Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

James Frith Excerpts

Wednesday 8th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr James Frith (Bury North) (Lab)]

I am pleased to speak in support of the Bill and wish to speak to the cost of living impact it begins to address.

Every child matters: not just political guidance, but an ideal to live by and to come into politics for. I therefore welcome the first steps that the Bill represents: steps towards a change in the security and fortunes of all young people in Bury and Britain. Ensuring the wellbeing of a child and the whereabouts of a child in Bury North has been one of my main priorities as an MP. It is also why I have long championed, both in this Parliament and in my previous time in this place, improvements to the appalling state of the special educational needs system.

A child’s wellbeing, or their vulnerability, does not exist in a vacuum. It is tied to the conditions they grow up in. In Bury North we confront a grim reality: 42% of children in Bury North are living in absolute poverty. Poverty must no longer simply be glanced at by our politics. We must reach into it. It is a concentrated poverty—dense, multiple and compounded.

[Richard Burgon]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Mr Frith]

I will not.

It is a poverty that has crept up on us faster and faster in recent years, where one mile’s difference between postcodes can mean as much as a seven-year gap in life expectancy. It shows itself in poor, squalid housing, too few teachers in schools, a lack of accessible public or social services, an absence in quality public transport, the scourge of antisocial behaviour, victims of unpunished criminality, and even worse streets than the better-off wards are rightly animated by. Worse still is the poverty of opportunity, with children unaccounted for or not attending school at all.

I strongly support the Bill’s first moves to ease the burdens faced by so many families, by cutting the cost of children going to school. Common sense on school uniforms will save parents more than £50 a child on the back-to-school shop. Free breakfast clubs for all primary school children will save hard-pressed parents up to £450 a year per child. Critically, that can help working parents to make their hours.

The ambitions of the Government go well beyond what the Bill starts. Eyes and expectations will turn to the child poverty taskforce and its recommendations, as well as the future work of this Parliament. We need to tackle the roots of these experiences, not just the symptoms. The Government are determined to transform the lives of children, with structural, strategic changes to life in Bury and Britain. It has been done before: Sure Start, the Building Schools for the Future programme, the maintenance allowance, the power of progressive social policies, the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, foundation learning, and, yes, phonics and choice.

We will not let the inheritance from the Conservative party stop us. This will be a period of renewal and hope. Bury North’s poorest are failed by living down the road from those doing just all right; another town overlooked and underserved by funding formulas that have only ever glanced at the place and its problems, and by the failures to level up, let alone even out. Let us be clear: the Bill is only the beginning—a good start. We must keep going, because every child matters.

Israel: UNRWA Ban

James Frith Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for his questions and, as ever, for his sincerity in discussing these issues. The UK Government will continue to work with charitable foundations and organisations. A number of them, including many based in the UK, provide incredibly important support for the people of Gaza. However, we are clear that when it comes to the delivery of aid and services, there is no other organisation that can fulfil the role that UNRWA performs because of the need for scaled and deep support, and also because of its critical mandate from the UN.

[Mr James Frith (Bury North) (Lab)]

I join the Government in condemning the decision by the Israeli Parliament. Does the Minister agree that cutting ties and undermining UNRWA leaves us aghast at a time when we need institutions to work effectively, independently and without prejudice to build any prospect of peace and a future after a ceasefire and the return of the hostages? Worst of all, the ban further compounds the misery for the Palestinians and for those of us who still hope for a two-state solution.

[Anneliese Dodds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for taking a long-term perspective on these critical questions. Given the humanitarian catastrophe, we agree that this decision, if implemented, will be deeply harmful not just currently, but in the future. As we just discussed, we will continue to work towards the ceasefire that is so desperately needed. When that ceasefire is achieved and we see a cessation of hostilities, it will be incredibly important that the reconstruction continues. We will need to see UNRWA and other UN agencies, as well as other countries in the region, involved in that process. A number of different partners will need to be engaged in the very important effort of rebuilding, which the UK Government have discussed with many partners.