Speeches by Asato.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) on securing the debate. I am honoured to work with her on the all-party parliamentary group on domestic violence and abuse. I also want to pay tribute to the Minister. Her det…”

“I thank the Backbench Business Committee and the hon. Member for Cheadle (Mr Morrison) for bringing forward the debate. It is certainly long overdue. I also thank former police officer Tom Curry, who was injured in the line of duty and whose campaign with other injured emergency service workers has brought us here toda…”

“What is the unique contribution of childminders to the early years landscape, and what should the Government be doing to address the 50% decline in childminders over the last decade?”

“We have heard evidence from Triple P that the Department of Health is lagging behind the Department for Education in terms of its preparation for Best Start family hubs. What is your assessment for the effectiveness of cross-Government working in that area?”

“How confident are you that Best Start family hubs will take what worked from the Sure Start programme and provide what families genuinely need?”

“I understand that we lack an evidence base, although I think some studies are now showing links between developmental delay and screens. Should babies be given screens to watch? In your professional judgment, would that have an impact on their speech and language development particular?”

“Thank you. Professor Lloyd, you state in your evidence that pay in the early years workforce was 14% lower in medium to large profit-making childcare groups than in non-profit-making groups. Do we have explanations for that? How much do we know about the variation in pay within profit-making providers?”

“I am, too.”

“In evidence, the Education Policy Institute refers to the turnover of staff in group-based providers being twice as high—16%—as in school-based providers. Is that explained by pay differentials, or are there other factors?”

“I am delighted that next week a new 107 bus will serve residents in the Gunton area of Lowestoft, following representations that I made to First Bus. However, many of my constituents rely on the No. 99 to get to and from the town centre, and from Monday to Saturday the last bus home leaves at 5.40 pm, closing off our t…”

“Almost half the 234 schools in which RAAC had been identified in February 2024—the figure is 98—were located in the east of England. Have you identified the reasons for this?”

“Do you have an estimate of how much of the funding is going into that asbestos management or removal, and how many schools are part of that amelioration programme?”

“You say that all children are safe in schools, but a report commissioned by the NEU said that future cases of mesothelioma among adults exposed to asbestos as children could run to hundreds of thousands. How big a risk do you consider asbestos in the school estate to be, and why is this issue not seen as just as much o…”

“This is for Professor Goodier and Patrick. Last year, it was reported that contracts have been awarded for only 62 of the 500 schools in the school rebuilding programme. The ISBL has said that, at current rates, it would take 400 years to rebuild all schools. What are the reasons for the delays, and what does the DFE n…”

“My next question is to Chris and Patrick. In the light of the demolishment of schools built by Caledonian Modular in 2024, how confident should we be in the DFE’s processes for assuring building contractors for the school rebuilding programme? We have heard about the safety risks relating to modular school builds, but …”

“My next question is to Chris and Patrick. In the light of the demolishment of schools built by Caledonian Modular in 2024, how confident should we be in the DFE’s processes for assuring building contractors for the school rebuilding programme? We have heard about the safety risks relating to modular school builds, but …”

“Almost half the 234 schools in which RAAC had been identified in February 2024—the figure is 98—were located in the east of England. Have you identified the reasons for this?”

“This is for Professor Goodier and Patrick. Last year, it was reported that contracts have been awarded for only 62 of the 500 schools in the school rebuilding programme. The ISBL has said that, at current rates, it would take 400 years to rebuild all schools. What are the reasons for the delays, and what does the DFE n…”

“What is the geographical distribution of the remediation work that has taken place? For example, have you focused more on the schools in the east of England because that is where a large majority of them are?”

“In our SEND inquiry, we heard evidence suggesting that many mainstream schools, including new-build ones, are not disability-access compliant. What is the DFE doing to ensure the SRP is truly building schools for inclusivity?”