Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Hannay of Chiswick

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, will the Minister accept my thanks for having widened the crack she opened about a week ago when this matter was first raised in this House? That was welcome. I also thank her for the very whole-hearted way in which she endorsed kinship care in her responses just now. Does she recognise that in the education Bill, whose Second Reading will be on 1 May, which deals with some aspects of kinship care, there are obscurities and weaknesses in that? I hope that, between now and 1 May, she can give some very careful thought as to how that could be made more precise in the Bill.

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I am looking forward to 1 May, when we can start the adventure of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. I am undertaking to continue my learning about the provisions within that Bill over the Easter Recess and, as I have learnt in this House, I have no doubt that we will both get into the detail and be informed by considerable experts on all parts of that legislation. I look forward to explaining more about how that Bill will support kinship care and to learning more about the challenge and what more this Government need to be able to do to put that into operation.

Schools: Special Educational Needs

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Hannay of Chiswick

Thursday 20th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

Some of the best practice that we are seeing in mainstream schools occurs where they are able to develop in-school resource centres with particular specialisms. That is why the Government have provided an additional £740 million-worth of capital to improve the capability for specialist centres like that and specialist places within mainstream schools, and in special schools where necessary. So my noble friend makes an important point. Last week, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State launched a call for evidence on best practice in inclusive practice which is nevertheless maintaining the specialist support that children need. I hope we will find more examples through looking at the good work that is already happening, which, through the increased investment and the reform that we are making in the special educational needs and disability system, we can ensure is spread more widely across our schools.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that the adoption and special guardianship support fund may run out of funds entirely by the end of this month? What action are the Government thinking of taking to avoid that extremely damaging situation?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

Due to the enormously difficult fiscal position that we inherited from the last Government—

Erasmus Programme

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Hannay of Chiswick

Wednesday 5th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I am not wholly clear which other schemes the noble Lord is talking about, but I am happy to follow that up with him. If he is saying that we need to ensure that any scheme we support is as broad as possible in the opportunities it makes available to young people and older people, and if he is suggesting that we also need to consider bilateral youth mobility schemes—which we do have—with countries such as India, Canada, Australia, Iceland and Andorra, that is a useful contribution and certainly something we should do.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, the noble Lord was making the point that the Erasmus scheme takes in large numbers of countries that are not in the European Union, so there is no need to conduct this discussion as a competition between Turing and Erasmus. The best thing for the Government to do, surely, is to try to get the best elements of both schemes in one that we can now support in the future.

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I do not think that I have conducted it as a competition between the two. It is not that difficult for this House to work out, had things gone differently in 2016, what situation I would rather be in. But we are in the position we are in at this point, and we have made it clear that we do not plan to re-enter the Erasmus scheme or to reintroduce free movement. However, what we have heard today is a general consensus that future schemes, whatever auspices they come under, that enable people to experience studying, working and living in other countries are important. We should do all we can to encourage particularly those who would not otherwise have these opportunities to be supported by whatever schemes we develop.

Erasmus Programme

Debate between Baroness Smith of Malvern and Lord Hannay of Chiswick

Monday 20th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

We are already resetting our relationship with our European friends, to strengthen ties, to secure a broad-based security pact and to tackle barriers to trade. The President of the European Council has invited the Prime Minister to meet EU leaders in Brussels on 3 February, where the Prime Minister is looking forward to discussing enhanced strategic co-operation with the EU. We are also resetting our bilateral relationships alongside our ambition for our wider reset with the EU, as demonstrated by the Prime Minister’s recent visits to France, Germany, Ireland and Italy.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick (CB)]

My Lords, will the Minister tell us why the Government have no plans to join Erasmus? She has stated flatly that we do not have plans to, but why not, when the Erasmus scheme was recognised by both main parties when in government as one of the major advantages of being in the EU?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The Erasmus scheme may well have been a major advantage, but we had to leave that scheme at the point at which we left the EU in 2020.