Les Bonner

“Giving children a greater choice of sports will increase sporting take up and decrease drop outs,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary.

Commenting on today’s Government announcement that 3000 new after school clubs offering Olympic and Paralympics sport will be provided for young people, Don Foster said:

“We have been calling for more after school sport provision for a long time. Giving children a greater choice of sports will increase sporting take up and decrease drop outs.
 
“Currently fewer than a third of children do the five hours of sport each week this Government promised. This one-off sum won’t be enough to produce the huge boost in sports participation needed.
 
“Grassroots sport has lost out because of lottery money being diverted to pay for the Olympics. By changing the way the national lottery is taxed, we could produce long term dividends for all good causes, including grassroots sport.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland this week signed a pledge to voters ahead of the forthcoming general election that he will vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament.

The National Union of Students (NUS) has launched the Vote for Students campaign to encourage candidates to pledge to protect student interests by opposing attempts to lift the cap on student top-up fees.
Details can be found on the NUS website http://www.voteforstudents.co.uk/

The Vote for Students funding pledge states:

“I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament, and will put pressure on the Government to introduce a fairer alternative.” Greg Mulholland said:

“I am fully behind the NUS and their commitment to keep higher education affordable for all.

“In these times of economic uncertainty it is even more important that we recognise the importance of education and continued investment in the countries future.”

NUS President Wes Streeting said:

“The vast majority of the general public is against higher fees, and although this review has been set up to report after the general election, voters deserve to know where their MP stands on this highly emotive issue.

“I am delighted that Greg he is standing up for students and their families in Leeds North West by signing up to this pledge. He has demonstrated his determination to give every young person in Leeds North a fair chance to go to university.”

A recent YouGov poll commissioned by NUS revealed that 88% of the public does not think the review should even consider increasing fees, while a majority believes that it should look at alternatives. Last year, research by Opinionpanel showed that a political party’s position on tuition fees would affect how 79% of students would vote in a general election.

“This is a pretty desperate attempt from Ed Balls to re-package existing deprivation funding for schools,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary.

Commenting on the Government’s launch of a consultation on the future of schools funding, David Laws said:
 
“This is a pretty desperate attempt from Ed Balls to re-package existing deprivation funding for schools.
 
“What is missing is any suggestion of additional money.

“Since it would be politically impossible to cut the budgets of some schools to shift money to others, what Ed Balls is talking about is political posturing not serious policy.”

Liberal Democrat Spring Conference today backed radical plans to change the education system to give children a fair start in life.

The proposals include:

• An extra £2.5bn investment in schools to reduce class sizes, improve discipline and provide more one-to-one tuition to help struggling pupils, paid as a pupil premium to schools for each of the poorest 1m children they teach
• The scrapping of tuition fees for first undergraduate degrees, whether studied full or part-time, over six years

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Children, Schools and Families Secretary, David Laws said:

“It is a disgrace that where children are born and how much their parents earn can still dictate how well they do at school.

“Schools should be a level playing field, opening up opportunities and making sure that all children have a fair chance to achieve their potential.

“Our plans to invest an extra £2.5bn in schools will enable headteachers to cut class sizes and provide children who are struggling with the support they need.  We will set schools free from constant Government interference so they can focus on getting the best from all children.

“I am proud that the Liberal Democrats have made such a clear and bold commitment to give every child a fair start in life.”

Speaking on the Today Progamme, BBC Radio 4, earlier this morning the Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker attacked the Tories’ response to the government’s plans for a high-speed rail link as “ludicrous”. 

The Conservatives, who have refused an invitation from the government to see the plans ahead of their announcement, disagree with the government over where the link should run. 

Norman Baker said the Conservatives were “putting short-term politics ahead of the long-term interest of the country.”

“We need more well-led and properly funded schools if we are to address the disadvantages faced by so many young people in Britain,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws. 

Commenting on today’s Ofsted figures, which show that half the schools they inspected last term were considered to be no better than ‘satisfactory’, David Laws said: “Labour has had 13 years to get a grip on education, but thousands of children still attend schools which are not considered to be providing good standards.

“In spite of the controversy about whether these figures can be compared with earlier years, the bottom line is that half of schools inspected were not good enough.

“We need more well-led and properly funded schools if we are to address the disadvantages faced by so many young people in Britain.”

“It’s the equivalent of a criminal suspect asking a police officer whether their work is really necessary,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary.

Commenting on reports from the Electoral Commission that Tory officials had refused requests to be interviewed by investigators, Chris Huhne said:

“It’s extraordinary that officials of a major political party should refuse a meeting to answer questions from the regulator designed to ensure funding is open and honest.

“It’s the equivalent of a criminal suspect asking a police officer whether their work is really necessary. 

