27/06/2017

:00:10. > :00:17.Order. We are about to hear the first urgent question of the

:00:18. > :00:21.Parliament, I think it right to remind the House and particularly

:00:22. > :00:27.the front benches of the conventions on time limits. Colleagues will

:00:28. > :00:36.understand why do so because they have not been adhered to with any

:00:37. > :00:41.religiosity in recent times. For urgent questions, the Minister may

:00:42. > :00:46.speak for up to three minutes. The person asking the urgent question

:00:47. > :00:51.and the official spokesperson, where different, a maximum of two minutes

:00:52. > :00:56.each. And the third party spokesperson, a maximum of one

:00:57. > :01:00.minute. For all statements, the Minister is usually limited to ten

:01:01. > :01:06.minutes, the official opposition spokesperson to five minutes --

:01:07. > :01:11.oral. The third party spokesperson, two minutes. Members wishing to take

:01:12. > :01:18.part must be in the Chamber in accordance with very long

:01:19. > :01:21.established convention before they begin and colleagues should not

:01:22. > :01:26.expect to be called to ask a question if they are not in their

:01:27. > :01:30.place as the statement, the urgent question or business questions

:01:31. > :01:35.begin. In a moment, I shall call Jonathan Ashworth. It might be

:01:36. > :01:41.helpful if I indicate to the House that as there are not far short of

:01:42. > :01:47.70 members wishing to take part in the continued debate on the Queen's

:01:48. > :01:52.Speech, I would like the exchanges on this question not to on much

:01:53. > :01:58.beyond half an hour. Mr Jonathan Ashworth. I am grateful. To ask the

:01:59. > :02:06.Secretary of State to make a statement on NHS shared business

:02:07. > :02:11.services. The Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt. As the House

:02:12. > :02:16.knows, on the 24th of March 2016, I was informed of a serious incident

:02:17. > :02:21.with a large backlog of unprocessed NHS patient correspondence by the

:02:22. > :02:25.company contracted to deliver it to GP surgeries, NHS shared business

:02:26. > :02:34.services or SBS. The backlog arose from the primary care services GP

:02:35. > :02:39.mail redirection service that SPS was contracted to run. No documents

:02:40. > :02:42.were lost. But my agent concern was patient safety being compromised by

:02:43. > :02:46.the delay in forwarding correspondent. -- my immediate

:02:47. > :02:51.concern. A rapid process was started to determine if anyone was put at

:02:52. > :02:54.risk. We established an incident team, all of the documentation has

:02:55. > :02:59.now been sent on to the relevant GP surgery where it is possible to do

:03:00. > :03:04.so following an initial clinical assessment of where any patient risk

:03:05. > :03:13.may live. 200,000 pieces were temporary residence forms and many

:03:14. > :03:16.were assessed as low risk. At first triage identified 2508 with a higher

:03:17. > :03:22.risk of harm of which the vast majority have now been assessed by a

:03:23. > :03:28.GP. Of those 84% were confirmed as no harm the patients. 9% needed a

:03:29. > :03:32.further clinical review. To date, no harm has been confirmed to any

:03:33. > :03:36.patients as a result of the incident. Today Bosman National

:03:37. > :03:42.Audit Office report confirms patient safety was the department and NHS

:03:43. > :03:47.England primary's concern. -- today the National Audit Office.

:03:48. > :03:51.Transparency with the public and the House has been my priority. I was

:03:52. > :03:57.advised by my officials not to make the issue public last March until an

:03:58. > :04:03.assessment of the risks to patient safety had been completed and all

:04:04. > :04:08.relevant GP surgeries informed. I accepted that advice for the simple

:04:09. > :04:12.reason publicising the issue would have meant GP surgeries being

:04:13. > :04:17.inundated with inquiries from worried patients which would have

:04:18. > :04:20.prevented them doing the most important work, namely investigated

:04:21. > :04:25.the name patients who were potentially at risk. They practice

:04:26. > :04:28.statement about what had happened was not recommended by my department

:04:29. > :04:34.in July for the same reasons. The process was not complete. However,

:04:35. > :04:37.as I explained to the House in February, on balance, I decided it

:04:38. > :04:41.was important for the House to know what had happened before we broke

:04:42. > :04:46.the recess so I overruled that advice and placed a written

:04:47. > :04:50.statement on the 21st of July. Since then, the PAC has been kept readily

:04:51. > :04:54.informed, most recently being updated by my Permanent Secretary in

:04:55. > :04:59.February, the Information Commissioner was updated in August,

:05:00. > :05:02.I committed in July, 2016, to keeping the House updated once the

:05:03. > :05:08.investigations were complete and more was known and I will continue

:05:09. > :05:13.to do so. I welcome the Secretary of State to his place. Is it not an

:05:14. > :05:17.absolute scandal 709,000 letters including blood test results, cancer

:05:18. > :05:20.screening appointments, child protection notes, they were failed

:05:21. > :05:24.to be delivered, left in an unknown warehouse and many were destroyed

:05:25. > :05:28.and does not the NAA revealed today a shambolic catalogue of failures

:05:29. > :05:35.which took place on the Secretary of State's watch? As of four weeks ago,

:05:36. > :05:38.1700 cases of potential harm the patients have been identified with

:05:39. > :05:43.the number set to rise, a third of GPs have yet to respond on whether

:05:44. > :05:47.unprocessed item sent to them indicate potential harmful patients,

:05:48. > :05:52.does the Health Secretary not agree this delay is an acceptable and when

:05:53. > :05:56.will all outstanding items be reviewed and processed? He talks of

:05:57. > :06:00.transparency, but it came to this House in February because we

:06:01. > :06:10.summoned him to the House and in February, he told us he first

:06:11. > :06:12.situation on the 24th of March, 2016. The NAA report makes clear the

:06:13. > :06:16.department for help was informed of the issues on the 17th of March,

:06:17. > :06:20.2016. In fact, NHS England set up the incident team on the 23rd of

:06:21. > :06:25.March, before he was informed, despite him implying he set up the

:06:26. > :06:28.incident team. Can he clear up these discrepancies over the time lines

:06:29. > :06:33.between what he told the house and what was reported?

:06:34. > :06:39.He is a board member show aired services and many honourable members

:06:40. > :06:43.have warned him of delays with the transfers of records with shared

:06:44. > :06:48.business services, not least my right honourable friend from Exeter.

:06:49. > :06:52.Nominees were on the record, why did he not insist on stronger oversight

:06:53. > :06:57.of this contract and the cost of this tobacco could be at least 6.6

:06:58. > :07:02.million administration alone. That is the equivalent of the average

:07:03. > :07:05.national salary of 230 nurses. Cani Health Secretary say how these costs

:07:06. > :07:09.are going to be met and that he expect these costs on to escalate?

:07:10. > :07:14.Finally, does he agree with NAO that there is a conflict of interest

:07:15. > :07:19.between his role as Secretary of State and his role as a board

:07:20. > :07:23.member? Further to that is, can he explain why his predecessor as Brett

:07:24. > :07:30.Secretary of State sold on the 1st of January one a share from the

:07:31. > :07:34.Department to stereo, leaving the Secretary of State as a minority

:07:35. > :07:39.stake owner in the company and never informed Parliament and never

:07:40. > :07:44.reported in the Department of Health's final report. Order. We are

:07:45. > :07:47.immensely grateful to the honourable gentleman that sooner or later the

:07:48. > :07:51.discipline of sticking to two minutes has to take it here. I'm

:07:52. > :07:56.afraid it is as simple as that. Sorry, but you have had two other

:07:57. > :08:01.half. We are grateful to him. Let me respond to those points. First of

:08:02. > :08:04.all, what happened at SBS was totally unacceptable. It was

:08:05. > :08:08.incompetent and they should never have allowed that backlog to develop

:08:09. > :08:14.but before he gets on his high horse, can I remind him that SBS was

:08:15. > :08:19.set up and the governance arrangements concerning SBS was set

:08:20. > :08:21.up in 2008 at a time when a Labour Government was rather keen on

:08:22. > :08:27.contracting with the private sector. I know things have changed, but the

:08:28. > :08:31.fact of the matter is that in all this process, our priority has been

:08:32. > :08:35.to keep patients are safe and transparency is nearly always the

:08:36. > :08:38.right thing to do. I am the Secretary of State to introduce to

:08:39. > :08:41.transparency over standards of care in hospitals...

:08:42. > :08:45.LAUGHTER Well, I am interested that they are

:08:46. > :08:48.laughing after being the party responsible for sitting on what

:08:49. > :08:56.happened and staffs for four years when nothing was done. Transparency

:08:57. > :08:59.is incredibly important, but it is not an absolute virtue and in this

:09:00. > :09:05.case, there was a very specific reason why if we had informed the

:09:06. > :09:11.public and the House immediately, GPs surgeries would have been

:09:12. > :09:14.overwhelmed, 709,000 pieces of patient data we're talking about,

:09:15. > :09:18.and they would not have been able to get on as quickly as we needed them

:09:19. > :09:22.to do with identifying risk and that was the priority and that is what

:09:23. > :09:26.this report today confirms, that patient safety was the priority of

:09:27. > :09:30.the department and NHS England. I just put it to the honourable

:09:31. > :09:39.gentleman that if he was in my shoes and he was faced with advice that

:09:40. > :09:41.said that it was the wrong thing to go public straightaway because that

:09:42. > :09:45.would compromise the very important work GPs had to do to keep patients

:09:46. > :09:50.say, he would have followed the very same advice. That is why while I

:09:51. > :09:53.completely recognise that with the Government arrangements there is a

:09:54. > :09:58.potential conflict of interest, I do not accept there was an actual

:09:59. > :10:03.conflict of interest because patient safety concerns always overrode any

:10:04. > :10:10.interest that we had as a shareholder in their bag. Finally,

:10:11. > :10:12.let me say to him this, the NHS is a large organisation with a huge

:10:13. > :10:18.number of contracts with both the public and the private sector. No

:10:19. > :10:21.Government on any side can ever guarantee there will be absolutely

:10:22. > :10:25.no breach of contract, but what we can do is make sure we reacts

:10:26. > :10:29.quickly when that happens which happened on this occasion but we can

:10:30. > :10:32.also make sure that we have better assurance that we had on this

:10:33. > :10:38.occasion and I can assure the House that the appropriate lessons will be

:10:39. > :10:41.learned. Bus members from across the House will be relieved that so far

:10:42. > :10:44.no patients are identified as having been harmed by this appalling

:10:45. > :10:49.incident, can the Secretary of State set out what steps he is taking to

:10:50. > :10:55.ensure that can never happen again? Absolutely, I think there is a

:10:56. > :10:59.short-term and long-term lesson in this. The short-term point is that

:11:00. > :11:03.it is unlikely that this would happen again because this was about

:11:04. > :11:07.paper correspondence and we are increasingly moving all the transfer

:11:08. > :11:11.of correspondence to electronic systems, but I think the longer term

:11:12. > :11:13.point is exactly that. Someone mentioned cyber attacks on the

:11:14. > :11:18.opposite side of the how's and they are absolutely right to do so

:11:19. > :11:22.because of course you have different risks and what this very clearly

:11:23. > :11:26.indicates is that you have to have better checks in place so that when

:11:27. > :11:29.you are trusting an independent contractor with very important work

:11:30. > :11:36.we know that the job is actually being done and that did not happen

:11:37. > :11:40.on this occasion. The first night's findings are concerning for the

:11:41. > :11:44.families of patients cover up in the shambolic shambles. For those in the

:11:45. > :11:47.public, it will worsen the trust and misgivings we have in how the Tories

:11:48. > :11:51.are running the NHS and we can be happy that they're not in charge of

:11:52. > :11:55.Scotland. Freight company partly owned by the Department of Health to

:11:56. > :11:58.fail to deliver half a million NHS letters many of which contained

:11:59. > :12:03.information critical to patient care is simply astonishing. Not only were

:12:04. > :12:07.1700 people potentially at harm, but think of the thousands of other

:12:08. > :12:12.people who are potentially put at risk. Was this SBS contract properly

:12:13. > :12:16.scrutinised by the Secretary of State and does he know if patient

:12:17. > :12:19.care or cost-cutting was at the forefront of that decision on why

:12:20. > :12:23.did he Health Secretary only publish a bagel written statement in July

:12:24. > :12:30.2016 when he actually knew what was going on for months prior? Splendid,

:12:31. > :12:36.the honourable gentleman was within his time! He gets an additional

:12:37. > :12:40.grounding point. I say to the honourable gentleman that it is

:12:41. > :12:43.totally inappropriate to try and make political capital from this

:12:44. > :12:48.particular incident when you look at the facts of the case which is that

