Higher Education: Government Support

David Burton-Sampson Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southend East and Rochford (Mr Alaba) for securing the debate. He knows that we both care passionately about this matter, especially given the impact that the closure of the Southend campus of Essex University will have on both our constituencies and our constituents. It is a great shame for the students of today and the students of tomorrow, and a great loss for the city.

Let me begin by expressing my backing for my hon. Friend’s positive moves to support students who have expressed concerns to both of us in recent weeks. I understand and share those fears, which is why my hon. Friend and I, together with the leader of Southend city council, are pursuing the university’s leaders to create a workable plan at least to alleviate the worst effects of this deeply disappointing decision and find some resolution for the staff, the students and the city of Southend.

I was so fortunate that my own university experiences told a very different story. It is said that education opens doors to worlds you never knew existed. I look around me now; when I started out as a child of a working-class single-parent family—the first to attend university—I could never have imagined standing here today. The opportunities afforded to me by attending university and completing my degree have helped to shape my career and make me the person I am, both personally and professionally. It might come as a surprise, when hon. Members look at the shrinking violet I am now, to learn that I trained as an actor; I took a degree in performing arts at the world-renowned Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. The end of the acclaimed East 15 acting school in Southend, a casualty of this campus closure, is therefore a loss very close to my heart. I spoke to a course lecturer over the weekend who is devastated at the loss of this facility—not just the loss for her, as she will not be able to transfer to Colchester, but at the loss for the students, and for the city; it loses the Clifftown theatre, a much-loved cultural resource.

Like the rest of my generation, I was lucky enough to get a grant for my degree. That experience changed my life. My degree gave me lifelong skills and abilities and expanded my horizons. The days of grants are sadly long gone, but the ambition should not be gone. That is why the closure of the Southend campus is a disaster. It denies the students of the future opportunities to train in their chosen area. Many of the courses are for key workers, including vitally needed nurses, dental technicians and midwives, who have trained at that campus in Southend for the past 18 years. Now, all that is to end, and local youngsters will have to go elsewhere to fulfil their dreams. If they do not have the means to do so, this could snuff out their ambition and deny their potential, with lifelong repercussions.

[Pam Cox]

Would my hon. Friend agree that it is a desperate situation when so many of our universities are heading into deficit? According to the Office for Students, we are talking about a very large number—about 40% to 50%. Does he agree that we really need action to put our universities back on a secure financial footing?

[David Burton-Sampson]

I agree with my hon. Friend’s analysis. We have been left in this situation by the last Government, and this Government have the job of getting our universities back on to a good footing. I hope that they will do all they can to address her concerns.

I have grave concerns about the impact that the closure will have on the skills pipeline and much-needed jobs in south Essex, in particular for future generations. If the facility is no longer in existence, how will we attract people to train in these vital subjects? Will the Minister give me an assurance that promotion of, and attraction to, vital skills courses elsewhere in Essex for young people in my constituency and the wider south Essex area will be considered, as well as ease of access, now that the Southend campus will no longer be there?

The challenges that students in the middle of a course face are obvious and too numerous to expand on here; they range from the expense of commuting to the campus in Colchester, to being forced to abandon caring duties for their families. The future of this cohort is fundamentally at risk, and we are fighting hard to make sure that no one is forced to drop out. My hon. Friend the Member for Southend East and Rochford and I have heard terrible stories about students already quitting mid-course, despite being in deep debt. This must not happen. Can the Minister give me assurances that the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care will do all they can to ensure that no one is forced to abandon their course because of this closure?

My hon. Friend has outlined the work that the Government are doing to bolster higher education after 14 years of Tory neglect. I am delighted to see that the Government will reintroduce targeted means-tested maintenance grants by the end of this Parliament for disadvantaged students on priority courses. These grants will provide financial support that does not need to be repaid, helping to remove barriers to opportunity and making sure that no one is left behind. I want to see opportunities retained locally for my constituents in Southend West and Leigh, so that even if the university campus is no longer with us, the crucible of the ideas that were forged there for so many futures is not lost.

Gender Self-identification

David Burton-Sampson Excerpts

Monday 19th May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Dr Savage]

I absolutely agree. This already vulnerable group, many of whom struggle with mental health issues, are struggling even more as a result of the confusion arising from the ruling.

