Lords
Proceedings
16 June 2026
Social Media Ban for Under-16s
My Lords, I echo other noble Lords in thanking the Government for their announcement and the important progress that has been made, of course acknowledging that my noble friend Lord Nash in particular encouraged some of that movement. I want to press the Minister on the exception for educational ser…
Lords
Proceedings
8 June 2026
School Admissions: Selective Inclusion
My Lords, I too welcome my noble friend to her place on the Front Bench. Does the Minister agree that we should congratulate and celebrate the 500 schools in this country that have added most value to the pupils attending them, rather than trying to pick holes in their performance?
Lords
Debate
28 April 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, briefly, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate on Motion A1. I thank in particular the noble Lord, Lord Nash, and the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, who have done so much to contribute to the way this debate has moved forward. I thank the Ministers for their engagement, and …
Lords
Oral Questions
28 April 2026
Ballet
It is definitely not right that the noble Baroness has no talents. Anybody who saw me on “Strictly” will know the extent of my dance talents. Anyway, I reiterate that the Government have given support to the music and dance scheme. It will provide generous support to help students access specialist …
Lords
Debate
20 April 2026
7 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
Before the Minister sits down, both the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, and I raised the issue of smartphones as distinct from mobile phones. I understood the Minister to say that she would consider improving the guidance to make it clear that “not seen, not heard” was not in line with the spirit of the …
I thank the Minister for her comments and response to the points raised. I thank all noble Lords, in particular my noble friend Lord Clement-Jones, for setting out clearly, alongside myself, our position on social media. I welcome the comments on having better clarity on the smartphones issue. I am …
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
20 April 2026
Schoolchildren: Swimming
Well done to the noble Baroness: I am rather more a floater than a swimmer, it would be fair to say. She is right that last June the Prime Minister announced a new national approach to PE and school sport in the PE and School Sport Network, which will bring together the department and schools, along…
Lords
Oral Questions
15 April 2026
Masculinity and Misogyny in Schools
Can I say how much I am enjoying getting back to this in the next stage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on Monday? We will have the opportunity, once again, to discuss the action that this Government have already taken to understand the concerns that there are about social media and to …
Lords
Debate
26 March 2026
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
My Lords, I was delighted to add my name to Amendment 93 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Ravensdale. As we have heard, this Bill aims to put English devolution on to a stronger footing so that local leaders can drive economic growth and close the persistent and deep gaps between regions. But at …
Lords
Oral Questions
26 March 2026
Curriculum and Assessment Review
My Lords, I am very conscious of the richness of this debate, and I thank the noble Lord, Lord Freyberg, for instigating it and everyone who has participated. I acknowledge that I have 10 minutes to comment on the incredible breadth that has come from the Room. I will touch on as much as I can, but …
Lords
Debate
25 March 2026
13 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I am exceptionally grateful to all noble Lords who have contributed to the debate. I recognise the commitment and contribution they have all made during the passage of the Bill. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed, for not pursuing any of the points further, as he said.
To address the m…
My Lords, may I pick up on that point?
+11 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
25 March 2026
Equality: Break Down Barriers to Opportunity Mission
It is important to recognise the work that we are doing in tackling disadvantage. One of the key indicators is around preparedness for school. We know that too many young children are arriving at school unable to take part in the work that needs to be done. Obviously, indicators are just a form of p…
Lords
Debate
11 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I too will speak very briefly, given the hour. I was also pleased to add my name to Amendment 431. For the benefit of Hansard , the noble Baroness, Lady Kidron, referred to Amendment 404—but I think she was talking about Amendment 431. Anyway, I am going to try to talk about Amendment 431.…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 March 2026
Student Loan System
I thank the noble Baroness and of course I will write to her, but I emphasise to the House that any remaining balance after 30 years is cancelled. No debt passes to family members or any descendants: that is something perhaps we have lost a bit of sight of today. I am happy to provide the informatio…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 March 2026
Special Educational Needs: Dyscalculia
As the noble Baroness knows extremely well, there are always competing areas for funding, but that is not to underestimate the importance of maths hubs and the work they are doing. We want to make sure they can be as efficient as possible and reach as many young people as possible, using every avail…
Lords
Proceedings
6 March 2026
International Women’s Day
What a splendid debate we have had today.
I recognise the excellent maiden speeches we have heard. My noble friend Lady Nargund vividly described her and her family’s journey from south-west India and her family’s history of struggle, which I have no doubt will inform her contributions to our House…
Lords
Proceedings
24 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
My Lords, I start by thanking the Government for the Statement and the publication of the schools White Paper, the SEND consultation and the update on teacher recruitment. I also acknowledge the time taken by the Secretary of State and her ministerial colleagues in communicating in particular the Go…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
V-levels
We have seen a considerable increase in the awareness of T-levels. It is also the case that we want to ensure—through reforms that we will have more to say about in the near future—that T-levels are both accessible to more students and scalable for more students to be able to take advantage of them.…
Lords
Oral Questions
23 February 2026
Free Speech Complaints Scheme
I hope that the noble Baroness had a relaxing recess. As I said in response to her noble friend, a range of options has been proposed. I am not quite sure that the legal advice is as authoritative as she suggests, but I am in constant conversation with officials about the most appropriate route thro…
Lords
Proceedings
10 February 2026
Standards in Public Life
My Lords, we have heard a lot of talk this evening about trust in public life. There are two aspects of trust that I would be grateful if the noble Baroness could comment on. There is obviously the terrible betrayal of trust that we have seen recently in the case of Lord Mandelson, but I would like …
Lords
Debate
9 February 2026
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I always like to bring both the energy and the sunshine, and on that basis, I thank all noble Lords, and I beg to move.
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
8 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
The decision before us this evening in relation to Amendment 215 is whether we support the Government’s recent policy shift to tighten the guidance to schools about phones or whether we need to amend the Bill to prohibit the use and possession of smartphones in schools. On these Benches, we are abso…
My Lords, the House is probably keener to hear from the Minister than from me. I am grateful to noble Lords for their remarks. It was clarified that there are exceptions in the amendment around medical devices. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Addington, of course, we want children with special e…
+6 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
3 February 2026
7 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, this group contains some important amendments, including my Amendments 198 and 199.
Amendment 198 deals with the duty to co-operate that all schools are required to respect, which I raised in Committee. I questioned whether there really was a problem that needed solving—namely, that acade…
My Lords, I just want to respond briefly to a couple of the remarks that were made about the amendments in my name. In relation to Amendment 198, I thank my noble friend Lord Nash for adding his name but also for making the case that we need more special schools and more alternative provision. I hop…
+5 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
28 January 2026
14 contributions
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
My Lords, I shall start, where the noble Lord, Lord Storey, finished in recognising the work of Lord Soley, who devoted many years to this issue. I hope somewhere, in his retirement, he is aware of what is happening here.
As we have discussed previously, there are at least three groups of families …
I would like to test the opinion of the House.
+12 more contributions in this session
Lords
Oral Questions
28 January 2026
Schools: Music and Dance Scheme
No, it is not. That is why, unlike the noble Baroness’s Government, we have not cut the money for the music and dance scheme. I understand that schools are keen that we provide even more. That is why we will soon announce the funding for 2026-27, and we will ensure that, alongside all the other thin…