"My Lords, the Government deserve credit for developing a strategy to tackle child poverty, but does the Minister accept that there has to be a partnership between parents and the state? The state can carry out its responsibilities in tackling poverty, but parents must ensure that their children attend school …..." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, the House will have been surprised by recent reports about the number of children who start school and are not fully toilet trained and have very poor command of language. Does that not illustrate how we must invest more in parental skills to help people who are not …..." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister will agree that this transition from school to employment is a critical stage in the life of every young person. Could she assure the House that all steps have been taken to ensure that the link between services for children and adult services is reinforced so …..." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, does the Minister agree that the mastery and development of language, spoken and written, needs to begin very early and be sustained through the early years? Children will not get that from a tablet. What they need is interaction with adults in order to develop learning skills—listening to …..." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, the Minister will agree that, after the 1948 Education Act was introduced, there was an unspoken contract between the state and parents that the state would provide education for every child and that parents, on the other hand, had an obligation to get their child to school every …..." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, I hope I am right in thinking that the whole House is in support of what the Minister is trying to achieve, so well done. Can she extend this just a little further and help carers feel that they are recognised and listened to? Some of the points …..." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the problems is that the need is often not identified until the person is heading for discharge from hospital, whereas if it was foreseen at a much earlier stage and there was proper co-ordinated planning between health and social care, a …..." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, in the preparation of this report, could the opportunity be taken to pay a very warm and well-deserved tribute to carers for what they do? As a society, we should always indicate how indebted we are to the people who care for other people with very special needs...." Lord Laming - View Speech
"My Lords, at the outset, I once again emphasise how greatly the committee was helped by hearing from children with a disability and their parents. They very generously helped us to have an insight and to understand something of their experiences. That was so valuable.
"Does the Minister recall the Public Services Committee’s report on the transition of young people with a disability from education into adult services? The evidence showed that there was a remarkable divergence. In some parts of the country, local authorities demonstrated quite inspiring work in getting young people with disabilities …..." Lord Laming - View Speech