Part of Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Committee (11th Day) – in the House of Lords at 12:30 pm on 16 September 2025.
Lord Addington
Liberal Democrat
12:30,
16 September 2025
My Lords, I will very briefly say, from what is left of my own Benches, that when it comes to this, remember that this is guidance for the child to take forward into adult life. At certain points, they may differ from what the parent thinks they should do and wants them to do, and we have to make sure that the knowledge is given to them. I cannot remember the exact details of the discussion we had, but at a certain point the parent has to stop having that ability to deny.
I hope that the Minister will tell us that the idea of giving people the knowledge they need at certain points is still embraced. Value judgments will come into it from various people coming round, but the fact that you do not like something does not mean to say you should not know about it.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
