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We thought that the Minister had allayed our concerns about foster carers in Committee until it transpired the following day that the Government’s second change of heart meant that only one foster child would be covered, despite the fact that many foster carers look after more than one child. I was grateful for the Minister’s assurance that he would monitor the impact of the policy. Given that it has come into force and that he assured us in Committee that it would be monitored from April, will he say whether the Department has begun the monitoring programme, how it is going about it, whether there is any independence in the evaluation and, if so, who is conducting it? What, if any, evidence has been collected over the past two and a half months, and when does the Department expect to publish a report? Will he ensure that the report is made available to Members of the House as soon as it is published, given how important this matter is to many Members from all parts of the House and given that it affects vulnerable children in every constituency?
Finally, amendments 36 and 37 would ensure that children’s views and sibling arrangements are taken into account when courts scrutinise or change a care plan. Although we support the Government’s efforts to focus courts on the long-term aspects of care plans, we are concerned that, in the real world, the acute pressures on social workers, independent reviewing officers and guardians will mean that important aspects may be missed. Does the Minister have anything concrete to report from the discussion that he was holding with independent reviewing officers about how he will alleviate that pressure? Court scrutiny has helped social workers to ensure that they have access to resources and has changed care plans to allow sibling contact. I was grateful for the Minister’s assurances in Committee that there is nothing to prevent courts from looking at this matter, but given the pressure that family courts are under, especially after the legal aid cuts, we think that it is too important to leave to chance.
I am grateful for the opportunity to set out those points, but immensely disappointed at the lack of scrutiny that we have given these aspects of the Bill today. I would now like to give other people the opportunity to contribute.
Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con): I rise to speak to new clause 20 as a parent of two boys, one of whom is still at school and one of whom left recently. I also want to speak for the many parents in my constituency who, like me, are concerned about the provision of sex education in this country.
I am pleased that new clause 20 proposes to redefine sex education as “sex and relationships education”, although I would have put it the other way around, with the emphasis on relationships rather than sex. After agreeing on the wording, I part company with those who tabled the new clause.
5.30 pm
I want to concentrate on one aspect of the new clause: the implications of the proposal for a centralised curriculum. In March, the current PSHE legal framework was given backing in this House by the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), when she published the results of the Government’s recent PSHE review. She stated:
“To allow teachers the flexibility to deliver high-quality PSHE we consider it unnecessary to provide new standardised frameworks or programmes of study. Teachers are best placed to understand
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the needs of their pupils and do not need additional central prescription.”—[
Official Report
, 21 March 2013; Vol. 560, c. 52WS.]
I believe that was right and that the curriculum centralisation that would inevitably follow endeavours such as new clause 20 would not advance the cause of PSHE or, critically, the interests of our young people. To clarify, we currently have compulsory sex education in secondary schools, but governors of primary schools are at liberty to authorise the teaching of sex education if they think it appropriate.
Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op): I understand that the hon. Lady’s concern is about a centralised curriculum. What does she make of her Government’s proposal to put gardening and composting on the national curriculum, as well as financial education and compound interest? Surely along with those two Cs we should also put consent.
Fiona Bruce: I am vice-chair of the all-party group on financial education for young people and I hugely welcome that proposal. I think it is an essential ingredient of enabling our young people to mature and face society when they leave school.
At present we do not have a centralised curriculum, and I cannot support proposals for the centralisation of the curriculum as suggested by the champions of the new clause. Research demonstrates that children and young people want to receive their initial sex and relationships education from their parents and families, with school and other adults building on that later. I am not naive and I fully appreciate that many parents do not fulfil their parental duties in that respect. That is why it is essential that we have sex education in senior schools, and I do not deny the importance of that for one minute, for many of the reasons mentioned by the hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) when she introduced the new clause.
Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab): What does the hon. Lady make of the recent Ofsted report on the teaching of PSHE, which mentions its variability around the country, particularly in sex and relationships education?
Fiona Bruce: I am glad the hon. Lady raised that point, because if some of the suggestions that I will come to in my speech were implemented, we would have much better sex education throughout the country than we do at present. She is right. Much still needs to be done, and I said in my introductory remarks that I am concerned about the standard of sex education in our schools, although I do not believe a centralised curriculum will improve that.
Fiona Bruce: I will not take any other interventions, because it would reduce the time for other speakers.
The Department for Education’s sex and relationships education guidance honours the involvement of parents, making plain the need for parental involvement in the content of PSHE. It states:
“Parents are the key people in teaching their children about sex and relationships, maintaining the culture and ethos of the family, helping their children cope with the emotional and physical aspects of growing up, and preparing them for the challenges and
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responsibilities that sexual maturity brings…schools should always work in partnership with parents, consulting them regularly on the content of sex and relationship education programmes.”
The majority of respondents to the recent Government consultation on PSHE believed that parental engagement was crucial, as was providing parents with every possible and practical opportunity to interact and engage with PSHE provision.
Although we should understand the important role that sex education provides, we should not aspire for it narrowly within one context. Current procedures provide a mechanism for drawing in parents who perhaps do not talk to their children about sex and relationships, and encourage those who do to continue with that. At present, all secondary schools must provide sex education by law, and although there is no centrally determined curriculum, governors and teachers, in conversation and consultation with parents, should develop a curriculum on a school-by-school basis, according to the ethos of the school. When properly applied, that decentralised approach means that this sensitive subject can be framed in a manner that has regard for parental views and concerns.If the curriculum were set centrally, that could and probably would disappear.
Currently, a good school should always contact parents to let them know when the sex education curriculum is taught, precisely so that they can follow up with their own conversations at home. The current procedures encourage parental involvement, but new clause 20 would serve only to diminish it. I cannot agree that that is the right approach at a time when many people are concerned that we live in a society in which opportunities for parental involvement and influence need strengthening and encouraging, not reducing and diminishing. Throughout this afternoon’s debate, I have repeatedly heard Ministers and others say how important it is to take into account parents’ views with regard to other aspects of education. Surely that should apply in this critical area of a child’s education.
That does not mean that I am complacent about the current approach—far from it. There is tremendous room for improvement in our relationship and sex education, not least the fact that greater emphasis needs to be placed on the duty to consult parents and communicate clearly with them about what is being taught. Some head teachers believe they must exclusively use whatever resources are recommended by their local authority, but in fact a plethora of other good materials provided by outside agencies can be used, such as the Evaluate: Informing Choice programme. Other head teachers do not accept that the decision should be for the governing body, which has a vital role. I encourage governors actively to take up that role in all schools.
New clause 20 would be a mistake and I hope the Government firmly reject it. However, I ask Ministers to tell us what plans the Government have to make the current decentralised approach to the critical area of sex education work more effectively, so that parents are more and not less involved, as is intended, and so help our next generation to form and sustain healthy, fulfilling and enduring personal relationships and family lives.
Ann Coffey (Stockport) (Lab):
I rise to speak to new clause 4, which stands in the name of my right hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Paul Goggins), who unfortunately cannot be in the
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Chamber because of a prior commitment. He has been a tremendous campaigner, along with the Fostering Network, for allowing young people leaving care to remain with their foster carers until they are at least 21. Currently, children in care leave on or before their 18th birthday, which usually means that children in foster care must leave their foster carer. Every year, hundreds of the most vulnerable young people have to leave home at age 17, but the average age for leaving home in the UK is 24.
The statistics on outcomes for care leavers are not good. One third of those living on the streets have a background in care, and almost a quarter of the adult prison population have spent time in care. Local authorities have a duty in care planning guidance to ensure that young people leave their foster care when they are ready and not before, but in 2011-12 only 320 young people—5%—remained with their foster carers after they reached age 18. Research shows that the longer a young person can stay with a foster family, the more successful they are later.
In 2008, the Labour Government set up a “staying put” pilot to assess the benefits of allowing children to stay in care and with foster carers. The pilot reported in 2012 and found that established family relationships and stability make a positive difference to young people in care as they become adults. That is not a surprising outcome—one of the basic values of our culture is the importance of families in providing a nurturing and secure base for young people to make the transition to independence. Not only that, but foster families can become families for life. My aunt and uncle had long-term foster children. To this day, contact continues, as we would expect in other families.
However, there have been no moves to roll out that scheme. It has been left to councils to decide what provision to fund. The provision is therefore a power a council can choose to exercise rather than a duty to provide a service. In effect, it is a postcode lottery. We have taken the responsibility of parenting those children, having judged that their parents’ care is not good enough. In doing so, we have effectively said that the care system will provide better parenting.
Since 2010, the Government have stressed the importance of treating looked-after children the same as we would treat our own children. Planning for the transition of care leavers to adulthood should be founded on the principle: is this good enough for my own child?
Many young people in care have experienced poor parental care, emotional neglect and abuse, and disruptive care placements. An increasing number of young people are coming into care in their early teens, often with complex needs. The care system is failing these children. They are often the ones who run away or go missing, making them vulnerable to harm, including child sexual exploitation. It is recognised that we need to cut the number of out-of-area placements, with local authorities making placements nearer home. The provision of supported foster placements will need to be considered as an alternative to children’s home placements many miles away, so that we can have more vulnerable children in foster care at 18. Although they are adults at 18, they are still vulnerable adults, which is demonstrated by the
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statistics I quoted earlier. What difference have we made as parents if children in our care end up on the streets, in jail or with disabling mental health problems—another generation doomed to mirror the lives of their parents?
Why would we not let them stay with their foster carers for those important extra three years? Cost must of course be a calculation, but it is minimal. Loughborough university calculated that on average it cost only £17,500 per local authority per year. There will be a far bigger public cost in providing services to a future generation of failing parents, or in helping young people through drug and alcohol addiction. The human cost in misery is incalculable, as is the cost to society in the lost opportunities of the contribution that might have been made if vulnerable young people had been better supported into independence.
For many young people, their scarring experiences will make their life a tough one. The statistics speak for themselves: young people leaving care need more support, not less. Our amendment would ensure that they receive that continuing support by being allowed to stay in foster care until they are 21 if they want to. I look forward to a positive response from the Minister.
Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes) (Con): I am proud to be a patron of Devon Rape Crisis, which, like all of us in this House, is deeply concerned about sexual violence against women and girls. All of us in this House are particularly concerned about the extent to which young people are accessing their information about sex from violent pornography. The influence of violent pornography is to normalise distorted relationships. It teaches some young men that it is normal for women to enjoy violent sex, and to have a total lack of understanding about what constitutes consent. Disturbingly, many young women are being pressured into accepting deeply abnormal and often very violent relationships.
I completely accept that many parents wish to take on the role of delivering sensitive teaching on relationships in a home environment, but let us be absolutely clear that that is not happening for many young girls. The recent outrages in Oxford and in too many of our towns show that young women are being predated on by violent and often much older men. Young women have had no training in how to say no, or an understanding that it is okay to say no. Too often, there is no one for them to confide in. I put it to the House, therefore, that we need to have sex and relationships education in our curriculum: if it is not there, it will not happen. Too often when we teach sex in schools, it is about plumbing and prevention.
Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab): The hon. Lady’s words echo those of Ofsted, which pointed out that the secondary sex and relationships curriculum is not only too focused on plumbing but does not build on the skills that young people need to decide whether they want to enter a relationship—the skills to say no.
Dr Wollaston: It is about teaching girls to say no, and teaching young men to understand that no is no. That needs to be delivered in an age-appropriate way. It is not about frightening young people or taking it out of the hands of parents. In fact, many parents feel relieved that other people are delivering it.
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There are very competent peer educators out there, ready to deliver these programmes in schools, but I am afraid that if it cannot be counted, it often does not count. It is important, then, to establish the principle that these programmes should be happening; then, of course, we would need to discuss the matter further, because it would need to be delivered in an evidence-based way. I get the message from teachers that they often do not feel they have the skills to deliver these programmes. Let us make sure that this is delivered in an age-appropriate way and by the right professionals, but first let us make sure that it happens, because this is about reducing violence against women. We can send out the message that this is important and deliver it well.
5.45 pm
Alex Cunningham: I rise to speak to new clause 17, in my name and those of other hon. Members, which would provide for a ban on smoking in private vehicles when children are present. It is a child protection issue.
