Nusrat Ghani MP: speeches

Speeches

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  Order. I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  I see that two Joshes remain.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  After this, we have two Select Committee statements and two Backbench Business debates. If colleagues do not keep their questions short, they are just denying others the opportunity to speak.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  As the Minister is on a tour, I assume that he will be coming to Sussex Weald shortly.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  I am personally delighted and looking forward to hosting the Minister in my constituency.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  Order. There are 15 colleagues remaining. If you want me to get you all in, work with me and keep your questions short please. I call Yasmin Qureshi.

• 7 May 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government new clause 17— Report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems . New clause 1— Age of consent for social media data processing— “(1) The UK GDPR is as amended as follows. (2) In Article 8 of the UK GDPR (Conditions applicable to child's consent in relation to information society services) After paragraph 1 insert— ‘(1A) References to 13 years old in paragraph 1 shall be read as 16 years old in the case of social networking services processing personal data for the purpose of delivering personalised content, including targeted advertising and algorithmically curated recommendations. (1B) For the purposes of paragraph 1A “social networking services” means any online service that— (a) allows users to create profiles and interact publicly or privately with other users, and (b) facilitates the sharing of user-generated content, including text, images, or videos, with a wider audience. (1C) Paragraph 1B does not apply to— (a) educational platforms and learning management systems provided in recognised educational settings, where personal data processing is solely for educational purposes. (b) health and well-being services, including NHS digital services, mental health support applications, and crisis helplines, where personal data processing is necessary for the provision of care and support’”. This new clause would raise the age for processing personal data in the case of social networking services from 13 to 16. New clause 2— Compliance with UK copyright law by operators of web crawlers and general-purpose AI models— “(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision (including any such provision as might be made by Act of Parliament), requiring the operators of web crawlers and general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) models whose services have links with the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Online Safety Act 2023 to comply with United Kingdom copyright law, including the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, regardless of the jurisdiction in which the copyright-relevant acts relating to the pre-training, development and operation of those web crawlers and general-purpose AI models take place. (2) Provision made under subsection (1) must apply to the entire lifecycle of a general-purpose AI model, including but not limited to— (a) pre-training and training, (b) fine tuning, (c) grounding and retrieval-augmented generation, and (d) the collection of data for the said purposes. (3) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a draft of the statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (1) within six months of the day on which this Act is passed and the regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure.” This new clause requires web crawlers and general-purpose AI models with UK links to comply with UK copyright law across all stages of AI development. New clause 3— Transparency of crawler identity, purpose and segmentation — “(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring operators of web crawlers and general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) models whose services have links with the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Online Safety Act 2023 to disclose information regarding the identity of crawlers used by them or by third parties on their behalf, including but not limited to— (a) the name of the crawler, (b) the legal entity responsible for the crawler, (c) the specific purposes for which each crawler is used, (d) the legal entities to which operators provide data scraped by the crawlers they operate, and (e) a single point of contact to enable copyright owners to communicate 35 with them and to lodge complaints about the use of their copyrighted works. (2) The information disclosed under subsection (1) must be available on an easily accessible platform and updated at the same time as any change. (3) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring operators of web crawlers and general-purpose AI models to deploy distinct crawlers for different purposes, including but not limited to— (a) web indexing for search engine results pages, (b) general-purpose AI model pre-training, and (c) retrieval-augmented generation. (4) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring operators of web crawlers and general-purpose AI models to ensure that the exclusion of a crawler by a copyright owner does not negatively impact the findability of the copyright owner’s content in a search engine. (5) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a draft of the statutory instrument containing regulations under this section within six months of the day on which this Act is passed and the regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure.” This new clause requires operators of web crawlers and AI models to disclose their identity, purpose, data-sharing practices, and use separate crawlers for different functions. New clause 4— Transparency of copyrighted works scraped — “(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring operators of web crawlers and general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) models whose services have links with the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Online Safety Act 2023 to disclose information regarding text and data used in the pre-training, training and fine-tuning of general purpose AI models, including but not limited to— (a) the URLs accessed by crawlers deployed by them or by third parties on their behalf or from whom they have obtained text or data, (b) the text and data used for the pre-training, training and fine-tuning, including the type and provenance of the text and data and the means by which it was obtained, and (c) information that can be used to identify individual works, and (d) the timeframe of data collection. (2) The disclosure of information under subsection (1) must be updated on a monthly basis in such form as the regulations may prescribe and be published in such manner as the regulations may prescribe so as to ensure that it is accessible to copyright owners upon request. (3) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a draft of the statutory 35 instrument containing regulations under subsection (1) within six months of the day on which this Act is passed and the regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure.” This new clause mandates transparency about the sources and types of data used in AI training, requiring monthly updates accessible to copyright owners. New clause 5— Enforcement — “(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring the Information Commission (under section 114 of the Data Protection Act 2018) (‘the Commissioner’) to monitor and secure compliance with the duties by an operator of a web crawler or general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) model whose service has links with the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Online Safety Act 2023 (‘a relevant operator’), including but not limited to the following— (a) the regulations must provide for the Commissioner to have the power by written notice (an ‘information notice’) to require a relevant operator to provide the Commissioner with information that the Commissioner reasonably requires for the purposes of investigating a suspected failure to comply with the duties; (b) the regulations must provide for the Commissioner to have the power by written notice (an ‘assessment notice’) to require and to permit the Commissioner to carry out an assessment of whether a relevant operator has complied or is complying with the duties and to require a relevant operator to do any of the acts set out in section 146(2) of the Data Protection Act 2018; (c) the regulations must provide that where the Commissioner is satisfied 15 that a relevant operator has failed, or is failing to comply with the duties, the Commissioner may give the relevant operator a written notice (an ‘enforcement notice’) which requires it— (i) to take steps specified in the notice, or (ii) to refrain from taking steps specified in the notice; (d) the regulations must provide that where the Commissioner is satisfied that a relevant operator has failed or is failing to comply with the duties or has failed to comply with an information notice, an assessment notice or an enforcement notice, the Commissioner may, by written notice (a ‘penalty notice’), require the person to pay to the Commissioner an amount in sterling specified in the notice, the maximum amount of the penalty that may be imposed by a penalty notice being the ‘higher maximum amount’ as defined in section 157 of the Data Protection Act 2018; and (e) the regulations may provide for the procedure and rights of appeal 30 in relation to the giving of an information notice, an assessment notice, an enforcement notice or a penalty notice. (2) The regulations must provide that any failure to comply with the duties by a relevant operator shall be directly actionable by any copyright owner who is adversely affected by such failure, and that such copyright owner will be entitled to recover damages for any loss suffered and to injunctive relief. (3) The regulations must provide that