Speeches by Sewards.

“My hon. Friend will recall that we in the Education Committee held an evidence session in July about school attendance. One of the witnesses stated that fines are “simultaneously too harsh and too soft”; too harsh, because they damage the relationship between parents and schools, but too soft to move the dial substanti…”

“Working families form the backbone of this country. They go to work, increase our prosperity and raise the next generation at the same time. It is a hard job. It always will be, and it should be, but it should not be this hard. Statutory maternity pay in the UK is one of the lowest in Europe—less than half the minimum …”

“The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech on an incredibly difficult topic. Next month, I am bringing two mums from Leeds down to meet the Victims Minister. They tragically lost their babies in different circumstances, but both went to the same funeral director, who did horrific things with their babies’ bodies.…”

“Yes, exactly right. Among the higher risk ones, we have seen examples of universities that have simply stopped recruiting from certain overseas countries because they just know that they will not meet the figures.”

“As Adam just said, the regional and local impacts are not being discussed at the moment. We are not talking about the broader implications of insolvency. Do you have any recommendations for what should happen to mitigate the impacts of insolvency, should one happen to a university town, for instance?”

“Yes, exactly right. Among the higher risk ones, we have seen examples of universities that have simply stopped recruiting from certain overseas countries because they just know that they will not meet the figures.”

“I completely appreciate that point.”

“That makes sense.”

“Would anybody else like to come in on that?”

“Absolutely right.”

“Thank you all. Adam, picking up on your previous point, we know the role of higher education providers in local economies and the community is enormous. In the event that one did become insolvent, what measures would need to be taken to mitigate the impact on the local economy?”

“Very briefly before we go to Chris for some more immigration questions, the Government are proposing stricter criteria for the basic compliance assessment. A lot of the written evidence we have received suggests that that is not that welcome. That is not universal; the University of York, which I know you used to work …”

“Thank you so much for being here today. When private providers have become insolvent, there have been procedures for teaching out the remaining students. However, when a university has a royal charter or is a higher education corporation, several pieces of evidence we have received say it is uncertain what would happen…”

“So it is your best guess at the moment.”

“Would anybody else like to come in on that?”

“So it is your best guess at the moment.”

“That makes sense.”

“Absolutely right.”

“Thank you all. Adam, picking up on your previous point, we know the role of higher education providers in local economies and the community is enormous. In the event that one did become insolvent, what measures would need to be taken to mitigate the impact on the local economy?”

“I completely appreciate that point.”