Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [HL]

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 15th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Aberdare (CB)]

My Lords, I am pleased to move Amendment 27, originally in the name of my noble friend Lord Patel, who is unable to be here this afternoon. He has kindly shared with me the points that he wished to make and I will make full use of them. I will also speak briefly to Amendment 30.

Amendment 27 aims to ensure that, in addition to national policy feeding into local skills improvement plans, local information about skills gaps and local skills challenges is also fed back into national policy-making. Real-time labour market data, as well as insights into what is happening locally around education and skills options for young people and those wanting to retrain, is vitally important to ensure that the Secretary of State and his department have the insights and evidence needed to make strategic national decisions about education and skills policy.

I hope the Minister can give us some more clarity about how the LSIPs proposed in the Bill will feed into the work of the DfE and BEIS to develop a strategic approach to addressing the skills gaps on a national level. How will information within LSIPs help shape and inform national industrial policy? How will the Government use the reforms in the Bill to identify and respond to regional skills needs important to the overall strategic goals of the UK, such as specialised engineering skills?

Several proposed amendments to this Bill aim to ensure that LSIPs will take account of national strategies and policy—as they should—but what is missing is a feedback loop from the local to the national, which is what this amendment seeks to achieve. Local skills improvement plans have the potential to provide rich insights into what is going on locally around the skills businesses need and the difficulties they may or may not have in accessing them locally. They should, one hopes, provide insights into how local areas will address any skills shortages and how effective these measures prove to be in the long run.

Local skills improvement plans will provide detail and data that should enable the Government to get a much better picture of the skills situation in this country and allow them to map out where there are potential issues. This will foster an understanding of whether particular skills gaps are localised, and therefore need to be addressed locally, or whether there is a pattern across the country that may require national policy interventions in addition to local action.

This amendment is asking the Government to provide a response to the LSIPs as a whole, including a skills map and an action plan. This is surely a reasonable proposal that can only help to further the Government’s ambitions around productivity and joined-up thinking. Ensuring that there is a functioning feedback loop from national to local and from local to national will enable government, both local and national, to identify and address skills shortages more easily and quicker.

Turning to Amendment 30, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Watson, which I also support, I am rather surprised that it should be needed at all and that the publication of LSIPs is not already in the Bill. Every LSIP needs to be available, not only to all interested parties in the education and skills system within the area it covers, as specified in the amendment—particularly providers of careers guidance—but also more widely, both so that others can learn from different approaches being taken and as input to national skills policy-making.

Apart from the essential publication of the LSIPs, as in the amendment, there needs to be a process for regular progress and performance reporting, not least to promote the sharing of experience and good practice, as well as for monitoring and accountability purposes. This is yet another element of the framework that is not clear. It is not clear if that feedback loop is going to be there, what sort of performance monitoring is going to be in place, and what happens if LSIPs do not reach the standard one might hope from them. I beg to move.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I find myself in a difficult situation with these amendments. I listened carefully to the Minister responding to the last group of amendments, and I feel that she was right: a lot of what noble Lords are rightly concerned about ought to appear in the guidance. I do not want the Bill to be overly complicated, with every prescriptive concern, but I do want an assurance from the Minister that the guidance will address some of the valid points made by the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, and others.

While I have the Floor, I am concerned about the view that, somehow, employers will not be looking ahead. That is not my experience of dealing with employers. They are concerned; they have had to look ahead. Like hanging, the pandemic has concentrated their minds wonderfully, but it was also happening beforehand. Look at all the work in establishing new standards, where employers are involved; they are taking into account their future skills needs and that new green skills will be required.

The Minister was right to remind us about the vitally important work that jobcentre coaches are doing. I would not say that I am absolutely satisfied they have got all of that right, but they are on the right track to ensuring that young people are aware of the skills that they will need in a job market that is changing significantly. We know what some of these are already; we know they need a reasonable standard of maths, English and digital skills—they are absolutely essential. Some of them are fully equipped, certainly on the digital skills front, while others will need some extra assistance and training. The Minister referred to lifelong learning, and we also have traineeships and Kickstart, so there are a number of things the Government are providing. Is everything working absolutely right? No, there are things that I believe—as I have said in a previous debate —need reform, and the apprenticeship levy is one.