the powers of the Commissioner and the rights of a copyright owner will apply in relation to a relevant operator providing a service from outside the United Kingdom (as well as such one provided from within the United Kingdom). (4) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a draft of the statutory instrument containing the regulations under this section within six months of the day on which this Act is passed and the regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure.” This new clause grants the Information Commissioner enforcement powers to ensure compliance with AI and web crawler transparency rules, including penalties for breaches. New clause 6 —Technical solutions— “(1) The Secretary of State must conduct a review of the technical solutions that may be adopted by copyright owners and by the operators of web crawlers and general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) models whose services have links with the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 4(5) of the Online Safety Act 2023 to prevent and to identify the unauthorised scraping or other unauthorised use of copyright owners’ text and data. (2) Within 18 months of the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must report on such technical solutions and must issue guidance as to the technical solutions to be adopted and other recommendations for the protection of the interests of copyright owners.” This new clause requires the Secretary of State to review and report on technical measures to prevent unauthorised data scraping by web crawlers and AI models. New clause 7— Right to use non-digital verification services — “(1) This section applies when an organisation— (a) requires an individual to use a verification service; and (b) uses a digital verification service for that purpose. (2) Where it is reasonably practicable for an organisation to offer a non-digital method of verification, the organisation must— (a) make a non-digital alternative method of verification available to any individual required to use a verification service; and (b) provide information about digital and non-digital methods of verification to those individuals before verification is required.” This new clause would create a duty upon organisations to support digital inclusion by offering non-digital verification services where practicable. New clause 8— Data Vision and Strategy — “Within six months of Royal Assent of this Act, the Secretary of State must publish a ‘Data Vision and Strategy’ which outlines— (a) the Government’s data transformation priorities for the next five years; and (b) steps the Government will take to ensure the digitisation of Government services.” New clause 9— Departmental Board Appointments — “(1) Within six months of the day on which this Act is passed— (a) Government departments; (b) NHS England; and (c) NHS trusts shall appoint to their departmental board or equivalent body at least one of the following— (i) Chief Information Officer; (ii) Chief Technology Officer; (iii) Chief Digital Information Officer; (iv) Service Transformation Leader; or (v) equivalent postholder. (2) The person or persons appointed as under subsection (1) shall provide an annual report on the progress of the department or body towards the Government’s Data Vision and Strategy.” This new clause would require digital leaders to be represented at executive level within Government departments and other bodies. New clause 10— Data use in Public Service Delivery Review — “(1) The Secretary of State must, every 12 months, lay before Parliament a ‘Data use in Public Service Delivery Review’. (2) The Data use in Public Service Delivery Review shall include, but is not limited to assessment of the steps being taken to— (a) improve the Government’s use of data in public service delivery over the previous 12 months; (b) expand the use of data to support increased and improved digital services in public service delivery; (c) improve expertise and digital talent within Government departments to help expand the use of data for public service delivery; and (d) facilitate and regulate for better use of data in the delivery of public services.” This new clause would require an annual assessment by the Secretary of State to examine the steps being taken to facilitate and regulate the use of data in the delivery of public services using digital and online technologies. New clause 11— Access to a deceased child’s social media data — “(1) Where a person under 18 years of age has deceased, a parent or legal guardian (the ‘requestor’) may request from any internet service provider (ISP) the child’s user data from up to 12 months prior to the date of death. (2) The ISP must provide a copy of the requested data, or direct account access, upon verification of the requestor’s identity and relationship to the deceased person, and no court order shall be required for such disclosure. (3) ‘User data’ includes all content, communications, or metadata generated by or associated with the deceased person’s online activity, including stored messages and posts, except where the deceased person had explicitly directed otherwise prior to death. (4) The ISP may refuse or redact specific data only where— (a) disclosure would unduly infringe the privacy rights of another individual, (b) the deceased person had explicitly opted out before death, (c) there is a conflicting court order, or (d) a serious risk to public safety or national security would result. (5) In providing data under this section, the ISP must comply with data protection legislation. (6) This section constitutes a lawful basis for disclosure under Article 6 of the UK GDPR. (7) The Secretary of State may, by regulations subject to the affirmative resolution procedure— (a) provide guidance on verifying parent or guardian status, (b) clarify any additional grounds for refusal, and (c) prescribe safeguards to protect third-party confidentiality. (8) For the purposes of this section— ‘internet service provider (ISP)’ includes any provider of social media, messaging, or other online platforms; and ‘data protection legislation’ has the meaning given in section 51 of this Act.” This new clause would allow parents of a deceased minor to obtain that child’s social media data without a court order, subject to privacy safeguards for third parties. New clause 12— Raising the minimum age at which users can consent to processing of personal data — “(1) The UK GDPR is amended in accordance with subsection (2) of this section. (2) (2) After paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the UK GDPR (Conditions applicable to child’s consent in relation to information society services) insert— ‘(1A) References to “13 years old” and “age of 13 years” in paragraph 1 shall be read as “16 years old” and “age of 16 years” in the case of processing of personal data. (1B) Paragraph (1A) does not apply to— (a) platform systems and services operated where the primary purpose of processing of personal data is for the advancement of a charitable purpose as defined in the Charities Act 2011; (b) publicly owned platform systems and services operated for the primary purpose of law enforcement, child protection, education, or healthcare; (c) cases in which the Secretary of State determines it is in the best interests of the child for an operator to accept the child’s own consent.’” This new clause would raise the age for processing personal data from 13 to 16 years old with certain exceptions for charitable purposes and child safety. New clause 13— Code of practice for the use of children’s educational data — “(1) Within 6 months of the passage of this Act, the Information Commissioner must prepare a code of practice which contains such guidance as the Information Commissioner considers appropriate on the processing of children’s data in connection with the provision of education. (2) Guidance under subsection (1) must consider— (a) all aspects of the provision of education including learning, school management, and safeguarding; (b) all types of schools and learning settings in the development of guidance; (c) the use of AI systems in the provision of education; (d) the impact of profiling and automated decision-making on children’s access to education opportunities; (e) children’s consent to the way their personal data is generated, collected, processed, stored and shared; (f) parental consent to the way their children’s personal data is being generated, collected, processed, stored and shared; (g) the security of children’s data; (h) the exchange of information for safeguarding purposes.” This new clause requires the Information Commissioner to produce a code of practice for accessing children’s educational data. New clause 14— Transparency of business and customer data used in training Artificial Intelligence models — “(1) The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring operators of general-purpose AI models to disclose upon request information about business data and customer data processed for the purposes of pre-training, training, fine-tuning, and retrieval-augmented generation in an AI model, or any other data input to an AI model. (2) Business data and customer data must include, but is not limited to, the whole or any substantial part of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, sound recording, film or broadcast included in any text, images and data used for the purposes set out in subsection (1). (3) Information disclosable under subsection (1) must include but is not limited to: (i) Digital Object Identifiers and file names; (ii) Details of how the work was identified, including metadata; (iii) The source from which it was scraped or otherwise obtained; and (iv) The URLs accessed by crawlers deployed by operators, or by third parties, to obtain the data. (4) The owner of rights in any individual work identifiable in information disclosed under subsection (1) must be provided upon request to the relevant operator with information as to whether and how they have complied with the laws of the United Kingdom in respect to that work. (5) The Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a draft of the statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (1) within six months of the day on which this Act is passed and the regulations are subject to the affirmative procedure.” This new clause would require the Secretary of State to set out transparency provisions requiring generative AI developers to provide information to enable individuals and creative businesses to determine whether their data, works and other subject matter have been used in training datasets. New clause 15— Complaints procedure for vulnerable individuals — “(1) The Data Protection Act 2018 is amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (4). (2) After section 165(3) insert— ‘(3A) For complaints under subsection (2), the Information Commissioner must provide appropriate complaints-handling procedures for— (a) victims of modern slavery, (b) victims of domestic abuse, (c) victims of gender-based violence, or (d) data subjects otherwise in a position of vulnerability. (3B) Procedures under subsection (3A) must include— (a) appropriate support for vulnerable individuals; (b) provision of specialised officers for sensitive cases; (c) signposting to support services; (d) provision of a helpline; (e) de-escalation protocols.’ (3) After section 166(1)(c) insert— ‘(d) fails to investigate a complaint appropriately or take adequate action to remedy findings of inadequacy.’ (4) After section 166(2)(b), insert— ‘(c) to use formal powers as appropriate to investigate a complaint and to remedy any findings of inadequacy, unless the request from the data subject is manifestly unfounded or excessive.’” This new clause would require the Information Commission to introduce a statutory complaints procedure for individuals in a position of vulnerability and new grounds of appeal to an Information Tribunal. New clause 18— Report on the introduction of a public interest test for allowing access to NHS data by third-parties and companies — “(1) The Secretary of State must within six months of the passing of this Act— (a) prepare and publish a report examining the need for a specific statutory public interest test to determine and safeguard access to NHS data by third-parties and companies. (b) within 28 days of a report being laid under subsection (1) the Government must schedule a debate and votable motion on the findings of the report in each House. (2) The report must consider— (a) whether and in what situations it would be necessary, proportionate and lawful to share NHS data with third-parties and companies when the interests and risks to both the individual and/or public is considered. (b) when it would be in the public interest and in the best interests of patients and the NHS to allow access by third-parties and companies to NHS data in relation to the provision of health care services and for promotion of health.” This new clause would require the Secretary of State to produce a report on the introduction of a public interest test for allowing access to NHS data by third-parties and companies and then to schedule a debate on it in each House. New clause 19— Secretary of State’s duty to review the age of consent for data processing under the UK GDPR — “(1) The Secretary of State must, within 12 months of Royal Assent of this Act, have conducted a review and published a report into the operation of Article 8 (Conditions applicable to child's consent in relation to information society services) of the UK GDPR in relation to the data processed by social media platforms of children under the age of 16. (2) As part of this review, the Secretary of State must consider— (a) the desirability of increasing the digital age of consent under the UK GDPR from 13 to 16, taking into account the available evidence in relation to the impact of social media platforms on the educational, social and emotional development of children; and (b) the viability of increasing the digital age of consent under Article 8 of the UK GDPR in relation to specific social media platforms which are shown by the evidence to be unsuitable for use by children under the age of 16. (3) Within six months of the publication of the report under subsection (1), the Secretary of State must lay a plan before Parliament for raising the digital age of consent to 16 through amendments to Article 8 GDPR, unless the review concludes that such changes are unnecessary.” New clause 20— Duties of the Secretary of State in relation to the use by web-crawlers and artificial intelligence models of creative content — “The Secretary of State must— (a) by 16 September 2025, issue a statement, by way of a copyright notice issued by the Intellectual Property Office or otherwise, in relation to the application of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to activities conducted by web-crawlers or artificial intelligence models which may infringe the copyright attaching to creative works; (b) by 16 September 2025, lay before Parliament a report which includes a plan to help ensure proportionate and effective measures for transparency in the use of copyright materials in training, refining, tuning and generative activities in AI; (c) by 16 September 2025, lay before Parliament a report which includes a plan to reduce barriers to market entry for start-ups and smaller AI enterprises on use of and access to data; (d) by 1 July 2026, publish a technological standard for a machine-readable digital watermark for the purposes of identifying licensed content and relevant information associated with the licence.” New clause 21— Directions to public authorities on recording of sex data — “(1) The Secretary of State must, within three months of the passage of this Act, issue regulations relating to the code of practice set out in section 49 of this Act which require public authorities to— (a) collect, process and retain sex data only where it is lawful to do so in accordance with data protection legislation; (b) request and record sex data accurately, in every circumstance where sex data is collected, in accordance with following category terms and definitions— (i) ‘Sex’ meaning male or female only based on ‘sex at birth’, ‘natal sex’ or ‘biological sex’ (these terms carrying the same meaning and capable of being used interchangeably); and, (ii) in addition, where it is lawful to do so in accordance with data protection legislation and the Gender Recognition Act 2004, ‘Acquired Gender’ meaning male or female only, as recorded on a gender recognition certificate issued in accordance with the Gender Recognition Act 2004; (c) have updated relevant organisation guidance to stipulate that, where sex data is collected, this must be done in accordance with the definitions set out by subsection (1)(b) within three months of these regulations coming into force; (d) have conducted a review of the accuracy of data held in relation to the sex of data subjects to ensure that the data is accurate in recording sex at birth and, where relevant and collected lawfully, acquired gender as recorded on a gender recognition certificate within 12 months of these regulations coming into force; (e) have taken every reasonable step to ensure that any data held in relation to the sex and, where relevant and collected lawfully, acquired gender as recorded on a gender recognition certificate of a data subject that is found to be inaccurate is rectified or erased within 18 months of these regulations coming into force; and (f) have produced and submitted to the Secretary of State a report setting out the findings of its review in relation to the matters set out by subsection (1)(d) and, where relevant, a description of the steps taken to ensure that the data held by the relevant public authority is accurate within the definitions set out subsection (1)(b) with 18 months of these regulations coming into force. (2) The Secretary of State may, on receipt of a report in accordance with subsection (1)(f) instruct a public authority to take any further remedial steps within a specified timeframe reasonably necessary to ensure the accuracy of the sex and acquired gender data held by the relevant public authority. (3) The Secretary of State must, within one month of the passage of this Act, establish and maintain a register of public authorities approved to act as sources of data relating to the attribute of sex for persons providing digital verification services. (4) The register in subsection (3) must be published on the website of the Office for Digital Identities & Attributes or any successor body. (5) Until such time as a public authority is added to the register under subsection (3), persons providing digital verification services may only obtain data on the sex of an individual requesting the provision of digital verification services from the record of births held by the General Register Office in accordance with subsection (6). (6) Information supplied by the General Register Office pursuant to subsection (5) must specify sex as recorded at birth, as well as any subsequent corrections to the register in the field marked ‘Sex’. (7) The Secretary of State may, from time to time, add public authorities to the register as under subsection (3) only upon being satisfied on the basis of a report issued under subsection (1)(f), or satisfaction of such further steps required by the Secretary of State under subsection (2) that the data held by the relevant public authority in relation to sex and, where relevant, acquired gender as recorded on a gender recognition certificate, as defined in subsection (1)(b), is accurate.” This new clause requires the Secretary of State to issue regulations relating to the code of practice in section 49 requiring public authorities to record sex data in line with these regulations when data are collected. This clause is linked to amendments 39 and 40. New clause 22— Recording of ethnicity data for the purposes of public service delivery — “(1) The Secretary of State must make regulations which make provision for the collection of individual ethnicity data in the process of public service delivery and associated data collection. (2) The regulations set out by subsection (1) must make provision for ethnic classifications to include Jewish and Sikh categories. (3) The