Bridget Phillipson
Main Page: Bridget Phillipson (Labour - Houghton and Sunderland South)Department Debates - View all Bridget Phillipson's debates with the Department for Education
(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Sarah Coombes (West Bromwich) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)
I am pleased to say that this Government are driving record investment in our schools, with the core schools budget increasing by £1.7 billion this year. That includes funding that allows us to reform the special educational needs and disabilities system, training our teachers, making our schools more inclusive, and ensuring that every child can achieve and thrive.
Sarah Coombes
Eaton Valley primary school in West Bromwich has enthusiastically embraced net zero, and the Government have supported it by putting solar panels on the roof, providing a battery to store the power, and installing electric vehicle charge points in the car park. Those measures are already saving the school hundreds of pounds in energy bills every week. Will the Government look to roll out similar schemes, which reduce carbon emissions and allow more money to be invested directly into teachers and pupils, across further schools in the Black Country?
Bridget Phillipson
Yes, we will. We a rolling out the GB Energy solar programme to around 350 schools and colleges. We are also unlocking private finance investment in solar and energy efficiency for schools and colleges, with pilots planned for later this year. I am pleased to hear about the impact of the scheme in my hon. Friend’s constituency. A school local to me in Sunderland recently shared that they had saved £4,000 this year through being part of the scheme, which they are using to put on more school trips and activities. We are saving schools money on their energy bills, which will allow them to invest more in driving up standards and teacher quality.
Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con)
St Andrew’s primary school in Shifnal in my constituency is about to see a multimillion rebuild—or a new build in phases. Most of that money, but not all, will come from the Department for Education. Will the Secretary of State commit to ensuring that the funding is delivered, so that the school continues to offer the extra 25 places, as well as the 26-place nursery, that are part of the scheme? We have had false starts before, but this needs to be delivered—we need commitment from the Government.
Bridget Phillipson
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for raising what is obviously a very important case in his constituency. I will ensure that I look into the concerns he has raised and, if it would help him to meet a Minister to discuss it further, I will ensure that that is arranged, too.
Munira Wilson (Twickenham) (LD)
With the growing obesity and mental health crises among our children and young people, quality physical education has never been more important, yet annual funding for PE will be slashed by a staggering 22% under the new PE and school sport partnerships network, with primary schools hit particularly hard. To make matters worse, these cuts are being hastily rammed through midway through the school year, leaving teachers, parents and sports co-ordinators completely stranded. Can the Secretary of State look parents and teachers in the eye and claim that cutting sports budgets mid-term is giving every child the opportunity to get on?
Bridget Phillipson
I agree with where the hon. Lady started, which is that PE and sport—call it access to high-quality sports coaching, provision and resourcing in terms of capital investment in schools—are incredibly important. Alongside the work we are doing on school food to ensure that children get a great meal at lunch time in particular and our huge expansion of free school meals, we have committed more than £1 billion of investment into the work to establish that new PE and sport partnership. We are ensuring that primary schools are supported through that process with transitional payments and support, as well as working closely with leadership organisations to ensure that schools have all the information they need as we move towards the new system, which has been widely welcomed by sporting bodies and other organisations as opening up opportunities for more young people. I would be happy to discuss the subject further with the hon. Lady, because I think there has been some misunderstanding about the approach we are taking around transitional protections and support for primary schools.
Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)
Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)
Since entering Government, we have turned the tide on the teacher retention and recruitment crisis left behind by the Tories. We have achieved over 70% of our 6,500 additional teachers target. There are now over 4,600 more teachers in our secondary and special schools, as well as our colleges, compared with when Labour entered Government. We are also keeping our brilliant teachers in place, with the latest statistics showing one of the lowest leaver rates on record.
Sarah Olney
A Public Accounts Committee report published last summer found that the Department for Education not only lacked a plan for recruiting the additional teachers that Labour pledged in its manifesto, but did not understand why teachers are leaving the sector. Despite the Secretary of State’s saying that the Department is on track to meet an already revised and narrower target, this month’s DFE report found that there are 1,907 fewer teachers overall since Labour came to power. What further steps is the Secretary of State taking to recruit and retain our teachers?
Bridget Phillipson
We have published the delivery plan that the hon. Lady referred to, so I suggest that she goes away and reads it. When she does so, she may also be interested to know that primary pupil numbers have fallen by more than 84,000 since last year, and that that is set to continue until at least 2030, because of the historically low birth rate in our country. This Labour Government are improving teacher pay, improving workload and addressing the wider pressures that schools face, especially on child poverty. I am incredibly proud that this Labour Government will lift more children out of poverty than any Government ever.
