Government Record on Education, Employment and Welfare

Lord Bishop of Newcastle Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Newcastle]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Evans of Bowes Park, for bringing this debate today, and it is an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Mohammed of Tinsley.

I want to focus my comments on opportunity and social mobility. In assessing the Government’s record on education, employment and welfare since July 2024, we cannot ignore the growing loss of humanities provision across higher education. Universities are autonomous institutions, but their decisions are shaped by the wider financial and policy environment.

A successful education system is measured not simply by qualifications or apprenticeships but by the breadth of opportunity it offers. The Social Mobility Commission’s State of the Nation 2024 reminds us that opportunity remains profoundly shaped by geography. When courses disappear from universities across whole regions, it is often students without the financial means to relocate who lose more opportunities first. Those from more affluent backgrounds can frequently move elsewhere or absorb the additional costs of studying further from home; those from less advantaged backgrounds often cannot. As a result, talent is constrained not by ability but by circumstance.

Social mobility depends not only on opening doors but on ensuring that those doors exist in every part of the country. If whole disciplines become concentrated in a handful of institutions or regions, educational choice increasingly becomes a privilege rather than a right. That risks reinforcing existing inequalities and undermining the Government’s stated ambition to widen opportunity and spread growth beyond our major cities.

On employment, these cuts affect lecturers, researchers, librarians and professional staff, whose expertise underpins teaching, innovation and the wider economy. Humanities graduates go on to become teachers, civil servants, diplomats, lawyers, journalists and leaders in our creative industries. They also develop the critical thinking, and communication and analytical skills, that employers consistently value across many sectors. Weakening that pipeline weakens the nation.

These concerns have been brought home to me through a friend and colleague at the University of Exeter, who has described the uncertainty surrounding proposed reductions in humanities posts. Sadly, Exeter is not alone. Similar pressures are being felt across the sector, with consequences for staff, students and local communities alike.

If we are serious about improving social mobility, we cannot allow educational opportunity to become narrower or more geographically uneven. A country that values aspiration must ensure that students, wherever they live and whatever their background, continue to have full access to the breadth of higher education. Social mobility is not simply about helping individuals to succeed; it is about ensuring that every community can retain and develop its talent, and that no young person’s ambitions are limited by where they happen to grow up.

I therefore ask the Minister: what steps will the Government take to ensure that our universities remain financially sustainable, that students continue to enjoy a broad range of subjects, and that the vital contribution of the humanities to our economy, our public services and our national life is not lost?

King’s Speech

Lord Bishop of Newcastle Excerpts

Thursday 14th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[The Lord Bishop of Newcastle]

My Lords, I am pleased to speak in this debate on the gracious Speech and wish all noble Lords well in this new Session. I declare an interest as president of the Rural Coalition.

It is an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Burns, particularly with his north-east roots. I speak from the perspective of the region in which my diocese is located, the north-east. These are communities with deep resilience and enormous potential but which continue to live with the consequences of economic inequality, industrial transition and social fragmentation.

There is much that gives cause for confidence. We see innovation emerging from our universities and wider research communities, growing expertise in clean energy, digital technology and advanced manufacturing, and renewed confidence in sectors helping to shape the industries of the future. The North East Space Skills and Technology Centre, based at Northumbria University, is a notable example of combining public funding, university match funding and private sector aerospace investment—a model that is about long-term economic development.

However, optimism is accompanied by realism. The latest North East Chamber of Commerce quarterly economic survey points to a business community that remains resilient but cautious. Firms continue to report pressures linked to labour costs, energy prices, inflation and uncertainty around future demand. Businesses are still recruiting but many are delaying investment decisions and remain concerned about long-term productivity and skills shortages.

The rural economy is especially important within Northumberland, yet often insufficiently recognised in national economic debate. Farming, land management, tourism, food production and rural small businesses contribute enormously not only to economic activity but to environmental stewardship, cultural identity and the sustainability of rural communities. Yet many rural businesses continue to face challenges linked to transport connectivity, digital infrastructure, workforce shortages and access to services.

If growth is genuinely to reach every part of the country, rural economies must be treated not as peripheral to national prosperity but as integral to it. As my noble friend Lady Batters has often pointed out, food security is vital for economic prosperity and stable food systems reduce poverty.

In Newcastle, areas such as Ouseburn and Grainger Market reflect the imagination and determination of local enterprise. Businesses such as Greggs, founded in Newcastle and still strongly associated with the region, show how commercial success can remain connected to local identity and social responsibility, with a much wider reach. It can be argued that the humble cheese and onion bake is now an instrument of EU partnership, as there is a Greggs in Tenerife airport.

On a serious note, this connectivity is why economic policy cannot be judged solely by where the growth occurs but by the nature of that growth and who shares in its benefits. Do people experience greater dignity, security and opportunity through that growth? Do communities feel strengthened or left behind? Do younger generations believe that they have a meaningful future in the places where they grew up? Does work enhance human flourishing or does it leave people exhausted, insecure and excluded?

It is right that the Government’s proposed legislative programme seeks to support investment, industrial renewal and closer co-operation with our European neighbours. The proposed European partnership Bill is important for regions such as the north-east; our relationship with our neighbours is not an ideological abstraction but a matter of practical economic significance.

I hope the Minister might say more about how the Government intend the proposed Bill to strengthen opportunities for regional exporters, universities and smaller firms outside London and the south-east. How will the Government ensure that improved relationships with the EU lead to tangible economic benefits for places such as Newcastle and Northumberland, rather than reinforcing existing geographical inequalities?

I also welcome the emphasis placed on energy security and industrial renewal within the gracious Speech. Northumberland is well placed to contribute to the nation’s transition towards cleaner and more secure sources of energy, through offshore renewables and associated industries. Yet the transition to a low-carbon economy must also be rooted in justice and fairness. Communities that contributed so much to earlier generations of industrial and energy production should not feel excluded from the opportunities now emerging. Economic transition cannot simply happen to communities; it must happen with and for them.

Can the Minister say more about how the Government intend to ensure that smaller local businesses, local workers and younger people are able to participate fully in the opportunities created through energy transition and industrial investment? What role do the Government see for devolved leadership and community wealth-building in ensuring that prosperity is genuinely shared?

I also welcome the Government’s proposed regulating for growth Bill and its stated intention to create greater clarity and consistency for business. Along with the noble Baroness, Lady Finn, I ask the Minister how the Government intend to ensure that smaller businesses are properly supported within this agenda. How will they balance economic flexibility with the need to maintain fair employment standards, workforce well-being and responsible business practice?

Economic life is ultimately about human beings, relationships and moral responsibility. As we pursue growth and competitiveness, we must resist any tendency to treat human beings merely as economic instruments or units of productivity. Every person possesses inherent dignity and worth, which no labour market can define and no economic circumstance can erase. Modern slavery remains a painful reality in our country. It represents not only criminal exploitation but a profound moral failure—the denial of human dignity for economic gain. In that respect, I ask the Minister what further steps the Government intend to take to strengthen transparency and accountability within supply chains, particularly in sectors vulnerable to labour exploitation.

Good growth is not growth at any cost. Good growth strengthens communities, widens opportunity and enables people to live with dignity and hope. The success of this Session of Parliament will not be measured solely through national growth figures or investment totals; it will be measured by whether people truly experience greater dignity, stronger communities, wider opportunity and renewed hope in the places that they call home.