Covid-19: Education Settings

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 8th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, we have been clear about the risk of aerosol transmission. That is why there was specific guidance right from, I believe, the first lockdown in relation to children attending special schools and the rules on social distancing. As I have outlined to noble Lords, we are awaiting the results of the pilot and we made funding available, in two application tranches, to deal with certain increased costs for cleaning and other additional costs that schools and colleges had as a result of the pandemic.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I am pleased to follow noble Lords who have spoken with so much wisdom, and I thank the Minister for the Statement. At the outset, I want to acknowledge formally and thank Ms Davies from Mulberry school, which is my local school. She has been helping thousands of children—400 children and their families—every single week for the past six months.

A number of parents have written to me saying that they have received letters threatening punitive fines and other actions for children missing school, either due to Covid or long Covid symptoms. Can the Minister assure me that parents will not be punitively fined and punished for any such reasons? My second point is that, as we approach the summer, can the Minister give details of the government plan to support children with the provision of breakfast and lunch, in addition to providing essential IT equipment and broadband access? Have the Government undertaken an assessment of the gaps, particularly among children who are already disfranchised—

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is taking longer than other noble Lords, who have been very restrained in their questions.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

I have nearly finished, thank you. These children are marginalised as a result of inequalities, poor health, poverty and poor-quality housing. Will the Government ensure adequate planning for their education needs, as well as their well-being?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

I join the noble Baroness in thanking the staff at the school she mentioned. We know that many have gone above and beyond, particularly in supporting disadvantaged children in their community. Dropping food parcels and workbooks at the door has been pretty commonplace for many of our school staff, which is amazing.

Upon the return of schools, attendance has been compulsory but we have given specific guidance to schools if they have pupils absent due to parents or carers being concerned about Covid, or about their own health if they are clinically extremely vulnerable. In fact, there is a particular X to mark in the reasons for non-attendance. We hope that schools have encouraged parents to keep their children on the school roll in that situation, because we are concerned to see the rise in the numbers of children being electively home-educated in these circumstances—obviously, many parents do that job really well. On breakfast clubs, I think we have provided funding of £24 million through Magic Breakfast and other charities to deliver breakfasts. Over this summer holiday, in addition to the summer schools there will be, as there have been since Easter, holiday and activity clubs operating in every local authority area for disadvantaged families.

Covid-19: Children

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 17th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, may I say happy birthday to the noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Yardley, and thank her for her powerful and passionate account? I agree that we are a levelled-up generation and we owe a debt of responsibility to future generations. I am immensely grateful to Barnardo’s, the APPG on Homelessness, the Disabled Children’s Partnership, the Child Poverty Action Group and the National Literacy Trust. I commend their outstanding and continued leadership and advocacy on behalf of the children of our country.

The noble Baroness, Lady Morris, plainly stated what we know all too well and what needs to be done. Sir Kevan Collins warns us that the successful recovery of children’s education is not credible on the £50 per student extra support. Therefore, the Government will knowingly be abandoning children’s future education.

I was moved by the personal account from the noble Baroness, Lady Wyld. I too witnessed the frustration of my three children who suddenly added teaching to their skill set. I salute all parents, including her, who did everything they could under extreme circumstances.

Some 4.3 million children experienced poverty prior to the Covid pandemic, which has simply worsened it. Barnardo’s had a coalition of 80 charities to deliver “See, Hear, Respond” programmes, which reached 100,000 children who were hidden and suffered a detrimental impact in the past year during the pandemic but did not qualify for statutory support. The Government know about these gaps and shortfalls. Can the Minister say what is being done to follow up on those children and what has happened to them? Furthermore, during the first six months of the pandemic nearly 300,000 children were referred to children’s social services. If the Minister is unable to respond now, will she write to me and put a copy in the Library about the breakdown of the figures, and the types of services provided to that group of children?

I accept that there are many pressures that require immediate government attention to remedy inequality and injustice for all families, who are battling on so many fronts, with a lack of adequate finance and with poor mental well-being caused directly by poverty—and then there is the digital divide, homelessness, sexual abuse, domestic violence, drugs, racism and Islamophobia, all of which have reached an endemic level in our society and our educational institutions. We ignore them at our children’s peril.

