🗣️ Speeches and Debates

• Sentencing Bill - Second Reading 12 Nov 2025

  My Lords, I pay tribute to Baroness Newlove. I had the privilege of working alongside her when I was the Children’s Commissioner and she was the Victims’ Commissioner. It is a hugely sad loss, and she was a fantastic advocate. My thoughts are with her family. I welcome and support the Bill, and I thank my noble friend for his leadership in bringing it to us. However, the changes it is...

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Committee (12th Day): Amendment 469 18 Sep 2025

  My Lords, I will speak in support of Amendments 469 and 470, and I thank my noble friend for making such a strong and clear case for why they are important. As a former Children’s Commissioner who worked very much within the framework of the UNCRC as the legal person required to promote and support children’s rights, the Committee will not be surprised to hear me speaking up for these...

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Committee (11th Day): Amendment 462 16 Sep 2025

  I shall add something on those points, although I do not want to drag this on. Clearly, this arouses a lot of emotions, but we are mixing a lot of things up. There are rooms full of evidence on how these effectively work, not least on the things that the noble Lord is putting forward. I do not think that schools are being asked to undertake surveys—it is about giving information to schools,...

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Committee (11th Day): Amendment 450 16 Sep 2025

  My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her response and the emphasis that she has placed throughout on inclusion. The ambition is for all children to be able to benefit from a great education and for them to be able to thrive in school. The amendment I put forward about managed moves is very much about keeping children within schools and the education system. It is a practical...

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Committee (11th Day): Amendment 450 16 Sep 2025

  My Lords, I will speak to my Amendment 450 on managed moves, as well as Amendment 453, which is in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Storey. The amendments concern a group of children who are literally moved between schools. At the moment, they are pretty much out of the spotlight and are not in any way accountable within the system. Mine is a very practical amendment: it seeks to provide a...

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Committee (9th Day) (Continued): Amendment 274 2 Sep 2025

  I will make a quick intervention, if I may, just to counter the claim that the troubled families programme achieved nothing. The evidence does not tell us that, so it is important not to allow us to think that.

• Young Futures Hubs - Question 24 Jul 2025

  My Lords, Young Futures has such potential to deliver transformative change for young people, and I am grateful for the support that has been expressed for it. I have to declare an interest; it was an approach that a commission that I chaired put forward in 2022, dubbed “Sure Start for teenagers” at the time—and just as with Sure Start, this is about bringing together services in a...

• Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Committee (7th Day): Amendment 179 23 Jun 2025

  I feel the need to add some thoughts of my own to this conversation, which I am very pleased that we are having. I declare my interest as the executive chair of the Centre for Young Lives. I thank noble Lords for their kind comments on that. This is a really crucial area of policy, and I am delighted that we are expecting an early years strategy and that we have consensus across the House on...

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