“The Conservatives must now answer the question about who told their officials to withhold cooperation from the Electoral Commission. On whose authority was this request refused?”

In a speech to the Association of School and College Leaders today, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg will propose a deal with schools.

Nick Clegg will argue that in return for the investment of an additional £2.5billion in schools, teachers will be put under pressure to ‘raise their game’ to reinvent the curriculum, increase the number of children achieving good results and close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their wealthier classmates.

He will also attack the Conservatives for pledging to help poorer pupils without allocating any funding to pay for it and accuse the Government of ‘not funding, but buying’ schools

To give every child a fair start in life, the Liberal Democrats will spend an extra £2.5billion on schools, guaranteeing them the money they need to support children who are struggling.
 

Nick Clegg will say:

“Today, I ask our schools and colleges to sign up to a deal with the Liberal Democrats: We will give you everything we can. We will find you extra funding, even while elsewhere there are cuts. We will give a level of freedom you haven’t known for decades. But, in return, we will place the greatest expectations on you any government ever has. 

“One - we will expect you to transform the curriculum, so that it is rich, relevant, and stretches the brightest pupils while elevating those who struggle. Two - we will be much more ambitious about the number of young men and women leaving school with good results. Three – we will expect you to close the gap between poorer children and their wealthier classmates. A gap which entrenches inequality in Britain today.

“That deal is a new settlement for schools and government. Once it is in place we will get on with governing, you will get on with teaching, and children will benefit most of all. Let’s take our side of the bargain first. We are proposing an extra investment of £2.5billion for our schools. Around an extra £2,500 will be allocated for each pupil in receipt of free school meals. Raising the amount allocated for the poorest children to levels spent per pupil in fee-paying schools.

“The budgets of schools with similar catchments, but in different parts of the country, can vary wildly. Our Pupil Premium ensures every school taking a child from a disadvantaged background, no matter where it is, gets extra money to provide extra support.

“Money you can spend as you see fit – perhaps to cut class sizes, provide extra one-to-one tuition, evening or weekend classes. It would be up to you.

“Unlike the Conservatives, who have promised money to help poorer pupils without actually allocating a single penny to pay for it, we want to give schools certainty about the resources they can expect.

“So, to be absolutely clear: our Pupil Premium is new money. As the IFS pointed out earlier this week, unless a Pupil Premium is funded with extra cash, many schools – particularly secondaries – will suffer significant budget cuts.

“Labour didn’t fund schools, they bought schools. The price of unprecedented investment was untrammelled control.

“So, more freedom, more funding, that is our side of the bargain. What about yours? We will give you money, we will cut the reins, but our expectations on you will be high. We will expect you to reinvent the curriculum so it is broad and relevant. We will expect you to increase the number of children achieving good results. We will expect you to close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their wealthier peers.

“I am tired of the buck passing that dominates the debate over education in this country. When pupils do badly, government blames schools, schools blame government, and parents are left watching endless finger-pointing that does nothing to help their children.

“We want to make Britain a place where it is no longer possible, on a pupil’s first day of school, to predict how well they’ll do simply by asking them how much their parents earn. 
“So, a deal between government and schools: Money and freedom in return for high expectations and more ambition.”

“We need to make sure every child gets an excellent education, not just a lucky few,” the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary will say.

At a speech to CentreForum’s Conference on ‘School Reform; from policy to practice’ today, David Laws will say:

“The Conservatives’ plans for education are fundamentally flawed.

“Their apparent commitment to a Pupil Premium is totally meaningless unless extra money is put in.  Without extra money, many schools will see their budgets cut.  

“This will be even more devastating at a time when public spending will be squeezed, especially as the Tories are already targeting the Education budget for cuts.

“It makes no sense to give freedoms to some schools, but deny them to others.  The Conservative plans to simply rely on the market, without any accountability or local oversight will not work and will have little impact in the vast majority of schools. 

“We need to make sure every child gets an excellent education, not just a lucky few.”

“Liberal Democrats will give schools the money to cut class sizes and provide children who are struggling with more individual support by committing an extra £2.5bn,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary.Commenting on today’s IFS report ‘The Pupil Premium: assessing the options’, which shows how many schools would have their budgets cut under Conservative plans to bring in a Pupil Premium without extra funding, David Laws said:

“This independent report confirms the Tories’ proposals would be disastrous for thousands of schools, wrecking opportunities for millions of children.  

“The Conservatives’ plans will mean many schools have their budgets slashed.
 
“David Cameron may talk about raising standards but his plans commit no pounds and no pence of extra money to our schools.  He now needs to be honest about the devastating impact this will have on England’s schools. 
 
“Liberal Democrats will give schools the money to cut class sizes and provide children who are struggling with more individual support by committing an extra £2.5bn. This extra cash and our plans to set schools free to raise standards will give every child a fair start in life.”