Can the Minister say whether there are adequate independent safeguards in place in schools if and when parents muster the courage to complain about racism and Islamophobia, which have some of the most pernicious impacts on black and ethnic minority children’s well-being? Will the Minister and the rest of the Government also review urgently the divisive and dangerous Prevent and Channel policies, which lately have victimised and penalised young children for their shows of solidarity over international conflicts? It is an absolute outrage, and an act of control on our civil liberty and free speech, which we so value in our country.

Briefly, I want to acknowledge the detailed briefings circulated to us by the Disabled Children’s Partnership. The Government are fully cognisant of the devastating impact of the pandemic on people living with disabilities and autism, as well as on their carers. Pre-pandemic, we had a £434 million deficit in social care for disabled children alone, which has trebled in the past year. I hope that the Minister will heed the wise words and advice of the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin.

I urge the Minister to search her own heart and that of the Government, with deepest consciousness, to address the profound pain of families in need of the Government’s urgent attention. Levelling up is impossible without ensuring a fair, just and accountable Government. As the noble Baroness, Lady Morris, said, we can change the narrative if the Government are willing to do so. Does the Minister agree that the shortfall in funding for education is indicative of the Government being willing to fail our children’s future?

Ofsted Review of Sexual Abuse in Schools and Colleges

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 17th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, I assure the noble Lord that work is going on across government. The strategy he outlined is obviously being led by the Home Office, and I had the pleasure of meeting the Minister leading on this, Victoria Atkins. As a result of her intervention, we have changed and updated the definition of child sexual exploitation in our guidance to make sure that we are working together on this. This is a journey for all of us in terms of how we deal with the prevalence of violence against women and girls. The domestic abuse legislation is landmark legislation in outlawing coercive control and hopefully getting better societal understanding of the nature of abuse.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the Statement and the report. However, there is a lack of reference to stakeholders from black and minority ethnic communities, including Members of Parliament, who have expertise and may have been consulted.

The domestic violence legislation was a watershed moment for Parliament, as was the Government’s leadership in their determination to root out violence against women and families. Throughout, we heard repeatedly how endemic violence and abuse are in our homes, and that they have permeated our societal structures and norms. We cannot put aside the role of schools and colleges—and, indeed, some police officers —in not investigating matters as they should.

As a former children’s social worker, it pains me to ask why we are aghast, given our years of such debates in this House—as the noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, cited—and the work of charities to highlight the many aspects of adult violence, which inevitably results in children experiencing and witnessing much violence and abuse. Many of those children subsequently also undertake bullying, sexual harassment, abuse and online threats in schools, colleges and universities.

I have not read the whole report at the moment, but I acknowledge that the pressures on resources are significant. How do the Minister and the rest of the Government intend to collaborate with local authorities and national women’s and children’s rights organisations to consider the recommendations of the report to prevent further immediate harm to children?

In the meantime, will schools and colleges provide access to counselling and have anonymous structures for receiving reports? Of course, I note what the Minister says about safeguarding being everybody’s business. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that children and parents are made aware that they will be believed and, as the report says, to prevent children seeing sexual abuse and harms as being so common that they see no point in reporting them?

Queen’s Speech

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Wednesday 12th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, it was indeed an honour and a privilege to be in Her Majesty’s presence at a distinctive State Opening of Parliament, and I wish to convey my earnest respect for her dedication and service to our country.

I wish to make some general points today, to warmly congratulate my noble friend Lady Blake and the noble Lord, Lord Lebedev, and to sincerely thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Portsmouth for his service to our House.

As we end the blessed month of Ramadan, I accept glad tidings from wherever they come, hence I welcome many aspects of the gracious Speech. However, I note with regret and disappointment the lack of any meaningful indication of what is to happen to social care and employment rights. This will further expose many vulnerable adults, particularly those living with disabilities, to more pressures, pervasive poverty and gross inequalities, depriving them of access to dignified care and independence, directly contravening the Government’s own levelling-up and equality obligations, which, by their design, acknowledge that inequality is embedded within our communities.

