Lords
Debate
11 September 2026
Creative Education Access Bill [HL]
My Lords, first, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Featherstone on winning the ballot—or getting in the top 20. I have every confidence that this Bill will go the distance, because my noble friend has a track record. She fought to make sure that the equal marriage Bill got through Parliament. She …
Lords
Proceedings
8 September 2026
No. 10 North
My Lords, the Minister will be aware that 14 of the 15 cities with higher than average productivity are in the south; the only exception is Edinburgh. No cities in the north, no cities in the Midlands—not even Birmingham or the famed Manchester. Will the Minister ensure that, to get value for money,…
Lords
Proceedings
3 September 2026
Voter Registration, Election Turnout and Compulsory Voting
My Lords, if 16 year-olds are able to vote in future, at the first election after their 16th birthday, how will they all be registered to do so? Do not local authorities face a problem with non-registration, whereby it enables some people to claim single person discount on their council tax?
Lords
Proceedings
3 September 2026
Government Political Priorities and Legislative Agenda
My Lords, I am sure we all wish Andy Burnham well in his new job as our Prime Minister. He is able to connect with people, is a good communicator and he listens. He has certainly said the right things and spoken honestly and with sincerity about the major issues that we face. But speaking about issu…
Lords
Proceedings
2 September 2026
Schools: Mobile Phone Policy
My Lords, does the Minister agree that if particular tech companies cannot agree to the safety of children, they should not be allowed to have a licence to operate?
Lords
Proceedings
9 June 2026
E-scooters and E-bikes
My Lords, last October, Sandy Peters was walking on a pavement in south London with her son—it was his birthday—when a hired bike hit her at full speed. Her face went into a brick wall. She spent seven days in hospital, facing £10,000-worth of dental surgery. She has no way of recovering that money,…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 April 2026
Schoolchildren: Swimming
The noble Lord is right that it is already the case that in the strengthened RSHE guidance we have increased the focus on water safety. We have the opportunity, in the review that we are doing post the curriculum and assessment review, to redraft the national PE curriculum. In doing so, I am sure th…
Lords
Proceedings
15 April 2026
Knife Crime
My Lords, I very much welcome this good and comprehensive plan. However, the important thing is that it is sustained and is not just a flash in the pan where, in a few years’ time, we start cutting away the funding and looking at other approaches. It has to be maintained. I turn to the point about y…
Lords
Oral Questions
13 April 2026
2 contributions
Nitrous Oxide
The use of nitrous oxide among those aged 16 to 24 in England and Wales decreased from an estimated 194,000 users in the year ending March 2024 to 80,000 users in the following year. That is the lowest since records began in 2013. The Government provide information to the public on the risks of usin…
It is a very real problem. The noble Lord will know that the legislation to ensure that we put nitrous oxide on the controlled list, passed in 2023, has reduced the level of usage as a whole. I am also pleased to report that in the year September 2024 to September 2025, there were 242 convictions fo…
Lords
Committee Stage
16 March 2026
Media Literacy (Communications and Digital Committee Report)
My Lords, I am proud to be a member of the Communications and Digital Committee, which produced this report. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Keeley, for focusing and steering us towards the important conclusions we reached. Following the noble Baroness, Lady Bottomley, I will focus on the significa…
Lords
Oral Questions
24 February 2026
2 contributions
Prisons: Education
The provision of prison education is not good enough and budgets have not kept pace with rising costs. I am determined to improve the quality of education by driving up classroom attendance, expanding access by embracing digital learning and strengthening partnerships with employers such as Morrison…
I thank the noble Lord. He is absolutely right and I am looking at this on a daily basis. I walk past too many classrooms in prisons that are not full. Some are only one-third full. If I owned an airline and my planes were one-third full, I would not be doing very well. Recent Ofsted inspections hav…
Lords
Committee Stage
11 February 2026
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I have added my name to this amendment. Good local government and community empowerment need a strong local media to shine a light on the council chamber, to offer scrutiny, and to encourage communities. However, over the past 20 years, we have seen the gradual decline of local news and me…
Lords
Debate
9 February 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I recognise that Amendment 1, moved by the noble Lord, Lord Storey, on behalf of the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, is a tidying-up amendment, consequential to his previous amendment on school uniform. While I am sure that the debate on the wider issue of school uniform will continue in the ot…
My Lords, I begin by expressing my gratitude to your Lordships’ House for the careful and constructive scrutiny of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. This Bill brings forward once-in-a-generation and much-needed reforms to our children’s social care and education systems, and will deliver ta…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
9 February 2026
Hospitals: Delayed Discharges
The noble Lord raises the important point about the Casey review, which is fundamental. As he knows, it is an independent process, so I cannot give him the exact details that he is looking for, but I can assure him that the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, has been meeting with all the relevant people. W…
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
7 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
Every child must be safeguarded and safe from harm when they attend school. I remember, 15 years ago, what were called EpiPens. I had never heard of them until a parent came into school and told me about her child who had a particular allergy. We stocked EpiPens—one in each classroom, clearly labell…
My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 216. The amendment to ban mobile phones in schools was introduced to safeguard children’s well-being, which is a principle that I wholeheartedly support. But it is therefore imperative that we consider all the ways that a mobile phone can be vital for a child’s we…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, some of the points the noble Baroness, Lady Bousted, makes are important to consider. But let me remind the House that, over the years, Governments of various political persuasions have said how important it is that there is parental choice. They have encouraged parents to look at a school…
My Lords, I wonder if the Minister in her reply could tell us this? Presumably, some of these schools are not going ahead not just because of the demographics but because the birth rate is falling in that area and, going back to our previous discussion, it would be stupid to build new schools if we …
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
28 January 2026
9 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, of course, the noble Lord, Lord Bird, is a warrior and passionate advocate for the unemployed and the poor.