:12:49. > :12:51.today the National Audit Office published a report that patient

:12:52. > :12:55.safety was the primary concern of both the Department of Health and

:12:56. > :13:01.NHS England throughout. I civilly say to him that there were some

:13:02. > :13:05.problems with the assurance of that contract but that the contract and

:13:06. > :13:08.the relationship with the SBS in particular dates back 2008 and on

:13:09. > :13:13.all sides of the House, we need to learn the lessons of properly

:13:14. > :13:17.assuring NHS contracts and I dare say the same is true in Scotland. I

:13:18. > :13:21.support the Secretary of State's actions which I felt were quite

:13:22. > :13:25.right in difficult circumstances. Can he tell us what action will be

:13:26. > :13:29.taken about the executives who presided over this shambles and is

:13:30. > :13:34.any enforcement mechanism under the contract against the owner of the

:13:35. > :13:38.company? I can tell my right honourable friend that the company

:13:39. > :13:43.has been stripped of that contract. It was actually relieved of the

:13:44. > :13:48.contract back in 2015 and we are very clear that they will have two

:13:49. > :13:51.fulfil all their contractual requirements including paying their

:13:52. > :13:58.fair share of the costs which have been incurred as a result of this

:13:59. > :14:02.wholly regrettable incident. Patient confidentiality and safety must be

:14:03. > :14:07.treated with the utmost seriousness at all times. The NHS fails if it

:14:08. > :14:10.loses the trust of its patients. How did the Secretary of State for

:14:11. > :14:17.Health and the conclusion that risked more 1700 patients was merely

:14:18. > :14:22.due to an issue of e-mail distribution? I didn't come to that

:14:23. > :14:26.conclusion she is right as a doctor to say that patient trust in the way

:14:27. > :14:31.we hold their record is very important. In this case, the

:14:32. > :14:35.correspondence written concerning patients was not forwarded but it

:14:36. > :14:39.wasn't lost either, it was held securely zonal patient data was put

:14:40. > :14:42.at risk but it should have been forwarded on to another part of the

:14:43. > :14:47.NHS and it was not, it was effectively stockpiled and that is

:14:48. > :14:53.what caused the concerns and we have been going through the high-priority

:14:54. > :14:58.cases. So far, the vast majority of cases have had a two clinical

:14:59. > :15:01.reviews and the ones that we are still concerned about are having a

:15:02. > :15:08.third clinical reviews we are taking this extremely severe sleep.

:15:09. > :15:11.Speaker, the Secretary of State mentioned Staffordshire and also

:15:12. > :15:15.patient safety which is critical but can I just point out that the county

:15:16. > :15:21.Hospital in Stafford now has an excellent record, is currently

:15:22. > :15:25.seeing 27 patients in a knee with a waiting time of not more than one

:15:26. > :15:29.hour according to the output I have on my phone. Can you confirm that

:15:30. > :15:34.the situation has been transformed usually fantastic work of the staff

:15:35. > :15:40.in a hospital? I am happy to confirm that and I am also happy to say that

:15:41. > :15:44.the problems that we had in the old mid Staffs which I'm afraid we had

:15:45. > :15:50.in many parts of the NHS are being addressed much much more quickly

:15:51. > :16:00.because of an independent oversight regime, the new sea QC inspection

:16:01. > :16:05.regime. And independent in the law assessor that the party to try to

:16:06. > :16:11.put down. Recommends the haves the debate I secured on November 2011 in

:16:12. > :16:15.which I warned in terms of the Government about the very poor

:16:16. > :16:20.record of SBS and I urged them not to part privatise what had been an

:16:21. > :16:26.excellent NHS service. Ministers said at the time the new contracts

:16:27. > :16:31.would save ?250 million. Will he now tell the House how much this scandal

:16:32. > :16:34.has cost rather than save the taxpayer and will he apologise to

:16:35. > :16:42.both the staff and the patients affected? Well, the costs are in it

:16:43. > :16:45.excess of six million and we are trying to recover as much of that as

:16:46. > :16:50.we possibly can from the company involved. Can I do say to him, I

:16:51. > :16:53.know that the regime in his party has changed, but to try and turn

:16:54. > :16:59.this into an issue about privatisation when his own party and

:17:00. > :17:02.indeed his all that time is Health Secretary we had problems at Mid

:17:03. > :17:05.Staffs which were firmly in the public sector is wholly

:17:06. > :17:12.inappropriate. This is about proper assurance of what is going on in the

:17:13. > :17:16.NHS and all sides of the House need to learn their lessons. In order to

:17:17. > :17:21.reassure my constituents, please can my right honourable friend confirmed

:17:22. > :17:25.that NHS SBS no longer provides that this direction service and that all

:17:26. > :17:29.correspondence that have been backlogged has now been delivered to

:17:30. > :17:36.the relevant GPs' surgeries for filing annual patient harm has been

:17:37. > :17:41.found in this case? My honourable friend is exactly right. Of course,

:17:42. > :17:47.we welcome the fact that there has been no patient harm identified to

:17:48. > :17:53.date. We have to wait until the process of... Of third clinical

:17:54. > :17:57.reviews are completed on the at risk patients' records which will happen

:17:58. > :18:02.by the end of December, but she is absolutely right to say that SBS is

:18:03. > :18:07.no longer performing this contract. It has been taken in-house. Other

:18:08. > :18:12.parts of the SBS contract is not related to what we are discussing

:18:13. > :18:15.today have been given to another supplier. Does the Secretary of

:18:16. > :18:21.State is not agree with me that this is a very straightforward case. It

:18:22. > :18:24.shows a lack of transparency. A good example of why so many of us have

:18:25. > :18:30.concerns about too much private sector involvement in the NHS and

:18:31. > :18:36.bluntly, a frank conflict of interest for the Secretary of State.

:18:37. > :18:41.I acknowledged in my statement that there was a... There is a potential

:18:42. > :18:44.or there was a potential conflict of interest when the contract with SBS

:18:45. > :18:48.was in operation and that is something that the National Audit

:18:49. > :18:53.Office talk about today, but in reality as the National Audit Office

:18:54. > :18:57.confirmed, patient safety was always our overriding priority in terms of

:18:58. > :19:00.all the decisions we took. I would suggest to him as with the Shadow

:19:01. > :19:05.Health Secretary that he would have taken exactly the same decisions had

:19:06. > :19:08.he been in my shoes. He has confirmed that the contract has now

:19:09. > :19:14.been taken in-house. Cani confirmed that this is a totally different

:19:15. > :19:17.operation and that other people are actually involved in making the

:19:18. > :19:21.decisions and are now involved in making the decisions on the current

:19:22. > :19:29.service? I can absolutely confirm that. Mr Speaker, I am pleased that

:19:30. > :19:32.the Secretary of State at least acknowledges the its incompetent but

:19:33. > :19:36.crucially, does this not run deeper? Questions were first raised in

:19:37. > :19:41.January 2014, then again internally by the administrator in June of

:19:42. > :19:47.2015. He only found out Secretary of State for Health in March last year

:19:48. > :19:51.and we only found out and were only able to look at this in September

:19:52. > :19:56.because it was released on the final day that Parliament sat last summer.

:19:57. > :19:59.He talks about transparency but does he not think that there are deeper

:20:00. > :20:03.lessons to be learned here about transparency but also about how the

:20:04. > :20:11.NHS supports whistle-blowers? I think the two big lessons that we

:20:12. > :20:16.need to learn is first of all why the company 's internal systems sat

:20:17. > :20:21.on the flak that this mail was building up into a backlogged really

:20:22. > :20:26.from 2011 on words and there were no internal systems in that company so

:20:27. > :20:30.that according to be NAO report today, it didn't get escalated to

:20:31. > :20:34.the chief executive's the end of 2015 and that is wholly

:20:35. > :20:37.unacceptable. But I also think that it is unacceptable that we didn't

:20:38. > :20:40.have the assurance systems in place so that we didn't know that know

:20:41. > :20:41.that that backlog was building up and that is why it is so important

:20:42. > :20:51.that lessons are learned. Who drew up the contract for the

:20:52. > :21:01.redirection service which omitted any key performance indicators? The

:21:02. > :21:06.original contracts with SBS went back to 2008, when they started

:21:07. > :21:09.they were renewed in 2011. That is they were renewed in 2011. That

:21:10. > :21:16.why I think it is happening on both why I think it is happening on both

:21:17. > :21:16.sides of the House we need to sides of the House we need

:21:17. > :21:23.reflect on. 700,000 pieces of medical evidence went missing, over

:21:24. > :21:27.a five-year period without being discovered, gross incompetence, I

:21:28. > :21:31.would say. Can I ask what has been done to set right this wrong

:21:32. > :21:35.especially for those families left behind and affected by this very

:21:36. > :21:43.worrying incident? A huge operation has happened to deal with this, as

:21:44. > :21:46.he knows, there were 709,000 pieces of correspondence, so we did an

:21:47. > :21:51.initial clinical triage to identify which ones were low risk, things

:21:52. > :21:56.like change of address, and which were higher risk, things like test

:21:57. > :22:02.results, and we identify 2500 word there was a high priority, and of

:22:03. > :22:07.those, so far 84% have been identified as no clinical risk but

:22:08. > :22:11.we are doing more cynical research. I'm sure the Secretary of State will

:22:12. > :22:16.be aware that for many patients created by the media is that

:22:17. > :22:20.documents have been lost. Can he confirmed it was kept in secure

:22:21. > :22:30.conditions on NHS premises or insecure archive facilities? I am

:22:31. > :22:34.happy to confirm that. -- in secure archive facilities. What happened

:22:35. > :22:44.was unacceptable but no patient data was lost. He says that no patients

:22:45. > :22:47.were harmed and the documents were stored, but 35 sacks of male were

:22:48. > :22:56.destroyed, how does he made the right call in every situation? Just

:22:57. > :23:01.to be clear, to date, there is no evidence of any patients being

:23:02. > :23:03.harmed, but the process of proper clinical review with

:23:04. > :23:08.multidisciplinary teams will take until the end of this year. We have

:23:09. > :23:12.to do it properly. We hope it remains the case that no patients

:23:13. > :23:18.are harmed but we will not know until the end of this year. But we

:23:19. > :23:22.have throughout the process been prioritising the highest risk cases

:23:23. > :23:26.and making sure they get the most urgent attention. Following this

:23:27. > :23:29.failure, I welcome the decisive action taken by the Secretary of

:23:30. > :23:34.State to bring in the national incident team. How will we learn the

:23:35. > :23:40.lessons going forward and share the best practice as discovered by the

:23:41. > :23:47.national incident team? I thank my honourable friend for his question.

:23:48. > :23:50.I think the NHS is extremely good at responding to a crisis and

:23:51. > :23:54.emergencies as tragically we have found out in the last few months and

:23:55. > :23:58.this was an example where the NHS did a very good job when they

:23:59. > :24:02.realised the scale of the problem. For me, the lessons that need to be

:24:03. > :24:05.learned not about the response to the issue, but about the assurance

:24:06. > :24:12.processes that allowed the problem to happen in first place. The

:24:13. > :24:17.National Audit Office say the review of the backlog of correspondence has

:24:18. > :24:21.found 1788 cases of potential harm the patients so can the Secretary of

:24:22. > :24:30.State tell us what action he is taking to support those patients? I

:24:31. > :24:35.can. In all of those Cases, they will have been looked at by two

:24:36. > :24:39.clinicians already, and on the basis of reviews so far, no patient harm

:24:40. > :24:42.has been identified. Because we want to be absolutely sure, we are having

:24:43. > :24:48.a third even more thorough clinical review with potentially more than

:24:49. > :24:58.one set of clinicians so that we can absolutely get to the bottom and

:24:59. > :25:03.find out. I understand the inquiry has focused upon patient risk,

:25:04. > :25:07.however, has any analysis been undertaken on the impact on patient

:25:08. > :25:12.waiting times? That can also be extremely important in terms of

:25:13. > :25:17.patient care. How many patients exactly have waited longer than they

:25:18. > :25:19.should for treatment needed? She is right, that is one of the most

:25:20. > :25:22.critical question is when it comes critical question is when it comes

:25:23. > :25:25.to trying to understand whether there was any actual patient harm,

:25:26. > :25:30.if someone was waiting for a test result that did not arrive at the GP

:25:31. > :25:35.surgery, ordinarily, what would be likely to happen is the GP would

:25:36. > :25:39.chase that test result and get a copy of it and there would be no

:25:40. > :25:43.delay to a patient's treatment. But only by looking at the patient's

:25:44. > :25:47.notes can you understand whether any harm is likely to have happened. So

:25:48. > :25:53.far, we have not identified any but we will continue to look. Can the

:25:54. > :25:58.Secretary of State tell the house in February and has repeated today that

:25:59. > :26:04.all correspondence was kept safe and secure, so when did he know that 35

:26:05. > :26:12.sacks of male had been destroyed by staff and why has he not mentioned

:26:13. > :26:19.that since? I was informed, and she knows, at the end of March, in 2016,

:26:20. > :26:24.but the issue around the correspondence that was destroyed

:26:25. > :26:30.relates to procedures around what it is legitimate to do when patients

:26:31. > :26:35.have been dead for ten years. We are not aware at the moment of any

:26:36. > :26:41.specific risk to patients as a result of those sacks of mail being

:26:42. > :26:48.destroyed but we will look at the issue very closely. The Secretary of

:26:49. > :26:53.State was made aware of the failings of this contract in the House in

:26:54. > :26:57.2011. He was warned about the dangers of this contract. Yet he

:26:58. > :27:01.went on and did not take up two places on the board of the company.