Ian Lavery
The working lives of teachers and leaders study last year showed that almost three in 10 teachers were expecting to leave the profession in the next 12 months, and 90% of the people who have left or are intending to leave cite high workload and stress as the most common reason. There are more teachers leaving the profession than coming into it. What is my right hon. Friend’s Department doing to ensure that we retain as many of these fantastic, critical workers in the profession as possible?
Bridget Phillipson
I know that my hon. Friend values the contribution of our teachers as much as I do. High-quality teaching is the single biggest factor in good educational outcomes for our children. We are improving pay and taking action on workload. I am also proud that we are doubling maternity pay—the first major change in maternity pay for teachers in more than 25 years. That is essential in a profession that is primarily female. By ending the Tories’ two-child limit and lifting half a million children out of poverty, we will ease the strain on teachers, who for too long have had to step in where Governments have failed.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
The Secretary of State knows that the figure she has quoted to the House excludes primary schools. The Labour party manifesto promised to increase the number of teachers by 6,500, funded by the party’s education tax, yet this morning the DFE website says that there are now 1,900 fewer teachers than in 2024. Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, says that the overall fall in teacher numbers makes a mockery of this Government’s promise to increase teacher numbers. He is right, isn’t he?
Bridget Phillipson
I suggest that the hon. Gentleman goes away and has a look at the pledge that we made in our manifesto, which is that we would recruit the teachers where we needed them most. I am afraid to say that the birth rate in this country is at an historic low. There are more than 80,000 fewer primary school children across our country. It would be madness not to take that into account. I would suggest that he had a word with his boss about how the maths and logic stack up, but given that she was in government when the Conservatives crashed the economy, I am not sure that I should recommend it.
Laura Kyrke-Smith (Aylesbury) (Lab)
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)
Antisemitism has no place on university campuses or in our society. Universities must take strong action to tackle antisemitism, including by enforcing disciplinary measures and improving transparency. More widely, we are taking action across the education system, investing £7 million across schools, colleges and universities to combat antisemitism, ensuring for the first time that every child learns about the Holocaust, and I have commissioned an independent review into what further action we can take to tackle this poison in our schools and colleges.
Bob Blackman
The fact is that antisemitism and anti-Jewish hatred is rife in campuses across our country. The Secretary of State is right that it is up to vice-chancellors and principals to ensure that Jewish students feel safe on campus, but the sad reality is that a recent survey shows that only 3% of Jewish students feel safe to report antisemitism. Will the Secretary of State take prompt action to ensure that vice-chancellors do their job so that those committing antisemitic attacks are expelled from universities, and indeed if they are foreign students, they should also be deported?
Bridget Phillipson
The hon. Gentleman has long campaigned on this issue and has a strong record in making clear his commitment to tackling antisemitism wherever it is found, and I share that commitment. I want to thank the Union of Jewish Students for its “Time for Change” report. I spoke recently at a launch event attended by vice-chancellors, where I made it clear that I expect universities to take action against antisemitism, which is completely unacceptable. Too many Jewish students on campus have been subject to harassment and intimidation. That is unacceptable and vice-chancellors must act.
Jack Rankin (Windsor) (Con)
My hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) rightly highlights the scourge of antisemitism on our campuses. Against that backdrop, is it not extraordinary that the Government have chosen to deny students access to the Office for Students free speech complaint scheme while extending it to everybody but students, which I raised with the ministerial team on 20 April? The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education—the body to which students are directed instead—is nothing but a legal dead-end for students who are subject to discrimination because of their beliefs. What message does it send to Jewish students facing intimidation and harassment that their complaints are treated differently from those of academics and visiting speakers? Will the Government introduce meaningful sanctions, including funding consequences, for universities that repeatedly fail to protect them?
Bridget Phillipson
I recognise the very real issue that the hon. Gentleman identifies, and I think there is a commitment across the House to tackling antisemitism in all its forms wherever it arises. But there is a fundamental point of misunderstanding here: students do have clear routes of redress and of complaint where things go wrong, and I am absolutely clear with university vice-chancellors and others that there can be no place for antisemitic hate speech on our campuses. Freedom of speech matters in our institutions, but antisemitic hate speech is not freedom of speech.
John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)
Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Education (Bridget Phillipson)
The safety of our youngest children is of the utmost priority to this Government. Early years settings should be places where children receive the best start in life, and where they are safe and happy. That is why we will provide Ofsted with additional funding to strengthen safeguarding measures, with over £4.5 million this financial year and at least £8 million in future years. That will mean an additional 3,000 unannounced visits a year, an increased number of inspectors for larger settings and more face-to-face registration interviews before providers open, alongside accelerating modernisation of Ofsted digital systems. This builds on recent changes on whistleblowing so that staff can share concerns quickly and with total confidence. I will be setting out further changes shortly, because nothing is more important than keeping our youngest children safe.
Ian Roome
This year, two of Devon’s school food providers have shut down due to rapidly rising business and food costs. The Government school food standards consultation closed on 12 June, so will the Secretary of State now ensure that funding for school meals is sustained and that procurement supports healthy, fresh and local food?
