Business of the House

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 10:41 am on 4 September 2025.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Lucy Powell Lucy Powell Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons, Chair, Modernisation Committee, Chair, Modernisation Committee 10:41, 4 September 2025

I thank my hon. Friend and a number of other colleagues for continuing to campaign on and raise these important issues. As parents and Constituency MPs, we all see the damage that social media and unmitigated use of smartphones can cause to teenagers. He is absolutely right to highlight that schools already have the power to confiscate smartphones, and I am really pleased to hear that a couple of schools in his constituency have done so. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of the guidance that we have issued, but I implore schools and parents to take a much more proactive approach in monitoring what children are up to on their smartphones.

constituency

In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent