Universities: Financial Sustainability

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Tuesday 21st May 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government recognise the importance of having a thriving higher education sector which is responsive to the needs of the economy and funded in a way that is fair to taxpayers. We have demonstrated that commitment via our £1.3 billion of capital funding that was announced in this spending review, which is to support universities with teaching and research in key STEM areas and supporting roles in the NHS. As my noble friend said, the Office for Students was clear that providers need to review their business model and that there are very different business models across the sector.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, has the Minister seen that even the Foreign Secretary contacted the Prime Minister to say that a curb on graduate visas could be devastating for universities? Next time she bumps into the Foreign Secretary, could she whisper in his ear that it is easier to cross the Floor of this House than it is down there?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I think the noble Lord is aware that the Government do not comment on leaks.

Free Childcare Scheme

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Wednesday 20th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I genuinely thank the noble Baroness for her question, because it gives me the opportunity to set out a couple of things. One might want to look at funding rates for different ages of children to see whether there is sufficient funding. The funding for three to four year-olds is almost identical in the new scheme to previous rates. For two year-olds, the Government will pay £8.28 an hour, compared to £6.07 previously, and for those between nine months and two years, £11.22, compared to £6.05. I leave the noble Baroness to draw her own conclusions.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

Could the Minister help me? She spoke about entitlement. Could she tell me what the difference is between entitlement and delivery?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government have committed to deliver the number of childcare places needed for those who are eligible and seek to take advantage of the opportunity that the Government offer.

Education: Advanced British Standard

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I cannot accept the assertion of the noble Baroness. The Government are doing a great deal on teacher recruitment, and these programmes, starting now, will also address the attainment gap. We will pay up to £6,000 a year tax free to teachers of key STEM and technical shortage subjects in the first five years of their career and to those working in disadvantaged schools, addressing recruitment and attainment. Critically, we will spend £150 million each year to support those who do not pass their maths GCSE at 16 to gain these qualifications by the time they get to 19.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, since this is the advanced British standard, can the Minister confirm that it will be available for schools in Scotland, as the A-level exam is at the moment? What discussions have there been with the Scottish Government?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As I said in my Answer, there will need to be extensive consultation, but we hope to work closely with the Scottish Parliament on this.

Universities: Impact of Industrial Action on Students

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Thursday 16th March 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I am not sure how to respond to the trigger warnings. I have tried to resist raising this, but, since everyone else has mentioned their family, I have a husband who is doing a part-time degree at the moment. His evening of teaching falls every single time on a strike day, so I am familiar with the issues to which the noble Lords refer. Universities are expected to take steps to avoid or limit disruption to learning. We would encourage all of them to do that.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, in her initial Answer, the Minister said that the Government play no role. Surely the Government set the whole legislative framework in which universities work and all the financial arrangements under which they operate. Is it not about time that the Government accepted their responsibility for all the industrial disputes that are taking place?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government absolutely accept responsibility for those areas where they are responsible, but I think there would be a lot of resistance in your Lordships’ House if they moved to reduce the autonomy of universities.

Schools: Artificial Intelligence Software

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Thursday 19th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Baroness raises two different points. On fairness of access to technology, obviously the Government are working very hard and are committed to making sure that those building blocks, in terms of really high-quality wi-fi access, et cetera, are available across all our schools.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hampton, made a declaration of interest that he is a working teacher in a state school in north London. Is the Minister aware that if I were a working teacher in a state school in north Ayrshire it would not be very easy for me to attend the House of Lords? Is that not one of the reasons why more than half the Members of this House are from London? Is that not wrong for a legislative assembly which is meant to represent the whole United Kingdom?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I am not sure of the link to the Question unless the noble Lord is suggesting that at some point a chatbot might replace our Scottish colleagues.

Schools: Resources

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Wednesday 2nd November 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My noble friend is right on the share of national wealth. On the British baccalaureate, the department is obviously considering the remarks made by the Prime Minister and we will be reverting in due course.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, in reply to my noble friend Lord Watson, the Minister said that schools were going to have to suffer because the economy had been trashed by the Conservative Government. Are we living in a parallel universe where the leaders of this country have heated swimming pools in their second homes—

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

Noble Lords can “Oh” away, but it is true. Whereas swimming pools in schools are being closed down and children who desperately need free school meals are not getting them. This is a total disgrace.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I think that the noble Lord was in a parallel universe, because I certainly never used the language that he quoted back at me and I hope that he will accept that that is the case. Schools had the largest increase in funding—5.8% in cash terms in the current year. We have increased starting teacher salaries by 8.9% outside London. The noble Lord can shake his head, but those are the facts.

