Stephen Morgan MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 9 Jul 2025 · Early Years Providers: Government Support · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Pritchard. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) for securing a debate on this most important subject. I thank all Members for their contributions, including the Chair of the Education Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes). The foundations of success are laid in early childhood. Ensuring that every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and to thrive is the foundation stone of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. On Monday, the Government published our vision for the future of early years, so this is a timely debate that demonstrates that my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest clearly has her finger on the pulse on these issues. Our landmark strategy will bring together early years and family services and put children’s first years at the heart of efforts to improve life chances. “Giving every child the best start in life” sets out the first steps to deliver our plan for change commitment for a record number of children to be ready to start school by 2028. That builds on the work that we have already started and the impacts that have already been felt. We have delivered the biggest uplift in the early years pupil premium on record, opened new breakfast clubs and funded 300 new and expanded school-based nurseries across the country, two of which, I am proud to say, sit in my hon. Friend’s constituency. From September, we are rolling out 30 hours of funded childcare for working parents, saving eligible parents who use their full entitlement an average of £7,500 a year. With the new strategy, we will go further and faster. We will spend close to £1.5 billion over the next three years to make early education more accessible and higher quality. Central to my ambition to improve outcomes for all children is a diverse and thriving early years sector with a brilliant and valued workforce. We want early years to be a career that people are proud to join and stay in. That means more opportunities to gain qualifications and build fulfilling careers. We want high-quality evidence to underpin training, support and development for early years professionals. That will mean that passionate people can grow their skills and careers, and help every child to thrive. Alongside a strong market, we want to drive higher standards through strengthened improvement and accountability systems that support and drive high-quality provision for settings and families. That includes funding for Ofsted to inspect more often, and inspect new settings within 18 months of them opening. Our ambition is to make early years education the best it can be for every child in every setting. The early years workforce is at the heart of the Government’s opportunity mission and a top priority for the Department for Education. I pay tribute to those who are dedicated to the sector and working in it to improve life chances for every child. I declare an interest that my sister is an early years practitioner of 30 years’ standing. I can assure her and everyone who works in the sector that this Government hugely value their work. As set out in the recent “best start in life” strategy, we are improving the quality of early education by investing in training and qualifications to raise the skill levels of the workforce. We are also increasing understanding of high-quality practice and providing access to proven, evidence-based early years programmes. That is backed with an extra £400 million over the next three years to improve quality and drive better outcomes for children. We will collaborate with the sector to co-design and consult on a new professional register and establish an evidence-informed career framework to support career progression at all levels. We will recruit more early years teachers in areas where they are needed the most, more than doubling the number of funded early years initial teacher training courses by 2028. The early years teacher incentive will support recruitment and retention of early years teachers in the most deprived communities by giving existing and new early years teachers who work in eligible nurseries £4,500 per annum so that every child, no matter where they live, can benefit from high-quality early education. We are rolling out a new early years teacher degree apprenticeship and transforming the apprenticeship offer into a new growth and skills programme with shorter, more flexible training options. That includes continuing and extending free online child development training for all staff, and funding more places on the national professional qualification in early years leadership programme. We are investing in data-driven interventions to support early maths, literacy and language skills, and doubling the number of early years stronger practice hubs from 18 to 36 so that even more settings and childminders can access free resources and training to help their practice. We are helping more people to discover rewarding early years careers through our “Do something big” national recruitment campaign, and building on our pilot to offer financial incentives to attract and retain the best educators, including our campaign to encourage more men to go into the sector. We are making it easier for managers to check qualifications and increase confidence in staff sufficiency by using the new “Check an early years qualification” digital service. Providers can maximise the potential of staff who have the right skills and experience but do not hold an approved qualification through the experience-based route. We are working closely with local areas to do everything we can to ensure that there are sufficient places and the sector has the workforce it needs ahead of September. We have already seen a strong response from the early years sector following the introduction of the new entitlement. In 2023-24 we saw nearly three times the growth in places and more than 1.5 times the growth in staff working in early years compared with 2022-23, showing that the early years market is responding positively. Continuing that