Levelling Up

Debate between Lord Greenhalgh and Lord Knight of Weymouth

Monday 7th February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Greenhalgh (Con)]

The noble Lord is throwing out words such as “Sure Start”. That was an example of how not to govern: to throw loads of money in an incontinent way, set things up and then see it slowly withdrawn. That is not the way to transform people’s lives.

I will respond to my noble friend in writing on how we deal with the issue, because it obviously involves DfE and others.

[Lord Knight of Weymouth (Lab)]

My Lords, 2030 will be 20 years since Michael Gove became Secretary of State for Education. Two-thirds of pupils currently achieve the expected standards in literacy and numeracy at the end of primary, which the noble Baroness, Lady Wyld, just referred to. Mission five of the White Paper anticipates this jumping magically to 90% by 2030. The child who takes those SATs in 2030 starts reception this September. What is going to change for that child’s journey through primary school? The Minister talked about the details earlier. Let us have the details on the transformation of primary school that is coming.