Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 38 of the Social Mobility Commission Report, Time for Change: an assessment of government policies on social mobility 1997-2017, what assessment she has made of the effect of (a) economic and (b) geographic isolation on social mobility.

Tackling social mobility is at the heart of the government’s ambition to make Britain a country that works for everyone.

We recognise that where you are born, and the circumstances into which you are born, can still too often determine where you get to in life. In some parts of the country, there is entrenched disadvantage, with less access to good school places or employment opportunities. This can act as barriers to social mobility.

But we are not prepared to accept Britain as it has been. That is why last year we launched our £72 million Opportunity Areas programme, which brings together local businesses, schools and councils in 12 social mobility ‘coldspots’ across the country to create better opportunities for the children, young people and adults who live there, and to learn lessons about what works in these areas.