Speeches by Swallow.

“To what extent do limited resources and capacity guide the decision of what to do when a safeguarding concern is raised with you? You mentioned, for example, phone calls, and they can be very useful but also have limitations. Are you confident that you have the appropriate resources and capacity to respond appropriatel…”

“A final question from me: given the heightened safeguarding risks for children with SEND, who often require higher staffing ratios, specialist staff training, stable key person relationships and adapted safe environments, does the current funding model enable early years providers to meet those safeguarding responsibil…”

“That leads perfectly onto my question for you, Ann. What specific challenges arise for local authorities, when regulating or supporting large nursery chains, around consistency, communication and accountability? We talked about this earlier from the other perspective of large nursery chains working with lots of differe…”

“We talked earlier about trying to differentiate between a setting-specific safeguarding concern and something that might be more across a chain. When an issue has been identified and there is concern that it might be a chain-wide issue, do you routinely let other local authorities know, where that provider is present i…”

“Could it be?”

“I guess I would gently say that you know something is going wrong when you are not getting any notifications because, as we have just heard quite rightly pointed out, things always happen and safeguarding is not about preventing stuff happening; it is about stepping in when something does happen.”

“I should declare that I am a member of UNISON. Jayne, we just heard how important it is that providers are notifying safeguarding concerns, because it signifies that they take safeguarding seriously. Does Ofsted track and look into any providers where there are no safeguarding flags being raised? Is that a warning sign…”

“This week marks 17 years since my mum died of lung cancer. She was just 58, and I was just 15. Last week, when I visited a local lung cancer screening service in Bracknell and heard how it is using AI to speed up diagnosis, it was personal. Can the Minister say a bit more about what we are doing to roll out schemes suc…”

“Road safety is one of the top issues that constituents write to me about. That is why I took the opportunity to hear from nearly 1,000 Bracknell Forest residents on this issue over the summer, as I conducted my summer campaign on road safety. Those conversations and speaking with many incredible charities and organisat…”

“The question that I was about to ask about how we support parents of young children to read with their children has been more or less answered. Let me therefore take the opportunity to ask a specific question? Is this something that, for example, the Government should look at delivering through Best Start family hubs o…”

“That was it.”

“Many of the primary schools in my local area have reading champions, young people who are chosen to promote reading within the class. From your experience, what effect does this have on the social aspect of reading on young people feeling agency but also on the way that schools attempt to foster student voice and a sen…”

“Yes, of course.”

“Presumably local libraries would be great, where those libraries still exist in communities, which is not everywhere.”

“Dr Taylor, can you describe what actually happens in a child’s brain when they are reading? We are talking about cognitive development. How does the actual mechanism behind that work?”

“Meet them where they are at.”

“If you have been on any long car journeys, they can be a lifesaver, but let us carry on.”

“It is a big question.”

“That emphasises what Dr Hendry was saying about how important it is not just to read but also to talk about what you are reading.”

“When I was reading with my nieces when they were younger, they could not read the words but they could look at the pictures and I could say, “Where is the monkey?” That is part of how we get them to engage with the whole process of reading.”