Speeches by Voaden.

“I welcome the explanation of the draft regulations, but I wonder if the Minister could provide clarification, because there seems to be a contradiction. The draft regulations remove the legal presumption that new schools should be academies, yet through the Children’s Wellbeing and School Act, the Government intend for…”

“I would like to just move beyond Best Start family hubs for a moment, if we could. What early intervention services and partnerships do you think are the most effective in identifying and supporting children and families early, that would improve outcomes outside the family hub? Are there any particular services out th…”

“Are you saying we have big gaps in the Healthy Babies funding because it is not funded everywhere?”

“Teachers and parents in South Devon are worried about the future of PE following funding cuts. Many areas already have successful school sports partnerships, with schools pooling their premium and working with organisations such as Active Partnerships. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to clarify wheth…”

“It has to be a universal service offer, which would be midwifery or home health visiting. In the old days we had health visitors who visited every family.”

“Bereavement benefits have not been uprated for 10 years, and they simply do not recognise the lifelong impact of early bereavement on children and surviving parents. Will the Minister look again at uprating bereavement support benefits in line with inflation?”

“Any victim of rape or child sexual abuse will know that securing a conviction is almost impossible. I am absolutely astonished that those incarcerated for raping children are not excluded from this early release scheme. However, given that the Government are including them, and given the absolute mess made of the Proba…”

“The Secretary of State says we need “better market access, so that British food can reach more customers at home and abroad”, but we know that they continue to face unnecessary trade barriers. It is a shame that the UK-EU summit is now being reorganised due to the Prime Minister’s resignation. Farmers and food producer…”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?”

“Ten years ago today, the Brexit campaign became one of the first very successful disinformation campaigns. Ranging from Turkish immigrants to Spanish bullfighting, the targeted Facebook ads played on people’s fears and deceived millions. But today, disinformation is more pervasive, insidious and vindictive than ever be…”

“Is it a Treasury decision to freeze the repayment threshold, or is it a joint decision?”

“It is interesting that you talk about maternity pay, because teachers now get eight weeks’ maternity pay, whereas a civil servant at the Department for Education gets 26 weeks. Understandably, teachers might feel that there is a slight imbalance there, but briefly—”

“I appreciate that, but there is a way to go.”

“Briefly, on the workforce pressures, seven out of 10 school leaders report having to cut down on teaching assistants in the last year because of school budgets, and 49% have reduced their support staff. This is adding incredibly to the workforce pressures on classroom teachers. What is your Department doing to improve …”

“Good morning. I would like to move on to talk about mobile phones in schools. The Committee heard evidence during its inquiry into screen time and social media that, although the 2026 Act makes the guidance statutory, there is a risk that the “never used, seen or heard” policy could still be pursued by heads and teache…”

“But what if a small rural school becomes unsustainable and is forced to close? I have a couple of schools that are going down to one class for the whole school from September. As soon as that school closes, the whole community changes, the social cohesion of the community changes and the village becomes a very differen…”

“Our colleagues on the Treasury Committee are currently conducting an inquiry into student loans, focusing on whether repayment terms are fair and proportionate. That was prompted by the freeze in the repayment threshold. The decision on repayment appeared to be taken jointly by the Department and the Treasury, so can y…”

“That is very important. You talk about children not having access to phones, yet you have not specifically said that “not seen, not heard” policies do not work. We have all heard evidence. I regularly hear from parents who say, “We know it does not work because we know the kids are going to the toilet and using the pho…”

“So you are not going to update the guidance on “not seen, not heard”.”

“I want to move on to how the falling birth rate is affecting school rolls. The National Audit Office’s report on changing demand for school places states that your Department “has not assessed” the impact of those changes on “educational quality…for pupils.” Why have you not done so?”