Speeches by Martin.

“Q With your experiences in mind, do you think it is right that local authorities that want to open new schools can currently only seek proposals for academies? Under the Bill, they will be able to invite proposals for other types of school. What implications do you think that will have for pupils? Ruth Stanier: We very…”

“Q How will the Bill support local partnerships? We heard from Sir Jon Coles, the Church of England, the Catholic Education Service and others about collaboration. How will the Bill support local partnerships to work together more effectively to prevent children from falling behind? Catherine McKinnell: My hon. Friend r…”

“Q The Minister touched on admissions and I would like to widen that. Positive and best outcomes and the destination of children and young people should be at the heart of every Government mission on education, as it should be at any school trust or local authority. However, concerns continue to grow about the widening …”

“Q Keeping children safe and safeguarding are key priorities that you guys have a lot of expertise in. Many experts have talked about the widening attainment gap and the rising number of children out of school. Most of them are our most disadvantaged and vulnerable. What difference do you think the Bill’s provisions wil…”

“Q I am sorry if this is a blunt question, but on 18 April 2022, you wrote an opinion piece for the Telegraph alongside Nadine Dorries, who was then the Culture Secretary. In that article, you said that the Conservative manifesto was “our manifesto”. Are giving evidence here today from your personal opinion or in your r…”

“Q It is clear that we need strong partnerships to stop children slipping through the cracks, which happens far too often. What do you think will be the impact of creating the duty of safeguarding for partnerships to establish the multi-agency child protection teams? What lessons must we learn? Dr Homden: I think we wil…”

“One of them, just to come back on that, is around the cost of living and the housing elements. There were two students from my area that pay £10,000 a year for their accommodation and there are six students in that house. That is £60,000 a year. That is more than the maximum maintenance grant.”

“In 2020 there was the introduction of the statutory override but, despite that, in 2022 and 2023 there were 101 overspent local authorities on their high needs budget. It has contributed to the cumulative deficit in the Dedicated Schools Grants, or DSGs. Many local authorities are concerned about their economic viabili…”

“You noted getting kids in the door at university is one hurdle and then it is making sure their time at university is the best it can be. In talking to students at Portsmouth University and those at Portsmouth Sixth Form College, and I know this is around the country, there is an issue in how they decide for their futu…”

“Thank you, Secretary of State. I am going to the other end of the spectrum, which is early years, but it is something we know that if we get it right it has the best outcomes for young people. I have heard from my own constituency, from both settings and the employees within them, that despite the increase in entitleme…”

“Good-quality, secure and decent rentals should not be too much to ask, and I thank those landlords who do provide that in my city and beyond. I welcome the Government amendments to this detailed Bill, which will help residents in Portsmouth North to rent homes that are both secure and decent.”

“There are concerns that military accommodation, which I have in my constituency, is not included in the Bill, but one of my main concerns is the immense cut in funding to that accommodation. The properties are in such a state of disrepair that the Government have had to go back and re-buy them. Does the hon. Gentleman …”

“Prostate cancer costs the NHS around £93 million a year, but more than a third of those costs are avoidable through early diagnosis. Prostate cancer remains the only major cancer in the UK without a national screening programme. I understand that requesting screening can be a real obstacle to some men, so I give heartf…”

“The right hon. Gentleman needs to understand that it is about pay and conditions, not just pay, and it needs to be national if we are to recruit and retain teachers. The previous Government failed on every single measure to retain and recruit qualified teachers.”

“Children growing up in our country, and in my city of Portsmouth, deserve the very best start in life and nothing less. As a teacher for 24 years, I have seen the best in education and unfortunately, under the Conservatives, the very worst. The best journey in life is not easy, and it is shameful that under the last Go…”

“I am going to cover multi-academy trusts. Before I talk about Government pledges, timing and challenges, I just want to take a brief step back because I am aware of timings. It is linked to you talking around the learning from things that have happened previously. Prior to October 2023, there were summary evaluations d…”

“As a teacher of 24 years and a school governor of three schools, I have had nine Ofsted experiences.”

“Just on that, actually, one of the first questions would be when we expect the first multi-academy trust inspection might take place. Before you answer that I would like to think about what the biggest challenges for Ofsted are when it comes to inspecting multi‑academy trusts. You have thought about that in the framewo…”

“You touched on the Ofsted Academy in your overview of the one to six recommendations. The predecessor Committee’s inquiry into Ofsted’s work heard concerns around the lack of relevant expertise among inspectors. I have two questions around that. First, how will the proposed academy improve this? Secondly, do you intend…”

“I welcome this important debate. A number of causes for concern are being raised with me by my constituents, and all of them are preventable. First, abandoned cars are routinely being left at the side of a road in my constituency, usually near car dealerships, with no MOTs or insurance. They can sit there for weeks, an…”