growth ahead of September will allow more families to benefit from the expansion, and we are determined that the sector receives the support it needs to make that happen. The strength of our varied and diverse providers gives families a choice of high-quality, flexible options that meet their needs, but it can mean that stand-alone settings miss out on the benefits that come from working together. We will work with the sector to support brilliant settings so that they grow and spread their expertise. We will also explore how providers could, if they choose to, pool back-office functions and overheads so that nursery managers can focus increased efforts on the children in their care. We want to ensure that the early education and childcare market continues to be financially sustainable, able to create more places where they are needed, and focused on the needs of children. We will continue to monitor the financial sustainability of the market and may take further steps to increase the transparency of the largest providers if necessary. We have seen a decline in the number of not-for-profit providers, especially in the most deprived areas of the country, and we will work with those providers, alongside philanthropy and social investors, to explore new ways to support them to expand, and encourage new providers to open settings. Turning to the points made by a number of Members about funding, we are expecting to spend more than £8 billion on the early years entitlements this year, rising to more than £9 billion in the next financial year. We have introduced a £75 million expansion grant to support providers ahead of September’s roll-out, and we have almost doubled the early years pupil premium. Our hourly funding rate covers core costs, taking account of cost pressures, including forecasts of average earnings, inflation and the national living wage. We want to ensure that funding is distributed fairly and effectively, reflecting the cost of delivery in different parts of the country. We will renew our approach and set out more detail in due course. The Chair of the Education Committee is a real champion for maintained nursery schools, which are a valued and important part of the early years system. They are high-quality providers that often focus on disadvantage and special educational needs and disabilities, helping us to give every child the best start in life. To recognise the costs that maintained nursery schools face over and above those experienced by other providers, we provide additional supplementary funding to local authorities for maintained nursery schools in their area. Maintained nursery schools also make crucial contributions to stronger practice hubs, which we are expanding. With regard to comments made about the Best Start family hubs, ensuring that every child has the best start in life and the chance to achieve and thrive is the foundation stone of our Government’s opportunity mission. We will spend close to £1.5 billion over the next three years on improving family services and early years education to begin the hard work needed. Best Start family hubs will be backed by £500 million of that investment between 2025 and 2029, and we will fund hubs in every local authority area to ensure that the children and families who need support the most, especially those from low-income backgrounds or with additional vulnerabilities, can access it. Through the hubs, families will be connected to other local services such as healthcare, relationship support, housing and job support. My hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest mentioned childminders, as did the Chair of the Select Committee. Childminders play an important role in the childcare system, offering the flexible and personalised care that many families value. They also tend to look after younger children and are a key part of the provider landscape as we expand funded childcare hours for those children. We have already taken steps to support childminders, including making it easier for them to work from different places, such as schools and other community settings. We now want to go further. We have listened to the sector, which has consistently called for monthly payments for early years entitlements. I can assure Members that we will work with local authorities and others to ensure that, where they want to be, childminders and other early years providers are paid monthly for the funded hours that they provide, making their income more sustainable. We will also keep working with Jobcentre Plus to encourage more people to become childminders. The shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott), made a number of points on the reception baseline assessment. Digital assessments in primary school happen all around the globe and have been in place for several years in English primary schools, with the multiplication tables check in year 4. The reception baseline assessment is a short assessment to understand children’s abilities when they start reception, in order to enable measures of progress through primary schools. It is conducted on a one-to-one basis with teachers, and guidelines are in place to support pupils on the assessment. A revised version of the RBA, with a digital element, was set out in September. For more questions, pupils will be able to interact with images and items on a tablet screen, supported by a teacher. I can assure all Members that it has been subject to extensive trials with teachers and pupils, which commenced in 2019 under the previous Administration. Feedback from both groups has been positive. I again thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest for securing this debate on such an important topic. I also acknowledge the engagement of all Members this afternoon, and the dedicated workforce in the early years sector, who do so much for our country. The Government are committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity, and the importance of the early years cannot be overstated. Our strategy is to start a decade of national renewal for families, giving every child the best start in life.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Generative Artificial Intelligence: Schools · Hansard source

