Speeches by Paffey.

“I speak as a signatory to the reasoned amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier), because I recognised, as many across the House did, that there were serious problems with the original version of the Bill. Welfare reform, which we all believe in, has to be fair, c…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend for her work on this issue and for making the statement today, although I share hon. Members’ concerns that making changes before a review is putting the cart before the horse. I must just press her on this. While I welcome the changes that bring immediate security and protection for existi…”

“You referenced the requirement to ensure that all students get multiple options put in front of them—that they get that experience, because of the so-called Baker clause. I welcome that you are going to map that out and monitor it more. Could you say a bit more about the plans to do that? Does the Department know how m…”

“That is helpful in terms of the specific measures around employer relations, careers advice and so on. Are you confident that that is enough to turn the dial in the near future, or do you think that in 10 or 20 years’ time we are still going to be having this discussion around how difficult it is and, “Oh dear, we did …”

“Minister, we have long talked about trying to get parity of esteem between technical and vocational qualifications and more academic routes like A-levels—this Government, the last Government and probably the Government before that have done so—but the evidence we are seeing is that we are still not there. What are the …”

“I appreciate the wider need to be in control of migration numbers, and you raised the issue of contribution. Do you think this is sending the right message on contribution to international students and to higher education providers whose success quite often comes from the contribution that brains from around the world …”

“In the Immigration White Paper in May the Home Office announced that it was planning to explore introducing a levy on the income that higher education institutions get from international students. I am a former HE lecturer and I am intrigued by what the rationale for this is. I see why in some areas it might be good to…”

“It will be producing its own annual report with all those kinds of measures in it?”

“Further education has often been described as a second chance for care leavers yet, as we all well know, outcomes are not good, and care leavers are three times more likely to not be in education, employment or training. What are the Government doing to address that problem?”

“One of the reasons given for setting it up as an executive agency was the need to act urgently, which is completely understandable for the Government with this as their priority. How do you plan to monitor and review Skills England’s operational effectiveness?”

“Are you content that it can do all the things you want it to do but also be innovative in the sense of there being space in its terms of reference to be able to challenge current policy?”

“What will happen to change that? You mentioned making sure that councils are properly letting care leavers know about the support that is available and getting them access to that. Is that something that the DFE will enact? Are you in negotiation with MHCLG to make sure that the message is going out to councils about t…”

“As I understand it, the Department does not collect specific data on the post-16 qualifications levels and courses that are taken by care leavers. Do you have any intention to change that? That could be helpful in targeting support.”

“You have raised Skills England and mentioned what you see as the strengths of the overview it will have. One of the concerns that has been raised is that it will, as an executive agency, in some ways have less operational independence than its predecessor body. What steps have you taken to ensure that Skills England is…”

“I think you would accept the urgency to close that gap, so what will that look like? What measures are coming?”

“I fully agree with the hon. Lady. As I commended the emergency services that rushed to the scene on that fateful day in Bournemouth, I commend the project that she has mentioned in her constituency. In closing, no child should drown simply because they were not taught how to recognise the dangers. It is essential to te…”

“I thank my constituency neighbour for making that point. There is a great need to work in partnership. We simply do not have as many pools as we used to, be they local authority-run or within schools themselves, but we should be working towards either increasing the number where possible or sharing these vital resource…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for making that salient point. I have no doubt that occurrences like the one we have heard about in her constituency are part of the reason why fewer children are now able to swim. I wish her every success in her campaign.”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered water safety education. May I begin by welcoming you to your place, Mr Deputy Speaker? I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting me the opportunity to secure this debate and all hon. Members who supported the application for it. The debate is particularly poigna…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for the very relevant point he makes. I will come on to the issue of how we can ensure that education is locally targeted. Each of the situations we face in our constituencies will be that little bit different, so it is important that on top of a compulsory expectation there are locally targe…”