Opposition day on Tuesday, 7 June 2022, in the House of Commons, led by Bridget Phillipson and Stephen Morgan. The answering members were Robin Walker and Will Quince.

Children’s Education Recovery and Childcare Costs

First Opposition Day debate on a motion, That this House notes it is a year since the resignation of the Education Recovery Commissioner Sir Kevan Collins; condemns the Government’s continued failure in that time to deliver an ambitious plan for children’s recovery, including supporting their mental health and wellbeing; is concerned that the inadequate attention being paid to childcare, both for the youngest children and around the school day, is allowing the attainment gap to widen and costs to soar for parents at a time when there is significant pressure on household finances; and calls on the Government to match Labour’s ambitious plan for children’s recovery, including measures to keep childcare costs down for parents while the cost of living crisis continues. Closure motion agreed to. Main question agreed to.

Secondary information

Type: Parliamentary proceeding
Reference: 715 cc726-779
Session: 2022-23
Department: Department for Education
Procedure: Closure motions
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions: Will Quince | 715 cc777-8 (Link to this contribution)
Of course that is an important point, but let us not forget that this is the Government who intro...; Mike Kane | 715 c740 (Link to this contribution)
Are you Nick Gibb in disguise?; Catherine McKinnell | 715 c739 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister reels off a lot of statistics, but the most important factor he has acknowledged is ...; Catherine McKinnell | 715 cc760-1 (Link to this contribution)
When we look at which developed countries have the highest cost of childcare, the UK always comes...; Baroness Winterton of Doncaster | 715 c729 (Link to this contribution)
I must inform the House that the amendment has not been selected. I call the shadow Secretary of ...; Baroness Winterton of Doncaster | 715 c735 (Link to this contribution)
I suggest a limit of about eight minutes for Back Benchers, so that we can give everybody equal t...; Baroness Winterton of Doncaster | 715 c746 (Link to this contribution)
Order. Both Front-Bench speakers have been incredibly generous in taking interventions. Some of t...; Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 715 cc764-5 (Link to this contribution)
I hope Members will now confine themselves to about six minutes. I am quite sure you can all do t...; Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 715 c771 (Link to this contribution)
I call shadow Minister Stephen Morgan.
6.35 pm; Margaret Greenwood | 715 cc769-771 (Link to this contribution)
Children have suffered throughout the pandemic in so many ways. Many have lost loved ones, and al...; Jonathan Gullis | 715 c730 (Link to this contribution)
I’ll tell you later.; Jonathan Gullis | 715 cc749-751 (Link to this contribution)
I warmly thank the teachers, teaching assistants and support staff of schools across the entirety...; Paul Holmes | 715 c731 (Link to this contribution)
I remind the House that, if we had followed the Leader of the Opposition’s advice, children would...; Paul Holmes | 715 c737 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister for outlining the measures that the Government are taking. When I was a spec...; Munira Wilson | 715 c755 (Link to this contribution)
We have heard lots of Members saying how important children are, and I think we genuinely feel th...; Jacob Young | 715 c755 (Link to this contribution)
Will the hon. Lady look to her left and tell us how many Lib Dem MPs are in the Chamber with her ...; Munira Wilson | 715 cc755-8 (Link to this contribution)
If the hon. Gentleman is good at maths, perhaps he could work out that one out of 13 is a far hig...; Tulip Siddiq | 715 c734 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend has mentioned the IFS a few times. Is she aware that IFS research last month found...; Justin Tomlinson | 715 cc753-5 (Link to this contribution)
It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. We all have a calling as MPs, and I was driven to get i...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 cc729-730 (Link to this contribution)
I beg to move,
That this House notes it is a year since the resignation of the Education Re...; Clive Efford | 715 c730 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree that the lack of funding for education under this Conservative Governme...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 c730 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is completely right. We have seen year-on-year, real-terms funding cuts per pupil ...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 cc730-1 (Link to this contribution)
That is very generous of the hon. Gentleman—very generous indeed. I am sure we will all be waitin...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 c731 (Link to this contribution)
