Speeches by McKinnell.

“To improve the safeguarding and welfare of children and to stop families and children from falling through the cracks of public services, clause 4 seeks to address long-standing issues that hinder information sharing. Current legislation permits information sharing to safeguard and protect the wellbeing of children, bu…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you as Chair, Dr Huq. I congratulate the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) on securing this important debate and commend all hon. Members for their powerful contributions. They are great in number and their time was short, but their voices were very much heard, and they have bee…”

“I will talk about how we are seeking to address this. I appreciate the extent of the challenge that the hon. Gentleman raises. The fundamental point here is that the additional funding being spent is not actually achieving the outcomes that children deserve. That is why we need to reform the system fundamentally, to im…”

“Q When it comes to school admissions, do you think the measures in the Bill will help local authorities to fulfil their statutory duties? Could you comment on how you think it will impact on children and schools? Paul Whiteman: We do think it will help local authorities—we think there has been a gap in terms of their a…”

“Q Good morning. The first question is to you, Carol. On introduction of the Bill, Coram said: “This Bill presents a new opportunity for services and agencies supporting vulnerable children to work together and make this a reality.” Will you outline the key measures that you feel support that in the Bill? Dr Homden: Cle…”

“Q What consideration have you given to the impact that creating a duty for safeguarding partners to make arrangements to establish multi-agency child protection teams will have? Dr Homden: Having a duty most generally would be reinforcement of the fact that these arrangements are expected and required. The duty does no…”

“Q Great. From your experience, do you think it is important that a school’s individual circumstances are taken into account when you are determining the best and appropriate action to drive school improvement where a school may be under--performing, such as whether it is a maintained school? Do you consider that conver…”

“Q Is Ofsted pleased to see the measures in this Bill, in the round? Sir Martyn Oliver: Yes, absolutely. We very much welcome the introduction of the Bill, which will deliver some of the important legislative asks that Ofsted has made for a long time, especially to keep the most vulnerable safe and learning. That includ…”

“Q You have already set out the impact that the Bill will have on Ofsted’s powers. I imagine that you spend a large proportion of your time worrying about the most vulnerable children in society. What do you think will be the impact of the Bill on those children who are most in need? Sir Martyn Oliver: Our top priority …”

“Q Thank you for being here today. What is your assessment generally of the impact of the Bill on faith schools? Nigel Genders: The Church of England’s part of the sector is very broad in that of the 4,700 schools that we provide, the vast majority of our secondary schools are already academies, and less than half of ou…”

“Q I want to ask a question about admissions initially, which can go to any of you. Do you think it is important for schools to at least co-operate with local authorities on school admissions and place planning, in your experience? Rebecca Leek: I can only tell you, from my experience, that there is a lot of collaborati…”

“Q Do you think that is important? Rebecca Leek: Yes, I do. Jane Wilson: I agree with that completely. We work with our local authorities and follow the local admission arrangements in all of them. We think it is really important, and we obviously want children to get places in school very quickly. Leora Cruddas: The du…”

“Q This question is probably more for you, Leora, but if other people have comments, they are perfectly welcome. I understand that many small trusts are free to follow the school teacher pay and conditions document without variation. Does that indicate that the current pay and conditions framework is working for those t…”

“Q Anne, the Centre for Young Lives has welcomed the Bill, stating: “It addresses issues we have been very concerned about over many years, including vulnerable children falling through the gaps and into danger.” Will you elaborate on how you feel the Bill better protects children and keeps them safe? Anne Longfield: I …”

“Q You have previously written about the value of ensuring that teachers can do some of their work from home, specifically marking and planning, so do you support the Government’s direction of travel in ensuring that greater flexibility and flexible working is available to more teachers and more schools? David Thomas: Y…”

“Q You said some months ago that deciding what to teach is a value judgment, and reasonable people would teach different things, because they value them differently. Is that still a view you hold, and therefore do you also hold that it is not unreasonable to ensure both that there is a common core national curriculum an…”

“I congratulate the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey) on securing this important debate. She has been a champion for children in south Buckinghamshire and for every child to secure a school place that allows them to achieve and thrive. This Government recognise how important it is that every child gets a grea…”

“The hon. Gentleman raises an import point, which is something the Department is very focused on. Indeed, we need to work with local authorities to deliver on that. The aim of the Department’s home-to-school travel policy is to ensure that no child is prevented from accessing education because of a lack of transport. Lo…”

“My hon. Friend raises some important points, both of which are factors that the Buckinghamshire and Slough local authorities, where relevant, will have to take into consideration when determining how to use their allocation. Buckinghamshire council has been allocated just below £11.3 million to support the provision of…”

“No, I will not. I have said that I will not. I know that we are all united in our desire to ensure that the Bill works for children and young people across the country. I apologise if I am not able to respond to all the points that have been raised; there were a huge number of them, and we will have an opportunity to d…”