It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson). I pay tribute to the way in which the Bill has largely been approached by shadow Ministers and the constructive way in which she offers her blessing as it proceeds to another place. Ministers have worked hard to make the case for all the important measures in the Bill and have done so successfully.
I was not a member of the Public Bill Committee. Those places rightly went to the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), because of her ministerial responsibilities and my hon.
Friend the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke), who is not in her place but has a long-standing interest in these matters.
The Bill will make a huge, positive difference to many young people’s lives and those of their families, and bring together the responsibilities of different agencies that are vital to ensuring that those young people have the best possible start in life. I pay tribute to earlier work done on the Bill by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather), and to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) for what he did when he was in office.
The Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), was at pains to point out that she still believes altering ratios in child care is the right thing to do although there was not a majority across Government for that. Similarly, the Liberal Democrats remain committed to progress on sex and relationship education, although again there is no majority across the Government. It is a measure of how the coalition is holding together by concentrating on where we agree and such issues as supporting adopters and young people with special educational needs that we have made such progress, but I know our noble Friends in another place will want to make a further contribution and perhaps even improve the Bill slightly—if that is possible—before it makes it on to the statute book. I congratulate all those involved in getting the Bill to its current position, and I thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to catch your eye.
6.50 pm