Family Visas: Income Requirement

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Monday 20th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Grahame Morris]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention; he is absolutely correct. Although I am pleased and delighted that the Government have commissioned a Migration Advisory Committee review, which represents a step forward towards evidence-based policy making, the harm caused in the meantime cannot be ignored. The review is due in June, but in the interim thousands of families are still separated.

The policy disproportionately affects many groups, including, as I have said, women and single parents—often mothers with caring responsibilities, particularly those outside London and the south-east, which is a particular concern. It affects regions where wages are low, such as in Wales and Scotland. In regions such as the north-east, where median annual earnings are £15,000 lower than those in London, many hard-working families simply cannot meet the £29,000 per annum threshold. These regional disparities exacerbate existing inequalities and penalise those who simply do not earn as much. The Migration Observatory’s 2023 research shows that 16% of British men working as employees do not earn enough to sponsor a spouse visa, but for women the figure skyrockets to 35%. That means that over a third of British women are currently ineligible to apply for a spousal visa should they need to do so.

I have permission to share the story of my constituent Lindsay Thompson, who contacted me last year. She has been married to her husband Orlando for six years. He still lives in Jamaica owing to the Home Office policy. He did not meet their son until the little boy was two years old because of the pandemic and travel bans, compounded by their inability to meet the mandatory visa threshold. Lindsay is a dedicated mother. She works tirelessly to provide for her son. She has applied for and secured multiple promotions at work and now only just earns £29,000 a year. She must sustain that income for six months before being eligible to apply for a visa. She lives in constant fear that the Government will raise the threshold even further to the £38,700 proposed by the Conservative party.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for allowing me to intervene. Many of my Slough constituents have contacted me about this very issue. Many families simply want to be together in the UK to get on with their lives. I appreciate what my hon. Friend just said about the Government looking at the £29,000 threshold being looked into by the Migration Advisory Committee. Does he not agree that the hangover from the previous Conservative Government, who wanted to increase the threshold to an exorbitant £38,700 in early 2025, is extremely unfair, especially given that the UK average wage is way beneath that?

[Grahame Morris]

Absolutely. My hon. Friend reinforces previous comments and interventions. He is absolutely correct. That arbitrary threshold is worse for individuals who live in relatively low wage economies such as my constituency and others. Within regions there are areas of low wages, too, as has been highlighted by other hon. Friends.

The emotional toll of the policy on parents and children is immense, with long-term impacts on mental health and wellbeing. We must recognise the policy’s human cost. Families like Lindsay’s deserve better. Everyone has the right to a family life, whether they live in London or Easington in County Durham. It is unacceptable that regional and gender disparities in pay continue to determine whether families can live together. The policy was conceived as a desperate attempt by the previous Conservative Government to reduce immigration. However, experts and campaigners consistently argue that raising the threshold has had a minimal impact on net migration figures. What it does succeed in doing is tearing families apart and inflicting unnecessary suffering.

When the MAC review is published, I urge the Minister to give full weight to the evidence of disproportionate harm caused by this policy, and to consider the voices of campaigners, charities and affected families, who have called for a compassionate approach to immigration policy. I politely remind her that this is a Tory legacy policy that can be reversed if there is the political will, so let us ensure that no family is left behind, and that our policies reflect fairness and respect the right to family life.

Education Provision: South Buckinghamshire

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)]

I am grateful to have secured this debate on this important topic for my constituents, and to the Minister for her attendance. I am also delighted to see the hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) in his place. As constituency neighbours, albeit from different parties, we have come together to work closely on this issue for the good of our constituents. I want to talk about the lack of secondary school educational provision available to my constituents in south Buckinghamshire, particularly in the beautiful village of Burnham and the surrounding area. Burnham is a growing and thriving village that is part of both Buckinghamshire and Slough. It is a unique place, which is why the debate will focus on this topic.

Burnham is a place where families like to settle for its beauty, community and wonderful transport links. It is also place where children must travel long distances, at huge cost to their families, to attend a comprehensive secondary school. Burnham is the only community in Buckinghamshire that lacks a nearby secondary school alongside its grammar school. That situation is becoming increasingly intolerable, and I hope the Minister will join me and the hon. Member for Slough in our joint efforts to bring about change.

Let me start with a short history of the lack of school provision. In 2019, before I became the Member of Parliament for Beaconsfield, the Department for Education closed the Burnham E-Act Academy, a co-educational non-selective school for 11 to 18-year-olds. That followed several changes and challenging Ofsted reports. At one time, the school had served more than 600 pupils. As the school was failing, parents were forced to find alternatives for the sake of their children, and roll numbers began to fall, making the school potentially unviable. Instead of serious efforts being made to turn the school around, it was allowed to fail. That closure was a serious mistake.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate and thank her for her kind words. It was a pleasure to join her recently at Burnham grammar school to meet activists campaigning for a new school. As she has explained, it was a mistake for the Government and Buckinghamshire council in 2019 to close the non-selective, co-educational secondary school. Obviously the numbers must stack up, but does she agree that it is vital to recognise the importance of children receiving good-quality, local school education? Is it not unfair for my Slough constituents and hers to have to travel great distances at great expense, just to get that education? Due consideration should be given to that when determining whether a new school is required in Burnham.

