Georgia Gould

Getting Britain Working Again

The Opposition have been remarkably silent for a long time about the failures in the system. They have been quick to ask us to take action, but less quick to set out what they would do differently. This is an issue that they failed to grip for years. We are tackling it head on, introducing legislation and putting investment right now into our communities. We had mention of the Experts at Hand service and the investment in new special schools that is making a difference today. Almost every single

Getting Britain Working Again

I will finish. I am really sorry—I have a two-and-a-half-year-old who kept me up all night, and I was feeling a bit faint. I want to conclude by setting out how important it is for this Government to support the next generation and to support young people. As we bring forward our Bill, we will have young people in our minds, particularly those with special educational needs and disabilities and those who have been let down. We will do everything in our power to support them. Ordered, That the de

Getting Britain Working Again

It is an honour to close today’s King’s Speech debate on behalf of His Majesty’s Government. I thank everyone from all parts of the Chamber for their thoughtful and wide-ranging contributions. I will come to some of their comments in detail, but I start by saying that it is a shame the shadow Minister did not ask for the help of the work experience student who supported the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) in developing his statistics today. The shadow Minister might have been a b

Topical Questions

We were delighted to announce £429 million for new speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and educational psychologists, which will go to communities around the country. We are working closely with colleagues in Health to ensure that there are no cold spots and that every single school and child has access to that essential support.

Multi-academy Trusts

This Government believe that a collaborative school system is the best way to drive high and rising standards, so that every child can achieve and thrive. In our schools White Paper, we have set out how we plan to support further collaboration while improving accountability to deliver the education our children deserve.

Multi-academy Trusts

I really welcome the hon. Lady’s question. I absolutely agree that we need to spot the early warning signs of financial failure. That is why we are bringing in a new Ofsted inspection framework for multi-academy trusts that will look at other issues, including governance and financial management.

Sports Facilities: Secondary Schools

The Government absolutely want to see children engaged in physical activity, and to support that through the school day. We have recently announced funding for school games organisers and will be setting out further information about our new partnership model, which will bring together different partners from across the private, public and voluntary sectors to ensure that children in every community have opportunities.

Topical Questions

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that critical issue. It is an area on which we are already working closely with health colleagues, both in our support for families but also in response to children’s SEND needs. We have a meeting later, where we will discuss the matter.

Topical Questions

I would be very happy to meet the hon. Member. The new framework has been designed to support the wellbeing of heads and to give a clear and full view of school performance, but I am happy to continue that conversation.

Topical Questions

We agree that special schools play an incredibly important role in the system by providing vital care for children with complex needs and supporting their wider education. They have an important role in the schools White Paper with regard both to education support and to the outreach they do for mainstream schools. We are proposing the introduction of specialist provision packages precisely in order to end the postcode lottery and create more clarity over what specialist provision should look li

Topical Questions

We are deeply grateful for the service of our armed forces families. I would welcome the opportunity to meet my hon. Friend, and I recently met members of the all-party parliamentary group on the armed forces. We will be bringing forward further admissions reforms shortly.

Sports Facilities: Secondary Schools

I would like to start by acknowledging the proactive response of the brilliant team at Budmouth academy in response to a recent meningitis case, and I am really pleased to hear how welcome the investment in the school rebuilding programme is at that academy. On top of that investment, the Aspirations Academies Trust has been provisionally allocated investment of over £1.9 million to improve its estates. I would welcome the opportunity to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this matter further.

Sports Facilities: Secondary Schools

The Government are opening up access to music, art, drama and—crucially—sport. We want schools to have access to high-quality sports facilities so that children can achieve and thrive. The Department is improving school facilities through guidance and rebuilding programmes, with £2.1 billion of capital funding.

Supported Internships

I welcome the hon. Lady’s question. We want to make it much easier for children with special educational needs and disabilities to find support and access opportunities, and are working closely with colleges to do that. As part of our reforms, we will be delivering new national inclusion standards that set out our expectations, and as I have said, we are investing in broadening supported internships.

Supported Internships

I am incredibly grateful for the work of my hon. Friend in championing children with special educational needs and disabilities, both before and during her time as a Member of Parliament, and thank her for bringing her expertise to this discussion. I would be delighted to visit and see some of the work of supported internships in practice. As I have set out, we have invested £9 million and are continuing to work with colleges to support inclusion, as well as support into employment.

Supported Internships

Last week we announced an expansion of our supported internships offer to unlock opportunities for more young people with special educational needs and disabilities, so that they can benefit from a seamless transition into the world of work. I have spoken to young people and teachers and heard how transformative supported internships can be for confidence and in supporting children to take those steps into work, and we are determined to get behind the talent of children with SEND.