Engagements — House of Commons, 2022-06-22
Topic: Education
Questions:   The UK is the global leader in social outcomes contracts, which can deliver public services in an array of areas, from healthcare to mental healthcare, employment, education and development aid. According to Big Society Capital, every £1 the Government have spent in this way has delivered £10 in further economic, social and fiscal value, including £3 in direct savings to Government. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the time is right for the Government to redouble their focus on this outcomes-led commissioning?;   For years in Harrogate and Knaresborough, we had the Labour no-growth Northern rail franchise. We now have new rolling stock, and more and better services. We have, though, seen some lost as the industry has had to suspend some services while it catches up on driver training lost during the pandemic. Strikes just take us back to the 1970s, so will the Prime Minister’s focus on the future ensure that we have apprenticeship schemes focusing on engineering and driver training to ensure that we recover the services lost, and that we have an industry that is focused on efficiency and embraces technology for the future?; I very much support the Government’s work to level up all parts of the United Kingdom, including Scotland and my constituency in the Scottish Borders. For the Scottish Borders, improved transport connectivity is the key to levelling up, so will the Prime Minister reconfirm his Government’s support for improvements to the cross-border A1 road and the feasibility study to extend the Borders railway to Hawick and Newcastleton and on to Carlisle?; My constituents in Chapelford, Penketh, Great Sankey and Appleton all tell me that they want to see more police officers tackling issues such as antisocial behaviour, domestic abuse and burglary. Thanks to the initiatives of John Dwyer, the excellent police and crime commissioner in Cheshire, and sustained recruitment by the new chief constable, the hard work of our police officers is paying off, with an almost 50% increase in arrests for domestic abuse in Cheshire in the last 12 months. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on how many more officers have been recruited in both Cheshire and across the UK since he became Prime Minister? Will he join me in recognising—; A clear majority of Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly reject the Government’s protocol Bill and the Prime Minister’s rationale for it. Businesses fear its consequences. The Prime Minister has made clear, on multiple occasions, his so-called commitment to all aspects of the Good Friday agreement, and that includes the European convention on human rights being part of domestic law, so how can he stand over that commitment when the Justice Secretary is about to publish a Bill that unpicks and disapplies the Human Rights Act in our domestic law? He cannot have it both ways.; High wage, high skilled jobs are at the heart of my campaign to level up Rother Valley and tackle the cost of living crisis. I have personally hosted two jobs fairs, and thanks to an £11 million investment from the Government levelling-up fund, Rother Valley will benefit from a cutting-edge skills and employment village and a leading incubator space for training apprenticeships and start-ups, hosted at the old Maltby Grammar School, in areas neglected under Labour. In light of this, will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister pledge his support for high wage, high skilled Rother Valley, level up our high streets, and also visit Rother Valley to see levelling up in action?;   Tens of thousands of people were marching through London last weekend protesting against this out-of-touch Government, rail workers are on strike, and Royal Mail workers, NHS workers, teachers and even barristers are on the verge of taking industrial action. All workers are struggling to cope with the worst cost of living crisis in history. Ministers are planning to boost City bosses’ pay while demanding wage restraint for everyone else, so can the Prime Minister tell me when he is going to stop giving meaningless soundbites and instead start supporting working people across our country?;   For much of Britain levelling up means the revitalisation of British industry and the jobs that go with it. Many countries around the world, including Germany and China, get a competitive advantage by burning lignite, the dirtiest form of fossil fuel. Does my right hon. Friend share my concerns about the ethics of holding back British industry and exporting—and magnifying—our carbon emissions overseas, all in the name of net zero?;   The Prime Minister knows that we in Coventry and Warwickshire are proudly the UK’s leading centre for vehicle battery innovation; he knows because he visited the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre just last year. If this Government want this vital sector to survive for the future, the Prime Minister needs to confirm his support: will he give a concrete guarantee for the resources needed for the west midlands gigafactory project to go ahead, so we can deliver much-needed skilled jobs in Coventry for 2025?;   Hereford Sixth Form College has over 600 students who rely on the trains to get them to their exams this week. What can my right hon. Friend do to ensure that these young people doing their GCSEs and A-levels are not punished by the train strikers?
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (Conservative, Centre-right): I know how much my hon. Friend cares for the students in his constituency and I can tell him that no exams have been cancelled as a result of the strikes so far. We expect schools and colleges to have contingency arrangements in place to manage disruption. If students arrive late, schools should allow them to take the paper, and exam boards will determine if that paper can be marked based on how late the student has arrived. I am also told that if a student misses an exam completely, the school can apply for their grades to be calculated from the other assessments they have completed in that subject. I hope that is helpful to my hon. Friend.