:27:02. > :27:06.Wouldn't it have added to the overall scrutiny of this contract

:27:07. > :27:11.and isn't he guilty of being asleep at the wheel? I have been Health

:27:12. > :27:20.Secretary for a long time, but not as far back as 2011, so I wasn't

:27:21. > :27:25.Health Secretary at that particular time. But the question he raises is

:27:26. > :27:29.important and let me tell him, it is true that the Department of Health

:27:30. > :27:33.was entitled to three seats on the board of SBS and we only took up

:27:34. > :27:37.one. But I do not believe it would have made a difference because the

:27:38. > :27:43.role of the board directors was to be shareholders, to represent the

:27:44. > :27:48.Department of Health as shareholders of SBS. What we needed was better

:27:49. > :27:53.assurance of the implementation of the contract, that needed to happen

:27:54. > :27:58.with the NHS as a contractor to SBS and that is the lesson that needs to

:27:59. > :28:02.be learned. The Secretary of State talks about the need to learn

:28:03. > :28:07.lessons but we have seen a pattern across government, not just in the

:28:08. > :28:10.Department of Health, but in work and pensions where contracts are

:28:11. > :28:15.awarded to companies and they fail miserably, Home Office too. They

:28:16. > :28:18.have the contract taken away but then they are awarded another

:28:19. > :28:23.government contract. Some companies simply not fit for purpose when it

:28:24. > :28:29.comes to delivering public services. I would say to the honourable lady

:28:30. > :28:33.that we do need to be robust when people fail on the contracts they

:28:34. > :28:37.have with the public sector, I do not say this is only something that

:28:38. > :28:40.affects private sector companies, I think we contract with people in the

:28:41. > :28:45.public sector and we are let down and equally we need to be robust

:28:46. > :28:49.when the right things do not happen. The lesson from what happened with

:28:50. > :28:52.SBS is we need to understand much more quickly when things are going

:28:53. > :28:59.wrong so we can nip the problem in the bud. That did not happen this

:29:00. > :29:03.time. Dennis Skinner. How many more times as the Secretary of State

:29:04. > :29:09.going to come to this House like he has done on countless occasions and

:29:10. > :29:18.he personally is at the centre of the controversy? Even a cat only has

:29:19. > :29:30.nine lives. You seem to have far too many. I am not sure I have as many

:29:31. > :29:33.lives as he does. My honourable friend from tooting is absolutely

:29:34. > :29:39.right when she suggests the Secretary of State is trying to

:29:40. > :29:42.downgrade 1700 cases of potential harm and the potential conflict of

:29:43. > :29:47.interest as no more than an administrative error by a contracted

:29:48. > :29:51.out service. In my own constituency, a tender for cancer care was ended

:29:52. > :29:54.prematurely costing millions of pounds to the taxpayer and are these

:29:55. > :29:58.not examples of where the ideological agenda of the party

:29:59. > :30:05.opposite to contract out our NHS services is failing and as a result

:30:06. > :30:08.patients are suffering? Quite the opposite. Because what those

:30:09. > :30:12.examples show is that when the private sector lets us down, we take

:30:13. > :30:16.the contracts off the private sector. That is what happened in the

:30:17. > :30:23.case that raised and that is what happened with SBS as well. Services

:30:24. > :30:28.in my constituency saved ?120 million in four years. When it was

:30:29. > :30:32.privatised, it lost ?4 million and it goes on being inefficient. Can

:30:33. > :30:38.the Government escape from this paralysis but is costing the country

:30:39. > :30:42.so much about everything private is good and everything public is bad?

:30:43. > :30:49.Would they look not to outsourcing but to in sourcing services from the

:30:50. > :30:54.inefficient private sector back to the wonderful efficient civil

:30:55. > :30:57.service we have? Let me gently remind him the last government in

:30:58. > :31:02.this country that had an active policy of increasing private sector

:31:03. > :31:06.market share in the NHS was the last Labour government and it was this

:31:07. > :31:09.government, this government, that legislated to stop the Government

:31:10. > :31:20.nationally prioritising the private sector and make it a decision of

:31:21. > :31:25.individual doctors at a local level. As a doctor myself, I understand the

:31:26. > :31:29.importance of ensuring results and letters are viewed in a timely

:31:30. > :31:33.manner. In any system relying on bits of paper being sent around,

:31:34. > :31:38.there will always be the opportunity for error. It is why in hospital

:31:39. > :31:42.such as Peterborough where I have worked they provide results

:31:43. > :31:47.electronically which is quicker, as well as in back up paper form which

:31:48. > :31:52.provides for patient safety. Can the Secretary of State reassure us good

:31:53. > :31:56.practice such as this is being rolled out? Absolutely. She is right

:31:57. > :32:03.to point out that we are in a different world to the world we were

:32:04. > :32:06.in in 2011. The future is to transport patient records securely

:32:07. > :32:11.over Alec on its systems. It is much quicker and there is much less room

:32:12. > :32:17.for error. -- over electronic systems. I wrote for the Secretary

:32:18. > :32:22.of State on behalf of a GP practice, there are concerns about the

:32:23. > :32:25.potential impact on staff. I raise this again four months ago when we

:32:26. > :32:29.had the urgent question previously. He promised to look into the impact

:32:30. > :32:35.on staff. Could he report back to the House today? Well, I will relook

:32:36. > :32:41.at the situation in his particular surgery. I will make sure that we

:32:42. > :32:46.are learning any lessons that need to be learned. What I would say to

:32:47. > :32:50.him is that this is a complex process, there have already been in

:32:51. > :32:53.the vast majority of the high-risk cases two clinical reviews and we

:32:54. > :32:58.wanted a third one to establish whether there was any actual patient

:32:59. > :33:02.harm. That takes clinician time and that is one of the reasons why we

:33:03. > :33:06.are not able to have completed the process by today and it will take

:33:07. > :33:09.until Christmas to do that because we have to balance the other

:33:10. > :33:16.responsibilities clinicians have in their daily work. Earlier the

:33:17. > :33:20.Secretary of State assure the House individual directors responsible for

:33:21. > :33:25.this catastrophe are no longer in a position to cause similar damage. Is

:33:26. > :33:29.he aware that through companies house records, it shows the same

:33:30. > :33:37.three or four names associated with SBS come up time and time again?

:33:38. > :33:41.There is a group of companies, most of which advertise the fact they do

:33:42. > :33:48.a lot of work for the NHS. One of them including titled NHS Shared

:33:49. > :33:52.Employee Services Limited which suggests that far from having been

:33:53. > :33:54.removed from influence, the individual directors legally

:33:55. > :34:00.responsible for this disaster are still very much in a position to

:34:01. > :34:04.make money for themselves and preside over similar disasters in

:34:05. > :34:08.the future. I note his comments but he also understands I am not in a

:34:09. > :34:12.position to pass judgment at the dispatch box on the behaviour of

:34:13. > :34:16.individuals. The Department of Business has very respected and well

:34:17. > :34:20.established systems in place to make sure people who are not fit and

:34:21. > :34:25.proper to be company directors are not able to continue with their

:34:26. > :34:35.duties. My constituents are served not by the tab when contract but by

:34:36. > :34:37.the Capital project. They are incapable of logging and following

:34:38. > :34:46.through with complaints. Why isn't this contract which is clearly fake

:34:47. > :34:51.tee failing not taken back in-house by the Government? -- why isn't this

:34:52. > :34:56.contract which is clearly failing. I know she worked very hard with my

:34:57. > :35:02.department to try to get with problems with capita, I understand

:35:03. > :35:06.the situation is improving but I will happily look into the

:35:07. > :35:11.individual situation she raises. Just picking up on the Secretary of

:35:12. > :35:16.State's comment that it takes time and if I heard correctly, the one

:35:17. > :35:21.third of GPs have failed to respond, what steps is he taking to make sure

:35:22. > :35:27.patient care is not being compromised by the extra admin

:35:28. > :35:33.burden for already overworked GPs? We are paying money to GP surgeries

:35:34. > :35:37.for the extra admin time this is taking and that is designed to make

:35:38. > :35:41.sure that where necessary, they can buy in extra resources to deal with

:35:42. > :35:45.the extra admin involved. She is right to say we have to make sure

:35:46. > :35:50.the call work GPs do is not compromised by this issue.

:35:51. > :35:56.As someone who used to work in the NHS as a clinical scientist, I know

:35:57. > :36:01.all too well the potential harm that could be caused by a nonarrival of a

:36:02. > :36:03.test result. If a diagnostic test is performed and the result goes

:36:04. > :36:07.nowhere and is not seen by clinicians as was the case here, it

:36:08. > :36:12.is the same health outcome as if the test were not done at all. What a

:36:13. > :36:16.Secretary of State stop time to downplay this situation and all up

:36:17. > :36:20.to the seriousness of this scandal? I don't think anyone listening

:36:21. > :36:27.objectively could possibly say that on the side of the House I or any of

:36:28. > :36:30.us our downplaying what is a very serious situation. What we have

:36:31. > :36:36.instituted since the issue came to light is a review of the 709,000

:36:37. > :36:41.pieces of patients correspondence. We have identified the high priority

:36:42. > :36:45.once, 2508. There have been too and sometimes three clinical tests are

:36:46. > :36:52.done on all of them and to date, no patient harm has been identified but

:36:53. > :36:54.we are not complacent and we will continue that process until we have

:36:55. > :36:59.been through every single patient record with that thoroughness. I too

:37:00. > :37:02.want to mention the capital project -- contract because this is not a

:37:03. > :37:08.nice latest case. There is a pattern occurring with the Government is

:37:09. > :37:11.failing in its governance over patient records. Will the Secretary

:37:12. > :37:15.of State is now reviewed at governance and bring that back

:37:16. > :37:22.in-house? It is so urgent that we oversee safety of patients first. I

:37:23. > :37:27.did to confirm to her honourable friends at that I will look into the

:37:28. > :37:31.outstanding issues with the capita contracts with GPs which are not

:37:32. > :37:34.related to the delivery of patient records. My understanding is that

:37:35. > :37:43.things have got better, but we were very unhappy with the initial

:37:44. > :37:50.performance that we got from R. In a moment, to ask for a debate very

:37:51. > :37:55.matter which requires urgent debate, I shall call the honourable member

:37:56. > :37:59.Mr Peter Wishart. The honourable gentleman has up to three minutes in

:38:00. > :38:05.which to make his application. Mr Pete Wishart. This thank you, Mr

:38:06. > :38:10.Speaker. I propose that they have should debate a specific and

:38:11. > :38:12.important matter for urgent consideration, namely the

:38:13. > :38:17.Government's confidence and supply deal with the Democratic Unionist

:38:18. > :38:20.Party and its associated funding arrangements. Accordingly,

:38:21. > :38:25.therefore, I would like to apply for an emergency debate understanding

:38:26. > :38:27.order number 24. Mr Speaker, yesterday morning, the Government

:38:28. > :38:31.confirmed a confidence and supply agreement with the Democratic

:38:32. > :38:35.Unionist Party to secure a working majority in this Parliament. The

:38:36. > :38:39.central part of this deal involves a funding arrangements that would see

:38:40. > :38:44.Northern Ireland benefit with over ?1 billion of extra investment over

:38:45. > :38:48.other nations of the United Kingdom who were to secure next to nothing.

