This House notes with concern the findings of Zurich Municipal that 67 per cent of English schools are rated as poor for fire protection systems and that only 5 per cent of English schools are rated as excellent compared with 29 per cent of schools rated as excellent in Scotland; further notes that according to the study the five biggest fire risks are lack of fixed fire protection including sprinklers, building combustibility and lack of modern construction methods, fire detection, arson and housekeeping and smoking controls; commends regulations in Scotland and Wales, where sprinkler systems are legally required in all new and major refurbished schools; urges the Government to legislate to require the mandatory installation of sprinklers in new and major refurbished schools in England; and calls on the Department for Education to ensure the removal of combustible materials in schools such as classroom noticeboards that are not fire compliant and require them to be replaced with noticeboards that are fire safe to European BS EN 13501 class B standard.

This House notes with concern the findings of Zurich Municipal that 67 per cent of English schools are rated as poor for fire protection systems and that only 5 per cent of English schools are rated as excellent compared with 29 per cent of schools rated as excellent in Scotland;...

This House notes that an estimated 900,000 pupils in the UK aged between five and 19 suffer from bowel and bladder problems such as bedwetting, constipation and soiling; observes that a recent study by YouGov found that among children aged 11 to 16 who experience such conditions, 30 per cent said that they have had to take time off school, 25 per cent said that they have struggled to concentrate in lessons, 27 per cent said that their school does not understand their bladder or bowel problems and 17 per cent said that they have missed lessons; is concerned that 22 per cent of those pupils polled are only allowed to use the toilet during break time, 50 per cent rely on the discretion of the teacher to go to the toilet during lesson time, 40 per cent only use the toilet when desperate and 5 per cent avoid using school toilets altogether; is further concerned about the potential effect of this situation on the health, education and basic dignity of pupils; and urges Ministers to review policy and practice in this area, to issue updated guidance to schools on the appropriate management of continence issues and to provide the resources to ensure that such guidance can be fully implemented and monitored.

This House notes that an estimated 900,000 pupils in the UK aged between five and 19 suffer from bowel and bladder problems such as bedwetting, constipation and soiling; observes that a recent study by YouGov found that among children aged 11 to 16 who experience such conditions, 30 per cent...

That this House welcomes the decision by the Welsh Government to make school uniforms accessible and gender neutral; acknowledges the role that Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams AM played in securing this progressive change; recognises the importance of supporting all children in wearing clothes that they are happy, confident and comfortable in; and calls on the Government to ensure that all schools across England make school uniforms accessible and gender neutral to help facilitate a culture of acceptance in all schools.

That this House welcomes the decision by the Welsh Government to make school uniforms accessible and gender neutral; acknowledges the role that Welsh Education Minister Kirsty Williams AM played in securing this progressive change; recognises the importance of supporting all children in wearing clothes that they are happy, confident and...

That this House notes the ongoing issue that many families around the country face regarding the cost of school uniforms; further notes the findings of The Children’s Society study entitled The Wrong Blazer from 2018 which showed that one million children live in families across England who are getting into debt to meet the rising cost of school uniforms; acknowledges that in many communities secondary school uniforms are being provided by one supplier with the effect that the monopoly on that particular uniform stagnates price competition; is concerned that this has been especially problematic in the past few years with the introduction of academies and other schools causing families to purchase a whole new uniform causing further financial hardship; and calls upon the Government to make school uniforms a non-profit business, so that the price of uniforms can fall and relieve a financial burden to many families across the country.

That this House notes the ongoing issue that many families around the country face regarding the cost of school uniforms; further notes the findings of The Children’s Society study entitled The Wrong Blazer from 2018 which showed that one million children live in families across England who are getting into...

That this House notes that a full school uniform can now cost hundreds of pounds, with costs continuing to rise; further notes that the Government has not issued the statutory guidance on school uniforms that was announced in 2015; is deeply concerned by the increasing financial pressure on parents caused by welfare changes, cuts to tax credits, the growth of low-wage, insecure work, the effect of cuts on school budgets and the reduced availability of school uniform grants due to local government cuts; believes that schools should be properly funded by central Government and not be forced to use school uniforms to raise funds; further believes that school uniforms should not be cost-prohibitive for parents or a source of excessive profits for private companies; and urges the Government to end austerity, reverse cuts to school budgets and implement statutory guidance to ensure the availability of affordable school uniforms, including options such as sew-on logos that can be applied to generic uniforms.

That this House notes that a full school uniform can now cost hundreds of pounds, with costs continuing to rise; further notes that the Government has not issued the statutory guidance on school uniforms that was announced in 2015; is deeply concerned by the increasing financial pressure on parents caused...

