state-funded schools, including academies, to teach the national curriculum and will, once implemented, extend the requirement to teach swimming and water safety to all state-funded schools. Data from Sport England’s active lives survey reported in 2024 that 95.2% of state primary schools surveyed reported that they did provide swimming lessons. We want all pupils to have the opportunity to learn to swim. Support is available, as has been highlighted, through the PE and sport premium, and a range of guidance and support is available from sector organisations. We are working really closely with sector experts, including the Royal Life Saving Society UK, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Swim England, to ensure that all schools have access to high-quality resources to provide swimming and water safety lessons to their students. I was therefore delighted to announce last week that the PE and sport premium would continue at £320 million for the upcoming academic year. Schools can use their premium funding to provide teacher training and top-up swimming and water safety lessons for pupils if they still need additional support to reach the standard required in the national curriculum after they have completed their core swimming and water safety lessons. Then, alongside water safety and PE lessons, schools also currently integrate water safety into their PSHE programmes, equipping students with an understanding of risk and the knowledge required to make safe, informed decisions. The water safety code provides a foundation for water safety education, providing simple, easy-to-remember information that helps keep people safe. That is why we are working to ensure that teaching pupils the water safety code at primary and secondary school will feature in our new RHSE statutory guidance, which will be published shortly. I hope that reassures the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding) and many others who expressed concern today. During my time as Chair of the Petitions Committee, when I sat on the Opposition side of the House, I worked really closely on water safety, alongside Rebecca Ramsay, who was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen, who tragically lost her son Dylan in 2011. So I am really pleased now to be in a position where I can help deliver better water safety education in schools and really make further, meaningful progress on this issue, so that no more families lose a child in such circumstances. In 2024 the Department launched its independent curriculum and assessment review, chaired by Becky Francis CBE, to shape a curriculum that is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative for learners from five to 18. The interim report, published in March, rightly recognises the growing challenges that schools face in prioritising subjects like PE, particularly at key stage 4, and the lack of sport opportunities for 16 to 19-year-olds. So I really want to thank members of the National Water Safety Forum education group for their thoughtful contributions to the panel’s call for evidence. The review is considering a wide range of evidence. We are really keen to work with the sector, not only on what will be included in the curriculum, but on how, as a Government, we can support its implementation so that we have high-quality standards across all schools. Every child deserves the best start in life, no matter their background or ability, and it is our mission to ensure that we do everything we can to achieve that. No child should miss out on the opportunity to learn how to keep themselves safe in and around water. Last month I was pleased to announce a grant of up to £300,000 a year to the consortium led by Youth Sport Trust to deliver Inclusion 2028, a programme to upskill teachers to deliver high-quality and inclusive PE, sport and physical activity to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Inclusion 2028 will provide inclusive swimming and water lessons. Two hundred young water safety champions will be trained to promote water safety to their peers. Seven new online resources will be created. The consortium will work with disability sport organisations, and nine inclusive school swimming specialists are being delivered to help deliver continuing professional development to staff at schools and leisure centres.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Outdoor Education: National Curriculum · Hansard source

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  I agree with the hon. Gentleman. We want all schools to offer a broad and balanced curriculum, including outdoor activities, sport, PE and physical activity, and to ensure that every child can benefit. That is why we are legislating to ensure that the national curriculum applies to all schools, through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Outdoor Education: National Curriculum · Hansard source