I urge the House to be wary of trying to load up the Bill with every single detail. The Minister was right when she said that there is a role for guidance. If there needs to be a reference within the Bill to the fact that some of these points will be covered in the guidance, that is all well and good. I attach a lot of importance to the guidance.

I do not share the pessimism of some that this is a badly framed Bill that will not involve local people as it should. Of course we are going to go through a learning curve, as the participants in creating the local skills improvement plans develop the technique of doing this. What the Government should do on a national level is encourage best practice, looking at examples of where it has been done really well and passing that kind of information on. I suspect I may be in the minority here, but it is no bad thing to have a range of views. I hope that, when the Minister responds, she will take into account the points I have made—she has also made them before—about the balance of what is in guidance and what needs to be in the Bill.

[Lord Liddle (Lab)]

My Lords, we should all take notice of what my noble friend Lord Young of Norwood Green says on these matters. He has vast experience in this area, as a trade union official and as a Minister in the field in the last Labour Government, so I would not dismiss a word of what he says. However, I think he is being a little overgenerous about this Bill, which seems very vague in some of its key points.

We support—certainly I do, and I think my Front Bench does—the principle of a lifelong learning entitlement and reform to our qualifications structure to allow modules. That is a very important reform. We support a stronger role for employers in determining skills. All of that is fine at the level of high principle. The question is how this is going to work in practice. I still have very severe doubts about that. Here we are talking about the role of the Secretary of State in relation to the plans that are produced locally. Can the Minister tell us precisely what that role is going to be, because it relates to these amendments?

--- Later in debate ---

[The Deputy Chairman of Committees (Lord Russell of Liverpool) (CB)]

We will go back to the noble Lord, Lord Young of Norwood Green, to see whether he wishes to participate.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

Thank you, my Lords. I apologise that, on the previous occasion, I committed the offence of forgetting to unmute.

I am aware—as are many other noble Lords—of the deficiencies of the apprenticeship levy. However, as the noble Lord, Lord Addington, almost said, we should be careful before we throw the baby out with the bathwater. It has done a lot of good. It has focused employers’ minds on the importance of apprenticeships. We have an Institute for Apprenticeships which is involving employers in creating new standards. I agree with the noble Baroness who said that there was a need for reform. But a consultative process is going on. I ought to have declared my interest as a national apprenticeship ambassador.

Employers already have the ability to use apprenticeship levy money to support not just supply chain companies but other companies outside their supply chain, and there has been a better take-up of that. Indeed, the Government have made more of the apprenticeship levy available. My concern at the moment is that, if we are really looking for growth in apprenticeships, this needs to be in the area of small and medium enterprises, especially in small and micro companies. Those companies frequently complain that the administration is too complicated, and that they find it a burden. We should bear in mind that many are saying, “Look, I’m struggling just to keep my business afloat and now you want me to take on an apprentice”. My response is to be understanding We need to work on helping them to remove some of that administrative and basic training burden. I also say to them, “Look, having a young person whose digital skills might be a lot more advanced than yours can often be of benefit to your company”.

I agree that some of the apprenticeship levy money has been spent in the wrong place. My concern is the 16 to 18 group, where the levels of youth unemployment are exceedingly high. I have already acknowledged the work of the job coaches, but more needs to be done on that front. So I am in favour of reform of the apprenticeship levy. I do not think that we should call it something else. We are just beginning to see a much better understanding by both parents and potential apprentices of the value of apprenticeships. I was interested in a recent development. UCAS, which used to be the clearing house just for those interested in going to university, has now opened another portal where people will be made aware of apprenticeship routes and vacancies. So reform is needed, but I still think that the basic concept is right. There are always areas where things could be improved, perhaps including the role of the Institute for Apprentices.

The apprenticeship levy is a bit like the curate’s egg—good in parts. I think the Government are aware of that, which is why there is a consultative process. I welcome the opportunity for the Committee to have this debate.

[Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Lab)]

My Lords, this seems to be our only opportunity, in considering the Bill, to mention the words “apprenticeship” and “levy” in the same sentence. We should utter these words sotto voce because, at Second Reading, the Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, made it very clear that the levy was beyond the scope of the Bill. That is not the fault of the noble Baroness, of course, but speeches by several noble Lords at Second Reading, which have been reinforced today, demonstrated that I am not alone in finding it rather perplexing that the levy does not merit a mention in the Bill. This is despite the fact that the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education—which develops and approves apprenticeships and technical qualifications with employers—is quite prominent in clauses that we shall consider in later debates on the Bill.