:38:49. > :38:53.The full details of this deal must be fully debated and all the issues

:38:54. > :38:55.properly scrutinised as quickly as possible, certainly ahead of

:38:56. > :39:00.Thursday's votes on the humble address. Mr Speaker, yesterday,

:39:01. > :39:04.there was an hour-long statement with little notice from the first

:39:05. > :39:08.secretary though he took questions from honourable and Right Honourable

:39:09. > :39:11.members. This cannot be considered satisfactory given the significance

:39:12. > :39:17.and importance of this deal and members must be given a chance to

:39:18. > :39:19.fully debate all the issues. Mr Speaker, the normal arrangements for

:39:20. > :39:24.the funding of the nations of the United Kingdom have been turned on

:39:25. > :39:27.their heads with the disregard for the Barnett Formula. At the Barnett

:39:28. > :39:31.Formula be applied, Scotland would be entitled to nearly ?2.9 billion

:39:32. > :39:36.of additional funding and Wales an extra 1.7 billion. The first

:39:37. > :39:41.secretary yesterday claimed that this deal was to be compared to

:39:42. > :39:46.allocations made under city deals. This is not the case and that

:39:47. > :39:49.assertion must be tested. In Scotland, city deals are match

:39:50. > :39:53.funded by the Scottish Government and local authority partners. Mr

:39:54. > :39:58.Speaker, Northern Ireland is not a city! Are also questions about the

:39:59. > :40:02.role of the Scotland Office in all of this. On Sunday, the Secretary of

:40:03. > :40:06.State for Scotland is noted that he would not support any funding which,

:40:07. > :40:11.I called, is deliberately sought to subvert the Barnett rules. This

:40:12. > :40:16.clearly does. This deal failed that test. We need to know if the

:40:17. > :40:18.Scotland Office and made representations to be Prime Minister

:40:19. > :40:23.in advance of this deal being announced and if he did, did

:40:24. > :40:27.anything at all and all the new Scottish members of Parliament, did

:40:28. > :40:31.anything to protect Scotland's vital funding interests in this field. Mr

:40:32. > :40:34.Speaker, while we welcome the increased funding for Northern

:40:35. > :40:36.Ireland, we believe that there are serious questions regarding the

:40:37. > :40:47.relevance of the Barnett Formula in the light of this new deal. If this

:40:48. > :40:49.of ideological austerity, all regions and nations should benefit

:40:50. > :40:52.to. I believe this matter requires more attention from a house and I

:40:53. > :40:59.humbly request and current debates to get the answers this House and

:41:00. > :41:04.this country needs. The honourable member asks leave to have an urgent

:41:05. > :41:08.debate, namely the DUP funding deal. I have listened carefully. It was my

:41:09. > :41:11.decision to allocate to the honourable gentleman three minutes

:41:12. > :41:19.and wished Mrs case to the application from the honourable

:41:20. > :41:24.member. I am not convinced this is to be discussed under order 24. I

:41:25. > :41:28.understand that will disappoint the honourable gentleman, but he is a

:41:29. > :41:32.persistent terrier and I feel sure that he and other members from his

:41:33. > :41:35.benches will raise this matter in all sorts of ways in days to come

:41:36. > :41:39.and they will not be deterred in any way by default that they might be

:41:40. > :41:44.repeating themselves. LAUGHTER

:41:45. > :41:49.They were very properly return to this matter and as and when they

:41:50. > :41:56.wish, preferably when they are on their feet rather than as

:41:57. > :42:01.exemplified by the honourable member from the comfort of his seat. We

:42:02. > :42:06.will leave it there for now. Point of order, Mr Andrew Gwynne. Got a

:42:07. > :42:10.point of order, yesterday I raise the lack of clarity from the

:42:11. > :42:15.Communities Secretary on the Government's plans to introduce

:42:16. > :42:20.local retention of business rates to replace the revenue support grant to

:42:21. > :42:24.local authorities. In reply, the Secretary of State indicated that

:42:25. > :42:29.today's Queen 's speech debate may be an opportunity to raise the

:42:30. > :42:34.matter. Has the Secretary of State given you, sir, are any indication

:42:35. > :42:38.that he intends to make an oral statement on these matters during

:42:39. > :42:42.the forthcoming debate and how might members with an interest in this

:42:43. > :42:46.matter adequately question him if they have not put in to speak in the

:42:47. > :42:49.debate? Well, I am grateful to the

:42:50. > :42:57.honourable gentleman for his point of order. The relevant minister

:42:58. > :43:03.will, I think, be making a speaks to the House. That does not constitute

:43:04. > :43:07.a statement as such, but it is nevertheless a full treatment of the

:43:08. > :43:14.issues of which the minister wishes to treat. In answer to the

:43:15. > :43:17.honourable gentleman's second inquiry, how do members probably

:43:18. > :43:25.minister if they haven't put in to make a speech, the short answer to

:43:26. > :43:31.that is by intervention and it's not for me to try to set myself up as an

:43:32. > :43:38.executive coach and the honourable gentleman wouldn't wish me to do so,

:43:39. > :43:45.but of course, the idea of members proceeding collectively with the

:43:46. > :43:48.same line of inquiry is not entirely a novel idea and if the label

:43:49. > :43:51.gentleman wishes to encourage his colleagues to focus on a particular

:43:52. > :43:56.theme or point and keep repeating that theme more point until they are

:43:57. > :44:00.satisfied, it is perfectly open to him to do so. I feel sure the

:44:01. > :44:05.honourable gentleman's followers or disciples will listen to his advice

:44:06. > :44:11.with the very closest interest and at all times. We will leave it there

:44:12. > :44:15.for now. A separate and unrelated point of order from Mr Paul Flynn.

:44:16. > :44:21.With your prodigious memory, you may recall that the final point of order

:44:22. > :44:25.at the last parliament was a worry that the electoral system in this

:44:26. > :44:31.country is more open to corruption than at any time since 1880 and it

:44:32. > :44:36.is possible now to buy an election. I do not know if you saw the Channel

:44:37. > :44:42.4 programme about the activities in Wales of a call centre that was

:44:43. > :44:44.employed by the Conservative Party throughout the election to

:44:45. > :44:50.concentrate on my constituency amongst others and it wasn't giving

:44:51. > :44:55.a market researcher carrying out any kind of market research, it was

:44:56. > :45:01.being used to give information that was damaging to the Labour Party to

:45:02. > :45:04.as many voters as possible. 100 people employed doing that, paid to

:45:05. > :45:08.do it and the allegation was also made, and I can confirm it, from my

:45:09. > :45:14.constituency that canvassing was done from this call centre on

:45:15. > :45:18.polling day as well. And I had many complaints about people getting

:45:19. > :45:25.repeated calls. We have an electoral system that is not fit for purpose.

:45:26. > :45:28.We are in an age now where the Electoral Commission or the

:45:29. > :45:32.information commission can handle the election to restore the

:45:33. > :45:36.integrity to our electoral system, we need major reforms and I'm sure

:45:37. > :45:41.you will use your office to ensure that that is accelerated. I am

:45:42. > :45:45.grateful to the honourable gentleman for his point of order. He invests

:45:46. > :45:50.me with housing influence that I may not currently possess, but I am very

:45:51. > :45:53.grateful to the honourable gentleman for encouraging an increase in said

:45:54. > :45:57.influences. As it happens, I recall the last point of order of the last

:45:58. > :46:02.Parliament and it is very reasonable of the honourable gentleman to draw

:46:03. > :46:08.my attention to it. My pithy advice is that if the honourable gentleman

:46:09. > :46:14.has ongoing concerns about what might constitute an offence, he

:46:15. > :46:17.should notify both the Electoral Commission and, indeed, the police.

:46:18. > :46:20.I did not see the Channel 4 documentary to which the honourable

:46:21. > :46:26.gentleman refers, although I have a feeling that he will exalt me to

:46:27. > :46:30.view it sooner rather than later, what I would say is that if there

:46:31. > :46:33.had been egregious activities taking place in his own constituency, I

:46:34. > :46:40.don't suggest that this invalidates his concern because it doesn't, but

:46:41. > :46:42.manifestly, those activities have not been successful if they were

:46:43. > :46:49.directed against the honourable gentleman. But I think that that

:46:50. > :46:54.isn't altogether surprising as the honourable gentleman has been a

:46:55. > :46:58.consistent presence in this House for three decades and he might not

:46:59. > :47:01.yet averagely halfway mark in his parliamentary career at 1020 on

:47:02. > :47:06.ruble member for Bolsover, but he is getting a bit nearer to it. We will

:47:07. > :47:11.leave it there perhaps for now. If there are no further points of

:47:12. > :47:18.order, the clerk will now proceed to beat the orders of the day. Queen 's

:47:19. > :47:21.speech, motion for an address, adjourned debate. The question is

:47:22. > :47:28.that a humble address should be presented to Her Majesty as on the

:47:29. > :47:35.order paper. I call the Secretary of State, Justine Greening. Thank you,

:47:36. > :47:42.Mr Speaker. It is a pleasure to be able to open up this Queen's speech

:47:43. > :47:48.debate this afternoon. Mr Speaker, this 2010, this Government has been

:47:49. > :47:51.focused on the pursuit of higher standards in education. Higher

:47:52. > :47:56.standards in our schools, higher standards in our universities and

:47:57. > :48:00.higher standards in technical education. In fact, higher standards

:48:01. > :48:03.across the border to unlock the talent in every single one of our

:48:04. > :48:09.young people. And we have made significant progress thanks to the

:48:10. > :48:15.energy of our greatest teachers and leaders, now nine out of ten schools

:48:16. > :48:20.are good are outstanding. With 1.8 million more children in those

:48:21. > :48:23.places that since 2010. Thanks to the energy of our thriving

:48:24. > :48:28.universities, more young people are going to university than ever

:48:29. > :48:31.before, including more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

:48:32. > :48:36.Thanks to the energy of businesses, we are well on our way to achieving

:48:37. > :48:41.our target of 3 million apprenticeships by 2020. Perhaps

:48:42. > :48:45.more than most apartments, the legislation that we need to drive up

:48:46. > :48:50.education standards and opportunity is already in place. And in the last

:48:51. > :48:55.parliamentary session alone, we passed the technical and further

:48:56. > :48:58.education act, creating the Institute for apprenticeships and

:48:59. > :49:03.technical education to oversee our bold new reforms. We passed the

:49:04. > :49:07.higher education and research act, the most significant legislative

:49:08. > :49:11.reform of the past 25 years for higher education to give students

:49:12. > :49:18.better value, more choice and information and more opportunity.

:49:19. > :49:21.And we passed the children and social work act to better protect

:49:22. > :49:26.and safeguard the most vulnerable children in our society. I will give

:49:27. > :49:29.way. Can I thank my right honourable friend for giving way. She mentioned

:49:30. > :49:33.the children and social work Bill and an important provision that the

:49:34. > :49:36.Government predicts that Bill was making relationship and sex

:49:37. > :49:39.education compulsory. I wonder if she could just say how progress is

:49:40. > :49:45.going in terms of bringing that into force? Yes, I'm very grateful for

:49:46. > :49:48.the cross-party support that we had in order to be able to do that and

:49:49. > :49:52.we are determined to now push on with that in Government and we will

:49:53. > :49:57.be setting out our plans shortly in terms of how we take that review

:49:58. > :50:00.forward and how we make sure we continue to get the overall support

:50:01. > :50:06.that we need to really make sure that relationships and sex education

:50:07. > :50:11.in secondary schools and relationship, age-appropriate

:50:12. > :50:14.education in primary schools is to children growing up in a very

:50:15. > :50:18.different Britain than most of us grew up in. If I can make a little

:50:19. > :50:24.progress, that would be appreciated and I'm sure there are plenty more

:50:25. > :50:30.opportunities for interventions. As I was saying, we are... Sorry, I

:50:31. > :50:34.have a fly buzzing around here. We are determined, Mr Speaker, that we

:50:35. > :50:37.will build on the strong platform of success to build an education system

:50:38. > :50:44.that works for all of our children and all of our young people.

:50:45. > :50:51.Equality of opportunity, wherever they are, whatever their background,

:50:52. > :50:56.it is only unlocked by education. I give way. The North Shore academy is

:50:57. > :51:00.facing a spending cut of several hundred thousand pounds. It serves

:51:01. > :51:07.one of the areas she is talking about, an area of high deprivation.

