"My Lords, I very much welcome the Minister’s comments about producing guidance for parents and early years settings in this area. Could she clarify the timing of that appearing and confirm whether it will be accompanied by a public health communications campaign?..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"I very much welcome the reference by the noble Baroness, Lady Hunter, to women in engineering. I heard recently that one of the best predictors of economic growth can be seen in the ratio of engineers to lawyers. Our current ratio is a little heavily weighted to lawyers, so we …..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"My Lords, in addition to worrying about how to fund free school meals, the Minister will be aware that there are concerns emerging about the funding of future teacher pay awards following the Treasury’s statement that there would be no additional funding for public sector pay awards outside departmental budgets. …..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"My Lords, it is a privilege to contribute to this important debate. I will confine my remarks to the Budget announcement on funding for special educational needs and disabilities, in particular how the annual and cumulative deficits historically borne by local authorities will be funded in future when they form …..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"I thank the Minister for that Answer. On this side of the House, we genuinely wish the Government every success with their work on the reforms to the special educational needs system. As the noble Baroness knows, the expected annual deficit on the dedicated schools grant is over £6 billion …..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"To ask His Majesty’s Government how the commitment to fund SEND budgets centrally as announced in the Budget will affect mainstream school budgets...." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"My Lords, I absolutely agree with the Minister that refuges have provided literally life-saving services. Does she agree with me that in 2025, it is not okay any more to expect women to put their lives into a black plastic bag and flee with their children to the other end …..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"The Curriculum and Assessment Review made a recommendation for a diagnostic maths test in year 8; my understanding is that the Government have not accepted that. Can the Minister explain why?..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"My Lords, I will follow on from the question from the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty. Before I do so, the Minister was very quick, as ever, to criticise the previous Government and come out with various statistics. However, she omitted to mention that teacher numbers were at an all-time high …..." Baroness Barran - View Speech
"My Lords, I start by acknowledging the work of Professor Becky Francis and her expert advisory team on this very important and detailed review. They were set clear criteria, which the team has diligently sought to incorporate. The level of detail in the review means that, given the time available, …..." Baroness Barran - View Speech