Education and Opportunity

Nusrat Ghani Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I can tell the hon. Gentleman that I welcomed the opportunity to meet my opposite number in Scotland recently, and I want to find areas on which we can reach agreement constructively and collaboratively. As for his specific question, I am afraid I cannot give him that commitment, but I want to ensure that all young people have the chance to travel, learn and study.

The hope that I want for our young people comes from the opportunity that this Government will deliver. As Members know, opportunity is a journey that lasts a lifetime, and the first steps are in early years education, because the barriers to opportunity appear early in a child’s life. We will bring about a sea change in our early years system, beginning right now.

I am fully committed to rolling out the childcare entitlements promised to parents, but I need to be frank with the House: the challenges are considerable, and the last Government did not have a proper plan. The irresponsibility that we inherited was shocking. I acted immediately to get to grips with the task at hand, but I must be honest: the disparities across the country are severe, which means that some parents will, sadly, miss out on their first-choice place. They and their children deserve better, and I am determined to get this right. We will create 3,000 nurseries in primary schools to better connect early years with our wider education system. By the time we are done, we will have thriving children, strong families, and parents who are able to work the hours they want.

The foundations for a love of learning are laid early, in primary school, but child poverty puts up barriers at every turn. It is a scar on our society. The need to eradicate child poverty is why I came into politics, and it is why the Prime Minister has appointed me and the Work and Pensions Secretary to jointly lead the new child poverty taskforce. Together, we will set out an ambitious child poverty strategy, and I will introduce free breakfast clubs in every primary school. They are about more than just breakfast; they are important for driving up standards, improving behaviour, increasing attendance and boosting achievement.

What children are taught once they are in the classroom matters, too. We must start early with maths, and inspire a love of numbers in our youngest learners, and this Government are committed to fully evidence-based early language interventions in primary schools, so that all children can find their voice.

I want high and rising standards across all our schools and for all our children, but I mean that in the broadest and most ambitious of terms. We should be growing a love of learning, and encouraging children to explore the world around them, to be bold, to dream and to discover their power. Our curriculum must reflect that. That is why I have announced the Government’s expert-led review of the curriculum and assessment at all key stages, in order to support our children and young people, so that they succeed tomorrow and thrive today. By working with teachers, parents and employers, we will deliver a framework for learning that is innovative, inclusive, supportive and challenging, that drives up standards in our schools, and ensures that every child has access to a broad and rich curriculum.

However, any curriculum is only as strong as the teachers who teach it. Today, those teachers are leaving the classroom, not in dribs and drabs but in their droves—and too often, opportunity follows them out the door. I am working tirelessly to turn that around. We will back our teachers and support staff, and we will partner with the profession to ensure that workloads are manageable. We have already begun recruiting 6,500 more expert teachers. Together, we will restore teaching as the career of choice for our very best graduates, and we will invest in our schools and services by ending the tax breaks that private schools enjoy.

Accountability is vital and non-negotiable, but Ofsted must change, and change it will. Our reform will start with ending one-word judgments. We will bring in a new report card system. That is part of our plan to support schools and challenge them when needed in order to deliver high and rising standards for every child.

I have spoken to colleagues from across the House about their concerns about how the system is failing learners with special educational needs and disabilities. I share those concerns; the system is broken. I am delighted to see on the Government Benches my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), with whom I worked so closely on this issue in opposition, and who shares entirely my focus and concern. All families want the best for their children, but parents of children with special educational needs often face a slow struggle to get the right support. They are bogged down by bureaucracy and an adversarial system, and entangled by complexity. It is not good enough, and we will work relentlessly to put that right. We are committed to taking a community-wide approach in which we improve inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensure that special schools cater to those with the most complex needs. I have already restructured my Department to start delivering on this commitment. There can be no goal more important and more urgent than extending opportunities to our most vulnerable children, which also means reforming children’s social care.

Young people and adults deserve high-quality routes to building the skills that they need to seize opportunity, and businesses need staff with the skills to help them grow. Those are two sides of the same coin, and the key to our future prosperity and growth. We need a skills system fit for the future, but we have a fragmented system that frustrates businesses, lets down learners and grinds growth into the ground. It is time for a comprehensive strategy, and for our country to take skills seriously, so this week, alongside the Prime Minister, I announced Skills England, a new body that will unify the fractured landscape. It will bring together central Government, combined authorities, businesses, training providers, unions and experts. Businesses have told us that they need more flexibility to deliver the training that works for them, so we will introduce a new growth and skills levy to replace the failing apprenticeship levy.