I could devote much of my time to the strong influence of the tobacco lobby in this place and knocking down the idea that the new clause is my way of expanding the nanny state, but I will not. Instead, I shall address the simple decision that the new clause invites Members to make: do we act to protect children and ban smoking in cars, or do we leave them to suffer not just the discomfort but the tremendous health problems they will otherwise encounter? In Committee, there was considerable sympathy for the intention, with some reservation about the introduction of an education programme for offenders, but the new clause is much simpler: if a person smokes in a car when a child is present, they would face a £60 fine—no awareness course, no complications, no compromise.
The principle of such a ban has gained much support from fellow Members on both sides of the House. A majority of people understand that smoking is harmful to our health, particularly the health of children, and most would not expose children to smoke in a vehicle. In a survey of 10,000 adults carried out by Action on Smoking and Health that included more than 2,000 smokers, which asked about the car people travelled in most frequently, only 6% said that people should smoke whenever they liked. Some 71% said that smoking was not allowed full stop and 9% said that smoking was not allowed if there were non-smokers or children travelling. Despite that, however, research from the British Lung Foundation found that more than 51% of eight to 15-year-olds reported exposure to cigarette smoke when confined in a car in the UK.
Public opinion is firmly on the side of change. A survey by YouGov found that 85% of adults in north-east England, where my constituency is situated, said that they would support laws to ban smoking in cars carrying under-18s. One factor that sets children apart from other groups is that they are less likely to have a say on whether they are exposed to second-hand smoke in a vehicle in which they are travelling. Given that passive smoking is particularly harmful to children, we have a recipe for a public health time bomb. With their quicker respiration rates, smaller airways, less mature immune systems and greater absorption of pollutants, children are at an increased risk from passive smoking in an enclosed space. Passive smoking increases the risk of a
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number of health problems, ranging from wheezing and asthma to respiratory infections and bacterial meningitis, and doubles the risk of sudden infant death.
These attitudes are backed up by survey data from the British Lung Foundation that shows that many children are uncomfortable with adults smoking around them, but feel unable to influence smoking behaviours. Some 31% of children aged eight to 15 exposed to second-hand smoke in a car reported having asked the smoker to stop. Alarmingly, however, a greater share—34%—had refrained from asking because they were either too frightened or embarrassed. As Members of Parliament, it is our duty to act in the interests of the public we serve and represent, including children and young people, and it is high time that we heeded what our young people are telling us. In the interests of preserving public health, the only way to protect completely against second-hand smoke is to make homes and cars entirely smoke free. A good starting point would be to ban smoking in cars when children are present.
The Government’s response to this developing crisis, in the form of an informative educational campaign that has just been launched, is certainly welcome, but the message about the dangers of passive smoking must be spread even wider. We must stop this sort of behaviour, so this campaign is of course welcome. Private vehicles are considered private spaces—people argue that it is their private space—but it is the young person’s private space as well, so I hope that the House will support my proposal and that the Government will accept it. Opposing a ban on smoking in private vehicles when children are present assumes that the right to smoke trumps the right of the child to be free from harmful smoke. It does not. I have stressed in the past, and do so again, that this is not just a health issue, but an issue of child protection. I hope the Government will now accept it.
Paul Burstow (Sutton and Cheam) (LD): I want briefly to draw attention to new clause 5, which addresses the issue of young carers and the fact that the good intentions of the Government in the Care Bill to extend new rights to adult carers have inadvertently created a gap that leaves young carers in a position where they would be less well favoured than adult carers in the future.
As a result of the new clause, tabled by a cross-party group of Members, the Government can ensure that young carers are treated in a way that is fair and appropriate for them and are not placed in a position where they are undertaking inappropriate and burdensome caring responsibilities. I hope that the Government will be able to give us a good sign of intent to deliver on this agenda. They are doing a great job for adults in the Care Bill and, in carers week, we need to do the same for young carers.
Madam Deputy Speaker: Order. Before I call the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Mr Llwyd), may I remind him that we have a very short period left and that I need to leave a few minutes for the Minister?
Mr Elfyn Llwyd (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) (PC):
I would like to speak briefly to amendments Nos 5, 6, 7 and 8, which seek to introduce greater flexibility and understanding
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of the 26-week target for care proceedings. Nobody in this place would deny that that target is very helpful and we hope that, in most cases, we will be able to meet it. But we know—for example from the Norgrove report—that, on average, cases take up to 61 weeks: 48 weeks in family court proceedings. The Justice Committee, of which I am a member, held an inquiry into the operation of family courts. In its evidence to us, Barnardo’s made the point:
“Two months of delay in making decisions in the best interest of a child equates to 1% of childhood that cannot be restored.”
For this reason, both the all-party group on child protection and the Justice Committee welcomed the Government’s aim of reducing unnecessary delay in the care system.
Care must be taken with regard to the target as well. Clause 14 provides the starting point for courts in setting a time for cases; proceedings should come to an end within 26 weeks, as I mentioned. But there is some ambiguity as to when courts should deem an extension appropriate. As the College of Social Work and the Family Rights Group have argued, there is a genuine risk that the proposed 26-week limit could result in too much focus on procedure and not enough on the welfare of the child.
The vast majority of cases will be concluded within six months, but deciding on permanent options can take longer for some children, not always due to problems with the court process or unnecessary delay. Social workers will attest that situations can change in the course of proceedings; for example, when relatives present themselves as possible carers late in the process. The Family Rights Group has pointed out that, under the new limit, if family members are late in offering themselves as carers there may well not be enough time for the relevant assessments to be carried out.
Equally, placing a child with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins or other siblings can reinforce aspects of a child’s identity. In many cases, however, relatives will be reluctant to offer this option if they think that there is still a chance that the child will be able to be returned to his or her parents.
I anticipate that Government Members will point out that the safeguard for granting extensions to cases is robust enough to allow for complications to be ironed out. Sadly, I have it on good evidence that judges are, in some cases, already imposing a 26-week deadline on proceedings even before the limit has been introduced. It is crucial that time considerations do not supersede the welfare of the child concerned. What is more, some intervention programmes take longer than 26 weeks due to parents undergoing treatment for substance misuse issues and similar problems. The pilot boroughs—Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea—have estimated that 25 to 30 per cent. of all cases will take longer than the 26-week limit.
Intensive family programmes, such as the NSPCC’s infant and family team, are another example. The programme was developed in the United States and is now being piloted in the United Kingdom. A four-year evaluation of the programme in the US showed improved outcomes for children and adults in all groups that
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undertook the programme. I will be unable to address that point as fully as I should like in the time allotted, but one of the motivations behind the amendments I am speaking to—by the way, I am hugely indebted to the NSPCC for its assistance in this matter—is that some cases should be exempted from the limit from the outset. Although the Bill as drafted would allow for incremental eight-week extensions, practitioners in the field have warned that they would need to know at the beginning of proceedings how much time they have to work with the family, in order to secure the best possible outcome.
Equally worryingly, practitioners warn that social workers could be deterred from seeking extensions other than in highly exceptional circumstances, as the “specific justification” test in clause 14(7) may be perceived as a barrier in borderline cases. That is why amendment 5 would allow courts to exempt certain cases from the 26-week limit from the very start of proceedings if evidence relating to a planned intervention or programme requiring a longer period was presented to the court, or if the court considered it necessary to permit additional time to safeguard the child’s welfare.
Amendments 7 and 8 relate to clause 17, which introduces significant reforms to the way in which courts scrutinise care plans. I do not have time to go into the context; all I would say is that I, too, am disappointed that our time is limited today. These are very important matters. I have skimmed through what I was going to say—I am grateful that I was able to catch your eye, Madam Deputy Speaker—and I know that the NSPCC and many other organisations will be bitterly disappointed that we have had to truncate such important debates in this way.
Mr Timpson: This group of amendments covers a wide range of issues relating to the care and protection of children. As I will be unable to address all the points made, I will endeavour to write to all hon. Members in response to their amendments and the questions they posed, particularly the hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy), who has been very convivial and constructive during the passage of this Bill, and my hon. Friend the Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton), who has raised a number of important areas of debate, particularly in making some powerful points about returning home from care. I will look at those points extremely carefully and am happy to discuss them with him on another occasion.
I want to focus on a number of issues about which I have some important points to make. They are: care leavers, young carers, fostering for adoption, child witnesses and sex and relationships education. On carer leavers, new clause 4 considers “staying put” arrangements, where care leavers live with their former foster carer after they have left care. Many hon. Members have expressed their support for new clause 4, and I would welcome the opportunity to discuss how we can extend those arrangements. The legislative framework relating to care leavers is comprehensive and clear. I have written to all directors of children’s services asking them to prioritise “staying put” arrangements. We have also issued practical guidance on tax and benefits issues. We are monitoring “staying put” arrangements and reviewing local progress through Ofsted inspections and feedback
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from care leaver groups. If no progress is being made, I will consider whether legislation is required, but I do not believe we should make that change only two years after changing the statutory framework.
On young carers, in Committee we heard heart-felt arguments about the need to do more for young carers. I promised to reflect carefully on the arguments for legislative change. Since then I have discussed the matter with the Minister for care services, my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), and we have agreed that our joint aim is to ensure that young carers are protected. We firmly believe that taking a “whole family” approach to the assessment of care needs will be the key to achieving just that. I have now given the matter careful thought and, with the changes being introduced by the Care Bill for adult carers, I am persuaded that the time is right to see what we can do to remove any barriers that may be preventing these vulnerable young people and their families from receiving the life-changing support they need.
I have asked officials to look at how the legislation for young carers might be changed so that rights and responsibilities are clearer to young carers and practitioners alike. We will also look at how we can ensure that children’s legislation works with adults’ legislation to support the linking of assessments, as set out in the Care Bill, to enable “whole family” approaches. We will ensure that interested parties, including hon. Members, are consulted on that work.
There is a strong consensus about the policy intention behind fostering for adoption: that children should be placed as early as possible in a stable placement. Amendment 33 would mean that clause 1 would bite too early for concurrent planning. I listened to the concerns raised in Committee about the impact on kinship carers, but there is no intention that kinship carers should be overlooked as a consequence of this clause. I am pleased to reassure hon. Members that I am giving consideration to amending the clause to be clearer that local authorities must first consider placing a child with relatives and friends before they consider a “fostering for adoption” placement. This is an issue that I expect to be returned to in the other place, and I know that Members will welcome that reassurance. I know that hon. Members will also be pleased by today’s announcement from the Secretary of State for Justice on child witnesses. That represents an important move forward.
On personal, social and health education, we all recognise that this is an important issue, but we do not have unanimity on what constitutes the best approach. The expectation that all schools should teach PSHE is outlined in the introduction to the framework of the proposed new national curriculum. It is not a statutory requirement, however, as we strongly believe that teachers need the flexibility to use their professional judgment to decide when and how best to provide PSHE in their local circumstances. The Government do not believe that the right of parents to withdraw their children from sex and relationships education should be diminished in the way proposed. We see no need to amend the existing legislation, which provides a clear and workable model for schools and parents. Moreover, the new provision would place a disproportionate burden on teachers, who would have to make and defend decisions on what constitutes “sufficient maturity”—
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6 pm
Debate interrupted (Programme Order, 25 February).
The Deputy Speaker put forthwith the Question already proposed from the Chair (Standing Order No. 83E), That the clause be read a Second time.
The Deputy Speaker then put forthwith the Questions necessary for the disposal of the business to be concluded at that time (Standing Order No. 83E).
Staff to child ratios: Ofsted-registered childminder settings
‘(1) This section applies to Ofsted-registered childminder settings.
(2) The ratio of staff to children under the age of eight must be no less than one to six, where—
(a) a maximum of three children may be young children;
(b) a maximum of one child is under the age of one.
(3) Any care provided by childminders for older children must not adversely affect the care of children receiving early years provision.
(4) If a childminder can demonstrate to parents, carers and inspectors, that the individual needs of all the children are being met, then in addition to the ratio set out in subsection (2), they may also care for—
(a) babies who are siblings of the children referred to in subsection (2), or
(5) If children aged between four and five years only attend the childminding setting outside of normal school hours or the normal school term time, they may be cared for at the same time as three other young children, provided that at no time the ratio of staff to children under the age of eight exceeds one to six.
