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I was signatory to a letter to the Education Secretary to ask for further support for students. The Government intends to uprate Student Maintenance Loans by only 2.8% in September. Despite the fact that inflation is currently over 10%, and a 2.8% increase will represent a £1500 drop in the real-terms value of student maintenance loans since 2020/2021. This below inflation rise comes after years of cuts to student support.

On Tuesday 17 January 2023 all the remaining stages of the the Online Safety Bill were debated in the House. This legislation must put in place a robust framework that tackles online harms so that everyone can use the Internet safely. The Bill will establish a duty of care on companies to improve the safety of users, overseen and enforced by Ofcom.

At the first meeting of 2023 the APPG on Archaeology we paid tribute to the late Professor Tim Shadla Hall of UCL who sadly passed away. Tim was an important member of the Group and we will miss his contributions. 

The Secretary of State for the Home Department made a statement on misconduct and vetting in the Metropolitan Police Service following the horrific David Carrick case. 

During Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Questions on 17 January 2023 I asked the Minister:

‘Will the Minister confirm that Post Offices, which are at the heart of our community, will receive support for their energy bills so that they can continue to function for the rest of the community?’