Speeches by MacAlister.

“Yes, and there are a few things that I would like to share in terms of the Government’s position on this issue, which differs from that of the previous Government. I wholly agree with you, Chair, when you say—I believe that you are speaking for the Committee—that there is unfinished business on this issue. The Governme…”

“I cannot put a timescale on it but, as I say, this is urgent; I recognise that. This is not something that we can take a long over. The campaigners have been making the case for many years.”

“Closer to home, the Scottish and Welsh Government apologies came with announcements of support that are not dissimilar to the approach that is currently being taken here in England by the UK Government. The Australian apology came with resources to also provide support for peer support groups. I know, having spoken to …”

“Closer to home, the Scottish and Welsh Government apologies came with announcements of support that are not dissimilar to the approach that is currently being taken here in England by the UK Government. The Australian apology came with resources to also provide support for peer support groups. I know, having spoken to …”

“It is and I agree. It is also not limited to historical experiences of the adoption process. To be candid, it is also an issue that children’s social care still has with how it functions much of the time. It wields enormous power over families, justifiably so on important occasions where there is significant harm to a …”

“There is significant variation across the country at the moment in the amount of time it takes for different people coming forward to get their records and a response. There are cases where it is 18 months or longer, and that is unacceptable. Last year, the Government issued pretty extensive guidance with expectations …”

“Yes, I think we do. We are open to doing that, and doing it this year. This would involve a change of regulations, so there would need to be a consultation on the time for which we expect services to keep their records. It is currently 75 years; we are looking at whether it should be extended to 100 years. You raise so…”

“We will consider ways to make the student loan system fairer, as the Prime Minister said last week. This Government have already reintroduced maintenance grants and raised the repayment threshold to above average graduate salaries, and we are acting across the board on the cost of living by bringing down inflation and …”

“We had a Westminster Hall debate about this last week, and it is good to see that the debate continues. We will consider ways to make the system fairer; there are a range of options. The threshold freeze raises £5.9 billion next year, and it is incumbent on any party that is serious about fiscal prudence to set out how…”

“I recognise my hon. Friend’s description of recent history and how we have ended up where we are today. We will consider ways to make the system fairer. As I say, there are a range of options, and we need to do it carefully.”

“I hope the right hon. Member started by apologising to Sammi in his correspondence, because the last Government froze the threshold on 10 separate occasions. I could list them all. They started in the year that the policy was designed and introduced—the same year in which the commitment was made to increase the thresho…”

“I know the Chair of the Education Committee is looking at these issues and the Government will be very interested in that work. We will set out the details of our work soon. My hon. Friend is right to highlight how transformational higher education can be. I would not want any young person outside this place who is lis…”

“I would like to think there is cross-party agreement that tackling educational inequality is one of the most important things that we can do. It is a shame on our country that we are one of the most unequal when it comes to the relationship between how well a child can do at school and how much money is in their parent…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his advocacy for a technical excellence college in his constituency. We have launched the applications for 19 of those. They get to the core of what this Labour Government are about, which is creating opportunities in every corner of this country.”

“I gladly congratulate Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group on its recent Ofsted rating, which is fantastic, and I note my hon. Friend’s support for its application to become a wave 2 technical excellence college. The applications closed on 16 February, and we expect to make and announce a decision next month.”

“The SNP’s track record on education is so poor they needed to pull out of the programme for international student assessment—or PISA—league tables because Scotland was plummeting so low. There is a chance to fix that in the elections later on this year. Skills policy is devolved, but as part of our defence boost we are…”

“It is a pleasure to respond on behalf of the Government to such a constructive and heartfelt debate. I thank everybody for their contributions, and I particularly thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) for securing it and for her opening speech, in which she reflected not only her own personal exp…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) for securing today’s important debate on student loan repayments. I would like to take a moment to collectively celebrate higher education and the transformational impact it can have for s…”

“I can confirm, as the Secretary of State for Education said earlier this week, this is an issue that we will, of course, look at. The plan 2 system was introduced in 2012 by the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats in coalition. At the time, my party raised concerns about the design of that student loan package. Whe…”

“That is a very timely intervention, because when we were elected we recognised the pressures and acted. In this Parliament, the Government are lifting the plan 2 repayment threshold to £29,385, ending a four-year freeze. We have acted to ensure that the threshold rises to above average graduate salaries, because that w…”