Post-16 education is all about giving learners the power to make choices that are right for them. For many, that choice will be university, and I am immensely proud of our world-leading universities. They are shining lights of learning, but their future has been left in darkness for too long. This must and will change. There will be no more talking down our country’s strongest exports. Under this Government, universities will be valued as a public good, not treated as a political battleground. We will move decisively to establish certainty and sustainability, securing our universities as engines of growth, excellence and opportunity.

This Government will break the link between background and success. We will create opportunities for children and learners to succeed. We will give them the freedom to chase their ambitions, and the freedom to hope. This Labour Government are returning hope to our country after 14 long years, and there can be no greater work than building a country where background is no barrier to opportunity. That work of change has already begun.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Ghani)]

I call the shadow Secretary of State.

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[Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)]

May I start by congratulating you, Madam Deputy Speaker, on your election, and say what a great pleasure it is to see you in your place? I also congratulate the Secretary of State on her appointment. I know how deep her commitment is to increasing opportunity and adjusting disadvantage for children across our country.

Education from the early years through school and on to further and higher education is arguably the most important tool in the Government’s box for addressing disadvantage. I am therefore delighted to see that breaking down the barriers to opportunity at every stage is one of the core missions of this Labour Government.

Labour has always recognised the importance of education as a route to addressing poverty, disadvantage and inequality, as well as to driving economic growth. It is at the heart of what we believe in and at the heart of what we have always delivered in government—from comprehensive schools to the Open University, from Sure Start to the London Challenge for school improvement.

This new Labour Government will continue in that proud tradition of delivering for our children and young people with free breakfast clubs in every primary school; new nursery places across the country; open access mental health support in schools and communities; more teachers in our schools; a new fit-for-purpose curriculum; a further education sector to deliver the skills that young people need to thrive and our economy needs to grow; and new support to protect young people from serious violence.

I wish to highlight today, as we discuss the commitment of this new Government and also the mess that they have inherited after 14 years of Conservative cuts to children's services, some of the issues that are most pressing in my constituency. Services are now really stretched to the limit as they seek to support children, young people and their families.

The first issue is the funding crisis facing maintained nursery schools, which often provide a gold standard of early years education. Some 64 % of them are located in areas with the greatest deprivation. I have two in my constituency: Effra nursery school and children’s centre and Dulwich Wood nursery school. They are constituted as schools, and therefore have the additional expertise—and also the additional costs—of fully qualified headteachers and teaching staff. The number of maintained nurseries has already dropped dramatically and only 400 now remain, many of which face severe financial difficulties. I therefore urge the Government to bring forward measures in the Budget to ensure that the depth of knowledge, expertise and quality in our maintained nursery schools is not lost, and that they are put on a sustainable financial footing.

The second issue is special educational needs and disabilities support. I am grateful to the Secretary of State for mentioning the work that I did in this regard when we were in opposition. In the context of the decimation of local authority funding since 2010 and with increasing presentation of additional needs across the country, local councils and schools are simply buckling under the pressure of resources that they do not have and needs that they cannot meet, while families are suffering the consequences.

At a recent visit to an outstanding school in my constituency, the headteacher broke down as she described the conflict of seeking to be an inclusive school with the reality of simply not having the funding that she needed to deliver for children with additional needs. Increasingly, local authorities are being driven to the edge of financial viability by the costs of SEND support and SEND transport. I really welcome this Government’s focus on the inclusivity of mainstream schools, but they will need to work very closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure that there is a sustainable approach to funding SEND support, which schools cannot deliver in isolation.

Thirdly, the outcomes for care-experienced people after 14 years of Conservative Government are utterly disgraceful. The system is so broken that frequently the state takes the decision to remove a child from their family because they are not considered to be safe, and places them in an environment in which they are even less safe and secure. Care-experienced people are so over-represented in both the criminal justice system and the homeless population because they are being so badly failed. If the Government are serious about tackling these challenges, they must turn their attention to delivering better support and better outcomes for care-experienced people.

One way that this situation could be turned around is through the development of a new care experience covenant, placed on a statutory footing, requiring every part of the public sector to take the responsibilities of corporate parenting seriously, supported by a national care leaver offer. I wonder whether the Minister is able to make any commitments in that regard today.

Finally, the Conservative Government changed the schools funding formula to remove the disadvantage weighting. That had the effect of proactively funnelling funding away from schools in constituencies such as mine with high levels of deprivation to more affluent areas of the country, and my local schools are really feeling the impact as they seek to provide an excellent education for every child.

Will the Minister give an undertaking to look at the schools funding formula, to ensure both that schools in the most disadvantaged areas of the country have the resources they need to deliver for every child, and that the formula itself is no longer pitting different areas of the country against each other, but represents a genuine levelling up of the resources for our schools?

