"I am grateful to the hon. Member for securing this important debate. Sadly, York falls below Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire in the tables, and ours is the lowest-funded authority under the new fair funding formula, although we have high levels of deprivation. Does the hon. Member agree that when we are …..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech
"Thank you for chairing the debate, Mr Western. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Woking (Mr Forster) for representing his constituents so well in this debate, and in particular, given the horror story that he shared, I express my condolences to Sara’s family.
"Today’s announcement is life-changing for many of my constituents, and this is why we elect Labour Governments. I want to ask the Minister about residents in leasehold complexes, where decisions are often delayed because of absent landlords and Airbnb owners. Will he ensure that when decisions are being made about …..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech
"While pubs may have a large lobby, we know that independents power our local economy. I have looked through the spreadsheets showing the business rates for our independent businesses after the relief has been applied. Businesses in my city will see an increase of up to 93% in their business …..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech
"York is a difficult place in which to trade, and with two thirds of businesses being independents, many will not get the relief the Minister has announced today. I sent through a paper with a spreadsheet of every business in the business improvement district showing that this just is not …..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech
"When the data is segmented, there is a strong correlation between NHS waiting lists and the number of claimants of personal independence payments, so what steps is the Minister taking to ensure that those people who are unable to work because they are on an NHS waiting list are having …..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech
"I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. Will she go back to the Department and ask people there to engross themselves in the evidence, which overwhelmingly shows the importance of integrating play with learning, and to ensure that we take an evidence-based approach to policy making?..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Barker. I congratulate the Petitions Committee on focusing on such an important debate, the 216 of my constituents who made the case through the petition, and the teachers and support staff who have very much brought this to my …..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech
"I completely agree with the hon. Member. She made the point so powerfully, not least because of her own experience.
It is really important that we embed play as a fundamental principle in the curriculum. For far too long, play has been seen as a process of reward or enrichment, …..." Rachael Maskell - View Speech