Speeches by Paffey.

“I declare an interest as the chair of the APPG for modern languages, so I have some involvement in this area. I really wanted to unpack what you are saying—that despite some interventions, shortages persist in physics and modern foreign languages, and there is this double whammy. We talk about boosting the domestic mar…”

“A couple of you mentioned what needs to happen or what we have to ensure is the case at the end—I do not imagine there will ever be an end to this, but certainly the end of this concerted effort to recruit. Would any of you like to share any thoughts on the progress so far on that and whether you are convinced that thi…”

“Obviously everything that you have just said in describing the lie of the land at the moment is in the context of the Government’s commitment to recruit 6,500 teachers. Even if every single one of those 6,500 is recruited, to what extent will that meet the workforce need at the moment? Is that target sufficient, in oth…”

“Once they have done that, how will the Department be monitoring it to see whether the necessary and expected progress has been made?”

“I have to declare an interest for this question: I am the chair of the APPG on modern languages. There is an idea that the EBacc saved modern languages, but they went down during the period. Do you share my concern that we still need an incentive of some sort to recognise that, with the current global challenges, inclu…”

“Is that prioritisation the reason why, for example, you have decided to test reading fluency and comprehension, rather than writing, in year 8? You are expecting writing to be tested, but you are asking schools to do that.”

“The evidence from around the world suggests that, in places that have enviable language skills among their students, those students do not start at key stage 2, but right at key stage 1. Is that something you will look at?”

“You are right that it is a big step, but it will not eradicate child poverty, obviously. What is the second biggest or most effective step that can be taken? What further measures are high up on your priority list in order to really shift the dial on child poverty?”

“Turning to the curriculum and assessment review, a number of recommendations were made by Professor Francis, some of which have been taken and some of which have not. One recommendation was that both English and maths be assessed in year 8; you have decided to assess English but not maths. Can you please explain your t…”

“The Committee recommended that that disparity be addressed, and the Department has chosen not to accept that recommendation. Can you explain why?”

“We appreciate that you are keeping it under review. We will probably keep nagging you about it.”

“There is a disparity in how FE colleges are able to claim VAT based on how they are branded or categorised. A sixth-form academy in the west of my city can reclaim VAT costs, as can sixth forms that are part of schools, but an FE college and a stand-alone sixth form in the east of my city cannot reclaim their VAT costs…”

“Hours? Days? Weeks?”

“Good afternoon, Secretary of State. You have reported to this Committee and to the House about the progress of the Government’s child poverty strategy. We do not yet have it, though. Can you say what the delays are and when we can expect to see it, please?”

“On lifting the two-child cap, many of us who have worked in preventive versus reactive services know that the point is that later on we do not have to pay the money on worse outcomes for children, so this is an investment in tackling child poverty. However, it comes with an up-front cost, which is estimated to be aroun…”

“Would you be willing to raise this if, as we heard from a number of institutions, they were to make their case for that? I appreciate that it is very last minute for this round, but we are talking about long-term sustainability and if they are going to be looking at that over the coming years and that becomes a barrier…”

“A final question if I may. I am starting to hear about a return of some universities to using quite a lot of unconditional offers, not post-qualification but using it—we know why they are using them. They want bums on seats. They want money in the bank. That is why the DfE took action to ban them before. Would you agre…”

“Minister, you have spoken quite supportively in this session about those universities that are seeking to do things such as share backroom services as a way of reducing their costs. What we have heard is that when they look at doing so the imposition of VAT on those separate organisations then becomes a barrier. Would …”

“Will your monitoring lead you, if necessary, to challenge the potential emergence of those cold spots? As a Government with a mission to break down barriers to opportunity, if that barrier becomes that someone who cannot afford to live away for university now cannot even commute to do the course that they want, that be…”

“Other providers have provided evidence too.”