Speeches by Paffey.

“One of the potential risks of any institutions going insolvent or even in the case of some mergers is that you will see cold spots in particular subjects emerging across the country. Minister, you have already ruled out a return to student number controls, but you have started mapping out those potential cold spots. Co…”

“You mentioned extra funding there for high-cost subjects. One of the suggestions that has come from Universities UK is that you reinstate the strategic priorities grant for vulnerable subjects. Is that something that you are willing to consider?”

“Q4. This is Care Leavers Month, when we remember the resilience and brilliance of our young people who have grown up in care, and I was delighted to welcome a group of Southampton’s care leavers to share their views with the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington…”

“My next question is just to Sarah Tillotson. You have stated in evidence that the stronger practice hubs vary in expertise. Do you have any brief thoughts on how we can get all stronger practice hubs brought up to the level of the best ones? What is the best strategy for achieving that?”

“Thank you, Chair. Thinking about the quality of childcare settings, what is clear is that the Government want to expand largely by relying on the private sector and the market to provide the majority of places, but we know that there are international examples where rapid expansion has led to a diminishing of quality, …”

“I am also a member of Unison.”

“Evidence suggests that the staff in baby rooms are generally less qualified than staff in the rest of the early years sector. Would the package of recommendations you have just outlined deal with qualifications for those working with under two-year-olds? Or are there specific different things you would recommend? Is th…”

“How can the DfE improve both the coherence and the evidence base of qualifications in the early years sector?”

“I welcome a curriculum review that will break down barriers. It opens up so much of the digital and financial literacy that the Conservatives seem to think is unimportant to all, but which we know will raise aspirations by equipping young people from all backgrounds. I have two questions that I would like to ask the Se…”

“I will listen to the experts before I listen to the Front Bench any day—the Opposition Front Bench. [Laughter.] If the right hon. Member listens, she will hear that. Will the Secretary of State please look at the overall load throughout school, not just in GCSE year, and comment on how she sees the introduction of an a…”

“On the issue of shoplifting, does my hon. Friend agree that the Tories are having a bad day with their memory? Not only have they forgotten that next to my seat of Southampton Itchen is Madam Deputy Speaker’s equally fine seat of Romsey and Southampton North, where twice I failed to persuade the people to vote for me; …”

“My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful point in this debate, which she has thankfully secured. Last week, a group of Southampton care leavers came to Parliament, and raised housing and accommodation as one of the most urgent issues they want us to tackle. I have heard her welcome, as I do, innovations like Sta…”

“My constituent Clive has a rare and incurable neuroendocrine cancer. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended that selective internal radiation therapy could be used for people with his condition and would improve both life quality and expectancy, but that still is not happening. Will the L…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank and commend my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), the chair of the Education Committee, for leading the inquiry, securing the debate and making an incredibly powerful case as to why, particularly as we begin National Care Le…”

“Sticking with the longer-term impact, the Association of School and College Leaders predicted that many of the schools where RAAC remediation was happening would see a dip in admissions, because two years on, parents are looking and saying, “Do I really want to send my kid there?” Has that been your experience from loo…”

“There is a double challenge, too, because obviously, if you start losing children, you start losing revenue and the funding that comes with it. Have you seen this, again, not necessarily in those that you are dealing with, but across other parts of the sector?”

“I appreciate you have had several things going on at once, with covid and so on, but if we are saying that the vast majority of schools where there is RAAC are still to be remediated, is now a better moment to start looking at that? Will there be monitoring and tracking of schools where RAAC remediation is going to hap…”

“Thinking about the impact of all this, our predecessor Committee was told two years ago by Baroness Barran that, actually, remediation had been pretty quick across the board. That was her view. I just wanted to get your view on whether RAAC remediation has been timely and straightforward, as it is presented to be. I am…”

“You listed, and several of you have spoken about, the disruption caused by temporary classrooms, marquees, lost days and so on. For the children who are in those particular schools, have we seen any evidence of an impact on their achievement? For example, on examination results, have examinations been disrupted or have…”

“We hear your reassurance about no children being in unsafe buildings. On your point about revising the way that you assess risk, that is good, too, because obviously, the problems with RAAC were known about well before the school buildings crisis of 2023. At this point, with the revisions that you are doing, how confid…”