Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Holmes, for introducing this debate. I had the pleasure of serving with him on the Lords Select Committee on Social Mobility. I know of his passionate interest in this subject, and I congratulate him on the way that he has introduced it. He has given us an insight into the extent of this problem and its importance. I also add my welcome to his for the...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for bringing this debate to the House. It is important, and I start by saying that I agreed with the thrust of his arguments. Although I might quibble over a detail or two, I am basically on his side on this issue. I also look forward to the maiden speech of the noble Baroness, Lady Finn. I know that she brings a wealth of policy experience and advice to this...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, the Minister will know from both his role and his close involvement in academies in London that London is the highest-performing region in our country and the best place to be poor if you want to go to a high-status university. Will the Minister explain what lessons the Government took from the success of London that led them to focus on more selective and grammar schools as a way...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I am very grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, for raising this issue. The word “polytechnic”, or the concept, has come out in a number of our debates on education and skills over the past few years, so it is good that we now have an opportunity to debate it as an issue in its own right. I started at a different end from the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, in that I started in my...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I will speak on a specific issue to follow up something I raised in Committee and to make reference to a note I received from the Minister’s office this afternoon, which I wanted to put on the record. On this amendment, considering the difficulty there sometimes is in finding sponsors, we raised in Committee that this is a problem with a number of sponsors and the length of time...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: Those figures are from November of this year, and the regional schools commissioners had already been in place. If demand is increased, the regional schools commissioners will be exceptionally overworked, and I am not as optimistic as the noble Baroness that they will solve the problem.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I will speak only briefly on the amendment because the issue of consultation has been covered in an earlier group. I will make two or three points. For me, consultation is not the most important part of the Bill, but it is an important point of principle. Once we decide something today, it will probably set the pattern for future ways we deal with schools, so it is worth spending...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I join other noble Lords in congratulating my noble friend Lord Blunkett on his maiden speech. It was a privilege to have been here. I have worked out that it is well over a decade since he and I spoke in the same education debate in one of the Chambers of these Houses of Parliament, so it is very good to have him by my side again. Speaking in front of your former boss is never...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I should like to comment on the parts of the gracious Speech that deal with education and children’s policy. In doing so I welcome some of the measures in the gracious Speech and other measures which the Government have indicated they will take forward in the coming months. I welcome the principle of extra childcare, although as we have heard today there are a lot of questions...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many stand-alone academies have been placed by Ofsted into the requiring improvement or special measures categories.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many sponsored academies have changed sponsor since 2010.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I am delighted to be able to contribute to this short debate on getting greater awareness of antiphospholipid syndrome in the NHS, particularly among GPs. I declare an interest: I am chairman of the Hughes Syndrome Foundation, and I am very pleased to be so. I test positive for antiphospholipid but have had no more than minor symptoms. Where I am unusual is that I had a GP who...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I join others in thanking and congratulating my noble friend Lord Monks on bringing this debate to the House. The People’s History Museum is a fantastic national and international museum—you can see that when you visit it. Having said that, as a fellow Mancunian, I am very pleased that it is located in Manchester and the north-west, and I think that my noble friend is probably...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that there is an appropriate regional distribution of teacher training opportunities, in the light of the level of recruitment of teachers in rural and coastal areas.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I, too, very much welcome this debate and thank the noble Lord, Lord Monks, for introducing it in the way that he did. He gave a history of our ineptness in managing to keep vocational studies and qualifications firmly on the agenda. If noble Lords want a glimpse of what our economy will look like tomorrow, they need to look at what we are investing in skills today. There is no...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for presenting the statutory instruments but I agree with everyone else who has spoken. I have real doubts about what they will mean for the creative industries. I know that her predecessor noted how much consultation had taken place round the issue, and my noble friend Lord Stevenson made the same point. The history of this is very long, and we are...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords—
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords—
Baroness Morris of Yardley: I am most grateful. There is no doubt that the report makes very uncomfortable reading for everyone. All parts of the education system need to look at how they have performed and ask real questions about what has gone on in recent years. Beyond the no-notice inspections by Ofsted, I find the report more shallow than I would have expected. On no-notice Ofsted inspections, I would be amazed if...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I thank the Minister for bringing this debate to the House. There is a great deal of expertise across the Chamber and, given the breadth of the title of the debate, I am sure that we will explore a wide range of issues. I start on a conciliatory note by joining the Minister in acknowledging the importance of this sector. Wherever you look in life, at whichever quarter of our...
