Oral Answers to Questions

John Lamont Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

3. If she will take steps to stop the use of smartphones in schools.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

7. If she will take steps to stop the use of smartphones in schools.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Stephen Morgan)]

Mobile phones have no place in our schools. Government guidance is clear that schools should prohibit the use of devices with smart technology throughout the school day. If pupils fail to follow those rules, schools have the power to confiscate devices to ensure that classrooms are free from disruption.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephen Morgan]

I will take no lectures from the Conservatives on this issue. When they were in government, they exclaimed that the same guidance meant a consistent approach across schools. I have to ask: if they were wrong then, are they wrong now?

[John Lamont]

Mobile phones in classrooms are linked to disruptive and violent behaviour. Does the Minister agree that mobile phones should be banned in all schools so that children are focused on their education, not glued to Instagram and TikTok?

[Stephen Morgan]

I repeat my earlier answer: legislation is not necessary, because schools already have the power to ban phones in schools, and the majority have chosen to do so.

--- Later in debate ---

[Catherine McKinnell]

We are investing significantly to make mainstream schools more inclusive for SEND students. By strengthening our evidence of effective inclusive practice, we are equipping teachers with proven tools and strategies to deliver excellent inclusive education supported by expert teaching and a world-class curriculum. We will set out more details in our White Paper in the autumn.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

T4. Scottish education was once the envy of the world, but under the SNP it is being destroyed. Data shows that a quarter of 11-year-olds in Scotland are not achieving expected literacy levels. Does the Minister agree that the SNP needs to drop its weird obsessions and get back to the basics of sorting out Scotland’s education?

[Bridget Phillipson]

It is only through delivering a Labour Government in Scotland next year that we will get the change that the hon. Gentleman is seeking. I agree that Scottish education used to be the envy of the world—I spent many a long day speaking to my grandfather about his experience of the Scottish system—but it is only with a Labour Government in Scotland that we will once again see the focus on standards that our disadvantaged young people badly need.