Secretary of State must lay before both Houses of Parliament a draft of the statutory instrument containing regulations under this section within six months of the day on which this Act is passed which will be subject to the affirmative procedure.” This new clause requires the Secretary of State to make statutory provision for individual ethnicity data to be collected in the process of public service delivery. New clause 23— Recording of ethnicity data on the Register of Births and Deaths — “(1) The Secretary of State must make regulations which make provision for the collection of individual ethnicity data during birth and death registration. (2) The regulations set out by subsection (1) must make provision for ethnic classifications to include Jewish and Sikh categories. (3) The Secretary of State must lay before both Houses of Parliament a draft of the statutory instrument containing regulations under this section within six months of the day on which this Act is passed which will be subject to the affirmative procedure.” This new clause requires the Secretary of State to make statutory provision for individual ethnicity data to be able to be collected during birth and death registration. Government amendments 11 to 32. Amendment 39, in clause 45, page 42, line 30, at the beginning insert— “Save in respect of data relating to sex,”. This amendment is consequential on NC21. Amendment 40, page 43, line 15, at end insert— “”gender recognition certificate” means a gender recognition certificate issued in accordance with the Gender Recognition Act 2004.” This amendment is consequential on NC21. Government amendments 1 to 8. Amendment 37, in clause 67, page 75, line 24, at end insert— “(2A) For the purposes of paragraph 2, ‘scientific research’ means creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humankind, culture and society, and to devise new applications of available knowledge. (2B) To meet the reasonableness test in paragraph 2, the activity being described as scientific research must be conducted according to appropriate ethical, legal and professional frameworks, obligations and standards.” This amendment incorporates clarifications to help reduce potential misuse of the scientific research exception. The first is a definition of scientific research based on the Frascati Manual. The second is a requirement that research be conducted in line with frameworks and standards in the UKRI Code of Practice for Research. Amendment 41, in clause 80, page 95, line 19, at end insert— “3. For the purposes of paragraph 1(a), a human’s involvement is only meaningful if they are a natural person with the necessary competence, authority and capacity to understand, challenge and alter the decision.” See explanatory statement for Amendment 44. Amendment 45, page 96, line 2, at end insert— “5. Consent in accordance with paragraph 2 cannot be given by persons under the age of 18 where— (a) the automated decision-making is likely to produce legal or similarly significant effects on the child, or (b) the processing involves the profiling of a child to determine access to essential services, education, or other significant opportunities. 6. The controller shall not be obliged to maintain, acquire or process additional information in order to identify the age of a data subject for the sole purpose of complying with this Regulation. 7. A significant decision may not be taken based solely on automated processing, if the data subject is a child or may be a child unless the provider is satisfied that the decision is in, and compatible with, the best interests of a child, taking into account their rights and development stage, authorised by law to which the controller is subject, and after suitable measures to safeguard the data subject’s rights and freedoms and legitimate interests are made publicly available. 8. Profiling or solely automated processing of children’s data may not occur for the purposes of targeted advertising or behavioural analysis.” This amendment ensures that automated decision-making cannot take place in circumstances where it would affect a child’s access to significant opportunities or would not be in their best interests, as well as protections against practices such as behavioural analysis. Amendment 46, page 96, leave out lines 13 to 19 and insert— “(a) communicate to the data subject before and after the decision is taken the fact that automated decision-making is involved in the decision, the extent of any human involvement, and the availability of safeguards under this Article; (b) provide the data subject with information about decisions described in paragraph 1 taken in relation to the data subject including meaningful information about the logic involved, the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject, and a personalised explanation for the decision; (c) enable the data subject to make representations about such decisions; (d) enable the data subject to obtain human intervention on the part of the controller in relation to such decisions; (e) enable the data subject to contest such decisions. 3. For the purposes of paragraph 2(b), a personalised explanation must— (a) be clear, concise and in plain language of the data subject’s choice in a readily available format; (b) be understandable, and assume limited technical knowledge of algorithmic systems; (c) address the reasons for the decision and how the decision affects the individual personally, which must include— (i) the inputs, including any personal data; (ii) parameters that were likely to have influenced or were decisive to decision or a counterfactual of what change would have resulted in a more favourable outcome; (iii) the sources of parameters and inputs; (d) be available free of charge and conveniently accessible to the data subject, free of deceptive design patterns. 4. Where the safeguards apply after a decision is made, the controller must give effect to data subject requests as soon as reasonably practicable and within one month of the request. 5. The controller must ensure the safeguards are fully in place and complete a data protection impact assessment under Article 35 before a decision under Article 22A is taken, documenting their implementation of the safeguards in addition to the requirements of that Article. 6. The controller must publish details of their implementation of the safeguards and how data subjects can make use of them.” This amendment would ensure that data subjects are informed of automated decisions made about them in a timely way, and that that explanation is personalised to enable them to understand why it was made. It also ensures processors are incentivised to put the safeguards in place before commencing automated decision-making. Amendment 42, page 96, line 23, after “Article 22A(1)(a),” insert “and subject to Article 22A(3)”. See explanatory statement for Amendment 44. Amendment 43, page 97, line 19, at end insert— “(3) To qualify as meaningful human involvement, the review must be performed by a person with the necessary competence, training, authority to alter the decision and analytical understanding of the data.” See explanatory statement for Amendment 44. Amendment 44, page 98, line 31, after “and 50C(3)(c),” insert “and subject to 50A(3)”. This amendment and Amendments 41, 42 and 43 would make clear that in the context of new Article 22A of the UK GDPR, for human involvement to be considered as meaningful, the review must be carried out by a competent person who is empowered to change the decision in practice. Amendment 9, in clause 81, page 100, line 7, at end insert— “Age assurance 1C. Information society services which are likely to be accessed by children must use highly effective age verification or age estimation measures for the purpose of delivering on children’s higher protection matters.” This amendment requires services which are likely to be accessed by children to use highly effective age verification measures. Amendment 38, in clause 86, page 103, line 22, at end insert— “(2A) Where personal data is processed for the purposes of scientific research under section 87(4) of the 2018 Act (‘reuse’), the processor or controller must publish details of the data sources used. (2B) These details must as a minimum include a description of the scientific research, the provenance and method of acquisition of the personal data being reused, the original lawful basis for processing, the number of data subjects affected, and whether the data subjects have been notified of the reuse. (2C) The processor or controller must notify the Information Commission when processing data for the purposes of scientific research under section 87(4) of the 2018 Act with the same details.” This amendment ensures transparency for the use of scientific research exemptions by requiring those reusing personal data to publish details of that reuse and notify the Information Commission of that reuse. Government amendments 33 and 34. Amendment 10, in schedule 7, page 201, line 5, at end insert— “(1B) A third country cannot be considered adequate or capable of providing appropriate safeguards by any authority where there exists no credible means to enforce data subject rights or obtain legal remedy. (1C) For the purposes of paragraph 1A, the Secretary of State must make a determination as to whether credible means are present in a third country. (1D) In making a determination regarding credible means, the Secretary of State must have due regard to the view of the Information Commissioner. (1E) Credible means do not exist where the Secretary of State considers that any of the following are true: (a) judicial protection of persons whose personal data is transferred to that third country is insufficient; (b) effective administrative and judicial redress are not present; (c) effective judicial review mechanisms do not exist; and (d) there is no statutory right to effective legal remedy for data subjects.” The amendment would prohibit personal data transfer to countries where data subject rights cannot be adequately upheld and prohibit private entities from using contracts to give the impression that data security exists. Government amendments 35 and 36.

