Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete in Education Settings

Debate between Gillian Keegan and Rob Roberts

Monday 4th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[Gillian Keegan]

I do not agree with the last couple of comments, but if the school has already been confirmed for the school rebuilding programme, that will continue.

[Mr Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

Of course, education is devolved in Wales, but as the Secretary of State has rightly said, this is not a time for political point scoring, nor is it really a time for jurisdictional squabbling. Given that this issue predates devolution by several decades, will she confirm that, should the situation arise in Wales, any remedial funding required to repair the buildings will still be provided by the UK Government?

[Gillian Keegan]

I think the Welsh Government will be providing the response to RAAC in Wales and also the funding for it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gillian Keegan and Rob Roberts

Monday 17th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Gillian Keegan]

I understand that many employers have asked for that, but it is as ill-thought-through and ill-designed as Labour policies such as the tax on private schools and non-dom status. We are already spending 99.6% of the levy, so Labour’s policy would mean that we would have to take some apprentices away from SMEs to be able to create that levy.

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

10. What steps her Department is taking to improve access to high-quality apprenticeships.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gillian Keegan and Rob Roberts

Monday 28th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

9. What steps she is taking to promote financial education in secondary schools.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan)]

I am a passionate champion of an education that gives children the real-world knowledge and skills that they need for later life. A good grounding in maths for children is essential for understanding things like interest rates, compound interest and the changing landscape of financial products. On Thursday, I was pleased to visit Chesterton Primary School in Battersea with the Schools Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Nick Gibb), to mark the first ever set of national data on children’s times tables, alongside announcing up to £59.3 million of investment to continue to increase the quality of maths teaching.

[Rob Roberts]

In conversation with my local Jobcentre Plus team earlier this year, I was told that the No. 1 thing missing for school leavers is employability skills, which are partly about understanding finances, bank accounts, loans, credit cards and taxes—all the stodgy, boring, grown-up stuff. Does my right hon. Friend agree that making sure that school leavers are equipped with information about those things will stop them getting into financial difficulty as young adults and will set them up well for the future?

[Gillian Keegan]

I agree that understanding finances is essential; I learned that myself in my Saturday job at St John’s market, where I worked in a shop from the age of 13. Education on financial matters also provides an opportunity to teach about fraud. Pupils receive financial education throughout the national curriculum in mathematics and citizenship; for pupils of secondary school age, that includes compulsory content covering the functions and uses of money, financial products and services, and the need to understand financial risk.