Speeches by Paffey.

“In the meantime, that uplift is very welcome. Can you put to bed any claims that there will be a £100 million reduction in the strategic priorities grant? It was reduced by £108 million last year.”

“On higher education, the Department’s spending plans for 2026-27 include a £230 million uplift for HE “towards supporting HE priorities”. What are those priorities? What is that funding going towards?”

“I definitely accept that the earlier you can change life chances, the better they will be later on. I certainly agree that the workforce—the tutors, teachers and support—working in that system at the moment are doing a fantastic job, but the scaffolding around them is creaking, isn’t it? What are the key priorities for…”

“The Milburn report gives us a pretty stark warning that one in six young people could soon be out of education, employment or any kind of training whatsoever. That report and our own Committee’s inquiry into FE and skills found a system that is fragmented, really difficult to navigate and underfunded. If you have reall…”

“This is less about product than educational processes and assessment. We have heard that some AI platforms are already undermining assessments in education, particularly where you have takeaway coursework assignments done outside the classroom. Therefore, there are questions about the integrity of the work and how the …”

“No one is looking for a rigid diktat from the DFE, but can you confirm that you are at least working with schools to set out a set of broad principles, and say what you are finding to be positive and what should perhaps be avoided because of the evidence of how it might undermine educational progress?”

“Secretary of State, we are all navigating the brave new world of AI, and the challenges and opportunities of that. We have heard evidence that in education there is no comprehensive framework to support schools in making informed decisions about how to engage with AI platforms. Indeed, some have described it as the “wi…”

“Very finally and quickly, are there any plans at the moment to conduct the research that you have just identified as a gap?”

“For clarity, your estimate is that between 750,000 and 1 million young people constitute the “missing middle”?”

“We are seeing that the degree of integration between those services, and presumably the waiting times, vary hugely across different parts of the country. Is there any work going on to deal with or mitigate that in the meantime? Are decision-makers aware of those disparities and what is happening to the roles that you h…”

“In your view, what role should the mental health support teams play to support children and young people while they are waiting to access more specialist services?”

“Very finally and quickly, are there any plans at the moment to conduct the research that you have just identified as a gap?”

“For clarity, your estimate is that between 750,000 and 1 million young people constitute the “missing middle”?”

“We are seeing that the degree of integration between those services, and presumably the waiting times, vary hugely across different parts of the country. Is there any work going on to deal with or mitigate that in the meantime? Are decision-makers aware of those disparities and what is happening to the roles that you h…”

“In your view, what role should the mental health support teams play to support children and young people while they are waiting to access more specialist services?”

“Dr George, you are obviously grasping the opportunities to use social media as a mental health education platform and for advocacy, and you have a clinical background so we can have confidence in that. Is there any risk that if young people start to see social media as the place to go in general for mental health suppo…”

“Dr George, you are obviously grasping the opportunities to use social media as a mental health education platform and for advocacy, and you have a clinical background so we can have confidence in that. Is there any risk that if young people start to see social media as the place to go in general for mental health suppo…”

“Dr George, you are obviously grasping the opportunities to use social media as a mental health education platform and for advocacy, and you have a clinical background so we can have confidence in that. Is there any risk that if young people start to see social media as the place to go in general for mental health suppo…”

“The hon. Gentleman raises some important points about the gaps that still exist in the jigsaw of different services, support and funding; I will return to that later. The Royal Life Saving Society is producing a report on the last six years of child drowning deaths data, which will be released next week, Drowning Preve…”

“I will.”