Apprenticeships are key to ensuring that Britain is equipped with a well-skilled workforce in the years ahead. The levy scheme—which we have supported in principle—has yet to produce anything like the effects hoped for and required. So, while I am happy to support the intent of this amendment—and understand the reasoning behind it on the basis of what the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, said in introducing it—I urge caution at this stage with regard to the levy and using its funds for any purpose other than apprenticeships. In that, I think I am reflecting the comments which my noble friend Lord Young has just made.

Skills and Post-16 Education Bill [HL]

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 6th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I regret that I did not participate in Second Reading, but perhaps, as somebody has already remarked, there might be a better opportunity here. I declare an interest as a national apprenticeship ambassador.

I felt sorry for the Minister after the performance of my noble friend Lord Adonis, which basically embraced Dante’s advice: “Abandon hope all ye who enter here”. I do not agree—this is a good Bill. There are no perfect Bills; those of us who have been involved in education in previous Governments will know that we never get it quite right. It is a good Bill but, as the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, and a number of people have suggested, it could be better, so I support most of the amendments in the group.

I think it was the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, who first raised the question of English and maths. The noble Baroness, Lady Garden, gave it even more emphasis. We need to find an alternative. There are certainly many apprenticeship opportunities which do not require GCSE English and maths. I had neither because I was dragged out of school at 15 years old, but I can remember some of the things we were required to do. After simultaneous equations, I am afraid I just could not master quadratic equations or anything else. I do not think that necessarily stopped me in my apprenticeship in telecom.

One thing I hope the Minister will respond to, because it is a constructive suggestion, is that the local skills improvement plans should embrace more than just employers. Perhaps that is the intention, but there are those who said that there is a need not just for students—trade unions have a role to play, as well as others. Trade unions are still doing a good job of getting back into learning people who have not embraced it for many years under the Return to Learn scheme.

There has been a lot of criticism about employers being somehow the wrong people to involve. I do not quite understand that. Where do people think these jobs will come from? There is a fundamentally important need to have employers as part of the local skills improvement plans. My concern is: will employers look ahead? A number of people said that, including my noble friend Lady Morris, while the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, quoted fishing and agriculture as a couple of examples. Even in those industries, it is not just the basic question of going out to sea and catching fish—there are the logistics involved when they return to port. A lot of technology is involved now, even in fishing. The fundamental changes taking place in agriculture require a much greater need for technology. I do not think we should assume that employers will not look ahead, but should we rely on them? No, I think that some of the amendments that have been suggested are right.

Education: Recovery Package and Catch-up Programme

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Monday 21st June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the Government will produce a White Paper later this year to outline the national plan for levelling up. There are regular meetings between the Secretary of State for Education and his counterparts, as well as at official level between the department and the devolved Administrations.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Woolley, for his very relevant Question. My mentor on educational issues is Liz Wolverson OBE, chief executive of the London Diocesan Board for Schools Academies Trust. She has rescued 10 failing schools in inner London, so she speaks with vast experience. Will the Minister examine her advice? If we want to help less privileged children who have suffered during lockdown, using trained instructors after school to deliver arts, sport, drama, singing, et cetera, which more privileged children have had access to, will make a real contribution to levelling up.

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

I join the noble Lord in praising the activity of that multi-academy trust. We have seen hundreds of schools join multi-academy trusts and improve their performance. The development of the National Tutoring Programme— in which I believe we have invested £539 million—is now school led. It will enable schools to spend that money on existing tutors and a wider range of subjects, including arts and other subjects that are not currently available through the tuition partners stream of the National Tutoring Programme.

Education and Training (Welfare of Children) Bill

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 19th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I declare an interest as an apprenticeships ambassador, and certainly welcome this Bill. I congratulate the MP for the City of Durham and my noble friend Lady Blower on her comprehensive introduction. I have only one concern, which is the reference in the Bill to a simplified safeguarding system. If only that were true. I think that independent providers who do not have school systems to draw on will find this quite a challenge. Safeguarding is a bit of an industry because it is so complex and there are constant training needs.

