Speeches by Voaden.

“Do you think ban is the right word? It is an interesting word, isn’t it, because we don’t allow children to go into nightclubs because they would be exposed to alcohol and other harms, and we don’t allow children to drive a car or to smoke, but we do not call it a ban. We do not say that 14-year-olds are banned from go…”

“If a ban were to be based on features and functionality, rather than a platform, which is the way Australia chose to do it, then it could well include Roblox—for example, banning anything that would allow anyone under 16 to be direct messaged by a bad actor.”

“I was going to ask you about the benefits of having a legislative ban on phones in schools. The Government moved on that yesterday. Do you think a statutory ban in legislation will have a positive effect on children’s health and wellbeing?”

“I will come back to you on something you said in a minute, but let’s go to Professor Etchells.”

“I think the evidence argument is on very shaky ground now. The evidence of most parents in the country, who would say that their children are spending too much time online, suggests that there is a problem. I want to move on to the problems with the Australian ban, which you mentioned, Rebecca. The eSafety Commissioner…”

“Looking at addiction, Rebecca, Meta was recently found guilty in a Los Angeles court to have deliberately designed addictive products that harmed a young user. We know she is not alone because there are thousands of other court cases now in the pipeline. Research shows that reward schedules are especially potent for yo…”

“I would like to move on to talk about a ban. Obviously, that conversation has been led by Australia going first, but Governments across the world are now waking up to the dangers of social media and discussing how they are going to introduce a ban. Would you agree that the failure of companies like yours to adequately …”

“I will come back to something Professor Goodyear said about children using their phone out of school more when it is banned in school. That is interesting, because I have spoken to lots of schools that have pretty strict phone bans in place and a couple where they are not even allowed to bring their phones into school—…”

“I have spoken to lots of headteachers who are campaigning for a statutory ban on smartphones in schools. They say that if all the secondary schools in an area were to ban phones, children would not get smartphones at 11, when they transfer into year 7, and the age at which they would get a smartphone goes up to about 1…”

“rose—”

“I believe we are talking about two different things. On banning social media for under-16s, there is a complication there. We have seen what they have done in Australia, and what other countries are doing. We believe that our solution is the right one, because it is future-proof and would encompass every platform, ever…”

“Are the Government evaluating the difference between the cost of paying Access to Work at a higher rate, so that people can actually get the support they need, and the cost of them being on universal credit if they are unable to work?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) for securing this debate and allowing me time to speak in it. The National Audit Office report published earlier this year tells a story of a scheme under serious strain. App…”

“My follow-up is to you, Ruth, and you have begun to touch on it there. We know that there are many families who are distrustful of public services and of Government, who might not want to respond or participate in surveys. Is there anything that the Government could learn from the work you have done with Changing Reali…”

“What are your views on the role and the potential impact of the national inclusion standards and to what extent do you think that they will improve consistency, accountability and the quality of provision across mainstream settings?”

“Margaret, would you like to tell us what you think about training?”

“Just briefly, do any of you have any comments to make on the stakeholder involvement in developing these inclusion standards?”

“This is a question for Margaret and Daniel. The reforms introduce new SEND training for the education workforce. I was wondering whether you could give us an idea of what you think the most urgent priority is for training and the challenges that you see around that.”

“You took the words out of my mouth. I was going to follow up by saying that we could have the best trained teachers in the world, but, if they are on their own in a class without sufficient support, do you believe that making mainstream education inclusive is even possible? Surely it is down to the number of adults who…”

“I have a couple of questions for you, Amanda. First, how confident are local authorities that the reforms will improve the SEND system? It is quite a general question, but what is your assessment of the new roles and responsibilities that local government will be under with the new system?”