Speeches by Phillipson.

“I think it is clear that the public finances were under considerable strain.”

“We are expanding NHS mental health support teams to provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by 2029-30, and we estimate that by April next year an additional 900,000 pupils in schools and learners in FE will be covered by a mental health support team—around 6 million in total, or 60% of…”

“By next year, we will have covered 60% of pupils. We want to move rapidly to get to every school by 2029-30, but we have made significant progress. Almost an extra million pupils and learners will by next April be benefiting from a mental health support team. I have visited one school that is already taking part. What …”

“No school leader, teacher or anyone in education should face what you have just described—it is completely unacceptable—but school leaders do have the powers to ban phones in schools. Your example demonstrates that they have the powers to do that. We have also seen that it has sometimes been done on a local authority-w…”

“The guidance is already clear that schools should prohibit the use of phones throughout the school day, including breaktimes and lunch times. We expect schools to take steps in line with that guidance, but there are different ways for schools to implement that.”

“I welcome the evidence and research put forward by the Education Policy Institute. It seems self-evident that if children are not in school, they are less likely to succeed in school. Some of the challenges we have seen around attendance have particularly affected certain groups. We are moving in the right direction on…”

“Making sure that families can access high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare is critical to the work that we are doing across the Department for Education, which is why we have provided over £8 billion in 2025-26 for early years entitlements, which is expected to increase to over £9 billion …”

“It has to be a combination. Attendance is clearly a critical factor and has been a real focus of effort from this Government. We have seen real progress around persistent absenteeism in particular—young people who are regularly missing more than 10% of their time in school. From January, our new attendance and behaviou…”

“We talked earlier about the challenges that we are facing around SEND, the deficits that exist and the pressures that will continue to rise without action. Again, I emphasise that the starting point is about children and their life chances. I think your questions about the nature of discussions with the OBR that were c…”

“I agree that this is extremely serious; it has obviously built up over many, many years. We are working with local authorities to manage their SEND pressures. I will directly address the question about next steps, but there are good examples that show how councils—together with the DfE, or sometimes separately—can crea…”

“From the evidence we have seen in the taskforce, it was that question of the second person in the household being able to work or to work more. It would make a big difference to the numbers if we were able to support that second potential earner to be in work or to work more. The other big difference we have seen over …”

“We want to publish the schools White Paper early next year. I do appreciate how strongly parents feel about this topic. I recognise the need for change and I have heard that from parents, but I also recognise that change brings uncertainty and that it causes concern among parents even where they recognise that the syst…”

“It is not coming from the core schools budget—I could not be more clear. It will come from across Government budgets, and it is a matter for the next spending review. [Interruption.] It is! Alongside that, we will set out reforms in the new year to improve outcomes for children with SEND—something that the right hon. M…”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising her concern. We are working with the Home Office and with colleagues across Government in developing the child poverty strategy. We will focus on ensuring that vulnerable children are protected and their welfare is safeguarded, and that vulnerable migrant children receive the…”

“Labour’s free breakfast clubs have already served 5 million meals, including in Knockhall primary school and Sedley’s primary school in Dartford. Applications are now open to join the next wave from April, with 2,000 more schools set to join in the next financial year, making the clubs available to half a million more …”

“I recognise the particular challenges faced by many rural communities, and I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising them. We have been considering such matters through the development of the strategy. The taskforce has been working across Government, including with colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food a…”

“Tackling child poverty is a moral mission for the Labour party, because we believe that someone’s background should not determine what they go on to achieve in life. Scrapping the two-child limit will mean that we can deliver the largest reduction in child poverty in a single Parliament, and we will publish the child p…”

“Yes, we are looking at that question and at the issue of temporary accommodation that the hon. Member raises. This is a cross-Government strategy and not for the Department for Education to solve alone, although the lifting of the two-child limit is an investment not just in our children and their life chances but in o…”

“Labour believes that background should not determine what people go on to achieve in life. We see child poverty as a moral scar on our country. When last in government, we lifted 600,000 children out of poverty. During their time in government, the Tories plunged 900,000 children into poverty. The seismic decision take…”

“I do love modern languages, and I was a very keen student of them myself, but I am afraid that, as the right hon. Gentleman will know, the EBacc did not drive improved access to modern foreign languages. He knows that—he will have looked at the data. I do not think that the system as it stands provides the right balanc…”