I know that this Government will transform the life chances of children and young people across our country and make sure that no child is left behind. I look forward to seeing further plans come to fruition, as children, young people and their life chances are once again placed where they should be—at the centre of our national life.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Ghani)]

As we have many maiden speeches to enjoy and Back-Bench contributions, may I ask those on the Front Bench to keep their speeches short? I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

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[Susan Murray]

Apologies. Given what my hon. Friend is talking about, it is important to note that applying VAT to independent schools will have a significant effect on their affordability for parents who make that choice. In my Mid Dunbartonshire constituency, not all parents will be able to afford the extra 20% per child. We hear about the pressure that the state is already under. Does she agree that there will be significant additional costs to the state in Scotland, as well as in England and Wales—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Ghani)]

Order.

[Munira Wilson]

I thank my hon. Friend for her important intervention. She pre-empts what I was about to say about the issue of VAT on private school fees and the pressures that it will create for some families and schools.

I have set out a range of targeted measures that I think would help tackle the disadvantage gap. They were part of an ambitious package that the Liberal Democrats put forward at the election to ensure that our education system enables every child to thrive and that the local state school is the school of choice for every family in this country. But as liberals, we champion choice, and it is important that parents can choose the best and most appropriate option for their children. Importantly, and fundamentally, we believe in the principle that education—whether we are talking about private schools, music tuition, private tutoring or childcare—should not be taxed, so we oppose the Labour Government’s policy to introduce VAT on independent school fees.

I do not think the policy will do much at all to boost our state schools. In fact, it risks reducing the brilliant partnership work—the sharing of staff time and facilities, for example—that we see between so many private schools and their local state schools. I have seen that vividly, with Hampton school and Lady Eleanor Holles school in my constituency working with the Reach academy in Feltham, in a very deprived area. They have really helped to boost the life chances of many of those children in Feltham, including by helping with coaching for university and medical school interviews.

[Munira Wilson]

I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I hear repeatedly that there are areas across the country where schools are full and parents are wondering where on earth they will be able to send their children to school. It is simply not true that it is just the ultra-wealthy who send their kids to private school. I am particularly concerned about those parents who, for whatever reason, feel that the local state school is not best suited to their child’s needs. That particularly applies to the 100,000 children in the independent sector with special educational needs who do not qualify for an education, health and care plan and will not be exempted under the Government’s proposed policy.

I have heard too often from parents, on the doorstep and in my inbox, “I really want to send my child to the local state school, and we tried it, but it just couldn’t meet my child’s needs, so we are now making all sorts of sacrifices to send them to a much smaller, more pastoral independent school, where they have been transformed.” It is those families, who will be penalised under this policy, that I am particularly worried about. The vast majority of independent schools are small, with fewer than 400 pupils, and a number will struggle to survive as parents are priced out, putting pressure on state schools, as we have heard.

Today’s debate is focused on education and opportunity. As Liberal Democrats, we recognise that education is the ultimate creator of opportunity and empowers every person to build a better future for themselves and contribute to our economy and society, yet our young people have been let down for far too long. I desperately hope that, with a new Government, that will change, and I look forward to working constructively with them wherever possible on meaningful action to ensure that it does.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Ghani)]

We come to our first maiden speech this afternoon—I call Darren Paffey.

[Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I begin by congratulating you and wishing you well as you take the Chair? I also congratulate my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on her new position. People in my constituency—parents, teachers, pupils and professionals alike—will be heartened by the vision she set out for how this Labour Government will build opportunity once again.

As I stand here as a new MP—I have to keep saying it to believe it—I want to thank the people of Southampton Itchen for the incredible privilege that they have given me. In fact, this feels like a moment heavy with lots of privileges. One is the privilege to be in the Chamber as many of my colleagues make their maiden speeches, and I congratulate them in advance on the excellent speeches we are going to hear this afternoon. Another privilege is to be one of only three Darrens ever elected to this place. Since the summoning of the first Parliament over 750 years ago, there had been no MPs called Darren, but, like buses, three of us have turned up in the last few years.

The biggest privilege of all is to make my very first speech as the Member of Parliament for Southampton Itchen in this debate about education and opportunity, because, like my right hon. Friend, that is my story. As a former university lecturer married to a secondary school teacher, with children in secondary school, primary school and preschool, I feel like I have some skin in this game. None of the privileges that I feel at the moment is anyone’s birthright; they are privileges for which I and many other people—my team and activists—have worked very hard, so I do not take them for granted.

In addition to being part of the small crack squad of Darrens, I find myself in an equally small cohort of only a few MPs known to have grown up in foster care and to have been adopted. The public services that we are talking about today, and that this Government will rebuild, are the services that made me who I am—the NHS staff, the social workers and the inspiring teachers.

