Oral Answers to Questions

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

It was this Labour Government’s priority to ensure that our world-leading universities were put on a much more sustainable footing. That is why we took the difficult but necessary decision to increase student fees, and it is why we are reforming the Office for Students to have a much sharper focus on financial regulation and sustainability. We, together with the Office for Students, continue to keep under review any institutions that may face difficulty, but the hon. Member will appreciate that these sensitive issues are best dealt with properly and seriously through the Office for Students.

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

T6. In Rossendale and Darwen, the Valley leadership academy is a vital school serving some of our most disadvantaged communities, yet it was recently identified as a stuck school following successive “requires improvement” Ofsted assessments. The staff and leadership at the school are working incredibly hard to drive improvement, and we are starting to see positive signs. Will the Minister therefore please update me on what Labour is doing to support them?

[The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)]

Labour is delivering a new era of high and rising school standards, because we know that when standards slip it is disadvantaged children who suffer, and we will not let that happen. That is why Labour’s regional improvement for standards and excellence teams are spearheading a stronger, faster system, prioritising stuck schools, sending in advisers with a proven track record of turning schools around, and backing that up with up to £20 million—

Outdoor Education

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Wednesday 11th June 2025 Westminster Hall

[Tim Farron]

That is a great suggestion. I will happily take the other intervention.

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

The hon. Gentleman is making a wonderful point about the value of outdoor education within the education system. Does he agree that the Ofsted assessment mechanism is a great tool for encouraging greater use of the outdoors and of sport and activity per se? Would he suggest that we look to make sure that any outstanding school must provide great access to the outdoors?

[Tim Farron]

The problem is that, at the moment, many schools do not provide that. It is often because of a sense of being beleaguered and lacking the financial wherewithal to do so. The hon. Gentleman makes a very powerful point.

To back up, on a day when we are talking about Treasury matters, the University of Cumbria’s research demonstrates that there is a social return on investment of £4.32 for every pound spent on outdoor education as part of the curriculum. Research funded by the Minister’s colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs through Natural England looked at the experience of schools and students who had access to outdoor education opportunities: 95% found that those experiences made lessons more enjoyable, 85% reported a positive impact on student behaviour, 92% reported improved engagement of students with learning and 92% reported increased student health and wellbeing.

The frustrating news is that outdoor education is becoming much more difficult to access. Some 13% of students never visit the natural environment or spend meaningful time outdoors, rising to 18% of children in the most deprived parts of our country. A third of children never, ever have lessons outside. Outdoor education centres are facing difficult times: 30 of them have closed in the last eight years. Learning outside and going on life-changing residentials is, sadly, becoming the preserve of schools from wealthier areas.

Oral Answers to Questions

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Monday 10th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Morgan]

Ensuring that schools and colleges have the resources and buildings that they need is key to our mission to break down barriers to opportunity. I will take no lectures from the Conservative party on education.

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)]

Last month, Labour announced the first 750 schools set to offer free breakfast clubs. Next month, through the clubs, we will boost the life chances of up to 180,000 children and begin to save parents up to £450. That comes as we improve the quality of early years education, alongside our Department’s RISE advisers, support stuck schools, drive high and rising standards and bring schools together to improve attendance. In National Apprenticeship Week, we celebrated by cutting red tape to unlock 10,000 more apprenticeships every year. At the Department for Education, we are the Department for opportunity, and we are proving that we are the Department for delivery too.

[Andy MacNae]

On Friday, I met with the headteachers of all the secondary schools in Rossendale. They face many challenges, but they were unanimous that the single biggest issue they face is a lack of capacity in special schools and alternative provision in our area. Rossendale has no places, children’s complex needs are not being met and huge additional pressures are being placed on our mainstream schools. That is the legacy of 14 years of neglect. What steps will this Government take to address special school and alternative provision in areas such as Rossendale and Darwen?

[Bridget Phillipson]

I understand my hon. Friend’s concern and the concern of headteachers in his constituency. Sadly, I hear that story in every part of our country. We inherited as a Government a system that the previous Secretary of State described as “lose, lose, lose”. We are investing more into the system and we want to ensure that there is more mainstream inclusion, but we recognise the need to invest in specialist provision for children who need it most.

Apprenticeships

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Tuesday 4th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes) for securing this important debate. In the interest of time, I will focus on one issue: the awareness of apprenticeship opportunities, particularly among school leavers.

When I go around my Rossendale and Darwen constituency, I am inspired by the range of opportunities that our great businesses offer, but at the same time, a lack of skills and the inability to recruit the people they need remain key barriers to growth. I go into schools and talk to young people, and their awareness of the opportunities available to them remains remarkably low. That is reflected in the take-up of apprenticeships: only 25% are taken up by school leavers—around 80,000 students in 2023, compared with over 300,000 who applied for universities—and take-up was dominated by two sectors, which leaves many areas completely under-represented. It is also reflected in surveys: although 70% of parents would recommend an apprenticeship to their child, only one in 10 would be confident in supporting them through the application process, compared with four in 10 for university applications, and 82% of teachers said that they felt confident talking about university opportunities, compared with just 27% for apprenticeships.

That is a fundamental issue. Indeed, the National Foundation for Educational Research found that the principal barrier to young people accessing apprenticeships was

“a lack of in-depth understanding of apprenticeships amongst young people, their parents/carers, and teachers, including the opportunities for career progression. This is preventing young people from even getting to the point of application.”

I have some questions for the Minister. To what degree are we assessing the impact of the enhanced Baker clause? What more can we do to enhance awareness among schools, businesses and others? To what degree should we consider destination measures—what students’ education leads to, rather than the qualifications they get—in Ofsted judgments?

Education, Health and Care Plans

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

In the interests of time, I will just endorse so many of the comments made today. It is fantastic to see the passion and commitment of so many Members here, as well as the passion and commitment that the Government have shown since day one of our coming into office.

In the interests of time, I will focus down on just one issue. My constituency of Rossendale and Darwen spans two local authority areas: one is the small unitary authority of Blackburn with Darwen, and the other is the shire county of Lancashire. One hundred per cent of my EHCP cases are in Lancashire, which demonstrates a stark and completely unacceptable postcode lottery.

There is no doubt that money is a fundamental issue, but we also have to raise a question about to what extent culture, attitudes and systems matter. Time and time again I hear from families who feel that the whole system is set up to fail and to stop them from getting these plans. As well as addressing those fundamental funding issues, I hope that, as a Government, we will address the cultural, systemic issues by giving our families, in Rossendale and Darwen and in all of our constituencies, the support they desperately need.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

Andy MacNae Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Catherine McKinnell]

I absolutely agree with the National Audit Office. Although it is a damning report, we recognise much of what it says and are determined to fix it and put it right in the way the hon. Lady suggests.

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

SEND is the single greatest issue facing schools in my constituency, and I have had far too many heartbreaking conversations with families who are not getting the support they need. Does my hon. Friend agree that supportive early intervention and diagnosis is the single most effective way of reducing this demand and ensuring better outcomes?

[Catherine McKinnell]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Early diagnosis and early intervention are known to significantly improve the opportunities and outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities, but one of the biggest challenges in this space is the battle that many families face with a system that is letting them down, and we are determined to change that.