Speeches by Voaden.

“Do you think that there is enough support offered to adoptive families post adoption, or is that geographically varied?”

“It is not a silver bullet?”

“This is a question for Katharine and Maris primarily. Leaving care can feel like walking towards a cliff edge for many young people. What are your views on the Government’s proposed measures to support care leavers, in particular the extension of the Staying Close support?”

“I want to move on and ask James a question about adoption. The previous Government launched their national adoption strategy in 2021. What impact do you think that had on adoption provision and what measures would you like to see from the new Government to build on it?”

“Pharmacies in two of the major GP surgeries in my constituency, Leatside in Totnes and Compass House in Brixham, have closed in the past year because the private operators could not make a profit. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is urgent that we revise the funding model for prescriptions so that pharmacies, particul…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“The hon. Member mentioned the cryptosporidium incident in May in Brixham in my constituency, where 17,000 houses were affected by contaminated water. A boil water notice was enforced for eight weeks, and many of my constituents are still suffering from that. I say to the Minister that, when the Drinking Water Inspector…”

“Top-down reorganisation of a failing council such as Conservative-run Devon county council is a bit like shuffling the deck chairs on a sinking ship. We know that years of chronic underfunding have made it impossible for councils to fulfil their obligations, so I welcome the multi-year funding settlement. However, crea…”

“It was interesting in the pandemic year that grades went up when it was down to teacher assessment. Some might say teachers were being generous because it was a difficult time. Did that make you reflect at all on the exam system and whether at GCSE level it might be better to have more input from teachers about how kid…”

“Sir Ian, over the last five years we have seen significant variations in grading due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then efforts since to address that grade inflation. Are you confident that students are now assessed to the same standard as they were pre-pandemic?”

“Can I ask a supplementary?”

“While the children’s wellbeing Bill proposes statutory breakfast programmes, research from the Food Foundation shows that such clubs are more likely to benefit wealthier families because of the convenience that they offer working parents. By contrast, offering children free school lunches is known to help iron out ineq…”

“What can be done to support students who choose to withdraw from T-levels, especially those who are most susceptible to leaving education and training all together? Obviously if we defund the other qualifications, we are narrowing their options if they drop out of T-levels. What can we do to support them?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I thank the right hon. and learned Member for Torridge and Tavistock (Sir Geoffrey Cox) for securing this important debate, and for his lyrical introduction to the subject. It is clear from all hon. Members who have contributed that much is at stake for our r…”

“I would like to ask the Minister whether the Treasury consulted DEFRA on the tax change before deciding to go ahead with it in the Budget.”

“We know that students with SEND are more likely to pursue applied general and tech-level qualifications than their peers. What do you think the Government should do to mitigate the impact on students with SEND if funding is withdrawn from these qualifications?”

“In your written submission to the review, you suggested that some BTECs and other AGQs would benefit from updated content rather than defunding. What changes do you think would benefit students with SEND in the content of those qualifications?”

“David, the Education Policy Institute has recently recommended the introduction of smaller alternatives to T-levels to enable access for a wider range of students. What are the advantages and challenges associated with this change?”

“They might never be ready to take a T-level.”

“We have briefly touched on this already. Only 21% of students who started T-levels in 2022 finished their course. Why do you think that T-levels have a much lower retention rate compared to other level 3 qualifications?”