🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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I would like to address the hon. Lady’s points; I think I made a note of all of them. First, on this being long in the making, I just want us all to be aware of the timeline. This guidance was issued in 2019, and it was made statutory in 2020. Ofsted conducted some work to see how it was bedding in, which gave us some feedback and comment about how more clarity was needed. That was in the...
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I thank the Father of the House, who, as usual, shows true leadership in this area, as in many others. He is absolutely right that there are examples of organisations with material on their websites that we think is inappropriate, because it is teaching contested views as facts, boasting about how many schools they have worked with. Some organisations—I will not name them—have been...
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Part of leadership and showing leadership is also dealing with those things we are not happy with. We are not happy that young children are having access to porn, which is why other measures are also being put in place through the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Of course, it is always possible that children get access to things that they should not see, and they might...
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I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for raising that point. Political impartiality is important, and the guidance he read out is meant to cover some commonsense exceptions. For example, some people would argue against democracy, and we do not want to give them a platform; some people would argue for racism, and we do not want to give them a platform, and so on. Those are the sorts of...
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Another approach is obviously looking at access to smartphones at a very young age. On the point raised by the hon. Gentleman, the most appropriate guidance is “Keeping children safe in education”, which is a substantial piece of guidance and used regularly by schools. It is also regularly reviewed. Of course there is a live discussion about our concerns regarding children having access...
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Not only will I now be able to look at the materials, but so will parents, and so will Ofsted when it reviews what is happening in schools against the guidance we have issued. Transparency is important. Obviously we should ensure that materials are appropriate and the guidance is there as well, but I believe that transparency will act as a great guide to ensure the right materials are in our...
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Let me reassure the right hon. Gentleman. Although we were a couple of years apart in Knowsley, sex education did not change an awful lot. We had two lessons—one where girls and boys were apart, and one where they were together, where we were shown a film about childbirth. I think part of the class collapsed at that point, and a couple fainted, and that was it. Times have moved on a lot....
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I thank all Members of the House who have discussed this matter respectfully, as well as contributing to and developing our understanding of what is going on in schools. On what is there in schools— I welcome my hon. Friend’s welcoming of this guidance—materials will now have to be shown to parents, no ifs, no buts, and we have made that crystal clear. The materials will need to be in...
More of Gillian Keegan's speeches and debates
✍️ Written Questions and Answers
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The department works closely with the Home Office on a range of issues, including on matters relating to international student visas. The government keeps all immigration policies under constant review to ensure they best serve the country and reflect the public’s priorities. International students make a significant economic and cultural contribution to the UK’s higher education sector,...
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In 2021/22 we invested £13 million to reduce autism diagnosis waiting times. This included £10.5 million to enable local systems to test different diagnostic pathways, explore ways to reduce waiting times and address backlogs caused by the pandemic. We invested £2.5 million in 2022/23 to test and implement methods of reducing waiting times for children and young people. In addition, we are...
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The UK is a leading donor to the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh and has contributed £340 million to the response since 2017. This includes support to education and income generating activities for the Rohingya and host communities. The UK, along with other donors, consistently advocates for greater education, skills and livelihoods opportunities for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. We welcome...
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The data for UK contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) during financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23 are available through the following links. Supporting Palestinian refugees across the Middle East - in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria: DevTracker Programme GB-1-204546 (fcdo.gov.uk) - https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-204546/summary UK Support to...
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The UK maintains close to 300 sanctions designations against Iran in relation to human rights, UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), nuclear proliferation and terrorism. A full list is available online on the UK Sanctions List. Recently, on 10 October, the UK announced sanctions on seven senior security and political figures responsible for human rights violations in Iran, as well as the...
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The UK Government reiterates its profound sympathy for UK victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism and indeed for all victims of the Troubles. The Government set out its position on Mr Shawcross's report on compensation for UK victims of Qadhafi-sponsored IRA terrorism in a Written Ministerial Statement made on 23 March 2021. Mr Shawcross's report was commissioned as an internal scoping...
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The UK is committed to aid transparency and FCDO systems allow the public to see how our aid objectives are delivered worldwide. UK aid programmes can be viewed on the Development Tracker's search page (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/search). The search functionality already allows filtering by free text and can be used in combination with filters for programme status, government department,...
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Israel has never declared a nuclear weapons programme. The UK Government continues to encourage Israel to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a Non-Nuclear Weapon State. We regularly monitor all global nuclear developments and will continue to work with international partners to strengthen the non-proliferation regime and advance multilateral nuclear disarmament.
More of Gillian Keegan's written questions
