Speeches by Phillipson.

“Recruiting and retaining more teachers is critical to this Government and our plan for change. Everything that we have said about outcomes for children and delivering a brilliant education—we cannot do that without high-quality teaching. The evidence is clear that that has the biggest impact on children’s outcomes. We …”

“I agree that it is critical, given that many of the challenges that parents report are not simply about what happens in school, but about what happens with things like access to OT support or to speech and language support. All of that is a critical part of what we need to do. It also connects to our Best Start family …”

“I’m afraid I cannot talk about the discussions that took place during that process, and what might or might not have been considered. But I do recognise that this is an issue that comes up time and again.”

“Absolutely. We are also working very closely with universities on many of these challenges, for example the need for year-round accommodation for young people who might not have a family home to return to. It is also why, through the higher education reforms that we have set out, we are guaranteeing for the first time …”

“I want to emphasise our thanks to Professor Becky Francis and the panel for their excellent work and what they have brought forward in the review. It gives us really clear direction on making sure that children have a strong academic core running alongside a broad curriculum, to make sure that all our children are real…”

“We agreed with the Treasury the wording that is in its document, about it being across Government. Of course, the next spending review will commence in 2027, so that will take place and follow into that. Susan, it might be helpful if you could set out just how we got here.”

“As I say, today we launched the national conversation on SEND. Over the last year, I have spent a lot of time speaking to parents, carers, teachers, disability rights groups and others. We have had our advisory group—our experts—working with us to support that. We have also established our SEND development group, which…”

“We have finite resources, and we have to target our resources in the areas where we face the greatest shortages or where we can make the greatest impact. You will be pleased to hear that the numbers are moving in the right direction on maths teachers in particular—”

“Financial sustainability is important, but I emphasise that even if that were not a challenge, we would need to make the system better. We can all recognise that outcomes for children with SEND are far away from where we want them to be. How hard parents have to fight for support—that needs to change. There is obviousl…”

“Yes. If you will allow me, Chair, I will briefly explain the process, because I think there has been some misunderstanding around the Budget and the OBR’s figures. The OBR set out the position connected to council deficits being accounted for within the Government balance sheet. Alongside that, we published the Treasur…”

“On the first question, I want young people to make the choices that are right for them. The Prime Minister announced his target that two thirds of young people should be in higher-level training or in a university place. I think it is right that we focus on the gap that we have seen in recent years around higher-level …”

“It is not subject-specific; it relates to secondary and special schools.”

“I am Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary. Thank you for the opportunity to update members on the progress that the Department has made since we last met. It has been a busy year for education and for our mission to break the link between background and success. I want to take a moment of the Committee’s time to…”

“We welcome the Committee’s report and work in this area. I want to thank you and Committee members for your valuable recommendations, which we are carefully considering as part of the wider reform that we intend to set out. We are working very closely with parents, carers and others. Just today, we launched our nationa…”

“The threshold, of course, applies to a different cohort, but I am pleased that we have been able to reintroduce new targeted maintenance grants. That was not something that we committed to in the manifesto, so we have gone beyond our manifesto in delivering that, alongside investment in skills, which will be a part of …”

“Yes, through formative assessment rather than through a statutory national test.”

“Even though we are one down, we have recruited a few more. But there is more to do, and that also speaks to some of the other challenges that teachers and staff are facing. Behaviour is often raised as a big challenge. Through our new attendance and behaviour hubs we will work with the schools facing some of the greate…”

“The number of teachers has grown in secondary and special schools, which are the areas where they are needed the most. We, sadly, do not need as many teachers in primary school, given the demographic changes we are seeing. But yes, that number has increased by more than 2,000.”

“No, luckily we are investing way more in schools than the VAT rises, although I was delighted to see at the Budget that the changes around VAT are raising even more than had been anticipated. That means that we are able to invest in schools; there is a big increase this year in school funding. That goes way beyond what…”

“They will not be published at a national level. This is not about having a list and a ranking of schools; it is about schools being able to better track and assess the progress of their students in this critical area. We have heard evidence from many experts about the importance of reading and the importance of key sta…”