Financial Education

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Thursday 6th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for securing the debate and for his valuable work on the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people.

One of my first jobs was working in advice services. Time and time again, people came to us for help after they had stacked up debt. Many people had the same story. It started out with not having a household budget and having to borrow on credit cards or through payday loans on astronomical rates of interest, and eventually they became caught in a spiral of debt and bad decision making. I would like to thank the wonderful staff and volunteers at the Citizens Advice service in my constituency, who do fantastic work trying to help people to get back on their feet after problems with debt. Work by BRANCAB —Bedworth, Rugby and Nuneaton Citizens Advice—and North Warwickshire Citizens Advice demonstrates that debt has changed for people in my constituency. Instead of loans and credit cards, the components of debt have moved, worryingly, to basic housing and utility costs. Before covid, financial capability was at the heart of what BRANCAB did and it won a national award for its work, until a lack of funding put an end to it.

My area has the fifth highest rate of insolvencies per 10,000 adults in the country, and 18 to 24-year-olds account for 12% of all insolvencies. This is why financial education is so crucial. Becoming insolvent before the age of 24 will have untold effects on their financial stability for years to come and we need to stop more young people falling into that hole. I support the recommendations of the Education Committee to review the content of the maths curriculum to expand the provision and relevance of financial education. That sentiment is shared by teachers at Polesworth school in my constituency. I support the work done by people such as Rob Boland, who runs Cotswold Independent Financial Services and works with the Personal Finance Society, which carries out important educational work around budgeting and tax, and staying safe from scams.

It is staggering that I have people coming to my surgery who have well-paid jobs but had no idea when they went to university about the impact of the debt they were signing up to with their student loan, or even what the interest rate meant. We must also recognise that our young people face new challenges. Social media has fuelled a get-rich-quick mindset, with influencers encouraging young people to try to make money quickly through risky schemes. That is exacerbated by the cost of living crisis. Perhaps if Liz Truss had spent a bit more time in financial education classes when she was at her grammar school in Leeds she would not have plunged the country into economic disaster. Too often we forget that our young people were hit hard by the crisis and are still suffering from financial insecurity.

I met sixth-form students at Nicholas Chamberlaine school in Bedworth recently. They talked to me about how much more difficult it was to find work at the weekends or in the evenings, and how they had never received any kind of education or help around personal finances. I am pleased that the Government have commissioned an expert-led curriculum and assessment review to ensure that young people leave school ready for work and ready for life. That, I know, is welcomed by local businesses in my constituency. It is time that we demystified everyday finances, so that everyone can be equipped with the skills they need for everyday life and do not have to turn to an advice service for help.

Home-to-School Transport: Children with SEND

Rachel Taylor Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to continue to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for securing this important debate. We must consider the reliability of transport for SEND pupils. I had casework at the beginning of term involving parents waiting for transport to turn up that never came. Teachers did not know what was happening, and the parents could not get hold of the helpline because it was closed. During those first few days, it is crucial for students to feel settled in. It is great to see other colleagues from my county of Warwickshire here; I am sure that they also experienced those problems in September.

My constituency is semi-rural. It is made up of towns and villages, and it can take an hour to drive across it. It is difficult for county councils in constituencies such as mine, where pupils are often closer to schools outside the county. Different parts of my constituency border Leicestershire, Staffordshire, Birmingham, Coventry and Solihull. The problem is that the county council may allocate not the school that is nearest to pupils in terms of travel time, but the school that is nearest in Warwickshire. That means that parents have to argue with and challenge the council if they want their children to go to a school that is suitable for their needs and nearer to travel to. Furthermore, the student must be in school year 11 or below, plunging many teenagers and their families into uncertainty.

I commend my hon. Friend for raising this important issue. I remain committed to making sure that pupils in my North Warwickshire and Bedworth constituency have the travel they need to get to the school that they want to go to.

[Sir Mark Hendrick (in the Chair)]

I thank all Back Benchers for being very good with their timekeeping. We now move to the Front-Bench speakers.