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  I will give way, but I am conscious that the right hon. Gentleman was not here at the start of the debate.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Generative Artificial Intelligence: Schools · Hansard source

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  I will absolutely take away the point made by the right hon. Member for East Hampshire. I mentioned the role of Ofqual as the regulator and the role of the curriculum and assessment review, which is independently led. I look forward to hearing the outcomes of that review in due course. In conclusion, I thank the right hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members for their contributions on this important topic. As I set out, the Government are committed to working with the sector to harness technology, which presents new and exciting challenges for the sector. We are also committed to ensuring that that technology is used safely and effectively—never to supplant the irreplaceable face-to-face work of our teachers and educators, but to support them to spend more time doing what they do best: teaching.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Generative Artificial Intelligence: Schools · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Jeremy. I thank my near-ish neighbour, the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds), for securing a debate on this important subject and for the constructive and collegiate way in which he has sought to conduct it. I thank all other Members for their interventions and contributions, including the Chair of the Education Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), for her insightful comments on challenges and opportunities and her helpful reminder of the Committee’s work on screen time. The Government believe that generative artificial intelligence presents exciting opportunities to improve people’s lives, including by making our public services better. AI will support the delivery of the Government’s plan for change and our opportunity mission. I agree with the comments of hon. Members, including my hon. Friends the Members for Swindon North (Will Stone) and for Dulwich and West Norwood and the right hon. Member for East Hampshire, about the potential for AI and technology to support children with special educational needs. There is a strong evidence base for the impact that assistive technology such as screen readers and dictation tools can have in breaking down barriers to opportunity for children with SEND. If used safely, effectively and with the right infrastructure in place, AI can support every child and young person, regardless of their background, to achieve at school and college and develop the knowledge and skills that they need for life. AI has the potential to ease workloads, assist with lesson planning and free up time for high-quality face-to-face teaching. That is why we have put AI at the forefront of our mission to modernise the education system, to support our teachers and school support staff and to enable them to deliver better educational outcomes for our children. The Department’s approach to generative AI in education is not static. It will continue to develop as our evidence and understanding grow. The Government are leading the way. As announced at the Education World Forum in May, we will host an international summit on generative AI in education in 2026, bringing together education leaders from around the world to implement global guidelines for generative AI in education. We are committed to taking action that considers the risks, such as safety, and challenges, alongside opportunities and benefits. I assure the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) that those discussions include ministerial colleagues across the UK. He will know that education is a devolved matter, but I can confirm that I had discussions with my ministerial equivalent in Northern Ireland during my visit to Belfast last month. We have taken action to make sure that AI can be effectively used in schools. We have funded Oak National Academy’s AI lesson planning assistant, Aila, which helps teachers save significant time with lesson planning. Teachers report time savings of around three hours per week. The right hon. Member for East Hampshire was right to mention support through the effective use of AI. Further, we launched the content store pilot in August of last year, aiming to make available the underpinning content and data that are needed for great AI tools. Coupled with investment in the AI tools for education competition, we are supporting edtech innovators to develop effective AI tools that can reduce the burden of feedback and marking on teachers. Last month, I attended London Tech Week and announced an additional £1 million in contracts to further develop existing prototype tools so that they are ready to be used in the classroom. I saw demonstrations of tools developed at a hackathon using our innovative education content store. I also saw at first hand the value of that store and the importance of making available the underpinning content and data to develop excellent AI tools for education. We know that any advancement in technology presents risks as well as opportunities, which is why we are taking steps to manage these proactively, including through safeguards and by gathering robust evidence on AI use.