Plurilingual and Intercultural Education

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Tuesday 18th October 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I am not aware of whether those costings have been done, but if they have, I am more than happy to share them with the House.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I congratulate the Prime Minister on attending in person the first meeting of the European Political Community, in Prague, which discussed security and energy. Will the Minister join me in encouraging the Prime Minister—whoever he or she may be, and from whichever party— to attend the Council of Europe summit to be held in Reykjavik in May next year?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I do not believe our Prime Minister needs any advice on that matter.

Schools: Financial Education

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Tuesday 12th July 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government share my noble friend’s concern. To be clear, in the primary citizenship curriculum pupils learn about where money comes from, how it can be used for different purposes and how to save for the future. In secondary school pupils learn about the importance and practice of budgeting, income and expenditure, insurance, savings, pensions and financial products. I think these are many of the things to which my noble friend referred.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, could the Minister sign up the Tory leadership candidates for one of these courses?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I think the House will appreciate that that is way above my pay grade.

Schools: Examination Assessments

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Tuesday 12th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The department is clear that these grades reflect students’ hard work in an extraordinarily difficult year. It is not unexpected, given the different approach to assessment that was taken, that the grades look different, but students can and should feel proud of their achievements.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, following the question from my noble friend Lord Hunt, what possible justification can there be for private schools having charitable status? Would not the money saved by removing such status be better used in state schools so that they can improve their exam results?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The rate of improvement in exam results was faster in state schools, with the exception of selective secondary schools, than in independent schools across the board. The noble Lord will be aware that the issue of charitable status in private schools is a lot more complicated than transferring money from one pot to another.

Office of Communications: Chair

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Thursday 18th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The role profile for the chair of Ofcom was discussed, including with the DCMS Select Committee, and updated with exactly the intention the noble Lord suggests.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

Does the Minister recall that the noble Baroness, Lady Harding, was appointed to an NHS position without any proper scrutiny? Her main qualification was being a member of the Jockey Club. The main qualification of the acting chair of Ofcom, Maggie Carver, is being chair of the Racecourse Association. Can we have an assurance that this appointment will be made in a proper fashion and that the person appointed will have knowledge of the communications industry and not of the racing fraternity?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

If the noble Lord looks at the role profile, he will see that it is extremely clear about the level of professionalism and experience required—although, it being Cheltenham week, I cannot exclude racing connections.

Charities: Funding

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Thursday 29th October 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Lord is right, and we have worked closely with the National Lottery Community Fund and other funding partners—Comic Relief and Children in Need in particular—to make sure that charities working with BME communities and led by BME individuals receive the right level of support to reflect the importance of their work.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, following on from the question of my noble friend Lady Hayter, while transparency is important, does the Minister not agree that even more important is the difficulties that charities face raising funds during the Covid epidemic? While the Government have given them some moneys—she mentioned the £750 million—some organisations such as Age UK, and at this time of year, the Royal British Legion, which is doing fantastic work, are facing great difficulties as to whether they can continue to exist. Will the Minister talk to these organisations and try to find some further support to make sure that none of them stop doing their vital work?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I absolutely agree with the noble Lord that these organisations do vital work. To be clear, there was a £750 million grant package, billions through the job retention scheme and other significant pots of money. I talk to these organisations literally daily, and my genuine understanding is that a lot of funds have been distributed for this year and we are working with them to understand their challenges in the years ahead.

Covid-19: Regional Theatres

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Monday 28th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My Lords, I am sorry to hear about the fate of the Dudley Hippodrome. However, strategically, this fund has been very much aligned to the fact that we must protect key physical institutions to protect the jobs and creativity that are found there.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op) [V]]

My Lords, will the Minister explain why all those who work in the theatre are not eligible for the Chancellor’s new job support scheme?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I hope that the noble Lord welcomes the new job support scheme and, importantly, its extension for self-employed people to the end of April. The uptake in the art sector of these schemes has been among the largest of any sector in the economy.

Television Licences

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Monday 6th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to discuss with the incoming Director General of the BBC the postponement of the withdrawal of free television licences for people aged over 75.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, the Government congratulate Tim Davie on his appointment as the new director-general of the BBC. The Secretary of State spoke to Tim Davie on his appointment and looks forward to working with him in the months and years ahead. However, I must make it clear that the BBC is responsible for the over-75s licence fee concession, not the Government. The BBC board is keeping the start date of its new policy for the over-75s under review and has said it will announce its decision on any further delay to the changes to the concession in July.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op) [V]]

My Lords, that is a totally unacceptable Answer. Surely both the BBC and the Government have accepted by postponing for two months how vital television is for old people to keep in touch with vital information from the Government, as well as entertainment and other information. Now, since older people are being asked to be in lockdown, many of them indefinitely, surely it is not too much to ask the Government and the BBC to get together now to discuss postponing this withdrawal of free TV licences, also indefinitely. Will the Minister give the assurance today that the BBC and the Government will get round the table to discuss postponing this indefinitely?

