Informal European Council

Debate between Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Monday 6th February 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I assure my noble friend that the UK is working with the international community to support the Government of National Accord’s efforts to deliver security and stability for the Libyan people and to tackle the flow of illegal migrants through Libya. We have allocated more than £10.5 million this year for assistance to Libya and technical support to its Government.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, I am glad that the Statement and the noble Baroness herself stressed the need for a positive partnership with the European Union. Is the noble Baroness not concerned then that the President of the United States is not well disposed towards the European Union? Indeed, he wants it to fall apart—likewise his nominee for ambassador to the European Union. Does that not give the noble Baroness cause for concern?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

One of the things discussed over the lunch was exactly how we can ensure that relationships between the United States and the European Union remain as strong as ever. We are very keen to make sure that that is well understood and that the EU along with us plays an important international role as we always have done.

European Council

Debate between Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Monday 24th October 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

The Prime Minister has been very clear about the importance of working more closely with source and transit countries— something she reiterated at the EU Council meeting—and we established the Organised Immigration Crime Taskforce to tackle that. It is working in 17 countries and has successfully disrupted organised crime groups through participating in intelligence sharing, arrests and prosecutions. We are also playing an important role in Operation Sophia, which has destroyed more than 300 smuggling boats, apprehended almost 90 suspected smugglers and successfully saved more than 26,000 lives.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, given the scale of the challenge of negotiating trade agreements with the rest of the European Union and other countries, which the noble Baroness acknowledges, what transitional arrangements are envisaged once we leave the European Union? As a pro-chancellor of the University of Bath, I urge the Government, in formulating the negotiating strategy, to ensure that among the negotiators there is at least one person with in-depth knowledge of the university sector, so that we can ensure that the negotiations in no way harm our university sector but enable UK universities to take advantage of the challenges ahead.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

A range of issues are involved in the transitional arrangements, the Department for Exiting the EU is considering them and a lot of work is going on. Of course we want to ensure that we are using the expertise and skills of universities and trade negotiators to get the best deal.

Young People: Mentoring

Debate between Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Monday 25th April 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

My noble friend is absolutely right, and to address this issue the Careers & Enterprise Company published a detailed analysis last October which showed exactly where young people need further support and where there needs to be improvement in careers and enterprise provision. Following that, the company launched a careers and enterprise fund, for which the winning bids were announced in March, and 75% of funding will go to those areas which were highlighted as most in need of improved support.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, I warmly welcome any expansion of much needed mentoring for young people. Can the Minister confirm that this will include emphasising the importance of democratic engagement? I am sure that all noble Lords will be concerned about voter registration levels among young people, especially with regard to the EU referendum, which is about their future. Will she agree to meet Bite The Ballot, which was recently championed by President Obama, to discuss how it might work with the mentors on the issue of democratic empowerment?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

We certainly consider mentoring, in a whole range of ways, to be extremely important, which is why we will be launching a £12 million government fund to extend and scale up proven schemes that link mentors with young people. We will launch this scheme later in the year and announce further details. We would welcome organisations that are involved in mentoring across an entire spectrum bidding for this funding, because we believe that it is extremely important for young people to have role models in a variety of areas to help ensure that they reach their potential.

Women: Literacy

Debate between Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Tuesday 8th March 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

Yes, it is absolutely important. In fact, girls are doing remarkably well. Eighty-two per cent of girls achieved an A* to C in English GCSE compared to 67% of boys, so it is certainly true that we need to pay as much attention to the education of boys as to that of girls, which is why we have introduced a range of improvements to the educational system. We now have more than 1 million more children in good or outstanding schools.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

The Government are clearly committed to improving literacy. How can the Minister square the circle with the closure of so many libraries up and down the country? She also mentioned the importance of family literacy. How can she square the circle with the closure of so many children’s centres up and down the country, which nurtured such things as literacy for families?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

In 2014 we launched a children’s centres pilot to see how children’s centres can better motivate disadvantaged, low-skilled parents, many of whom are women, to get the English and maths skills that they need. We consider reading for children to be extremely important. That is why we are delighted to work with Penguin Classics, which has launched its Classics in Schools initiative, giving schools access to classroom sets of up to 100 titles at a reduced price so that children have access to a wide range of interesting and exciting literature.

Education: Politics A-level

Debate between Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Tuesday 22nd December 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I think that the answer is probably no, and I shall leave it at that.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, following on from the very unsatisfactory answer given by the Minister to my noble friend Lord Blunkett, will the Government consider making citizenship classes available to all students who are studying A-levels? Citizenship is absolutely key to the future governance of this country and, as my noble friend said, to issues such as radicalisation.

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I have said, citizenship education remains in schools. I am happy to raise the noble Baroness’s concerns with the department.

Higher Education: Part-Time Students

Debate between Baroness Royall of Blaisdon and Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Wednesday 11th November 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

As I said, we are taking a series of measures to try to encourage people who want to undertake part-time courses. Of course we encourage anybody who wishes to undertake upskilling to be able to do so. As I said, we have seen a 43% increase in the number of higher and degree apprenticeships compared to 2013. We have got them in various industries already and another 11 have been approved for development, so we are looking at other ways in which we can encourage people into part-time study.

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon (Lab)]

My Lords, the Minister says that the Government believe that further education colleges are important. Can she therefore give us an assurance that there will be no closure of FE colleges as a result of the spending review?

[Baroness Evans of Bowes Park]

I am sure the noble Baroness quite understands that I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the spending review.