If the safeguarding is to include topics such as county lines, FGM and, presumably, Protect, I hope that someone in government is thinking about how this can be simplified, because it is certainly not simple in schools and, every year, the Department for Education updates its safeguarding guidance. This academic year has been spectacularly difficult because schools did all the usual updates and rewrites in September and then, in January, discovered that it had to be done again because of Brexit, as the legal basis for the policies had changed. I hope the Minister will recognise this problem and undertake to look at the complexity of current guidance.

Nevertheless, like everyone else, I welcome the Bill, which addresses an important gap and ensures that, wherever young people are in the education system, they are protected.

International Women’s Day

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Thursday 11th March 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I, too, express my sympathy to the family of Sarah Everard.

I was glad to see that nobody, even Stonewall, suggested that today’s debate should be entitled “International Persons Day”. I congratulate the noble Lords who, during the recent debate on ministerial maternity allowance, exposed the nonsense of “pregnant persons”, getting the Government to accept the amendment to “pregnant mothers”.

Many Peers have rightly paid tribute to women scientists. I want to pay tribute to other women, such as Hibo Wardere, who speaks up for women and girls who, like herself, have suffered and continue to suffer from female genital mutilation and says

“I’m a woman. Get over it”.


Greta Thunberg has shown young people that their voice is important in the biggest challenge we face: saving the planet; while our own Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever, fights with tremendous courage and determination for young girls’ education.

If you watched the Biden inauguration it gave you tremendous hope to see Kamala Harris, the first black woman Vice-President, who I hope will go on one day to be President, and to see Amanda Gorman, the young black Poet Laureate, deliver her tremendous poem, “The Hill We Climb”. We have a long way to go on equality. My daughter, Laura, a higher-grade nurse in A&E, is twice as qualified as her brother but earns half the pay. That shows us what we think about equal pay for work of equal value. I hope the Government recognise that if we want to create a fairer, equal society post Covid then affordable childcare, as many Peers have said, is essential.

As an apprenticeship ambassador, I am getting more young girls to recognise that careers in engineering, science, construction and IT are worthwhile and necessary for the economy. It is also about getting schools to offer career guidance that shows girls that an apprenticeship is a viable alternative to university.

I want to conclude on the problem of the increased violence towards women and children taking place during Covid. We need to ensure that we protect safe spaces for women in hostels, refuges, hospitals and prisons. Physical threats to women, including rape, by transgender men are a terrible indictment on our society. I want to make it clear that I believe in fair rights for transgender people. I am not transphobic, although no doubt I will be accused of it after this contribution. As the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, said, I hope that we will be able to have a reasonable debate on this issue. I hope that in replying, the Minister will recognise the importance of protecting safe spaces for women.

Educational Settings: Reopening

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Wednesday 27th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the reopening of schools—obviously, the Government want to see all children back as soon as possible—is a matter for government decision. It is a complex decision, bearing in mind the public health implications and the hospital admissions that, sadly, have led to having to take most children out of school for a second time. So, unfortunately, no, it is not possible to allow local democracy to decide these issues.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, my information from an academy director in London is that they are prepared to open primary schools using lateral flow tests twice a week for all staff, with staggered starts and finishes for pupils. Does the Minister see that as a viable approach? Secondly, I should say that there is still a severe shortage of laptops in London, which is handicapping pupils who are dependent on online learning.

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the Government have now delivered 875,000 laptops of a £1.3 million order. We are one of the world’s largest purchasers of laptops, in a competitive market—obviously, many Governments are trying to purchase them. Secondary schools did a great job over the Christmas holidays of standing up mass testing, and we intend to extend that to primary schools and early years settings as and when we can.

Skills for Jobs White Paper

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is correct about the importance of modern languages, which is why they are part of the English baccalaureate and why we have given £4.8 million to fund the modern foreign language pedagogy pilot, which is looking at the attainment of languages at levels 3 and 4. However, I suggest to the noble Baroness that, when employers are leading on the local skills improvement plans, if the employers in a region say, “Actually, what we need in addition to that technical skill is a language—for instance, Polish or any other language”, it is open to them to say, “This is a skill that we need in the local area.” Then, as I have said, the strategic development funds will help the colleges to have the content of courses to match that skills improvement fund. If employers need those skills, we hope to see the need for foreign languages coming in as part of many higher technical qualifications and integrate it in that way. I invite the noble Baroness to make sure that employers are doing that as these plans are developed.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, I welcome the Government’s White Paper but I share some of the concerns expressed by my noble friend Lord Bassam. Implementing many of the Augar report’s recommendations is important, although personally I think that instead of talking about loans we should be talking about a graduate tax, which is a much more progressive approach.

