Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and Jayne Kirkham

Thursday 26th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

9. What assessment the Commission has made of the potential merits of prioritising schools that are furthest from Westminster for education visits to Parliament.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)]

Given my hon. Friend’s journey time from Cornwall, I can understand why she asks that question. The Commission recently endorsed recommendations from our participation team to improve the school visit booking process and the use of our travel subsidy. Schools from her area will have extra time to apply. We want to encourage greater participation from schools furthest away from Westminster by increasing capacity through our education service.

[Jayne Kirkham]

I am so pleased that schools furthest from Westminster are going to be prioritised and given time to apply for parliamentary trips. It takes at least six hours to get here from Cornish schools, which means they have to take a number of days in London. That is why their visits are rare and often in the summer term, when they interfere less with formal exams. Could my hon. Friend confirm that children from remote and deprived areas will be helped to surmount the barriers they face in getting here?

[Nick Smith]

The new booking process, which will be launched in September, will ensure that regions are allocated visit opportunities to ensure that no region accesses more than its fair share. Consideration has been given to the circumstances of band C schools—those furthest from Westminster—which have a clear preference for summer-term access due to the long distances they must travel. The education team will weight band C visit opportunities to favour the summer term, so that the booking opportunities best meet those schools’ needs.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Nick Smith and Jayne Kirkham

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

5. What recent progress the client board has made on consulting hon. Members on the restoration and renewal programme.

[Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)]

The restoration and renewal programme has engaged extensively with Members of both Houses. In this House, in the last two years alone there have been about 500 interactions with MPs—for example, through briefings, engagement stands, tours and events. Given the turnover of MPs at the general election, in January one of our Deputy Speakers, the hon. Member for Bradford South (Judith Cummins), wrote to Members to encourage further one-to-one meetings.

[Jayne Kirkham]

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. As a new Member, I was very lucky to have a restoration and renewal tour. My question was more about how many MPs and Lords, since the change in Government, have been able to have a look round and have some information about the plans going ahead, and is there any idea of the timeframe?

[Nick Smith]

So far there have been about 150 interactions with MPs in this Parliament, including 85 with new Members elected in 2024. Information about the three restoration and renewal options are expected to be published later this year, allowing Members to decide on the preferred way forward. We want to help Members understand the proposals prior to this important decision point. As the programme moves into the next phase and we get closer to the start of the main works, we must ramp up these interactions so that Members are informed as best as possible.