The pandemic also held up another grotesque horror: increased violence, particularly against women, signifying pernicious gender divisions. It was indeed an honour to participate in debates on the Domestic Abuse Bill, but the Act’s full implementation will require not just law but full funding. A number of distinguished noble Lords have highlighted the imminent danger of the Government overlooking young people’s mental health and well-being, as well as the millions who are in low employment and suffering hopelessness. I echo their sentiments. I hope that the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, will acknowledge and address the desperate situation of sexual harassment, rape and stalking within higher education establishments. Notably, those in charge have been slow to protect victims and survivors and to address these safeguarding matters, which are equally pervasive within secondary schools, as was reported this week by the BBC.

Violence against and harassment of women and girls are indicative of our societal and structural norms of acceptance that violence and discrimination are okay. A lack of gender equality remains persistent within our political parties, which continue to accept that the lack of diverse women’s leadership in public office and leading institutions is permissible. Government Ministers also persist in not recognising the detrimental impact of racism and Islamophobia within our institutions. What steps will the Government take to ensure that our institutions and public spaces are reflective of all parts of our society and communities? Does the Minister agree that gender balance and inclusive diversity are essential for a successful country and economy?

Time allows for only a brief reference to the desperate plight of the many families who are living in substandard homeless accommodation. Like other noble Lords, I am concerned that the proposed housebuilding could lead to further divisions among our communities unless there is due attention to developing safe and good-quality family homes.

It would be remiss of me not to salute the resilience of our communities, many of which have suffered the terrible heartache caused by over 128,000 deaths. Equally, I give my respect to all the community and charitable organisations whose selfless acts have meant that families had access to basic food where government could not provide it. None did more than Sir Tom Moore and our own East End equivalent, centenarian Dabirul Islam Choudhury OBE, who continues his efforts for the NHS and other charities.

Finally, Muslims across the world will tomorrow celebrate Eid ul Fitr, following a month of fasting; they have also continued to donate millions to charitable causes. My best wishes go to all Members and staff who will also be celebrating.

We live in an interdependent world. We witnessed the critical collaboration that was necessary during the pandemic and which restated how we need to work together for the betterment of humanity. We are promising to educate 40 million girls—like Malala—across the globe, on the basis of valuing their human rights. I ask our Government to be fair and just to the plight of Palestinians who have suffered enough from the brutal occupation and repression of the Israeli Government. None of us can feel safe and secure anywhere unless we are safe in all corners of our world.

Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Wednesday 21st April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, as I have outlined, robust disagreements in this scenario sadly descended into abuse of the commissioners, which is not acceptable. The first recommendation ironically outlines more work needing to be done on online abuse. I am concerned that the treatment of these commissioners may mean we see people less likely to come forward to volunteer for public services, if that is the treatment that they expect.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I echo the words of the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, and the noble Lords, Lord Dholakia and Lord Woolley. Since Scarman, again and again reports have reiterated that we live in an inherently unequal society predicated on race, gender, religion and socioeconomic conditions such as class and wealth, as well as access. Work undertaken by the right honourable David Lammy and recently by my noble friend Lady Lawrence directly challenges the Government’s assessment and findings, and asks for immediate long-term action to address structural discrimination and inequalities as they impact our citizens of minority heritage. I join my colleagues in this House and the other place, alongside thousands of British experts, including highly respected academics, in making clear that this shocking attempt to misrepresent and deny experiences of racism and islamophobia will be challenged so that justice prevails. Will the Minister consider urgently meeting Members of this House as a way forward?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the commission outlined a number of reviews, including those that the noble Baroness outlined, and they were broadly in agreement with many of them. They took the recommendations of the Lammy review seriously, many of which have already been put into effect and others are in train. I shall come back to her on her kind offer of a meeting.

International Women’s Day

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 11th March 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, it is a privilege to take part once again in this debate. I thank the Minister for detailing the work of the Government. I also wish to recognise the contribution of my noble friend Lady Gale, whose long-standing leadership to improve women’s political participation is worth all our salutes.

