Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Olivia Bailey

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Olivia Bailey]

Alongside updating the standards, we also want to support schools to implement them. That is why, alongside developing new governance and compliance proposals, it is right that we give schools the time they need to prepare and embed the new standards, including phasing some changes in secondary schools. The consultation on our proposals closed just over a week ago and we will consider all responses carefully.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

I recently visited Ralph Allen school in my constituency and saw how students were leading the way in improving the standard of their food. They have created a vegetable bed in an empty space, and are now offering vegan and vegetarian choices. How will the Department support schools in pupil-led improvements to their food?

[Olivia Bailey]

I thank the hon. Lady for that really important question and I am really glad to hear of the fantastic example in her constituency. It is really important that our approach to food is embedded right the way across the school curriculum, whether that is children planting their own vegetables in schools or designing their own menus. That is why, as part of our consultation, we have been listening to young people’s voices. Young people will continue to be at the forefront of our new school menus.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Wera Hobhouse and Olivia Bailey

Monday 2nd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Olivia Bailey]

I thank my hon. Friend for her important campaigning work in this area and for her important question. I am happy to give her that assurance, and I would be delighted to meet her to discuss this matter in more detail.

[Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)]

I was a secondary school teacher before I came to this place, and even 10 years ago, although the school guidance was that mobile phones should not be in classrooms, enforcing that was a daily struggle. The presence of mobile phones undermines what schools are trying to do, causing distraction, potentially enabling cyber-bullying and exposing students to potentially harmful online content. We have been through all this. Sometimes it is important that guidance is supported by law, so will the Government turn the existing guidance into law and ban phones in schools?

[Olivia Bailey]

In the consultation we have announced today, we are consulting on whether a statutory ban is needed, but the action that we have taken addresses the root cause of the problem: the clarity of mobile phone policies and how well they are enforced. The vast majority of schools have a ban in place, but they are just not sufficiently effective. That is what we are working to address.