That this house welcomes the Government's announcement of period poverty funding which will fight stigma around menstruation and provide free period products in primary and secondary schools across England; notes that 4.3 billion disposable menstrual products are used in the UK every year and an estimated 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million sanitary towels are flushed down the toilet every day; is concerned that the period poverty funding could be spent on brands which contain up to 90% plastic that ends up in landfill and the sea and takes centuries to break down; is gravely concerned that marine wildlife is at serious risk from plastic pollution with our oceans at crisis point; notes that during the Marine Conservation Society Great British Beach Clean 2018, on the 294 beaches across England that were cleaned and surveyed, volunteers found on average 249 tampon applicators and 242 panty liners; calls on the Government to set out that the definition of an appropriate range of period products as referred to in the recently published invitation to tender for the procurement of free sanitary products in schools means eco-friendly, sustainable tampons and pads and the inclusion of reusable menstrual products; and urges the Government not to miss this opportunity to tackle period poverty and the single use plastic crisis simultaneously.

That this house welcomes the Government's announcement of period poverty funding which will fight stigma around menstruation and provide free period products in primary and secondary schools across England; notes that 4.3 billion disposable menstrual products are used in the UK every year and an estimated 2.5 million tampons and...

That this House acknowledges the impact of school strikes for climate; notes that on 15 March more than 2,000 pupils gathered to strike in Edinburgh and that more than one million pupils protested worldwide as a call to action to prevent climate change; recognises the significance of the climate crisis; and supports the march to the Scottish Parliament on Friday 24 May 2019.

That this House acknowledges the impact of school strikes for climate; notes that on 15 March more than 2,000 pupils gathered to strike in Edinburgh and that more than one million pupils protested worldwide as a call to action to prevent climate change; recognises the significance of the climate crisis;...

That this House notes that 5 May 2019 marks the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) World Hand Hygiene Day; recognises that infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene, is critical to achieving universal health coverage for the world’s population; notes that the WHO currently estimates 70 per cent of infections are transmitted by hands, and that good hand hygiene is the first line of defence against infection; commends the UK for playing a prominent role in the fight against anti-microbial resistance and reducing healthcare associated infections; acknowledges further room to improve hand hygiene compliance in NHS hospitals and the limitations of current practices in monitoring hand hygiene compliance; calls on the NHS to develop hand hygiene improvement guidance to support improved hand hygiene compliance in hospitals; and encourages all hon. Members to support and promote the WHO’s Save Lives: Clean Your Hands campaign in their local hospitals and schools.

That this House notes that 5 May 2019 marks the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) World Hand Hygiene Day; recognises that infection prevention and control, including hand hygiene, is critical to achieving universal health coverage for the world’s population; notes that the WHO currently estimates 70 per cent of infections are...

That this House notes with concern that a significant proportion of notice boards installed in school classrooms do not comply with current fire standards; is alarmed that in many instances notice boards are installed from an imported product currently marketed as being suitable for the manufacture of firelighters; notes that according to the Home Office Incident Reporting System there were 682 school fires in 2017-18 in England and that 30 per cent of school fires occurred with children in the building; believes that in view of the Grenfell Tower tragedy it is imperative that fire sprinklers are installed in schools and that all internal wall linings meet fire standards; calls on the Government to ensure that in order to meet such fire standards notice boards are classified as wall linings; calls on fire and rescue authorities to liaise with local education authorities and other school management bodies to raise awareness of non-compliant flammable wall linings including noticeboards, acoustic panels and plywood which would add to the intensity of a school fire incident; and urges that all school notice boards are inspected to ensure that they are fire compliant and if found to be not compliant are replaced with notice boards that are fire safe to European BS EN 13501 class B standard.

That this House notes with concern that a significant proportion of notice boards installed in school classrooms do not comply with current fire standards; is alarmed that in many instances notice boards are installed from an imported product currently marketed as being suitable for the manufacture of firelighters; notes that...

That this House recognises the inadequacy of the funding currently available to all state schools; expresses deep concern over the warning from more than 7,000 head teachers that budget shortages are worsening; commends the call by head teachers for greater funding through the Worth Less? campaign; acknowledges that teachers and parents have to provide and fund basic resources due to a lack of funding from central government; and calls on the Government to restore the per-pupil schools budget to 2015/16 levels in real terms, giving schools £2.5 billion in extra funding.

That this House recognises the inadequacy of the funding currently available to all state schools; expresses deep concern over the warning from more than 7,000 head teachers that budget shortages are worsening; commends the call by head teachers for greater funding through the Worth Less? campaign; acknowledges that teachers and...