I have two points that I want to raise. First, there is a recognition that the Government have to increase the number of apprenticeships. If that is the case, they have to look at the application of the apprenticeship levy in a way that encourages many more SMEs to take on apprentices. At the moment SMEs are saying they find the scheme complex and an administrative burden. We need to ensure that we remove that complexity and encourage many more SMEs. Secondly, does the Minister recognise the importance of a government National Careers Service website that could become a single source of assured career information for young people and adults?

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful for the noble Lord’s introduction regarding apprenticeships. The levy has now been in existence for five years. It has enabled significantly more workplace-based training and, I would say, has enhanced the reputation of apprenticeships as an alternative to academic study.

As I am sure the noble Lord is aware, we have offered £2,000 for any new apprenticeship start, which is for a younger person who is under the age of 24, or 25 if they have any HCP, and £1,500 for any other apprenticeship start. However, he is right that the apprenticeship service has been a work in progress. The SMEs now have access to the service via a website that should enable them to access the training that they want, rather than only being able to access training from contracts with providers that were entered into centrally. They can go on that website and reserve the training places that they want to have, and SMEs have been given a small number of guaranteed places.

We are also looking at the development of the levy and at easing the transition and the payment of the levy down the supply chain, which often involves making the levy available to small and medium-sized enterprises. We hope that the introduction of the apprenticeship service to SMEs will help with some of the bureaucratic issues that the noble Lord outlines.

Gender Recognition Act Consultation

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Friday 25th September 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge (Con)]

My Lords, self-identification is a legal process that we believe needs formality. It is not something that anyone considers without giving due attention to that, so we do not believe that we need to move away from the current system. On the information that has been received and the increase in the numbers of, for instance, transphobic or hate crimes, the Law Commission has been asked to look at all aspects of this, including misogyny, and as the noble Lord will be aware, the Government have appointed Dr Michael Brady to advise NHS England and others about healthcare for LGBT people.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, as can be seen from today’s debate, this is a controversial issue. I want to see a fair deal for transgender people and their ability to identify as trans. However, I believe that there is a balance to be struck, and the Statement issued by the Government is a balanced approach. I would welcome a comment from the Minister as to whether any further guidance needs to be issued on NHS wards, for example, which I think have proceeded on the basis of self-identification; there may be other examples. I welcome the reference to women’s refuges, and I echo the Minister’s final point: I hope that this debate can take place in an atmosphere where all views are respected.

Covid-19 Summer Food Fund

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Berridge [V]]

My Lords, I too pay tribute to Marcus Rashford and hope that his example of participation will inspire many other young people to speak up on the issues that they feel strongly about. Yes, indeed, this is why we are entrusting free school meal voucher administration to schools, which are best placed to register for the vouchers. In addition to the free school meals voucher system, local authorities have £63 million to meet the needs of people who are vulnerable and need food support.

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab) [V]]

I thank the Minister for her response and congratulate the Government on recognising that “Rashford rules OK!”. Protecting children from going hungry is vital. Will the Government ensure a more effective distribution of vouchers, as there was a significant problem during the last period? Will they encourage schools to maximise summer activities during the holidays? Do the Government recognise that nourishing the mind as well as the body is vitally important to children?

[Baroness Berridge [V]]

My Lords, the voucher system is now operating effectively. In addition to this system, holiday clubs have been run for the last two years. We are building on that with another £9 million. Those clubs take place in disadvantaged areas and, of course, provide healthy meals in addition to educational activities.

International Women’s Day

Lord Young of Norwood Green Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Young of Norwood Green (Lab)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Mone. I wholeheartedly concur with her about the importance of entrepreneurship as a way forward for many women. There is a lot of potential there.

