Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 11th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

4. What progress he has made on closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged children.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

10. What progress he has made on closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged children.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Con)]

20. What progress he has made on closing the attainment gap for disadvantaged children.

--- Later in debate ---

[Damian Hinds]

Of course, my right hon. Friend is correct on this, which follows on from the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow). We are investing more than £100 million in our early years social mobility programme, including for professional development for early years practitioners and in grant support for the home learning environment, as I was outlining. Across the country, more than 150,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds benefit from the 15 free hours entitlement, 540 of whom are in the Bexley local authority area.

[Nigel Huddleston]

Quite a few children from disadvantaged backgrounds in my constituency start school with English as a second language. That is one reason why my constituency ranks relatively low on reading skills and in social mobility indices. What is the Secretary of State doing to enhance English-speaking skills in the very early years at nursery and in primary school?

[Damian Hinds]

My hon. Friend is correct about this; at the early years foundation stage, providers have to make sure that there are sufficient opportunities for children whose home language is not English to learn and reach a good standard in the English language.