I have a slightly different take on this. Yes, targets and strategies are important, but how often do we say that we will sort this issue out by establishing targets and strategies?…
We on these Benches are strongly committed to safeguarding children and protecting them from the risks of the online world. As we recall, the noble Lord, Lord Nash, proposed an amendment that was a straightforward ban on social media. The Government are proposing a three-month big conversation, from…
+7 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
21 January 2026
4 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I have a number of amendments in this group. I will speak to my Amendments 108 and 110A, and briefly to Amendment 91 tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, and the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Nash. I start by thanking the hundreds of thousands of mums, dads, grandparents, single pa…
We must ensure that children are protected online and send a message to the Government that now is the time for action, not consultation. As Liberal Democrats, we know that children come before politics. We must work together for their safety and future.
I turn briefly to the amendment from the nob…
+2 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
19 January 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I will talk briefly to Amendments 75 and 76. These amendments are very important, and it is a great pity that we are discussing them at the end of the day. I always think of the saying that
“words without actions are the assassins of idealism”
and I wonder if these are not too general. I…
Lords
Debate
19 January 2026
6 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
I thank my noble friend Lady Tyler for all the work she has done on this important topic. It shows the real power and strength of this House that, by talking to each other, listening and supporting, we can bring about real change, so I thank the Government for putting down these amendments. As my no…
I very much look forward to the Minister’s reply on this group of amendments. There are 80,000 children in care—12,000 more than a decade ago—all of whom have different needs and requirements, mature at different ages and experience different feelings. I do not think you can put an arbitrary date on…
+4 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
14 January 2026
3 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, this is obviously an important issue to us. Although we welcome the Bill’s placing on a statutory footing the extension of virtual school head support to a wider group of children in kinship care, the positive impact of this will be significantly limited due to a lack of accompanying facil…
My Lords, I preface my remarks by noting how much support the Government have given to the whole area of carers, as indeed did the previous Government. I look at my party and Ed Davey’s experience as a carer. I do not think you can imagine what it must be like for children who are in care. All the f…
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
14 January 2026
7 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
I look forward to the Minister’s response on this issue, which is important. It is important that families understand exactly what is happening. I think the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, used the phrase “kept in the dark”. On far too many occasions people do not know what is going on, and I think tha…
My Lords, these amendments, in my name and supported by my noble friend Lord Mohammed, all refer to early years safeguarding in general, and particularly in large nurseries and early years group settings that are regulated.
When a child goes to nursery, we all expect them to be safeguarded and look…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
7 January 2026
Computer-generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
I cannot give the noble Lord specific detail on that. I come back to the point that there has been a consultation on the use of the powers under the Online Safety Act. That consultation has been completed; Ofcom will now reporting to government before April this year. That is when the provisions in …
Lords
Oral Questions
18 December 2025
Preschool Children: Digital Technology
The noble Lord raises an important point, and of course we have had other very distressing cases that have taken place recently in nurseries. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State made a Statement about action that the Government are taking. Specifically on this issue, we will be appoint…
Lords
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
Mobile Phone and Broadband Prices
The Chancellor and the Secretary of State have asked Ofcom to review the effectiveness of the changes that came in in January 2025, which set out that consumers must get the details in pounds and pence, so that they can have clarity. We have asked Ofcom to see how effective that is and a report will…