Social Mobility: Public Schools

Lord Davies of Coity Excerpts

Tuesday 17th December 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bates]

My noble friend has great knowledge and insight in this area—and so do I. In my experience the greatest difference between our leading independent schools and the inner-city comprehensives, one of which I attended, is the level of expectations not only among the teachers or parents but, chiefly, among the pupils themselves as to what they can actually achieve. That is what we need to improve.

[Lord Davies of Coity (Lab)]

My Lords, in 1999 the previous Government made sure that more than 700 hereditary Lords could no longer sit in this House. Now then, can the Minister tell me how many Peers on the Conservative Benches came from Eton?

[Lord Bates]

In this debate, which is about raising the opportunities of the poorest in our society, it does not help to have a vindictive or negative view of people who have had the privilege of great education in this country. We want to ensure that that quality of education and that level of ambition and expectation are spread to all, irrespective of school attended.

Unemployment: Young People

Lord Davies of Coity Excerpts

Monday 28th November 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Walton of Detchant]

My Lords—

[Lord Davies of Coity]

My Lords—

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, there will be time for both Peers if we have the noble Lord, Lord Davies, and then the noble Lord, Lord Walton.

[Lord Davies of Coity]

My Lords, more than 50 years ago, when I was serving my apprenticeship, the industrial training boards had a levy and grant system that ensured that all small and medium-sized businesses produced apprentices or paid the levy if those businesses poached skilled men from the big companies. Why should we not reintroduce that system?

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, we clearly need to rebuild the apprentice structure in this country—or at least build it, as was never particularly strong compared with countries such as Germany. We are very actively looking at how best to do that.

Disabled People: Employment

Lord Davies of Coity Excerpts

Monday 21st March 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hollis of Heigham]

My Lords—

[Lord Davies of Coity]

My Lords—

[Noble Lords]

Hollis!

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, my last answer made clear the extraordinary success of Remploy in getting people with disabilities into jobs. That does not seem to have been affected by a very difficult employment market. I remind the House of the relative costs: the factory business of Remploy takes between 20 per cent and 25 per cent of the total that we as a country spend on disability employment programmes to support some 3,000 people.

[Lord Davies of Coity]

My Lords, while recognising that the policy of the coalition Government is to have voluntary separation and voluntary redundancy, does the Minister agree with me that even on a voluntary basis the number of job opportunities will be reduced for disabled people in the future?

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, I hope that I have made absolutely clear the exact opposite. The employment services strategy is working. Numbers are going up. It is looking to help 30,000 people per year by 2012-13 into mainstream jobs. A company such as ASDA has already taken on 1,000 disabled people. With this strategy we are delivering something that disabled lobbies and people want—to be in full, mainstream employment.