"My Lords, my noble friend Lady Keeley has done us all a service by facilitating this important debate in an area—the development of a new landscape for 16 to 19 qualifications —that has been the source of more than a little controversy since the introduction of T-levels in 2020. I …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, further to the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Bew, and on the broader question of SATs testing, last week, YouGov published a survey showing that only 7% of primary school leaders wanted to see SATs retained in their present form; the remainder wanted them either to be …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, I join my noble friend in welcoming the excellent report from the Children’s Commissioner this week. In her answer to the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, my noble friend spoke of the need for early intervention and joined-up support. That is one of the issues mentioned in the Children’s …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Brennan on securing this debate and on his powerful introductory speech—at a time when live music is at the crossroads, to reference an iconic song by one of my heroes, the Delta blues singer Robert Johnson.
"I thank my noble friend for that response. She mentioned the existing requirements on school admissions, but as the Sutton Trust report revealed, 36% fewer pupils with SEND from disadvantaged backgrounds are accepted in the higher-performing schools. The current rules are simply not doing the job that they are intended …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Sutton Trust Selective Inclusion, published on 24 March, which found that the top 500 secondary schools admit a lower proportion of pupils eligible for both free school meals and special educational needs support than …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, the powerful opening speech by the most reverend Primate contained much wisdom. For me, however, perhaps the main takeaway will be a call for AI developers to answer the fundamental question: where are we going? The potential impact of artificial intelligence on human relationships and society is vast …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, has done us all a favour by facilitating this discourse, but it should not be necessary. In the 2024 King’s Speech, the Government committed to placing binding regulations on the developers of the most powerful AI models. Almost two years later, we still …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, the immigration and asylum Bill includes welcome provisions to change the modern slavery system, including better tools for law enforcement to tackle exploitation and stronger processes to identify children. However, the Bill continues to emphasise alleged abuse of the system, despite no data supporting this. That approach risks …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech
"My Lords, I speak as the chair of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, and I want to put on the record that I very much approve of the suggested additional day on Tuesdays specifically for delegated legislation. It is important that delegated legislation is given the stature that it deserves, …..." Lord Watson of Invergowrie - View Speech