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  I join my hon. Friend in recognising the value of outdoor pursuits and the value of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award, which I benefited from taking part in myself when I was at school. The Department has funded 300 schools in areas of high deprivation to start offering the award, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is providing funding of a further £1.5 million this financial year to extend the scheme. My hon. Friend is of course keen to ensure that his constituents benefit and I would be delighted to meet him to discuss that further.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Outdoor Education · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I was so gripped by speech made by the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) that I forgot to get any water; I will pour some while I am starting, in case I get a frog in my throat. I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate and the incredible passion with which he presents these issues. It is, rightly and understandably, not the first time he has raised them with me. I admire his passion, particularly because he represents a part of the world that has an absolute abundance of outdoor riches and opportunities. For him to advocate so strongly for children who do not necessarily have those opportunities on their doorstep is truly admirable, and I respect the arguments he is making in that regard. I also agree that children and young people need to have that rich experience. As the Minister for School Standards, I know there are many demands on the curriculum and a lot of interest in the curriculum and assessment review, in the hope that it will deliver a broad and rich curriculum, enrichment and opportunities for all young people. Fundamentally, as a Government, we are determined in our mission to break down barriers to opportunity; we know that, as children grow and develop, giving them opportunities and a rich and broad curriculum is not only right, but what drives high and rising standards. The two things are not unrelated. I do not have time to pay tribute to all the other contributions, but there is clearly a lot of passion in the Chamber about this subject. The hon. Gentleman set out very well the arguments for why we need to enable children and young people to have experiences that will help them develop resilience and build skills for life, so that they can handle life’s ups and downs. For many people, spending time outdoors is how they take care of their mental and physical health. The hon. Gentleman will be reassured to know that a growing body of evidence links access to nature to a range of positive health outcomes for young people; it helps them to develop a deeper understanding not only of our planet and the world in which we live, but their place within it. There is nothing more humbling than the sight of an enormous mountain or a huge lake, and I agree with him on the importance of being able to have those experiences. We need an evidence base before we implement or mandate any changes in our school system. I need to discuss that so that I can come on to the hon. Gentleman’s asks at the end of my speech. To build on the evidence that we already have, we are supporting research by the University of Oxford, which is looking at how the mental health and wellbeing of young people can be improved through nature-based programmes that would be delivered by schools. Outputs from this research will be published with the Department for Education and shared during summer this year. That further research will help us to understand the specific benefits of spending time in nature and ascertain which nature-based activities provide the strongest impacts and outcomes for young people. However, as the hon. Gentleman also passionately set out, access to the benefits provided by nature is unevenly distributed among children and young people, with the most disadvantaged being the least likely to reap the rewards. Children in deprived areas have less access to green space and spend less time in it than those in the most affluent areas. Deprived inner city areas have only a fifth of the amount of good quality green space as the most affluent and children in the most deprived areas spend 20% less time outside. That inequity impacts health, wellbeing, development and career choices. It puts barriers in place for people that can last throughout their lifetime. As a Government, we are determined to break those down. In April 2022, the Department for Education published “Sustainability and climate change: a strategy for the education and children’s services systems”. Through that, we have emphasised the importance of young people growing up with an appreciation of nature and a strong understanding of climate change and its causes, and of ensuring that they have the skills to help to create a sustainable future for us all. We believe that education settings have to play their part in shaping a sustainable future and helping young people develop responsible behaviours and a sense of responsibility for the world in which we live. I appreciate that it is not quite the same as being in the beautiful Lake district, but the National Education Nature Park is delivered in partnership with the Natural History Museum and the Royal Horticultural Society, and it is helping to deliver on the vision by bringing together all the land from across education settings into a vast virtual nature park. It inspires children and young people to get involved in taking practical action to improve the biodiversity of their school grounds, while developing a greater connection to nature and learning about its role in climate change. Through the National Education Nature Park, children and young people can participate in outdoor education at low or no cost and within the boundaries of their own education setting.