"I will start with my four recommendations to ensure that I get them out in time. This is my first request to the Minister: when the Department looks at the high needs block formula, can it look at the historical element, because there is no justification for the allocations? They …..." Ed Davey - View Speech
"Is the Minister able to tell me, either today or in writing, how the historical spend factor in the formula was set? I understand what history is, but it needs a justification...." Ed Davey - View Speech
"My right hon. Friend is right that the situation for Kingston is the worst of any London borough. We are spending more than 40% above our allocation, with a potential knock-on to the budgets of schools across the board, and potentially even the solvency of the local authority. Given how …..." Ed Davey - View Speech
"The Secretary of State might not be aware of this yet, but on 4 December I wrote to her to ask for an urgent meeting to discuss the funding of high needs in Kingston. Kingston’s high needs budget is set to be overspent this year by £6.5 million, or 35%—the …..." Ed Davey - View Speech
"The Secretary of State will know that the National Audit Office said just a few months ago that school budgets needed an extra £3 billion by 2020 to avoid cuts. How does she square that figure with the £1.3 billion that she has announced today over two years? She also …..." Ed Davey - View Speech
"May I first pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Rebecca Harris) for her excellent work on her private Member’s Bill? As the House knows, the Government supported the Bill, as amended in Committee. Unfortunately, and as the Leader of the House made clear last week, …..." Ed Davey - View Speech
"The Leader of the House explained the problems of doing so in this Session and was equally clear that we would welcome a private Member’s Bill in the next Session. This Government have worked harder on this issue than the last one did, and we have made more progress. I …..." Ed Davey - View Speech
"I know my hon. Friend is a huge supporter of the Bill, but the Leader of the House has made clear the problems of getting it through both Houses during this Session, and I am certainly not one to challenge his judgment...." Ed Davey - View Speech
"My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State takes seriously any public interest declarations made to him. If a declaration alleges that a company is trading in a fraudulent manner, the Secretary of State can authorise an investigation into the affairs of that company, using powers under the Companies Acts. …..." Ed Davey - View Speech
"I am sorry that after the initial e-mail sent just before Christmas there was no substantive follow-up. I apologise to the right hon. Gentleman’s constituent, but the Secretary of State has now written to the right hon. Gentleman, as he acknowledged, and I confirm that officials of the Insolvency Service …..." Ed Davey - View Speech