(6) If a childminder employs an assistant or works with another childminder, each childminder or assistant may care for the number of children permitted by the ratios specified in subsections (2), (4), and (5).
(7) Children may only be left in the sole care of a childminder’s assistant for two hours in a single day.
(8) Childminders must obtain the permission of a child’s parents or carers before that child can be left in the sole care of a childminder’s assistant.
(9) The ratios in subsections (2), (4) and (5) apply to childminders providing overnight care, provided that the children are continuously monitored, which may be through the use of electronic equipment.
(10) For the purposes of this section a child is—
(a) a “young child” up until 1 September following his or her fifth birthday.
(b) an “older child” after the 1 September following his or her fifth birthday.’.—(Mrs Hodgson.)
Question put, That the clause be added to the Bill.
The House divided:
Ayes 222, Noes 303.
Division No. 24]
[
6 pm
AYES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Abrahams, Debbie
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Ali, Rushanara
Allen, Mr Graham
Ashworth, Jonathan
Austin, Ian
Bailey, Mr Adrian
Bain, Mr William
Balls, rh Ed
Barron, rh Mr Kevin
Bayley, Hugh
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Benn, rh Hilary
Berger, Luciana
Betts, Mr Clive
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Blunkett, rh Mr David
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Bryant, Chris
Burden, Richard
Burnham, rh Andy
Byrne, rh Mr Liam
Campbell, Mr Alan
Campbell, Mr Gregory
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Champion, Sarah
Chapman, Jenny
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coaker, Vernon
Coffey, Ann
Cooper, Rosie
Cooper, rh Yvette
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crausby, Mr David
Creagh, Mary
Creasy, Stella
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Cunningham, Sir Tony
Curran, Margaret
Dakin, Nic
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
David, Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Denham, rh Mr John
Docherty, Thomas
Dodds, rh Mr Nigel
Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M.
Donohoe, Mr Brian H.
Doran, Mr Frank
Doughty, Stephen
Dowd, Jim
Doyle, Gemma
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Durkan, Mark
Eagle, Ms Angela
Eagle, Maria
Edwards, Jonathan
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Engel, Natascha
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Field, rh Mr Frank
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Francis, Dr Hywel
Gardiner, Barry
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Goodman, Helen
Greatrex, Tom
Green, Kate
Griffith, Nia
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Hanson, rh Mr David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr Tom
Healey, rh John
Hendrick, Mark
Hermon, Lady
Hillier, Meg
Hilling, Julie
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hoey, Kate
Hood, Mr Jim
Hunt, Tristram
Irranca-Davies, Huw
Jackson, Glenda
James, Mrs Siân C.
Jamieson, Cathy
Jarvis, Dan
Johnson, rh Alan
Johnson, Diana
Jones, Graham
Jones, Helen
Jones, Susan Elan
Keeley, Barbara
Kendall, Liz
Khan, rh Sadiq
Lammy, rh Mr David
Lavery, Ian
Lazarowicz, Mark
Leslie, Chris
Lewell-Buck, Emma
Lewis, Mr Ivan
Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
Lucas, Caroline
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Shabana
Malhotra, Seema
Mann, John
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCann, Mr Michael
McClymont, Gregg
McCrea, Dr William
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonald, Andy
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McGovern, Alison
McGovern, Jim
McGuire, rh Mrs Anne
McKechin, Ann
McKenzie, Mr Iain
McKinnell, Catherine
Meacher, rh Mr Michael
Meale, Sir Alan
Mearns, Ian
Miller, Andrew
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morden, Jessica
Morrice, Graeme
(Livingston)
Morris, Grahame M.
(Easington)
Mudie, Mr George
Murphy, rh Mr Jim
Murphy, rh Paul
Murray, Ian
Nandy, Lisa
Nash, Pamela
O'Donnell, Fiona
Onwurah, Chi
Osborne, Sandra
Owen, Albert
Pearce, Teresa
Perkins, Toby
Phillipson, Bridget
Pound, Stephen
Qureshi, Yasmin
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Reed, Mr Jamie
Reed, Mr Steve
Reynolds, Emma
Reynolds, Jonathan
Riordan, Mrs Linda
Ritchie, Ms Margaret
Robertson, John
Robinson, Mr Geoffrey
Rotheram, Steve
Roy, Mr Frank
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, rh Dame Joan
Sarwar, Anas
Sawford, Andy
Seabeck, Alison
Shannon, Jim
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Simpson, David
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, rh Mr Andrew
Smith, Nick
Smith, Owen
Spellar, rh Mr John
Straw, rh Mr Jack
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
Tami, Mark
Thomas, Mr Gareth
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaz, Valerie
Walley, Joan
Watson, Mr Tom
Watts, Mr Dave
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Williams, Hywel
Williamson, Chris
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wood, Mike
Woodcock, John
Woodward, rh Mr Shaun
Wright, David
Wright, Mr Iain
Tellers for the Ayes:
Mr David Hamilton
and
Phil Wilson
NOES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Amess, Mr David
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Baker, Norman
Baldry, Sir Tony
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, rh Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Bebb, Guto
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Binley, Mr Brian
Birtwistle, Gordon
Blackwood, Nicola
Blunt, Mr Crispin
Boles, Nick
Bone, Mr Peter
Bottomley, Sir Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brake, rh Tom
Bray, Angie
Brazier, Mr Julian
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Steve
Brokenshire, James
Brooke, Annette
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, Conor
Burrowes, Mr David
Burstow, rh Paul
Byles, Dan
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Cameron, rh Mr David
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Mr Douglas
Chishti, Rehman
Clark, rh Greg
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Cox, Mr Geoffrey
Crabb, Stephen
Crockart, Mike
Davey, rh Mr Edward
Davies, Glyn
Davies, Philip
Davis, rh Mr David
de Bois, Nick
Dinenage, Caroline
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Dorries, Nadine
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Drax, Richard
Duddridge, James
Duncan, rh Mr Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Ellison, Jane
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evennett, Mr David
Fabricant, Michael
Farron, Tim
Featherstone, Lynne
Foster, rh Mr Don
Fox, rh Dr Liam
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Fuller, Richard
Gale, Sir Roger
Garnier, Sir Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Gilbert, Stephen
Gillan, rh Mrs Cheryl
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Gove, rh Michael
Graham, Richard
Grant, Mrs Helen
Gray, Mr James
Grayling, rh Chris
Green, rh Damian
Greening, rh Justine
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Gyimah, Mr Sam
Hague, rh Mr William
Halfon, Robert
Hames, Duncan
Hammond, rh Mr Philip
Hammond, Stephen
Hands, Greg
Harper, Mr Mark
Harrington, Richard
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Harvey, Sir Nick
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Hayes, rh Mr John
Heald, Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howarth, Sir Gerald
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Hunt, rh Mr Jeremy
Hunter, Mark
Huppert, Dr Julian
Hurd, Mr Nick
Jackson, Mr Stewart
James, Margot
Javid, Sajid
Jenkin, Mr Bernard
Johnson, Gareth
Johnson, Joseph
Jones, Andrew
Jones, rh Mr David
Jones, Mr Marcus
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Mr Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Laing, Mrs Eleanor
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Latham, Pauline
Laws, rh Mr David
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Jessica
Lee, Dr Phillip
Leech, Mr John
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Mr Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Lidington, rh Mr David
Lilley, rh Mr Peter
Lloyd, Stephen
Lord, Jonathan
Loughton, Tim
Luff, Peter
Lumley, Karen
Macleod, Mary
Main, Mrs Anne
Maude, rh Mr Francis
May, rh Mrs Theresa
Maynard, Paul
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Moore, rh Michael
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newmark, Mr Brooks
Newton, Sarah
Nokes, Caroline
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
Offord, Dr Matthew
Opperman, Guy
Osborne, rh Mr George
Ottaway, Richard
Paice, rh Sir James
Parish, Neil
Patel, Priti
Pawsey, Mark
Penrose, John
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pickles, rh Mr Eric
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Prisk, Mr Mark
Pritchard, Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Randall, rh Mr John
Reckless, Mark
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reid, Mr Alan
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, rh Hugh
Rogerson, Dan
Rosindell, Andrew
Ruffley, Mr David
Rutley, David
Sanders, Mr Adrian
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Sharma, Alok
Shelbrooke, Alec
Shepherd, Sir Richard
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Miss Chloe
Smith, Julian
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, rh Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stephenson, Andrew
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Stewart, Rory
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, rh Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, rh Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Syms, Mr Robert
Tapsell, rh Sir Peter
Teather, Sarah
Thornton, Mike
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Uppal, Paul
Vaizey, Mr Edward
Vara, Mr Shailesh
Vickers, Martin
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Wallace, Mr Ben
Ward, Mr David
Watkinson, Dame Angela
Weatherley, Mike
Webb, Steve
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
White, Chris
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Willetts, rh Mr David
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Wright, Jeremy
Wright, Simon
Young, rh Sir George
Zahawi, Nadhim
Tellers for the Noes:
Anne Milton
and
Jenny Willott
Question accordingly negatived.
11 Jun 2013 : Column 269
11 Jun 2013 : Column 270
11 Jun 2013 : Column 271
11 Jun 2013 : Column 272
Personal, social and health education in maintained schools
‘(1) In section 84(3) of the Education Act 2002 (curriculum foundation subjects for the first, second and third key stages), after paragraph (g) there is inserted—
“(ga) personal, social and health education”.
(2) In section 85(4) of the Education Act 2002 (curriculum foundation subjects for the fourth key stage), at the end there is inserted “, and
(d) personal, social and health education.”
(3) In section 74(1) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, which (when brought into force) will substitute a new section 85 in the Education Act 2002, in subsection (4) of that substituted section (foundation subjects for the fourth key stage), at the end there is inserted “, and
(d) personal, social and health education.”
11 Jun 2013 : Column 273
(4) Before section 86 of the Education Act 2002 there is inserted—
“85B Personal, social and health education
(1) For the purposes of this Part, personal, social and health education (“PSHE”) shall include sex and relationship education, including information about same-sex relationships, sexual violence, domestic violence and sexual consent.
(2) The National Curriculum for England is not required to specify attainment targets or assessment arrangements for PSHE (and section 84(1) has effect accordingly).
(3) The Secretary of State for Education shall set out guidance to schools and colleges to ensure that a coherent approach to personal, social, health and economic education is developed, including between primary and secondary schools.
(4) It is the duty of the governing body and head teacher of any school in which PSHE is provided in pursuance of this Part to secure that guidance issued under subsection (3) is followed and that—
(a) information presented in the course of providing PSHE should be accurate and balanced;
(b) PSHE is taught in a way that is appropriate to the ages of the pupils concerned and to their religious and cultural backgrounds, and reflects a reasonable range of religious, cultural and other perspectives;
(c) PSHE is taught in a way that endeavours to promote equality, celebrate diversity, and emphasise the importance of both rights and responsibilities.
(5) In the exercise of their functions under this Part so far as relating to PSHE, a local authority, governing body or head teacher shall have regard to any guidance issued from time to time by the Secretary of State.”.
(5) Section 403 of the Education Act 1996 (sex education: manner of provision) is amended as set out in subsections (6) to (9).
(6) In subsection (1), for the words from the beginning to “at a maintained school” there is substituted “The governing body or other proprietor of any school to which this section applies, and its head teacher, must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to ensure that sex and relationships education is given to registered pupils at the school and that”.
(7) After that subsection there is inserted—
“(1ZA) The schools to which this section applies are—
(c) city colleges for the technology of the arts;
A reference in this section or section 404 to the governing body of a school, in relation to a school within paragraph (b), (c) or (d), shall be read as a reference to the proprietor of the school.”.
(a) for “when sex education is given to registered pupils at maintained schools” there is substituted “when sex and relationships education is given to registered pupils at schools to which this section applies”;
(b) in paragraph (a), after “, and” there is inserted “learn the nature of civil partnership and the importance of strong and stable relationships.”;
(9) In subsection (1C), for “sex education” there is substituted “sex and relationships education”,
(10) In section 579 of the Education Act 1996 (general interpretation), in the definition of “sex education” in subsection (1)—
(a) for “sex education” there is substituted “sex and relationships education”;
(b) at the end there is inserted “but does not include education about human reproduction provided as part of any science teaching;”.
