Speeches by Voaden.

“The question was just about school. What do you think supported you when you were at school and what do you think school could have done better?”

“Louise, do you want to tell us about school? What worked for you? What could school have done better?”

“Your foster mum sounds like an amazing woman.”

“It sounds like it is a lack of understanding of your circumstances and what your life was like, expecting you to be the same as every other child.”

“I would like to talk to you a little bit about school and/or college. Could you tell us a little bit about what you think schools and colleges could do to make sure that children who are in care are supported to thrive and to do well and to make the most of school? Is there anything you think schools should not do, sho…”

“Lastly to Roger, what do you think the implications of these measures are for local authorities? The age-old question: will additional resources be required?”

“The offer is clearly very patchy and not very good. Do you have confidence that legislating—putting it in the Bill—will make a difference?”

“Sam, what are your views on the measures in the Bill requiring local authorities to publish a kinship offer and extending the role of virtual school heads? I do not know whether you could answer this, but do you think virtual school heads should also be extended to include adopted children who do not feature in the Bil…”

“I have got a supplementary question for Sam on family group decision-making. The Bill says that children may be involved in the family group decision-making process. What are your views on that, and do you think that language of the Bill should be strengthened to say that children should, wherever possible, be part of …”

“It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I rise to speak on behalf of the 477 people in South Devon who signed the petition, which is almost exactly the same as the number of farms in my constituency. It is clear from the number of people in this room and the number of people outside what the str…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“The Minister talks of the threats of the climate crisis and the need for us to meet our climate commitments, which is encouraging to hear. What steps are the Government taking right now to improve the energy efficiency of homes across the UK to help us reduce our dependence on oil and gas?”

“In my constituency we did a survey of all the farmers to see whether the Government’s figures stood up. The Government claim that 73% of family farms will be unaffected by the change in tax relief, but 85% of the farmers who responded to our survey believed they would be affected, with an average inheritance tax bill o…”

“I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, and on behalf of my constituents I thank her for giving people the opportunity to vote and give their verdict on the failing Conservative-run Devon county council, which has been badly failing our most vulnerable children for the past decade. Devon is a huge rural area,…”

“We are now going to talk about teachers’ pay and conditions. First, I would like to ask you all what effect you expect the Bill’s requirement on qualified teacher status, and on pay and conditions, to have on recruitment and retention? We will start with Daniel.”

“That is fine. It was on your concerns about the provisions covering independent institutions.”

“A final question for you, Clare—I know you have had lots of questions and we will move on in a minute. What are your concerns about the Bill’s provision covering independent educational institutions, which I believe Broadleaf falls under?”

“Twenty-two years ago, I became part of a club that no one wants to join: the young widows club. My husband Nick died of oesophageal cancer, and I was left with an 18-month-old baby and a toddler. Over the course of the next couple of years, I met dozens of young widows, including Beth, whose husband Simon had died of b…”

“I represent Totnes, and I assure you that you are speaking today for many, many parents I have seen. We have a huge home-education community who share your concerns. I think it is a question of trying to find the balance between not letting children get lost from the system and put at risk of danger, and not disparagin…”

“Do you think it is appropriate that in a situation like Broadleaf, where you are guiding children towards GCSEs, children do not have access to GCSEs unless the parents can afford to pay? The state is not paying for them to be educated in one of its schools; it seems rather unfair that the parents then have to pay for …”