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Access to Sport: PE in Schools · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham), who represents Stafford, Eccleshall and the villages, on securing the debate; I will henceforth refer to her as my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford. I thank her for her powerful opening speech. I was hoping that her application for this debate would be granted, as it is a subject that I feel incredibly passionate about, and I know that every Member in the Chamber who has spoken feels that way, too. Every child deserves an enriching and rounded education, and PE and sport play a key part in achieving that. As many have said, access to sport improves health outcomes, boosts wellbeing and builds resilience. As was shown by Tane, the student my hon. Friend mentioned, that is not just a theory; I know that from personal experience. My experience was the opposite of that of my hon. Friends the Members for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) and for Lichfield (Dave Robertson). The days from school that I remember best are the days I spent with friends playing hockey, tennis and netball. Those days built my confidence, and got me through the school gates in the morning when, quite frankly, the academic subjects were not appealing. That is why I believe that we need to break down the barriers that prevent children from accessing and enjoying sport and PE; that is key. The importance of accessing and enjoying PE, sport and physical activity at school came out very strongly in today’s debate. I know my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford wholeheartedly agrees, as he went on to explain, because we cannot deliver on our ambitious plan for change as a Government without it. Our mission-led Government have committed to putting children and young people at the heart of our priorities, ensuring that every child can achieve and thrive. As part of the opportunity mission, we will get more children active by protecting time for PE and supporting the role that grassroots clubs play in expanding access to sport. I have really enjoyed listening to the contributions of hon. Members today, particularly on their personal experiences of sport, including those from my hon. Friends the Members for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury), for Weston-super-Mare (Dan Aldridge) and for Lichfield, who were very honest about their experiences of sport. I agree with them that we have to broaden opportunities so that every child can find an activity they enjoy. We are not alone in that mission, as I have heard so clearly from young people, schools, charities, national sporting bodies and hon. Members. In recent weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting with the Sports Minister, with sporting bodies and, just this morning, with Baroness Campbell, who speaks with great passion about ensuring that sporting opportunities are available for everybody, not just the privileged few. In 2023-24, fewer than half of children and young people met the chief medical officer’s guidelines to be active for 60 minutes a day. It is clear that there are inequalities and disparities among those less likely to participate, whether they are girls, children from poorer backgrounds or children from black and minority ethnic groups. I have seen numerous examples of schools and their pupils benefiting from resources, teacher training and exclusive offers provided by sport governing bodies. There are some fantastic examples, such as the Lawn Tennis Association’s youth school portal and Chance to Shine in cricket, which I had the pleasure of joining in with at a school last year—I even got to bat with Ben Stokes. However, we cannot leave this to chance, and that is especially the case for those who face additional barriers, such as those with special educational needs or disabilities. That was rightly raised by a number of hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham and Penge (Liam Conlon), who spoke from very powerful personal experience, and the hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young). The Department has funded the Inclusion 2024 grant programme, which utilised a network of 50 lead inclusion schools to upskill teachers, teaching assistants and other members of staff to deliver inclusive PE and sport. An open procurement for the new grant from April 2025 is in its final stages, and the outcome will be confirmed soon. The school games mark, which is funded by the Government but managed by the Youth Sport Trusts, has introduced mandatory equality criteria for PE, school sport and physical activity participation in 2024-25. Schools get support to review their provision to ensure that they are overcoming barriers that children might face and that best practice will be shared with schools to enhance the equal access of girls to sport. More widely, high-quality PE must be the starting point to ensure opportunities for all children. PE is rightly compulsory at all four key stages of the national curriculum, which makes PE time a crucial opportunity in a child’s lifetime to establish a positive relationship with sport and physical activity and help them to develop the skills we know they need throughout school and in life. As I mentioned earlier, we are committed to protecting high-quality PE time, ensuring that all pupils have the best start on their journey towards leading active and healthy lifestyles. High-quality teaching is essential in that too, in order to harness the energy and attention of pupils and ensure that sport is a vital and enjoyable part of a child’s experience at school. It needs to be fun, accessible and beneficial for all, so we need to raise standards and ensure that every child has equal access to opportunities. We