Speeches by Paffey.

“That is helpful, because it moves us on to my next question, which is: what is the impact on usable space? You have outlined it in the short term. Are there any longer-term impacts that we should be concerned about or looking into at this stage? For example, one of the other things Baroness Barran said is that, on aver…”

“We hear your reassurance about no children being in unsafe buildings. On your point about revising the way that you assess risk, that is good, too, because obviously, the problems with RAAC were known about well before the school buildings crisis of 2023. At this point, with the revisions that you are doing, how confid…”

“It is helpful to hear about how you are taking on the learnings and making sure that ongoing, day-to-day, business-as-usual maintenance will be different. Has anything already changed in how the DFE deals with emergencies as a result of the RAAC crisis?”

“Sticking with the longer-term impact, the Association of School and College Leaders predicted that many of the schools where RAAC remediation was happening would see a dip in admissions, because two years on, parents are looking and saying, “Do I really want to send my kid there?” Has that been your experience from loo…”

“You listed, and several of you have spoken about, the disruption caused by temporary classrooms, marquees, lost days and so on. For the children who are in those particular schools, have we seen any evidence of an impact on their achievement? For example, on examination results, have examinations been disrupted or have…”

“I appreciate you have had several things going on at once, with covid and so on, but if we are saying that the vast majority of schools where there is RAAC are still to be remediated, is now a better moment to start looking at that? Will there be monitoring and tracking of schools where RAAC remediation is going to hap…”

“There is a double challenge, too, because obviously, if you start losing children, you start losing revenue and the funding that comes with it. Have you seen this, again, not necessarily in those that you are dealing with, but across other parts of the sector?”

“What information do you hold on the estate management capacity of all the responsible bodies that are looking after our schools?”

“That is helpful, because it moves us on to my next question, which is: what is the impact on usable space? You have outlined it in the short term. Are there any longer-term impacts that we should be concerned about or looking into at this stage? For example, one of the other things Baroness Barran said is that, on aver…”

“Speaking about the school estate management standards, one criticism that has been levied against that is that there are no mechanisms for monitoring schools’ compliance or enforcing progression. Do you want to respond to that? How does the DFE hold responsible bodies accountable if it does not have a measure of whethe…”

“We all accept that more money is always the golden standard, but we also want to ensure that the money that is there is being used as effectively as possible. One of the tools for getting our schools into a better condition is the condition improvement fund, which has been criticised as too complex and for not awarding…”

“My hon. Friend knows that under the current system far fewer dads take parental leave, which worsens the gender pay gap. In the five years after becoming mothers, many workers lose up to £65,000-worth of earnings. It is clear that better paid, longer and more usable partner leave is beneficial for all families. Does he…”

“In making the case for any future arrangements—and any further comments colleagues want to make—have we learned lessons from previous regimes, like the one that was in place for further education?”

“We have talked a bit about the case for insolvency or not, but we drifted on to it rather than focusing on it. Neil, your organisation has made the case for a special insolvency regime. Do you want to outline again for us what you see as the key benefits of that? Then we can get others’ views, because I know they diffe…”

“You have all rightly said that we should be looking at alternatives to insolvency rather than just preparing for the worst. Thinking about mergers, super-universities and so on, we have had some written evidence from GuildHE, which represents a lot of specialists and smaller HE providers, raising concerns that mergers …”

“On the specific concern about homogeneity of the sector if you lost some of the specialist provision, whether it is provided by smaller providers or more established, bigger providers, are there comments or concerns that you would raise? What would you say to that?”

“Does anyone else want to comment on the case for or against, whether we think lessons have been learned and what it would need to contain? If everything has been said, don’t worry.”

“For the sake of time, I will not repeat the question about super-universities and the mergers model. What other opportunities—what alternative structures—can give hope to the sector as they are looking down the barrel of the next few years? What else can they pursue other than preparing for insolvency, which we have al…”

“For the sake of time, I will not repeat the question about super-universities and the mergers model. What other opportunities—what alternative structures—can give hope to the sector as they are looking down the barrel of the next few years? What else can they pursue other than preparing for insolvency, which we have al…”

“The other risk that is concerning many is the emergence of cold spots in particular subject areas. Is that something we should realistically be concerned about? What are the specific Government policies or interventions that could help us avoid those cold spots?”