Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Monday 19th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

That was a bit of stretch, I must admit. I do not know whether the Minister wants to stretch herself or not.

[Georgia Gould]

I cannot believe that you were not at university when social media existed—you look young enough to have been around—and I am amazed that you are able to concentrate in this Chamber. In all seriousness, we take the safety of young people incredibly seriously, which is why we are implementing the Online Safety Act 2023. We want to ensure that the opportunities of the internet are available to young people, but that they are kept safe online.

[Mr Speaker]

I gently say to the Minister that “you” refers to me. I certainly do not want to be held responsible.

[Georgia Gould]

You look young enough to use social media, Mr Speaker!

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

I absolutely agree that all children should get to choose their GCSEs. I also agree about the importance of pushing forward with qualifications that support Ukrainian children, which is why my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has written to exam boards asking them to consider this.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

That was another good way of crowbarring something in, but I call the Minister.

[Georgia Gould]

We absolutely support the development of a British Sign Language GCSE. As I have said, we also support the development of a Ukrainian GCSE. We are taking this up with exam boards, and we will continue to do so.

[Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) (LD)]

Does the Minister agree with me that any Ukrainian GCSE should also include teaching on the importance of national sovereignty and the international rules-based order? If so, does she agree that Donald Trump should be the first to sit that GCSE, so that in relation to Greenland, he can learn to keep his hands off a country that is not his?

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

I will make sure that that oversight is corrected as soon as possible—although, I am not sure that my hon. Friend has actually invited me to Harlow yet, but I know the Prime Minister has been. My hon. Friend has written to me with stories of parents fighting the system—I have heard many like them—completely exhausted and often having to give up their jobs in order to fight for support for their children. It is just not good enough. We recognise that support needs to be available much earlier, we are investing in it, and that is the basis of the reforms that we will be bringing forward.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

This is about the wellbeing of children and young people, and it is critical that we get it right. It is therefore important that we consider the consultation responses and evidence carefully alongside the view of stakeholders and the Cass review, in order to get the guidance right for young people.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Monday 1st December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Georgia Gould]

We have strict rules about political impartiality within our education system and we are clear about those rules. All schools should apply them.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

We are absolutely committed to the education of children in their local communities, and I have seen the difference that the £740 million we have put into specialist places has made: children can now be educated in resource bases linked to schools. In relation to the two schools that the hon. Gentleman mentioned, as the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), said earlier, we hope to provide those answers as soon as possible.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

I am really grateful for the work of that school. I set out today the further investment we are putting into schools, including into special educational needs. We are focusing our funding on all schools, but particularly on supporting schools in the most deprived areas.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Monday 20th October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Georgia Gould]

I have visited bespoke resource centres. I was recently in a resource centre in Southwark that provides that kind of brilliant provision. The £740 million we have set out is exactly to provide more specialist places that allow children to get the right support they need, often within mainstream schools and within their local communities.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

Would the Conservatives support cutting breakfast clubs? Would they support reducing the expansion of free school meals? Would they sack teachers? Those are some of the things being invested in because we made that decision. We are determined to provide support for children with special educational needs wherever they need it. We want children to be able to go to their local schools, but we will support them with their needs.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Chair of the Education Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for School Standards (Georgia Gould)]

That sounds idyllic, and I hope I can follow the Secretary of State on a visit to that beautiful school. Improving connection to nature helps to address key priorities in the opportunity mission, and we are supporting the University of Oxford’s assessment of the impact of nature-based programmes in secondary schools.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Thursday 24th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Georgia Gould]

The two issues are completely linked. To use the opportunities of AI, which are enormous, to personalise services and target prevention, we need to have a clear data picture. We need to be able to bring data together across different levels of Government. There is a huge amount of data in Government, but some of it is stuck in legacy systems and not shared properly. This is the absolute bedrock of the opportunity around AI, so it is something we are very committed to, especially working with local government.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Georgia Gould]

We have strengthened the ministerial code, but we do not need to take any advice from the Conservatives. What we have seen from this Prime Minister is decisive action to uphold ministerial standards. Compare that with the record of the previous Government where the shadow Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Member for Witham (Priti Patel), was found guilty of bullying but was allowed to keep her post; where the Government whipped their MPs to block the suspension of former Minister Owen Paterson, who broke lobbying rules; and where the former Prime Minister Boris Johnson lied about being told of allegations of sexual misconduct by his Deputy Chief Whip.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Georgia Gould]

I welcomed the conversation last week with my hon. Friend, who talked me through the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises to growth in Truro and Falmouth. A lot of small businesses I have spoken to say the same thing: it can be too complex and slow to bid for Government contracts, sometimes those contracts come out too late and sometimes they cannot get on the playing field. We have listened very carefully to what my hon. Friend and others have to say on these issues, and we will bring forward an NPPS that delivers for SMEs.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Georgia Gould)]

I welcome the recent conversation with my hon. Friend on this important matter. The Government’s industrial strategy outlines the importance of manufacturing in the defence industry to economic growth and national security. The new national procurement policy statement will put growth at the heart of procurement and will align to our industrial strategy.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Thursday 5th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Georgia Gould]

Through our procurement regime, we are determined to support small businesses, which are often locally rooted. We will continue to do that, while taking account of our trade obligations.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Mr Richard Holden (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

I am delighted to meet the Minister across the Dispatch Box. I have also been meeting many SMEs in the aftermath of the Budget. The impact of the Government’s decision to raise national insurance on many indirect providers of public services, such as GPs and hospices, appears not to have been fully factored into the Government’s workings at the time of the Budget. Now that the Government have had over a month to do the figures, what will be the impact of the national insurance job tax on the cost of public procurement, to the nearest, say, £1 billion?

[Georgia Gould]

I welcome the hon. Member to their place and look forward to meeting them across the Dispatch Box. Unfortunately, the last Government left this country in a terrible place, with public services in crisis. I was previously a council leader, and every single day I saw the absolute strain on our public services. People were waiting up to 12 hours for ambulances, which sometimes did not turn up. We have had to take action to invest in our public services in order to deliver growth. Through our procurement regime, we are already taking action to support SMEs, to ensure that money is not lost and to ensure that suppliers are paid quickly. I will set out more to the House in February—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We have to get through the list. Give me a chance to get through it—we are only on question 6.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Georgia Gould)]

My hon. Friend is right to raise that point. Earlier this week, the Chancellor announced the appointment of Tom Hayhoe as the covid counter-fraud commissioner. The new commissioner will leave no stone unturned to investigate the unacceptable waste and fraud during the pandemic and to make sure that we learn lessons for the future.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Georgia Gould

Thursday 25th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)]

T2. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our high streets and communities, and they create local wealth and opportunities across Luton South and South Bedfordshire. They play a vital role in providing social value by distributing growth locally, meeting environmental targets and developing social wellbeing. Does the Minister agree that it is essential to put social value at the heart of the Government’s growth agenda?

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Georgia Gould)]

Growth is a central mission of the Government. We want to use all the levers available to us, including procurement, to support good growth, jobs and local communities.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.