• 25 Apr 2025 · Devolution (Immigration) (Scotland) Bill · Hansard source

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  Order. This is a very interesting riff on education, but can we get back to the immigration point, please?

• 2 Apr 2025 · School-based Nursery Capital Grants · Hansard source

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  Order. Long questions are just going to prevent others from getting in, so I ask Members please to keep them short.

• 2 Apr 2025 · School-based Nursery Capital Grants · Hansard source

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  Just say yes, Secretary of State. [ Laughter. ]

• 31 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  Order. Is the hon. Lady taking an intervention?

• 31 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  Has the hon. Lady concluded her speech or is she taking an intervention?

• 31 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  Order. Could you be seated for a moment? We are talking about the amendments to the Bill, not the overall Bill. The idea is to discuss the amendments and whether you disagree with them, but you need to bring your contribution in line with the debate this evening.

• 31 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I call Pam Cox. Happy birthday! [ Interruption. ] Do you wish to contribute, or are you going to celebrate your birthday on the Back Benches?

• 31 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I call the shadow Minister.

• 31 Mar 2025 · Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2— Report on the impact on Higher Education — “(1) Within one year of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State must publish a report on the impact of this Act on the provision of degree apprenticeships in England. (2) The Report must include an impact assessment of the removal of apprenticeship levy funding for degree apprenticeships. (3) The report under subsection (1) must be laid before both Houses of Parliament.” New clause 3— Report on the impact on T levels — “(1) Within one year of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State must publish a report on the impact of this Act on T-Levels. (2) The report under subsection (1) must include— (a) the involvement of Skills England in the administration of T Levels, including the curriculum and assessment methods; (b) an assessment of the independence of the accreditation of T-Levels, specifically whether there has been any involvement of the Secretary of State in this process; and (c) an assessment of the extent to which T-Levels are meeting local demand for skills. (3) The report under subsection (1) must be laid before both Houses of Parliament.” New clause 4— Creation of Skills England — “(1) A body corporate known as Skills England is established to carry out the functions transferred to the Secretary of State under this Act. (2) At the end of a year after the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State must make regulations transferring to Skills England all the functions transferred from the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education under this Act. (3) Nothing in this section prevents the Secretary of State from transferring more functions to Skills England under other enactments.” This new clause would put Skills England on an independent statutory footing rather than as part of the DfE. The role of IfATE would be included in that planned for Skills England. Amendment 4, in clause 4, page 2, line 6, at end insert— “(3B) A group of persons under subsection (3) must include a representative from an organisation that is the representative body for a sector.” Amendment 5, page 2, line 6, at end insert— “(3B) When approving a standard under subsection (3), the Secretary of State must have regard to the reasonable requirements of— (a) industry, commerce, finance, professions and other employers regarding education and training, and (b) persons who may wish to undertake education and training.” Amendment 3, in clause 5, page 2, line 32, at end insert— “(6B) When approving a standard under subsection (6), the Secretary of State must have regard to the reasonable requirements of— (a) industry, commerce, finance, professions and other employers regarding education and training, and (b) persons who may wish to undertake education and training.” Amendment 1, in clause 9, page 4, line 13, after “England” insert “, including the impact of removing apprenticeship level funding for degree apprenticeships”. Amendment 2, page 4, line 13, at end insert— “(c) the impact of the exercise of the relevant functions on the provision of level 7 apprenticeships in England” Amendment 6, in clause 12, page 5, line 6, leave out subsections (1) and (2) and insert— “(1) This Act comes into force at the end of the period of one year beginning on the day on which Skills England is created.”

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

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  I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

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

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  I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