• 8 Jul 2025 · Generative Artificial Intelligence: Schools · Hansard source

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  I will certainly take that back. I have had discussions with colleagues at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and others about reliability, safety and biases. In November last year, with the Under-Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Enfield North (Feryal Clark), I met leading global tech firms, including Google, Microsoft and Adobe, to agree safety expectations and to ensure that AI tools are safe for classroom use. We are also supporting staff to use AI safely. In partnership with the Chiltern Learning Trust and the Chartered College of Teaching, we have published online support materials to help teachers and leaders to use AI safely and effectively, developed by the sector, for the sector. They supplement the Department’s AI policy paper—which we updated in June—alongside the information for educators about using AI safely and effectively, and the toolkit for leaders to help address the risks and opportunities of AI across their whole setting. To develop our evidence base, we have launched two pilot programmes, the edtech evidence board and the edtech testbed. The first is to ensure that schools have the confidence to secure edtech products that work well for their setting, and the second is to evaluate the impact of edtech and AI products on improving staff workload, pupil outcomes and inclusivity. I want to assure all hon. Members that we will continue to work with schools to support them in harnessing opportunities and managing potential challenges presented by generative AI. A number of hon. Members, including the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Guildford (Zöe Franklin), spoke about social media, and “Keeping children safe in education” is statutory guidance that provides schools and colleges with robust information on how to protect pupils and students online. The guidance has been significantly strengthened with regard to online safety, which is now embedded throughout, making clear the importance of taking a whole-school approach to keeping children safe online. The DFE is working across Government to implement the Online Safety Act 2023 and to address technology-related risks, including AI in education. I can assure the hon. Member for Guildford that it is a priority for us to ensure that children benefit from its protections. On the point that a number of hon. Members made about the impact on qualifications, assessment and regulation, the majority of GCSE and A-level assessments are exams taken under close staff supervision, with no access to the internet. Schools, colleges and awarding organisations are continuing to take reasonable steps to prevent malpractice involving the use of generative AI in formal assessments. Ofqual is, of course, the independent regulator of qualifications and assessments, and published its approach to regulating AI use in the qualifications sector in 2024. Ofqual supported the production of guidance from the Joint Council for Qualifications on the use of AI in assessments. That guidance provides teachers and exam centres with information to help them to prevent and identify potential malpractice involving the misuse of AI. More broadly, the curriculum and assessment review’s interim report acknowledged risks concerning AI use in coursework assessments. The review is taking a subject-by-subject approach to consider assessment fitness for purpose and the impact of different assessment methods on teaching and learning. I assure Members that the review is considering potential risks, the trade-offs with non-exam assessment such as deliverability, and the risks of malpractice and to equity.

