Vol. 797 Wednesday No. 297 8 May 2019 PARLIAMENTARYDEBATES (HANSARD) HOUSE OF LORDS OFFICIAL REPORT ORDEROFBUSINESS Questions Disabled Students’ Allowance.......................................................................................1213 Freedom of Movement.................................................................................................1215 Gender Pay Gaps..........................................................................................................1218 Victims of Crime: Mobile Phone Data.........................................................................1220 NHS: Shortage of GPs and Nurses Private Notice Question ................................................................................................1222 Iran Nuclear Deal Statement......................................................................................................................1226 Common Agricultural Policy and Market Measures (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 Motion to Approve ........................................................................................................1230 Trade etc. in Dual-Use Items and Firearms etc. (Amendment) (EU Exit) (No. 2) Regulations 2019 Motion to Approve ........................................................................................................1238 Companies (Directors’ Remuneration Policy and Directors’ Remuneration Report) Regulations 2019 Motion to Approve ........................................................................................................1242 Architects Act 1997 (Swiss Qualifications) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 Motion to Approve ........................................................................................................1248 Competition and Markets Authority: Legislative and Institutional Reforms Question for Short Debate.............................................................................................1252 English Football Question for Short Debate ............................................................................................1273 Lords wishing to be supplied with these Daily Reports should give notice to this effect to the Printed Paper Office. No proofs of Daily Reports are provided. Corrections for the bound volume which Lords wish to suggest to the report of their speeches should be clearly indicated in a copy of the Daily Report, which, with the column numbers concerned shown on the front cover, should be sent to the Editor of Debates, House of Lords, within 14 days of the date of the Daily Report. This issue of the Official Report is also available on the Internet at https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2019-05-08 The first time a Member speaks to a new piece of parliamentary business, the following abbreviations are used to show their party affiliation: Abbreviation Party/Group CB Cross Bench Con Conservative DUP Democratic Unionist Party GP Green Party Ind Lab Independent Labour Ind LD Independent Liberal Democrat Ind SD Independent Social Democrat Ind UU Independent Ulster Unionist Lab Labour Lab Co-op Labour and Co-operative Party LD Liberal Democrat LD Ind Liberal Democrat Independent Non-afl Non-affiliated PC Plaid Cymru UKIP UK Independence Party UUP Ulster Unionist Party No party affiliation is given for Members serving the House in a formal capacity, the Lords spiritual, Members on leave of absence or Members who are otherwise disqualified from sitting in the House. © Parliamentary Copyright House of Lords 2019, this publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 1213 Disabled Students’ Allowance[8 MAY 2019] Disabled Students’ Allowance 1214 House of Lords students have a higher university drop-out rate. Will the Minister acknowledge that there is a problem here, Wednesday 8 May 2019 and will he also agree to meet student representatives to discuss a joint Claim It! campaign to raise DSA 3 pm take-up levels and help unlock the undoubted talents that disabled students possess? Prayers—read by the Lord Bishop of Rochester. Viscount Younger of Leckie: The noble Lord is right that we want all children, no matter what challenges Disabled Students’ Allowance they face, to be able to achieve well in early years, at Question school and post-16 and to fulfil their potential in adult life. I should point out to him that the SEND reforms 3.06 pm that we introduced in 2014 are the biggest in a generation. Asked by Lord Addington I will reflect on the question that he has asked and I will certainly get back to him, but I do not want to Toask Her Majesty’sGovernment on what grounds make any commitments right now. possession of an Education, Health and Care plan by a dyslexic candidate is deemed to be insufficient The Earl of Listowel (CB): My Lords, is the Minister to prevent them undertaking a second assessment concerned that some schools are now not spending for the Disabled Students’ Allowance. anything at all on continuing professional development for their teachers because they have no money for it? Is Lord Addington (LD): I beg leave to ask the Question not continuing professional development essential if standing in my name on the Order Paper and draw the teachers are to treat children with special educational House’s attention to my declared interests. needs with the sensitivity that they deserve? Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con): My Lords, EHC Viscount Younger of Leckie: The noble Earl makes plans set out the educational support that children a very good point. Schools are obliged to look at each with special educational needs require. In some cases, pupil to see whether there is a need to assess them, and a child’s EHC plan will have been informed by a indeed, some money is set aside for each school for diagnostic assessment undertaken by an appropriately this very purpose. Some schools might need to do qualified specialist. These assessments are acceptable better and, if that is the case, Ofsted and the school as evidence of a dyslexic student’s condition when inspection system need to come down hard on those applying for DSA. Officials would be happy to look that do not do enough in that respect. further at this issue and I invite the noble Lord to submit any additional evidence that he might have. Lord Lucas (Con): My Lords, I am very grateful to the Government for saying that they will look again at Lord Addington: I thank the noble Viscount for that the impact on performance tables of excluding children, Answer and for the assistance that he has given me in and take action to keep the responsibility for those trying to correct what I think is an oversight. It might children with the school that is excluding them. Will have been a case of no good deed going unpunished the Minister encourage the Government to look at the by the Government when they removed the compulsory effect that Progress 8, in particular, is having on the need for two diagnoses. However, will they take on provision of courses suitable for children, often with board that it is quite clear that the school and university education, health and care plans, for whom the systems did not talk to each other or, if they did, examinations within Progress 8 are too high a hurdle? nobody listened? We have got ourselves into a situation It seems that schools are being penalised for providing where people have to undertake another diagnostic for these children and that provision for them is therefore assessment that costs £600. becoming less common. Viscount Younger of Leckie: The noble Lord makes Viscount Younger of Leckie: I will certainly take the a good point—the school system should talk to the points made by my noble friend back to the department. higher education sector. The SEND code of practice I hope there was general acceptance and approval of makes it clear that children and young people with the announcement yesterday about the exclusion decisions special educational needs and disabilities should be and recommendations made by the Timpson review. helped to prepare for adult life. Schools should therefore As the House will know, we are looking to take those support the young person in planning their next phase forward. of education, including higher education. The local authority has a legal duty to make young people Baroness Garden of Frognal (LD): My Lords, following aware, through their SEND local offer, of the support on from my noble friend’s Question, do the Government available to them in higher education. have any intention of issuing guidelines to universities on the acceptable evidence for dyslexia? It seems that, Lord Bassam of Brighton (Lab): Recognising despite the acknowledgement that dyslexia does not disadvantage and with just two out of five disabled go away,some HEIs are still requesting post-16 diagnostic students aware that additional funding is available to assessments for students to be allowed reasonable help with their studies, it is little surprise that disabled adjustments for exams. 1215 Disabled Students’ Allowance [LORDS] Freedom of Movement 1216 Viscount Younger of Leckie: As the noble Baroness European Union, the Treaty on the Functioning of will know, the OfS has a statutory duty to have regard the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental to the need to promote equality of opportunity across Rights of the European Union. the whole student lifecycle for disadvantaged and traditionally underrepresented groups. As I was saying The Minister of State,