Alongside other noble Lords, I am indebted to the 70% of the NHS workforce and the 80% of the retail workforce who are women. We are also indebted to the teachers who have kept the schools open. All noble Lords have rightly acknowledged the direct and indirect effect of the Covid pandemic on women. It has brought into sharp focus the regressive impact on gender equality, or the lack of it.

It is also worth reflecting on the women deeply affected, referred to in the reports and surveys by the TUC and Mumsnet. I appreciate the difficult choices some of these women are having to make about leaving the workforce or managing family and caring responsibilities.

Valuing women means that every aspect of the work of Parliament and government must be determined to embed social, cultural, political and economic justice. We are not the best example, as has been stated. All political parties are culpable and need to be more serious about achieving parity. The lack of equal representation in Parliament and in public and private organisations where decisions are made means that women remain largely absent from the decision-making process. Hence the endemic violence against women, which remains a catastrophic shame of our generation.

The Government have announced measures about more listening and reporting, including on the health impact on women and on race disparity. Progress on the devastating impact and the consequences of Islamophobia on Muslim women throughout all parts of society is disappointing, hampering opportunities in employment and public office.

All noble Lords have spoken passionately about inequality and I echo, salute and honour all noble Baronesses, in particular, for their history and contribution as well as their call for a women-centred transformation of our political system and structures. This was so eloquently stated by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett.

Does the Minister agree that while listening and consulting exercises are very important, it is time for action which empowers half of humanity and ensures that women in this country have the opportunity to fully participate at all levels of decision-making, and that nothing else is good enough for gender justice?

Skills for Jobs White Paper

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, there are requirements on the local authority, and indeed on provider schools, to make sure that their young people are aware of the opportunities for them, so that if they choose to go down the route of a UTC or studio school, many of which have an entry point at 14, they are made aware of that. It is the role of the Careers & Enterprise Company to make sure that other roles and occupations are brought in front of young people, so that they know the full options before them in terms of academic and technical qualifications and career routes.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, in my communities there are thousands of well-qualified young people, who have lived in the shadows of successful corporate business organisations in Canary Wharf and the City with a palpable record of providing few opportunities for work, other than in paltry numbers in the poorly paid hospitality-based sector, causing continued disparities. Therefore, I welcome the Statement and the paper and its focus on local skills improvement plans, on strengthening the statutory footing on which business organisations will be expected to participate and on improving local skills and so increase access to jobs. Given the deepening current unemployment crisis, can the Minister say what further steps the Government will take immediately to increase the number of industry and sector-based paid apprenticeships? I urge the Government to reconsider their loans into grants, if they are really serious about upskilling the population.

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, it is inspiring to hear the noble Baroness. When one thinks about being in those parts of east London, I believe, that she makes reference to, it is interesting to look from where people live and see Canary Wharf and those buildings at the end of Whitechapel Road. From a local skills improvement plan point of view, obviously it will involve the London Mayor, but actually having those career opportunities and the local skills that are needed for those young people to access those jobs, which they can see in those institutions visible to them, is part of this strategy. We are pleased that, with the full maintenance loans that are also available, we have seen record numbers of disadvantaged students going into higher education. The largest increase has been within the British black African cohort who have been accessing universities, so we are seeing improvements there.

Child Welfare

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Thursday 7th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[The Deputy Speaker (Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall) (Lab)]

My Lords, I understand that the next speaker, the noble Lord, Lord Winston, is absent, so I call the next speaker, the noble Baroness, Lady Uddin.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, as a practitioner in the field of family protection, I add my voice to the call by the noble Baroness, Lady D’Souza, for a Cabinet-level Minister. This is a seminal moment in children’s lives. They face countless burdens, including poverty, education, mental well-being, online harms, county lines, and an unprecedented level of violence and abuse. A Cabinet Minister with a diverse team to address these complexities would be in the forefront of decision-making. Does the Minister agree?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, it is a privilege for the Secretary of State to be in charge of driving forward policy in this area. However, we should not focus solely on the level of responsibility, because often the first points of contact for vulnerable children are not only the local authority but voluntary services. So we have invested about £9 million with Barnardo’s, which takes the lead on See, Hear, Respond to try to reach children who have yet to be sighted by the statutory authorities.