• 3 Jul 2025 · Children with Allergies: School Safeguarding · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore) for securing and opening this debate. I have greatly valued the opportunity to listen to his insights and hear the arguments on this important topic, especially given his personal experience with his family. I know that all hon. Members will today be thinking of their constituents and families who have lost loved ones as a result of allergies. I acknowledge the contributions of my hon. Friends the Members for Clwyd East (Becky Gittins), for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards), for Stafford (Leigh Ingham), for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis), for Nuneaton (Jodie Gosling) and for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) to this debate, as well as their contributions to the APPG or as allergy champions. I thank them for their hard work and for the priority that they are giving to this important topic for children, early years and schools. I absolutely understand that allergies can be worrying for parents and pupils. When parents send their children to school, it is only right and natural that they expect them to be kept safe. For parents of children with allergies, there is understandably an additional level of concern. Allergies can be complex conditions and can range enormously in severity. While much of the debate focuses on food allergies, it is important to note that not all allergens are food, which makes the issue more complicated for individuals to manage. Allergies are therefore a highly individual condition, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Last month, I was lucky enough to visit Edith Neville primary school with the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation. I got to see at first hand how allergy awareness training can increase the safety of pupils with food allergies and allow them to feel fully involved in school activities. I am sure that hon. Members will agree that allergies are complex and, by their very nature, require individualised approaches. These issues are best dealt with locally. That is why the Government have put in place a number of pieces of legislation, as well as guidance for schools and parents, covering a range of areas and circumstances. We are very aware of recent calls to strengthen the law around allergies, with specific references to voluntary approaches and voluntary guidance. I stress that section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a legal duty on schools to “make arrangements for supporting pupils at the school with medical conditions” including allergies, and that governing bodies must have regard to the accompanying statutory guidance supporting pupils with medical conditions when carrying out their duties. The guidance makes it clear that schools should ensure that they are aware of any pupils with allergies, and have processes in place to ensure that those can be well managed. The guidance sets out that a school’s policy should be clear that any member of the school’s staff providing support to a pupil with medical needs should have received suitable training. The Department’s allergy guidance for schools signpost them to allergy available resources and training. I again stress that individual schools are best placed to work with parents to put in place a system that works for the school, parents and individual children. Individual healthcare plans can set out arrangements for specific pupils’ medical needs, and schools will need to draw on, or seek advice from, clinicians on how the individual’s medical condition should be managed while in school. That is particularly important where children and young people have conditions that, if not managed effectively, could pose a high risk to their health and safety. Individual healthcare plans will be particularly important where conditions fluctuate or there is a high risk that emergency intervention will be needed. They are likely to be helpful in the majority of other cases, especially where medical conditions are long term and complex. However, not all children will require one. In addition to the section 100 duty, schools are subject to other requirements. For example, in the UK, food businesses must inform consumers if they use any of the 14 mandatory allergens as ingredients in the food that they provide. How allergen information should be provided depends on whether the food is prepackaged, non-prepackaged or prepacked for direct sale. That includes food provided by institutions including school caterers, who have the responsibility to protect individuals in their care. As hon. Members may know, rules on the provision of food labelling are set out primarily in the retained EU Food Information Regulations 2014. These rules include a requirement to identify to consumers the presence of any of the 14 mandatory allergens, including cereals containing gluten, eggs, fish and milk. The Department for Education works closely with the Food Standards Agency on all matters relating to school food. The FSA provides a free food allergy and intolerance online training course, which offers practical advice to local authority law enforcement officers and anyone who wants to learn more about food allergies, such as those working in the food manufacturing and catering industries. The FSA also offers a host of other training, technical documents and guidance documents, including information on the 14 most common allergens, food labelling requirements, and the handling of allergen ingredients. Auto-injectors can be vital if a child suffers an allergic reaction. To support schools in meeting the needs of children with allergies, the Human Medicines (Amendment) Regulations 2017 were passed and they allow schools to obtain and hold spare adrenalin auto-injectors for administration to pupils in an emergency. The Department for Health and Social Care has produced guidance on the use of these injectors and emergency inhalers in schools, including the purchase of spares. The guidance makes it clear that any adrenalin auto-injectors held by a school should be considered as a back-up device and not as a replacement for pupils’ own adrenalin auto-injectors. Beyond this, families are also able to play an important role in managing their child’s condition. We are very clear with schools that no one will know a child’s needs as well as their parents, and that schools should work closely together with parents. The parents of children with allergies will work with medical professionals and other organisations to plan for and navigate their child’s specific needs, and parents should be fully consulted and engaged in any discussions about their