Speeches by Perteghella.

“Is that for both master’s and PhD students?”

“I need to declare that I worked as a university lecturer for nearly 20 years. I contributed to AHRC-funded research projects and, more recently, UKRI-funded research projects. My question for the panel is about the full economic cost and the cost recovery. The Universities UK 2025 spending review submission said that u…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. I thank the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) for introducing this important debate. Fly-tipping is a crime against the environment. It is damaging to our local communities, and creates danger for children and pets, particularly when dru…”

“For residents in Stratford-on-Avon and across the country, road maintenance is one of the most visible signs of how well, or how poorly, their local area is being looked after. The Local Government Association recently pointed out that the funding allocated for road repairs is falling short of what is needed. In fact, …”

“The tariffs announced by Trump last night will be concerning for many businesses in the UK, not least British farmers, including in my constituency of Stratford-on-Avon. We all recognise that Trump will use the imposition of tariffs to try to get concessions from countries around the world. Will the Business Secretary …”

“I start by congratulating the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) on introducing this timely and urgent debate. As we know, the digital age has brought about an unprecedented opportunity for campaigns of any kind, including campaigns of nefarious origins and by malign agents who seek to undermine democracy a…”

“Behind capital funding, what gives children the best start in life is the people, such as early years practitioners, teachers and teaching assistants. The early years sector is struggling with a crisis in recruitment and retention, especially in rural areas such as my constituency. That leads to fewer places for childr…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I thank the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for opening the debate and the petitioners for bringing to Parliament this important petition, warning of the c…”

“My constituents are being forced to travel out of county to Coventry or Evesham to obtain basic NHS dental care. Does the Minister agree that it is a disgrace that access to an NHS dentist has become a postcode lottery? What urgent steps are the Government taking to end this dental desert and restore NHS services to ru…”

“I fully agree with the hon. Member. Turing is not the same as Erasmus, because it is not reciprocal. That is one of the things that limits the opportunities for our students. Erasmus+ is not just about university exchanges; it is a programme that includes opportunities for our disadvantaged young people. Joining Erasmu…”

“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I thank the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for opening this debate and all those who signed the petition. I will start by declaring an interest: I am a product of the European Union project—or the European Community, as it was called when I came to …”

“Absolutely. The Government need to stand up for our British farmers, and that includes during the negotiation of trade deals—which, by the way, should be brought to Parliament to be fully scrutinised. Young people have lost opportunities to study, live, travel, work and fall in love—as I myself did many years ago. Our …”

“Thank you. Will you introduce a national fostering strategy alongside the strategies on adoption and kinship care to show how the role is valued and fundamental to a social care system?”

“There is uncertainty around the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund at the moment, which is causing a lot of distress to adopters and their families. Can you give reassurances to these families that you will continue with that?”

“Thank you. We heard evidence from young people who came to speak to us about the profound and often negative impact of being separated from their siblings in foster care. How will you improve support to allow siblings to remain in contact?”

“We have heard concerns about families being unable to access support for disabled children due to lack of availability, but also difficulty in understanding their entitlements. We have already discussed about short breaks and respite care for disabled children. I want to focus on personal budgets, which we heard are in…”

“Thank you, Minister. We have heard that there is a crisis in recruitment and retention of foster carers because of the inadequacy of financial support and lack of value and respect for the role. Will you increase the financial support available to foster carers to help them stay in the role?”

“Minister, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill does not contain any measures relating to adoption. This is despite evidence highlighting problems, including a shortage of adopters, lack of support for adopted children at school, difficulties accessing funding, long waiting lists for children to be adopted, especia…”

“We also heard evidence that adoptive children do not always receive the support they need at school. Will you review the educational support available to adopted children throughout, so from early years throughout their educational journey, and improve the support when needed?”

“I want to talk about mental health. The care-experienced young people we took evidence from in this inquiry made very helpful suggestions for improving mental health support for children and young people in care. These included mandated mental health check-ins by social workers or teachers, fast track access to CAMHS a…”