11 Jun 2013 : Column 274
(11) For section 405 of the Education Act 1996 there is substituted—
“405 Exemption from sex and relationships education
(1) If a pupil of sufficient maturity in attendance at a school to which section 403 applies requests to be wholly or partly excused from receiving sex and relationships education at the school, the pupil shall be so excused accordingly until the request is withdrawn.
(2) The Secretary of State must in regulations define “sufficient maturity”.
(3) A statutory instrument containing regulations under subsection (2) may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.
(4) The Secretary of State must lay draft regulations before Parliament before the end of the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed.”.’.—(Lisa Nandy.)
Brought up, and read the First time.
Question put, That the clause be read a Second time:—
The House divided:
Ayes 219, Noes 303.
Division No. 25]
[
6.16 pm
AYES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Abrahams, Debbie
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Ali, Rushanara
Allen, Mr Graham
Ashworth, Jonathan
Austin, Ian
Bailey, Mr Adrian
Bain, Mr William
Balls, rh Ed
Barron, rh Mr Kevin
Bayley, Hugh
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Benn, rh Hilary
Berger, Luciana
Betts, Mr Clive
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Blunkett, rh Mr David
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brennan, Kevin
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Burden, Richard
Burnham, rh Andy
Byrne, rh Mr Liam
Campbell, Mr Alan
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Caton, Martin
Champion, Sarah
Chapman, Jenny
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coaker, Vernon
Coffey, Ann
Cooper, Rosie
Cooper, rh Yvette
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crausby, Mr David
Creagh, Mary
Creasy, Stella
Cruddas, Jon
Cryer, John
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Cunningham, Sir Tony
Curran, Margaret
Dakin, Nic
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
David, Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Denham, rh Mr John
Docherty, Thomas
Donohoe, Mr Brian H.
Doran, Mr Frank
Doughty, Stephen
Dowd, Jim
Doyle, Gemma
Dromey, Jack
Dugher, Michael
Durkan, Mark
Eagle, Ms Angela
Eagle, Maria
Edwards, Jonathan
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Engel, Natascha
Evans, Chris
Farrelly, Paul
Field, rh Mr Frank
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flello, Robert
Flint, rh Caroline
Flynn, Paul
Francis, Dr Hywel
Gardiner, Barry
Gilmore, Sheila
Glass, Pat
Glindon, Mrs Mary
Godsiff, Mr Roger
Goodman, Helen
Greatrex, Tom
Green, Kate
Griffith, Nia
Gwynne, Andrew
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Hanson, rh Mr David
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harris, Mr Tom
Healey, rh John
Hendrick, Mark
Hillier, Meg
Hilling, Julie
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hoey, Kate
Hood, Mr Jim
Hunt, Tristram
Huppert, Dr Julian
Irranca-Davies, Huw
Jackson, Glenda
James, Mrs Siân C.
Jamieson, Cathy
Jarvis, Dan
Johnson, rh Alan
Johnson, Diana
Jones, Graham
Jones, Helen
Jones, Susan Elan
Keeley, Barbara
Kendall, Liz
Khan, rh Sadiq
Lammy, rh Mr David
Lavery, Ian
Lazarowicz, Mark
Leslie, Chris
Lewell-Buck, Emma
Lewis, Mr Ivan
Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
Lucas, Caroline
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Shabana
Malhotra, Seema
Mann, John
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCann, Mr Michael
McClymont, Gregg
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonald, Andy
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McGovern, Alison
McGovern, Jim
McGuire, rh Mrs Anne
McKechin, Ann
McKenzie, Mr Iain
McKinnell, Catherine
Meacher, rh Mr Michael
Meale, Sir Alan
Mearns, Ian
Miller, Andrew
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Morden, Jessica
Morrice, Graeme
(Livingston)
Morris, Grahame M.
(Easington)
Mudie, Mr George
Murphy, rh Mr Jim
Murphy, rh Paul
Murray, Ian
Nandy, Lisa
Nash, Pamela
O'Donnell, Fiona
Onwurah, Chi
Osborne, Sandra
Owen, Albert
Pearce, Teresa
Perkins, Toby
Phillipson, Bridget
Pound, Stephen
Qureshi, Yasmin
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Reed, Mr Jamie
Reed, Mr Steve
Reynolds, Emma
Reynolds, Jonathan
Riordan, Mrs Linda
Ritchie, Ms Margaret
Robertson, John
Robinson, Mr Geoffrey
Rotheram, Steve
Roy, Mr Frank
Ruane, Chris
Ruddock, rh Dame Joan
Sarwar, Anas
Sawford, Andy
Seabeck, Alison
Sharma, Mr Virendra
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, rh Mr Andrew
Smith, Nick
Smith, Owen
Spellar, rh Mr John
Straw, rh Mr Jack
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
Tami, Mark
Thomas, Mr Gareth
Thornberry, Emily
Timms, rh Stephen
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaz, rh Keith
Vaz, Valerie
Walley, Joan
Watson, Mr Tom
Watts, Mr Dave
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Williams, Hywel
Williamson, Chris
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Wood, Mike
Woodcock, John
Woodward, rh Mr Shaun
Wright, David
Wright, Mr Iain
Tellers for the Ayes:
Mr David Hamilton
and
Phil Wilson
NOES
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Aldous, Peter
Amess, Mr David
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Bacon, Mr Richard
Baker, Norman
Baldry, Sir Tony
Barclay, Stephen
Barker, rh Gregory
Baron, Mr John
Barwell, Gavin
Bebb, Guto
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berry, Jake
Bingham, Andrew
Binley, Mr Brian
Birtwistle, Gordon
Blackwood, Nicola
Blunt, Mr Crispin
Boles, Nick
Bone, Mr Peter
Bottomley, Sir Peter
Bradley, Karen
Brake, rh Tom
Bray, Angie
Brazier, Mr Julian
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Steve
Brokenshire, James
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, Fiona
Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burns, Conor
Burrowes, Mr David
Burstow, rh Paul
Byles, Dan
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Cameron, rh Mr David
Campbell, Mr Gregory
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Mr Douglas
Chishti, Rehman
Clark, rh Greg
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Collins, Damian
Cox, Mr Geoffrey
Crabb, Stephen
Crockart, Mike
Davey, rh Mr Edward
Davies, Glyn
Davies, Philip
Davis, rh Mr David
de Bois, Nick
Dinenage, Caroline
Dodds, rh Mr Nigel
Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M.
Dorrell, rh Mr Stephen
Dorries, Nadine
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Drax, Richard
Duddridge, James
Duncan, rh Mr Alan
Duncan Smith, rh Mr Iain
Dunne, Mr Philip
Ellis, Michael
Elphicke, Charlie
Eustice, George
Evans, Graham
Evennett, Mr David
Fabricant, Michael
Featherstone, Lynne
Foster, rh Mr Don
Fox, rh Dr Liam
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Fuller, Richard
Gale, Sir Roger
Garnier, Sir Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gilbert, Stephen
Gillan, rh Mrs Cheryl
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Gove, rh Michael
Graham, Richard
Grant, Mrs Helen
Gray, Mr James
Grayling, rh Chris
Green, rh Damian
Greening, rh Justine
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffiths, Andrew
Gummer, Ben
Gyimah, Mr Sam
Hague, rh Mr William
Halfon, Robert
Hames, Duncan
Hammond, rh Mr Philip
Hammond, Stephen
Harper, Mr Mark
Harrington, Richard
Harris, Rebecca
Hart, Simon
Harvey, Sir Nick
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Hayes, rh Mr John
Heald, Oliver
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Hemming, John
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Hermon, Lady
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hollingbery, George
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Hopkins, Kris
Horwood, Martin
Howarth, Sir Gerald
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Hunt, rh Mr Jeremy
Hunter, Mark
Hurd, Mr Nick
Jackson, Mr Stewart
James, Margot
Javid, Sajid
Jenkin, Mr Bernard
Johnson, Gareth
Johnson, Joseph
Jones, Andrew
Jones, rh Mr David
Jones, Mr Marcus
Kawczynski, Daniel
Kelly, Chris
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Mr Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Laing, Mrs Eleanor
Lamb, Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Latham, Pauline
Laws, rh Mr David
Leadsom, Andrea
Lee, Jessica
Lee, Dr Phillip
Leech, Mr John
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Mr Edward
Leslie, Charlotte
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewis, Brandon
Lidington, rh Mr David
Lilley, rh Mr Peter
Lloyd, Stephen
Lord, Jonathan
Loughton, Tim
Luff, Peter
Lumley, Karen
Macleod, Mary
Main, Mrs Anne
Maude, rh Mr Francis
May, rh Mrs Theresa
Maynard, Paul
McCartney, Jason
McCartney, Karl
McCrea, Dr William
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McPartland, Stephen
McVey, Esther
Menzies, Mark
Metcalfe, Stephen
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, rh Mr Andrew
Moore, rh Michael
Morgan, Nicky
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, David
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Mulholland, Greg
Mundell, rh David
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Sheryll
Murrison, Dr Andrew
Neill, Robert
Newmark, Mr Brooks
Newton, Sarah
Nokes, Caroline
Norman, Jesse
Nuttall, Mr David
Offord, Dr Matthew
Opperman, Guy
Osborne, rh Mr George
Ottaway, Richard
Paice, rh Sir James
Parish, Neil
Patel, Priti
Pawsey, Mark
Penrose, John
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Pickles, rh Mr Eric
Pincher, Christopher
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Prisk, Mr Mark
Pritchard, Mark
Pugh, John
Raab, Mr Dominic
Randall, rh Mr John
Reckless, Mark
Redwood, rh Mr John
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Reid, Mr Alan
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, rh Hugh
Rogerson, Dan
Rosindell, Andrew
Ruffley, Mr David
Rutley, David
Sanders, Mr Adrian
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shannon, Jim
Sharma, Alok
Shelbrooke, Alec
Shepherd, Sir Richard
Simmonds, Mark
Simpson, David
Skidmore, Chris
Smith, Miss Chloe
Smith, Julian
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, rh Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stephenson, Andrew
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Iain
Stewart, Rory
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stride, Mel
Stuart, Mr Graham
Stunell, rh Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Swales, Ian
Swayne, rh Mr Desmond
Swinson, Jo
Syms, Mr Robert
Tapsell, rh Sir Peter
Teather, Sarah
Thornton, Mike
Thurso, John
Timpson, Mr Edward
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Truss, Elizabeth
Turner, Mr Andrew
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Uppal, Paul
Vaizey, Mr Edward
Vara, Mr Shailesh
Vickers, Martin
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Wallace, Mr Ben
Ward, Mr David
Watkinson, Dame Angela
Weatherley, Mike
Webb, Steve
Wharton, James
Wheeler, Heather
White, Chris
Whittaker, Craig
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Willetts, rh Mr David
Williams, Mr Mark
Williams, Roger
Williamson, Gavin
Wilson, Mr Rob
Wright, Jeremy
Wright, Simon
Young, rh Sir George
Zahawi, Nadhim
Tellers for the Noes:
Greg Hands
and
Jenny Willott
Question accordingly negatived.
11 Jun 2013 : Column 275
11 Jun 2013 : Column 276
11 Jun 2013 : Column 277
11 Jun 2013 : Column 278
The Adoption and Children Act Register
Amendment made: 9, page 5, line 9, at end insert—
‘( ) In section 129 (disclosure of information), in subsection (2)(a) after “suitable for adoption” insert “or for whom a local authority in England is considering adoption”.’.—(Mr Timpson.)
Contact: post-adoption
Amendment made: 16, page 8, line 42, at end add—
‘(12) In Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (civil legal services)—
(a) in paragraph 12(9) (victims of domestic violence and family matters), in the definition of “family enactment” after paragraph (o) insert—
(a) section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (post-adoption contact orders).”, and
(b) in paragraph 13(1) (protection of children and family matters) after paragraph (f) insert—
(g) orders under section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (post-adoption contact).”’.—(Mr Timpson.)
