Speeches by Voaden.

“I have a couple of questions for Bryony, Andy and Rob. The first one might be a very short answer. Is school condition funding adequate to allow responsible bodies to meet their obligations to maintain the fabric of their estates?”

“I have a question for you all. Do you believe that schools are safe and fit for purpose?”

“I just have a follow-up question for Chris. In 2023, the National Audit Office identified RAAC, system-built blocks and asbestos as the three principal risks on the school estate. Would you agree?”

“It is clear from what you have been saying that the condition improvement fund is too complex and is not awarding funds according to need across the country. We know that the north-east received the least funding in the most recent round, despite having the highest need. It is clearly not very effective. How do you thi…”

“We heard from the previous panel that the CDC inspections, as you say, give only a surface look at the school and do not really examine the full state of the building. The survey is not invasive or structural, and it does not report on hazardous materials. If you are not reporting on hazardous materials, such as asbest…”

“Minister, how good do you think the information is that your Department holds on the condition of the school estate?”

“We heard from the previous panel that the CDC inspections, as you say, give only a surface look at the school and do not really examine the full state of the building. The survey is not invasive or structural, and it does not report on hazardous materials. If you are not reporting on hazardous materials, such as asbest…”

“I have a question for you all. Do you believe that schools are safe and fit for purpose?”

“Looking at the school rebuilding programme, in October 2024, the BBC reported that only 62 contracts out of 500 projects under the school rebuilding programme had been awarded, and the ISBL has said that at current rates, it will take 400 years to rebuild all schools. Would you explain the reasons for delays in awardin…”

“I just have a follow-up question for Chris. In 2023, the National Audit Office identified RAAC, system-built blocks and asbestos as the three principal risks on the school estate. Would you agree?”

“I have a couple of questions for Bryony, Andy and Rob. The first one might be a very short answer. Is school condition funding adequate to allow responsible bodies to meet their obligations to maintain the fabric of their estates?”

“It is clear from what you have been saying that the condition improvement fund is too complex and is not awarding funds according to need across the country. We know that the north-east received the least funding in the most recent round, despite having the highest need. It is clearly not very effective. How do you thi…”

“Minister, how good do you think the information is that your Department holds on the condition of the school estate?”

“Looking at the school rebuilding programme, in October 2024, the BBC reported that only 62 contracts out of 500 projects under the school rebuilding programme had been awarded, and the ISBL has said that at current rates, it will take 400 years to rebuild all schools. Would you explain the reasons for delays in awardin…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for introducing this debate and setting out the issues, and I thank the more than 181,000 members of the public who signed the petition, 243 of whom are from my constituency. We know that being in s…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) on securing this important debate. He spoke passionately about the subject. Although I have no doubt that his personal recollections of education are more recent than my own, I not long ag…”

“It is interesting because when we went to Ontario as a Committee we met a head teacher who was almost in tears describing to us the one child that she had had to expel and how she felt that she had failed that child. Expulsion does not happen. It is not part of their culture. Yet here it is seen that suspension and exp…”

“A few times this morning in your evidence you have talked about behaviour. We know that behaviour is a form of communication for children and particularly children who have been victims of early trauma. Their behaviour might not fit in with what you would describe as good behaviour in the classroom. We have recommended…”

“In our inquiry into the SEND system we heard that the current Ofsted framework encourages exclusionary practices for children with SEND including things such as off-rolling and exclusionary admissions practices. How is your new framework going to address this and how will you monitor progress to ensure that these exclu…”

“Thank you. It seems fair enough to me to not be inspecting schools the week before Christmas. You have done your consultation on the new framework and there has been an alternative consultation run by two former inspectors and over 700 school leaders, teachers, governors and parents took part in that consultation, many…”