Children and Families Bill

Part 3 of the Bill introduces a much stronger framework for supporting children and young people ...

The Minister may recall that he kindly met me to discuss my particular concerns about children wh...

I recall the constructive meeting that I had with the hon. Gentleman and he will remember that I ...

I apologise for missing the first two minutes of the Minister’s speech. He outlines responsibilit...

The right hon. Gentleman raises an important point. Advocacy comes in different forms. We have ad...

Will the Minister reassure some local authorities that the proposal will still ensure integration...

My hon. Friend touches on the heart of the Bill, which is to tackle the perennial problem of spec...

I thank my hon. Friend on behalf of the Education Committee for taking such a positive and constr...

As ever, I am grateful to the Chair of the Education Committee for raising a crucial element for ...

As has been mentioned, the Select Committee held a series of pre-legislative scrutiny meetings. I...

Briefly to disaggregate my hon. Friend’s two points, clearly it is important that we know what is...

The Minister has referred several times to the role of local authorities, but the reality is that...

Yes, I have had a number of meetings with the Local Government Association, the Association of Di...

I would like to build on the comments my right hon. Friend the Member for Coatbridge, Chryston an...

I will be corrected if I am wrong, but my understanding is that there have been ongoing discussio...

I am not sure whether I need to, but I will make a declaration: I have represented about 100 appl...

The short answer is yes. That is the intention of the Bill. There are a number of reasons for say...

While the Minister is on the subject of conflict between local authorities and parents, may I pre...

I have a strong memory of spending a late night in the House a few years ago when my hon. Friend ...

On home education and the obvious issues relating to special educational needs, what consideratio...

I am straying slightly outside my portfolio, but where it impinges on special educational needs c...

It is a pleasure to debate this Bill again, this time on the Floor of the House. In Committee we ...

I agree with my hon. Friend about the social, educational and employment needs of young people. O...

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, who quantifies what we all know and believe is the crux of...

The phrase “postcode lottery” is well used in all sorts of policy areas, but does the hon. Lady a...

I accept that that phraseology is probably not appropriate for this scenario, but it is important...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson), who ...

When the Education Committee considered that aspect of the measures during pre-legislative scruti...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, because he makes an important umbrella point about the difficult...

I am grateful for the huge amount of work that the hon. Gentleman has done on this subject during...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for his kind remarks. He makes an important point about...

I strongly support the points that my hon. Friend is making eloquently and with his normal charm,...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend, and I pay tribute to him for the work he does with a v...

It has been interesting to listen to the hon. Gentleman and his expert comments. Does he accept t...

That is absolutely correct, and I am grateful to the hon. Lady. Sadly, mental health issues are a...

My hon. Friend makes a powerful case. Does he share my view that, as with the local offer, it is ...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend, who I know represents a wonderful special college in H...

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I will give way one more time to my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford and South Herefordshire (...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way again. He is right to say that the Royal National ...

I cannot improve upon perfection.

In arguing powerfully, as he is, for a holistic approach, including for education, does the hon. ...

It is a pleasure to serve in the House with the right hon. Gentleman, who has a long and honourab...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

I will give way to my hon. Friend, the Chairman of the Education Committee.

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes a powerful speech. I wonder whether he is ri...

I do not claim a monopoly of wisdom on the precise wording, but it is important to go back to the...

Does my hon. Friend share my view that, to be effective and to respect that leading judgment, the...

My hon. Friend is right. Low-incidence special needs can be catered for only by specialist colleg...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

My hon. Friend has been very patient, so I shall let him intervene.

I thank my hon. Friend very much for giving way. I am interested in the other end of the spectrum...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend, who, in effect, gives us a case study. He reminds me t...

My hon. Friend is making an outstanding speech on a critical issue. I want to reinforce the point...

Order. We are drifting now. Interventions are supposed to be short points that are relevant to th...

I am extremely grateful to you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Your exhortation allows me to move on to th...

This is a particularly important amendment, among the many that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned....