[Joy Morrissey]

The way that the hon. Member and I have been working cross-party is an example of how to move forward past council boundaries. I just point out to the Minister that Burnham is a large town that historically was its own entity, but uniquely is now part of two local authorities. The numbers are often looked at through the lens of one local authority or the other, but we need to combine those two, work together and submit a joint local authority bid to the Department for Education. That is the way to demonstrate the numbers and get the secondary school provision we need.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Joy Morrissey) on securing this important debate. She has been a champion for children in south Buckinghamshire and for every child to secure a school place that allows them to achieve and thrive. This Government recognise how important it is that every child gets a great education at a good school in their area. We work closely with our local authority colleagues to achieve that, including in Buckinghamshire.

Local authorities, including in Buckinghamshire, have a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient school places for children in their area, as the hon. Lady referenced. To support local authorities to deliver on that statutory duty, the Department provides capital funding through the basic need grant for mainstream school places. Funding is based on local authorities’ own pupil forecasts and school capacity data. They also receive the high needs provision capital allocation to invest in places for children and young people with special educational needs or who require alternative provision—the hon. Lady mentioned that specifically and I will come to it shortly.

The Department engages with local authorities on a regular basis to review their plans for creating additional primary and pre-16 secondary school places, and to consider alternatives where necessary. When local authorities experience difficulties, the Department offers support and advice, including through the pupil place planning adviser. I hope the hon. Lady finds it reassuring that all that support is in place.

At local authority level, Buckinghamshire is forecast to have an increasing surplus of primary places, especially in the year of entry—reception—and in key stage 1. There are, however, some areas of primary place pressure, including at Gerrards Cross and the Chalfonts in the south of the county. At secondary phase, Buckinghamshire is forecast to have a small, slightly declining surplus. However, in common with the primary phase, underlying the local authority-wide picture there are variations in place pressure. The academically selective element of secondary education in Buckinghamshire adds an additional element of complexity in place planning, as does cross-border movement into schools in neighbouring local authorities, which the hon. Lady and my hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi) referenced.

Nearly £1.5 billion has been announced to support local authorities to create the mainstream school places needed over the current and next two academic years, up to and including the academic year beginning September 2026. The funding is not ringfenced, subject to the conditions set out in the published grant determination letter, and nor is it time-bound, meaning that local authorities are free to use it to best meet their local priorities. They can use it to fund places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools, and they can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools.

[Mr Dhesi]

We have a hugely increasing population in Slough and south Bucks, as well as a high need for SEND provision. I just want to ascertain whether the Minister and her Department will factor those considerations into their determination over a new school in Burnham, on the boundary of Slough and south Bucks, to ensure that the right decision is reached for a new school.

[Catherine McKinnell]

My hon. Friend raises some important points, both of which are factors that the Buckinghamshire and Slough local authorities, where relevant, will have to take into consideration when determining how to use their allocation.

Buckinghamshire council has been allocated just below £11.3 million to support the provision of the new mainstream school places that it feels it will need over the current and next two academic years, up to and including September 2026. We have also announced £740 million in high needs capital for 2025-26 to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, or who require alternative provision, and we will confirm the specific local authority allocations later in the spring. The important point is that this new funding can be used to adapt classrooms to make them more accessible for children with special educational needs. It can be used to create specialist facilities within mainstream schools that could deliver more intensive support, to adapt them to meet pupils needs, alongside continuing to provide places to support the pupils in special schools with the most complex needs.

Primary School Breakfast Clubs

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Monday 18th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

Children are going hungry inside crumbling schools; that, sadly, is the legacy of 14 years of mismanagement by successive Conservative Governments. When the newly elected Labour Government talk about fixing the foundations, this is where that mission begins: investing in our future, giving our children the best possible start and supporting working people across the United Kingdom. The roll-out of Government funding for breakfast clubs for primary school children is one of the first steps in mending the broken bedrock of our country.

If I may ask, Madam Deputy Speaker, how do you feel when you have not had a decent meal before work? Sluggish? Irritable? Distracted? I can speak only from my own experience—you do not have to answer, Madam Deputy Speaker, as the question is rhetorical. But I am sure other hon. Members will agree that debating, holding advice surgeries and meeting stakeholders are all a challenge on an empty stomach. Why would it be any different for a young child, especially during such an important developmental period? Every day, young children are growing, learning and socialising. Their lives are being shaped, and they are beginning their journey of growing up, preparing to face real-world challenges and taking up the mantle of the next generation. Are rumbling stomachs conducive to that?

Breakfast clubs allow all children, no matter the socioeconomic background they are born into or the familial challenges they face, to have a nutritious, decent meal to energise and fuel them during their busy days of learning. Success at school should not depend on a stable family life. According to the Sutton Trust, 38% of state school teachers have seen growing numbers of pupils coming to school hungry.

[Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that in places like Milton Keynes, where one in four children lives in poverty but fewer than that qualified for the old free school meals programme, having a breakfast club destigmatises the situation and catches those families who are struggling to make ends meet? These families might be working, but they did not qualify under the previous scheme.

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point about the importance of free breakfast clubs in getting rid of the stigma.

One in 10 young people lives in a household classed as food insecure. During the covid pandemic, pupils from families using food banks attained, on average, GCSE grades half a grade lower than their peers. We know that working people are facing some of the toughest economic conditions in decades. The price of essentials has skyrocketed, childcare has become a luxury for many, and many parents feel as though they have been left out in the cold as they continue to do their level best to give their children a better future.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. There is such a crowd in the Chamber because we all agree with him.

