"My Lords, in January 2026 the Government strengthened their guidance on mobile phones in schools, making it clear that all schools should have mobile phones policy that prevents pupils having access to their phone throughout the school day, including during lessons, the time between lessons, break times and lunchtimes. This …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"I thank the noble Baroness; it is certainly the case that she has been tenacious on this issue. We have talked about lots of other things, and I am sure we will again in future. I am slightly fearful about what she will choose to get her teeth into next.
"The noble Baroness makes two important points. On the first, early evidence on the impact of the screen time guidance is encouraging. Independent research from Internet Matters found that three in five parents of children of five and under had heard of the Government’s screen time guidance, and 88% found …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"I thank the noble Baroness for the work that she has been engaged in, alongside our officials, in the scope of the certification scheme. That has been welcomed. On the point about whether the focus is only on safety, I think we have a broad conception of safety in the …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"I thank my noble friend. She ably makes a point about the range of uses to which technology may well be put and the ways in which it may well, depending on the evidence—which of course we are developing—support children’s learning. She also makes an important point about the use …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"I think that the way that the noble Lord describes the issue as letting people in is very helpful in thinking about our approach more broadly to special educational needs and disability reform, where we want our schools and learning for children to be as inclusive as possible. One way, …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"My Lords, we want all pupils to have access to sports and performing arts at school, supporting well-being, belonging, confidence and skills such as teamwork. Voluntary and community organisations are key in broadening access. Our enrichment framework encourages schools to work in partnership with them, and the enrichment expansion programme …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"Yes, while I have not seen the detail of that work, I am sure that it will be very helpful. I know that the work that DfE and DCMS have been doing together on this will be informed by the meeting the noble Baroness suggests. It is, of course, in …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"The noble Baroness makes a really important point about the whole range of ways that we can help children to be active. As she says, we do not yet have sufficient children meeting the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation of 60 minutes of activity every day. The daily mile is an …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech
"PE remains part of the national curriculum from key stage 1 to key stage 4. There are many sports organisations at local level—clubs, often supported by their national governing bodies—which will provide young people with that start and a welcome. Through the PE and school sport partnerships, we want better …..." Baroness Smith of Malvern - View Speech