🗣️ Speeches and Debates
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My Lords, fines were levied in August 2024 on Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water, and they have not been collected, as I understand it, because the companies have subsequently invested in infrastructure. Is that not like someone driving, injuring a person and then having the fine returned to them so that they can fix up their car and, possibly, sell it on for a profit? That would be...
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My Lords, it was a pleasure to listen to the speech from the noble Baroness, Lady Evans, which was about a modest change to the remit of the TRA. However, I support Amendment 190, to which I have added my name, precisely not to extend the TRA’s remit in two particular ways—that the TRA should be allowed to consider, as the noble Baroness opposite said, complaints about behaviour before...
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My Lords, I urge my noble friend the Minister to look at the amendment and think carefully about what the Government could conceivably do. I honestly think that anyone who has met Ceri, Frances or both of them could do nothing other than to say that we really need this, urgently. I will speak only briefly. When I met Ceri this week, he was delighted to say that Brentford Football Club, as an...
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My Lords, I have a number of amendments in this group, and I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Hain for having signed them. It will not come as a great surprise to the noble Lord, Lord Walney, that I have differences with his presentation. My amendments represent a compromise rather than the stand part objection in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, although I have to say that the...
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My Lords, I congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, on securing this debate and acknowledge the enormous amount of work that she does through the APPG and any other channels to make sure that the question of modern languages teaching and learning remains as high on the agenda as it possibly can be. Why does the teaching and learning of a modern foreign language matter? This debate is...
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My Lords, my noble friend the Minister knows that there is at least a problem, if not a crisis, in teacher recruitment and retention. Is she able to say anything positive about what the Government will do to seek more teachers who will be trained and qualified to ensure that they can work with children with special educational needs and disabilities in all settings in order to meet their...
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My Lords, services such as NHS appointments, banking and even shopping, regrettably, have moved online. The typical cost of broadband is around £400 a year—assuming, of course, that people can afford to buy a phone or computer. A new class of social exclusion is therefore emerging. What assessment have the Government made of this new level of social exclusion and its consequences?
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My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his characteristic frankness in the way that he is responding to these questions, for his commitment to make sure that the Prison Service works better than it has hitherto, and in particular for his positive remarks about prison staff. My question is about the checklist, which I welcomed when we asked questions about this last week. I assume that this is...
More of Baroness Blower's speeches and debates
✍️ Written Questions and Answers
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To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the United Kingdom and other international partners can protect minority communities in Syria.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to adjust the eligibility criteria of the holiday activities and food (HAF) programme to better target support and reduce stigma for those attending HAF schemes.
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To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage, of levy-paying employers have spent more than half the funds in their apprenticeship levy account, for each of the past five financial years.
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To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage, of levy-paying employers have transferred the maximum 25 per cent of apprenticeship levy funds to other businesses, for each of the past five financial years.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the recent police operation at the Kurdish Community Centre in London on relations with that community.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average training cost of a traineeship.
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To ask His Majesty's Government (1) how many, and (2) what percentage, of levy paying employers have spent all funds in their apprenticeship levy account, for each of the past five financial years.
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To ask His Majesty's Government what is the average training cost of an (1) intermediate, (2) advanced, and (3) higher level, apprenticeship.
More of Baroness Blower's written questions
