Speeches by Phillipson.

“I can give the hon. Lady my absolute assurance that, through the consultation we are running at the moment, we want to hear directly from parents, children and those working in education. The first event happened today across the country, and there will be events right across the country and online. I am pleased that L…”

“School leaders have my full support in taking action on issues such as violence. Of course there should be an expectation—a clear expectation—that action is taken where it applies to cases such as those the right hon. Lady set out, but I would just slightly caution her in talking about some of the details of those case…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue. I would, of course, be happy to ensure that a meeting takes place so that that information can be shared and fully considered. Through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, we are also bringing forward further accountability when it comes to trusts to ens…”

“It was fantastic to visit my hon. Friend and see at first hand the impact of our changes for children and families across her constituency. She is right that our current SEND system just is not working for children or families, and I encourage her constituents to share their thoughts with us through the consultation. H…”

“It has been a busy month since the last Education questions, so I will give the House a short update on what my Department has done since then to give our children the best start in life. We began opening 200 new Best Start family hubs, building on the proud legacy of Sure Start; we opened 500 new free breakfast clubs …”

“The right hon. Gentleman is right in saying that while falling rolls present a particularly pronounced challenge in London, we are seeing the issue right across the country. We will work with the sector to develop a framework for the use of mainstream school space, including pressures such as demographic change, and we…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that is why people across Scotland should vote for Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour. Last month I was in Scotland hearing directly from parents about the difference that lifting the two-child limit will make—measures that were opposed by the Conservatives, who would plunge hundred…”

“Our recent “Every Child Achieving and Thriving” White Paper sets out our ambition to raise standards for all children and to halve the disadvantage gap between poorer children and their peers at the end of their secondary school career, to make sure that where someone is from does not determine where they end up. We ar…”

“My hon. Friend is right: women often spend years being dismissed, being misdiagnosed, or just not being listened to. That is unacceptable, and we are determined to tackle it. In order to improve early diagnosis of the condition, we continue to roll out community diagnostic centres, and our renewed women’s health strate…”

“Yes. Tackling child poverty is not just a moral imperative; it is an investment in our country’s future and in our own economic security. That is why we are determined to give every child the best start in life. The Conservatives might not like that: on their watch record numbers of children were pushed into poverty bu…”

“We face a serious challenge about the big numbers of young people who are not in education, employment or training, and we are committed to tackling that. That is why Alan Milburn is leading a review for this Government of what more we can do to support young people, why we have launched our schools White Paper, why we…”

“What absolute rubbish. This is a serious issue. We know that there are people who want to pull our country apart, but I am proud that we live in a multi-ethnic, diverse and tolerant nation where we celebrate our shared values. It is right that we take action against anti-Muslim hatred in our country, as we take action …”

“Tackling child poverty is the moral mission of this Labour Government. Background should not determine what we can go on to achieve in life, but inequality and poverty are barriers to opportunity. We are investing in our children’s futures through a massive expansion of Best Start family hubs, childcare, breakfast club…”

“My hon. Friend is right. We recognise the disproportionate financial strain on families with disabled children, who often face significantly higher costs for essentials. We heard that during the development of the child poverty strategy, through many of the children’s rights groups and other organisations that contribu…”

“Following International Women’s Day, this Government are taking another step towards a fairer Britain. We have published guidance for businesses encouraging them not just to report their gender pay gaps but to set out plans to tackle them, because reducing the gender pay gap is good for women and good for growth as wel…”

“I welcome the hon. Lady’s interest in this issue. Good progress has been made on developing the policy, and we will publish the Government’s response as soon as we can, as well as setting out next steps in respect of legislation that we will present. This was a key manifesto commitment, and we will deliver on it.”

“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this area. It is why, through our SEND consultation that will cover England, we want to make sure that support is available to children much more quickly. Of course, formal diagnosis will continue to have an important role and families will seek that, but we should not be…”

“We were elected on a manifesto to deliver a limit on the number of branded items to cut the cost of school uniform. Unfortunately, some of what the right hon. Gentleman proposes could have unintended consequences that would not tackle the problem we are facing, which is that children should be smart when they go to sch…”

“Yes, we intend to do that shortly. To be clear, universities should be places of open discussion, where academics can operate freely and everyone is exposed to views that they may sometimes find challenging and with which they may disagree. We have commenced many of the provisions within the Act that are upholding and …”

“I agree with my hon. Friend. This is about how we can deliver more support earlier to a much larger number of children than is the case at the moment: EHCP-like support without the fight to get that EHCP. There is already brilliant practice out there, showing the best of what can be achieved when schools work together …”