Independent special schools and special post-16 institutions: approval
Amendment made: 17, page 32, line 28, after ‘needs,’ insert—
(i) which has been entered on the register of independent schools in Wales (kept under section 158 of the Education Act 2002), and
(ii) which is specially organised to make special educational provision for pupils with special educational needs,’.—(Mr Timpson.)
Personal budgets
Amendments made: 18, page 36, line 19, at beginning insert
Amendment 19, page 36, line 20, leave out ‘provision’ and insert ‘having been’.
Amendment 20, page 36, line 21, at end insert—
‘(6) Subsection (7) applies if—
(a) an EHC plan is maintained for a child or young person, and
(b) health care provision specified in the plan is acquired for him or her by means of a payment made by a commissioning body under section 12A(1) of the National Health Service Act 2006 (direct payments for health care).
(7) The health care provision is to be treated as having been arranged by the commissioning body in pursuance of its duty under section 42(3) of this Act, subject to any prescribed conditions or exceptions.
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(8) “Commissioning body”, in relation to any specified health care provision, means a body that is under a duty to arrange health care provision of that kind in respect of the child or young person.’.—(Mr Timpson.)
Continuation of services under section 17 of the Children Act 1989
Amendment made: 21, page 36, line 28, after ‘authority’, insert
Shared parental leave
Amendment made: 26, page 66, leave out line 34 and insert—
‘(b) a person who is an employer or former employer of such a person.
‘(2A) In subsection (2)(b) “employer”, in relation to a person falling within subsection (2)(a) who is an employed earner, includes a person who is a secondary contributor as regards that employed earner.
(2B) The conditions as to employment or self-employment that may be specified in provision under section 75E(2) or (5) or 75G(2) or (5) include conditions as to being in employed or self-employed earner’s employment.
(2C) In subsections (2A) and (2B)—
“employed earner” and “self-employed earner” have the meaning given by section 2 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, subject for these purposes to the effect of regulations made under section 2(2)(b) of that Act (persons who are to be treated as employed or self-employed earners);
“employment”, in the case of employment as an employed or self-employed earner, has the meaning given by section 122 of that Act;
“secondary contributor”, as regards an employed earner, means a person who—
(a) is indicated by section 7(1) of that Act, as that subsection has effect subject to section 7(2) of that Act, as being a secondary contributor as regards the earner, or(b) is indicated by regulations under section 7(2) of that Act as being a person to be treated as a secondary contributor as regards the earner.’.—
(Mr Timpson.)
Transitional, transitory or saving provision
Amendment made: 28, page 113, line 39, at end insert—
‘(2) Subsections (3) to (5) apply if section 85(1) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (“the 2012 Act”) comes into force on or before the day on which this Act is passed.
(3) Section 85 of the 2012 Act (removal of £5,000 limit on certain fines on conviction by magistrates’ court) applies in relation to the following offences as if the offences were relevant offences (as defined in section 85(3) of that Act)—
(a) the offence contained in the new section 51C(4) to be inserted into the Childcare Act 2006 by paragraph 13 of Schedule 4 to this Act;
(b) the offence contained in the new section 51F(1) to be inserted into that Act by paragraph 13 of that Schedule;
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(c) the offence contained in the new section 61D(4) to be inserted into that Act by paragraph 26 of that Schedule;
(d) the offence contained in the new section 61G(1) to be inserted into that Act by paragraph 26 of that Schedule;
(e) the offence contained in the new section 69C(6) to be inserted into that Act by paragraph 36 of that Schedule;
(f) the offence contained in the new section 76B(3) to be inserted into that Act by paragraph 46 of that Schedule.
(4) Section 85 of the 2012 Act (removal of £5,000 limit on certain fines on conviction by magistrates’ court) applies in relation to the power in the new section 69A(1)(b) to be inserted into the Childcare Act 2006 by paragraph 35 of Schedule 4 to this Act as if the power were a relevant power (as defined in section 85(3) of the 2012 Act).
(5) Regulations described in section 85(11) of the 2012 Act may amend, repeal or otherwise modify a provision of this Act or the Childcare Act 2006.’.—(Mr Timpson.)
The Adoption and Children Act Register
Amendments made: 10, page 116, leave out lines 5 to 12 and insert—
“(2A) Regulations may make provision permitting the disclosure of prescribed information entered in the register, or compiled from information entered in the register—
(a) to an adoption agency or to a Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish adoption agency for any prescribed purpose, or
(b) for the purpose of enabling the information to be entered in a register which is maintained in respect of Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland and which contains information about children who are suitable for adoption or prospective adopters who are suitable to adopt a child.”’.
Amendment 11, page 116, line 13, after ‘(4)’ insert—
Amendment 12, page 116, line 13, at end insert—
(b) after “(2)” insert “or (2A)”.’.
Amendment 13, page 116, line 17, at end insert—
( ) in paragraph (a) after “(2)” insert “or (2A)”,’.
Amendment 14, page 116, line 21, leave out ‘(2A)(a)’ and insert— ‘(2A)’.
Amendment 15, page 116, line 22, leave out ‘after “subsection” insert—
“(2A)(b) or”’ and insert ‘for “to whom information is disclosed under subsection (3)” substitute “in respect of information disclosed under subsection (2A) or (3)”’.—(Mr Timpson.)
Special educational needs: consequential amendments
Amendments made: 22, page 149, line 25, leave out ‘young person’ and insert—
‘person over compulsory school age but under 25’.
Amendment 23, page 151, line 7, at end insert—
‘Local Government Act 1974 (c. 7)
61A In Schedule 5 to the Local Government Act 1974 (matters not subject to investigation by Local Commissioners), in paragraph 5(2)(b) for “by section 312” substitute “by section 579(1)”.
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Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 (c. 33)
61B (1) In the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986, section 5 (disabled persons leaving special education) is amended as follows.
(a) in paragraph (a) after “needs)” insert “, or have maintained an EHC plan under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2013,”, and
(b) in paragraph (b) after “statement” (in both places) insert “or plan”.
(a) in paragraph (a) after “statement” insert “, or secure the preparation of an EHC plan,”,
(b) in paragraph (b) after “statement” insert “or plan”, and
(c) after “making the statement” insert “, securing the preparation of the plan”.
(4) After subsection (8) insert—
“(8A) Regulations under section (Transfer of EHC plans) of the Children and Families Act 2013 (transfer of EHC plans) may make such provision as appears to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient in connection with subsections (1) to (7) of this section.”
(5) In subsection (9), in paragraph (a) of the definition of “the responsible authority”, after “1996” insert “or (as the case may be) Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2013”.
Value Added Tax Act 1994 (c. 23)
61C (1) In Schedule 9 to the Value Added Tax Act 1994, in Part 2 (groups of goods and services the supply of which is exempt from VAT), group 6 (education) is amended as follows.
(a) after paragraph (b) insert—
(ba) aged 19 or over and for whom an EHC plan is maintained,”, and
(b) in paragraph (d), after “paragraph” insert “(ba) or”.
(3) in note (5B), after “item (5B),” insert ““EHC plan” and” and for “has the same meaning” substitute “have the same meanings”.
School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (c. 31)
61D The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 is amended as follows.
61E (1) Section 98 (admission for nursery education or to nursery or special school: children with statements of special educational needs) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (7) after “for whom” insert “EHC plans are maintained under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2013 or”
(3) In the title after “special education needs” insert “or EHC plans”.
61F (1) Section 123 (nursery education: children with special educational needs) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (1), for the words from “(except” to the end substitute “to have regard to the provisions of the code of practice issued under section 66 of the Children and Families Act 2013 (in the case of education in England) or section 313(2) of the Education Act 1996 (in the case of education in Wales).”
(3) After subsection (1) insert—
“(1A) Subsection (1) does not apply in so far as the person in question is already under a duty to have regard to the provisions of the code of practice in question.”
(a) for “That code of practice” substitute “The code of practice in question”, and
(b) after “functions under” insert “Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2013 or (as the case may be)”.
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(a) for “that code of practice” substitute “the code of practice in question”, and
(b) after “functions under” insert “Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2013 or (as the case may be)”.
(6) In subsection (3A)(b) after “no” insert “EHC plan or”.
61G In Part A1 of Schedule 22 (disposals of land in case of foundation, voluntary and foundation special schools in England), in paragraph A23(9), in paragraph (d) of the definition of “children’s services”—
(a) after “learning difficulty” insert “or disability”, and
Learning and Skills Act 2000 (c. 21)
61H The Learning and Skills Act 2000 is amended as follows.61I In section 35 (conditions imposed by Welsh Ministers on financial resources provided by them), in subsection (3)(f) omit “139A or”.61J In section 41 (discharge by the Welsh Ministers of certain functions in relation to persons with learning difficulties), in subsection (1)(b) omit “139A or”.’.
Amendment 24, page 151, line 8, leave out
‘In the Learning and Skills Act 2000’.
Amendment 25, page 151, line 10, leave out from beginning to end of line 12 and insert—
63 In consequence of the repeals made by paragraphs 61I, 61J and 62—
(a) omit paragraph 76 of Schedule 1 to the Education and Skills Act 2008;
(b) section 80 of the Education and Skills Act 2008 is repealed.
Education Act 2002 (c. 32)
64 The Education Act 2002 is amended as follows.65 In section 92 (pupils with statements of special educational needs: application of National Curriculum for England)—
(a) for the words from “a statement” to “special educational needs” substitute “an EHC plan maintained for the pupil”,
(b) for “the statement” substitute “the plan”, and
(c) in the heading for “statements of special educational needs” substitute “EHC plans”.
66 (1) Section 94 (information concerning directions under section 93) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (3), for the words from “by virtue of” to the end substitute “and the responsible authority ought to be required to secure an EHC needs assessment for the pupil under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2013 (or, if an EHC plan is maintained for the pupil, a re-assessment under section 44 of that Act).”
(3) In subsection (5), for the words from “consider” to the end substitute “make a determination in respect of the pupil under section 36(3) of the Children and Families Act 2013 (or, if an EHC plan is maintained for the pupil, under that section as it applies to re-assessments by virtue of regulations under section 44 (7)).”
(4) In subsection (6), for “Part 4 of the Education Act 1996” substitute “Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2013 (see section 23 of that Act)”.
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (c. 41)
67 (1) Section 36 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (education of children who are residents of accommodation centres) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (3)(b), after “named in” insert “an EHC plan maintained for the child under section 37 of the Children and Families Act 2013 or”.
(3) In subsection (5), omit the “and” after paragraph (d) and after paragraph (e) insert—
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“(f) sections33 and34 of the Children and Families Act 2013 (mainstream education for children with special educational needs), and
(g) sections38 and39 of that Act (EHC plan: request of parent for named school etc).”
(4) After subsection (5) insert—
“(5A) The powers of the First-tier Tribunal on determining an appeal under section 50(2)(c) of the Children and Families Act 2013 (appeals against certain aspects of content of EHC plan) are subject to subsection (2) above.”
(5) In subsection (6), omit “the First-tier Tribunal or”.
(a) after “function under this Act” insert “, Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2013”, and
(b) in paragraph (a), after “special educational provision” insert “called for by his special educational needs or”.
(7) In subsection (9), after paragraph (a) insert—
“(aa) section36 of the Children and Families Act 2013 (assessment of education, health and care needs: England) shall have effect as if an accommodation centre were a school,”.
Children Act 2004 (c. 31)
68 In section 10(9) of the Children Act 2004 (co-operation arrangements in respect of children may include arrangements in respect of certain young people), in paragraph (c)—
(a) after “but under the age of 25” insert “—
(i) for whom an EHC plan is maintained, or
(b) after “learning difficulty” insert “or disability”.
Education and Inspections Act 2006 (c. 40)
69 In section 16 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 (consultation before publishing proposals for discontinuance of maintained schools), in subsection (1)(c), after “maintain” insert “an EHC plan or”.