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

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  With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government new clause 19— Cases in which duty under section (Corporate parenting responsibilities)(1) does not apply. Government new clause 20— Corporate parenting duty: collaborative working. Government new clause 21 —Duty to have regard to guidance . Government new clause 22 —Reports by Secretary of State. New clause 3 —National Care Offer— “(1) The Secretary of State must, within 18 months of the passing of this Act, publish a document (the “National Care Offer”) which sets out the minimum standards of information that local authorities must publish under section 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 (local offer for care leavers). (2) Before publishing or revising the National Care Offer, the Secretary of State must consult with persons that appear to the Secretary of State to represent the interests of care leavers. (3) Where a consultation under subsection (2) results in recommendations to be made to the National Care Offer, the Secretary of State must— (a) make the recommended changes or otherwise implement the recommendations; or (b) where not intending to make the recommended changes or otherwise implement the recommendations, publish a response to the consultation outlining the reasons for the Secretary of State’s decision and the action that will be taken instead.” This new clause would require the Secretary of State to consult on and publish a draft National Care Offer, which sets minimum standards for local care offers, within 18 months of this Act coming into force. New clause 4 —Health assessments to include mental health practitioner— “In regulation 7 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, after “practitioner” in paragraph (1) insert “and a registered mental health practitioner”.” This new clause would make an assessment of the mental health of children in care a core part of the health assessment of those children by ensuring a mental health practitioner is involved in the assessment. New clause 8 —Abolition of common law defence of reasonable punishment— “(1) The Children Act 2004 is amended as follows. (2) In section 58 (Reasonable Punishment: England), omit subsections (1) to (4). (3) After section 58, insert— “58A Abolition of common law defence of reasonable punishment (1) The common law defence of reasonable punishment is abolished in relation to corporal punishment of a child taking place in England. (2) Corporal punishment of a child taking place in England cannot be justified in any civil or criminal proceedings on the ground that it constituted reasonable punishment. (3) Corporal punishment of a child taking place in England cannot be justified in any civil or criminal proceedings on the ground that it constituted acceptable conduct for the purposes of any other rule of the common law. (4) For the purposes of subsections (1) to (3) “corporal punishment” means any battery carried out as a punishment. (5) The Secretary of State may make regulations for transitory, transitional or saving provision in connection with the coming into force of this section. (6) The power to make regulations under subsection (5) is exercisable by statutory instrument. 58B Promotion of public awareness and reporting (1) The Secretary of State must take steps before the coming into force of section 58A to promote public awareness of the changes to the law to be made by that section. (2) The Secretary of State must, five years after its commencement, prepare a report on the effect of the changes to the law made by section 58A. (3) The Secretary of State must, as soon as practicable after preparing a report under this section— (a) lay the report before Parliament, and (b) publish the report. (4) The Secretary of State may make regulations for transitory, transitional or saving provision in connection with the coming into force of this section. (5) The power to make regulations under subsection (4) is exercisable by statutory instrument.”” This new clause would abolish the common law defence of reasonable punishment in relation to corporal (physical) punishment of a child taking place in England, amend certain provisions of the Children Act 2004 relating to corporal punishment of children and place a duty on the Secretary of State to report this change. New clause 13 —Review of adoption support offered by local authorities— “(1) The Secretary of State must, within 12 months of the passing of this Act, conduct a review of the adequacy and effectiveness of adoption support services provided by local authorities. (2) The review must include services provided by adoption agencies which have been commissioned by local authorities. (3) The review must consider in particular— (a) any updates required to existing regulations and guidance relating to adoption; and (b) the support needs of, and support services currently available or provided to— (i) relevant parties in relation to birth family contact; (ii) young adult adoptees in relation to their transition to adulthood; and (iii) adult adoptees. (4) Within six months of the completion of the review, the Secretary of State must publish and lay before Parliament a report on the findings and conclusions of the review.” New clause 14 —Notification when a child is placed into temporary accommodation— “(1) This section applies where a local authority is exercising its duty under Section 189B of the Housing Act 1996 (Initial duty owed to all eligible persons who are homeless) to allocate temporary accommodation to a household which includes a child. (2) A local authority must notify the following of the household’s homelessness status— (a) the child’s school, and (b) the child’s registered GP practice. (3) The Secretary of State must issue guidance to schools and GPs on how to safeguard and promote a child’s welfare and wellbeing following receipt of a notification under subsection (2). (4) A local authority must, before issuing a notification under subsection (2), request the consent of the household for the sharing of information relating to the household’s homelessness status. (5) Subsection (2) does not apply if the household has not consented to the local authority sharing information about it.” This new clause would establish a notification system requiring local authorities to alert schools and GPs, when a child is placed into temporary accommodation. The notification can only occur when the child’s parent or guardian consent to the sharing of this information. New clause 15 —Implementation of recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse— “(1) The Secretary of State must, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, take steps to implement the recommendations made in the final report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse listed below. (2) The recommendations are— (a) the establishment of a single core data set on child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation in England and Wales; (b) the establishment of Child Protection Authorities for England and Wales; (c) the creation of cabinet Ministers for Children in the UK and Welsh Governments; (d) the commissioning of regular public awareness campaigns on child sexual abuse; (e) the amendment of the Children Act 1989 to provide for court action where there is reasonable cause to believe that a child in the care of a local authority is experiencing or is at risk of experiencing significant harm; (f) the creation of registration systems for care staff in children’s homes, young offender institutions and secure training centres; (g) greater use of the barred list in relation to persons recruiting individuals to work or volunteer with children on a frequent basis; (h) the improvement of compliance with statutory duties to notify the Disclosure and Barring Service of the suitability of individuals to work with children; (i) the extension of the powers of the Disclosure and Barring Service to provide enhanced certificates to people working with children overseas; and (j) the provision of specialist and accredited therapeutic support to child victims of sexual abuse. (3) The Secretary of State must, after a period of six months has elapsed from the passing of this Act and at 12 monthly intervals thereafter, publish a report detailing the steps taken by the Government to implement each of the recommendations listed above. (4) A report published under subsection (3) must include— (a) actions taken to meet, action or implement each of the recommendations; (b) details of any further action required to implement each of the recommendations or planned to supplement the recommendations; (c) consideration of any challenges to full or successful implementation of the recommendations, with proposals for addressing these challenges so as to facilitate implementation of the recommendations; and (d) where it has not been practicable to fully implement a recommendation— (i) explanation of why implementation has not been possible; (ii) a statement of the Government’s intention to implement the recommendation; and (iii) a timetable for implementation.” New clause 25 —Kinship care leave— “(1) The Secretary of State must, by regulations, entitle an individual to be absent from work on care leave under this section where— (a) the individual is a kinship carer, and (b) the individual satisfies conditions specified in the regulations. (2) Regulations made under subsection (1) must include provision for determining— (a) the extent of an individual’s entitlement to leave under this section; and (b) when leave under this section may be taken. (3) Provision under subsection (2)(a) must secure that— (a) where one individual is entitled to leave under this section, they are entitled to at least 52 weeks of leave; or (b) where more than one individual is entitled to leave under this section in respect of the same child, those individuals are entitled to share at least 52 weeks of leave between them. (4) An employee is entitled to leave under this section only if the eligible kinship care arrangement is intended to last— (a) at least one year, and (b) until the child being cared for attains the age of 18. (5) For the purposes of this section, a “kinship carer” has the meaning given in section 22I of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by section 5 of this Act. (6) Regulations made under this section may make provision about how leave under this section is to be taken.” New clause 26 —Kinship care allowance— “(1) A person is entitled to a kinship care allowance for any week in which that person is engaged as a kinship carer in England. (2) For the purposes of this section, a “kinship carer” has the meaning given in section 22I of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by section 5 of this Act. (3) A person is not entitled to an allowance under this section unless that person satisfies conditions prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of State. (4) A person may claim an allowance under this section in respect of more than one child. (5) Where two or more persons would be entitled for the same week to such an allowance in respect of the same child, only one allowance may be claimed on the behalf of— (a) the person jointly elected by those two for that purpose, or (b) in default of such an election, the person determined by, and at the discretion of, the Secretary of State. (6) Regulations may prescribe the circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated for the purposes of this section as engaged, or regularly and substantially engaged, in caring for a child under an eligible kinship care arrangement. (7) An allowance under this section is payable at the weekly rate specified by the Secretary of State in regulations. (8) Regulations under subsection (7) may specify— (a) different weekly rates for different ages of children being cared for, or (b) different weekly rates for different regions of England. (9) Regulations under subsection (7) must specify a weekly rate that is no lower than the minimum weekly allowance for foster carers published by the Secretary of State pursuant to section 23 of the Care Standards Act 2000.” New clause 27 —Extension of pupil premium to children subject to a kinship care arrangement— “(1) The Secretary of State must, for the financial year beginning 1 April 2026 and for each year thereafter, provide that an amount is payable from the pupil premium