I must pick up the hon. Gentleman on his first point, which, I am afraid, is simply not right. It...; Siobhain McDonagh | 715 c731 (Link to this contribution)
If my hon. Friend would like to find a way to find the £500 million needed on catch-up for childr...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 c731 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend raises an important point, not least because, throughout the pandemic, we saw vast...; Emma Hardy | 715 c731 (Link to this contribution)
Perhaps another pot of money for the Government to look at is how every pound spent in Her Majest...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 c732 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right to highlight that, as with all these things, it is a question of politica...; Edward Timpson | 715 c732 (Link to this contribution)
I will take the hon. Lady back to the closure of schools during lockdown. We now know that that h...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 c732 (Link to this contribution)
I have a great deal of respect for the hon. Gentleman and I appreciate the expertise that he brin...; Catherine West | 715 c732 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. She mentioned school meals. Does she agree that it ...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 cc733-4 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is incredibly important that all our children receiv...; Kim Johnson | 715 c734 (Link to this contribution)
Does my hon. Friend agree that the best way to tackle inequalities is to invest in early years? I...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 c734 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is exactly right. The last Labour Government transformed early years—we put it fir...; Bridget Phillipson | 715 cc734-6 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend has consistently campaigned on issues around childcare over many years and I am gr...; Robin Walker | 715 c735 (Link to this contribution)
I join the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South (Bridget Phillipson) in wishing all the ...; Catherine West | 715 c735 (Link to this contribution)
Of the £5 billion, what proportion will be swallowed up by the inflation in costs of energy for s...; Robin Walker | 715 c737 (Link to this contribution)
The answer is none, because the £5 billion for recovery is on top of the additional funding that ...; Emma Hardy | 715 c737 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister give way?; Robin Walker | 715 c737 (Link to this contribution)
I will in a moment.
More than half a million courses have been started by pupils across Eng...; Emma Hardy | 715 c737 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister, who is always very generous. If he is looking for something that actually w...; Robin Walker | 715 c737 (Link to this contribution)
We believe that oracy is very important as part of an overall strategy supporting literacy, langu...; Robin Walker | 715 c738 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is right. It may have been during his time in the Department that it ceased to foc...; Matt Rodda | 715 c738 (Link to this contribution)
Will the Minister give way?; Robin Walker | 715 c738 (Link to this contribution)
I will, but then I must make a bit of progress.; Matt Rodda | 715 c738 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister is being very generous with his time.
The hon. Member for Eastleigh (Paul Holm...; Robin Walker | 715 cc738-9 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman has raised an important issue. Our reforms of the funding formula to ensure th...; Robin Walker | 715 c739 (Link to this contribution)
Of course the hon. Lady is right in saying that we have to grow the economy and drive up prosperi...; 715 c739 (Link to this contribution); Robin Walker | 715 c739 (Link to this contribution)
I want to come on to the attainment gap, which has been mentioned, but I will give way one more t...; Stella Creasy | 715 cc739-740 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister for giving way. The point that my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon ...; Robin Walker | 715 c740 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Lady makes a fair point. We do want to see better take-up of the offers coming in, and t...; Robin Walker | 715 cc740-1 (Link to this contribution)
It is great to hear an Opposition Member paying tribute to my predecessor.
In 2018 we launc...; Edward Timpson | 715 c741 (Link to this contribution)
Another Government initiative that helps academic performance, as well as the physical, mental an...; Robin Walker | 715 c741 (Link to this contribution)
My hon. Friend is extremely experienced in this space, and he is a great champion for physical ed...; Tahir Ali | 715 c741 (Link to this contribution)
Nearly 45% of children in my Birmingham, Hall Green constituency live in relative poverty—more th...; Robin Walker | 715 cc741-2 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Gentleman raises some important points in what I might describe as an expanded intervent...; Munira Wilson | 715 c742 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Robin Walker | 715 c742 (Link to this contribution)