child’s allergies. Schools will also need to ensure that parents and carers of children with food allergies or intolerances are given information about allergic ingredients used in the foods available, and good communication between parents and schools about allergies and pupils’ needs is essential to keep children safe while they are in school. Since March 2024, the Department has reminded schools of their duties concerning pupils with allergies every six months, via the DFE’s bulletin to the education sector. These reminders have included links to Government guidance, as well as signposting to credible resources from the charitable sector, including the voluntary schools allergy code, which is co-produced by the Benedict Blythe Foundation, the Independent Schools’ Bursars Association and the Allergy Team. For younger children, the early years foundation stage framework sets the standards that all registered early years providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to the age of five. The EYFS states that before a child is admitted to an early years setting, the provider must obtain information about any special dietary requirements, preferences or food allergies the child has, as well as any other special health requirements. Providers must also have a policy and procedures for administering medicines, and they must have systems to obtain information about a child’s needs for medicines and to keep this information up to date. Training must be provided for staff where the administration of medicine requires medical or technical knowledge. There is also a requirement for at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate to be on the premises and available at all times when children are present, and they must also accompany children on outings. The PFA criteria is clear that the training should include being able to help a baby or child suffering from anaphylactic shock. There is also a requirement within the EYFS regarding adequate supervision. This is explicit that while children are eating, they must always be in sight and hearing of an adult—not within sight or hearing—to help educators to notice the signs of an allergic reaction as soon as they are present and allow them to act quickly. The new early years educator level 3 qualification criteria came into force in September 2024, ensuring that early years educators have an understanding of allergies and anaphylaxis. Following consultation last year and subject to parliamentary procedure, we will introduce changes to the safeguarding requirements of the EYFS from September this year. They will include a new safety eating section containing a number of requirements relating to allergies, such as a requirement for providers or childminders to have ongoing discussions with parents and/or carers about special dietary requirements, including food allergies and intolerances that a child may have, as well as a requirement to develop allergy action plans, where appropriate, to manage them. In addition, providers and childminders will be required to ensure that all staff are aware of the symptoms and treatments for allergies and anaphylaxis and the differences between allergies and intolerances, and that they have an understanding that children can develop allergies at any time. That is particularly pertinent during the introduction of solid foods, which is sometimes called complementary feeding or weaning. It will also be a requirement that while children are eating there should always be a member of staff in the room who holds a valid first aid certificate. Where possible, providers and childminders should also sit facing children while they eat, to ensure that children are eating in a way that prevents choking and food sharing, and so that the provider is aware of unexpected allergic reactions. From September, early years providers will be required to have regard to the new nutrition guidance published in May this year. It includes a section on food allergies, and it provides information on the symptoms of both allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, as well as common food allergens. It also provides links to helpful resources, such as the Food Standards Agency’s free food allergy training. This Government are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty. We have now announced that we are extending free school meals to children from households in receipt of universal credit from September 2026. This will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty and will put £500 back into families’ pockets, supporting parents in a decisive action to improve lives ahead of the child poverty strategy coming later this year. The Department will expect schools to make every effort to ensure that eligible pupils with allergies can benefit from that entitlement. In deciding what is reasonable, schools and their caterers are expected to take into account factors such as the type of diet required by the child with allergies, the number of children in a similar position and the cost of making suitable food available. It is important that schools have a culture of inclusivity, and we expect schools to do what they can to ensure that no child is unnecessarily disadvantaged or made to feel disadvantaged. The same applies to breakfast clubs. The Government are committed to delivering on our pledge to introduce breakfast clubs in every state-funded primary school. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will mean that every state-funded school with children on the roll from reception to year 6 will be required to offer a free breakfast club before the start of each school day. This will ensure that every child, regardless of circumstance, has a supportive start to the school day. I have outlined the various legislation and guidance that covers allergies in schools. We do, of course, keep those policies under review, and we welcome feedback on how we can better support schools’ implementation of them. Senior DFE officials sit on the expert advisory group for allergy, which is convened by colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care and the National Allergy Strategy Group, and which plans to publish a 10-year strategy later this year. It will make recommendations to Government on levers that can improve the lives of people living with allergies, including in education. I encourage stakeholders to feed any ideas on those issues to officials via that route. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch again for securing this debate and for his instructive, insightful and personal contribution, and I thank all hon. Members, including those with lived experience, for their speeches and interventions this afternoon.

