items tagged with Education

Following the visit by Bill Cash (MP, Stone) and Jeremy Lefroy (MP, Stafford) to Walton Hall Special School on Friday (10th June), Mr. Cash has written to the Secretary of State and Staffordshire County Council seeking a response over support and assistance and to establish the current position for his constituents – including their families – after they pass the age of 18.

 

MP for Stafford, Jeremy Lefroy, raised the issue today at Prime Ministers Questions, indicating his and Cash’s visit to Walton Hall Special School, and asking for the Prime Minister’s response to parents and teachers anxieties over provision for their children after 19 and what encouragement he could give them. David Cameron responded agreeing that they have “… got to find the best answer for parents…”

 

Today, Cash said:

“There are concerns over what support and resources are available to my constituents and their families when they turn 18 and lose their current support package upon transferring to Adult services.

“The test for many parents is that the current support package will need to be matched in Adult services as in many cases the future needs will be increasing and will not disappear after their 18th birthday.

“More locally, in Staffordshire, when a pupil reaches 19 and can no longer stay, for example, at Walton Hall Special School, parents and teachers have concerns over what provisions there are available to meet specific needs.”

 “I am taking up those important matters with the Secretary of State and Staffordshire County Council.”

Bill Cash is aware of the possibility that St Dominic’s Priory School in his constituency has encountered financial difficulties.

 

He is very strongly in support of the school and the English Dominican congregation and the staff, pupils and parents.

 

He stated:

“I will do anything I possibly can to help and I am proposing to hold discussions with the Trustees and any others, as necessary, with a view to providing assistance in finding an answer.”

In response to recent calls from constituents, who have submitted a petition to Bill Cash MP, Mr. Cash stated:

 

“I have received a petition from home educators within my constituency today and I have asked the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls MP to respond to the serious concerns given in the petition.

 

“There are grave concerns over the recommendations of the Badman report, which suggests closer monitoring of home educators and interference of local authority officials in their homes, which is based on a rushed review.

 

“I urge the Government not to take forward these proposals in legislation. As the Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families already told the House of Commons, the Government's response to the Badman review unfortunately places many admirable home educators in the dock.”

 

In response to Stoke on Trent City Council announcing plans to close Wedgwood Memorial College last month as part of a package of budget measures to save £24m, Bill Cash MP has made the following statement:

 

“I am aware that there are serious concerns for the closure, that after 66 years it will be a considerable educational and social loss, that the closing of the college itself carries costs, that it will mean Barlaston buildings will be boarded up and that in any case such properties may sit on the market for years after closure.

 

“I have taken up campaigners’ concerns and those of my local constituents with Stoke on Trent City Council and the Secretary of State because the closure is not in the interests of the local community or those involved with the college and we must look to resolving the underlying problems.”

 

MP for Stone, Bill Cash, today said he backs the Young Enterprise charity and supports Staffordshire County Council’s recent decision – along with Stafford Borough Council – to fund Stafford and Stone’s Young Enterprise project.

 

The national Business & Education Charity, which launched its 2012 - 2013 campaign in September, aims to educate young people about enterprise and business in order to encourage the start up of new businesses and self-employment in the future. 

 

The funding will allow the project to run a number of exciting activities over the year. Teachers and business mentors will work with young people in the classroom around the skills and benefits of business, and help facilitate the start-up of small enterprises in the school. 

 

Most recently the project helped start the “Sock Tree Company”, from Alleynes High School which produces sock monkeys and went on to win area, county and regional awards.

 

Cash said:

 

“I attended an important event in my constituency this year at which young people from Alleynes school in Stone were selling produce, based on proper commercial principles.

 

“They were learning key enterprise skills and it is wonderful that young people are given the opportunity and skills to learn about business in this way. 

 

“Our young entrepreneurs are tomorrow’s business leaders, and with their determination, will provide the very engine of growth for the future which is required in our national and local economy in Staffordshire.”