:51:08. > :51:11.How can it be fair funding in an area of high deprivation? I will

:51:12. > :51:15.come onto funding later on. Suffice to say, it is important we make sure

:51:16. > :51:26.all of the schools are fairly funded, it is a challenge recognised

:51:27. > :51:28.across the House, clearly there are also difficulties in doing that, but

:51:29. > :51:33.I will come onto that later. I will give way. I wonder if she feels the

:51:34. > :51:37.education local services in England would be helped in any way by the

:51:38. > :51:43.large part of ?30 billion which should be the Barnett consequential

:51:44. > :51:50.given what was said about the North Academy? As part of our manifesto,

:51:51. > :51:58.we pledged to increase funding in education and I think the challenge

:51:59. > :52:05.certainly that is facing the UK is standards lagging behind England

:52:06. > :52:11.now. If I can make some progress, Mr Speaker. We want to see equality of

:52:12. > :52:16.opportunity for everyone and in her speech, Her Majesty the Queen set

:52:17. > :52:21.out we would work to ensure every child has a good school place and no

:52:22. > :52:26.young person will be left behind, in part by making sure this country

:52:27. > :52:30.possesses world beating technical education and of course maintaining

:52:31. > :52:35.our world-class higher education. I will give way. A near neighbour. And

:52:36. > :52:44.I thank her regarding a good place for every child, as the Secretary of

:52:45. > :52:50.State will be aware, in our area, there are proposals the local mental

:52:51. > :52:54.health trust will no longer diagnose children with autism. Without a

:52:55. > :53:00.diagnosis, she knows there is no chance of a plan, without a plan,

:53:01. > :53:05.there is no opportunity for a good school place for a child with

:53:06. > :53:09.autism. Will she personally intervened to stop this? Certainly,

:53:10. > :53:12.work on making sure that children can be in mainstream schools has

:53:13. > :53:18.been a key focus for this government and it is why we have brought

:53:19. > :53:22.forward the holistic plans to make sure children do not just get

:53:23. > :53:26.educational needs assessed, broader health needs are assessed. I am

:53:27. > :53:31.always happy to look at specific issues. It is exceptionally

:53:32. > :53:35.important our education system works for all children, whatever their

:53:36. > :53:41.challenges, not just the majority of children. I will make a little bit

:53:42. > :53:46.of progress, if that works, Mr Speaker? Of course, we are

:53:47. > :53:51.determined that no person or community or group should be left

:53:52. > :53:57.behind with our education reforms, that is because in reality no person

:53:58. > :54:02.or community or group has a monopoly on talent, it is spread across our

:54:03. > :54:06.country and this government will create an education system to unlock

:54:07. > :54:11.the talent in everyone, in all parts of the country. It is how we will

:54:12. > :54:15.succeed in finally shifting the dial on improving social mobility in the

:54:16. > :54:22.UK. I will give way to the honourable member. One of the

:54:23. > :54:27.proposals in her manifesto was to introduce primary school breakfast

:54:28. > :54:33.clubs and given the commission by the education endowment foundation

:54:34. > :54:38.and the IFS showed good nutritious breakfast can improve educational

:54:39. > :54:41.attainment by two months in a given year, can I urge her to stick to

:54:42. > :54:45.that part of the Conservative manifesto and make sure it is fully

:54:46. > :54:52.funded soap all children can go to school without being too hungry to

:54:53. > :54:59.learn? We already had plans to scale up the sort of programmes fantastic

:55:00. > :55:02.charities like Magic Breakfast do. We all recognise the benefits

:55:03. > :55:06.especially for disadvantaged children who get in earlier and get

:55:07. > :55:12.the time to settle and start their classes ready to concentrate and

:55:13. > :55:19.learn. Mr Deputy Speaker... Mr Speaker, in the election, of course,

:55:20. > :55:23.people were faced with choices and indeed the opposition set out their

:55:24. > :55:28.alternative plan during the election. It was very big on

:55:29. > :55:33.rhetoric. The question is, what will it actually mean in reality? We do

:55:34. > :55:38.not have to go far to find out. It is clear what Labour would mean for

:55:39. > :55:43.standards in education. We only have to go across to Wales to see the

:55:44. > :55:49.performance on education deer where instead of high standards for

:55:50. > :55:54.children in schools, Welsh children face low standards -- the

:55:55. > :55:59.performance of education there. According to the OECD, it is the

:56:00. > :56:04.lowest performing country in the UK, the one that is run and overseen by

:56:05. > :56:10.the Labour Party. It is significantly below England now. In

:56:11. > :56:14.maths, reading and science. And that is Labour's legacy for Welsh

:56:15. > :56:20.children that they would import the English children if they ever get

:56:21. > :56:23.the chance. I will give way. The Welsh Government are quite open

:56:24. > :56:28.about the fact we need to get better schools in terms of the results, but

:56:29. > :56:32.what I will not have from the Secretary of State is the way yet

:56:33. > :56:35.again that Tory government are trying to demonise Wales. They did

:56:36. > :56:39.it before on health, the line between life and death. It is a

:56:40. > :56:46.disgrace. Will she not apologise to the people of Wales? Well, I think

:56:47. > :56:51.her comments shows the reality which is that what Labour need to pull

:56:52. > :56:55.together is a strategy in Wales to improve education in the same way we

:56:56. > :57:00.have had a strategy in England through reform to improve standards

:57:01. > :57:04.here. It has not been easy, but it has been something dodged by Labour

:57:05. > :57:11.in Wales and I think they will never be credible to parents in England

:57:12. > :57:17.until Labour sets out why it feels it is failing children in Wales and

:57:18. > :57:24.failing children an opportunity. I will give way. And then I will make

:57:25. > :57:27.more progress. The honourable lady quite rightly talks about

:57:28. > :57:30.credibility in the eyes of parents for the Government strategy. What

:57:31. > :57:34.credibility does she think our government has with parents when

:57:35. > :57:38.schools are sending home letters requesting donations so they can

:57:39. > :57:43.afford to buy books and computer equipment so their children can have

:57:44. > :57:47.an education? I think what parents are most interested in is the fact

:57:48. > :57:50.that when we have independent inspections in schools from Ofsted,

:57:51. > :57:57.they are saying nearly nine out of ten schools in this country are now

:57:58. > :58:02.good or outstanding. I think the intervention by the honourable

:58:03. > :58:07.gentleman shows very clearly the difference between these two sides

:58:08. > :58:14.of the House. On one side, a genuine intent to see standards raised. On

:58:15. > :58:17.the other side of the House, it is all about politics. It is not about

:58:18. > :58:22.outcomes for children on the ground. We just heard that when we were

:58:23. > :58:27.intervened on by a Welsh Labour MP who had nothing to say about the

:58:28. > :58:31.standards in Wales, other than somebody shouting across the

:58:32. > :58:35.Chamber, apologise, for raising the issue of falling standards for Welsh

:58:36. > :58:41.children. That is a disgraceful response from a party in government

:58:42. > :58:48.in Wales. Mr Speaker, I will make more progress because this was not

:58:49. > :58:53.the only area where the Labour Party brought forward proposals because on

:58:54. > :58:57.university funding, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the plan had

:58:58. > :59:06.a ?2 billion black hole on higher education funding. In fact, the

:59:07. > :59:11.estimates suggest this could cost as much as ?13 billion by 2020. Now,

:59:12. > :59:16.inevitably, this Labour higher education black hole would mean

:59:17. > :59:20.cutbacks for universities, it would mean lower teaching standards, or

:59:21. > :59:25.and emergency cap being introduced on student numbers. In fact, if you

:59:26. > :59:32.look at how the 2 billion black hole would be plugged, it would be the

:59:33. > :59:36.equivalent of cutting 40,000 lecturers. It would be the

:59:37. > :59:43.equivalent of having a cap that meant 160,000 fewer students able to

:59:44. > :59:49.go to university, if you look at the average grant that students have in

:59:50. > :59:55.terms of fees and maintenance loans. Because there just would not be the

:59:56. > :00:01.money. In fact, we know that if a cap was reintroduced because of the

:00:02. > :00:03.black hole in our higher education funding, it would be

:00:04. > :00:10.disproportionately likely to fit students from the most disadvantaged

:00:11. > :00:17.backgrounds -- to hit students. For universities with lower student

:00:18. > :00:24.numbers, Labour's higher education black hole could force them into

:00:25. > :00:29.significant financial trouble. On equality, where is the evidence?

:00:30. > :00:34.That no tuition fees means more disadvantaged children being able to

:00:35. > :00:41.go to university? We do not have to go far to find the evidence. Look at

:00:42. > :00:45.Scotland. The policy of no tuition fees there is side-by-side with

:00:46. > :00:51.lower equality of opportunity for disadvantaged young people to be

:00:52. > :00:57.able to go to university. That is because this policy benefits

:00:58. > :01:02.children who are more likely to go to university but who is more likely

:01:03. > :01:07.to go to university? Children from better off families. We all know

:01:08. > :01:11.this. It is not a surprise to the party opposite. What benefits

:01:12. > :01:16.disadvantaged children is having more places at university for them

:01:17. > :01:24.overall. That means the imperative is not having a cap on the numbers.

:01:25. > :01:29.In Scotland, there are no fees. In England, there is no cap. Which

:01:30. > :01:38.country has the more disadvantaged young people going to university? I

:01:39. > :01:41.am grateful for the Secretary of State for again giving way. Clearly

:01:42. > :01:45.her party had no offer whatsoever to students and young people at this

:01:46. > :01:49.election so perhaps she might like to reflect on the terrible mistake

:01:50. > :01:53.made in the previous parliament where grants targeted nonrepayable

:01:54. > :01:57.grants of the poorest students, strapped by her government. Isn't it

:01:58. > :02:01.time to deal with the real funding crisis facing students which is the

:02:02. > :02:09.one in their pockets? I notice he did not answer my question. The

:02:10. > :02:11.reality is... The reality is... SHOUTING

:02:12. > :02:17.Mr Speaker, there will be plenty more time to dig into the Labour

:02:18. > :02:21.proposals for higher education and what they will mean for the most

:02:22. > :02:28.disadvantaged children in our country. But what we do know...

:02:29. > :02:34.Order. It is a point of order, I hope, rather than a point of

:02:35. > :02:39.frustration. For front bench government spokespeople to ask

:02:40. > :02:45.backbench people records, they are there to defend their record, it is

:02:46. > :02:50.not them. It is not in that sense and are just the Question Time.

:02:51. > :02:54.Question Time I have now and again said the ministers, it is not for

:02:55. > :02:58.ministers to ask questions, they are there to answer questions. The

:02:59. > :03:04.debate is a more seamless enterprise, as I think the

:03:05. > :03:09.honourable gentleman who is an experienced denizen of this House.

:03:10. > :03:13.It is Beverley in order for a minister to pose a question just as

:03:14. > :03:18.it is perfectly in order for it to be disregarded -- it is perfectly in

:03:19. > :03:23.order. I would be delighted to give way. I thank the Secretary of State

:03:24. > :03:27.for very kindly giving way. Isn't it right there has been no falling

:03:28. > :03:32.numbers of students going to university since fees have had to be

:03:33. > :03:36.paid and I have two daughters who have recently completed university,

:03:37. > :03:41.both paid fees, on the different rates, they both agree it was right

:03:42. > :03:44.that they paid fees for this advantage they have gained because

:03:45. > :03:49.they should earn more money than somebody not going? Is it right that

:03:50. > :03:52.somebody not going to university should fund those who are going to

:03:53. > :03:59.have the benefit of learning potentially more money? She raises

:04:00. > :04:04.some important questions, not just about equality of opportunity, but

:04:05. > :04:07.about equality more generally in terms of why we are prioritising

:04:08. > :04:12.technical education. And of course, the approach we have in England has

:04:13. > :04:16.benefited students from disadvantaged backgrounds. They are

:04:17. > :04:26.now going to university at a record rate. In 2009, the rate was 13.6%.

:04:27. > :04:32.Now it is 19.5%. I will give way. I'm very grateful to the... I am

:04:33. > :04:35.very grateful to the Secretary of State. I listened very carefully to

:04:36. > :04:39.what the honourable gentleman for Ilford North said. He said, what did

:04:40. > :04:43.we have to offer young people? I will tell him. It would have been

:04:44. > :04:47.better if we had mentioned it in the election campaign. It is this.

:04:48. > :04:53.Unemployment for young people in this country is now six percentage

:04:54. > :04:58.points lower than it was in 2010, whereas in the Eurozone, it remains

:04:59. > :05:01.at 20%. Young people under this government have a very good chance

:05:02. > :05:03.of getting a job which is an excellent route into prosperity.