grant to schools and local authorities in respect of each registered pupil in England who is who is a child living in kinship care. (2) The amount payable under subsection (1) must be equal to the amount that is payable for a pupil who is a looked after child. (3) In this section— “a child living in kinship care” is to be interpreted in the same manner as given in section 22I of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by section 5 of this Act. “looked after child” has the same meaning as in the Children Act 1989; ”pupil premium grant” means the grant of that name paid to a school or a local authority by the Secretary of State under section 14 of the Education Act 2002 (power of Secretary of State and Senedd Cymru to give financial assistance for purposes related to education or children etc).” New clause 28 —Admissions arrangements relating to looked after children and children in kinship care— “(1) For section 88B of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (admission arrangements relating to children looked after by local authority) substitute— “88B Admissions arrangements relating to looked after children and children in kinship care (1) Regulations may require the admission authorities for maintained schools in England to include in their admission arrangements provision relating to the admission of children who are— (a) looked after by a local authority in England, or (b) living in kinship care as may be prescribed. (2) Regulations under subsection (1) may in particular include provision for securing that, subject to sections 86(3), 86B(2) and (4) and 87, such children are to be offered admission in preference to other children. (3) In this section, “children who are living in kinship care” is to be interpreted in the same manner as given in section 22I of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by section 5 of this Act.”” New clause 29 —Establishment of National Wellbeing Measurement Programme— “(1) The Secretary of State must establish a national children and young people’s wellbeing measurement programme. (2) A programme established under this section must— (a) conduct a national survey of the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in relevant schools in England; (b) support schools in the administration of the survey (c) make provision for parental and student consent to participation in the survey, ensuring that participation is voluntary and that results are handled confidentially; and (d) regularly publish the results of the survey and provide relevant data to participating schools, local authorities and other public bodies for the purposes of improving children and young people’s wellbeing. (3) A programme established under this section must— (a) be developed and piloted within two years of the passing of this Act; (b) be fully implemented in England no later than the start of the academic year three years after the passing of this Act; (c) be reviewed as to its effectiveness by the Secretary of State every three years. (4) Any review of the programme under subsection (3)(c) must be published and laid before Parliament. (5) For the purposes of this section “relevant school” means— (a) an academy school, (b) an alternative provision Academy, (c) a maintained school, (d) a non-maintained special school, (e) an independent school, or (f) a pupil referral unit, other than where established in a hospital.” This new clause would place a duty on the Secretary of State to introduce a national programme to regularly measure and report on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in schools. New clause 30 —Benefits of outdoor education to children’s wellbeing— “(1) The Secretary of State must, within six months of the passing of this Act, conduct a review on the benefits of outdoor education to children's wellbeing. (2) A report on the review must be published within six months of the conclusion of the review.” New clause 33 —National standards for children in need thresholds— (1) The Secretary of State must, within a year of the passing of this Act, conduct a review of the operation of section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (Provision of services for children in need, their families and others). (2) The review must assess regional and national variation in the type, frequency, and duration of support provided to children through child in need plans. (3) The recommendations of the review must include the setting of— (a) metrics in the Department for Education’s Children’s Social Care Dashboard for assessing the progress of children with child in need plans, and (b) national guidance for local authorities defining the thresholds of need that children and families must meet to be offered children in need support. (4) The national guidance issued under section (2)(b) must include— (a) national triggers for an automatic referral to children’s social care, including when a primary care giver enters custody or inpatient mental health provision, and when a child is arrested, (b) the Secretary of State’s expectations on how often children should receive help, (c) the Secretary of State’s expectations on how frequently a child’s support should be reviewed when they have a child in need plan, and (d) any other matters that the Secretary of State deems appropriate.” The purpose of this new clause is to reduce regional variations in the type, frequency and duration of support that children receive through child in need plans. New clause 35 —Extension of priority need status to under 25s— “(1) The Homelessness (Priority Need for Accommodation) (England) Order 2002 is amended as follows. (2) In article (4), paragraph (1)(a), omit “twenty-one” and insert “twenty-five”. (3) In article (5), omit paragraph (1).” This new clause would extend the priority need status under homelessness legislation to all care leavers up to the age of 25, regardless of vulnerability. New clause 36 —Action to promote children’s wellbeing in relation to mobile phones and social media— “(1) Within 12 months of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State must, for the purposes of promoting the wellbeing of children— (a) direct the Chief Medical Officers of the United Kingdom (“the UK CMOs”) to prepare and publish advice for parents and carers on the use of smartphones and social media use by children, (b) publish a plan for research into the impact of use of social media on children’s wellbeing, and (c) require all schools in England to have a policy that prohibits the use and carrying of certain devices by pupils during the school day. (2) Any advice published under subsection (1)(a) must have regard to— (a) the paper published on 7 February 2019 entitled “United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ commentary on ‘Screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing: a systematic map of reviews’”, and (b) any scientific or other developments since the publication of that paper which appear to the UK CMOs to be relevant. (3) Any policy implemented under subsection (1)(c)— (a) may provide for exemptions from the policy, or for an alternative policy, for sixth form students, in so far as such exemptions or alternative policies do not negatively impact upon the wider policy; (b) may provide for exemptions for medical devices; (c) is to be implemented as the relevant school leader considers appropriate; and (d) may, where implemented by a boarding school or residential school, include appropriate guidance for the use of certain devices during other periods which their pupils are on school premises, subject to such policies safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in accordance with relevant national standards. (4) For the purposes of this section— “certain devices” means mobile phones and other devices which provide similar functionality and whose main purpose is not the support of learning or study; “the Chief Medical Officers of the United Kingdom” means the Chief Medical Officers for— (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland, and (d) Northern Ireland “the school day” includes all time between the start of the first lesson period and the end of the final lesson period.” This new clause would require the Secretary of State to take action to promote children’s wellbeing in relation to mobile phones and social media by commissioning a report from the Chief Medical Officers and requiring schools to ban the use of mobile telephones during the school day. New clause 37 —Cessation of Child Protection Plans— “Where proceedings are initiated or a care and supervision order is issued under section 31 of the Children Act 1989, any cessation of child protection plans for children under five years old must be signed off by the relevant Director of Children's Services or Head of Social Work Practice.” This new clause would mean that the relevant Director of Children's Services or Head of Social Work Practice must sign off any cessation of child protection plans for children under five years old once proceedings have been initiated or once a care and supervision order has been issued. New clause 43 —Automatic enrolment for the Healthy Start scheme— “(1) The Secretary of State must, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, introduce a scheme to automatically enrol certain individuals for the purposes of the Healthy Start scheme. (2) For the purposes of this section, “certain individuals” means people who are eligible for the Healthy Start scheme on the basis of having a child under the age of 4. (3) The scheme must provide the means for individuals to opt out of enrolment for the Healthy Start scheme.” New clause 44 —Contact with siblings for children in care— “(1) The Children Act 1989 is amended as follows. (2) In section 34(1), after paragraph (d) insert— “(e) his siblings (whether of the whole or half blood).” (3) In paragraph 15(1) of Schedule 2, after paragraph (c) insert— “(d) his siblings (whether of the whole or half blood).”” This new clause would ensure that children in care are allowed reasonable contact with their siblings. New clause 45 —Arrangements for remaining in a residential children’s home after reaching adulthood— “(1) The Children Act 1989 is amended as follows. (2) In section 23CZA (arrangements for certain former relevant children to live with former foster parents), at the end of subsection (2) insert – “or by which a person who is a former relevant child by virtue of section 23C(1)(b) continues to live at the residential children’s home at which they were resident when they were looked after. (3) In paragraph 19BA in Part 2 of Schedule 2 (local authority support for looked after children)— (a) in sub-paragraph (1), after “parent” insert “or in a residential children’s home”; (b) in sub-paragraph (3)(b), after “parent” insert “or residential children’s home”.’” This new clause would extend the “staying put” arrangements that currently exist for young people placed with foster parents to those living in a residential children’s home. New clause 46 —Extension of the ban on unregulated accommodation for 16- and 17-year-olds— “(1) In the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010— (a) in Regulation 27A (Prohibition on placing a child under 16 in an unregulated setting), for “under 16” substitute “under 18”; (b) in Regulation 27B (Exception to the prohibition on placing a child under 16 in other arrangements), after paragraph (1), insert— “(1A) The Secretary of State shall ensure that all accommodation provided to looked after children aged 16 and 17 meets the standards of regulated children’s homes or other regulated supported accommodation.”” (2) In section 22C of the Children Act 1989 (Ways in which looked after children are to be accommodated and maintained), after subsection (6) insert— “(6A) A local authority must not place a looked after child aged 16 or 17 in unregulated accommodation that does not meet the requirements set out in regulations made under subsection (7).”” New clause 47 —Requirement for minimum standards for accommodation provided to 16- and 17-year-olds in care— “The Secretary of State must, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay before Parliament regulations establishing national minimum standards for accommodation provided to 16- and 17-year-olds in care, ensuring— (a) access to appropriate levels of support and supervision; (b) safeguarding protections equivalent to those in regulated children’s homes; and (c) oversight by Ofsted or another appropriate