Education and Skills Act 2008 (c. 25)
70 The Education and Skills Act 2008 is amended as follows.71 In section 4 (meaning of appropriate full-time education or training)—
(a) in subsection (1)(b), for “learning difficulty” substitute “special educational needs”, and
72 In section 17 (sharing and use of information held for purposes of support services or functions under Part 1), in subsection (8)(b)—
(a) for “a learning difficulty” substitute “special educational needs”, and
(b) omit the words from “and subsections (6) and (7)” to the end.
73 In section 47 (attendance notice: description of education or training)—
(a) in subsection (5)(b)(ii), for “learning difficulty” substitute “special educational needs”, and
74 In section 78(1) (Part 2: supplementary), in the definition of “relevant young adult”—
(a) for “a learning difficulty” substitute “special educational needs (within the meaning given by section 579(1) of the Education Act 1996)”, and
(b) omit the words from “and subsections (6) and (7)” to the end.
75 In section 132 (providers of independent education or training for 16 to 18 year olds)—
(a) in subsection (4)(a), for the words from “a statement” to “needs)” substitute “an EHC plan is maintained”,
(b) in subsection (4)(b), for “a statement was so” substitute “an EHC plan was”,
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(c) in subsection (4)(b)(i), after “school” insert “or (if later) the person ceased to be a student at his or her last post-16 institution”,
(d) in subsection (4)(b)(ii), after “institution” insert “in England mentioned in subsection (2)”, and
(e) in subsection (6), after the definition of “an academic year” insert—
““post-16 institution” has the meaning given by section72(2) of the Children and Families Act 2013;”.
Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 (c. 22)
76 The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 is amended as follows.77 In section 83 (power to secure provision of apprenticeship training)—
(a) in subsection (1)(b), for “are subject to learning difficulty assessment” substitute “for whom an EHC plan is maintained”,
(b) in subsection (2)(b), for “learning difficulties” substitute “special educational needs”, and
78 In section 86 (education and training for persons aged 19 or over etc), in subsection (1)(a), for “who are subject to learning difficulty assessment” substitute “for whom an EHC plan is maintained”.79 In section 87 (learning aims for persons aged 19 or over: provision of facilities), in subsection (3)(a), for “who are subject to learning difficulty assessment” substitute “for whom an EHC plan is maintained”.80 In section 101 (financial resources: conditions), in subsection (5)(f)—
(a) after “specified in” insert “an EHC plan or”, and
81 In section 115 (persons with learning difficulties)—
(a) in subsection (1), for “learning difficulties” substitute “special educational needs”,
(b) in subsection (2)(a), for “who are subject to learning difficulty assessment” substitute “for whom an EHC plan is maintained”,
(c) omit subsections (3) and (4), and
(d) in the title, for “learning difficulties” substitute “special educational needs”.
82 In section 129 (general duties of Ofqual)—
(a) in subsection (2)(b) and (c), for “learning difficulties” substitute “special educational needs”, and
(b) omit subsections (9) and (10).
Academies Act 2010 (c. 32)
83 In section 1 of the Academies Act 2010 (Academy arrangements), omit subsections (7) and (8).
Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10)
84 In paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (civil legal services: special educational needs)—
(a) in sub-paragraph (1)(a), after “1996” insert “or Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2013”, and
(b) in sub-paragraph (1)(b), for “sections 139A and” substitute “section”.’.—(Mr Timpson.)
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Statutory rights to leave and pay: further amendments
Amendment made: 27, page 194, line 2, at end insert—
40A In section 230 (meaning of “employee”, etc), after subsection (6) there is inserted—
(7) This section has effect subject to section 75K(2A) and (2C).” ’.—(Mr Timpson.)
6.29 pm
Mr Timpson: I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
Let me begin by thanking all Members who served on the Public Bill Committee. The debate was constructive and—dare I say it?—mature, exceedingly thorough and all the more encouraging for being the first such Committee for many of the newly elected Members on both sides of the House. We had 19 sittings, 397 amendments were tabled, and every issue was thoughtfully scrutinised. I am sure that we all agree with the hon. Members for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) and for Wigan (Lisa Nandy)—I extend to them my personal thanks for their responsible and fair-minded contributions —who told us that it was
“a hard-working, good-natured and somewhat consensual Committee. At times, we have agreed more than we have disagreed, which is for the good… the legislation we are shaping is extremely important for millions of our most vulnerable children now and in future.”––[Official Report, Children and Families Public Bill Committee, 25 April 2013; c. 815.]
I would also like to thank the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), who has led jointly on the Bill with great aplomb in this House and before the four Select Committees that considered much of the Bill during pre-legislative scrutiny, even when the odd stray nut sought to scupper her endeavours.
The debates in Committee and today have reflected the importance of the issues the Bill seeks to address. It seeks to improve the lives of some of our most vulnerable children. Improving the life chances of every child, whatever their background, by putting their needs first in all that we do is at the heart of the Government’s agenda.
Hugh Bayley (York Central) (Lab): Will the Minister give way?
Mr Timpson: I will take a brief intervention, but I am mindful of the time and know that other Back Benchers wish to speak.
Hugh Bayley:
I, too, am mindful of the time, so I am grateful to the Minister for giving way—I understand why he could not do so during his speech on Report. I rise on behalf of a constituent who fosters three children. As a consequence of the Government’s decision to exempt only one bedroom from the bedroom tax for foster carers, she is required to pay £14 a week to carry on fostering. If she moved into smaller accommodation, she could foster only one of those three children, and there would be a cost of about £3,000 a week if the
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children went into care. Will he, together with the Minister responsible for welfare reform, look at the issue and reflect on whether they can give a further concession?
Mr Timpson: Of course I am happy to look at the specific case the hon. Gentleman raises in the context of the changes that have been made. As he and Opposition Front Benchers will know, I have worked hard, both before coming into government and since, to try to ensure that foster carers are given the best possible support in their endeavours, because we want to encourage more people to foster, and we know from the research we have done that many more would like to take up that opportunity. The Welfare Minister, Lord Freud, and I have written jointly to all local authorities to explain the importance of this, with regard to both the single room subsidy and making the discretionary housing fund available to foster carers where appropriate. We have committed to an independent review of that progress, and I will be keeping a keen and close eye on how that develops. I know that the Fostering Network, which has done some excellent work on the issue, will also take a lead in ensuring that we have a clear understanding of the impact of the changes.
The Bill will overhaul services for vulnerable children and support strong families. It will raise aspirations and place children and young people at the heart of decision making and support in the SEN system. It will reduce delays in the adoption system. It is part of a wider set of reforms to improve children’s services so that everyone involved in a vulnerable child’s life—teachers, social workers, health professionals and the police—has a proper sense of responsibility for the child’s prospects, not just focusing on their precise duties and whether they have followed the correct processes and ticked all the boxes, but looking at the child’s overall welfare. That means refocusing the system on the child’s needs in a child’s time frame, foremost among which must be the need to keep the child safe from harm.
We often hear that the care system fails children, that it damages and betrays them. Too often it does, but, as I know from my family and the fostering and adopting we have undertaken, it can also transform lives. As the recent research report “Safeguarding Children Across Services” pointed out, when compared with those who are reunited with their birth families, the majority of maltreated children do better in care or accommodation. Looked-after children can and do achieve in care in a stable placement. We know, for example, that there is a marked correlation between the length of time in care and the stability of placements and achieving good educational outcomes at GCSE, yet we must remain resolute in ensuring that the child’s best interests, not administrative or personnel considerations, are always at the heart of the system.
Delays in care and adoption services mean that it currently takes, on average, 21 months to place a child. Those delays damage a child’s development and reduce their chances of finding the love and stability they need with a new family. The Bill will help to sweep away such barriers through measures designed to speed up the adoption process, help recruit more potential adopters and improve the support they can receive. It will enable children to be placed earlier with their potential adopters.
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Building on the family justice review, we are tackling unacceptable delays in the courts, ensuring that children’s best interests remain at the heart of decision making, and encouraging parents to resolve disputes outside the court where possible. By introducing a 26-week time limit for care and supervision proceedings, the Bill will ensure that courts focus on the essentials and that the most vulnerable children are not damaged further by unnecessary drift and delay. This is already having an impact in our courts. As the president of the family division recently wrote to everyone involved in the family courts system:
“We must get away from existing practice. All too often, and partly as a result of previous initiatives, local authorities are filing enormously voluminous materials, which—and this is not their fault—are not merely far too long; too often they are narrative and historical, rather than analytical...I want to send out a clear message: local authority materials can be much shorter...and...should be more focused on analysis.”
We also want to improve support for children remaining in local authority care, and so the Bill will make the virtual school head a statutory role in local authorities. This sends out the strongest possible signal about the priority we attach to the educational attainment of looked after children. Changes to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner will help the commissioner act as a strong advocate for children, promoting and protecting their rights. For children and young people with special educational needs, the Bill will introduce a single system from birth to age 25; new education, health and care plans which ensure that health, education and social care are planned around the needs of the child or young person; new rights and protections for 16 to 25-year-olds in further education and training; and a clear focus on outcomes, including independent living and paid employment.
The most frequent complaint I have heard from parents about SEN is that the current system is opaque and inflexible, leaving children and families to battle for access to services in a fog of bureaucracy. By requiring local authorities to publish a clear and transparent local offer, families will, in future, know what support is available in their area and how to access it.
Crucially, the duty on clinical commissioning groups to secure provision of health services as part of an EHC plan strengthens the Bill’s creation of a more integrated approach to care and support, and it has been widely and warmly welcomed by the SEN charitable sector. I want to express my gratitude to the Secretary of State for Health and his ministerial team for their willingness to help to push the boundaries towards better health integration in SEN service provision.
We are committed to reforming child care substantially to increase the availability of high-quality, affordable provision. The enabling measures in the Bill will offer greater choice and flexibility for providers and parents. We are introducing shared parental leave, giving working parents greater choice over who looks after their child in the first year and offering fathers the opportunity to be more involved in caring for their children. Together with the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees, these measures will make the labour market more flexible, equitable and family friendly.
We all share an ambition for this Bill to make a tangible, lasting difference to the lives of children and families. Many in this House and beyond have made
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important points about how we ensure that the Bill really achieves that. I am grateful for that valuable expertise and measured consideration. I particularly thank the Education Committee, the Justice Committee, the Adoption Legislation Committee and the Joint Committee on Human Rights for their valuable scrutiny of the Bill. I am grateful to the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for its children’s rights impact assessment and to the children’s rights director for his superb version of the Bill for children, which is so jargon-free that it should make all of us in Westminster and Whitehall blush. I thank the many organisations that gave and submitted evidence in Committee and worked with me, my officials and hon. Members across the House to make sure that the many important issues that the Bill touches on are properly understood in terms of its content and implementation.
Throughout the development and passage of the Bill, we have listened and made changes so that the Bill we now pass to the other place is an improved one. This is a detailed Bill and it is vital that we take time to consider the points made and get the legislation and implementation right. Therefore, as I indicated earlier, we will consider some key issues over the summer and hope that progress can be made in the other place. In particular, we will look at these issues: clarifying whether, before local authorities can consider a fostering for adoption placement, they must consider placing the child with a relative or friend; introducing new safeguards through regulations to ensure that a local authority notifies the child’s birth parents when considering a fostering for adoption placement; seeing what more we can do to improve outcomes for young carers, ensuring that our approach complements the changes being introduced through the Care Bill; and identifying further improvements to the support that young offenders with SEN receive in custody.
As the Bill moves on to the other place, I am confident that it will be viewed as a Bill that all of us in this House can look back on, in whole or in part, and feel sure that we did right by giving our most vulnerable children, who all too often have the weakest voice, the chance to be heard and respected and the prospect of a better future. I commend the Bill to the House.
6.39 pm
Mrs Hodgson: I begin by thanking my Front-Bench colleague my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) for her excellent scrutiny of those sections of the Bill that she has been responsible for shadowing, including sections that do not usually come under her policy remit. I also thank my hon. Friends the Members for Corby (Andy Sawford) and for Hyndburn (Graham Jones) for supporting us during this process, and our colleagues on the Bill Committee, my hon. Friends the Members for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell), for North West Durham (Pat Glass), for Sefton Central (Bill Esterson) and for Croydon North (Mr Reed).