Northern Ireland launched the extended schools programme in May 2006. Since then, some £167 million has been given to the most disadvantaged areas to offer a wide range of services, including free breakfast clubs, and it has been successful. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the Government and Parliament must provide greater central funding to ensure that all UK schools can offer free breakfast clubs to give children a good breakfast to boost their energy levels for the day? Quite simply, hungry children do not learn.

[Mr Dhesi]

I fully agree with the hon. Gentleman. He is right both to highlight Northern Ireland and to make the wider point. He is a regular feature of Adjournment debates, and I feel honoured that he has intervened on me.

The Minister and the Government need only see the number of Members in the Chamber at half-past 9, here to speak on behalf of their constituents and underline the importance of universal breakfast clubs. The Institute for Fiscal Studies reports that families whose children use breakfast clubs five days a week during term time save a staggering £760, which is a significant saving for working parents. With the roll-out of funded breakfast clubs, imagine the money that could remain in the pockets of working families in Slough and beyond.

[Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that in a constituency such as Wolverhampton West the provision of breakfast clubs for primary school children targets a number of issues? First, it gives children a nutritious meal so that they do not go to school hungry. Secondly, it allows them to socialise with other children before the school day starts. And thirdly, it enables parents to go to work knowing that their children are well provided for in a safe environment.

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend raises exactly the points I will come to later in my speech—he has spoken very correctly. There are not just financial or moral incentives for free breakfast clubs. In Wales, where universal free breakfast clubs have been rolled out, we have seen the scheme’s educational benefits. The Institute for Fiscal Studies found that attendance at breakfast clubs resulted in improved healthy eating, a reduction in children skipping breakfast and raised attainment for pupils from the age of seven.

[Alex Ballinger (Halesowen) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech about an issue that everyone in the House agrees on. I was lucky enough to visit Manor Way primary school in my constituency, which runs a breakfast club. An issue that the school raised, which has also been raised by the Department for Education, is that children on free school meals are less likely to use breakfast clubs than other children. Does my hon. Friend agree that as we roll out breakfast clubs to 700 schools across the country, we must focus on ensuring pupils on free school meals are able to access breakfast clubs as well as possible?

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. There needs to be a universal roll-out. All pupils should benefit, but the positive impact on those who currently rely on free school meals cannot be overstated.

Positive effects have been passed on to pupils who do not attend breakfast clubs. Their results have improved because of calmer, more focused classroom environments. The improvements to children’s attainment and morale that have been seen in Wales cannot be ignored.

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. He may not know that I was a teacher for almost seven years in north Birmingham. I used to regularly see 11 and 12-year-old kids coming into school having had no breakfast, and with their lunch for the day being a bag of Haribo sweets and a one litre bottle of energy drink. Unsurprisingly, those kids had a disproportionate number of detentions and behavioural incidents, particularly in the afternoons, when they had a sugar crash. Does my hon. Friend agree that far too often the provision of healthy and nutritious food by breakfast clubs can be overlooked?

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend speaks with a great deal of experience. I am sure the Minister and his team will take the contributions made by hon. Members on board because they are setting out how we will make a positive impact on the lives of those in our communities. That is what we were elected to do, drawing on our various diverse experiences, backgrounds and perspectives.

Breakfast clubs provide further potential benefits. As my hon. Friends have highlighted, a proper sit-down breakfast, among peers, not only allows children to access healthy food, but encourages the building of interpersonal relationships and the progression of social skills—key aspects of a child’s development that are often overlooked in an educational setting. Will the Minister assure me that universal breakfast clubs will not only provide a healthy meal for young children, but also facilitate and encourage development of vital social skills?

[Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend is making a fantastic speech. York Hungry Minds is currently carrying out a pilot project examining what happens when schools have breakfast clubs and universal free school meals. Does he agree that we need to look at the outcome of that evidence to determine whether some children also require a free school meal in the middle of the day, as well as at the start of the day, to ensure that there is equity in the outcomes we are seeking?

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend speaks with a great deal of experience. I have seen over the last seven or eight years in the House that she has done a great deal of work to counter poverty and some of the worst problems that our society faces. Everything should be evidence based. It is important that the Government build on that to help our communities further.

[Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab)]

As a biologist and teacher, I believe that linking breakfast clubs with dental hygiene practices will have a significant impact on the long-term health of our children, and indeed of our adult population, and eventually on the NHS and our economy. Does my hon. Friend agree?

[Mr Dhesi]

I fully agree. My hon. Friend also speaks from experience. I can see many teachers present, and people who are a lot more knowledgeable than I am. I thank her for her contribution. I hope that all Members’ contributions will be considered by the Government, because of the far-reaching impact that their suggestions would have.

As the MP for Slough, I have a particular interest in this matter, which is why I applied for the debate, and I am grateful to the House authorities for granting it. A quarter of my constituents are under the age of 15, which is why I say that we are the youth capital of Britain. Sadly, however, 21% of children in Slough live in relative poverty, and 14% live in absolute poverty. Nearly 7,000 are eligible for free school meals, and the roll-out of breakfast clubs will provide thousands of my Slough constituents with a better start in life.