regulatory body.” New clause 50 —Establishment of Child Protection Authority— “(1) The Secretary of State must, within six months of the passing of this Act, establish a Child Protection Authority for England. (2) The purpose of such an Authority will be to— (a) improve practice in child protection; (b) provide advice and make recommendations to the Government on child protection policy and reforms to improve child protection; (c) inspect institutions and settings at some times and in such ways as it considers necessary and appropriate to ensure compliance with child protection standards; and (d) monitor the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and other inquiries relating to the protection of children. (3) The Authority must act with a view to— (a) safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children; (b) ensuring that institutions and settings fulfil their responsibilities in relation to child protection.” This new clause would seek to fulfil the second recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in establishing a Child Protection Authority for England. Amendment 176, in clause 1, page 1, line 7, leave out from start to “in” in line 8 and insert— “When a local authority starts formal child protection proceedings.” This amendment would require the offer of a family group decision making meeting when formal child protection proceedings are initiated or when a child protection plan is failing to protect the child, rather than before a local authority makes an application for a care and supervision order. Amendment 177, in clause 1, page 1, line 10, at end insert— “(1A) A family group decision-making meeting must be offered by the relevant local authority when a family is going through private law proceedings.” This amendment seeks to reduce the conflict in private law proceedings by offering a family group decision making meeting, allow other family members to support the child as well as to identify where there are significant safeguarding risks to the child/children. It would strengthen the intention that mediation and reconciliation out of court are better for the child. Amendment 178, in clause 1, page 2, line 7, at end insert— “(5) A family group decision-making meeting must be chaired by a systemic family therapist or other similarly qualified professional.” This amendment would require family group decision-making meetings to be chaired by a family therapist or other professional with equivalent qualifications. Particularly in cases involving domestic abuse, including coercion and control, it is essential that the FGDP has the expertise to manage this and protect the child/children. Amendment 172, in clause 1, page 2, leave out lines 21 to 26 and insert— “(8) The child in relation to whom the family group decision-making meeting is held should be supported to attend all or part of the meeting if they wish to do so, unless the local authority determines this not to be in the best interests of the child, in which instance efforts should be made to ensure their views are represented. (9) In exercising functions under this section in relation to a child, the local authority must, so far as is reasonably practicable and consistent with the child’s welfare— (a) ascertain the child’s wishes and feelings; and (b) give due consideration (having regard to the child’s age and understanding) to such wishes and feelings of the child as they have been able to ascertain.” This amendment would require a local authority to ascertain a child’s wishes and feelings regarding all aspects of family group decision-making, to give those views due consideration, and to support the child to participate in family group decision-making meetings where appropriate. Amendment 179, in clause 1, page 2, line 26, at end insert— “(10) If a child is to be looked after by other family members as a result of the family group decision-making meeting, the local authority must make arrangements to ensure the safety and welfare of the child and prepare a child protection plan that reflects this.” This amendment would ensure that if a child is going to be looked after by other family members, the local authority takes appropriate action, that is reflected in the child protection plan, to assure their safety and welfare. Amendment 180, in clause 1, page 2, line 26, at end insert— “(10) If the child is under the age of two, the family group decision-making conference must not delay the timetable for the making of permanent arrangements regarding the child’s care.” This amendment is designed to ensure that the offer of a family group decision-making meeting does not unduly delay making permanent arrangements regarding the child’s care Government amendment 111. Amendment 181, in clause 4, page 6, line 25, at end insert— “(4A) Where the relevant person considers that the disclosure would be more detrimental to the child than not disclosing the information, this decision must be recorded.” This amendment requires decisions made not to disclose information to be recorded. Government amendment 112. Amendment 182, in clause 4, page 6, line 37, at end insert— “(6A) Where information is disclosed under this section, the recipient must consider the safety and welfare of others to whom the information may relate or involve and take steps to promote their safety and welfare, particularly in cases of domestic abuse or elder abuse.” This amendment seeks to ensure that other vulnerable members of a household are not inadvertently put at risk by the sharing of information, and that safety plans are put in place where needed. Government amendments 113 to 116. Amendment 174, in clause 5, page 9, line 31, at end insert— “(8) A kinship local offer published under subsection (5) must state when it will next be reviewed. (9) Any review of a kinship local offer conducted by a local authority under subsection (7) must involve the participation of children and families.” This amendment would ensure that kinship families are actively engaged in shaping the support available to them, and that local authorities are held accountable for delivering their obligations. Amendment 183, in clause 5, page 9, line 31, at end insert— “(8) In fulfilling its duties under subsection (7) a local authority must annually consult and collect feedback from children in kinship care and their carers about its kinship local offer. (9) Feedback received under subsection (8) must be published annually.” This amendment would require local authorities to consult children and carers when assessing their kinship care offer. Amendment 184, in clause 7, page 12, line 8, at end insert— “(3A) Where staying close support is provided, it must be provided with due regard to the wishes of the relevant person and a record must be kept of that person’s wishes.” This amendment would require local authorities to take account of the wishes of the relevant young person when providing staying close support, and keep a record of those wishes. Amendment 186, in clause 11, page 16, line 18, at end insert— “(1AA) A child who is being looked after by a local authority in England and is under the age of 13 may not, whilst being kept in relevant accommodation in England, be deprived of their liberty in that accommodation unless this has been authorised by the Secretary of State.” This amendment would ensure that deprivation of liberty orders could not be issued to children under the age of 13 unless expressly authorised by the Secretary of State, in line with provisions relating to children’s homes. Amendment 187, in clause 11, page 16, line 25, at end insert— “(1C) The Secretary of State must review a deprivation of liberty order every 4 weeks to ensure that is appropriate for the order to remain in place.” This amendment would require a review of deprivation of liberty orders to ensure that they remain appropriate for the relevant child. Amendment 185, in clause 11, page 17, line 10, at end insert— “(8A) After subsection (9) insert— “(10) Where a child is kept in secure accommodation under this section, the relevant local authority has a duty to provide therapeutic treatment for the child.”” This amendment would place a duty on local authorities to provide therapeutic treatment for children subject to a deprivation of liberty order. Government amendment 117. Amendment 188, in clause 12, page 17, delete from line 21 to line 17 on page 21 and insert— “23A Requirement for inspection (1) The CIECSS may order an inspection of a parent undertaking, or any of its subsidiaries, if it has– (a) a subsidiary undertaking which meets the requirements of subsection (2), or (b) two or more subsidiary undertakings which meet the requirements of subsection (3). (2) A subsidiary undertaking meets the requirements of this subsection if– (a) the subsidiary undertaking is registered under this Part as carrying on two or more establishments or agencies for which the CIECSS is the registration authority, and (b) the CIECSS reasonably suspects that there are grounds for cancelling the subsidiary undertaking’s registration in respect of two or more of those establishments or agencies. (3) A subsidiary undertaking meets the requirements of this subsection if– (a) the subsidiary undertaking is registered under this Part as carrying on one or more establishments or agencies for which the CIECSS is the registration authority, and (b) the CIECSS reasonably suspects that there are grounds for cancelling the subsidiary undertaking’s registration in respect of one or more of those establishments or agencies.” This amendment would require an inspection if the CIECSS believes that are reasons to cancel a children’s home registration, rather than issue an improvement plan notice. Amendment 189, in clause 12, page 18, line 6, at end insert— “(3A) The CIECSS may require an unannounced visit by Regulation 44 visitor to a children’s home, if it reasonably suspects that there are administrative breaches or minor concerns about the quality of care being provided. (3B) After Regulation 44 visitors have inspected the relevant children’s home or homes, the local authority may issue an improvement plan notice based on their findings.” This amendment would rely on the use of Regulation 44 visitors to inform the content of an improvement plan notice where the CIECSS has concerns about minor or technical breaches. Government amendment 118. Amendment 171, in clause 15, page 29, line 18, at end insert— “(c) independent schools with caring responsibilities and offering SEND provision.” This amendment would include independent special schools within the profit cap provision. Government amendments 119 to 131. Government new schedule 1— Relevant authorities.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Mental Health Support: Educational Settings · Hansard source

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  Due to the number of withdrawals, Members may have noticed that we have stopped the clocks timing speeches. There are two colleagues left, and I will allow you to police yourselves. Members on the Front Benches want to be up by 4.30 pm, so I will let you manage the time between yourselves.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Mental Health Support: Educational Settings · Hansard source

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  The last few minutes go to Chris Bloore to wind up.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Mental Health Support: Educational Settings · Hansard source

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  I call the Minister.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Mental Health Support: Educational Settings · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member will know that the content of statements that Ministers make is not the responsibility of the Chair, but he has put his comments on the record. Of course, he can go to the Table Office, which will give him further advice on how he can put in probing questions for further clarity. No doubt those on the Treasury Benches have heard him and will relay that information. I assume that the hon. Member alerted the Minister that he would raise this point of order. If not, he will no doubt do so very swiftly.

• 13 Mar 2025 · Mental Health Support: Educational Settings · Hansard source

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  Order. I think eight Members are hoping to contribute. We will calibrate again. There will be a time limit of four minutes, because I want to make sure they all get in.