Speeches by McKinnell.

“It was a scheme of the previous Government, so I think that Matthew will be well placed to answer your question.”

“Clearly, I agree that school sports facilities are vital assets for pupils and local communities, not only because they offer those great facilities, but they are also quite a familiar environment for a lot of people, and there is real value in that. We have taken lessons from the three years that the scheme was in pla…”

“I am not sure that is a question for the Department for Education. I do appreciate the challenge you raise to school playing fields, for example. I think it is important that very clear criteria are followed in the case of a change of use of any sports playing facilities. We know that where they are on designated educa…”

“I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of the curriculum and assessment review.”

“It is all in discussion. We do appreciate that each school has particular circumstances that they need to meet and address as part of their PE and sport offer but I also know schools would welcome a more co-ordinated approach and support and bolstering of capacity within the school to be able to provide in-school as we…”

“It is ringfenced for the 2025-26 academic year. As you will know, but I will say it for the purpose of the Committee hearing it, it is a combination of funding from the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care, and that is in recognition of the value not just of the quality of education in…”

“We are working on the details of that. To come to your earlier point, we are not actually waiting either. We are getting on already. We have met with the governing bodies. We have also launched Inclusion 2028. In answer to your earlier question about how we support teachers to provide high-quality teaching, physical ac…”

“I can be more specific. About what?”

“We have not announced the details of the new framework. As you rightly identify, these aims and aspirations and recognition of how we fall short of them as a system and as a country have been in place for some time, which is why we want to take a different approach to tackling the stubbornly low levels of children’s ac…”

“We are working on the details of how it will look, but the principles behind it are fundamentally about working in partnership, harnessing all the added value of building on existing capacity and making sure that we maximise opportunities to contribute.”

“We made it clear in our manifesto that we want to protect PE time. We have always been very clear about that. There is obviously a range of means by which we can support schools and ensure they do that. One way is through the curriculum and assessment review, making sure that we have a holistic school approach that giv…”

“I am really sorry, but I do not think I will have time if I am to respond to all the issues that have been raised; I do not think I will manage even that. We are offering targeted retention incentive payments to FE teachers, particularly in key science, technology, engineering and mathematics and technical shortage sub…”

“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing this incredibly important debate on further education colleges. Their importance and the passion for them have been clearly demonstrated by the number of interventions that she has skilfully taken, while also allowing for the contribution from my h…”

“Yes, we absolutely recognise that the current system is really difficult for parents, carers and young people to navigate, and it is not delivering the outcomes we want to see. While we will set out the longer-term approach to reform in the schools White Paper in the autumn, we are clear that the changes we make must i…”

“I will, but I am conscious of time and want to respond to all the issues raised.”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. What we want is a system in which local partners work in partnership. Currently, that is inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission. I will come to the particular examples in Kent and the south-east that hon. Members have raised. We want to support and challenge local au…”

“Okay, Sir Edward. I take the points about the specialist teaching workforce, and how we need to invest in that. Finally, on increasing the capacity in the system, we have already allocated £740 million to capital funding for high-needs capital allocations. Kent county council has been given £24 million as part of that …”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) on securing this debate about an incredibly important subject. He, like many others here today, has a real interest in supporting families in his constituency to navigate the complex and challenging special educational needs and disabilities system. I kno…”

“I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) on securing this very thoughtful and important debate. He made a powerful opening speech. I add my welcome to Cian and Alex, who are on work experience here in Parliament, supporting my hon. Friend. He touches on a really pressing…”

“I recognise the challenge that the hon. Member and others have set out. We are looking at the national funding formula. Obviously, this cannot happen as fast as one might want, because it is important to maintain stability in the system, and changes from year to year can create challenges for local authorities and scho…”