:05:04. > :05:13.That is what we have to offer. My honourable friend is right. Under

:05:14. > :05:19.the Labour governments, youth unemployment went up by just under

:05:20. > :05:23.50%. And it wasn't just young people from lower income backgrounds coming

:05:24. > :05:27.out of our education system often without the basic skills, it was

:05:28. > :05:32.graduates. They came out of the system and were unable to find a

:05:33. > :05:38.job. Frankly, we are determined to make sure that never again is there

:05:39. > :05:41.a lost generation of young people in our country coming out wanting a

:05:42. > :05:49.career but is not even being able to find a job. I will give way to my

:05:50. > :05:50.honourable friend. I congratulate the Secretary of State for giving

:05:51. > :05:56.way to me. LAUGHTER

:05:57. > :05:58.May I also commend her for the increase in standards in education

:05:59. > :06:03.and in order to improve those standards still further, the current

:06:04. > :06:06.funding formula is unfair and depends on a lottery code. Does she

:06:07. > :06:14.agree that every pupil in this country at every school deserves a

:06:15. > :06:17.minimum funding? As he knows, we are absolutely committed to make sure

:06:18. > :06:24.that we have their funding across our schools. We had an extensive

:06:25. > :06:26.consultation that had 25,000 responses to it which we have now

:06:27. > :06:30.gone through and are pulling together what it means for the right

:06:31. > :06:35.way forward, but he is rightly point out that for many schools in his

:06:36. > :06:39.local community, they have been systematically underfunded. And is

:06:40. > :06:44.simply not tenable in a country where we want to see all children

:06:45. > :06:47.having consistent investment and having a consistent opportunity to

:06:48. > :06:52.make the most of themselves and we are determined to bring forward our

:06:53. > :06:55.plans to ensure that schools are fairly funded in our country

:06:56. > :07:00.wherever they are. I am going to make a little bit more progress, Mr

:07:01. > :07:04.Speaker, because I was pursuing an argument is that I think it's hugely

:07:05. > :07:10.important in relation to how we drive social mobility in our country

:07:11. > :07:13.which was access to higher education. Labour have been

:07:14. > :07:18.proposing a policy that will actually lead to more inequality in

:07:19. > :07:24.our country. It will actually benefits the young people who are

:07:25. > :07:29.most likely to do well, in other words, university students from

:07:30. > :07:39.better off, richer backgrounds but paid for by everyone including the

:07:40. > :07:44.lower income workers, pensioners,. The ISS have said that of Labour's

:07:45. > :07:52.policy, quote, this does not seem an effective use of 11.5-13.5 billion

:07:53. > :07:56.if the aim of the policy is in part to aid social mobility and monks to

:07:57. > :08:01.be most disadvantaged students. I am not sure what the Labour Party

:08:02. > :08:10.thought its raison d'etre was, but clearly it is no longer... Longueurs

:08:11. > :08:12.lifting up the children growing up in our most disadvantaged

:08:13. > :08:18.communities that are furthest away from having a level playing field on

:08:19. > :08:24.opportunity. I will give way to him one last time. Given the incredibly

:08:25. > :08:30.important role that primary education plays in the preparation

:08:31. > :08:34.of young people for secondary and further education, can she explain

:08:35. > :08:40.how the proposed funding cut in Sandwell which will amount to nearly

:08:41. > :08:45.600 pounds per pupil over the next few years and lead to a reduction in

:08:46. > :08:50.seven teachers per school is going to help that process in one of the

:08:51. > :08:53.more socially deprived areas? I have been clear that actually we are

:08:54. > :08:57.bringing forward some proposals of their funding. There is record

:08:58. > :09:05.funding already in our schools. We set out ideas to put forward further

:09:06. > :09:10.in our manifesto will bring them forward shortly. As if I can finish

:09:11. > :09:13.higher education, the 2 billion higher education black hole is going

:09:14. > :09:18.to mean an emergency cap on student numbers. It will mean young people

:09:19. > :09:21.missing out on university. These young people will almost certainly

:09:22. > :09:26.be from disadvantaged backgrounds, young people hoping to be the first

:09:27. > :09:32.in their family to get the chance to do a degree as I was, literally a

:09:33. > :09:41.cap on aspiration and Labour are not being honest and upfront with young

:09:42. > :09:46.people in our country about the implications of their proposals on

:09:47. > :10:00.higher education funding. It is simply snake oil populism. We've got

:10:01. > :10:05.more seats than you on the side! This it is vital that we ensure that

:10:06. > :10:08.higher education remains accessible, is affordable and is value for

:10:09. > :10:12.money. We need to listen to the voices of young people from the last

:10:13. > :10:18.election and we are committed to doing that but the approach must

:10:19. > :10:21.reduce inequality and the lack of access of the Leeds for

:10:22. > :10:28.disadvantaged young people, not increase it as the parties policy

:10:29. > :10:33.opposite would do. I will give way. Can I remind her that in the last

:10:34. > :10:37.Labour Government, we expanded higher education and has a cap on

:10:38. > :10:42.fees? And she talks about 1 million young people being unemployed was up

:10:43. > :10:45.in the first Parliament under the Tory governments, unemployment was

:10:46. > :10:49.at 1 million, youth unemployment, and the work programme was a

:10:50. > :10:53.disaster wasting billions of pounds. Can I ask to reverse the 3 billion

:10:54. > :10:57.education cuts that her Government is proposing that will devastate

:10:58. > :11:02.aspiration in our schools around the country? It is time to act,

:11:03. > :11:08.Secretary of State, not attack the opposition when you in power, deal

:11:09. > :11:12.with the cap on aspiration now. Hear, hear! I can set out to the

:11:13. > :11:15.honourable lady exactly what we have been doing. We have been reforming

:11:16. > :11:19.our education system and standards have gone up. We have taken a way a

:11:20. > :11:22.cap on student is going to university which is why more and a

:11:23. > :11:27.higher percentage of disadvantaged young people are going to university

:11:28. > :11:33.than ever before and, of course, our economic policy has led to 2.8

:11:34. > :11:36.million jobs being created in our economy which has provided

:11:37. > :11:41.opportunity for young people who would have otherwise been sat at

:11:42. > :11:46.home getting unemployment benefits seeing their careers on hold until

:11:47. > :11:49.they were able to actually get it kick-started. That is what we have

:11:50. > :11:55.been doing and aside from that, the final thing we had been doing is

:11:56. > :12:00.actually tackling these huge, huge deficit that the Labour Party left

:12:01. > :12:09.when it left office that they are bored of hearing about. Bored of

:12:10. > :12:14.hearing about. Because clearly... And sorry the opposition is sold in

:12:15. > :12:19.fraud around being reminded that when we came into power, we were

:12:20. > :12:26.living ?151 billion EU are beyond our means, borrowing that was due to

:12:27. > :12:33.be passed on to young people and is clearly the Labour Party has learned

:12:34. > :12:39.nothing from this at all and it is only answer to every single question

:12:40. > :12:44.faced in every policy area is spend more money. But don't worry about

:12:45. > :12:50.where it comes from because we will... Order, order! There is a

:12:51. > :12:53.cacophony of noise. I have told the honourable gentleman before that he

:12:54. > :12:58.should not yell from a sedentary position. I had great aspirations

:12:59. > :13:01.for him to attain the level of a statesman, but his apprenticeship, I

:13:02. > :13:05.think, has some distance to run if he will conduct himself in that

:13:06. > :13:09.manner. The Secretary of State must be heard and the same goes for

:13:10. > :13:13.everybody else in the chamber. Secretary of State. Let me come on

:13:14. > :13:18.to another area, Mr Speaker, where we have particularly focused to help

:13:19. > :13:23.to raise social mobility levels and to level up opportunity for people

:13:24. > :13:28.who don't have it. That is where we have focused, that is why we have

:13:29. > :13:32.made prioritising investment in technical education a priority as

:13:33. > :13:38.Her Majesty set out in the Queen's speech. For too long, Mr Speaker,

:13:39. > :13:43.there has not been parity of esteem between technical and academic

:13:44. > :13:48.groups in education. And, Mr Speaker, this has cost our country

:13:49. > :13:54.dearly. It has also created inequality. Between those that do go

:13:55. > :13:59.to our world-renowned universities and those young people that didn't

:14:00. > :14:04.have the chance to do that and that inequality stretches across

:14:05. > :14:09.communities and regions and it has cost us dearly in last human

:14:10. > :14:13.capital, in lost productivity that a high skilled people in a high

:14:14. > :14:18.skilled economy can provide and we are determined, as I said Mr

:14:19. > :14:24.Speaker, to continue our work, to recover that legacy of Labour's lost

:14:25. > :14:29.generation of young, unemployed, and skilled people coming into the

:14:30. > :14:35.labour force. Young people who have been let down... The Secretary of

:14:36. > :14:39.State can't hear that her friend is seeking to intervene. I was offering

:14:40. > :14:43.a helping hand, it is her decision. I thank my right honourable friend

:14:44. > :14:49.for giving way and I would like to congratulate the Government for the

:14:50. > :14:53.?500 million annual increase in technical education in my

:14:54. > :14:57.constituency of Copeland, a practical skills community, this is

:14:58. > :15:03.essential to continue the legacy of world-class trades if we are to

:15:04. > :15:07.deliver modern industrial strategy. Hear, hear. Absolutely right, we

:15:08. > :15:12.have two opportunities here that are critical to make sure we take

:15:13. > :15:16.advantage. One is the kinds of businesses and industries in her

:15:17. > :15:20.area that are creating jobs and opportunities. The second is a

:15:21. > :15:23.generation of young people who want opportunity and want a career and we

:15:24. > :15:27.should be investing in generating our home-grown talents to take

:15:28. > :15:33.advantage of those opportunities that we all see around our local

:15:34. > :15:38.communities. I think that exiting the European Union really provides a

:15:39. > :15:42.new on focusing on developing our home-grown talent. I will give way

:15:43. > :15:46.to the honourable gentleman and then make progress. He referred to

:15:47. > :15:49.world-class universities. We are proud of them in this country but

:15:50. > :15:53.one important thing about them is that they are able to attract

:15:54. > :15:57.students from all around the world. Why does the Government consistently

:15:58. > :16:02.persist with this ludicrous idea that we must cut net migration to

:16:03. > :16:05.tens of thousands including cutting the number of international students

:16:06. > :16:11.coming to stay in this country. They pay their own way, they improve

:16:12. > :16:14.their relationship with this country and when they go back home, they

:16:15. > :16:17.want to continue doing business with us. It is ludicrous. He will be

:16:18. > :16:22.delighted to know he is entirely misinformed because we do not have a

:16:23. > :16:27.cap on the number of international students, so that will save him from

:16:28. > :16:31.having to ask that question again. We want to make sure that our

:16:32. > :16:36.university sector remains open to the best and brightest talent around

:16:37. > :16:42.the world. We are really determined to do that and he can scare monger

:16:43. > :16:46.and raise fake issues all he likes, but it will not change... It will

:16:47. > :16:51.not change the actual position on what I would say, Mr Speaker is that

:16:52. > :16:54.the much bigger threat to universities lies in decimating the

:16:55. > :17:00.funding going into them and that is the biggest challenge they will face

:17:01. > :17:03.if they end up having be kind of higher education funding black hole

:17:04. > :17:08.that the party opposite would present them with. I want to make

:17:09. > :17:13.progress on technical education, Mr Speaker. We are shaping the

:17:14. > :17:18.curriculum of children and young people going into technical

:17:19. > :17:20.education into 15 technical routes, each culminating in a so-called teen

:17:21. > :17:27.level which will become the gold standard qualification for technical

:17:28. > :17:29.excellence and this reform is matched by investment as the

:17:30. > :17:34.Chancellor announced in the March budget. A budget that the CBI called

:17:35. > :17:41.a breakthrough budget for skills. That investment would be at risk

:17:42. > :17:47.under a Labour Government because of the black in post-16 funding on

:17:48. > :17:50.higher education and, of course, our new Institute of technology will

:17:51. > :17:54.also provide a path to develop excellence in higher technical

:17:55. > :17:58.skills. We know that one of the problems we have had with technical

:17:59. > :18:01.education is that there has not been that ladder of steadily more

:18:02. > :18:06.challenging qualifications for our young people to get to better

:18:07. > :18:11.themselves. I will give way. I am very grateful to my right honourable

:18:12. > :18:16.friend. I was wondering if she could outline how these technical

:18:17. > :18:18.qualifications will deliver the needs of employers because after

:18:19. > :18:24.all, we need to ensure that the skills being developed meet business

:18:25. > :18:29.requirements. A plan with it dad in the manifesto was to establish

:18:30. > :18:32.something we call skills advisory panels, in other words local

:18:33. > :18:36.employers in the region is really looking forward about what their

:18:37. > :18:41.skills pipeline needs are, looking as those in relation to these 15

:18:42. > :18:46.different skills routes that we set out and then understanding how that

:18:47. > :18:50.maps onto the kind of provision coming through the education system

:18:51. > :18:54.locally. It's exactly the kind of thing that we will need across our

:18:55. > :19:00.country to make sure we have the right number of people coming

:19:01. > :19:02.through with the right skills in the right places and that we also have

:19:03. > :19:05.an understanding of what is needed in the years ahead and the risks

:19:06. > :19:10.around provisions so we can tackle Bulls early. This is common sense,

:19:11. > :19:15.Mr Speaker, and I think it will make a significant step change in our

:19:16. > :19:18.ability to be able to have a successful industrial strategy that

:19:19. > :19:21.really benefits young people. I am going to make a little bit of

