Speeches by Sewards.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) on securing this important debate and on her tireless work on this issue. I have come fairly late to the issues surrounding mesh implants. I became acutely aware of th…”

“My hon. Friend is making a powerful speech about the power of rugby league to change our communities. Farnley Falcons in my constituency was founded in 2005 by volunteers, and it has gone from strength to strength. As a result of fostering community spirit, they now have record numbers of boys and girls playing rugby l…”

“The hon. Member has been very generous with her time. On the points that she made about funds for state schools and about the other difficult decisions that this Government have had to make, does she not accept that when we came to power, we found an economy that had been absolutely ruined by the Conservative party? We…”

“I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way. The Low Pay Commission previously said that about 300,000 people are not being paid the minimum wage despite being on it—they are being underpaid. Will he update the House on the Government’s progress to ensure that all people on the minimum wage are paid the minimum w…”

“The Bill is necessary to support our high streets. It strikes a fairer balance between small businesses and large, and I am pleased to have contributed during most stages of its progress. I rise to address some of the amendments put forward by the other place, which would reduce the effectiveness of the Bill. Amendment…”

“The Bill is designed specifically to revive our high streets. The hon. Gentleman will remember, because his party was in government at the time, that our high streets were struggling and suffocating, and it is incumbent on this new Government to revive them. That is why it is so important for us to pass the Bill today.…”

“rose—”

“I am incredibly grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way again. The simple fact is that we have the electoral system we have, and it is incumbent on whomever wins a majority to deliver their manifesto pledges to govern the country. She may take issue with the electoral system, but it is the one that we have, and we mus…”

“Does the hon. Lady not accept that this Government won an election on the basis of a promise that we would introduce VAT on private school fees, so it is incumbent on us to deliver that manifesto pledge?”

“Veterans have already been mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher). Would my hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to Veterans In Need Together? He talks about organisations that support men. That organisation supports men every Wednesday at Morley fire station wi…”

“This is a question for you all, but I might start with Catherine, if that is okay. Is the DFE’s definition of an inclusive mainstream education clear across early years, across schools and across further education? If that is not clearly defined, how should it be defined?”

“In the interest of time, I will keep it brief. My question is to Lee again and is changing track a little. The chief inspector of Ofsted said, “It cannot be right that some children spend up to 23 hours each day alone in their cells with no access to education or other pursuits that might improve their chances of rehab…”

“I am the MP for Leeds South West and Morley. I am a former maths teacher, and all my interests are declared on the website.”

“Tessa has already teased out quite a lot of the information that I was going to ask about, but I wanted to ask you about the level of need across prisons. Of course, Annick, you have already set out what the percentages are for the prisons that you work with. My question would be then to Jon and Michala: does that matc…”

“In the interest of time, I will keep it brief. My question is to Lee again and is changing track a little. The chief inspector of Ofsted said, “It cannot be right that some children spend up to 23 hours each day alone in their cells with no access to education or other pursuits that might improve their chances of rehab…”

“Thank you, Chair. Lee, you have already mentioned the figure of 86% of all inspections—was that within five years?”

“That is just over the last year. Something like 87% of all inspections over the last five years have been inadequate or requires improvement, so the state of prison education is not good. What needs to be done to improve it?”

“Before I move on to ask the other panel members, is there a core or central reason that keeps coming up as to why so many provisions are being declared inadequate?”

“That is interesting. You would say it is about the leadership of the prisons as opposed to the safeguarding. I was a maths teacher in another life, and often safeguarding in schools is the No. 1 reason that they tend to become inadequate; but when it comes to prisons, it is actually leadership and management.”

“To the other panel members, in your view, what are the barriers to the take-up of prison education by prisoners? What is stopping people who want to take up education in prisons from doing so?”