At Education Questions on Monday 17 July I asked the Secretary of State Gillian Keegan MP a question.

I asked: "The Secretary of State told the media at the weekend that she had found the money for the pay settlement from an underspend in the Department. Can she tell the House exactly where she found the money and what policies have not been delivered?"

The Secretary of State answered by saying: "I am delighted to. We have a constructive relationship with the Treasury, whether on childcare, school funding or extra budgeting, and in this particular case what we have done, as I have done many times in my 30-year business career, is to go through every line of the budget. We spend £100 billion on education, so there are a lot of things in that budget, and we have gone through it and checked every single assumption. Some are demand led and some depend on the roll-out of certain projects. We have protected the frontline and reprioritised; what has changed is that the Treasury has allowed us to keep that money to reprioritise."

The Secretary of State did not answer the question. This has to come from the Government and cannot fall on our schools' budget.

After Questions there was  the Higher Education Reform Statement, I asked the Secretary of State:

"May I ask the Secretary of State, because she has not actually spelt this out, what is a low-value degree?"

The Secretary of State said: "In relation to low-value degrees, an example of the quality provisions we have introduced for the Office for Students is B3, which is about: whether students continue in their degree, because clearly if they drop out, it is not of much value; whether they complete their degree, because clearly if they do not complete it, it is of zero value; and whether they get a job or progress into higher education afterwards. Those are the three quality measures we look at. Right now, the Office for Students is looking at 18 providers and two specific areas—business and management, and computer science—because there is a massive range in what people can expect to earn from jobs having followed one course or others, all of which seem to have the same name. There are quality issues, and we want to make sure that they are thoroughly investigated. The Office for Students is doing that."

Despite the Secretary of State's answer, it is still not clear what low-value degrees are.  

Blue Coat Church of England Academy held their Summer Prize Evening at St Matthews Church on Thursday 13 July 2023. The school was founded in 1656 as a charity school for orphans and deprived children in the borough. The Principal, Mr Smith, became Head in September 2016 and we have worked together on many issues affecting the School.  I was invited to give an address at the Summer Prize Evening and was delighted to accept. The Church was filled with parents, primary carers and pupils. I handed out the Certificates to the pupils from each year.  

In my speech I highlighted the kind and caring school ethos which was recognized in the latest OFSTED report that Blue Coat was " an inclusive school where kindness flourishes". This is exactly as set out in the Bible in the Gospel of Luke: Chapter 10 v 29, the principle of the Good neighbour, the story of the Good Samaritan. to help other people which Mr Smith does when he opens his school to everyone. He does not say no when children need a place. And this principle was embodied in our law establishing a legal principle set out by Lord Atkins when he posed the question, who then is my neighbour and answered by saying someone who is so closely affected by my actions that we have reasonably have them in mind; don't walk by on the other side; 

Each one of them is unique and have a unique set of talents and that a school is there to bring those talents out and help them to discover them. One day they will remember the voice of a teacher or someone at school who has helped them and spurred them on.  I asked my staff ( who are younger than me ! ) to let me know what they would have told their younger self and they suggested  "not to worry about what you want to be, change is constant; friends are important; and get a hobby which could include volunteering."

I added that my mother told me its never too late to be what you want to be. It is important to give something back and work for the common good and especially to the School. Follow Beethoven's advice and never stop learning;  and enjoy your successes along the way and to be resilient and persistent.

Our generation work hard to make the world a better place, it is now up to their generation to take up the challenge and I wished them all the luck and success i know they will rise to the challenge.         

 

On 12 July 2023 I attended a celebration of  Christina Rees MP's Ten Minute Rule Bill becoming law. The Act now prohibits the import and export of shark fins and makes provision relating to the removal of fins from sharks. The Shark Fins Bill received Royal Assent on 29 June 2023. I sat on the Bill Committee that scrutinised the Bill. The Shark Fins Bill received Royal Assent on 29 June 2023.

Before this law, 20kg of shark fins could be imported now this is 0.

This legislation will protect sharks and it is a tribute to Christina and the campaigners. The campaigners now have to convince the EU to enact the same protections.

The Shark Trust, Bite-Back and Shark Guardian, who were instrumental in the #SharkFins Bill becoming Law.




My colleagues also dropped in to celebrate the new law: (4th left to right) Mark Menzies MP, Martyn Day MP, Christina Rees MP, Kevin Brennan MP, are shown with me in the picture, together with the campaigners from the voluntary organisations.