• 2 Jul 2025 · Spending Review: Northern Ireland Executive · Hansard source

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  I apologise, Mr Speaker.

• 16 Jun 2025 · School Estate · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member has not been shy in lobbying me on these issues, but I would be very happy to meet him again. He will know that the Department provides advice and support on a case-by-case basis, and I am happy to discuss these issues with him further.

• 16 Jun 2025 · School Estate · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member will know that ensuring schools and colleges get the resources and buildings they need is a key part of our mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure every young person can succeed and thrive. I would be very happy to meet him to discuss these issues further.

• 16 Jun 2025 · School Estate · Hansard source

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  I was very pleased to meet my hon. Friend to discuss Saint Benedict, which will benefit from transformed buildings through the school rebuilding programme. This Government have committed to continue and expand that programme to improve the school estate and give children the best start in life. I know that my hon. Friend is a real champion on these issues, and I would be very happy to discuss them further.

• 16 Jun 2025 · School Estate · Hansard source

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  The Government do not want any school to be left behind, including those serving rural communities. That is why we have invested significantly in capital funding this year, with almost £5.5 million for Norfolk county council to invest in improving its estate, including Wreningham and Brooke primary schools. I look forward to meeting my hon. Friend.

• 16 Jun 2025 · School Estate · Hansard source

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  This Government are committed to sustained investment to improve the school estate, in order to give children the best start in life. We will increase annual capital investment for maintenance in real terms, rising from £2.1 billion this financial year to around £2.3 billion in 2029-30—over £400 million more than in 2024-25. That is on top of around £2.4 billion per year over the next four years to 2029-30 to continue the school rebuilding programme in over 500 schools. We will go further by expanding the programme, providing long-term certainty through to 2034-35, and we will set out details in the forthcoming 10-year infrastructure strategy.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Smartphones in Schools · Hansard source

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  Is that all that the right hon. Lady can go on? After 14 years, the Conservatives broke the education system. As I said, guidance is already in place for schools, and the majority of schools already have a ban on mobile phone use.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Smartphones in Schools · Hansard source

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  I repeat my earlier answer: legislation is not necessary, because schools already have the power to ban phones in schools, and the majority have chosen to do so.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Smartphones in Schools · Hansard source

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  I will take no lectures from the Conservatives on this issue. When they were in government, they exclaimed that the same guidance meant a consistent approach across schools. I have to ask: if they were wrong then, are they wrong now?

• 16 Jun 2025 · Smartphones in Schools · Hansard source

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  Mobile phones have no place in our schools. Government guidance is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day. If pupils fail to follow those rules, schools have the power to confiscate devices to ensure that classrooms are free from disruption.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Smartphones in Schools · Hansard source

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  I think that shows that schools actually have the power to do this. It is worth saying that everyone, including parents, schools and providers, is responsible for ensuring that children are aware of the importance of internet safety. We encourage schools to consult and to build on that support with parents to develop a policy that works in the context and that keeps children and young people safe.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Around 50 mainstream private schools close each year. The level of fees charged by private schools is not a matter for the Department; it is a contractual matter between private schools and parents.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We have significantly increased investment to improve the condition of schools or rebuild them; ensuring that schools have the resources and buildings that they need is key to our plan for change. If the hon. Member would like to write to me about that school, I would be happy to update him on this matter.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for raising this important project. I can confirm that works at Angel Hill free school are expected to commence in September 2025 subject to the contract being awarded in August.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I completely agree with my hon. Friend. Providing over half a million children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with a free, nutritious lunch every school day will lead to higher attainment, improved behaviour and better outcomes, including on attendance, meaning that children can get the best possible education and a chance to succeed in life.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Mental Health Support: Schools · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend, but would add that it is not just seen through the expansion of mental health support teams. With an extra £680 million in Government funding this year, the Government are transforming mental health services for children in Reading West and Mid Berkshire and across the country, hiring more staff, delivering more talking therapies and getting waiting lists down through our plan for change so that children can have the best possible start in life.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Mental Health Support: Schools · Hansard source

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  This Government are committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity, which is why we are providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school and expanding mental health support teams so that every child can access early support before problems escalate.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Mental Health Support: Schools · Hansard source

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  I am happy to hear about the successful project in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and I am interested to learn more as we share further details. Separately, to support education staff, the Department provides a range of guidance and practical resources on promoting and supporting pupils’ mental health and wellbeing.

• 16 Jun 2025 · Mental Health Support: Schools · Hansard source

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  The difference is that we are delivering it to every school in our country to make sure that every child can succeed and thrive.