Order. Before the hon. Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland) gets to his feet again I have to sa...

I bear your strictures seriously, Madam Deputy Speaker.

I pray in aid remarks I have made i...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland). For politicians these...

It is a pleasure to take part in this debate and to follow my hon. Friend the Member for South Sw...

I apologise for coming in a bit late. Some years ago I had a ten-minute rule Bill on this subject...

I welcome that intervention.

These statistics are unacceptable and reflect a situation that...

It is good to follow the Chair of the Select Committee. I hope the constructive and cross-party d...

My right hon. Friend is making a powerful case. Does he agree that it is not just about staff? We...

My good and hon. Friend knows exactly what he is talking about and he is right. This is not simpl...

My right hon. Friend will recall that, in addition to educating teachers about children’s conditi...

I backed my hon. Friend’s Bill and I remember it. Essentially, it aimed to set standards of suppo...

It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne (John Healey), who summ...

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on tabling the new clause. He will be aware that there are spec...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that helpful intervention. I also congratulate him on the ten-minu...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the so-called special treatment that such children get, involv...

Indeed; I referred to the danger of bullying earlier. Diabetic children do not need to be taken o...

Given your previous encouragement for speakers in the debate to be brief, Madam Deputy Speaker, I...

I thank my hon. Friends the Members for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), for Romsey and Southampton N...

The logic throughout what the Minister has set out has been about bringing together providers to ...

My hon. Friend makes a point about the importance to the parents and the young person of having a...

The statistics seem to show that while there are provisions in previous legislation that are supp...

I understand the intention behind the new clause, but when the raft of legislation directly or in...

I find the Minister’s answer inadequate. It is shameful that successive Governments have gone for...

I had been doing so well with my hon. Friend, throughout the day. He is quite right to continue t...

I was impressed by almost everything that the Minister said until he got to the words, “local aut...

As to the right hon. Gentleman’s second point, I am sure that they will; that is the beauty of th...

My hon. Friend says that local authorities must assure themselves that parents are delivering the...

I hope that our differentiation is based simply on the semantics of some of the vocabulary that i...

Will my hon. Friend undertake to ensure that when the Bill goes to the other place a careful eye ...

I strongly share my hon. Friend’s view. I want to make progress on that, both in my Department an...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss new clause 6—Staff to child ratios: Ofsted-registered ...

I wish to speak to new clause 10, which introduces paving legislation to allow Her Majesty’s Reve...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

This is a matter of pressing need, and we are taking forward the following proposals: introducing...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

The current childcare system is not working for parents. The real cost of child care has risen by...

Will the hon. Lady give way on that point?

I give way to the hon. Gentleman.

I hope that the hon. Lady does not think I am trying to be disruptive. I was enjoying what she sa...

I completely agree that we have very high child care costs and I will do everything I can, where ...

I think there is merit in the work my hon. Friend has done and I pay tribute to her for the effor...

I thank my hon. Friend for his point. It is true that the reason we are not proceeding with the p...

May I confirm my understanding that the Deputy Prime Minister signed up to this but later, for po...

I thank my hon. Friend for his point. Other countries in Europe have flexibility and lower costs ...

I would be the last person to volunteer to defend the leader of the Liberal Democrats, but perhap...

There are, of course, various reasons, many of which relate to the history of how child care syst...

Will the new qualifications, particularly those for early years educators, include training in ea...

I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution. The new qualifications will include the study of ea...

I thank my hon. Friend for providing information on the tax-free child care system. Will that rep...

I thank my hon. Friend for his question and HMRC will consider that issue in its new consultation...

Will children’s centres be encouraged to become childminder agencies? That would link two of the ...

I agree with my hon. Friend and will mention the types of organisations that could be involved in...

I rise to speak to new clauses 6 and 7 and amendments 76 and 77 in my name and in the name of my ...

My hon. Friend is highlighting all the reasons the proposal should not have gone forward, but it ...

We would rather the Minister had come to the House sooner with a proper statement. In the time av...

