Lords
Proceedings
29 June 2026
Construction Sector: Skills Shortage
My Lords, given the Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes and our reliance on a strong construction sector for economic growth, what specific steps are being taken to ensure that a larger proportion of pupils take design and technology GCSE and similar qualifications with strong, relevant…
Lords
Proceedings
10 June 2026
Best Start Family Hubs
My Lords, the test of the family hubs is not how many open but whether children are connected to the right opportunities. The Department for Education’s own guidance includes a minimum expectation that families whose young people are not in education, employment or training be connected to targeted …
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Health-related Benefits Assessments
My Lords, between July 2024 and July 2025, 1.1 million assessments were carried out remotely. Three-quarters of those were conducted by telephone and just 3% were conducted by video link. Notwithstanding the answers the Minister has given us already, how can a DWP assessor properly judge whether som…
Lords
Proceedings
4 June 2026
2 contributions
Young People and Work
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name in the Order Paper. I understand that there is a debate going on about where I should be sitting. If I have got it wrong, I am really sorry.
I thank the Minister for her Answer, which is encouraging. We on these Benches welcome the Milburn report. It is a serious, research-driven diagnosis of a problem that has accelerated since the pandemic. The NEET problem is complex and cuts across almost every government department—and it is more th…
Lords
Proceedings
3 June 2026
Equality Act 2010: Code of Practice
My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Statement on the draft Equality Act 2010 code of practice. The publication of the draft code is welcome, and I was pleased to see greater protections for breast-feeding women, and greater clarity for people with disabilities. Those are important …
Lords
Proceedings
1 June 2026
For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers
My Lords, this morning the Health Secretary told the “Today” programme that the Supreme Court ruling was clear and that single-sex spaces must be protected, but UNISON has called parts of the new guidance “completely unworkable” and Sir Ed Davey has said that it is “not fit for purpose”. Can the Min…
Lords
Proceedings
20 May 2026
Disadvantaged Pupils: Music Attainment Gap
Like everyone on these Benches, I welcome the fact that the Government are intending to give more prominence to creative subjects, music included, with their proposed reforms to the Progress 8 model. However, there is a real risk that the proposals end up sacrificing depth for breadth without signif…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
Local Government Pension Scheme
My Lords, what assessment have the Government made of so-called lifestyling pension strategies, also known as target date or pathway funds, where savers are automatically moved out of growth assets and into gilts and bonds as they approach retirement, often without actively choosing to do so or full…
Lords
Proceedings
18 May 2026
Healthy Life Expectancy: England
My Lords, my succinct question is this. Given that healthy life expectancy has fallen despite record levels of NHS spending, with obesity, diabetes and poor mental health continuing to rise, can the Minister explain what specifically will be different in the Government’s approach, beyond simply incr…
Lords
Debate
27 April 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, the arguments have been well rehearsed. I am not convinced that this coercion is as innocent as has been made out and I therefore wish to test the opinion of the House.
Lords
Oral Questions
27 April 2026
For Women Scotland Case
I do not understand why I need to repeat myself so often. The Prime Minister has been absolutely clear. The Supreme Court judgment must be complied with. It is the law. Whether or not the Conservative Party needs to explain to the electorate, “We will comply with the law”, there is no doubt about it…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Office for National Statistics Labour Market Data
It is important to understand what we are doing through our youth guarantee trailblazers in England to tackle inactivity and to solve the problem of the number of NEETs, which across the House we want to see solved. Through eight youth guarantee trailblazers in England there has been an expansion of…
Lords
Debate
22 April 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I have already spoken to Motions B to D. I beg to move.
Lords
Debate
20 April 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, we have heard continued disagreement with mandation and coercion from across the House. As the Minister has said, we do not need to re-rehearse all the things that we have already said, but something that stuck in my mind from a previous stage was when the Minister said that if we did not …
Lords
Debate
26 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I warmly acknowledge the collegiate and genuinely cross-party approach that has characterised the passage of the Bill through your Lordships’ House. I know I also speak for my noble friend Lord Younger of Leckie in expressing our sincere thanks to colleagues across the House for their cons…
Lords
Debate
25 March 2026
National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill
My Lords, once again, taken together, this is a further insult to working people. As we have heard this evening, it is about not the fat cats but the youngsters and the poorer paid who are starting off and trying to do the right thing, making their way in the world. There is already intergenerationa…
Lords
Proceedings
24 March 2026
Youth Unemployment
My Lords, I begin by making it very clear that we on these Benches believe it is vital that young people are supported into work. We wholeheartedly support the announcement about the new opportunities for young people, and we want to see them succeed. The evidence is clear that periods of unemployme…
Lords
Debate
23 March 2026
5 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I will speak broadly in support of these amendments. They reflect a thoughtful and welcome focus from across the House on some of the most important structural issues in our pension system. In particular, I welcome the attention given by noble Lords to the effects of consolidation on compe…
My Lords, we have significant concerns about the direction of travel shown by the Government with their amendments in this group. These amendments risk opening the door to mandation by the backdoor, and that is something we cannot support.
The Government’s Amendment 156 would require the Secretary …
+3 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
19 March 2026
2 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, in continuing the spirit of good grace, I wish our Deputy Chief Whip a very happy birthday today.
I will speak briefly in support of Amendment 49 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, which I was pleased to sign. Fundamentally, the amendment is about ensuring that we do not mov…
My Lords, of all the amendments we have tabled and discussed on this Bill, for me, this group is the most important. Mandation is, rightly and understandably, the most contentious part of the Bill. I am grateful to all noble Lords who have helped raise awareness of this issue, which, as I am sure th…
Lords
Debate
16 March 2026
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I begin by thanking the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, for her opening remarks, which set the scene effectively on an important part of the Bill. She has done so at the close of what has been a long first day on Report—longer than we would have thought. She has once again brought clarity to…
Lords
Debate
16 March 2026
4 contributions
Pension Schemes Bill
My Lords, I move Amendment 9 standing in the names of my noble friend Lord Younger of Leckie and myself. During the passage of this Bill, we on these Benches have had a great many discussions not only in this Chamber but with industry experts, scheme managers, employers and others who will be direct…
Your Lordships have got me.
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
13 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I will speak to the probing Amendment 161 in my name. It asks the simple but profoundly important question of whether registered medical practitioners should be granted a blanket legal protection to raise the possibility of ending any person’s life or whether that protection should be care…
Lords
Debate
12 March 2026
3 contributions
Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill
My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity to make my maiden speech here during this Second Reading debate. Supporting children and tackling the impact of poverty and disadvantage have been core themes of my work, both in the other place and in my charity and NHS board roles since.
I will turn to …
Okay; it is going to be a long day.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
11 March 2026
Pension Schemes: Ministerial Powers
There is a short and a long answer. The short answer is no. The long answer is that the Government have made it abundantly clear, because I have done it myself many times in Committee, what the purpose of the reserve power is: to backstop the Mansion House and trust commitments. My honourable friend…