Speeches by Spencer.

“Q I completely agree on the need for stable safeguarding teams, and they are in the better interests of children, but can you completely rule out any risk that a statutory cap on the use of agency workers will lead to people leaving the profession? Andy Smith: I cannot absolutely rule that out. We have significant chur…”

“Q What about children who are at risk of neglect at the hands of the carer? Do you think family group decision making is an appropriate step that a child safeguarding team should be mandated to practise at that point? Anne Longfield: I think a mandate makes a very clear distinction in terms of a route of travel. It is …”

“Suffolk has a huge flooding problem. Part of the problem has been driven by overdevelopment in low-lying rural areas. In her steps to reform the planning system—as well as building more houses, which I totally accept we need to do—can the Secretary of State promise to force councils and developers to properly account f…”

“Unfortunately, my question has already been answered by Susan about programmes that can be implemented within a school setting to support children with SEND. My follow-up would have been: why are we still trialling programmes? The evidence on NELI has been well established for years. Why has it not been rolled out univ…”

“Thanks very much, Secretary of State. I want to ask a question about clause 45 and the extension of statutory pay and condition arrangements for teachers in academies. As briefly as you can, what was the thinking behind the decision to tighten rules on pay for teachers in academy schools?”

“On what you have said about schools having flexibility to pay a teacher more than what the STRB recommends outside of the band, will that be the case?”

“Okay. What is the intention? Is there a lot of evidence that teachers are paid significantly below in academies? I am interested in why there is the inclusion of this clause. Is there any evidence that headteachers pay teachers less than they would do otherwise if they were bound by the STRB?”

“Everything you have come forward with so far has been talking generally about capital investment. You are saying you are rolling these things out but you have not really made significant announcements. There is no inclusion within the children’s wellbeing Bill that there is going to be a massive investment in programme…”

“Earlier you made a clear point, clarifying your point on flexibility on pay. I just want to ask you the question again because it is not clear within the explanatory notes nor within the Bill. Will a head teacher be able to pay a member of their staff, a teacher, above the maximum threshold for that band or that grade …”

“Okay. That is not clear within the explanatory notes or the Bill. Will the Bill be amended?”

“I have heard that the Minister is the future, but all he wants to talk about is the past. The fact of the matter is that, today, borrowing costs are up, business confidence is down and growth is going nowhere. Is it not time to admit that this lefty economic experiment is not working? It is time to cut taxes and cut sp…”

“To follow up quickly on that, your differentiation between a regulator and an inspector kind of skewered my second question, but can you take this moment now and this opportunity to explain how important Ofsted is, an inspectorate is and a regulator is for the quality of education in this country and the long-term outc…”

“The Alternative Big Listen, which ran at the same time as Ofsted’s consultation, found that 91% of respondents do not consider Ofsted to be fit for purpose. We have obviously spent a lot of this hearing talking about the sad case of Ruth Perry. Is there anything else that you think is driving this underlying distrust o…”

“My hon. Friend is making an interesting point about the reality of policing in a rural area. My constituency has one of the most consistently underfunded police forces in the country. Two misconceptions are that there is no crime in rural areas, and that if it does exist, it does not require the same manpower as other …”

“3. What his target date is for increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.”

“It is all very well spending 2.5% of GDP on defence, but we have to spend it on the right kit. Over the weekend I noted a story about our NATO allies being frustrated with Britain for not investing in appropriate missile defence systems. As the Secretary of State meets his 2.5% commitment, will he commit to investing i…”

“There are loads of landowners in Suffolk who want to take steps to mitigate flooding. The problem is they need a flood risk assessment permit, but FRAPs are expensive and hard to come by, so what can the Department do to make them easier to access and cheaper? That would make a real difference.”

“As we have just had a debate on child sexual exploitation, it is worth mentioning that we are seeing the nature of crime in rural areas change very quickly, and that the challenge faced by police forces five or 10 years ago is not the challenge that they face today. In Suffolk, the reality is that we have a massive pro…”

“I will ask a quick question, predominantly to Maris, on the back of this conversation. To what extent do you recognise a statement that practitioners currently operate in a climate of risk aversion and fear of getting something wrong?”

“I want to ask a question on the application and the roll out twofold. Why have local authorities not begun doing this organically already? What problems do you foresee in getting local authorities to work together? My experience is that whenever the Department for Education or anyone in Whitehall tries to tell local au…”