Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

James Berry Excerpts
Monday 20th July 2015

(9 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nick Boles Portrait Nick Boles
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I welcome the chance to clarify that regional schools commissioners—they are of course responsible for all schools, sixth forms and UTCs—will be involved with and invited to area reviews of post-16 education provision.

James Berry Portrait James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)
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T8. Children in Kingston and Surbiton perform above the national average in speech and language at age five. However, the poorest children are still almost twice as likely to fall behind later in their education, despite the best efforts of their teachers. Does my hon. Friend agree that there is evidence that high-quality early education, linked to the presence of well-qualified staff in the early years, has a positive impact on speech and language development for the poorest children?

Sam Gyimah Portrait Mr Gyimah
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My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, and that is why we extended the free entitlement to disadvantaged two-year-olds, and we extended the pupil premium to three and four-year-olds so that toddlers are not behind when they turn up at school.