Equality: Break Down Barriers to Opportunity Mission

Baroness Barran Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The aspect of gender inequality which my noble friend referred to has been well documented, and there is a lot of evidence to support what she described. That is why we are so focused on giving support during early years to help new mothers and young mothers cope with motherhood itself. We are also providing for more childcare and all the things that support and enable women to return, in full capacity, to the workforce.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

My Lords, the Government have told us that they will measure the impact of this mission by attainment at the end of secondary school. Obviously, for millions of children, parents and, indeed, voters, this is many years away. What leading indicators are the Government going to track to give them insight into whether or not they are going to achieve their mission?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

It is important to recognise the work that we are doing in tackling disadvantage. One of the key indicators is around preparedness for school. We know that too many young children are arriving at school unable to take part in the work that needs to be done. Obviously, indicators are just a form of progression. While we are doing a lot of work with early years, it is important that we focus on the children and young people who are in the system already and that we look at their trajectory against the exams. Through the curriculum review, we will be looking, for example, at attainment data and at all the different measures by which schools and individual young people are measured.