Oral Answers to Questions

Miriam Cates Excerpts

Wednesday 25th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote social mobility throughout the UK.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote social mobility throughout the UK.

[Christian Wakeford (Bury South) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to promote social mobility throughout the UK.

--- Later in debate ---

[Elizabeth Truss]

I strongly agree with my right hon. Friend. White British children who receive free school meals perform worse at GCSE than equivalent black and Asian children. We need to ensure that children from all backgrounds are succeeding in modern Britain, and that is going to be a major focus for the Equality Department, working with the Department for Education.

[Miriam Cates]

Social mobility should not mean having to leave your community to go in search of opportunity: we need to spread opportunities across our towns and villages, including those in my constituency. The digital revolution should provide an opportunity to make this more achievable, but sadly, many adults, even in my constituency, do not have the digital work skills needed to take advantage of this. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the digital skills boot camps being established across the country, alongside the fantastic work of civil society organisations such as the Good Things Foundation in Sheffield, are vital to opening up the jobs of the future to people in all communities?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We know that digital skills are vital in the modern economy. We also know that this is a huge opportunity for us to level up our country. We know that take-up is particularly low among girls in areas such as computing, and that is why the digital skills boot camps are vital. They are being rolled out across the country in spring 2021 to ensure that everybody has the skills they need to succeed.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Member is right to call attention to the difficulties many people are facing because of the EWS1 form, and I sympathise very much with them. Mortgage companies should realise that they are not necessary for buildings of under 18 metres; it is absolutely vital that they understand that while we get on with the work of removing cladding from all the buildings we can, and that is what this Government are continuing to do.

[Miriam Cates (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Con)]

  If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 25 November. I welcome the plans for a green industrial revolution, particularly the commitments to public transport. Delivering sustainable rural bus services has always been a challenge, but in my constituency South Pennine Community Transport is trialling a new low-cost, low-carbon bus service that we believe could be a model for transformed rural bus services across the UK. So will my right hon. Friend meet me and South Pennine director, Kevin Carr, to discuss this model and look at how some of the Government’s £5 billion commitment to buses can be used to transform rural services?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend asks an excellent question, and we are developing a national bus strategy that will look at the needs and how to get more people to use our buses. In addition to championing green zero-carbon or low-carbon buses, we are providing £20 million for a rural mobility fund to support demand in rural areas.