Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Tom Pursglove

Monday 24th June 2019 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

They should say yes.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

It is very welcome that significantly more children are taught in good and outstanding schools in Northamptonshire now than in 2010. The enormous housing growth in Corby and East Northamptonshire is creating real demand for those places. Will my right hon. Friend keep banging the drum for more funding from the Treasury for school places?

[Damian Hinds]

Yes, indeed. We work with local authorities to make sure that we have up-to-date assessments and projections of the need for school places, and we fund to those projections to make sure that there is the right number of places. We are absolutely focused on making sure that we are doing that by expanding existing good and outstanding schools and putting in good new provision, which also improves diversity and choice.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Tom Pursglove

Monday 29th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

I very much welcome the steps the Government are taking to improve the mental wellbeing of school pupils, but does the Secretary of State agree that extracurricular activities such as sport are also vital in ensuring good wellbeing and mental health and that we should promote them at every opportunity?

[Damian Hinds]

Mental health among our young people is indeed an issue of paramount importance—and something, of course, the Prime Minister has given particular attention to—and the Green Paper is an important indication of the way forward, but my hon. Friend is also right to mention that active lives and sport play a very important part.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Tom Pursglove

Monday 9th October 2017 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

Universal credit is an absolutely integral part of our overall approach to employment. It not only simplifies the system but makes it easier for people to go into work, because they do not have to think about whether subsequently they might have to restart their benefit claim. Once people are in work, it means that they can make progress more easily because there are none of the cliff edges of the old system.

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

T2. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Tom Pursglove

Monday 20th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

Last week, I attended two excellent business breakfasts in my constituency—one organised by the Rockingham Forest hotel and the other organised by Corby Business Group. There was a lot of expertise and experience there. In what ways does the Minister think we can use that experience to support young people entering the world of work through mentoring?

[The Minister for Employment (Damian Hinds)]

Mentoring has a critical role to play, and I would encourage those employers in my hon. Friend’s constituency, if they are not already doing so, to get in touch with local schools and colleges and to seek out more opportunities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Tom Pursglove

Monday 9th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Tom Pursglove (Corby) (Con)]

I would like to say thank you to the scores of businesses in Corby and east Northamptonshire that provide important work experience opportunities for our young people. These introductions to the world of work are crucial, so will Ministers continue to make sure they remain at the forefront of cross-departmental discussions?

[The Minister for Employment (Damian Hinds)]

We know that one of the most important things in being able to get a job is to have had a job and to have demonstrated employability skills. Specifically on the work experience placements we do through Jobcentre Plus, people spend 49 days longer on average in employment as a result of having done one, so the answer to my hon. Friend’s question is yes.