Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
Further Education Colleges: Recovery of VAT
My Lords, I endorse everything that the noble Baroness, Lady Blackstone, said about the disparity in pay between FE lecturers and schoolteachers, and the iniquity of that. FE is simply not treated in the same way as other educational systems. The Minister keeps saying that the Government are looking…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Disadvantaged Pupils: Music Attainment Gap
My Lords, partnerships between independent and state schools are making a tangible difference in closing the music attainment gap. Programmes such as MusicShare in the West Midlands have reached over 30,000 pupils across 500 schools, and community initiatives such as Wells Cathedral School’s free Sa…
Lords
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
Ballet
Yes. That is the reason why, as part of the strategic priorities grant, 12 of the 20 small, specialist providers are the type of high-quality performing arts providers that the noble Baroness was talking about. Those 20 providers are being supported in this financial year by £57.4 million precisely …
Lords
Debate
20 April 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I personally welcome the noble Baroness back to her place after a short period of illness and thank her for taking the time last week to engage with us to better understand where we are coming from and give us the opportunity to understand where she is coming from. I also thank the noble B…
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
2 contributions
Curriculum and Assessment Review
My Lords, there is a Division in the House. The Committee will adjourn for 10 minutes, but these votes may be back to back, so we may adjourn for 30 minutes; we will have to see what happens with the voting.
My Lords, developing a cutting-edge curriculum to equip children and young people with the essential knowledge and skills which will enable them to adapt and thrive in the world and workplace of the future was a key purpose of this review. Media literacy and digital literacy were two of the top five…
Lords
Committee Stage
17 March 2026
Further Education (Initial Teacher Training) Regulations 2026
My Lords, His Majesty’s loyal Opposition agree that all initial teacher training courses should set and achieve the highest possible standards so that every learner benefits from high-quality teaching. There is no disagreement across this Committee about the importance of well-trained teachers in fu…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 March 2026
Plan 2 Student Loans: Repayment Terms
Any young person who has the opportunity to mix with other young people from around the world will talk of the benefit that brings. This area is of enormous importance. It is not only about students coming here, but where our young people want to go to achieve their future success.
Lords
Committee Stage
2 March 2026
Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave Regulations 2026
I pay tribute, as did the Minister, to those who have secured this important step forward. Of course, we on these Benches know this terrain. It was His Majesty’s Official Opposition when in government who laid the foundation upon which these regulations rest. The Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay)…
Lords
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
Student Loans: Review
To be clear, once again, the level of debt does not determine the level of repayments that students make. To suggest that it does confuses and misleads those thinking about going to university. I take the point that has been made recently about the pressure of student loan repayments. As a Governmen…
Lords
Proceedings
23 February 2026
Arrangement of Business
My Lords, if there is a Division in the Chamber while we are sitting, this Committee will adjourn as soon as the Division Bells are rung and resume after 10 minutes.
Lords
Proceedings
29 January 2026
2 contributions
UK Development Partnership Assistance
I am very grateful. I thank everyone for such brilliant speeches—there is such knowledge in this House; it makes me so proud of everybody here. To the noble Baroness, Lady Hyde, I say that I was a designer before I came here, and my studio was at 7 Caledonian Road. I just wanted her to know that. I …
My Lords, my name will be mud because I have allowed this to overrun for two minutes, which is absolutely impossible in your Lordships’ House. But the question now is that this Motion be agreed to.
Lords
Oral Questions
29 January 2026
2 contributions
Erasmus+ Eligibility: Asylum Seekers
Hear, hear!
No, we are joining Erasmus on much better financial arrangements, with a 30% discount, for a larger scheme that will provide more opportunities for our young people and, in fact, for people throughout their lives, because in adult education you can benefit from this as well. We will get the benefit …
Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
Heritage Craft and Building Sector
Helpfully, my noble friend Lady Smith is sitting next to me, and I have confirmed with her what I understood to be the case, which is that schools still routinely teach children those skills. One of the challenges is how we make sure young people understand the exciting careers available. Within som…
Lords
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Schools and Universities: Language Learning
My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lady Coussins for giving us the opportunity to discuss this important topic and for her excellent and constructive introduction. As ever, I declare my interest as a secondary school teacher in Hackney, although I teach design technology rather than useful languages.…
Lords
Oral Questions
6 January 2026
Graduate Jobs
For someone who was unemployable at the age of 21, the noble Baroness has not done too badly for herself, and I am sure that the RAF has also benefited from the work that she has done over the years. This is incredibly important. University career support has come a long way, as anyone who has had c…
Lords
Proceedings
10 November 2025
Curriculum and Assessment Review
My Lords, like others, we warmly welcome much in the report, particularly on languages and the arts, as we have already heard. I want to raise one thing mentioned on page 37 about the technical awards. We have not had any briefings or debates on V-levels; they have suddenly appeared as if from the b…
Lords
Oral Questions
29 October 2025
Antisemitism: Universities
I will come back to the noble Baroness on the point about designated places, but it is absolutely imperative that all students are able to pursue their religious faith while they are students and be protected in their ability to do that. That is one of the reasons why the Government have made £500,0…
Lords
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
My Lords, I am delighted to be following our newly appointed Peer and Minister, my noble friend Lady Lloyd, and I am most grateful to the usual channels for allowing me to do so. It is quite something to be standing at the Dispatch Box to make one’s maiden speech, never having been a parliamentarian…
Lords
Debate
18 September 2025
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
I thank the noble Lord, but we are debating Amendment 483A, so I need to ask the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, to withdraw that first.
Lords
Debate
16 September 2025
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I have not had much input into the Bill, which colleagues with much greater knowledge of the issues than me have covered so ably, but I have tabled two amendments in this group, Amendments 452A and 452B. Refugee and asylum-seeking children and those on resettlement schemes may be among the…
Lords
Debate
4 September 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
My Lords, I have to notify the Committee that if Amendments 103ZZA and 103ZZB are agreed to, I cannot call Amendment 103ZA by reasons of pre-emption.
Lords
Debate
23 July 2025
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, it is very late and I will be very brief, but I want to associate these Benches with all that the noble Baroness, Lady Wolf, has raised. Apprenticeships should be for those starting out in working life. A level 7 apprenticeship is surely a contradiction in terms, but the perversity of the …
Lords
Oral Questions
17 July 2025
India and Pakistan: Peace Representations
My Lords, I will begin by reminding your Lordships that the issue of Kashmir is the oldest dispute in the history of the United Nations and has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since their independence. According to United Nations resolutions in 1948-49 and many subsequent ones, …