Given how constructive and good-natured the Committee was—for the most part, at least—I also thank its Government members, many of whom made valuable contributions. I thank the Minister for children and families, the Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson), and the Minister for employment relations, the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), for their helpful and thorough responses to our many questions.
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I also thank the staff in all our offices, who have ensured that we have been fully briefed and prepared for our many hours of debate on the Bill, and the representatives of all the sector bodies and lobby groups for their help.
Finally, I thank the Clerks and the Library staff for their expertise, which has supported us in our understanding and scrutiny of the Bill, and for ensuring the smooth running of the whole process.
On Second Reading, my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan rightly laid down Labour’s key test for this Bill’s reforms: will they result in better outcomes for the children they seek to help? The many areas where we agree with the Government that they will help, and the few areas where we think that they will not help enough or at all, have all been covered extensively since February’s Second Reading debate.
On special educational needs, as I said earlier, while we support the vast majority of what the Government are doing, concerns remain about the accountability of local services to families, the potential to exacerbate the postcode lottery and how some of the more ambitious reforms, such as personal budgets, will actually work in practice. Of course, the main concern is that the benefits that these reforms should bring are not denied to the children and young people with special educational needs who find themselves in the youth justice system.
On parts 1 and 2, while we do not disagree with much of what the Government are trying to do, we remain deeply concerned about what the Bill will mean in practice for children in care in the family courts. We urge Ministers to consider what the reforms will mean in practice for social workers who are overburdened and families who have lost access to legal aid.
We believe that the Government are mistaken in not ensuring that ethnicity is still considered in adoption placements—not as an overriding consideration, but as one of the many things that matter to children—or that courts consider sibling arrangements when scrutinising children’s care plans. Although we agree that we should remove needless delay from the courts, we are concerned that many of the Bill’s measures place speed above getting it right for children.
It is a great shame that the Government refused to structure this debate in a way that would have given us time to debate all the issues, and that we did not have two days to consider such a large and wide-ranging Bill that contains important measures relating to vulnerable children. Nor have we had time to do justice to our new clauses or that tabled by the hon. Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), which seek to improve the lives of young carers.
Barbara Keeley (Worsley and Eccles South) (Lab): Does my hon. Friend agree that the most important thing as the Bill progresses is to make sure—it is important that the Minister agrees with us on this—that the adult who is assessed receives sufficient support so that the young person does not experience negative outcomes? The support should not impact on their education or quality of life. That is the key point behind new clause 5 and it is a pity that we were not able to debate it today.
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Mrs Hodgson: I agree with my hon. Friend and will probably repeat some of the points that she has just made. I commend her for her tireless and excellent campaigning on behalf of young carers since she promoted her private Member’s Bill. I know that she will continue that work when this Bill goes to the other place.
As I pointed out to the Minister for children and families in Committee, the Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), who has responsibility for care, promised my hon. Friend and those of us who were present for the Second Reading of her private Member’s Bill last September that young carers would be provided for in the Children and Families Bill, yet we are still waiting to see what those provisions will be. The Minister gave some warm assurances on that issue during his closing remarks, so we look forward to seeing it addressed in the Bill.
Mr Timpson: Just to clarify, if the hon. Lady looks back at Hansard she will see that just before the end of Report I gave some strong indications of the direction of travel I am persuaded to take with regard to young carers.
Mrs Hodgson: That is very good; I will do that.
At the very least, we need to ensure that agencies that come into contact with families know how to spot a child who might be providing care and how to refer that child and their family to the support that exists for the majority of young carers. That needs to happen in order to address the much poorer outcomes that such children have because of their responsibilities.
As the Children’s Society discovered recently in its “Hidden from View” report, about one in 20 young carers misses school because of caring responsibilities. Young carers attain the equivalent of nine grades lower than their peers at GCSE level and are consequently more likely than other young people to be classed as not in education, employment or training after school. There are also health implications. Young carers are one and a half times more likely to have a special educational need, a long-standing illness or a disability than their peers. Those who are dedicated to looking after someone else often do not take good enough care of themselves. That is particularly true of young carers.
There are 166,363 young carers in England according to the latest census data, which were released on 16 May this year. That is 166,363 young people who stand a much poorer chance of reaching their educational potential and a much greater chance of suffering poor health or being a NEET. It does not need to be that way. I know that the Minister has outlined measures, but he could make the changes to the Bill that we have suggested in the other place or bring forward his own changes to ensure that those young carers are given the support that they need.
The Minister will not be surprised that I am also keen for progress to be made on ensuring that children’s centres are better able to identify and help every family in their area who needs it by adopting the measures tabled by the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Andrea Leadsom). She has not made a speech today and I hope that she has a chance to do so in a moment. Those measures would require NHS trusts to share the live births register with Sure Start outreach workers and would roll out trials of births being registered in children’s
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centres. That would mean that all parents would have to visit their local children’s centre, where they would be shown all the opportunities and services that are available to them and their child. That would contribute greatly to ensuring that we reach out to and help the most vulnerable families and, once again, improve the outcomes of the children within them.
I know that many hon. Members are keen to speak, so I will bring my remarks to a conclusion. We will not oppose the Bill on Third Reading and we are as keen as Ministers for it to make speedy progress to the other place. However, I hope that the House and the Government are left in no doubt that there are a number of issues that my noble colleagues and, I am sure, peers on all sides in the other place will revisit. We are expecting big things from Ministers before then and I sincerely hope that they do not disappoint.
Most notably, we want measures to ensure that support is not denied to young offenders with special educational needs and measures to increase the chance of young carers being identified and given the support that they need in order to improve their outcomes. We hope that the Government reconsider their position on PSHE and, in particular, sex and relationships education, and that they bring forward measures to make it compulsory before the Bill reaches the other place.
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Pamela Nash) for her superb leadership through the all-party parliamentary group on HIV and AIDS in pursuing education on HIV and AIDS. One in four young people leaves school without being taught about HIV. The work that she has done in that area is commendable.
If all the issues raised by Her Majesty’s Opposition and hon. Members from all parts of the House in the preceding debate are addressed, the Minister will be able to answer the question posed by my hon. Friend the Member for Wigan on Second Reading and be confident that the Bill will improve the outcomes for millions of children, young people and families for a long time to come. In the hope that those improvements will be made, the Bill proceeds with our blessing.
Mr Speaker: Order. At least three Members still wish to speak and I hope that they all have the chance to do so.
6.48 pm
Dan Rogerson: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson). I pay tribute to the way in which the Bill has largely been approached by shadow Ministers and the constructive way in which she offers her blessing as it proceeds to another place. Ministers have worked hard to make the case for all the important measures in the Bill and have done so successfully.
I was not a member of the Public Bill Committee. Those places rightly went to the Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for East Dunbartonshire (Jo Swinson), because of her ministerial responsibilities and my hon.
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Friend the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke), who is not in her place but has a long-standing interest in these matters.
The Bill will make a huge, positive difference to many young people’s lives and those of their families, and bring together the responsibilities of different agencies that are vital to ensuring that those young people have the best possible start in life. I pay tribute to earlier work done on the Bill by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather), and to the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) for what he did when he was in office.
The Under-Secretary of State for Education, the hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), was at pains to point out that she still believes altering ratios in child care is the right thing to do although there was not a majority across Government for that. Similarly, the Liberal Democrats remain committed to progress on sex and relationships education, although again there is no majority across the Government. It is a measure of how the coalition is holding together by concentrating on where we agree and such issues as supporting adopters and young people with special educational needs that we have made such progress, but I know our noble Friends in another place will want to make a further contribution and perhaps even improve the Bill slightly—if that is possible—before it makes it on to the statute book. I congratulate all those involved in getting the Bill to its current position, and I thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to catch your eye.
6.50 pm
Andrea Leadsom: Surely this has been Parliament at its best. It has been a huge privilege to be involved with the Bill Committee, and I really think that life is about to get a whole lot better for some of the most vulnerable young people in our society. On that point, I pay tribute to all those who have worked so hard to make this such a non-partisan and co-operative experience for us all.
I draw the Minister’s attention again to the point about the opportunity to introduce the registration of births in children’s centres, and specifically to Bench Hill children’s centre in Manchester, which has been offering registration of births for 10 years. As a result, its access to all new families in that area has improved exponentially, not just in offering services but in the re-engagement rates of families with those services. That is incredibly important, and I pay tribute to the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson) for providing the resources in his Department to investigate how offering birth registration in children’s centres can make a fundamental difference to the support offered to new families.
6.52 pm
Mr Buckland:
I will be brief. I was accused of being a little less than brief earlier, but I mean what I say, and I think we have done an admirable job in scrutinising this Bill and that we send it to the other place in a very good state. There is still work to be done, and the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson) and I have had keen debates about the Bill over the past months. I was delighted to hear his remarks in response to my right
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hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Burstow), who spoke on the young carers amendment tabled in my name together with those of other hon. Members, and to which the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley) referred.
Barbara Keeley: The hon. Gentleman is generous in giving way as time is short. Does he agree it is important that young carers get a signal from the last few minutes of this debate that the importance of the work they do is recognised? He understands, as I do, that there was a feeling that those carers felt let down and ignored by the Bill.
Mr Buckland: I think the message came out loud and clear from the Under-Secretary that the needs of those people will not be forgotten or neglected, and that they will be enabled to play their part as mainstream members of society. That is what it is all about; it is not just box-ticking but about enabling those people to take their place in society and have all the advantages of their peers who do not have caring responsibilities.
I thank the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign and the Special Educational Consortium for the work done not only with Ministers but with me and other colleagues to marshal arguments in Committee and at this stage. Although those in the other place will still have work to do, there is no doubt that we have sent them a substantial body of evidence that this House of Commons is more than capable of doing justice and giving proper scrutiny to the most important Bill in a generation for those with special educational needs and young people who, through no fault of their own, face greater challenges than the rest of us in our society.
6.54 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Jo Swinson): I am delighted to conclude the debate on Third Reading—the Bill is a joint effort between the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It is fair to say that the BIS measures have not had the same prominence or debate, which is perhaps a mark of the remarkable consensus on them in general.
I thank all members of the Public Bill Committee—the debate in Committee was positive—all those who contributed to the consultations and the formation of the policies in the Bill, and the Committee Chairs. It is important for those Ministers who came to the Bill part-way through its passage to recognise that our predecessors had significant roles in developing the policy. They also deserve thanks, as do officials within BIS—we have a fantastic team, particularly on shared parental leave and flexible leave, of Sarah, Andrew, Ruth, Kim, Chris, James and Chris. All those who have supported them have been wonderful. The officials who
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developed the children’s guide to the Bill deserve particular thanks. That is an exemplar of how we can open up law making in this country and make it understandable, and proves that age need be no barrier to that whatsoever.
The Bill will help children and families in a wide range of ways. It will modernise systems for the 21st century on adoption and fostering, special educational needs and family justice, and strengthen the Children’s Commissioner. There are also proposals to improve affordable child care. As hon. Members have said, this wide range of proposals will make a difference to people’s lives.
As a BIS Minister, I am delighted to take forward measures in the Bill on shared parental leave and flexible working. On shared parental leave, it is important that we shatter the outdated stereotypes of how parents divide their responsibilities—the assumption is that men are the breadwinners and that a woman’s role is to stay at home and look after children. Those decisions are up to individual parents, who will work out the right solution and answers for them. It is not the Government’s job to get in the way and tell them how to do it.
The flexibility of the Bill will enable more dads to play a bigger role in the early weeks and months of their child’s life. We know from research that that has a positive impact on child development and later measures. The provisions will also enable mums better to combine their work responsibilities with their parenting, which is so important given the contribution women can make to the economy, which was highlighted in the excellent Women’s Business Council report last week.
The right to request flexible working was introduced by the previous Government, and this Government rightly want to extend it to everyone. That will bring huge benefits to the economy. Employers benefit from more motivated and productive staff, and from lower recruitment and retention costs. Employees benefit because they are more in control of their time and more able to juggle their responsibilities, whether caring, volunteering or other outside interests. It is important for other groups of workers, such as older workers and people with disabilities, who can find a shorter, part-time or more flexible work pattern incredibly helpful to their ability to continue within the labour market and to contribute to the economy.
