Baroness Shephard of Northwold (Con)

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Evans of Rainow on introducing this important and timely debate. Successive Governments have had to deal with rising levels of youth unemployment for a ra

My Lords, I support my noble friend’s sensible proposals in Amendment 121A—they obviously have cross-party support. The Bill proposes a power for local authorities to withhold consent to a child being

My Lords, later today, the House will debate the children Bill, which proposes an enormous increase in the duties and responsibilities of local authorities. How will postponement of elections help the

My Lords, I congratulate the Baroness, Lady Coussins, on introducing this debate and also on her outstanding and continuing work on the importance of modern languages. The well-known actor Larry Lamb,

My Lords, we on this side oppose many aspects of the Bill, but that is not because we oppose the principles of devolution and greater local accountability; we strongly support both principles. In 2010

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Grayling on opening this debate in such a balanced and wide-ranging way. It is also a tremendous pleasure to follow my friend, the noble Baroness, Lady Wi