When I was made cabinet member for children’s services in Southampton, it felt like life had come full circle, and it really did so again just a few weeks ago during the campaign when Peter, who was the social worker for the first 10 years of my life, got in touch to wish me well. It was excellent to hear that he is a lifelong Labour supporter. As a cabinet member, I worked to get better support for our care-experienced young people, because too many do not get the start they deserve or the help they need, and we must do more to fight for them. I look forward to working with, among others, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), who has done excellent work on the need to review social care. I know that he will continue to be a great champion for care-experienced children.

In the Gracious Speech, His Majesty set out the Labour Government’s mission to

“break down barriers to opportunity”

and to “promote children’s wellbeing”. The Secretary of State has said:

“I will help working-class children defy the odds to succeed—just as I did.”

As someone who grew up as a working-class foster kid, I will do everything I can to back that mission, especially for my constituents. If I achieve just one thing as an MP—obviously, I intend to work hard and achieve more than that—I hope it will be to say to those whose backgrounds look anything like mine, “Let those challenging times and that stigma that often comes with social care never ever hold you back, but instead forge in yourself a steely determination to achieve your fullest potential.” I would not be here without some measure of that. I certainly would not be here without my wonderful wife, children and siblings, who have supported and often tolerated my journey to Parliament, or my parents, who are no longer with us to share this moment, but whom I thank for the values they instilled in me and the opportunities they provided me with in life.

I pay tribute to my predecessor, Royston Smith. Before he was an MP, Royston was the Conservative leader of Southampton city council, and it was as council leader that he visited HMS Astute when it was in port. A dreadful and fatal gun attack broke out, and Royston showed enormous bravery by tackling and disarming the gunman, preventing further bloodshed. For this, he was rightly awarded the George Medal by Her late Majesty. Royston fought in Parliament for those constituents affected by the cladding scandal over the years, and I hope to carry on his important work. Party politics aside, I was touched to receive a gracious letter from him, congratulating me and offering some wise words of advice. I think that that is a measure of the man.

There is another accolade for Royston, as he was only the second Conservative to beat Labour in Southampton Itchen since the wars. He succeeded the right hon. John Denham, my Labour predecessor, who served our city for 23 years and attained high office in Cabinet. John has been a role model, mentor and friend to me.

Turning to my wonderful constituency, it sits on the near-tropical south coast of England. The River Itchen, which gives my constituency its name, has shaped our landscape and communities since the establishment of Saxon Hamwic and Roman Clausentum. We are a port city and the cruise capital of northern Europe, but we are also a bustling hub of culture, commerce, and maritime heritage. From the medieval Bargate and city walls to the groundbreaking Ocean Infinity, Starling bank, and the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton is a place where history and innovation walk hand in hand. We are an outward-looking city; we are the gateway to the world, as we have often been called. The pilgrim fathers sailed from Southampton, as did our brave D-day troops. Spitfires and military ships were manufactured on the shores of the Itchen in Woolston.

We have two world-leading and civic-focused universities, and marine and green tech enterprises abound. Southampton is a place where public servants and labourers, stevedores and students, entrepreneurs and artists all contribute to the rich mosaic of daily life. Our people are resilient, diverse, welcoming and warm. Our city faces challenges, like many others, including health inequalities, and child poverty levels are far too high. Many compare us demographically to a large northern seat, but one that happens to be in the south. We are also a microcosm of the country’s broader ambitions and a beacon of the potential still to be unleashed. Indeed, our vision is to be a city of opportunity.

We are a premier league football city, after a short interlude in the championship, and I congratulate the team on winning promotion in May. When the Saints went marching in to Wembley to win the play-offs, I was proud to be in that number watching their victory. Commiserations to any Leeds fans in the Chamber. It was fantastic to see the Leader of the Opposition, a fellow Saints fan, also in that number, cheering on a victory for the red team—something that keeps happening this year.

In closing, I return to my starting point. It is a phenomenal privilege to be here. Many see this Chamber from the outside and think of combative Punch and Judy politics, but as I join these Benches, I look over at the plaque remembering our colleague Jo Cox and recall her words that

“we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us.”—[Official Report, 3 June 2015; Vol. 596, c. 675.]

To every constituent, whether they voted for me or not, Jo’s inspiring words are the spirit in which I intend to work hard for them, together with colleagues across the House, for as long as I enjoy the privilege to serve.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Ghani)]

As a former maritime Minister, I visited tropical Southampton Itchen very often. I call Sarah Dyke.

--- Later in debate ---

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Ghani)]

I call Aphra Brandreth to make her maiden speech.