[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

The statistics in Hyndburn are even more shocking, with 38% of children growing up in poverty. Today, statistics from the Social Mobility Commission outlined that one in three children across the UK are growing up in poverty. That is the inheritance that we received, and it is evident from the empty Conservative Benches that not everyone in the House takes the issue seriously. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that the roll-out of the pilot targets communities, such as ours, that have the highest levels of deprivation, where we know it will have the most impact?

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend has been a passionate advocate for her constituents, particularly on these issues. She is 100% right. As I said in my introductory sentences, where are His Majesty’s loyal Opposition? No Conservative Members are present. It is important that those who feel passionately advocate on behalf of their constituents in the Chamber.

[Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for calling the debate, and everybody who has contributed to it. As somebody who grew up in significant financial hardship, I know the importance of receiving a warm meal from a school or club. Will he join me in commending the work of Pokesdown community primary school and the leadership of Alison Bayliss and Chef Russ in providing nutritious meals to the children at Pokesdown? Will he also commend LOVECHURCH Bournemouth for providing a free breakfast to many children in the local community? Will he reflect on the fact that the Opposition Benches are deserted? After 14 years in government, the Conservatives really should put somebody up to explain what they did so wrong.

[Mr Dhesi]

I thank my hon. Friend for his passionate remarks, with which I concur. I commend the great work being done in his constituency. It is important that individuals realise some of the damage that they have done over the last 14 years, which has led to crumbling schools and to children being unable to concentrate in school.

A better chance for children to reach their potential and escape the vicious cycle of poverty can be attained. To ensure that, I ask the Minister when we can expect the roll-out of free breakfast clubs to be fully implemented. Will that require new legislation? If so, what is the timeframe?

[Mr Calvin Bailey (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for ensuring that this important subject is highlighted in the House. In my constituency, schools such as Connaught school for girls ensure that every child receives a free school meal at the start of the day through charities such as Magic Breakfast, which enable up to 200,000 pupils across both in England and Scotland to receive that privilege. However, does he agree that it should not be down to clubs and advocacy groups to ensure that provision, and rather it should be done through policy driven by Government?

[Mr Dhesi]

I thank my hon. Friend and fellow member of the Defence Committee—not only has he been a passionate advocate on defence, but he has advocated for his constituents on numerous matters today. I fully concur with his views. I have attended various Magic Breakfast events and seen some of the great work done by charities; it is wonderful and heartening to see that there are people who care within our community, but it should not be just up to charities. This is an issue affecting everybody within society, and it is great to see a new Labour Government taking leadership on it.

[Ben Coleman (Chelsea and Fulham) (Lab)]

In the Fulham part of my constituency, children in primary schools have enjoyed free breakfasts since 2019. The council initially negotiated that from developers and now it pays for them itself. It has also started providing free school lunches at one of the schools in Fulham. Does my hon. Friend agree that the threshold for children to receive free school meals is currently far too high, and that we ought to be aiming for every child to be given a free breakfast and a free lunch, to avoid the stigma that can damage children’s confidence and impair their performance?

[Mr Dhesi]

It is wonderful to see some of the work happening within my hon. Friend’s constituency. That is another aspect of this debate, because normally his constituency would be associated with being more affluent, but among all of our constituencies there are pockets of serious social deprivation and children going without the meals that are required. I am sure that the Minister will have heard his views and I am hopeful that in due course that is something that the Government may well be able to implement.

Free breakfast clubs are about fighting not only poverty, but obesity. In Slough, shockingly, 26% of children aged 11 to 12 are obese. We also see a higher-than-average prevalence of cardiovascular diseases.

[Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)]

“Tired, hungry and cold.” That is how one headteacher told me a number of her pupils came to school feeling, when I visited a primary school in Torbay last week. I was impressed with how her team was supporting those youngsters, both emotionally and with material support, whether for hunger or for feeling cold. It was very sad that one of the pupils was showing a blanket to others because it was keeping them warm. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the more opportunities we give for youngsters in our schools to get warm meals, the more we can drive positive change for our communities?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Dhesi]

Thank you very much for that clarification, Madam Deputy Speaker. I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention; he is 100% right. I take this moment also to pay tribute to the amazing teachers and staff at schools who go way beyond the call of duty to look after children, and who are faced not only with young hungry children, but sometimes with children who do not even have clean uniforms because, with the cost of living pressures, their families cannot get their school uniforms washed regularly.

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I want to raise the work that our teachers and school staff do to ensure that our children get a hot meal at lunch time—and now, hopefully, in the morning as well. We must ensure that we give our children the best start on a school day, and the roll-out of breakfast clubs will help us to do that.

[Mr Dhesi]

My hon. Friend is 100% right. I hope that teachers and teaching staff will take comfort and solace from the fact that policies are now being implemented to help, rather than hinder, them. They will be able to do their primary duty of educating kids and broadening their horizons, rather than having to worry about feeding and clothing them in an appropriate manner.

Healthy habits start early. What consideration will be given to the nutritional value of meals provided to children? As the Minister will know, ensuring that all children are given a nutritious and healthy meal when they come to school will improve not only attainment, but health outcomes. It is not just children whose lives will be improved via access to breakfast clubs, because indirect economic benefits will also stem from this scheme. Right now, 20% of mothers who have their youngest child in primary school are unemployed, and 35% are in part-time employment. With childcare costs ballooning, greater access to round-the-clock care will mean that parents do not have their careers dictated by the school run. Parents will have more support and independence to find full-time employment.

