Speeches by Asato.

“Do you agree that there should be formal structures for agreeing nationally recognised roles, pay and qualifications for the early years, as are in place for teaching and support staff in schools? It sounds like there is a pretty common agreement to that, but what barriers would there be to achieving it?”

“So the solution is that the Government need to increase the funding?”

“Any other barriers?”

“While for more junior staff, pay has increased in line with national minimum wages, our evidence suggests that more senior staff are not getting appropriate uplifts. What is the impact of this and what is the solution?”

“Earlier this year, I met representatives of Historic England, local historians and community representatives to address the neglect of the grade 2 listed Crown hotel in my constituency. Once a cornerstone of the community and a place where countless memories were made, it is now crumbling, and bringing the rest of our …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) on securing this important debate. Domestic abuse does not just claim adult lives; it devastates children. Lybah, a child survivor of domestic abuse and a SafeLives changemaker, said:…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) on securing the debate. I am honoured to work with her on the all-party parliamentary group on domestic violence and abuse. I also want to pay tribute to the Minister. Her det…”

“I thank the Backbench Business Committee and the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mr Morrison) for bringing forward the debate. It is certainly long overdue. I also thank former police officer Tom Curry, who was injured in the line of duty and whose campaign with other injured emergency service workers has brought us here toda…”

“I am, too.”

“I understand that we lack an evidence base, although I think some studies are now showing links between developmental delay and screens. Should babies be given screens to watch? In your professional judgment, would that have an impact on their speech and language development particular?”

“In evidence, the Education Policy Institute refers to the turnover of staff in group-based providers being twice as high—16%—as in school-based providers. Is that explained by pay differentials, or are there other factors?”

“Thank you. Professor Lloyd, you state in your evidence that pay in the early years workforce was 14% lower in medium to large profit-making childcare groups than in non-profit-making groups. Do we have explanations for that? How much do we know about the variation in pay within profit-making providers?”

“What is the unique contribution of childminders to the early years landscape, and what should the Government be doing to address the 50% decline in childminders over the last decade?”

“We have heard evidence from Triple P that the Department of Health is lagging behind the Department for Education in terms of its preparation for Best Start family hubs. What is your assessment for the effectiveness of cross-Government working in that area?”

“How confident are you that Best Start family hubs will take what worked from the Sure Start programme and provide what families genuinely need?”

“I am delighted that next week a new 107 bus will serve residents in the Gunton area of Lowestoft, following representations that I made to First Bus. However, many of my constituents rely on the No. 99 to get to and from the town centre, and from Monday to Saturday the last bus home leaves at 5.40 pm, closing off our t…”

“What is the geographical distribution of the remediation work that has taken place? For example, have you focused more on the schools in the east of England because that is where a large majority of them are?”

“This is for Professor Goodier and Patrick. Last year, it was reported that contracts have been awarded for only 62 of the 500 schools in the school rebuilding programme. The ISBL has said that, at current rates, it would take 400 years to rebuild all schools. What are the reasons for the delays, and what does the DFE n…”

“Almost half the 234 schools in which RAAC had been identified in February 2024—the figure is 98—were located in the east of England. Have you identified the reasons for this?”

“My next question is to Chris and Patrick. In the light of the demolishment of schools built by Caledonian Modular in 2024, how confident should we be in the DFE’s processes for assuring building contractors for the school rebuilding programme? We have heard about the safety risks relating to modular school builds, but …”