Speeches by Phillipson.

“Opposition Members might not like it, but that is what the Leader of the Opposition said. The Conservatives had 14 years to stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks. Now is the time for action—no more empty words or lessons learned. Labour has brought forward the single biggest piece of child protection legi…”

“The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is the single biggest piece of child protection legislation in a generation. It will stop more children falling through the cracks through landmarks reforms—no more empty words but real action to keep children safe. It is a shame that the Conservative Opposition have played sil…”

“I appreciate the hon. Lady’s interest in this area. She will know that the proposed exascale supercomputer is one programme that the Government are considering. We are currently assessing the best way to take this forward. The previous programme was announced under the last Government, for which full funding was not al…”

“The Labour Government are at the forefront of change and, as I said to the Bett conference last week, we are determined to ensure that “AI will be a positive, radical, modernising force for good in the lives of working people.” The Department for Education is a member of the AI working group collaborating across Govern…”

“I agree that phones have no place in the classroom. It is entirely right that schools take firm action to stop their use, and I know that is what the vast majority of schools already do. As the right hon. Lady said, last July the Conservatives said that they did not need to legislate in this area. Nothing has changed i…”

“I do accept the absolutely essential role of phonics—it was a Labour Government who first started the roll-out of phonics in 2006. We need all our children to reach a brilliant standard in reading, but as I have just said, one in four currently do not meet the required standard. There is so much more that we need to do…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the power of reading. We all know that reading broadens horizons and nurtures creativity, and I want more children to experience that joy, although sadly, we also know that more and more children in our country are not enjoying reading for pleasure. Under the Tories, one in four…”

“Getting more children reading for pleasure is a key part of our plan for change, and of our work to drive high and rising standards across education by giving all our children the best start in life. Earlier this month, I was pleased to join the Prime Minister as he unveiled a landmark partnership between schools here …”

“Parents who choose to home educate their children are within their rights to do so. Those who provide a safe, loving environment and a good standard of education have nothing to be concerned about in the legislation. We are concerned about the growing number of children of whom we simply have no visibility. The Bill wi…”

“The hon. Lady is absolutely right. Far too often our staff have had to focus on maintenance and buildings rather than driving up standards in our schools. The Conservatives talk about their record, but their record was children cowering under steel props because of the RAAC crisis that they left behind.”

“The intention is to bring pilot areas on board by April 2025, and to start that process then through that testing. In understanding that we have the design and the information sharing in the right place, we can look to a timeline for how we take it forward.”

“That tension is at the heart of the approach that we are taking in seeking to make sure that we shift the system but alongside that we don’t further destabilise what I appreciate is quite a difficult situation for lots of children and young people at the moment. The legislation brings in the ability to set the profit c…”

“Yes, and I have seen some fantastic examples of local councils doing precisely that across the country. We invested more capital into it through the Budget, but I appreciate that we will need to do more over time alongside this legislation to get the balance right within the system of care for children.”

“We continue to look very carefully at this right across government with other colleagues. As you will know, we set out in the Bill the process of rolling out breakfast clubs in all primary schools. I believe it is important that children get a great start to the day. I understand the arguments that are made about auto-…”

“I can’t give you a timeline on it. What we are doing at pace, as you will know, is starting the process of rolling out breakfast clubs in primary schools. The early adopter scheme will come on board this year, which will start to make a big difference to children’s lives.”

“As I say, we continue to keep this area under review.”

“We are mindful of the challenges that local councils are under at the moment. That is why through the Budget we invested record levels of funding into councils to make sure that they have more resources, particularly in targeted areas like this. All the measures that we have set out through the Bill have been cleared b…”

“To be clear to your constituents and to other parents who choose to home educate their children, if they are doing so to a good standard and they have their children’s best interests at heart, as I am sure they do, they have nothing to be concerned about in the measures that we are setting out. This is about making sur…”

“We will make sure that councils have the clarity, the understanding and the consistency so that we have a clear and uniform approach across the country.”

“As you say, we are taking action through the Bill that we have discussed with Ofsted to make sure that it has the powers that it needs. I looked carefully at what Ofsted said to the Committee and I have regular conversations with Ofsted about the powers that it requires. We won’t hesitate to go further to make sure tha…”