[Dan Norris (North East Somerset and Hanham) (Lab)]

rose—

[Mr Dhesi]

I will give way to the former Mayor of West of England, no less.

[Dan Norris]

Does my hon. Friend share my dismay that the Opposition Benches are empty, although this is such an important issue for rural communities such as the one I represent, where the geography makes social isolation a big issue? Breakfast clubs are very important in dealing with that isolation, and I am amazed that there are not more, or indeed any, Members on the Opposition Benches.

[Mr Dhesi]

Given his experience from his mayoral role, my hon. Friend will be fully cognisant of some of the issues faced by our rural communities. Yes, it is flabbergasting to see not a single member of His Majesty’s Opposition on those Benches, because they should highlight these issues.

[Ian Roome (North Devon) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate and taking so many good interventions. My constituency is very rural, and schools are already suffering with funding. Does he agree that schools must be given sufficient funding to provide this service, because their budgets are very stretched? We must ensure that this scheme is properly funded—and that rural areas get the funding that is needed, and that it is not all about big urban areas.

[Mr Dhesi]

The hon. Gentleman served as a council leader, and has made an excellent point about funding. How will this provision be effectively funded, to help our schools, and how will we ensure that councils can provide that extra support as and where required? I am sure the Minister will have heard the point that he eloquently made.

Free breakfast clubs do not just alleviate the strain on lower-income families; they also level the playing field for men and women in work. That is just part of this Government’s mission to smash the glass ceiling, as well as the class ceiling. With 381,000 pupils currently using breakfast clubs every day, it is essential to ensure that those who want to access them can do so. What steps are the Government taking to ensure that families are made aware of this important service, as universal breakfast clubs are gradually rolled out?

Universal breakfast clubs will ensure that when our children turn up to school, they are learning and developing, fuelled by healthy, nutritious food. After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Education

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2023 Ministerial Corrections

The following is an extract from the urgent question on Core School Budget Allocations on 17 October 2023.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

This is yet another error and case of incompetence under this Government. The average primary school is expected to be more than £12,000 worse off next academic year and the average secondary school £57,000 worse off than under the July publication. How will the Government help headteachers in Slough and across the country deal with the extra stress and pressure on account of this error, especially when they have to make difficult decisions on staffing and additional support for those pupils who need it?

[Nick Gibb]

The actual allocations to schools happen in December each year in the normal way, so this situation will not affect the figures that local authorities have informed schools they will be receiving. Those are based on the October census of pupil numbers and the application of the local formula. We then fund the local authorities on the basis of the national funding. The record funding of £59.6 billion equates to an average of £5,300 per primary school pupil and £6,830 per secondary school pupil.

[Official Report, 17 October 2023, Vol. 738, c. 174.]

Letter of correction from the Minister for Schools, the right hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Nick Gibb):

An error has been identified in my response to the hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi). The correct response should have been:

Core School Budget Allocations

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Nick Gibb]

I say first to the hon. Member that no funding is being reduced in Harrow. All areas will be receiving significant increases in school funding. The error is about the allocation figures—the notional figures—for 2024-25, and those have been corrected. On special educational needs, we have increased special educational needs funding significantly over the past several years, because of the pressures that local authorities are facing with increased numbers of EHCPs. We are taking a number of measures to help address that, and I will of course ensure that the hon. Member has his meeting in the Department as soon as possible.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

This is yet another error and case of incompetence under this Government. The average primary school is expected to be more than £12,000 worse off next academic year and the average secondary school £57,000 worse off than under the July publication. How will the Government help headteachers in Slough and across the country deal with the extra stress and pressure on account of this error, especially when they have to make difficult decisions on staffing and additional support for those pupils who need it?

[Nick Gibb]

The actual allocations to schools happen in December each year in the normal way, so this situation will not affect the figures that local authorities have informed schools they will be receiving. Those are based on the October census of pupil numbers and the application of the local formula. We then fund the local authorities on the basis of the national funding. The record funding of £59.6 billion equates to an average of £5,300 per primary school pupil and £6,830 per secondary school pupil.

Oral Answers to Questions

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Monday 12th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Kate Osborne (Jarrow) (Lab)]

10. What steps her Department is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

17. What steps her Department is taking to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers.

[The Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb)]

The school workforce census published last week shows that the number of teachers has increased by a further 2,800 this year. There are now more than 468,000 teachers in the state system in England. We have invested £181 million in recruitment this year, including training bursaries and scholarships worth up to £29,000, and we are delivering £30,000 starting salaries, reforming teacher training, delivering half a million training opportunities and working with the sector to address teacher workload and wellbeing.

[Nick Gibb]

In terms of teachers’ pay, we are waiting for the Government’s response. We have received and are looking at the School Teachers Review Body’s recommendations now, and we will respond in the normal way and on the normal timing. In terms of workload, we set up three important workload working groups, and over the years that has resulted in the working hours of teachers coming down by five hours a week, and we have pledged to do more to reduce that further.