I fully understand what the hon. Lady is trying to achieve, but are these professionals and new c...

No. I will tell the hon. Gentleman what more of the professionals have said, however, and then pe...

I too welcome this U-turn by the Government today, but I welcome all the more my hon. Friend’s ne...

I agree, which is why we are proceeding with the new clauses: we need to ensure that parents will...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way again but this issue is really important. No consideration ...

My hon. Friend makes a very valid point that has been raised with me many times. I know that the ...

In view of the fact that the hon. Lady thought my last intervention a little strange, let me put ...

Yes, the French system is of a lower quality. That comes out in the OECD ratings of its nurseries...

Does that mean that the hon. Lady thinks it was wrong for the previous Government to increase rat...

I was not in the Department or in position in 2008, but if we raised ratios, I am sure it was don...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson), as i...

On new clause 10, the Minister made great play of introducing tax-free child care, but she should...

My hon. Friend speaks passionately about childminders in Hackney. The Northamptonshire Childmindi...

That is my worry. What exactly is an “agency”? We hear one description from bits of government an...

We have had a wide-ranging debate on the various child care issues, but one point that I think we...

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:

New clause 4—Continuing support f...

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for taking up most of the remaining debating time in reading out th...

Do the hon. Gentleman’s proposals relate only to the schools he referred to as madrassahs, or do ...

The new clause is very broad and could effectively cover other supplementary schools, as they are...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton), who, li...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I am sorry, but I cannot give way because a number of Back Benchers have sat through this entire ...

I rise to speak to new clause 20 as a parent of two boys, one of whom is still at school and one ...

I understand that the hon. Lady’s concern is about a centralised curriculum. What does she make o...

I am vice-chair of the all-party group on financial education for young people and I hugely welco...

What does the hon. Lady make of the recent Ofsted report on the teaching of PSHE, which mentions ...

I am glad the hon. Lady raised that point, because if some of the suggestions that I will come to...

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I will not take any other interventions, because it would reduce the time for other speakers.

I rise to speak to new clause 4, which stands in the name of my right hon. Friend the Member for ...

I am proud to be a patron of Devon Rape Crisis, which, like all of us in this House, is deeply co...

The hon. Lady’s words echo those of Ofsted, which pointed out that the secondary sex and relation...

It is about teaching girls to say no, and teaching young men to understand that no is no. That ne...

I rise to speak to new clause 17, in my name and those of other hon. Members, which would provide...

I want briefly to draw attention to new clause 5, which addresses the issue of young carers and t...

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Order. Before I call the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Mr Llwyd), may I remind him th...

I would like to speak briefly to amendments Nos 5, 6, 7 and 8, which seek to introduce greater fl...

This group of amendments covers a wide range of issues relating to the care and protection of chi...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

Let me begin by thanking all Membe...

Will the Minister give way?

I will take a brief intervention, but I am mindful of the time and know that other Back Benchers ...

I, too, am mindful of the time, so I am grateful to the Minister for giving way—I understand why ...

Of course I am happy to look at the specific case the hon. Gentleman raises in the context of the...

I begin by thanking my Front-Bench colleague my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) for...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the most important thing as the Bill progresses is to make sure—it...

I agree with my hon. Friend and will probably repeat some of the points that she has just made. I...

Just to clarify, if the hon. Lady looks back at Hansard she will see that just before the end of ...

That is very good; I will do that.

At the very least, we need to ensure that agencies that ...

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Order. At least three Members still wish to speak and I hope that they all have the chance to do ...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson). I pa...

Surely this has been Parliament at its best. It has been a huge privilege to be involved with the...

I will be brief. I was accused of being a little less than brief earlier, but I mean what I say, ...

The hon. Gentleman is generous in giving way as time is short. Does he agree it is important that...

I think the message came out loud and clear from the Under-Secretary that the needs of those peop...

I am delighted to conclude the debate on Third Reading—the Bill is a joint effort between the Dep...