Speeches by Sewards.

“If there are no further answers on that one, I just want to delve into this a little more deeply. Bryony, you were talking about the data that schools or responsible bodies already hold. How good is that data? Andy and Rob might want to follow up on that question, too.”

“The NAO has said that it is not confident that all local authorities keep the same level of consistent data. Some do inspections really well and some do not do inspections at all. It might not necessarily even know where that need is now.”

“Understood. Just sticking with Andy, Rob and Bryony, moving on from data to the actual skills required, to what extent do schools and responsible bodies have the skills and capacity to manage their school estates effectively? What is the condition?”

“Understood. I am conscious of time, so I am going to briefly ask you one final question. Are schools and responsible bodies actually held accountable for their estate management? That one is really for Andy. And then, for Bryony and Rob, how effective are the frameworks and standards provided by the DFE? I do not know …”

“For their estates management, specifically.”

“Those were incredibly helpful answers, thank you all.”

“You have already answered the question I was going to ask you first, so I will try to develop on it. Chris, you mentioned in your previous answer that the DFE’s Condition Data Collection 2 survey, which completes next year, is not sufficient to identify structural problems because it is not invasive, it does not look a…”

“If there are no further answers on that one, I just want to delve into this a little more deeply. Bryony, you were talking about the data that schools or responsible bodies already hold. How good is that data? Andy and Rob might want to follow up on that question, too.”

“Is it effective?”

“My hon. Friend will recall that we in the Education Committee held an evidence session in July about school attendance. One of the witnesses stated that fines are “simultaneously too harsh and too soft”; too harsh, because they damage the relationship between parents and schools, but too soft to move the dial substanti…”

“Working families form the backbone of this country. They go to work, increase our prosperity and raise the next generation at the same time. It is a hard job. It always will be, and it should be, but it should not be this hard. Statutory maternity pay in the UK is one of the lowest in Europe—less than half the minimum …”

“The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech on an incredibly difficult topic. Next month, I am bringing two mums from Leeds down to meet the Victims Minister. They tragically lost their babies in different circumstances, but both went to the same funeral director, who did horrific things with their babies’ bodies.…”

“That makes sense.”

“Would anybody else like to come in on that?”

“Yes, exactly right. Among the higher risk ones, we have seen examples of universities that have simply stopped recruiting from certain overseas countries because they just know that they will not meet the figures.”

“Thank you so much for being here today. When private providers have become insolvent, there have been procedures for teaching out the remaining students. However, when a university has a royal charter or is a higher education corporation, several pieces of evidence we have received say it is uncertain what would happen…”

“So it is your best guess at the moment.”

“Would anybody else like to come in on that?”

“That makes sense.”

“Absolutely right.”