Schools: Spending per Pupil

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, in relation to the particular challenges—I mentioned those attendance statistics, and one cannot underestimate the effort made in our schools to get attendance at that level. In relation to 16 to 19 year-olds, £96 million of the national tutoring programme fund is aimed at disadvantaged students in that year group, and an extra £400 million is going into 16 to 19 funding. Indeed, we should in the autumn get the list of the first 50 schools that will be rebuilt under the repair programme. Over the last five years, £23 billion has gone into the school estate. The noble Baroness is correct that we need to accelerate the building programme, not only to give our children the buildings they need to learn in but to motivate the economy and the recovery that we need.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl)]

My Lords, the House will have become familiar with the many government pronouncements of overwhelming investment in education and public services. Equally, the House will have noted the persistent and alarming social divisions shamefully ever increasing in the fifth-largest economy in the world. With the Government’s levelling-up agenda and intention to close the gap between students from wealthy backgrounds and those who battle an onslaught of socioeconomic conditions—poor housing, poverty, racial and religious discrimination, and now the digital divide—what additional resources have the Government allocated to meet these challenges? Does the forward strategy include increasing the recruitment, retention and promotion of teachers from minority communities in leadership positions, which remains unacceptably low?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, in relation to the issues that the noble Baroness outlined, the Government are obviously concerned about the attainment gap and are trying to ensure that students from disadvantaged backgrounds have the opportunity of a great education. That is why £2.4 billion has gone into the system as pupil premium money for those students. At the moment, we have spent £100 million on remote education, and in addition to the 220,000 laptops that have been distributed, another 150,000 are being delivered to ensure that we can help schools, particularly in those areas with disadvantaged students, if they have to learn at home. As I have outlined, the national funding formula prioritises the most deprived students, and a significant proportion of that money goes to them.

BAME teachers are part of the recruitment strategy. In relation to governors, we are now making it a KPI of the forthcoming contract subject to spending review that they should be able to achieve targets for BAME representation in the governing of our schools.

Education Settings: Autumn Opening

Baroness Uddin Excerpts

Wednesday 8th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge]

My Lords, as I am sure the noble Baroness is aware, there will be no exam data and performance tables for 2020, for precisely that reason. Ofqual is consulting at the moment to see how we can deliver exams next year. One issue is that the effect on children has been disparate. We are getting reports that, for some of the vulnerable children who have been in school, there have been small class sizes since February and some of them are excelling. Some children with English as an additional language have thrived. At the end of the day, we have to trust that schools know how best to deal with their children when they come back. Of those vulnerable children who have been in school, some of them have had an excellent experience.

[Baroness Uddin (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, I am delighted to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Garden. I have an interest to declare, as my family is full of generations of teachers. My gratitude goes to all those teachers who have maintained the education of many children. I welcome this Statement and the funding measures, including the national tutoring package, particularly for catch-up purposes. Will the funding be enough to include computers? I understand that nearly 700,000 children have never had access to a computer, and this might help them to catch up over the summer and in the following months. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Liddle, that we should be innovative in ensuring that this funding is used more creatively. What is the Government’s new advice for children who were previously excluded but are now expecting to return? They will have been even more vulnerable during this process.

Further to the point of the noble Lord, Lord Addington, about children with disabilities, the Minister will be aware that local authorities are expected to uphold their responsibilities to meet their health and social care plans for special educational needs. Will funding be ring-fenced for that?

Much has changed as a result of the pandemic, and minority communities being disproportionately impacted by Covid-19 means that fear has reverberated throughout those communities. Will the Government ensure that we do everything we can to mitigate any harassment, bullying, racism or Islamophobia, which detrimentally affects children’s education and well-being?

[Baroness Berridge]

My Lords, in relation to the funding that is needed, as I have outlined, there are many pots of money. There is of course the regular £2.4 billion of the pupil premium.

Over 200,000 laptops were ordered because we need to be flexible in these coming circumstances, and eventually we purchased 230,000 in order to have that flexibility.

In relation to excluded children, AP settings are expected to be open and have been open because we have wanted them to have some face-to-face contact with all their students. I pay tribute to those settings, many of which have kept in touch with those vulnerable children during this time.