Covid-19: Pupil Referral Units
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, it is precisely for those reasons that we must consider AP in the context of the SEND review and work out why some conditions are not being spotted early enough. For instance, it seems that in an all-through setting—we now have some all-through schools—spotting it in early years or reception is vital to the educational progress of those young people. As I have outlined, we need to look at why so many young people with these needs are ending up in alternative provision and with late diagnosis of conditions.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the fourth Oral Question.
Family Policy
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, decisions are made on an issue-by-issue basis. As I outlined in terms of care leavers, the dual chairmanship of that is clear. It is important there is also a degree of flexibility so that, as issues arise, a responsible Government are able to work across departments. For instance, the Home Office, DCMS and the Department for Education have been meeting in regard to safeguarding in schools. I have a meeting with the Home Office on violence against women and girls this afternoon.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We therefore go on to the second Oral Question.
Initial Teacher Training Market Review
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
Ofsted will be reintroducing its inspections following the introduction of a new framework for initial teacher training, which is the main quality mark for people considering initial teacher training. School-centred initial teacher training is now a vibrant part of the market. Teachers are trained by multi-academy trusts and others, and we are in an age where it is much easier to find out about the reputation of the institution, people’s experiences of it and other peer-to-peer comparisons through LinkedIn and other platforms.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the third Oral Question.
Covid-19: Care System
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, for young people in children’s homes and similar accommodation, keeping in touch with a social worker is important, but they are expected to attend school, because that continuity of relationship is very important. I am pleased to say the holiday activities funds, which are important to that cohort of children and young people, will be available in every local authority area now.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the third Oral Question.
Women in Elected Office
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 1 month ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the Government recognise that having a diverse group of elected representatives in our country is important, but the political parties have a key role to play here to ensure that candidates who are selected are able to deal with the particular barriers that they face. There has been a particular emphasis on a fund called EnAble, which was announced to allow disabled people to stand. So institutions need to look at their working practices, as the other place has done over the last 10 years or so.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed and it brings Question Time to an end.
Education: Supply Teachers
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con) [V]
My Lords, the guidance to schools helps them in this time of fluctuating staff absences to address their workforce issues. In particular, it draws attention to the use of supply teachers. Many resources are available, including teacher resources on the Oak National Academy, the remote platform with video lessons for all teaching staff. We are encouraging school leaders to make use of agency staff as and when they are needed to ensure the appropriate level of workforce in their schools.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the second Oral Question.
Schools: Online Teaching
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 2 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, the students the noble Baroness outlines would be eligible to be classified as vulnerable children. We applaud the local and national campaigns, particularly those around refurbishing laptops. Obviously, the Government wanted to purchase new devices and did so in a very disrupted supply chain last year, and we are a huge customer for that sector. We applaud the Daily Mail campaign whereby businesses are giving refurbished laptops. Indeed, they are using the same distribution portal as our scheme so that schools can get access to those as well, which I hope deals with the red tape outlined by the noble Baroness.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the fourth Oral Question.
Covid-19: Early Years Sector
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 3 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
My Lords, there will be much evaluation of the strategies used by various statutory agencies during the pandemic. The Secretary of State has written to directors of children’s services in local authorities to highlight particularly the group that are most vulnerable: babies. They are a key group that we have asked the See, Hear, Respond initiative to focus on. One of the important differences between this lockdown and the first is that we are enabling birth registrations to take place, which, of course, are a key function to make us aware of a child’s birth and therefore be able to follow up if there are any issues.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
I think we will go on, in that case. Sorry. I call the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe.
Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Con) [V]
I welcome the fact that, in recognition of the importance of early learning, the Government have kept nursery schools open. Primary schools are also open for some pupils, although the arrangements seem to vary locally. The success of vaccination gives us all hope. Does my noble friend agree that we should not reverse these arrangements, whatever happens, and that we should move to get all children back into primary school from after the February half-term?
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. I understand that we have a Minister for the fourth Oral Question—the hard-working noble Lord, Lord Bethell—so we will go to that. I call the noble Lord, Lord Cormack.
Carbon Emissions
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
I am grateful to the noble Lord for raising awareness of this. Some 75% of the workforce that maintains these offshore wind farms is indeed from the UK. We are confident that the institutes of technology, which will be the main deliverers of level 4 and level 5 qualifications, will aid us in this respect. We have seen the flexible use of the apprenticeship system; you can now do an apprenticeship in dual fuel smart meter installation. It is this kind of new job we want to train people to do.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, the time allowed for this Question has elapsed. We now come to the fourth Oral Question.
Free School Meals
Lord Fowler Excerpts(3 years, 6 months ago)
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Baroness Berridge (Con)
Many noble Lords of all parties and none can recall circumstances in which their own needs, whether that be housing or food, were not met through the circumstances of their family. There are indeed—it is not a postcode lottery—1.4 million children in England who are entitled to free school meals, saving their families over £400 a year. Additionally, particularly through the soft drinks levy, the Government have been funding breakfast clubs in nearly 2,500 schools to provide children with healthy food.
The Lord Speaker (Lord Fowler)
My Lords, perhaps I may say gently that I realise that passions on this subject run high, but could Members please keep their supplementaries reasonably short?