Given that wide range of measures, it is incredibly important that we are able to pass the Bill on Third Reading. It will now go to the other place, where I am sure there will be a wide range of debates. I look forward to watching with interest which issues it chooses to develop, but the consultation process in advance of the Bill has been hugely beneficial and has got it into an excellent state. The House can be proud of the scrutiny we have given the Bill and the work we have done on it. I commend the Bill to the House.
Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.
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Court of Justice of the European Union
[Relevant documents: Thirty-eighth Report of the European Scrutiny Committee, Session 2012-13, HC86-xxxvii, Chapter 3; and Fourth Report of the European Scrutiny Committee, HC 83-iv, Chapter 12.]
6.59 pm
The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington): I beg to move,
That this House takes note of European Union Document No. 7013/13, the draft Council Decision increasing the number of Advocates-General of the Court of Justice of the European Union and, in accordance with Section 10 of the European Union Act 2011, approves Her Majesty’s Government’s intention to support the adoption of that draft Council Decision.
As you will be aware, Mr Speaker, this proposal is subject to the European Act 2011, which means that before Ministers can take a position in the Council on the proposed appointment of three additional advocates-general to the European Court of Justice, parliamentary approval must be secured for the United Kingdom’s position. That is the reason for today’s debate.
I believe that it is in the interests of this country for justice in the European Union to be delivered through the Court promptly and effectively. It is particularly important for British businesses with pan-European interests whose opportunities for business may well depend on clarity on the impact of European law.
Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset) (Con): I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way so early. I would just question whether we get justice from the European Court.
Mr Lidington: As with any other court here in the United Kingdom, I am sure there will be judgments with which my hon. Friend and I might have quarrels and wish that learned judges had come to other opinions. Where I would respond robustly to him is to say that, as far as I can tell, in coming to their decisions the justices of the European Union Courts take very seriously their duty to apply the law as it is found in the treaties and in secondary European legislation. The appointment of judges at the EU Courts is subject to approval by an expert panel. Indeed, to be eligible to serve as a justice in the European Court, the man or woman in question must either have served in a senior judicial office in their home country or be of sufficient standing in the law to be regarded as capable of exercising that kind of responsibility.
I believe that the measure we are discussing will provide quicker and more efficient justice within the European Union. The proposal is to increase the number of advocates-general to nine from 1 July 2013 and to 11 from 7 October 2015. The first advocate-general would be a permanent Polish advocate-general. Under declaration 38 in article 252 of the treaty on the functioning of the European Union, member states agreed in 2007 that if there were an increase in advocates-general, Poland would have a permanent advocate-general and no longer take part in the rotation of advocates-general. This step would bring Poland into line with the other big six member states, including the United Kingdom, which all already have a permanent advocate-general. An additional two advocates-general would increase the existing rotation system from three to five. Under
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current arrangements, we would expect the first two additional advocates-general appointed in October 2015 to be Czech and Danish.
In the 2011 report on the work load of the European Court of Justice, the House of Lords recommended that the number of advocates-general be increased. Since 2011, the Lords have repeated that recommendation several times, including in their follow-up report this year, and called for the increase to be implemented without delay. Last night, in its section 10 debate on this matter, the House of Lords approved the draft Council decision and Members of their lordships’ House spoke positively about the impact that additional advocates-general would have on the efficient functioning of the courts.
The role of advocates-general is to produce non-legally binding opinions for the Court of Justice to assist it in reaching its judgments.
Jacob Rees-Mogg: I am grateful to the Minister for giving way again. In reference to the House of Lords, the 2011 report questioned whether the quality of the advocates-general would be high enough. I wonder, therefore, what evidence has encouraged them to change their minds to be confident in the quality of the people who may be appointed.
Mr Lidington: I want to come on to the question of quality and the article 255 panel later. If my hon. Friend is dissatisfied at that point, then by all means I invite him to seek to intervene again. However, I think perhaps that it is best if I come to that passage at the appropriate time.
I was talking about the role of advocates-general. They produce their non-legally binding opinions in about half of all cases, particularly in those that raise a new point of law. There is no appeals process, of course, so the additional reasoned submissions help the Court to provide effective justice. Given that the number of cases before it continues to rise, the Government are satisfied that there is a need for additional advocates-general to process better the Court’s work load.
The opinions that advocates-general issue are a key element in the efficiency of the Court. As Sir Konrad Schiemann stated in his evidence to the House of Lords this year, advocate-general opinions significantly shorten the time occupied by judges in agreeing a judgment and improve the quality of the Court’s judgments. The opinions assist the Court with its own deliberations, because the Court can then test its own views against the detailed reasoning of the advocate-general conclusions. It is particularly useful in the EU Court because, unlike the practice in our own Supreme Court or Court of Appeal, it has to reach a consensus for its ruling—the possibility of separate dissenting opinions from different judges does not exist at the European level.
As well as contributing to the speed of judgments, advocates-general also improve the quality of justice dispensed by the Court. The opinions are detailed and so provide a greater insight into the approach ultimately taken by the Court, regardless of whether it agrees or disagrees in the final decision with the recommendation of the advocate-general. That means that those opinions are valuable in maintaining the consistency of the Court’s case law.
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It is important that the Court is efficient, because of the impact that its judgments can have on British citizens and businesses operating in the European single market in particular. A classic example was the case brought by the National Farmers Union in the context of the BSE crisis—NFU v. Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement—against France’s refusal to lift the beef ban on UK imports. The Court ruled that since EU legislation laid down the necessary rules for the protection of public health, France was not entitled to rely on the public health exception in then article 30 of the treaty establishing the European Community to prevent the resumption of beef and veal imports from the UK. I am sure that the House needs no reminder that the beef industry was worth more than £430 million in exports to the British economy in 2011—the last year for which we have figures. Another recent example was the ruling of the Court in 2011 in the case of DHL v. Chronopost, which provides certainty for trademark owners on the extent to which a Community trademark owner could secure EU-wide relief based on action in only one member state.
The impact of the EU Courts is not limited to cases in which UK businesses are directly involved. The outcome of other cases can have significant benefits for the UK, directly or indirectly. For example, there was a case on whether EU legislation allowed for prescribing incentive schemes—arrangements to encourage doctors to prescribe cheaper generic medicines. Adopting the approach suggested by the British Government in their recommendations, the decision of the Court resulted in an estimated saving to our Department of Health of nearly £400 million.
Given the current number of advocates-general and the increasing work load of the Court, the individual advocates-general have been under pressure. There is no single reason why the Court’s work load has been increasing over the years. In 2012, 632 new cases were brought before it and it completed only 527. In 2011, 688 new cases were brought before it and it completed 554. These were the two busiest years so far recorded in the Court’s history. In 2012, the backlog of cases had risen to 886—up from 849 12 months before.
Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab): First, I congratulate the Minister for Europe on his French pronunciation, which I thought was A*, as they say.
I am in favour of more judges, as are the Government, but is the Minister satisfied that having more judges will result in quicker decisions? He knows that one of our concerns is that it takes too long to get judgments. Is he satisfied that by putting these extra judges on the Court, the decisions will be handed out quicker?
Mr Lidington:
We are talking here not about additional judges but about additional advocates-general. As I have argued, the advocates-general play an important role in assisting the judges of the Court in coming to a conclusion and in analysing the legal arguments in question. Clearly, I cannot give a 100% guarantee from this Dispatch Box, but I pray in aid the evidence of Sir Konrad Schiemann and others from the Court who have argued consistently that the provision of additional advocates-general would help them to address the backlog, in part by spreading out the preparatory work of legal
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analysis and the provision of a learned opinion amongst a slightly greater number of expert advocates-general than is available to the Court now.
As the right hon. Member for Leicester East (Keith Vaz)—one of my predecessors in this role—will know, the enlargement of the EU over the last decade following the accession of a large number of new member states has inevitably led over time to a greater number of cases being brought, simply because there are more citizens and more businesses that might be in a position to bring a case before the European Courts.
Keith Vaz: I am grateful to the Minister, who is generous in giving way for a second time. That is why I was interested in the fact that a Polish advocate-general was to be appointed, because one of the problems we have is that Poland has been issuing more European arrest warrants than anyone else. This may, for example, eventually lead to a backlog in cases here.
Mr Lidington: The right hon. Gentleman may have an opportunity tomorrow to express his views about the European arrest warrant and the attitude taken by the Polish courts. It is fair to say that Poland is as equally entitled to have its own permanent advocate-general as Spain, Italy, France, Germany or the UK. Everybody round the table accepts that there are six member states whose populations give them a certain priority when it comes to such appointments. I emphasise again that the declaration that promised the first new advocate-general to Poland was agreed by every member state, large and small.
The greater efficiency of the Court is going to require more than just the appointment of three new advocates-general. I am happy to concede that point to the right hon. Member for Leicester East. The House will be familiar with the reforms that the Court itself has introduced in the last two years, including increasing the number of judges in the Grand Chamber from 13 to 15; abolishing unnecessary procedural elements such as the requirement to read the report of the hearing in full, and thus the need to produce a report; provisions allowing for the appointment of temporary judges to the civil service tribunal; and establishing a new office of vice-president in the Court of Justice and the General Court. I am sure that there will be other opportunities for the House to debate proposed changes to the European Courts and proposed measures to secure greater efficiencies in the future.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP): Is the Minister aware of occasions when other European countries have not been anxious or zealous in enforcing the Court decision, or have delayed doing so? Does the UK push through Court decisions while other countries disregard them?
Mr Lidington:
I am always willing to say that if any right hon. or hon. Member, or any UK business, can come forward with evidence that another member state is refusing to implement European law—whether that is law as interpreted by the Courts or the law as enacted through the European legislative process—we will be happy to champion those British citizens or companies with the relevant institutions. As I am sure the hon. Gentleman will know, once law has been established
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and clarity assured by a judgment from the Court, it is then for the European Commission to initiate infraction proceedings if a member state fails to implement the European Court’s rulings. It is fair to say that sometimes there is argument after the judgment about the exact meaning—
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle): Order. We are drifting from the question of advocates-general. Mr Shannon has tempted you, Minister for Europe, and you should know better. Back on course!
Mr Lidington: If the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) applies to Mr Speaker for an Adjournment debate, he and I might have the opportunity to explore those matters in the detail that he so ardently desires.
Let me return to the issue we are debating and the criticisms the European Scrutiny Committee has raised. Let me turn first to the important issue of funding. Although broadly supporting the proposal, the Government are clear that any additional advocates-general should not and need not result in an increase in the Court’s budget. The appointment of the new post holders and their support staff should lead to a relatively small additional cost of about €4 million a year, which the Court can meet from within its existing budget. Its budget was more than €354 million for 2013, and the Court has underspent by more than the cost of the additional advocates-general in each of the last three years. In the current economic climate, there is an imperative on all the EU’s institutions, including the Court, to find ways to reduce their administrative costs.
As I set out in paragraph 12 of my explanatory memorandum to the European Scrutiny Committee, the UK is prepared to submit a minute statement in Council to set out our expectation that the increase is cost-neutral. If necessary, we will do that during voting on the Council decision. As I know the House understands, a minute statement in itself will not be enough to guarantee cost-neutrality, but would be a clear statement of the United Kingdom’s position ahead of the separate financial negotiations next year on the annual budget. Indeed, the minute statement is not intended to secure budget neutrality at this stage, but is intended to signal clearly the beginning of our negotiating position for next year.
Jacob Rees-Mogg: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way again. The agreement on the advocates-general is by unanimity whereas the agreement on the budget is by qualified majority vote. Are we therefore not getting it the wrong way round by agreeing to the increase in one before the debate on the other? Should we not delay our agreement by unanimity until we have the budget that we want?
Mr Lidington: These are two separate decisions that have two different processes. We are indeed talking about a decision that is taken by unanimity. Annual budgets are what will determine the total budget of the Court for 2014 and subsequent years. Those annual budgets will have to be agreed within the ceilings to commitments and payments that are set out in the multi-annual financial framework that my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and other Heads of Government negotiated in February this year, and which I hope is approaching the final stages of negotiation with the European Parliament.