also need to start valuing a skilled and qualified workforce that is confident in delivering PE and plays a crucial role in the wider school community. Many have outlined the lengths to which teachers go to support children to be active both in the school day and beyond. We need to ensure that teachers have the right support and professional development to understand how to develop the movement skills that are the basis for taking part in sport and physical activity safely, confidently and competently. We also need to make effective use of the networks that exist across sport. Members—particularly my hon. Friends the Members for Mid Cheshire (Andrew Cooper) and for Harlow (Chris Vince)—referenced the big community that can exist around sport, which also supports its effective delivery within schools. To build on that network, schools have to provide further opportunities to play sport and take part in other activities. The vast majority of schools offer extracurricular sport and physical activity, and the DFE school and college panel survey reported in 2023 that 99% of schools surveyed offered some sort of sport and physical activity. School games organisers play a crucial role in ensuring that all children can engage in accessible and inclusive sport and physical activity across the country. The network of 450 school games organisers provided 2.3 million sporting opportunities in academic year 2023-24, spanning 40 different sports and activities. It ensures that competitive opportunities are available for young people and empowers them through pupil voice and leadership, offering them the chance to co-create and lead activities as well. The Government recognise the impact of that network and have confirmed funding to the end of the 2024-25 academic year. We are exploring future models for school sport delivery and will publish our findings in the coming months, because we need to make sure that our future investment in sport is used as effectively as possible. However, I can reassure Members that the school games organisers network is a hugely valued part of the sector, and we will announce funding shortly. More widely, the PE and sport premium should be used by eligible schools to make additional and sustainable improvements. The Government have provided £320 million through the PE and sport premium for academic year 2024-25, with over 18,000 eligible schools and around 3.9 million pupils benefiting from it, and we are very aware of the need to provide as much certainty as possible for schools. We will confirm further information on budgets for the next academic year as soon as we can. To conclude, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford and everyone who has contributed to what has been a really enjoyable debate, but also a really important one. We all share an appreciation of what PE and sport can do to transform children’s lives, whether that is improving their health and wellbeing, instilling a sense of resilience, perseverance and achievement, or building skills such as teamwork and leadership. Only by ensuring that every pupil in every school has access to high-quality PE are we truly investing in their future, and this Government remain committed to breaking down the barriers that we know still exist for far too many children and ensuring that great sporting opportunities are truly available for every child in every community.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Relationship Education in Schools · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Sir Jeremy. I congratulate the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) on securing this debate on relationship education in school, and I thank her for highlighting the vital role that education plays in preventing violence, including violence against women and girls. I know that she has fought long and hard for justice for victims of violence and domestic abuse, and that she recently spoke about these issues in this main Chamber. She stood alongside members of her community after the tragic murder of her constituents Emma and Lettie Pattison, and I take this opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to everyone affected by that. As a schools Minister and a mum, I know it is vital that we reach children early, before harmful attitudes take root. The classroom must be a place where they learn the values of respect, equality and consent from the very start, and the aim of relationship education is to support all young people to build positive relationships and to keep themselves and others safe. That education must equip them for adult life, and to make a positive contribution to society. It really is a top priority for the Government, and it is central to our mission to make the country’s streets safer. I want to get straight to the heart of the problem and acknowledge the important role of not only schools, but all services that support young people to thrive. The Government’s opportunity mission is dedicated to setting up every child with the best start in life, helping all children to achieve and thrive in school, and building skills that will allow young people to forge happy, healthy and fulfilling lives. “Opportunity”, “thriving”, “belonging” and “purpose” are not just nice words; they are the foundations of healthy individuals and a healthy society, and they are the best tools we have for helping young people to build healthy relationships and for combating violence and prejudice, including misogyny. Misogyny is not innate. It is learned behaviour, which