The All Party Parliament Group on Portugal met the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, Augusto Santos Silva on Wednesday, 12 July 2023. Other members of the delegation were  His Excellency Nuno Brito Portuguese Ambassador to the UK; Sérgio Sousa Pinto MP President of the Parliamentary Foreign
Affairs Committee, and President of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with the United Kingdom (Socialist Party); Joaquim Miranda Sarmento MP Member of Parliament (Social Democratic Party, leader of the bench) João Dias MP Member of Parliament, Isabel Pires Member of Parliament (Left Bloc). 

President Santos Silva is a hugely experienced Socialist Party MP and former Foreign Minister. Born in Porto in 1956, both his parents were nurses. After graduating in history, he became a secondary school teacher and then a professor of economics at Porto University. In the early 1990s, he gained a PhD in sociology, focusing on popular culture. Santos Silva has been an MP since 2002, first for Porto and subsequently representing Portuguese expatriates outside Europe. He has served in many ministerial roles, including three times before becoming an MP: State Secretary (junior minister) of Educational Administration (1999-2000); Minister of Education (2000-2001); Minister of Culture (2001-2002); Minister for Parliamentary Affairs (2005-2009); and Defence Minister (2009-2011). He was Foreign Minister from 2015 until his appointment as Assembly President in 2022. As Foreign Minister, Santos Silva was one of the most influential and heavyweight members of Antonio Costa’s first two governments (2015-2022). He sees Brexit in principally geostrategic terms, fearing the EU will become more continental. He firmly believes Portugal should maintain its Atlanticist outlook, and that the post-Brexit relationship with the UK should be strong and close. 

Meeting delegations such as with Portugal's President of the Assembly and  Members of Parliament enable us to discuss issues that are important to both countries.  

On Tuesday 11 July 2023  there were 18 votes in the Commons on the amendments passed by the Lords which returned for the Commons to debate. It tokk over 5 hours to vote on the ammendments. The Government disagreed with every amendment and/or made amendments in lieu of those made by the House of Lords. The 18 divisions were as follows:

303-228 Lords amendment 1 disagreed to.

303-227 Lords amendment 6 disagreed to. Lords amendment 7 disagreed to.





299-228 Lords amendment 8 disagreed to.

304-228 Lords amendment 9 disagreed to. Lords amendment 12 disagreed to. Lords amendments 20 and 22 disagreed to. Government amendments (a) to (o) made in lieu of Lords amendments 2, 12, 20 and 22.


297-231 Lords amendment 23 disagreed to. Clause 10: Powers of detention -Lords amendment 30 disagreed to.

290-242 Lords amendment 31 disagreed to. Lords amendment 32 disagreed to.


299-227 Lords amendment 33 disagreed to. Lords amendments 34 to 36 disagreed to. Amendments (a) and (b) proposed in lieu of Lords amendments 31, 35 and 36.—(Robert Jenrick.)

284-242 Amendments (a) and (b) made in lieu of Lords amendments 31, 35 and 36. Lords amendments 37 and 38 disagreed to. Government amendments (a) to (e) made in lieu of Lords amendments 37 and 38.

300-229 Lords amendment 39 disagreed to. Lords amendments 40 to 49 disagreed to.

294-228 Lords amendment 50 disagreed to. Lords amendments 51 to 55 disagreed to.

285-243 Lords amendment 56 disagreed to. Lords amendments 57 to 67 disagreed to.

297-227 Lords amendment 73 disagreed to. Lords amendment 74 disagreed to. Government amendment (a) made in lieu of Lords amendments 73 and 74.

295-228 Lords amendment 90 disagreed to. Government amendments (a) to (c) made to the words so restored to the Bill.

296-220 Lords amendment 93 disagreed to.

295-220  Lords amendment 95 disagreed to. Government amendments (a) and (b) made in lieu of Lords amendment 95.

282-234 Lords amendment 102 disagreed to.

291-222 Lords amendment 103 disagreed to.

290-222 Lords amendment 104 disagreed to. Lords amendment 107 disagreed to. Lords amendments 3 to 5, 10, 11, 13 to 19, 21, 24 to 29, 68 to 72, 75 to 89, 91, 92, 94, 96 to 101, 105, 106, and 108 to 114 agreed to.

The Bill returned to the Lords and will return to the Commons.