I will take the hon. Lady’s intervention in a moment, if I may finish this point first. As I was ...; Emma Hardy | 715 c742 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Robin Walker | 715 c742 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Lady mentioned the important work of the Education Endowment Foundation, and she is righ...; Munira Wilson | 715 c742 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the Minister for giving way. He talks about helping the most disadvantaged and about the ...; Robin Walker | 715 c742 (Link to this contribution)
Pupil premium funding rates are increasing this year by 2.7%. They are reaching the highest level...; Emma Hardy | 715 c742 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Robin Walker | 715 cc742-4 (Link to this contribution)
I have a lot to say, so I am going to make a bit of progress now. I have taken an intervention fr...; Matt Rodda | 715 c744 (Link to this contribution)
I am grateful to the Minister for his time. In a very difficult incident in my constituency, a yo...; Robin Walker | 715 cc744-5 (Link to this contribution)
I am happy to do that, and if it would be helpful, I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman to...; Stella Creasy | 715 c745 (Link to this contribution)
rose—; Robin Walker | 715 c745 (Link to this contribution)
I give way to the hon. Lady one more time.; Stella Creasy | 715 c745 (Link to this contribution)
Many parents listening to the debate might have a simple question for the Minister: what does he ...; Robin Walker | 715 cc745-6 (Link to this contribution)
The hon. Lady raises an important point. As the parent of a nine-month-old, I definitely recognis...; Stella Creasy | 715 cc746-9 (Link to this contribution)
I am delighted that we are having this debate today, because, frankly, it is long overdue. Indeed...; Siobhain McDonagh | 715 cc751-3 (Link to this contribution)
Both you and I know, Madam Deputy Speaker, that academies were the policy milestone of a Labour G...; David Simmonds | 715 cc758-760 (Link to this contribution)
It is important, when debating this issue, to avoid the risk we often run in this House of gettin...; Mark Logan | 715 cc761-2 (Link to this contribution)
You will be glad to know, Madam Deputy Speaker, that I intend to keep my remarks short.
Let...; Matt Rodda | 715 cc762-4 (Link to this contribution)
It is an absolute pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bolton North East (Mark Logan). That was...; 715 c764 (Link to this contribution); Yasmin Qureshi | 715 cc765-6 (Link to this contribution)
Every day, tens of thousands of working parents across the country are being failed by inadequate...; Emma Hardy | 715 cc766-8 (Link to this contribution)
I join in wishing Brannagh a happy birthday—I hope she has a lovely day.
I wish to start by...; Catherine West | 715 cc768-9 (Link to this contribution)
The title of today’s debate is “Children’s education recovery”, but it should actually be “The ec...; Stephen Morgan | 715 cc771-4 (Link to this contribution)
As children return from half-term to continue with exams and the cost of living crisis spirals, t...; Will Quince | 715 cc774-5 (Link to this contribution)
I welcome the opportunity to respond on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government and I thank the many h...; Catherine McKinnell | 715 c775 (Link to this contribution)
May I make a suggestion to the Minister? There is a significant lack of uptake of so-called tax-f...; Will Quince | 715 cc775-6 (Link to this contribution)
I may not agree on that particular point, but where I do agree with the hon. Lady is that the tak...; Stella Creasy | 715 c776 (Link to this contribution)
Obviously, “Frozen II” has many lessons that we all need to follow, but one is not just to “Let I...; Will Quince | 715 c776 (Link to this contribution)
I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention, and I will come on in just one moment to exactly the ...; Catherine West | 715 c776 (Link to this contribution)
The Minister is very generous in taking interventions. Could I press him on the point that he is ...; Alan Campbell | 715 cc778-9 (Link to this contribution)
claimed to move the closure (Standing Order No. 36).
Question put forthwith, That the Quest...
Subjects: Education Childcare Disadvantaged Costs Attendance Finance Free school meals Pre-school education Paternity leave Mental health Coronavirus Communication skills Literacy Schools Teachers Special educational needs Tax allowances Cost of living Numeracy Education Recovery Commissioner National school breakfast programme National tutoring programme Holiday activities and food programme
Link: View this Parliamentary proceeding on hansard.parliament.uk

Children’s Education Recovery and Childcare Costs

Secondary information

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