Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Monday 11th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

Academic independence is central to a functioning democracy, so in light of the false accusations levelled at an academic on the board of UK Research and Innovation by the Secretary of State’s colleague, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, and her subsequent apology, what action is the Secretary of State taking to assure academics that they remain free to make legitimate comments on issues of concern?

[Gillian Keegan]

Of course, academic independence and the ability to speak freely are very important—they are things that we hold dear, and that we must protect at all costs within our universities and academic institutions. That is why we passed the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023, and it is why there is a free speech director in the Office for Students, who has taken up that post and will work to ensure we do whatever we can to protect those things in our country.

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete in Education Settings

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Monday 4th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement.

Obviously, the safety of children is paramount and urgent actions have to be taken to resolve this situation. The Chancellor said yesterday that the Government will “spend what it takes” to sort out this problem, yet Treasury sources have admitted that there will be no new money to pay for the remedial work, with the cash instead coming out of the Department for Education’s existing capital budget. Can the Secretary of State give us some clarity on that? Given that existing budgets are already extremely stretched, what discussions is she having with Treasury colleagues to access additional funding?

The Secretary of State mentioned the devolved Administrations, and clearly this affects buildings across the UK. The Scottish Government’s budget has already been cut, so can she confirm that there will be additional funding for the devolved Administrations to carry out the remedial work that will have to take place in those jurisdictions?

The Sunday Mirror has reported that up to 7,000 schools could be at risk but have yet to be assessed, and a National Audit Office report in June found that 38% of English school buildings had passed their recommended RAAC lifespan. This means that around 700,000 children in England are being taught in schools that require major rebuilding.

The Secretary of State mentioned the questionnaire that has been sent out to 22,000 schools. Can she give some clarity about the responders? What expertise do they have to make the assessments to which she refers? Given the figures I have just quoted, it would be good to know the number of schools affected, as a number in the hundreds seems unrealistic. Can we have a more realistic figure for the number of schools that are likely to need work to be done?

Finally, can the Secretary of State guarantee that children in schools that have not been closed are absolutely safe to return to lessons?

[Gillian Keegan]

I do not know whether we can believe everything we read in the press, but I have read that Scotland does not plan to close schools with RAAC, which is a bit worrying. We will continue to share technical information with our counterparts, and we have offered meetings.

When we receive new information and new evidence, we sometimes need to take a new approach. That is the decision I took very recently, and I think it is the right decision. I would be very happy to work with the hon. Lady and her colleagues to share more information.

Every year we have a capital budget, and we are investing significantly in our schools. The overall capital budget in the 2021 spending review was £19 billion, of which £7 billion is allocated for 2023-24. When we come to the next phase, we have allocation to rebuild some of our schools, but we will look in detail at what more will be required.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Monday 12th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

As a former teacher, can I just say that I was quite happy to be called “Miss”? I have been called far worse as an MP.

When asked in December about the merits of limiting visas for the dependants of international students, the Education Secretary conceded that, if such a policy was enacted, our ability

“to attract the best students from around the world is going to be reduced”.

This policy is now a reality. It is impacting on our emerging markets in Nigeria and India, and it will skew our market much further towards Chinese students. Does she stand by her initial remarks?

[Gillian Keegan]

The visas that we were very keen should be available are the two-year graduate route visa, to make sure that all students coming here have two years in which to find a job before they can then apply for a work visa post their study period. That is a very competitive offer and I was very keen to ensure it was in place. We have looked at this very carefully but, as I said to the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western), we had an unprecedented increase—more than eightfold—in the number of dependants coming here and, bearing in mind our migration figures, we wanted to take action on that.

[Carol Monaghan]

The eightfold increase happened because of the Secretary of State’s Government’s policies and the collapse of the European market—things that those on the Conservative Benches must be responsible for. The vast majority of international students are temporary visitors, yet they are counted as permanent in the migration figures—a policy the former Education Secretary, the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire (Kit Malthouse), has called “bonkers”. A simple solution to halt the ongoing targeting of the students in this market would be to count only those who stay. Why is that not being considered?

[Gillian Keegan]

The hon. Lady is right: the vast majority of international students return to their home countries once they have finished their studies. Home Office data show that less than 1% of those granted an initial study visa in 2016 had been granted settlement by 2021, but the Office for National Statistics is responsible for the migration figures.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Monday 17th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

High-quality teaching is only possible when teachers feel valued and supported. The Scottish Government have engaged in constructive dialogue with teaching unions and agreed a pay deal for teachers with a 12% salary increase this month. Rather than hurl insults at dedicated teachers, when will this Government come up with a realistic pay offer for their committed teaching staff?

[Gillian Keegan]

I pay tribute to all our dedicated teachers. All of us across the House will agree that we cannot have a world-class education system without world-class teachers, and I am committed to making sure that we recruit and retain the best teachers. Obviously, we have had intensive talks with the unions and we offered them a one-off payment of £1,000 and an average of 4.5% for the period from September 2023 to 2024, when inflation is expected to be way below 2%. It is really disappointing that they have rejected that offer. It is also disappointing that they claim that it was not fully funded or affordable to schools, because we have confirmed that it is, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed that as well.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Monday 16th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

As a former teacher, I support the right of our teachers to strike and will oppose this Government’s anti-strike legislation. Does the Secretary of State agree that constructive dialogue with our dedicated teachers is vital, rather than demonising them as “Bolsheviks” and “commies”, as one of her colleagues has disgracefully done?

