Speeches by Sewards.

“I warmly welcome the Minister’s statement. As a dad, I know from two very recent experiences how valuable paternity leave is for fathers. Good companies also know that, as Tesco and other good employers have already increased their employee paternity leave offers because they know that a good workforce is a happy workf…”

“My hon. Friend has done tremendously well tonight, and he has been so generous with his time. I am fortunate enough to represent two parish councils, one town council and numerous residents’ groups. Across my constituency, I have got dozens of councillors in Gildersome, Drighlington and Morley who obviously have the ex…”

“I welcome the Minister’s response to the urgent question. The purchase of 12 new F-35A aircraft will increase our nuclear capabilities and shows that our commitment to NATO is unshakeable. As the chair of the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire all-party parliamentary group, I am always on the lookout for opportunities fo…”

“Brilliant stuff; thank you very much. I have two questions about SEND students. The first one is a little bit closer to home. There is no legal requirement for local authorities to provide free school transport to students with SEND who are aged between 16 and 19 and have already completed their compulsory education. W…”

“We have heard that the Government want to put further education providers’ funding on an equitable basis for 2025-26. What does this actually mean in practice? Will it go far enough to address college teachers’ concerns about pay disparities in particular?”

“I am very pleased, Minister, to hear you talk about the fact that the pay disparity is not acceptable. We know that the median average difference between the pay of a school teacher and the pay of an FE teacher is currently about £5,500, but they do similar jobs and both are just as essential as each other. Do you plan…”

“During our visit to City College Norwich yesterday, we spoke with a few of the teachers. One who taught electrical engineering was very candid with me, and he gave me permission to share this: he could double his salary if he were to leave that job and go back into industry, but he loves working with students too much.…”

“The Government have said that poor mental health is “a significant barrier to learning”. We also know from NHS data that about a quarter of 17 to 19-year-olds have a probable mental health disorder such as depression or anxiety. What are you doing to support young people with mental health issues in FE?”

“I will leave that particular campaign there, but I will be in touch with you separately. You know the impact that it can have on parents who have to reduce the amount of time they are working to get their children into FE, but I will pick that up with you separately outside of the Committee. My last question is about S…”

“I thought that was an interesting point about media studies. It got a bad rap at the time but I remember studying media studies and it gave me valuable skills to analyse the content that I was seeing. I have never been able to see a documentary in the same way again. My first question is to Professor Lundie but it is o…”

“Brilliant. Are there any strengths to having locally developed religious education curriculums?”

“Again to Sara, sticking with the religious education curriculum, what are the challenges associated with the way that religious education is dealt with by legislation? I have a specific example here but I thought I would ask you the open question first.”

“That is very helpful and answers one of my follow-ups, which is about what work you have done with families and children to understand where they are so you can design your curriculum. My only other question is you mentioned outcomes before, you talked about the importance of GCSE results, and I think you mentioned hea…”

“Brilliant. Are there any strengths to having locally developed religious education curriculums?”

“I thought that was an interesting point about media studies. It got a bad rap at the time but I remember studying media studies and it gave me valuable skills to analyse the content that I was seeing. I have never been able to see a documentary in the same way again. My first question is to Professor Lundie but it is o…”

“Again to Sara, sticking with the religious education curriculum, what are the challenges associated with the way that religious education is dealt with by legislation? I have a specific example here but I thought I would ask you the open question first.”

“My question is for Sean. You have already answered this in part with your first two answers but please can you tell us, and you do not need to repeat any of the information you have given so far, about your work in Tees Valley to develop a curriculum that takes into account those challenges that are faced by low-income…”

“My question is for Sean. You have already answered this in part with your first two answers but please can you tell us, and you do not need to repeat any of the information you have given so far, about your work in Tees Valley to develop a curriculum that takes into account those challenges that are faced by low-income…”

“That is very helpful and answers one of my follow-ups, which is about what work you have done with families and children to understand where they are so you can design your curriculum. My only other question is you mentioned outcomes before, you talked about the importance of GCSE results, and I think you mentioned hea…”

“A full-scale war between Israel and Iran is clearly in no one’s interests, but neither is a nuclear-armed Iran, so what is the Government’s realistic proposal to return to diplomatic solutions as soon as possible and to get Iran to give up its nuclear weapons programme? How realistic is it that Iran will engage in such…”