is why I agree that we must not talk as if boys and young men are the problem. The rise of misogynistic influencers online is a symptom of a number of wider issues that we must address. As part of this mission, we will equip our young people and children with the skills they need to form strong, positive relationships. We will support them to learn about kindness and respect. We will equip them to navigate a world in which 79% of young people have seen violent pornography before they turn 18, in which social media platforms routinely expose young people to misogynistic and violent content, and in which more and more of our social interactions are online. Our review of the statutory guidance for relationship, sex and health education has young people and their wellbeing at its heart, and we are working as quickly as we can to publish revised guidance as soon as possible this year. We have spoken to teachers, experts and young people, and we are determined to harness their collective wisdom and change the conversation about relationships. Young people have told us that they want their relationship education to be interactive and participatory and to reflect the real complexities of building positive relationships. Experts have told us that they need support to help young people to develop the skills for healthy communication, empathy and emotional regulation. Telling young people about consent is not enough. Telling them about the law is not enough. Young people deserve better than that. They deserve to have teachers who will role-model honest and kind communication about sex, emotions, empathy and kindness. Let us not pretend relationships are easy. Children need support, starting in early primary, to develop the skills they need for handling disappointment, for paying attention to the needs and boundaries of others and for understanding their own needs and feelings. In secondary schools, teachers must step up to the challenge of opening difficult conversations with their pupils. We know that many teachers already do that brilliantly. Young people need to learn that romantic and sexual relationships are about care, kindness and generosity and about communication, listening and connection; they must also learn that pornography is not a true representation of sex. Our revised statutory guidance will ensure that relationships and sex education reflects the reality of young people today. Artificial intelligence, the dominance of social media, the availability of pornography and the rise in online misogyny—we cannot ignore the impacts of these trends on young people. Our revised statutory guidance for RSHE will be clear that teachers must be equipped to open conversations with boys and girls about what positive masculinity and femininity mean today and to help young people to develop positive role models that support their self-esteem and their sense of purpose.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Relationship Education in Schools · Hansard source

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  We will publish our RSHE guidance as soon as possible, and it will be focused on keeping children’s wellbeing at its heart. Education can support young people to develop positive attitudes towards people who are different from them and to exercise critical thinking when they encounter situations involving harmful behaviour and harmful sexual violence. These are conversations that we need to have collectively; without stigmatising boys or treating them as the problem, we must recognise that good relationship skills benefit everybody—boys and girls, men and women. Our intention is that the revised guidance will spark a culture change in the delivery of RSHE and that it will signal our high aspirations for RSHE. We recognise that schools and teachers need support to have these conversations with young people, and we are exploring how best to provide that support in the current tight financial circumstances. That work is a central part of the Government’s ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. We cannot achieve that without a significant culture change around equality and our conceptions of masculinity and femininity. Culture change goes beyond schools, but it can germinate from the ideas that children are exposed to in schools, the ways they learn to relate to those who are different from them and the sense of purpose and belonging that schools can provide. I cannot emphasise how much I welcome the renewed focus on violence against women and girls following the release of the new Netflix drama “Adolescence”, which many Members mentioned. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) for providing the opportunity to continue that conversation in this debate. It is not a new issue for any of us. In 2020, Everyone’s Invited started to collect the testimonies of young people who had experienced sexual violence and sexual abuse, and in 2021, Ofsted published its review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. Everyone’s Invited has shown us that rape culture and misogyny are increasingly appearing in primary schools, and we will publish a new tackling violence against women and girls strategy later this year, which will set out what further actions we will take as well as the progress that we have made so far. Turning the tide on misogyny will not be a simple task, and we all need to keep talking about it. We need to keep learning, we need to keep challenging and we need to ensure that boys and young men remain part of that conversation.