I was quoting a trans person who responded to the survey. They continued:

“When discussions of safety have been in Parliament, there is a complete lack of empathy for the invalidation and fear trans individuals are experiencing.”

I say to that person and other people in the trans community that I hope they are witnessing the empathy that is being expressed in this Hall today.

The Government must modernise, simplify, clarify and reform the intrusive and outdated gender recognition law and bring in a new process, as they promised at the last general election. We are being told the current system is robust, but how can a system be robust when over 31,000 people are still waiting just for their first appointment at a gender identity clinic? Some will wait for more than seven years. Many will never make it through the process—not because they lack the seriousness, but because the bureaucracy is unbearable, as is the toll on their mental health. Public Health England said that over a third of trans people have attempted suicide at least once. A human tragedy is unfolding as a result of the lack of suitable support and enough resources to see trans people through the process.

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. In the Supreme Court ruling, the judge said that the Equality Act 2010 applies to trans people. Does the hon. Lady agree that we have been failing trans people for many years in this country, despite the fact that they are covered by the Equality Act? That has to change.

Financial Education

David Burton-Sampson Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

I, too, thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for bringing forward the debate and for the work he does on the all-party parliamentary group for financial education for young people.

I would love to see a world where everybody is financially literate, where people understand their finances, manage them properly, invest, save, manage debt and protect themselves appropriately—in other words, where people are financially savvy. It is good for people and it is good for our economy. Financial education develops tools for life and creates good habits. It can help people deal with cost of living challenges and help break down barriers to opportunity too, because making the most of resources when there are fewer of them is paramount. Many people lack the basic skills of financial acumen and that disadvantages them through life. However, if someone has a strong grasp of financial concepts, they are less likely to get into debt, can make better decisions and prosper. That is why financial education is a must for adults and children alike. I have a number of ideas about how we can help educate adults too in that area.

According to the Government-sponsored Money and Pensions Service, 39% of adults—more than 20 million people—do not feel confident managing their own money. Some 11.5 million people have less than £100 in savings, and 9 million of us are in serious debt. A Legal and General report, “Deadline to Breadline 2022”, suggests that

“the average UK consumer is just 19 days from the breadline”

if they lose their income.

In my previous life in the banking sector, I knew only too well how a lack of financial management blights lives. I sadly saw several people throughout my career who did not plan and manage their finances appropriately or plan and protect their futures appropriately. When life took an unexpected turn and circumstances changed, I witnessed some incredibly sad situations where people lost everything. That story tells us of an urgent need for financial education programmes for adults and not just for children.

Of course, the key to having financially literate adults is to teach financial education in our schools. Although, as we have heard, it was added to the national curriculum in 2014, its delivery is patchy at best and it needs to be improved. A few years ago, I was invited to deliver a financial education session to a group of sixth-form students. Following the session, a few teachers came over, thanked me for what I had taught them and then asked me for some advice—and they were the teachers responsible for delivering that financial education to the pupils.

We have heard that financial education is included in the curriculum for secondary schools, but I too advocate for its inclusion in primary education. That could be done simply by embracing it in the maths syllabus. As a member of the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people, I support the recommendations that financial education be a mandatory part of the English primary curriculum. Training has to be given to teachers and the subject should be promoted by the Government in both primary and secondary education.

I want to finish with a story of a person whom I admire for their brilliant financial management: a single parent who juggled finances to bring up two boys. She literally had different pots for different funds, from summer holidays to Christmas to birthdays to her contingency fund for a rainy day. Each week, she would use her perfectly crafted budget book to separate out her funds: so much for food, so much for bills and the remainder spread across her pots. She never relied on credit cards or borrowing. Her sons never wanted for anything, saw themselves as equals to their friends and would only really appreciate how stretched the family finances were when they got older. She had that skill embedded in her from a young age by her parents. That person was my mum.

Being financially educated early can have a profound effect on future generations. We need that change. It is an essential life skill, and I implore the Minister to consider that as part of the curriculum review.

Oral Answers to Questions

David Burton-Sampson Excerpts

Monday 9th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Matt Turmaine (Watford) (Lab)]

4. What steps she is taking to increase the availability of breakfast clubs in primary schools.

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

5. What steps she is taking to increase the availability of breakfast clubs in primary schools.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Morgan]

This Government are committed to making quick progress to deliver on our commitment to offer a free breakfast club in every primary school to ensure that children are ready to learn at the start of the school day. The Chancellor has announced a tripling of investment in breakfast clubs, driving improvements to behaviour, attendance and attainment and, for parents, more choices over childcare.

