Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
I thank the Member for raising that valid point, which allows me to address some other points that the Members have made. Cathy Mason made a point earlier and gave some examples that, erroneously, suggested that those children could not be catered for. Clause 2(2) states: "Guidelines under this Chapter are to include…
I am not a member of the Education Committee, but I will contribute to the debate on the amendments in group 2 and, perhaps, ask a few questions that the Minister might be able to answer. First, with regard to all the amendments in this group and the first group, I want to reflect on what a school uniform is. We know…
Madam Principal Deputy Speaker, I will make your life easy by speaking to the amendments in group 2 on the content of guidelines and commencement. The selected amendments in the group are about strengthening the Bill to give it the best chance to deliver real change for families. Each amendment addresses specific…
On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. The Member's speech is largely about amendments that, he is annoyed, were not selected. It is completely outside the scope of what we are supposed to be talking about, on which you want to be consistent.
On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Mr Baker is talking about the RSE inquiry. As far as I am aware, you indicated that you were keen to keep the debate to the group 2 amendments on the School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill.
I suppose that, the whole way through this, we have been blind because we did not get the guidelines. I completely understand why the Minister had a good weekend and something to be cheerful about, because, when the Marshalled List came through on Friday afternoon, all the hard work that we had done in the Committee…
This is a good day, because we are dealing with legislation. I feel somewhat spoilt. I have only just arrived, and I am right at the heart of dealing with legislation. That is positive. When it comes to the amendments, I see the whole Bill as being like a stick of rock. The slogan that goes through it is…
That is great. Sorry, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. If it is possible, I will make one more remark and then move on to amendment Nos 5, 6 and 7, because Members who spoke previously brought up the scrutiny phase. I felt that there was an impetus to get the Bill through. Parents who are watching the debate will be…
That may well turn out to be the case, but I do not know why the Member is so confident that it will be. If the amendments from the Committee had been selected, there would have been absolute clarity for that family and that young girl. By the way, that is the same young girl who used to take off her overcoat 100…
I thank the Member for giving way. I know that he was keen to make a wee bit of progress in the debate. As a point of clarity, though, does the Member accept that it was never proposed at Committee that a number would be put into primary legislation, but simply the principle of whether it must be done or not? That is…
I start by picking up on a few things that have been talked about so far. I did not make an intervention because I did not want to slow things down any more. I will pick up on the Committee Chair's comments on the cost cap and the impetus to have said cost cap. That was debated at length at the Committee, and it was a…
On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. You have made a ruling that we should speak on only the amendments that have been tabled. The Member is diverting from that. Will you make a ruling on that?
I appreciate the Member giving way. I also appreciate that we have not spoken about any of the amendments, but that is a matter for those chairing proceedings.
First, I want to touch on an issue that the Education Minister raised during his contribution. He said that the Assembly had passed flawed legislation. That may well be true, but it is also true of every other legislature in the world. Nothing will always be perfect. We will do our best to make sure that it is.…
I am pleased to follow on from my colleague's earlier remarks. In the interests of this relating to school, I have had some extra homework to do by having to carry off these remarks on the Bill today, as my colleague who sits on the Education Committee is lounging on a beach on her honeymoon. I am sure that, if there…
I thank the Minister for his intervention. That was an issue. He will know that the Committee discussed at length what an appropriate level of prescription in primary legislation is. The Committee ultimately landed on the position that, while it is not the job of primary legislation to write the guidelines, such an…
I thank the Member for giving way. On the broad principle that he is trying to outline about wanting the legislation to be very prescriptive, does he believe that the detail on how schools operate their uniform policy should be in primary legislation or in statutory guidance that can be updated with much greater ease…
Does the Member recognise — I am sure that he does — that that reflects some of the complexities that were put to us in Committee? Sometimes, things sound simple to the general public and may make for a good social media post for all Members in the Chamber, including me, in which we say, "This is what we have done.…
I thank the Member for her intervention. The gendered aspect of the cost was one of the repeated themes that came through to the Committee. The evidence received indicated that girls' uniforms are often more expensive than boys' uniforms. Therefore, providing some choice in that space would have had a cost impact as…
I thank the Member very much for giving way. I am very fortunate to be a parent who no longer has to suffer the costs of uniforms because my daughter is up and away. I have found that the price of girls' skirts, in comparison with boys' trousers, is ridiculous, and I hope the Minister will take that into account after…