Speeches by Spencer.

“In same vein—we touched on this with the previous panel—how do you square T-levels as a true equal to A-levels while also ensuring that they are accessible to all learners with all learning styles?”

“As they are currently structured?”

“Do we change the shape of T-levels and make them a wider number, with varying levels of complexity and assessment styles? This is what I am getting at.”

“Does the hon. Member not think that the fact the Labour party went into the last general election promising not to raise taxes on working people might be part of the problem?”

“On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I have another question, but first I want to ask one on this subject. The premise of reform all those years ago was to simplify the system. James, you described an over-complicated system and yet, sitting here, you are all arguing for the retention of an over-complicated system. How do we square that circle?”

“I was struck by what you said—that T-levels would not even get on to the team sheet if you are looking at the top two, because of dropout rates and low levels of satisfaction among students. Why are the AGQs so much more popular? What can we do to get T-levels to a point where students are getting the most from them?”

“Sorry, Chair, to abuse my position with one more question, but the issue is parity of esteem between an academic and a non-academic route. Is the purpose of T-levels and alternative qualifications and colleges to provide an alternative to all children, or to children who are struggling in the more traditional routes th…”

“The hon. Gentleman talks about speed and the need to do the transition quickly. May I draw his attention to the work of Bent Flyvbjerg? He wrote a book last year called “How Big Things Get Done”, in which he noted, having looked at infrastructure projects across the world, that less than one in 10 are delivered on time…”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“If the Government choose to solve the housing crisis by taking into account our environment, why can we not do that with energy policy as well?”

“May I put on the record my apologies for fluffing my speech a moment ago? One of the points I wanted to make is that we take into account our natural environment when we look at housing and planning policy. The reality is that when we want to build a development on the side of a village, put an extension on a house or …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I and many Conservatives hope and aspire for a clean energy future, but I wish to make three points that the Government and the House should consider when contemplating the upgrade of our electricity grid. First, similar to the point made by my hon. Fr…”

“I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman is talking from personal experience about an important part of our education system. He talks a lot about teachers and the previous Government’s failed education policy, but will he take a moment to recognise the vast improvements in our performance in international league tables an…”

“Children’s Commissioner, do you have a working definition of child poverty?”

“Not to trivialise low pay—you think that the child poverty strategy would be well placed to go after deep, entrenched, long-lasting poverty.”

“That is rarely the case. In terms of trying to put meat on that statement, are you willing to go forward into this process talking about root causes and peripheral causes of poverty, whether it is family breakdown or long-term unemployment, for example? Are you willing to go that far? You have talked about housing.”

“Most teachers I have talked to would cite parents as the biggest influence on the child’s life, on their life outcomes, and on the probability of them doing well at school and doing well in life. Has policy reflected the importance of parents up to this point? Could it do more to reflect the importance of parents going…”

“I want to get a feel for your conversations. You will go in and bat for the supporting families programme, reducing parental conflict and all of those soft services that are so important. We heard about family hubs earlier. Are these the things that you are going to push?”

“It has just occurred to me that you have not met the DWP up until this point.”