Bridget Phillipson
That is exactly our intention. The plans on which we are consulting represent the first time in over a decade that this has been properly looked at, to ensure that when our children are at school, the food is of the highest quality and it is healthy and nutritious. I am grateful to all those who shared their thoughts through that consultation. I am also delighted that from September this Labour Government will be delivering a huge expansion in free school meals, ensuring that all families in receipt of universal credit will now benefit.
Adam Thompson (Erewash) (Lab)
A new Best Start family hub is opening in Cotmanhay, bringing together support for families in one of the most deprived communities in my constituency and across Derbyshire. As the Government roll out the hubs nationwide, what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that they improve school readiness and help close attainment gaps before children even reach the classroom?
Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)
The resignation of the Prime Minister this morning was a damning indictment of the record of this Government over the last two years. Part of the Prime Minister’s legacy will be teacher morale at an all-time low. New data from the National Education Union today shows that 72% of teachers believe that the Government have performed badly on education. Why does the Secretary of State think the country and so many teachers have lost faith in this Government?
Bridget Phillipson
It is a funny old world in which the right hon. Lady prays in aid the National Education Union, but there we are.
I am proud of the action that this Labour Government are taking on pay and workload and in addressing all the many challenges that our teachers and leaders face, which were left behind by the Conservatives. Under them, we saw a shocking rise in child poverty and major social failure. The only policy that the right hon. Lady has is to cut state school budgets to give private schools their tax breaks back.
Laura Trott
Well, that is a load of rubbish.
The Secretary of State says that she is proud of the action that the Government are taking on pay. May I suggest that one of the reasons teachers are angry is that they still do not know their pay? When the Conservatives had to delay the teacher pay awards to this point in the year, the Education Secretary described it as a “complete dereliction of duty”. Why does she think it is one rule for the Labour party and one rule for everyone else?
Bridget Phillipson
The right hon. Lady left behind a pay award and zero funding to pay for it. One of the first things that I did as Secretary of State was to deliver that award in full and fully funded; when she was a Treasury Minister, she was totally derelict in her responsibilities. This Labour Government will drive up school standards and make change happen for teachers and leaders.
The right hon. Lady says it is nonsense that she has only one policy, which is to cut state school budgets to invest in tax breaks for private schools, but it is true. That is all the Conservatives have. They have nothing to say on education and nothing to say on how they would tackle the major challenges we are dealing with, especially on special educational needs and disabilities.
Sarah Coombes (West Bromwich) (Lab)
Bridget Phillipson
I agree with my hon. Friend. Campaigners have shown remarkable courage, bravery and persistence in bringing this shameful period in our country’s history out of the shadows. Their voices have been central in ensuring that that history is recognised. It is for that reason, and because of their tireless work, that this Government will soon make a full apology on behalf of the state to all those affected. I pay tribute to the campaigners; it is impossible to listen to them and hear their testimonies and not recognise that a wrong was done to them and that we have a responsibility to address that.
Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)
Ian Sollom (St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire) (LD)
Bridget Phillipson
Since coming into government, we have reformed the regulator to make sure there is a sharper focus on financial sustainability, and there is a new chair who is taking that work forward. The case that the hon. Member refers to covered many years. He will appreciate that there are limitations on what I can say about it, but he should be assured that we want strong regulation of our universities that is most effective in ensuring they can uphold their responsibilities while remaining financially viable.
Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)
I recently visited the Chances family hub—[Interruption.] It is indeed a very fine hub, one of several set up by Cumberland council to fill a need left by the Conservatives’ short-sighted decision to abolish Sure Start. Will the Minister please assure Carlisle families that this Government will ensure that all family hubs receive the support they need to give children the best start?
Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)
Bridget Phillipson
We recognise the need to make sure that, as we refurbish and rebuild schools across our country, they are well placed to cope with some of the fluctuations in temperature we are seeing, including the hot weather we are experiencing at the moment. Of course, how to manage that best is a matter for headteachers and school leaders. For example, schools can consider relaxing uniform rules during hot weather to make sure that pupils are comfortable, and the Department of Health and Social Care recommends that pupils should not take part in vigorous physical activity when the weather is exceptionally hot, but I trust school leaders to do the right thing to maintain the wellbeing of both staff and students.
Steve Yemm (Mansfield) (Lab)
I recently joined a class of year 5 pupils from St Peter’s school in my constituency on a visit to the National Holocaust Museum in Laxton. I saw at first hand that places such as that are vital to ensuring that young people absorb lessons about the Holocaust. Will the Minister therefore commit to visiting that museum with me and a local school?
Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
I know that Members across this House will have been sickened and devastated to hear reports of the abuse suffered by baby Preston Davey prior to his murder at the hands of his adoptive parents, in whose home he should have been safe. It is of concern that Preston was seen by several different professionals in the weeks and months before his murder. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 legislates for stronger safeguarding arrangements, including the introduction of multi-agency child protection teams in every local authority area. In the light of the serious safeguarding failings in Preston’s case and in other recent cases of children who should have been safe in the care of the state, will the Secretary of State set out the expected timetable for implementing these reforms? How quickly can we expect to see stronger safeguarding practice consistently nationwide?
Bridget Phillipson
I am grateful to the Chair of the Select Committee for raising this shocking case. Our thoughts must be with all those who loved and knew Preston, and it is right that the evil abusers who committed those sickening and shocking crimes are now behind bars. The House can be assured that we take this extremely seriously. I have asked for independent experts to look at Oldham council, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS trust and the regional adoption agency to consider carefully all the issues and concerns that have been raised through this process. The child safeguarding practice review is commencing, led by the local safeguarding partnership with the national Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel working closely alongside to make sure it is of the highest quality. In response to the question that the Chair of the Select Committee asked, it is our intention to roll that out by March. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act represents the biggest upgrade to child protection legislation in a generation, and it is through those changes that we will make sure we keep all our children safe from harm.
Suella Braverman (Fareham and Waterlooville) (Reform)
The horrific sexual abuse and murder of baby Preston Davey has shocked the nation. It has been reported that Adoption Now, the agency that placed baby Preston with his murderer, and Oldham council, the agency responsible for his safety, missed several safeguarding reports and potentially neglected to stop what was a preventable death. My question for the Secretary of State is simple: among the army of health visitors, social workers and medics who saw baby Preston, why did nobody raise the alarm? What action is being taken now to safeguard the welfare of those children under the care of Oldham council?
Bridget Phillipson
I have just described the action that we are taking. This is extremely serious, and it was an urgent priority for the incoming Government to update legislation to ensure that we do everything in our power to keep children safe. I have described the action that will follow, and I am glad that justice has been served. We cannot bring Preston back, but we can ensure that we do everything within our power to stop this happening to other children in future.
Jonathan Davies (Mid Derbyshire) (Lab)
The St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which runs a number of schools in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, is facing extreme financial difficulties despite the considerable extra support that it has received from the Department for Education. We east midlands MPs have written to the Department, but perhaps Ministers could find out whether there is anything else that we can do, and also look at the academy funding model more generally, because the built-in financial risk undermines the education of our children at times.
Bridget Phillipson
Many colleagues in the region with local schools served by the trust have raised similar concerns, and I would be more than happy to ensure that my hon. Friend and any other interested Members of Parliament can meet to discuss the issue further. It is clear that, across the system, there have been a number of failings in respect of financial oversight and accountability, which is why we are taking action on MAT-level inspection and will take further action to ensure that public money that is intended to benefit children in their schools and in their education is not wasted in some of the shocking ways in which we have sadly seen it wasted by the Conservative party.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
Members of a mini-Parliament from Town Farm primary school in Stanwell, in my constituency, visited me here this morning and asked me some very good questions. I was, for instance, asked for my view of the new right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham), but we will leave that one where it is. The school’s head, Mr Bhatti, has just been given the OBE in the King’s birthday honours. These things do not come up with the rations. Will the Secretary of State please put on record her thanks to Mr Bhatti and all the team at Town Farm primary school for the outstanding job that they do?
Bridget Phillipson
I am happy to extend my congratulations to Mr Bhatti and the brilliant team at Town Farm primary school, and I hope that all the pupils had a wonderful visit to Parliament. This is an opportunity that we, as Members of Parliament, can encourage our schools to take up, because funding is available to make it happen, and I hope that more children will be able to benefit from the investment that has gone into Parliament and the Parliamentary Education Centre.
Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
The Secretary of State is aware of the challenges caused by the drop in population in my constituency, which is resulting in the closure of some schools. What work is being done to ensure that if there is a need to create housing on those sites for future pupils, the Department can move more quickly to change the designation of education sites for other uses?
Bridget Phillipson
My hon. Friend is right to identify this issue. She has long argued in the House that we need both to manage declines in pupil numbers and to create more social and affordable housing for people including her constituents. There are a number of ways in which we are supporting schools at the moment, opening up space by expanding nursery provision in schools, inclusion bases and SEND support. However, I assure my hon. Friend that we are considering very carefully how we can ensure that sites are used well, for educational purposes and, possibly, for other purposes that they may be able to serve in the future.
Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)
Primary school headteachers in my constituency tell me that, according to their budget calculations, the cut in funding for physical education will have a real impact on opportunities for young people, especially in rural areas. What assurance can the Government give me that young people, especially those in rural areas such as Waveney Valley, will not lose out on vital sporting opportunities?