I could not help reflecting that these are interesting times in which to celebrate International Women’s Day, when the whole concept of gender is somewhat fluid and, some would say, up for debate. I must admit that I was looking forward to the noble Baroness, Lady Hunt, being here today, but unfortunately she is not. This is probably not the right place for me to pronounce on this issue—not that I do not have a view—but I agreed with my noble friend Lady Crawley when she pointed out the unfortunate habit of no- platforming people whose ideas we do not necessarily agree with. Surely what we need in any debate on this issue is the ability to listen to other points of view.

I, too, congratulate the noble Baronesses, Lady Berridge and Lady Sugg, on their new positions. I was particularly impressed by the point that the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, made about stereotypes in relation to boys and girls and how those set in at an early age. Even at primary school, we need to teach boys to show respect for the girls in their classes. If we do not stop those attitudes, which start at an early age and which unfortunately are often reinforced by things that children access on the internet, they can lead to domestic abuse—a matter that we will try to deal with in the Domestic Abuse Bill. I am very pleased that the noble Baroness, Lady Sugg, will be dealing with girls’ education in developing countries.

I missed some of this debate, for which I apologise, but I heard one reference to Malala Yousafzai—an astonishing woman. I feel that we do not sufficiently pay tribute to her and the work that she has done. Apart from the incredible courage that she has displayed, she is the youngest Nobel laureate and has done much to inspire young people around the world. She is, of course, accompanied by another amazing young woman. I might not necessarily agree with all her views but you cannot help but admire the sheer determination of Greta Thunberg and the fact that she has inspired a lot of young people to understand the importance of climate change. They are important young women who have made a huge contribution and it is important to mention them as we celebrate International Women’s Day.

As a former trade unionist, I shall focus a little on some of the important industrial disputes. A number of us are wearing ribbons recognising the importance of the matchgirls’ strike in 1888 and are supporting the campaign for a memorial to recognise its importance. There were two other disputes. I think that it was the noble Baroness, Lady Berridge, who mentioned the machinists at Dagenham. That was an important dispute—after all, it launched the Equal Pay Act. We ought to pay tribute to Barbara Castle, who supported them. What an amazing woman she was. Another dispute which is not often referred to was at Grunwick from 1976 to 1978. An Asian woman, Jayaben Desai, led a really difficult but important campaign. It did not end well. The women did not get the justice they deserved.

The older one gets the more one tends to turn to the newspaper obituary columns. I am perhaps as guilty of this as anyone else in your Lordships’ House. I kept one I saw recently because it has a relevance to today’s debate. It was of a woman I had not heard of—a brilliant NASA mathematician called Katherine Johnson. As John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, pored over the computer-generated data and decided that the numbers warranted a second opinion, he said, “Get that girl here. If she says they are good, I am ready to go”. That girl was Katherine Johnson, a 43 year-old mother of three whose mathematical brilliance helped her to defy sexism and racism to become one of the most trusted human computers at NASA, the American space agency. She was an amazing woman. The obituary also mentioned how she tried to get into a meeting dominated by male engineers.

“Quietly the quality of my contribution began to outweigh the arbitrary laws of racial segregation and the dictates that held back my gender”.


Johnson was assigned to the space task group which NASA established in 1958. Although trusted to work on top-secret projects as an important team member, she was never invited to the meetings by engineers. One day she asked to attend a briefing and was told, “Girls don’t go”. When she pressed her case, asking if there was a law against it, her boss allowed her in. What a huge battle she had to fight.

A number of noble Lords have spoken about the importance of carers’ allowances. There are more women at work and in full-time jobs, but there is still a long way to go on the question of equal pay. Although we have made progress, there is still a huge disparity. As we enter a difficult period for our economy, will the Minister think about the impact this is going to have on single working parents? We ought to be looking carefully at how universal credit operates. Will she give some consideration to this?

I am running out of time, but I want to pay tribute to the late Lady Rendell. She was an amazing woman and writer and a fearless campaigner concerning female genital mutilation. I also want to pay tribute to the late Lady Jowell. What an amazing contribution she made. Lady Dean was an astonishing woman. I met someone whom she had encouraged to go to Cambridge University.

I want to end by referring to another newspaper article. There is hope for humanity when, after 96 years, the Ilkley crown green bowling club has ended its ban on women members. By gum, that’s progress.