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Written Question
Faith Schools: Choirs
Tuesday 12th August 2025

Asked by: Baroness Prentis of Banbury (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have held any meetings with the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church regarding the protection of cathedral schools and their choral traditions.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Ministers and departmental officials hold regular meetings with both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. The most recent meetings with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education took place earlier this month. There have been no issues or concerns raised about the protection of Cathedral Schools and their choral traditions.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 16 Jul 2019
Early Years Family Support

"Does my right hon. Friend agree that evidence shows that there is a small window in early adolescence when much that has been done to a child can be put right? Does she agree that we need to focus on these times when a brain is most plastic?..."
Baroness Prentis of Banbury - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Tue 16 Jul 2019
Early Years Family Support

"I should start by apologising for the fact that I will not be here for the wind-ups, with the agreement of my right hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom) and the Minister. Both are aware that we are suffering quite a challenging family situation at home—cortisol levels …..."
Baroness Prentis of Banbury - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 30 Nov 2017
Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges

"I am grateful for the opportunity to raise the subject of foreign exchanges in the Chamber this evening. In my own family, exchanges are an integral part of growing up. I was packed off to Holland at 10 years old, and to a family in France at 11. As my …..."
Baroness Prentis of Banbury - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 30 Nov 2017
Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges

"The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. The type of foreign language exchanges I am talking about involve living with a family abroad and the depth of understanding that can be gained only in a domestic setting. That is what I am so keen to promote. Of course it is …..."
Baroness Prentis of Banbury - View Speech

View all Baroness Prentis of Banbury (Con - Life peer) contributions to the debate on: Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 30 Nov 2017
Leaving the EU: Student Exchanges

"I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. It is about a depth of friendship that encourages not only language skills but the ability to have a network of friends and contacts. My early experiences of foreign exchanges gave me the confidence to travel abroad in the political sphere. I …..."
Baroness Prentis of Banbury - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 13 Sep 2017
Higher Education (England) Regulations

"Earlier, the Secretary of State tantalisingly referred to the situation in Wales. Might it help Opposition Members if she were to explain exactly what is going on in Wales with regard to tuition fees?..."
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Tue 11 Jul 2017
Social Inequality (Children’s Centres)

"On a positive note for the provision of children’s services in Oxfordshire, does the Minister join me in welcoming the council’s development of a new service for children that will combine children’s social care and early intervention, so that there is one seamless service?..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 10 Oct 2016
Oral Answers to Questions

"12. What steps the Government are taking to increase the uptake of languages. ..."
Baroness Prentis of Banbury - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 10 Oct 2016
Oral Answers to Questions

"Thank you, Mr Speaker—I cannot tell you how grateful I am not to be excluded this afternoon. Given the importance of China in the global marketplace today, not least to my constituents who work in Bicester shopping village, does my right hon. Friend agree that our children should be taught …..."
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