[David Burton-Sampson]

I have contacted all the primary schools in my constituency to encourage them to become early adopters. Child poverty in my constituency stands at 12.1%, and food bank use has risen by 433% over the last five years. Does my hon. Friend agree that breakfast clubs will be part of the solution by helping to lift children out of poverty, giving them food in their belly to start the school day and encouraging their parents back into part-time employment?

[Stephen Morgan]

Parents and carers up and down the country are still struggling with the cost of living. As part of our mission to bring down barriers to opportunity, breakfast clubs give parents and carers the confidence that their child can access a breakfast, should they need one, and we are supporting families to work with the cost of childcare. It is a pity that the Conservatives cannot say whether they back our plan to deliver better life chances for all children in all parts of the country.

Government’s Childcare Expansion

David Burton-Sampson Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Morgan]

I thank the hon. Member for his statement and welcome him to his place. As he identified, there are some core challenges for the early years sector in delivering the Government’s agenda to expand childcare entitlement. As I made clear in my statement, today’s announcement sets out key steps we are looking to take to deliver for children and ensure that they have safe, supported systems to help them succeed in life. I know that he will support our ambition of ensuring that every child, no matter where they come from, can succeed in life.

The hon. Member was right to focus on disadvantage, which is a key priority for me as a Minister. If we are serious about breaking down barriers to opportunity, we need to think about the impact of the scheme on the most disadvantaged in our society. The number of childminders involved in the system has halved over the years; we want to reset that relationship. The new flexibilities announced today will make a big difference. Finally, he will appreciate that funding is a matter for the spending review.

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for finally bringing forward a realistic plan for expanding childcare. Residents, and certainly parents, in Southend West and Leigh will welcome the announcement. Will he provide assurances that childminders, who are a vital part of childcare arrangements, will still be a key focus? Will he give a further idea of how they will be supported?

[Stephen Morgan]

Childminders are a key part of the childcare market, providing more choice and flexibility for parents. From next month, the Government plan to implement new flexibilities to help childminders join and stay in the profession. That will include enabling childminders to work from non-domestic premises, as I mentioned in my statement, and increasing the number of childminders who can work together; that will improve children’s access to new experiences out of the home and encourage socialisation. As we seek to deliver a sea change in our approach to early years, we want partners, including childminders, to work closely with us to push for better.

SEND Provision: East of England

David Burton-Sampson Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[David Burton-Sampson (Southend West and Leigh) (Lab)]

Thank you, Sir Mark. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato) for introducing the debate. There are 19,000 children in schools in my constituency of Southend West and Leigh, and 1,000 currently have education, health and care plans. It is a figure that has been increasing every year for the past four years. Now, over 5% of all children have a plan. Overall, including all children with special educational needs, the figure rises to 10.3% of pupils. That is over one in 10 children. In addition, there are more than 150 families currently in the system, waiting for their assessments to happen after their applications have been sanctioned. On top of that, another 266 families have requested assessments, but are waiting for approval which, in part, is due to the national shortage of educational psychologists, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft.

There is also a shortage of social workers in Southend, which is above the national average. Almost one in four posts are vacant, which compounds the issue, because social workers help to assess children’s needs. I believe my constituency is not particularly unusual, and I suspect the picture is not very different in the constituencies of other hon. Members in the Chamber.

Some schools, however, are not set up or equipped to support children with special educational needs. I have witnessed that as a school governor. Despite the overwhelming desire of teachers to support SEN children, often they cannot be supported in a mainstream classroom. Specialist facilities are at a premium, or a child may be awaiting their assessment, which in turn can lead to their being removed from their mainstream classroom and separated from their schoolmates while not getting the specialist support they need to develop and thrive.

As my hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards has announced, the Government will take a community-wide approach to SEND provision, with a number of positive measures already announced. It is vital that we address gaps in SEND provision urgently, and the Government have moved quickly since taking office. We need to continue to press forward with this work on behalf of our constituents so that they get the critical help they deserve. We must stop letting our young people down.