Speeches by Sollom.

“I thank the Minister for her response. In the interests of time—and lunch—I will not go into detail. I wish to press the new clause to a vote. Question put, That the clause be read a Second time.”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. It is a pleasure to serve under you in the Chair, Ms Furniss. I rise to move new clause 1, which addresses fundamental concerns about the governance and accountability of Skills England. While the Bill as amended in the Lords does now make reference to Skills Englan…”

“I beg to move amendment 8, in clause 10, page 4, line 32, at beginning insert— “Subject to subsection (6),”.”

“I thank the Minister for her response. I am afraid I am not satisfied that that is sufficient and would like to push the amendment to a vote. Question put, That the amendment be made.”

“Amendments 8 and 9 address a fundamental concern that we have with the Bill, which is the lack of proper parliamentary scrutiny. As drafted, clause 10 gives the Secretary of State sweeping powers to make consequential provisions through regulations. While statutory instruments containing regulations that amend primary …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you, Sir Christopher. I would like to express Liberal Democrat support for the amendments tabled by the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston. They address a critical weakness of the Bill, namely the lack of any concrete requirement for the Secretary of State to engage meaningful…”

“Last week the Department announced that colleges would receive only two thirds of the funding that they were promised for the 35,000 additional 16 to 18-year-old students enrolled last autumn, a decision that could lead to thousands of prospective students being turned away this September. That follows a cut in the adu…”

“Q5. On Monday, the Prime Minister talked about creating defence jobs across the country as we rebuild our defence industrial capacity. Will he and the Government bring forward an urgent plan for skills in the defence sector, and does he agree with his Education Secretary that the strategy for defence skills should sit …”

“Gingerbread’s report on fixing the CMS is excellent. It has a lot of pointers and a lot of excellent statistics about how single-parent families are being let down. I will come on to some of those now. The Government’s own child maintenance statistics paint a damning picture: 31% of all paying parents made no maintenan…”

“I absolutely agree; that is exactly the sort of reform we need to see in the system, and I will come to those points later.”

“This evening I want to address a system that is failing thousands of families across our country: the Child Maintenance Service. In doing so, I hope that this House will send a clear message to every parent struggling with that system and every affected young person that their MPs are listening and that we are determin…”

“I will come to the national statistics later in my speech, but those mentioned by the hon. Gentleman absolutely speak to the need for reform. The constituent I mentioned is far from alone, and it is not all one way, with paying parents often finding themselves let down by the CMS too. Another constituent has spent mont…”

“I am going to finish now. Learners and employers deserve a properly independent Skills England with the authority and accountability to drive real change. I urge the Government to think again and bring forward legislation that delivers the genuine reform that our skills system needs.”

“I point out that I represent St Neots, which is not Cambridge, and many employers have spoken to me about their concerns about Skills England and the lack of clarity on its future. We cannot support this Bill. That is not because we oppose reform—we desperately need it—but because centralising power in the hands of Min…”

“I agree. That cross-departmental and cross-industry working is a critical reason for the need for a truly independent body. The implication for standards development is also concerning. Where we have had employer-led trailblazer groups setting standards, the Secretary of State can now bypass employers entirely. In limi…”

“I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “That” to the end of the Question and add: “this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill because, while acknowledging the importance of reforming the delivery of skills and technic…”

“I have looked beyond the AELP briefing, thank you very much. This is a critical area of Government policy, and it is important to get it right from the start. That is just a difference of approach. As my noble Friend Baroness Garden said in the other place, this looks like an innocuous little Bill, but there is so much…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion. Clause, by leave, withdrawn. New Clause 39 Establishment of Child Protection Authority “(1) The Secretary of State must, within six months of the passing of this Act, establish a Child Protection Authority for England. (2) The purpose of such an Authority will be to— (a) impro…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. I move this new clause on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart), who is herself a school governor, to highlight the severe shortage of school governors and the increasing responsibilities they face. The recruitment of governors has become …”