Schools: Mobile Phones

Debate between Lord Sikka and Baroness Smith of Malvern

Monday 12th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness identifies the need for all of us to continue thinking about the best practice for schools to ensure that their classrooms are mobile phone free, and that they are working on the best evidence. There is a whole range of ways in which schools are responding to this, and it would be good for them to look at the very best practice across schools that are taking action. However, I am afraid that the noble Baroness’s point was that this is difficult and nuanced, that people are doing it in different ways, and that we need detailed consideration of how to do it best. None of those things would be delivered by a—I hate, in this place, to call legislation crude, but none of them would be delivered simply by legislating for something that, as she identified, is more complex than that.

[Lord Sikka (Lab)]

My Lords, sometimes technology can help to deal with social problems. As a Faraday cage blocks phone signals, it would be appropriate to install those cages in all classrooms and prevent pupils being distracted by mobile phones. Will the Minister experiment with this technology?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

I think I am right in saying that some schools already use that technology, along with a range of other technologies, such as keeping mobile phones in special bags that prevent them being used. Schools are making progress on this in a whole range of ways. The noble Lord is right that technology can sometimes be the answer to problems caused by other forms of technology.

Independent Review of Children’s Social Care

Debate between Lord Sikka and Baroness Smith of Malvern

Monday 9th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is right. I have recently been in a position to talk to children in social care in Sandwell and she is absolutely right, as one of their top concerns is not having continuity of social worker. That is why it is so worrying that local authorities are becoming even more reliant on agency social workers, as 17.8% of all local authority child and family social workers are agency workers currently. There are many good and high-quality social workers who come through the agency route, but their position is more likely to be unstable than it would be with a permanent worker. That is why the department is already building a new relationship with the children’s social care workforce and is looking at how to improve support for workers in children’s social care. Thinking particularly about working conditions as a key factor in keeping social workers in the profession, this autumn we will release resources to support local authorities with best practice to retain social workers. We will continue the work of the national workload action group, which will make independent recommendations on acting on workloads by January 2025.

[Lord Sikka (Lab)]

My Lords, between 2011 and 2023, 816 care homes were involuntarily closed by the regulator. Of these, 804 were operated by for-profit organisations. They profiteered from regulation and safety breaches, low staffing and harms to residents. Local authorities and not-for-profit care homes provided the best care. In the light of this evidence, can the Minister say when the Government will end the running and operation of care homes by for-profit organisations?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

My noble friend has certainly identified a challenge, where providers of placements and homes for children focus more on profit than on the quality that is being provided to those children. Local authorities are currently providing 45% of looked-after children’s placements and the private sector is providing 40%, some of which offer stability, high-quality and loving care for our children. However, where it is clear that placement providers are profiteering from the most vulnerable children in the country, this Government are absolutely committed to taking action.