:19:22. > :19:26.progress because I know so many other colleagues will want to speak

:19:27. > :19:29.in this debate once I have sat down. The Government is also committed to

:19:30. > :19:34.having the best lifelong learning for adults in the developed world

:19:35. > :19:37.which we will achieve through setting up a national retraining

:19:38. > :19:42.scheme. Our love these reforms represent real support for people

:19:43. > :19:47.across this country, real opportunity, real ways to tackle

:19:48. > :19:51.inequality that recognise that access and equality of opportunity,

:19:52. > :19:57.social mobility, is what matters. That is what is going to lift our

:19:58. > :20:03.country, not some kind of snake oil populism from the party across that

:20:04. > :20:09.is backed up with a fiscal black hole that will mean cuts in the very

:20:10. > :20:13.areas that are most important to improving opportunity. And through

:20:14. > :20:16.these reforms, we will work hand in glove with British businesses

:20:17. > :20:22.relying on their expertise, their knowledge and leadership, businesses

:20:23. > :20:27.that the party opposite continually castigates as part of the problem

:20:28. > :20:33.that our country faces as they see it. We see businesses as critical in

:20:34. > :20:39.driving opportunity and social mobility. Now, on schools, we know

:20:40. > :20:42.that good schools are the engines of social mobility and they are not

:20:43. > :20:44.just about individual success. Schools are at the centre of every

:20:45. > :20:56.single community. I visited the Kensington Aldridge

:20:57. > :21:00.Academy and I am sure the House will join me in paying tribute to the

:21:01. > :21:06.teachers and the staff of all the schools in the area and indeed in

:21:07. > :21:10.Manchester after the Ariana Grande concert, who met a terrible

:21:11. > :21:15.situation, but helped young people caught up in it with absolute

:21:16. > :21:21.professionalism. I believe leaders, head teachers and teachers in these

:21:22. > :21:25.areas have been the unsung heroes alongside our emergency services

:21:26. > :21:33.over recent weeks and I wanted to put on record once again, my thanks

:21:34. > :21:36.to them for all of the work they have done to make sure our children

:21:37. > :21:40.can be back in school and also getting the support they need to

:21:41. > :21:45.deal with what they have had to deal with. And we need to make sure that

:21:46. > :21:49.support stays, often when the cameras have gone, to help their

:21:50. > :21:55.students do with the experiences they have been through. I will give

:21:56. > :22:00.way. 95 tower blocks have been found to fail the cladding test. Not just

:22:01. > :22:05.in Camden but in other local education authorities, hundreds of

:22:06. > :22:10.children will experience the disruption of being moved out of

:22:11. > :22:15.their home. Will she stated what her department will do to help those

:22:16. > :22:19.schools where this level of disruption is occurring? We have

:22:20. > :22:22.been clear in making sure we do get in is touch with schools where we

:22:23. > :22:29.know they are being affected by these sorts of challenges. We did a

:22:30. > :22:32.huge amount of work in response to the Manchester atrocities, that

:22:33. > :22:36.stretched far beyond Manchester into the broader north-west region.

:22:37. > :22:43.Similarly in response to Grenfell Tower. One of the things the

:22:44. > :22:46.government will have in place is a better, more systematic

:22:47. > :22:52.understanding on how quickly to respond, make sure the right links

:22:53. > :22:59.are there, not just with my department, but also how we then, in

:23:00. > :23:02.a streamlined fashion work with local NHS services and indeed

:23:03. > :23:06.educational psychologists. All of these things have worked

:23:07. > :23:09.effectively, but we have had to make sure we've worked hard to identify

:23:10. > :23:15.problems when they have been emerging and then quickly tackle

:23:16. > :23:18.them. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you

:23:19. > :23:26.to the mental health professionals who came from all over the country

:23:27. > :23:31.in support of the Manchester attacks in particular. It was much

:23:32. > :23:35.appreciated and enabled us to deal with the children affected by the

:23:36. > :23:40.tragedy in a much more effective way than otherwise we could have done. I

:23:41. > :23:44.think those responses provide the blueprint around which we can't

:23:45. > :23:50.develop emergency response within government. Mr Speaker, the Queen's

:23:51. > :23:55.Speech was clear, this government is determined to also, as I said, offer

:23:56. > :24:02.a fairer distribution of funding for schools. We will set out those plans

:24:03. > :24:06.shortly, but in our manifesto we will outline no school has its

:24:07. > :24:09.budget cut as a result of the new formula. We have given record

:24:10. > :24:14.amounts of funding through our schools and made a commitment to

:24:15. > :24:18.increase funding further. Now the consultation has finished we will

:24:19. > :24:22.explain our plans for the fair funding of schools shortly. More

:24:23. > :24:28.broadly, School improvements and great teaching and teachers are in

:24:29. > :24:33.practice. I had the chance to meet many inspirational teachers and

:24:34. > :24:38.leaders at the Times educational supplement awards last Friday. It

:24:39. > :24:41.was a fantastic evening and it emphasised to me, in reality

:24:42. > :24:48.teaching deserves to be thought of as a high status profession. So we

:24:49. > :24:55.will continue to work hard on cracking down on unnecessary

:24:56. > :24:59.workloads. We will ramp up the quality of continued, professional

:25:00. > :25:02.development, centred around a new college of teaching. It is a

:25:03. > :25:07.profession we will continue to invest to attract the best people.

:25:08. > :25:11.Alongside with continuing reforms on academies and free schools, we are

:25:12. > :25:20.making sure headteachers get the support they need to improve their

:25:21. > :25:24.schools through the ?140 million strategic school funds. I welcome

:25:25. > :25:29.the commitment she has given that no school will see any reduction in

:25:30. > :25:35.funding because of the government's fairer funding from formula which

:25:36. > :25:39.will be extremely welcome. Will she condemn the propaganda still going

:25:40. > :25:43.out from schools and from the unions claiming there will be vast

:25:44. > :25:54.reductions in expenditure on a per-pupil basis? I think what all

:25:55. > :25:57.parents expect is for teachers and headteachers to behave

:25:58. > :26:02.professionally. I think there is a space for an important political

:26:03. > :26:06.debate. But I would question in the way it has been pursued by some

:26:07. > :26:12.teachers, as being the right weight in relation to the profession, which

:26:13. > :26:16.is how I see teaching and maintaining the high status of that

:26:17. > :26:23.profession in the public's mine. There is a place for debate on the

:26:24. > :26:28.funding going into schools and indeed the reform strategy to see

:26:29. > :26:37.standards get better. But I agree with him, it was absolutely con

:26:38. > :26:43.surname we saw, what, too many people, political messages, being

:26:44. > :26:47.put out inappropriately. We are also committed to ensure the whole

:26:48. > :26:51.education system including independent schools and universities

:26:52. > :26:56.work together to drive standards up for all children. The government's

:26:57. > :26:59.12 opportunity areas are there to deal with complex and entrenched

:27:00. > :27:05.challenges in areas like Blackpool and Norwich. We are backing local

:27:06. > :27:09.leaders, teachers, businesses, civil society, local society to come

:27:10. > :27:12.together and find solutions to long-standing problems and planning

:27:13. > :27:19.future skills needs together, to make sure those home-grown talents,

:27:20. > :27:26.and they will be plugging the skills gap. We need a powerful alliance to

:27:27. > :27:30.confront this challenge. Employers, civil society, government, working

:27:31. > :27:35.hand in every single corner of our country. I welcome the huge number

:27:36. > :27:38.of businesses, charities and ordinary people stepping forward to

:27:39. > :27:45.help us to do better for our young people. I will give way. Whilst we

:27:46. > :27:50.all recognise the need to address deprivation, will she recognise the

:27:51. > :27:56.need to address the historic injustices to underfunded areas and

:27:57. > :28:01.confirm she will increase the pupil block enough people formula and

:28:02. > :28:06.reduce the costs are some schools are facing perhaps through the

:28:07. > :28:09.apprenticeship levy? We are committed to ensure we introduced

:28:10. > :28:14.their funding. It is right, we hold all schools to the same standards

:28:15. > :28:19.and the same accountability framework and it makes sense we

:28:20. > :28:22.should make sure children are funded comparably, wherever they are in the

:28:23. > :28:25.country where they have comparable needs. I will set out the details

:28:26. > :28:28.how we will take that forward following the consultation shortly.

:28:29. > :28:50.If I can just finish... In many respects, I was just getting

:28:51. > :28:54.started but I am sure that can wait. This government has also done

:28:55. > :28:59.sterling work narrowing the gender pay gap and advocating for more

:29:00. > :29:02.women on boards. But these efforts should be stepped up and we will be

:29:03. > :29:11.bringing forward new approaches to supporting women in the workplace,

:29:12. > :29:14.help with childcare and pilots to explore new ways to support

:29:15. > :29:18.overwhelmingly mothers to get back into work. We know from some of the

:29:19. > :29:22.work underway how powerful they can be. Inequality is not just confined

:29:23. > :29:28.to gender and this government will bring a renewed focus to the

:29:29. > :29:33.ethnicity gap in our workplaces. In conclusion, this government has an

:29:34. > :29:37.ambitious agenda for this parliament, creating world-class

:29:38. > :29:41.technical education, ensuring there is a good school place for every

:29:42. > :29:46.single child where ever they are growing up. Tackling inequality in

:29:47. > :29:50.education and opportunity in all its forms and to achieve these goals we

:29:51. > :29:55.will be resolute in our pursuit of high standards. But we are building

:29:56. > :30:00.on a firm foundation, although there is more to do and more to deliver.

:30:01. > :30:06.Our young people deserve nothing less. This nation contains a wealth

:30:07. > :30:11.of talent waiting to be unlocked, to create opportunity and success for

:30:12. > :30:18.individuals and create a strong and prosperous country that can take on

:30:19. > :30:26.and succeed with any challenge. Angela Rayner. Mr Speaker, welcome

:30:27. > :30:31.back to the chair and the many new members who are new to the chamber

:30:32. > :30:36.in this debate. I am sure we are looking forward to hearing some

:30:37. > :30:40.excellent maiden speeches. I also welcome the Secretary of State back

:30:41. > :30:44.to her place and her new ministers to theirs. I suspect she may have

:30:45. > :30:50.found herself debating education issues a lot during the campaign,

:30:51. > :30:56.not least in her own constituency, but a lot has changed in those short

:30:57. > :31:01.few weeks, so today's debate might be different. In fact, the Secretary

:31:02. > :31:08.of State concentrated more on the Labour Party than her own government

:31:09. > :31:14.and the Queen's Speech. There are over 2500 words about education in

:31:15. > :31:19.the manifesto but barely 50 in the speech we heard last week, maybe

:31:20. > :31:25.that is why she concentrated so much on the Labour Party manifesto. It is

:31:26. > :31:30.not so much a programme, but a post-it note. Although I listened

:31:31. > :31:36.carefully to the honourable lady's opening marks, I don't think we know

:31:37. > :31:41.much more about her policy now than before she stood up. Let's start

:31:42. > :31:44.with the obvious points. The centrepiece of the new education

:31:45. > :31:51.policy was meant to be new grammar schools. I won't rehearse the

:31:52. > :31:56.arguments, but I will put this observation on record. When people

:31:57. > :31:59.talk about grammar school issue, I never get people asking the

:32:00. > :32:06.question, why don't you bring back the secondary modern? Most children

:32:07. > :32:12.would go to a secondary modern school if we brought back selection.

:32:13. > :32:16.Of course, it's not an original observation, Mr Speaker. In this

:32:17. > :32:22.case, it is the argument made for the Minister for schools Honourable

:32:23. > :32:26.member for Bognor regis and a little and the and when explaining why he

:32:27. > :32:30.opposed grammar schools under the last Prime Minister. I don't think

:32:31. > :32:37.it was said in this election campaign, so let me be the first to

:32:38. > :32:40.say, hash tag I agree with Nick. Perhaps the Honourable Lady can

:32:41. > :32:46.explain what hash tag means to her Home Secretary. I agreed with him

:32:47. > :32:51.when he went on to say, now our job is to improve the standards in the

:32:52. > :32:54.3000 comprehensive schools in this country and I believe it's not

:32:55. > :33:01.getting rid of grammar schools that was the issue. I will give way. I

:33:02. > :33:07.thank the Shadow Secretary of State. Perhaps she could add a little light

:33:08. > :33:12.to her own policy on a question that is asked and most of the sessions

:33:13. > :33:18.but never properly answered, would a Labour government abolish existing

:33:19. > :33:25.grammar schools? I think I have been quite clear, we would concentrate on

:33:26. > :33:30.standards and not structures, unlike this government that are obsessing

:33:31. > :33:35.idea logically obsessing and wasting billions of pounds. Not my words,

:33:36. > :33:40.the National Audit Office, on their fixations. The question is, whether

:33:41. > :33:45.now the government will get on with the job and does the Prime Minister

:33:46. > :33:49.now also agree with Nick? Will the Secretary of State make it clear,

:33:50. > :33:55.there will be no attempts to lift the ban on new selective schools?