• 18 Mar 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  Try as the Opposition might to make their straw man argument, this Labour Government will demand high and rising standards for all our children. Recent polls of the profession show that, despite all the scaremongering, trust chief executive officers agree that there is nothing to fear from our sensible, pragmatic and common-sense measures, which will drive standards up in every school. Academies have grown from a Government-backed insurgency in our schools, and now make up well over 50% of our school system. That is not about to change. The shadow Minister will be pleased to hear that conversions to academy status are progressing faster under Labour Ministers than at any time since she joined this House, but it is right to look forward and consider how we will build a system fit for the next 20 years. The Bill is a step on that path. It recognises, in the words of one multi-academy trust leader, that parents deserve clarity and confidence in the standards that their children’s school upholds, and that is what this Government will secure. The Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan), led yesterday’s debate on part 1 of the Bill. I will use my opening remarks to speak to the Government’s amendments to parts 2 and 3. Members commented yesterday on the number of amendments, but the number of substantive amendments is small, and I shall focus on them today. Many Members have a great interest in city technology colleges and city colleges for the technology of the arts, and they have raised with me the excellent practice supported by those institutions. The Government amendments ensure that these schools can be named on school admission orders, and make it clear that families with children attending those schools will benefit from other measures in the Bill, such as those tackling the cost of school uniform. Just as we are committed to working with all our schools, so too are this Government determined to work with the devolved Governments to deliver higher standards of education and care in all parts of the UK. The majority of today’s amendments concern the extension of the “children not in school” provisions to Wales. The Minister spoke yesterday of our pride in working with the Welsh Government. Labour Governments in both Cardiff and London will deliver our shared ambition for a society where all children receive high-quality education, wherever they grow up. We will build a Britain where children come first. These 91 amendments will extend all the “children not in school” measures to Wales. There is a legislative consent motion on this change, on which we are working very closely with the Welsh Government. Amendment 140 will include the Scottish definition of schools in the definition of “relevant schools” for the “children not in school” register clause. This amendment ensures that only those children who are intended to be captured by “children not in school” registers are eligible for registration. Without the amendment, a child who lives in England, but who attends school full time in Scotland, would be required to be registered on their English local authority’s “children not in school” register, despite being in school full time. The previous Government said that there was no space in their King’s Speech to ensure our children’s safety and education, but for this Labour Government, our children are a priority across the whole of the United Kingdom. Amendments 189 and 170 will ensure that the amendments made on corporate parenting extend to the whole of the United Kingdom. Education is an essential protective factor, which can shield our most vulnerable children from harm. The “children not in school” measures include the new requirement for parents of children subject to child protection plans or inquiries to seek local authority consent. However, not every child subject to these inquires will be at risk indefinitely, so it would not be appropriate or proportionate for those home-educated children who are not at risk and who are receiving suitable education to be placed in a school if it is not their parents’ preference. This Government will respect parents’ rights to opt for home education, while keeping children safe from harm and securing their right to education. Amendments 141 to 148 will ensure that this intention is reflected through the school attendance order measures in the Bill.

• 10 Mar 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend raises an important point. We already provide guidance and resources to help and support teachers to recognise some of those challenges, to intervene swiftly where necessary, and not to tolerate a culture that excuses harm and the experiences of women. Schools must be places where all young people can thrive and be ready for work and life. We will ensure that the curriculum and assessment review reflects that.

• 11 Feb 2025 · Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Thirteenth sitting) · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) for his campaign to promote the positive effects of outdoor learning on young people. He clearly has the advantage of living in and representing one of the most beautiful parts of the world. We believe that all children and young people should have the opportunity to learn about and connect with nature. Access to green space has been shown to have positive impacts on the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of young people. The national education nature park provides opportunities for children and young people to benefit from spending time in nature, as well as to take positive climate action and to drive solutions to address the growing concerns about climate change and biodiversity loss. The nature park is a key initiative of the Department for Education’s sustainability and climate change strategy, which was launched in 2022. In the light of progress in the past three years, we are now beginning a process of refreshing and updating the strategic vision for sustainability in the education sector. We are also working with the University of Oxford on research intended to assess the evidence of the impact of nature-based programmes, delivered through schools, on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Once those results are published, I will be happy to share them with the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire. The Government are committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people, and to giving them access to a variety of enrichment opportunities at school. Those are both important parts of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity, helping pupils to achieve and thrive in education. There is no statutory requirement to offer extracurricular activities, but the majority of schools do because those activities complement a rich and broad curriculum. Schools include a wide range of activities, such as enabling students to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, supporting them to access local youth services, and building in trips to outdoor education settings. It is right that schools should be free to decide what activities to offer their pupils so as to best support their development, to help them work with others as part of a team, and to support positive wellbeing. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s adventures away from home fund provides bursaries for disadvantaged or vulnerable young people to participate in day trips and residentials to outdoor spaces. There are bursaries available for young people aged 11 to 18—or up to 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities—who face significant barriers to participation and are under-represented in the sector. We are also extending local authority statutory duties to include promoting the educational achievement of all children living in kinship care, within the meaning of the proposed new section 22I(1) of the Children Act 1989, which will be inserted by the Bill. We will also extend virtual school heads’ duty to provide information and advice to include all children living with a special guardian or a child arrangement order, where the child is living with a kinship carer, within the meaning of proposed new section 22I(6). On that basis, I ask the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire to withdraw new clause 11 and not to press new clause 12 to a vote.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Eighth sitting) · Hansard source

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  To be clear, the legislation will require that parents cannot be mandated to purchase more than three branded items, or four including a tie. That includes PE and sports kits. I am not sure that the hon. Gentleman lives in the real world, but many schools already loan out sports kits to ensure the full participation of any child, and do not require the parent to buy the kit to participate in that sport. Many secondary schools have opportunities for a whole range of sports—quite rightly—and they all potentially require different kit, as well as matching kit in order to present a uniform team image. Many schools will already loan out the kit where they have to compete externally. Schools can loan it out or they can provide it for free. Indeed, the entire purpose of the provision is to ensure that no child is prevented or put off from taking part in sport because they are worried about the cost of the sports kit. That should never be a barrier to a child’s participation in PE and sport. It is therefore right that schools that continue to require large numbers of branded items are forced to reduce them. That is why the measure is needed.

• 23 Jan 2025 · Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill (Third sitting) · Hansard source

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  I may well be coming to the hon. Member’s question, if I can pre-empt her. If not, she is welcome to intervene again. On reunification specifically, “Working together to safeguard children 2023” was updated to ask local authorities to consider “whether family group decision-making would support the child’s transition home from care, and the role the family network could play in supporting this.” It made it clear that family group decision making cannot be conducted before a child becomes looked after, but that it should still be considered as an option later. [ Official Report, 30 January 2025; Vol. 761, c. 4WC.] (Correction) Family group decision making should be considered at all stages of a child’s journey in reunification with birth parents and the family network, wherever it is appropriate. Although the duty will make it mandatory to offer that family group decision making at the pre-proceeding stage, as I said, we will also be encouraging local authorities to offer it throughout the child’s journey and repeat it as necessary, because we encourage a family-first culture.

• 10 Oct 2024 · Universities: Freedom of Speech · Hansard source

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  It was a Labour Government who enshrined in law the right to freedom of expression, and it is a Labour Government who will again uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom on our university campuses—not through creating a culture war, but through working with academics, students and campaigners to get the legislation right. The Secretary of State wrote to colleagues and made a written statement on 26 July 2024 on her decision to pause further commencement of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 in order to consider options. We have heard concerns from minority groups and others that that Act and its implementation may have unintended consequences and result in disproportionate burdens for universities and student unions. Many are concerned that it could push providers to overlook the safety and wellbeing of minority groups over fears of sanction and costly action. I want to provide the House with reassurance that this Government believe that higher education must be a space for robust discussion that exposes both students and academics to challenging ideas. The decision to pause the Act was made precisely because of the importance of getting this legislation right. The Secretary of State indicated in her written statement that she would confirm her long-term plans for the Act “as soon as possible”. Since then, officials and Ministers have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders on the future of the Act. This includes representatives of higher education providers and academics, including those from the Committee for Academic Freedom, Academics for Academic Freedom and the London Universities’ Council for Academic Freedom. Those officials and Ministers will continue to engage with stakeholders before any final decision is made.

• 10 Oct 2024 · Universities: Freedom of Speech · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes an important point. The Government will uphold freedom of speech and academic freedom on our university campuses. Robust debate and challenge to views helps students to grow in an education setting; creating culture wars does not. That is why we will work with academics, students, campaigners and all those with an interest in upholding freedom of speech in our higher education system to get this right.