[Mr Dhesi]

There were 44,000 leavers from the teaching profession last year. That is 9.7% of the total workforce, and the leaver rate is the highest it has been since 2018. The Government have missed their secondary teacher recruitment targets every year for the past 10 years bar one. All that is yet more evidence of how the incompetent Conservative Government have created the recruitment and retention crisis among teachers, and schools in Slough and across our country are lamenting the detrimental impact on our children’s education. Minister, what are the Government doing to urgently fix the recruitment and retention crisis?

[Nick Gibb]

If the hon. Member looks at the tables attached to the school workforce census, he will see that we have returned to pre-pandemic levels of recruitment. If he looks over a period of years, he will see that the number of teachers coming into state-funded schools and the number leaving are broadly similar.

SEND and Alternative Provision

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Monday 6th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Claire Coutinho]

My hon. Friend is passionate about this area. She is absolutely right, and I have heard from parents in my area and across the country that it is the daily grind of poor communication that can wear them down. We will set out more guidance and training for SEN caseworkers in councils, and better communication standards, to stop that happening to parents.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

The Children and Families Act 2014 set out national standards in legislation, but families, parents and guardians of children with special educational needs and disabilities in Slough regularly lament that they feel completely let down because even those legislative safeguards have failed to provide support for children and young people. After so many years of failures, why does the Minister think that announcing new standards and a plan with no legislative underpinning will deliver better outcomes?

[Claire Coutinho]

A combination of plans within the strategy will support that. We have seen an increase in need and better awareness of different conditions, so the national standards will bring together the best evidence so that people’s needs are met consistently and at a high quality across the country. On accountability, we have improved the area inspection framework by recognising that we need to bring in not just education and councils but health partners.

Education

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2023 Ministerial Corrections

[Gillian Keegan]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question. In 2019, we launched the Government’s first ever integrated strategy to recruit and retain more teachers in schools, which had a number of different strands in it, including supporting teachers on the way in, recruiting more, and various routes into teaching. Of course, we have an independent pay review body and this year, for academic year 2022-23, we accepted all its recommendations in full.

Inflation

The following is an extract from Education Questions on 16 January 2023.

[Mr Dhesi]

In addition to having grave concerns about recruiting and retaining teachers, schools in Slough and across our country continue to struggle with their budgets, with a quarter of primary school senior leaders reporting that they have had to cut outings and trips due to budgetary constraints. How will the Government ensure that children do not miss out on these vital opportunities?

[Gillian Keegan]

The autumn statement announced significant additional investment in core schools funding. The core schools budget will increase by £2 billion in 2023-24 and 2024-25. That will be paid into schools’ bank accounts in April, and I am sure they will welcome that additional funding.

[Official Report, 16 January 2023, Vol. 726, c. 16.]

Letter of correction from the Secretary of State for Education:

An error has been identified in my response to the hon. Member for Slough (Mr Dhesi).

The correct response should have been:

Oral Answers to Questions

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Monday 16th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Nick Gibb]

We are spending £1.6 billion a year on free school meals for children. We want to make sure that that funding is targeted at the most needy. That is precisely what is happening. We accept the point, and I agree with the hon. Lady that it is important that free school meals are provided to children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who cannot afford meals at lunchtime—and we are doing that. As I said, we have increased the number of children eligible for benefit-related free school meals from 1.7 million to 1.9 million pupils.

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

16. What recent assessment her Department has made of the impact of inflation on (a) school budgets and (b) the costs to parents associated with the school day.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Gillian Keegan)]

Schools, like families and businesses across the world, are facing global inflationary pressures. The Prime Minister has pledged to halve inflation, and school funding will increase by £2 billion next year as well as the year after that. This will be the highest real-terms spending on schools in history, totalling £58.8 billion by 2024-25. In 2010, school funding stood at £35 billion, so we will be delivering a 68% increase in cash terms. The Government have also announced further support for parents worth £26 billion next year.

[Mr Dhesi]

In addition to having grave concerns about recruiting and retaining teachers, schools in Slough and across our country continue to struggle with their budgets, with a quarter of primary school senior leaders reporting that they have had to cut outings and trips due to budgetary constraints. How will the Government ensure that children do not miss out on these vital opportunities?

[Gillian Keegan]

The autumn statement announced significant additional investment in core schools funding. The core schools budget will increase by £2 billion in 2023-24 and 2024-25. That will be paid into schools’ bank accounts in April, and I am sure they will welcome that additional funding.

Childcare: Affordability and Availability

Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi Excerpts

Tuesday 20th December 2022 Westminster Hall

[Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the affordability and availability of childcare.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie. I am eternally grateful to have secured—to have been granted—this debate so that we can address the important issue of childcare affordability and availability, because the simple reality is that this Government are seriously failing children, parents and businesses through the chronic lack of affordable and high-quality childcare in our country. My Slough constituents are far from impressed. Indeed, the reason why I put in for the debate was to express their anger and to try to express to the Chamber just how frustrated many individuals, not just in my constituency but across our country, are. As far as I can tell, Ministers have little interest in doing something substantial and radical to rectify this. However, the Government’s usual lack of effort and ambition, as frustrating as it is, does not mean that we should not at least try to persuade them that they need to up their game.

We know that the first 1,001 days of a child’s life are integral to their development, and evidence shows that improvements in children’s outcomes in both the long and the short term are strongly associated with the quality of their early childhood education and care. The Local Government Association has told me that by the time disadvantaged young people, in particular, sit their GCSEs at the age of 16, they are about 18 months behind their peers, and about 40% of that gap has emerged by the age of five. It is therefore crucial that we provide the best possible environment in which to bring up children.

