Lords
Oral Questions
12 January 2026
Sexual Harassment in Educational Settings
I think I have responded to that point. I have pointed out that one of the most appropriate things that schools can do—recognising that misogyny and abuse are not innate to children but are learned, including through the internet—is to help teach children different attitudes and to reinforce the dec…
Lords
Debate
8 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I too support the idea that this Bill needs extra time. It is entirely unsurprising that that is the case given that, notwithstanding the fact that it is a Private Member’s Bill, it is dealing with such a matter of substance. For example, if you compare the process that was put before the …
Lords
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Schools and Universities: Language Learning
My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, and all noble Lords who have chosen to make valuable contributions on this subject. The recruitment and retention of modern language teachers, indeed of teachers in all subjects, is incredibly important. In an education setting, consistency and re…
Lords
Proceedings
6 January 2026
Venezuela
My Lords, speaking about the international implications of this, I think that Venezuela is not the only nation that is badly governed and managed, and this sends a signal from His Majesty’s Government, a permanent member of the UN Security Council. If we soft glove our close ally America and allow i…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 December 2025
2 contributions
Jobs Market: Wider Economic Implications
My Lords—
I am not going to diss looking for a job in McDonald’s, but I do not want to see anyone unable to pursue the things that they want to do. The noble Lord is absolutely right. We have invested £600 million in a construction package and are working closely with the industry. We have a strategic relatio…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 December 2025
Girls: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
I answered this question in the sense of needing to get into primary schools to start to change attitudes. Working with teachers and professionals is critical in this, and that is why we are investing in the workforce and training, and in getting a greater awareness of why there are these barriers. …
Lords
Oral Questions
17 December 2025
Special Educational Needs: Investment
The 50,000 additional places that will be funded through the £3 billion that we announced last week are on top of the 10,000 new specialist places in mainstream and special schools, supported by the £740 million that we invested this year. That goes back to the point I made earlier: this is not abou…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 December 2025
Free School Meals
As I have outlined, the national funding formula already includes provision for the funding of free school meals. It quite rightly targets funding to schools on the basis of those with the greatest numbers of pupils with additional needs. I will investigate whether it is possible to provide those fi…
Lords
Oral Questions
10 December 2025
Children: Social Media
The role of parents and of media literacy is, of course, critical. Indeed, as technology evolves, as access changes, the department will be supporting parents and carers with media literacy. From next year, there will be some pilot projects to support families navigate the online space, particularly…
Lords
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
Schools: Funding
If a young person has an education, health and care plan that identifies a private school for them, their parents will not be impacted by VAT on private school fees. Equally, most children with special educational needs and disabilities are educated in the state system. It is in order to improve the…
Lords
Oral Questions
20 November 2025
Child Grooming Victims: Compensation Awards
It is a very good point. Every judge at the end of a criminal trial has the ability to make a confiscation order, and these are being pursued with rigour because it is really important to ensure that criminals do not profit from that kind of illicit activity.
Lords
Proceedings
19 November 2025
Gaza and Sudan
My Lords, I join my noble friend Lord Purvis in his frustration about how long it has taken to have a Statement on Sudan. In particular, I have concerns around the credible evidence of atrocities that are highly possible in El Obeid and Tawila. What specific actions are His Majesty’s Government taki…
Lords
Proceedings
18 November 2025
Independent Football Regulator
My Lords, I declare an interest as a long-suffering Sheffield Wednesday supporter. Now that the regulator is in post, is the Minister assuring us that there will never be another debacle like the one we have seen at Sheffield Wednesday?
Lords
Oral Questions
17 November 2025
Teachers: Music, Drama, Art and Design, and Dance
That is precisely why we need the 6,500 new teachers in secondary and special schools to which the Government have committed. By not only committing to but investing in the profession, we are already delivering results through the increased numbers of teachers that we are seeing. Through the music h…
Lords
Proceedings
10 November 2025
Curriculum and Assessment Review
My Lords, I too begin by thanking Professor Becky Francis for her Curriculum and Assessment Review report. There is much in this final report that we on these Benches can welcome. Indeed, quite a few of the ideas bear a distinctly Liberal Democrat imprint: renewed emphasis on a broad and balanced cu…
Lords
Oral Questions
5 November 2025
Prison Services: Insourcing
I completely agree. Having run a business for a long time, and paid a lot of tax, I am very aware that I want it spent wisely. Let me give one example: BT does the majority of our phone contracts in our prisons, for prisoners to make calls to family and friends. I managed to reduce the cost of those…
Lords
Oral Questions
4 November 2025
Official Development Assistance
The noble Lord is right that in Afghanistan in particular—but not only Afghanistan—there are real problems in accessing education for girls. We will continue to support work on that in those places. More widely on education, especially for girls, the best thing we can do is support countries to stre…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 November 2025
Public/Private Partnerships: Shares
We will look at all avenues to improve any potential public/private partnership. There are obviously lessons from the past that we can draw on. I do not know the specific case that the noble Lord mentioned, but Ministers will look at this in the round. They are advising potential organisations on pu…
Lords
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025
My Lords, at the outset of this debate on the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act, I congratulate the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Lloyd, on her excellent maiden speech, and I look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Lord, Lord Stockwood.
I chair the Manufacturing Commission. Manufact…
Lords
Proceedings
22 October 2025
Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy
I support the comments of my noble friend Lord Storey and the noble Lord, Lord Knight, on NEETs and funding for them. One of the issues about NEETs is the “not known” figure. We might know the young people who are not in employment, education or training, but often there is a cohort who are not know…
Lords
Oral Questions
16 October 2025
Starvation as a Weapon of War
My Lords, given the gravity of the events that are the subject of today’s proceedings, while it is not exactly a pleasure to contribute to this debate, I am pleased to follow the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed of Tinsley, and to thank him for his powerful contribution, and to have the opportunity to than…
Lords
Oral Questions
18 September 2025
Genome Screening: Newborn Infants
There were a number of very helpful points in there. To reconfirm and satisfy your Lordships’ House, this is for conditions that may develop up to the age of five. As with all screening, consent is required. As the noble Lord rightly says, a baby of course cannot consent, but the parents can. Around…
Lords
Debate
12 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I declare an interest: my brother is a consultant in palliative care. Today, I want to speak in defence of palliative care and hospice support for people with terminal illnesses. It is deeply troubling that this Bill and the debate surrounding it, certainly before today, have given so litt…
Lords
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
My Lords, I, too, put our record our thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Casey, for the work she has done to date and for the further work I hope she will do in future.
I follow up on the comments made by the noble Baroness opposite on not only schools, but on youth workers and services in particula…
Lords
Oral Questions
17 July 2025
India and Pakistan: Peace Representations
My Lords, last month, as co-chair of the India All-Party Parliamentary Group, I hosted a delegation of cross-party Members of Parliament from both houses of the Indian Parliament to the UK. They were sent by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to communicate to us the horrors of 22 April in Kashmir and the…