Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Andrew Lewin and Bridget Phillipson(2 weeks, 3 days ago)
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Bridget Phillipson
I am delighted that so many academies are taking part in our school nursery programme. Academies drive innovation across our system and are an important part of the system we have. Of course, it was the last Labour Government who first brought about the academies programme to drive up performance in our schools and to make sure that all our children get a brilliant education. Sadly, we know that after 14 years of the Tories, far too many children, including in our most disadvantaged communities, do not get the education they deserve. That is why our schools White Paper later this year will make it a reality once and for all that they do.
Andrew Lewin
Swallow Dell primary in Welwyn Garden City is a fantastic school. I have had the privilege of meeting the leadership team, who are ambitious for every single child. They have a state nursery as part of the school, but they are seeking to expand, and unfortunately their bid was rejected in the last round. I am passionate and hopeful that this school might be able to benefit from the £370 million of additional funding, not least because one in three children attending Swallow Dell is eligible for free school meals. My right hon. Friend knows my constituency well, and she is welcome to visit. I hope that she will agree to a meeting to talk about Swallow Dell’s bid for future funding.
Bridget Phillipson
I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to the workforce at Swallow Dell for everything they are doing to make sure our children get a brilliant start in life. I am sorry that they were not successful in the first phase. There was lots of demand, and that is why I am delighted that the spending review gave £370 million to ensure that we can make further progress towards our manifesto commitment. I would be delighted to discuss it further with him.
Higher Education Reform
Debate between Andrew Lewin and Bridget Phillipson(7 months, 4 weeks ago)
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Bridget Phillipson
The hon. Gentleman raises important points not just about the state of our further education sector, but about the important collaboration between further education and higher education providers, including in communities where travelling times might be longer, and about ensuring that access to education is available to a much wider range of people. I have seen some really great work going on across the country, but there is more that the Government can encourage higher institutions to do.
The Government inherited a real mess in further education, a sector that had been ignored for so many years. We are determined to put that right. That is why in this Budget we invested £300 million into further education, alongside a £300 million capital allocation, for the first time in a number of years: to ensure that we are investing in our further education colleges, which are crucial parts of our towns and cities.
Andrew Lewin (Welwyn Hatfield) (Lab)
We have thousands of international students at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield—they are most welcome and they make a great contribution. However, when the Conservative party was in power, the independent Office for Students concluded that the entire higher education model was reliant on international fee income. Does my right hon. Friend agree that that was a completely unsustainable model—another example of the Conservative party ignoring a problem and leaving it to us to rescue and reform our higher education sector?
Bridget Phillipson
International students play an important role in our communities and make an important contribution to our economy, but my hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the fact that there can sometimes be pressures. I know that can be especially acute where expansion happens and the right levels of accommodation do not follow. We will be setting clear expectations of the sector that it has to work with local councils to ensure the availability of high-quality accommodation. Alongside that, as a Government we are legislating to make sure there are higher standards in the private rented sector through the Renters (Reform) Bill, because too many students are expected to live in substandard private rented accommodation.