[Gillian Keegan]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I always believe in constructive dialogue. The very first meeting I took as we welcomed in the new year was with all four main teaching unions, and I will be meeting them again later this week.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Monday 28th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

I welcome the Secretary of State to her new position, and indeed her team.

It was deplorable that the Chancellor failed to expand free school meals in his autumn statement. It means that at least 100,000 schoolchildren in poverty in England will continue to be denied a nutritious meal at school, which puts additional pressure on parents trying to provide for them. Will the Secretary of State urge the Chancellor to replicate the work of the Scottish Government, who have committed to providing universal free school meals to all primary children?

[Gillian Keegan]

We understand the pressures that many households are under, and that is why we are spending more than £1.6 billion per year so that children have access to nutritious meals during the school day and in holidays. The Government have indeed expanded free school meals more than any other Government in recent decades. We have put in place generous protection that means families on universal credit will also retain their free school meal eligibility. We now have a third of children in this country on free school meals, and I know that is very welcome for the families. We will have extended free school meals, and we will continue to support further education students with them as well.

--- Later in debate ---

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

Reports that this Government could cause monumental damage to higher education by restricting international students to so-called elite universities have been described by former Universities Minister Lord Johnson as a “mindless crackdown”. Can the Secretary of State confirm that this Government will not implement such a mindless policy?

[Gillian Keegan]

I can confirm that we have a world-class education system and we will attract the brightest students from around the world. That is good for our universities and delivers growth at home. We were proud to meet our international student ambition earlier this year to attract 600,000 international students per year by 2030. Today that is worth £29.5 billion and we are now focused on bringing in £35 billion from our education exports, which are the best in the world.

Mahsa Amini

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Tuesday 11th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Gillian Keegan]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising that point. It is also fair to say that we should congratulate the men who have joined those protests. We have all observed that and very much welcome it. It is a very important part of the change.

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP)]

Of course, Mahsa Amini is her legal name, but her family name—her Kurdish name—is Jîna. We have to recognise that, because the Kurdish community in Iran are among the most persecuted groups. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) has already asked about expediting asylum cases, but I will ask the Minister again. There are many people in our communities who are from a Kurdish background and, indeed, who are Iranian human rights activists. What are the Government going to do to expedite these asylum claims, given the barbarity of the regime that we are now witnessing?

[Gillian Keegan]

Of course, Iran must cease its indiscriminate bombardment of Kurdish towns, which has led to the loss of innocent lives and damaged civilian infrastructure. Those wholly unacceptable attacks are a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and they demonstrate a repeated pattern of Iranian destabilising activity in the region. We are acutely aware of that and are working to improve the situation.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Carol Monaghan and Gillian Keegan

Monday 22nd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gillian Keegan]

May I associate myself with the hon. Gentleman’s comments about the tragedy in his constituency?

Of course, this is a very difficult time. There is massive uncertainty in many of our sectors, and lots of those would have potentially provided short-term work opportunities to students. Obviously, the most important thing we need to do now is reopen our economy, get our economy working and provide those opportunities for young people. In the meantime, there are a number of supports and discretionary grants that are available through the FE sector or the HE sector to support students during this difficult time.

[Carol Monaghan (Glasgow North West) (SNP) [V]]

May I express my condolences, and those of my SNP colleagues, to all those affected by the terrible attacks in Reading, and to the loved ones of the three children who died in the terrible house fire at the weekend?

Scottish schools will officially break up for the summer holidays this week, and I am sure that you, Mr Speaker, will join me in thanking the school staff who have worked so hard to ensure that our children have continued to have educational input over the past few months.

In response to the pandemic, on 4 May, the Government announced a temporary cap on student numbers at English universities, to prevent institutions competing for students. Given that there was no such competition in Scotland, can the Minister explain why the same policy was then applied to Scotland, a month later than England, with no consultation with the Scottish Government and after Scottish universities had sent out entrance offers?

[Gillian Keegan]

The Government are taking steps to ensure that universities in all four corners of the United Kingdom can continue to deliver the world-class education for which they are renowned. In May, we announced a package of measures to support our universities and safeguard the interests of students. This means that every student who wants to go to university and gets the grades can achieve their ambition. The package includes new measures to temporarily control student numbers, combined with an enhanced clearing system. That is the right thing to do to ensure a fair and orderly admissions system.

[Carol Monaghan]

It is notable that Scottish universities found out a month later than their English counterparts—so much for consultation. As we move towards kick-starting the economy post covid, higher education is a potential growth industry. However, a former Universities Minister, Jo Johnson, has said that there must first be a recognition of the lasting reputational damage that has been done to the sector, calling on the Government to end the hostile bureaucracy facing overseas students. Therefore, in order to send a clear signal that the UK is open, what discussions has the Minister had with the Home Office on increasing the graduate work visa from two years to four years, to ensure that the UK has a globally attractive offer?

[Gillian Keegan]

Clearly, the UK does have a globally attractive offer, given the sheer number of people who want to study here, and the many benefits of doing so. Of course, we are very proud of the sector and will continue to work with it during this difficult time. We will continue to work with the Department for International Trade and the Home Office to ensure that the path for international students wishing to study here is as clear as possible.