Carol Monaghan: What progress the Commission has made on making Parliament more family-friendly.
Carol Monaghan: Many workplaces are taking steps to ensure that employees on maternity or paternity leave are able to keep up to date with their work. Is the Commission taking any steps to ensure that Members on maternity or paternity leave can continue to serve their constituents, such as allowing remote electronic voting?
Carol Monaghan: My constituent Munir Butt arrived in the UK as an eight-year-old child with his parents and siblings 48 years ago, in 1968. He has lived his whole life in the UK: he has been educated here, and he has married and has two grown-up children. When applying for a new job last year, he was asked to produce a passport—something he never had before—and he was then told that he is here illegally....
Carol Monaghan: Thank you for your tip, Mr Speaker. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate on the residential status of historical immigrants?
Carol Monaghan: Much of the quality assurance in schools is driven and carried out by local authorities. That means that self-evaluation and improvement is a continuous cycle, with only the occasional visit from Her Majesty’s inspectorate of education in Scotland, or Ofsted in England, to rubber-stamp the work already done. With the move to academies, how does the Secretary of State envisage quality...
Carol Monaghan: At Education questions on 7 March I asked the Minister for Schools about the £35,000 income threshold for non-EU nationals and how it would impact on the recruitment and retention of STEM-qualified teachers. He told me that there was an ongoing consultation with the Home Office, but no new announcements appear to have been made on this issue. Will he answer my question today: what steps has...
Carol Monaghan: On a point of order, Mr Speaker—
Carol Monaghan: When the Prime Minister visited BAE in February last year, he stated that the contract for the Type 26 frigates would secure jobs on the Clyde for the next 30 years. The delays in this contract now threaten the very jobs that the contract should secure. Will he tell the workforce when they should expect to cut steel on the first Type 26?
Carol Monaghan: On a point of order, Mr Speaker.
Carol Monaghan: On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I apologise to you for attempting to raise it earlier, at an inopportune moment, but I was so outraged by events that took place during our exchanges on the urgent question about shipbuilding on the Clyde that I became over-enthusiastic. In 20 years of teaching in a comprehensive school in Glasgow, I was never subjected to language such as that to which SNP...
Carol Monaghan: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Evans. I congratulate the hon. Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy) on securing this important debate on an issue that is not well enough known or understood. Tackling the over-consumption of antibiotics is one of the greatest health challenges of this generation. Alexander Fleming warned in 1945 that micro-organisms could develop...
Carol Monaghan: I thank the Secretary of State for today’s statement. Many school communities will also welcome today’s announcement. Although I, like many teachers across these isles, would love to think that the Government do listen to teachers, the reality seems to be that this embarrassing U-turn on a centrepiece Budget announcement has been brought about by a handful of the Government’s own Back...
Carol Monaghan: The ability of schools to set their own pay scales will raise questions around teachers’ pay and recruitment, and there is concern that the long-term impact of academies will mean higher salaries and better terms and conditions in some better-funded academies. What consideration—[Hon. Members: “Hooray!”] I am glad that I amuse the House. What consideration has the Secretary of State...
Carol Monaghan: What assessment he has made of the potential effect of his proposals to reform the NHS bursary on future levels of recruitment into the medical professions.
Carol Monaghan: It is recognised that there is a high proportion of mature students of nursing and other health professions. How does the Secretary of State plan to mitigate the effects of the removal of the bursary and provide support to students who have family commitments or who already have a student loan from a previous degree?
Carol Monaghan: I cannot let the comment about Scotland pass. It is true that if we look at direct routes into university, Scotland has slightly lower numbers going from disadvantaged backgrounds, but if we look at more interesting routes into university through further education, Scotland is doing extremely well with children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Carol Monaghan: It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (John Mc Nally) and to conclude on behalf of the SNP. There is a phrase in the Queen’s Speech that I doubt anyone in this place would disagree with: “educational excellence in all schools, giving every child the best start in life.” I have taught in several excellent schools. One in particular that comes to mind is an...
Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and UK Space Agency cross-boundary research proposals submitted through the Joint Electronic Submission System received funding in each of the last three years.
Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of research proposals submitted through the Joint Electronic Submission System which have been judged to cross the boundary between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Space Agency have gone through to peer review.
Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what mechanism exists to ensure that research proposals which have been judged to cross the boundary between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the UK Space Agency proceed to peer review.