[Baroness Barran]

The Government are well aware of the sacrifice that many people, particularly elderly people, have made during the past few months. However, the responsibility is absolutely clear and was debated extensively by this House during the passing of the Digital Economy Act in 2017: the BBC is responsible for this matter.

Data Strategy

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Wednesday 24th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

I do not think the Government would accept that we have compromised our data security standards. We keep them under review at all times and this is obviously a fast-moving area. We remain confident that we can obtain a full agreement on data adequacy by the year end and are optimistic that that will be the case.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op) [V]]

My Lords, since the Government have unilaterally ended the daily media briefing, how do they now intend to publicise regularly, preferably daily, all the essential data about the pandemic?

Covid-19: Television Licences

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, the BBC is responsible for the over-75 licence concession—not the Government. The Government are disappointed with the BBC’s decision to restrict the concession to those in receipt of pension credit. Recognising the exceptional circumstances posed by Covid-19, the BBC board has decided to delay the new start date of its policy on over-75s until 1 August; the BBC will keep his issue under review.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

Does the Minister accept that it is the Government who are forcing many hundreds of thousands of old people to stay at home for many more months and that, by agreeing to delay the implementation to the beginning of August, they have already accepted the principle that the TV is vital for many old people for information about Covid-19 and other things as well for entertainment? Since August is less than two months away, will the Minister and the Government get around the table with the BBC and decide to continue this delay indefinitely, or are they willing to condemn many hundreds of thousands of old people to even greater isolation and misery?

[Baroness Barran]

The noble Lord seeks to protect the health of our nation and that particularly includes old people. As I understand it, they are especially vulnerable to the impacts of Covid-19, so staying at home is a health issue. The Government are regularly around the table with the BBC and the other public service broadcasters; my right honourable friend the Secretary of State said recently that, should we be in a similar situation at the beginning of August, she very much hoped that the BBC would show the same flexibility on this issue as it has shown already.

Premier League: Project Restart

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Tuesday 19th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Speaker]

We will go on just for a minute. I call the noble Lord, Lord Foulkes of Cumnock.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

My Lords, I know that sport is devolved but international relations are reserved to the UK Government, so will they make representations to UEFA to investigate why the Scottish Premier League is not carrying out its clear instructions to complete the top-tier domestic competition? It is flouting what UEFA has recommended.

[Baroness Barran]

My understanding is that it is up to the Scottish Premier League to agree with its member clubs the way forward, taking into account the particular opportunities and challenges that they face.

BBC and Public Service Broadcasting

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Thursday 5th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock]

We are now into March. This scheme is supposed to come into operation in a couple of months, yet we do not know how it is going to operate, who is eligible or whether the data protection laws will come into it. The last time I raised this, the noble Baroness said that she was disappointed that the BBC had not taken the funding on board. What is happening in relation to sorting this out?

[Baroness Barran]

If he will forgive me, in the interests of time I will write to the noble Lord with some of the detail. He raised a point about data sharing and the over-75s concession. The BBC’s decision document sets out that the BBC will operate a self-verification model. Therefore, the issues that he has raised should not arise but I am happy to write to him in detail about this.

A number of noble Lords, including the noble Lords, Lord Judd, Lord Hennessy and Lord West, raised soft power—a matter that I have already touched on. The Government strongly support the BBC’s mission to bring high-quality and impartial news to audiences across the world. The noble Lord, Lord West, had done some clever maths on expenditure.

BBC: TV Licence Evasion

Debate between Baroness Barran and Lord Foulkes of Cumnock

Wednesday 5th February 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran]

The last thing that this Government want to do is weaken or abandon an asset as strong and important as the BBC. My noble friend the Secretary of State set out the process earlier today and it might be helpful to repeat that. She said, “What we are talking about today is the consultation on decriminalisation. The licence fee for the 2022 to 2027 period will be the next stage in terms of setting that and then there is the mid-charter review confirming that the obligations in the charter have been met”. The full charter review needs to be thought through and everything will be included within that, including the funding model, making sure that the BBC remains the asset that we all cherish, but in a very changed world.

[Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Lab Co-op)]

Will the Minister tell the House whether, under the cover of this consultation, the Government intend to renege on their promise to continue free TV licences for those over 75?

[Baroness Barran]

The Government remain disappointed with the BBC’s decision to restrict the over-75 licence fee concession to those in receipt of pension credit.