[Sir Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

I welcome the case that my hon. Friend is making, and congratulate him on securing the debate. Has he seen the report published today by the Select Committee on Work and Pensions on support for childcare costs in universal credit? It highlights two big problems. One is that people claiming universal credit have to pay the up-front costs of the first month’s childcare; they have to pay the first month’s childcare costs themselves and are reimbursed later. For some people, finding such a large sum of money is simply not possible. Secondly, the cap on monthly childcare support is the same as it was in 2005; it has not been uprated, so it nowhere near covers the costs of full-time childcare support.

[Mr Dhesi]

I am extremely grateful to my right hon. Friend the Chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, not only for that impressive intervention but for his tireless, persistent work in this area to try to shine a light on the injustices. I sincerely hope that the Minister and the Government will look closely at the findings in the Select Committee report and take action accordingly.

Since this Government came to power in 2010, parents of children under the age of two have had to deal with a 60% increase in the cost of a part-time nursery place. Average earnings have grown at only half that rate over the same period, putting ever greater pressure on already squeezed family budgets. As one Mumsnet user wrote:

“When we started using nursery 9 years ago it was £45 a day. Now the same nursery we use for our…3 year old is £90. He gets 30 hours free in January but they…will also be putting fees up then. Honestly when he goes to school we will have £1,000 extra”

to pay

“a month. It’s more than our mortgage.”

That is not an isolated case. A joint survey by Mumsnet and Pregnant Then Screwed found that close to two thirds of parents are spending on childcare as much as, or even more than they spend on their rent or mortgage. Shockingly, one in four parents is cutting down on food, heating or clothing in order to afford sky-high childcare costs.

What are parents doing in response? Increasingly, they are being forced to take themselves out of the labour market. Under this Conservative Government, a day’s pay is not worthwhile for a parent needing childcare.

Sadly, women are often hit hardest by the Government’s failed childcare system. Only three in 10 mothers with a child aged one work full time, and three in 10 mothers with a child under 14 say they have reduced their working hours for childcare reasons. The Office for National Statistics found that the number of women who are not in work in order to look after family has risen by 3% in the past year alone. That is the first sustained increase in at least 30 years, reversing decades of reduction. Women who are reducing their hours, forgoing promotions or even leaving work altogether due to unaffordable childcare suffer lasting financial consequences, and that widens the gender pay and pensions gaps.

This is also a huge issue for business. At a time when so many vacancies are going unfilled, this motherhood penalty equates to 43,000 women dropping out of the workforce in the last year alone. It is no wonder that even the Confederation of British Industry is calling for reform, highlighting that childcare costs in the UK are now some of the highest in the OECD and that our economy is suffering from losing £28 billion of economic output every year, because women are being forced to choose between their careers and their children. We could add a whopping £57 billion to our GDP simply by increasing female participation in the workforce—something that greater childcare provision would help achieve.

On this Government’s watch, the childcare system is failing families, women, businesses and our economy. I would therefore think that addressing it was a priority, especially given how formative these early years are for our children, so why are the Government not taking decisive action to fix this mess? They tried to convince us that they were by announcing the 15 and 30-hour free childcare entitlement, alongside their commitment to the tax-free childcare scheme. As with so many other Conservative policies over the past 12 years, even this small stepping stone towards improving the accessibility of childcare has failed to deliver the bare minimum. As I pointed out last month in the Chamber, the Government, not satisfied with hammering parents, women, businesses and the economy, have set their sights on making it too expensive for childcare providers to operate by consistently underfunding the 15 and 30-hour entitlement by more than £2 an hour, thus forcing providers to use their own resources to plug the gap and further driving up the cost of childcare. Meanwhile, Ministers have spent a whopping £2.37 billion less than they allocated for their flagship tax-free childcare scheme in the past four years alone.

Rather than ensuring we have even more childcare providers to meet the significant demand for childcare across our country, the Government have created an environment in which 4,000 childcare providers closed between March 2021 and 2022—that is 4,000 providers in just one year. We have childcare costs rising twice as fast as wages and businesses struggling to fill vacancies while women who want to work cannot because of childcare. Despite the demand, thousands of childcare providers are closing while the Government underfund the sector. That is this Government’s record.

As a country, we can and must do much better. The Government must recognise that families need support from the end of parental leave right through to the end of primary school. While more investment is needed, surely as a minimum the Government should stick to their original commitments. I ask the Minister to commit to investing in the childcare system the more than £2 billion her party has pledged. During this cost of living crisis, families are already struggling, so when will the Minister step in to ensure that parents are not forced to sacrifice a meal or a night of heating over the winter months to pay for their child’s care? Maybe the Government would be in a better position if they had developed a long-term plan. With five Education Secretaries this year alone, the Minister is probably just happy to get through the year without any more chaos. However, families across our country should not be made to suffer because of the Government’s continued incompetence.

Parents need the introduction of universal primary breakfast clubs for every primary-aged child in England, which I look forward to hearing more about, I hope, from the shadow Minister. That would help disadvantaged pupils, in particular, to access additional support from staff and friends, allowing them to catch up on learning. Where is the Government’s commitment to that? Instead of cutting hundreds of Sure Start centres, the Government should be investing in local children’s centres and helping parents with young families in some of the most disadvantaged areas in our country to get them the best possible start in life. Why aren’t they?

