"I thank my friend the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella) for securing this incredibly important and long-overdue debate, and for being such a strong voice for those excluded from covid-19 financial support.
The gaps in covid-19 financial support all-party parliamentary group, which I chair, currently has 77 cross- party …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech
That this House has considered the impact of Science and Discovery Centres on national science and technology priorities.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I am pleased to have secured this debate and look forward to contributions from hon. Members representing …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech
"I am in full agreement. As the hon. Member will see, one of my key asks is that we look at the funding for SDCs moving forward.
As a teacher, nothing matters more to me than ensuring that people have access to opportunity. As a drama teacher, STEM was never …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech
"It is lovely to hear that my hon. Friend is just as passionate about the SDC in her patch as I am about the one in mine...." Steve Witherden - View Speech
"I have a confession to make: after CAT, Xplore!, in my hon. Friend’s constituency, is my second favourite SDC—I have visited it many times. I am in full agreement with him, as the House would expect.
Through their role as trusted anchor institutions with strong civic ties to schools, teachers, industry and research partners, SDCs have an important role to play in a number of areas. The UK faces a serious STEM skills shortage. Nearly half of engineering and …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech
"Yes, I do. I do not think that DCMS and DFE should be completely absent from the equation, but I agree that DSIT should lead.
What meaningful action does the Minister intend to take to address the funding and infrastructure challenges currently faced by science centres? Will he respond to …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech
"I am glad that the hon. Gentleman made that intervention. I am an MP from a devolved nation, too. There are few of us here, and it is fundamentally important that we recognise that this is a four-nation issue. It is complicated by the fact that education is devolved, which …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech
"I thank all the speakers in today’s debate. There were some lovely speeches. I was interested to hear the hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) speak about his work on tsetse flies in New Zealand, which emphasises the global contribution that our science centres make. I was extremely relieved to …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech
"This month marks 12 months since I first called on the Government to raise the APR threshold. I strongly welcome their decision to do so, and thank NFU Cymru and the Farmers’ Union of Wales for their tireless campaigning. Can the Minister assure me that the Government will continue to …..." Steve Witherden - View Speech