:33:56. > :33:59.Will she finally concentrate on solving the real problem is what we

:34:00. > :34:03.are hearing time and time again, what we heard throughout the whole

:34:04. > :34:08.of the general election, the crisis in funding and in the teacher

:34:09. > :34:18.workforce, instead of creating more problems for herself? I will give

:34:19. > :34:23.way. I am grateful. Her party's manifesto did state a lot of funding

:34:24. > :34:27.for many areas, but does she recognise if you make unfunded

:34:28. > :34:37.promises and put in a huge amount of funding into the system... There is

:34:38. > :34:48.an impact on the economy and an impact on schools. And one school

:34:49. > :34:56.went bankrupt and 8500 teachers lost their jobs. Well, I am absolutely

:34:57. > :35:01.astonished. When you see what has happened over the last 24 hours and

:35:02. > :35:06.their magic money tree has been found for a coalition pay off, I

:35:07. > :35:11.will take no lectures from the party opposite when the only numbers in

:35:12. > :35:15.their manifesto was the one that gave you the page number you were

:35:16. > :35:18.reading. The Prime Minister threatened to end universal free

:35:19. > :35:23.school meals during the general election. My hope the government

:35:24. > :35:27.will now confirmed that policy has been abandoned as part of their

:35:28. > :35:30.full-scale retreat on their own manifesto. Ministers claimed free

:35:31. > :35:35.breakfast would be more cost effective during the election. Their

:35:36. > :35:42.costings left a bid to be desired, the original plan would have allowed

:35:43. > :35:46.only 7p per breakfast. I remember when Labour was in government, we

:35:47. > :35:52.got the school meal recipes from Jamie Oliver. They must be getting

:35:53. > :35:57.theirs from Oliver twist! Even then, the new costings were based on

:35:58. > :35:58.take-up of just 20%. I look forward to hearing the full explanation of

:35:59. > :36:09.their policy on school meals. Bhogle one thing that the Secretary

:36:10. > :36:12.of State has announced today is the Goverment's new policy on mental

:36:13. > :36:19.health first aid training. They said they were trained the first 3000

:36:20. > :36:24.staff for ?200,000. ?66 per member of staff. At the same time, the

:36:25. > :36:31.charity delivering the policies said it would cost at least ?170.25 per

:36:32. > :36:37.thousand. So the Secretary of State's figures were out -- per

:36:38. > :36:42.person. But only by about ?150,000. Having realised her numbers don't

:36:43. > :36:47.add up, the Secretary of State has now rushed out another U-turn,

:36:48. > :36:51.saying that the ?200,000 is only for the first year of the policy. So,

:36:52. > :36:56.can ministers finally tell us how much this policy will cost per year?

:36:57. > :37:01.How many teachers will be trained each year? And how she managed to

:37:02. > :37:06.get the policy announcement so badly wrong's it seems a long time ago

:37:07. > :37:11.that they were talking about strong and stable leadership, only one day

:37:12. > :37:16.after the deal of the coalition Chaos is signed and this Government

:37:17. > :37:22.is even weaker and more wobbly than ever before. Now, Mr Speaker, let me

:37:23. > :37:27.turn to the words of the Secretary of State did get into the Queen's

:37:28. > :37:30.speech, which promised reform of technical education. But she already

:37:31. > :37:36.legislated for reform to technical education earlier this year in the

:37:37. > :37:40.technical and further education act. So can ministers tell us if there

:37:41. > :37:43.will be another new Bill on technical education on this session,

:37:44. > :37:48.or is the reality that this Government has come to the House

:37:49. > :37:52.with such a threadbare programme that they have been reduced to

:37:53. > :37:56.announcing bills that they have already passed in the last

:37:57. > :38:02.Parliament? And of course they have nothing to say on higher education.

:38:03. > :38:06.No wonder they wanted to talk about our policies. It's just weeks since

:38:07. > :38:13.they used a statutory instrument to sneak through their latest rise in

:38:14. > :38:16.tuition fees whilst freezing the threshold at which graduates begin

:38:17. > :38:22.to repay their debts. The election came before the scheduled debate and

:38:23. > :38:26.vote on that rise. So I hope the Government will now provide time for

:38:27. > :38:31.that debate on the floor. Nor did they have anything to say on the

:38:32. > :38:36.even more critical issues of early years education and childcare. At

:38:37. > :38:42.the end of the last Parliament, they left early years education and

:38:43. > :38:46.childcare in disarray. They promised early years workforce strategy, but

:38:47. > :38:51.have given no indication of how they will implement it. Providers across

:38:52. > :38:56.the country have told them time and time again that the funding they are

:38:57. > :39:00.providing is inadequate. And hundreds of thousands of working

:39:01. > :39:06.parents have been denied the service that they were promised. And how

:39:07. > :39:12.many words on it in the Queen's speech? Non-whatsoever. Let me also

:39:13. > :39:17.touch on another issue that is perhaps more important than any

:39:18. > :39:22.other this week as Mac the safety of our school buildings. The Government

:39:23. > :39:25.have been planning to change the regulations on fire safety in

:39:26. > :39:30.schools contained in the building bulletin 100. Oddly enough, those

:39:31. > :39:35.proposed changes have now been removed from the DfE website. But

:39:36. > :39:39.luckily, we have a paper copy. The proposed new draft no longer

:39:40. > :39:43.included an expectation that most new school buildings will be fitted

:39:44. > :39:48.with sprinklers on the basis that school buildings do not need to be

:39:49. > :39:54.sprinkled a protected to achieve a reasonable standard of life safety.

:39:55. > :39:56.-- sprinkler protected. Perhaps the Communities Secretary could use the

:39:57. > :40:03.opportunity to confirm that these proposed changes have now been

:40:04. > :40:06.abandoned for good? I thank my honourable friend for giving way.

:40:07. > :40:09.Does she agree it is absolutely important that there is a thorough

:40:10. > :40:15.and comprehensive check about the fire safety in every school building

:40:16. > :40:17.in the country? The safety of our children, we can't put too high a

:40:18. > :40:22.price on it. Therefore recognising the likely so much like the course

:40:23. > :40:24.that could arise, does she believe that the Government should that the

:40:25. > :40:26.Government should set up a contingency fund to cover as a

:40:27. > :40:32.matter of urgency all of those costs, so that local authorities

:40:33. > :40:36.don't have to find the money to do the necessary work? Absolutely,

:40:37. > :40:41.absolutely agree with my honourable friend. I was going to come to that

:40:42. > :40:44.later in my speech. I really do hope that the Secretary of State does

:40:45. > :40:47.take on board the comment that my honourable friend has just made. We

:40:48. > :40:51.know that local government in particular has been hit by their

:40:52. > :40:58.so-called austerity agenda. The cuts that our local authority have faced

:40:59. > :41:01.that needs need to be looked at. Yesterday, the Secretary of State

:41:02. > :41:05.told by House that Government had ordered safety checks to ensure that

:41:06. > :41:09.flammable cladding was not used on school buildings. Can he update the

:41:10. > :41:13.House on the results of that survey as soon as possible? And if there

:41:14. > :41:16.are schools that use flammable cladding, can she get a clear

:41:17. > :41:19.assurance that the cost will be covered by the Government, as my

:41:20. > :41:22.honourable friend has asked? It would also be helpful to know what

:41:23. > :41:28.action is being taken on student halls of residence. Can the

:41:29. > :41:32.Communities Secretary confirmed that these are classed as other

:41:33. > :41:38.residential buildings, and therefore subject to weaker requirements for

:41:39. > :41:42.sprinklers? If so, will they look at closing the loophole? And what

:41:43. > :41:45.action will the Government take to ensure that both university and

:41:46. > :41:51.private Halls are checked for flammable cladding? Now, Mr Speaker,

:41:52. > :41:55.I would like to come onto school funding. Of course, Mr Speaker, the

:41:56. > :41:59.first Secretary of State came to the House yesterday to announce their

:42:00. > :42:04.deal with the DUP. Fortunately for them, they seem to have located the

:42:05. > :42:09.magic money tree. We heard so much about it during the general

:42:10. > :42:16.election. The package included ?50 million. To address immediate

:42:17. > :42:19.pressures. -- for schools. That is ?150 for every pupil in Northern

:42:20. > :42:22.Ireland. Of course I welcome direct knowledge that they were not

:42:23. > :42:28.properly funded schools in Northern Ireland and the money is to address

:42:29. > :42:34.it. But can the Secretary of State explain why our schools face

:42:35. > :42:37.billions of pounds of cuts in her government and they are doing

:42:38. > :42:41.nothing to address the immediate pressures on schools in England? The

:42:42. > :42:44.Conservative Party manifesto said that the new funding formula would

:42:45. > :42:49.be introduced and that no school would lose funding as a result. In

:42:50. > :42:54.fact, the Secretary of State said it has solved. Achieving this requires

:42:55. > :43:00.an increase in school funding over and above current plans. So, again,

:43:01. > :43:05.it is time for clarity. When will her department publish a response to

:43:06. > :43:10.the second stage of the consultation on the fair funding formula? And

:43:11. > :43:15.when will the new funding formula be introduced? And will she provide now

:43:16. > :43:24.today a cast-iron guarantee that no school will be worse off in real

:43:25. > :43:28.terms? If the Secretary of State has been talking to parents and teachers

:43:29. > :43:32.in her own constituency, let alone across the country, she will know

:43:33. > :43:35.that schools are facing severe cost pressures and head teachers are

:43:36. > :43:41.being left with impossible choices. And I absolutely agree with the

:43:42. > :43:45.Secretary of State's comments that she made earlier towards the staff

:43:46. > :43:49.and the workforce within our schools and public services. But I have to

:43:50. > :43:56.say to the Secretary of State, they need more than words. Even with the

:43:57. > :44:00.money they found by scrapping school meals, the Institute for Fiscal

:44:01. > :44:04.Studies, which she likes to quote a lot, has found that the Government's

:44:05. > :44:10.plans for schools bending would be a real terms cut per-pupil funding of

:44:11. > :44:15.nearly 3% -- for school spending. They spoke of a highly skilled

:44:16. > :44:20.workforce in high wage jobs and in-work poverty is at a record high,

:44:21. > :44:25.and the UK has the second lowest wage growth in the OECD says 2010.

:44:26. > :44:32.The only country where wage growth is lower is increase. That is a

:44:33. > :44:36.direct result of the failure of this Government. The failure to invest in

:44:37. > :44:41.education will lead to a generation of children not getting the

:44:42. > :44:46.education they deserve and not getting on in life. And we see the

:44:47. > :44:52.same... I thank the Secretary of State for giving way. Shadow

:44:53. > :44:59.Secretary of State! Give us a couple of months! She talked about the

:45:00. > :45:03.failure of a generation. Does she know about the University of Chester

:45:04. > :45:06.Academy in Ellesmere Port, where the generation of schoolchildren are

:45:07. > :45:12.being failed because of a second failed Ofsted inspection, the second

:45:13. > :45:15.in four years. We heard nothing from the Secretary of State about what

:45:16. > :45:22.she intends to do to improve performances in academies. Well, I

:45:23. > :45:24.had the honour and privilege of joining the general election

:45:25. > :45:28.campaign and visiting my honourable friend's constituency. He's

:45:29. > :45:32.absolutely right, those concerns are real. We saw that played out in the

:45:33. > :45:35.general election, we saw the way young people came to the Labour

:45:36. > :45:44.Party because we had an for young people, and we also saw the

:45:45. > :45:48.weight... If members wish to ask a question, the First Minister will

:45:49. > :45:50.take questions at the end of the statement so she can do

:45:51. > :45:54.interventions and interruptions until then. I call on the First

:45:55. > :45:57.Minister. Presiding Officer, like other countries, Scotland faces big

:45:58. > :46:03.challenges. Some of those challenges, like Brexit, are not of

:46:04. > :46:09.our choosing. But we must always remember that Scotland is one of the

:46:10. > :46:13.richest countries in the world, with resources and talent in abundance.

:46:14. > :46:18.Our task is to make the most of our great potential, and build the kind

:46:19. > :46:22.of country we want to be. A fair, prosperous, open and tolerant

:46:23. > :46:25.country. And working towards that goal, my responsibility as First

:46:26. > :46:33.Minister is to build as much unity and consensus as possible. And that

:46:34. > :46:35.is why, after the election, which was, of course, won by the SNP in

:46:36. > :46:39.Scotland... APPLAUSE