[Dr Lisa Cameron (East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow) (SNP)]

The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech. This is a vital debate to have in the Chamber at this time. Does he agree that for very young children, nursery might be the first place where teachers can pick up on special needs and then help to refer them for autism diagnoses? People often wait far too long to receive that diagnosis. I refer hon. Members to my entry in the register, but I was shocked to hear that training placements for educational psychologists may be being funded to a lesser degree in the future, and that some educational psychologists are actually having to fund their own placements. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is vital that the Government address some of those concerns on the part of the profession, and that they also ensure that children with autism and special needs have the support that they need at the earliest stage in their childcare?

[Mr Dhesi]

I thank the hon. Member. She has made some excellent points, no doubt based on her experience. Indeed, we know that those early years are incredibly important for the child, but also for teachers, or those in authority, to pick up on certain issues, whether it is a child being on the spectrum, or other special educational needs. That issue comes up again and again in my constituency, so I am incredibly grateful to her for that intervention.

Given that so many childcare providers have been forced to close on this Government’s watch, is it too much for my constituents, and parents across the country, to expect that there will be childcare places locally? I do not think so. What are the Government doing to not just halt but reverse the decline in the availability of childcare?

As we can see, the current picture of childcare in England is far from ideal, and it does not seem as if this Conservative Government are willing to take any meaningful steps to change that. Instead, in the face of all those issues, they are happy to sit on the billions of pounds that they have pledged to the sector, while hoping that no one notices. Well, hard-working families across our country are noticing the impact and deserve better. If the Government really want to build a better future for Britain, they must start by looking after those very people who are Britain’s future.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Dhesi]

I thank the Minister for the various facts and figures on the amounts that the Government are pledging. Will she commit to reinvesting the £2 billion that her party has already pledged into the childcare system?

[Claire Coutinho]

I am not entirely familiar with that figure. Perhaps we can discuss it after the debate and I can come back to him with a fuller answer. As I have said, over the last five years, we have spent £20 billion on early years. Not only are we supporting the sector with the money that I have set out today but we are also supporting it with energy support. I know from talking to lots of people in the industry that one of the things they are worried about is energy bills. We have set out significant relief over the winter to help with that issue.

Funding increases are taking place across England. In the constituency of the hon. Member for Slough, I am glad to say that the hourly funding rate for two-year-olds will increase by 62p to £6.87 an hour, and the rate for three and four-year-olds will increase by 6p to £6.27. We have also already announced an additional £10 million for maintained nursery schools supplementary funding from 2023-24. We are introducing a minimum and maximum hourly rate that a local authority can receive for their maintained nursery schools supplementary funding, to create a fairer distribution of that funding. The minimum rate will be set at £3.80 in 2023-24. Slough is one of the local authorities that will benefit from this new minimum hourly rate.

As well as increasing our support to providers, we also want families to benefit from the childcare support they are entitled to, saving them money and helping to give their children the best start in life. We know that childcare is a key concern for parents and recognise that cost of living pressures are impacting families across the country, which is why we are committed to improving and refining the offers that we have in place. We have also put many direct cost of living measures in place, from furlough to energy support relief, and direct family household support this year as well.

One of our key areas of support is the 30 hours free childcare entitlement, a Conservative commitment introduced in 2017, which has helped hundreds of thousands of working parents get back into the labour market, with nearly 350,000 children registered for a place this year. The entitlement saves those families up to £6,000 per child per year. That offer of 30 hours of free childcare is making a real difference to the lives of eligible working families. In our 2021 childcare and early years survey of parents we found that 73% of parents reported having more money to spend since they used their 30 hours and 38% thought that without the 30 hours they would be working fewer hours.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Dhesi]

Thank you, Mr Hosie, for your expert chairing of today’s debate. I thank all the Members who have participated for their excellent interventions. I particularly want to thank the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds), especially given his knowledge and expertise of the area as a former elected councillor and cabinet member for children’s services and, like me, as a parent. He highlighted the various technical issues that need to be addressed.

I thank the Minister for her promises to parents, and also the shadow Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), for the first-class work that she is doing to hold the Government to account and for highlighting the increased importance of the role that grandparents and family members play as they try to plug the gap to help parents, and in particular for helping to delineate the problems of the recruitment of nursery staff.

We have heard in today’s debate how important affordable and high quality childcare is, and about the difficulty that families face today in accessing childcare and all the consequences that follow on from that to children, parents and businesses. Fixing the problems with childcare provision should be far more of a priority for the Government than it appears to be, so I look forward to seeing what the Minister implements to support families in the coming year.

This is the last day of the school term for many, just as it is for parliamentarians here today, so I want to put on the record my thanks to all nursery nurses, daycare centre staff, breakfast club providers, teachers and everyone else in the childcare sector for the really important work that they do for our children.

Finally, as this is the last Westminster Hall debate of 2022, I want to put on record my thanks to all the staff of the House who support these important debates. I wish all the staff of the House and everyone here a very merry Christmas. I look forward to seeing everyone in the new year.

[Stewart Hosie (in the Chair)]

Merry Christmas, everybody.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the affordability and availability of childcare.