Speeches by Phillipson.

“We are still reviewing the draft non-statutory guidance. We have been looking through the consultation responses, discussing it with stakeholders and considering the evidence, including the final report of Dr Hilary Cass. I do want to get this right. I want to make sure that schools have the guidance that they need. Th…”

“I am afraid I am not able to give you a date. I do recognise its importance, but I also believe that it is important that we get this right for young people and their wellbeing and for schools, so that they are confident and clear about the guidance that is set out.”

“Understood.”

“I do recognise the long-standing challenge in this area. As you will know, FE colleges, rather than the Government, are responsible for setting and negotiating pay within colleges. When it comes to the recommendation around a statutory pay review body, I appreciate the Committee’s interest in this area. All statutory F…”

“Mobile phones have no place in our schools, and school leaders already have the powers to ban them. Through what you have just said, you have identified that school leaders already have the power to take action in that way.”

“You go first, Susan, and then I will add some political points.”

“We are taking action in the key areas where we know we need to recruit and retain more teachers. The emphasis that we have put on education as a central driver, and making teaching an attractive place to be in terms of both pay and the wider changes around workload and wellbeing, is important in that context too. There…”

“We have not set a timeline for it, but we have set the ambition. It is important to set the ambition—if you were not ambitious, you would never achieve anything. We think it is important that triple science is available to all students who wish to study it. Currently, access is uneven. Disadvantaged pupils are less lik…”

“We cannot accept the recommendation because we are not in a position to make any changes in this area in the wider context of the public finances. Of course, we continue to discuss with the Treasury all questions that relate to funding for education settings, and this is an area that is frequently raised with me, not j…”

“As you say, the review found that the EBacc did not translate into students studying subjects such as history and languages at 16 to 19, and it did not shift the take-up of modern languages at GCSE either. That is why we are bringing in this change, because we felt that student choice was unnecessarily constrained and …”

“It is an area that we always keep under review, but we have obviously just had a big curriculum assessment review that has set out rather a lot that we need to be to be getting on and doing. To be honest, there is also a challenge, given that English is such a well-spoken language across the world. That is not to say t…”

“I believe that the current progress 8 structure has hampered progress in subjects that strengthen our economy and our society, including the arts. That is why we will consult on an improved progress 8 measure that recognises the value of those subjects and balances a strong academic core with breadth and student choice…”

“Teaching about democracy and elections goes hand in hand with extending votes to 16, to make sure that young people are engaged positively around this. I stress that schools have to maintain their duties of political impartiality, but of course, schools are an important place where people, through education, can challe…”

“I agree that this is extremely serious; it has obviously built up over many, many years. We are working with local authorities to manage their SEND pressures. I will directly address the question about next steps, but there are good examples that show how councils—together with the DfE, or sometimes separately—can crea…”

“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…”

“As you know, we inherited draft guidance that applied to children and young people in schools. We have been looking very carefully at that, working with stakeholders, and we intend to publish the guidance. I think it was right that we made sure that the guidance aligned with the final recommendations from Dr Hilary Cas…”

“No school leader, teacher or anyone in education should face what you have just described—it is completely unacceptable—but school leaders do have the powers to ban phones in schools. Your example demonstrates that they have the powers to do that. We have also seen that it has sometimes been done on a local authority-w…”

“The guidance is already clear that schools should prohibit the use of phones throughout the school day, including breaktimes and lunch times. We expect schools to take steps in line with that guidance, but there are different ways for schools to implement that.”

“By next year, we will have covered 60% of pupils. We want to move rapidly to get to every school by 2029-30, but we have made significant progress. Almost an extra million pupils and learners will by next April be benefiting from a mental health support team. I have visited one school that is already taking part. What …”

“I welcome the evidence and research put forward by the Education Policy Institute. It seems self-evident that if children are not in school, they are less likely to succeed in school. Some of the challenges we have seen around attendance have particularly affected certain groups. We are moving in the right direction on…”