12Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Zahawi ignoring school meal shortage crisis at his front door

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP has written to the Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi accusing him of ignoring the school meal shortage crisis after it had been revealed schools are being told to stock up on food.  ITV has reported that ISS, one of the UK’s largest canteen suppliers, has written to its school catering staff to advise them to stock up on food to ensure pupils can be fed through the winter months. It comes after months of warnings about the potential shortage crisis.  In a letter to Zahawi, Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey MP said that parents have already “endured so much and worked so hard during the pandemic.” He added, “For far too many children this is their one hot meal of the day and for…
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06Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Level up premium: Drop in the ocean for lost learning

Level up premium: Drop in the ocean for lost learning

Parliamentary news
Responding to Boris Johnson's solitary policy announcement during his keynote speech at Conservative Party conference today, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education Daisy Cooper MP said: “What Boris Johnson has announced today is a drop in the ocean. We can't level up unless our children can catch up on all the learning they've lost to Covid. "Parents and children have worked hard and made huge sacrifices during the pandemic, but Boris Johnson and his Conservatives are still refusing to support them with proper catch-up funding. "If the Conservatives cared about education they would invest the £15 billion their own expert said our children need. One third of that should go directly to parents in the form of Catch-Up Vouchers to spend on whatever their children need most."
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06Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dem push to crack down on essay cheating receives Government backing

Lib Dem push to crack down on essay cheating receives Government backing

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrats have welcomed the decision by the Government to endorse their calls for tougher sentencing for ‘Essay Mills’. Essay Mills refers to essay writing services, which enable students to have their essays, thesis and even parts of their PhD written for them for a fee. The industry currently makes millions of pounds every year and are often marketed at students as an easy way to get good grades. Lord Mike Storey, former leader of Liverpool City Council, has tabled Private Members' Bills in the House of Lords three times on this issue and has been working across party lines to raise awareness around the damage these services can have. In his most recent Private Members' Bill, tabled in May this year, Lord Storey also raised a case he was…
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05Oct 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Soaring school infection rates show 220,000 pupils absent and reckless government inaction

Soaring school infection rates show 220,000 pupils absent and reckless government inaction

Parliamentary news
New Department for Education figures released today (12:00pm) show infection rates in schools are rising at a concerning rate with over 220,000 pupils now absent from school. Government statistics show that 2.5% of pupils were absent from state-funded schools on 30th September, up from 1.5% on the previous update on 16th September. Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, has written to the Education Secretary demanding a faster roll-out of the CO2 monitors promised in August and for the government to provide schools with much needed ventilation equipment. In the letter she expressed concern that “government inaction will lead to even more school closures and even more lost learning.” She added, that just a few weeks into the school year “schools are reintroducing some of these measures - which your…
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20Sep 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Davey announces radical flagship Catch-Up Voucher policy at Lib Dem Conference

Davey announces radical flagship Catch-Up Voucher policy at Lib Dem Conference

Parliamentary news
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has announced a new flagship Education policy on the third day of the party's conference - Catch-Up Vouchers. The Liberal Democrats are calling for a £15 billion package of education catch-up funding, as recommended by the Government’s former Education Recovery Commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins. As part of this, the party is calling for a £5 billion programme of Catch-Up Vouchers for every school child, putting the money directly into parents’ hands to spend on whatever their children need most: tutoring in reading, writing or maths; music lessons; swimming classes or other physical education. This idea of a three-year programme of education Catch-Up Vouchers would become the world’s biggest ever parent-listening exercise. These Catch-Up Vouchers would be doubled and in some cases tripled, for children in…
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18Sep 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Lib Dems call on Govt to create a Care Leavers education support package

Lib Dems call on Govt to create a Care Leavers education support package

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have agreed upon a new deal for Care Leavers at their party conference today. The package calls for support measures for Care Leavers particularly in the area of education. The party is calling for further provision to support carers right the way through their education, with support measures proposed from the early teens right the way to further education. The motion calls for young people and Care Leavers to have specialised mentoring, extra exam support and tuition. The package also calls on the Government to increase the Care Leaver Bursary from £1,000 to £2,000. The Liberal Democrat motion focusing particularly on education comes as almost 100,000 children in care across the UK face disadvantaged in their early life. The Liberal Democrats have called the situation for Care…
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16Sep 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Nadhim Zahawi slammed for misleading free school meal comments

Nadhim Zahawi slammed for misleading free school meal comments

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats have slammed the new Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi for misleading comments made on BBC Radio 4 last year about free school meals. In October 2020, the minister claimed research showed families didn’t like meals being labelled as free and preferred “to pay a modest amount, £1 or £2”. However, when asked to provide the research referred to by the former children’s minister, who also repeated the claim on Times Radio, the Department for Education said it was not aware of any that backed up his comments Commenting on the appointment of Nadhim Zahawi, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “Gavin Williamson was the most incompetent Education Secretary in living memory, but with children having missed millions of school days, their futures hang in the balance.…
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14Sep 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Sajid Javid fails to rule out closing schools again in future Covid lockdown

Sajid Javid fails to rule out closing schools again in future Covid lockdown

Parliamentary news
The Health Secretary Sajid Javid has today failed to rule out closing schools in any future lockdowns, after being challenged to do so in Parliament by the Liberal Democrats. The Government's Covid winter plan published today says that the "the nature of the virus means it is not possible to give guarantees,” adding that “more harmful economic and social restrictions would only be considered as a last resort.” Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care Spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said: “It is deeply concerning that the Covid winter plan keeps open the possibility of school closures, and that ministers have refused to rule them out. "Children have done everything asked for them during this pandemic, yet too often the impact on their education and mental health has been overlooked. “The Conservatives…
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14Sep 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Covid winter plan: PM must guarantee schools will stay open

Covid winter plan: PM must guarantee schools will stay open

Parliamentary news
The Liberal Democrats are calling on Boris Johnson to give a “cast-iron guarantee” to parents that schools will not be shut again as part of the Government’s Covid winter plan, after the chaos of the last year which saw pupils miss out on 33 million days of schooling. The Liberal Democrats are also calling for more funding to ensure schools can stay open safely as Covid cases rise, including to improve ventilation and install an air purifier in every classroom. The Government still refuses to fund these vital safety measures, and instead suggested children learn outside in the cold during the winter months. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “Our children have been failed by the Conservatives throughout this pandemic. Pupils have missed out on millions of days of vital…
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08Sep 2021 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Rashford mix up should be “final nail in coffin” for Gavin Williamson

Rashford mix up should be “final nail in coffin” for Gavin Williamson

Parliamentary news
Commenting on the news that Education Secretary Gavin Williamson incorrectly claimed to meet Marcus Rashford, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said: “This is a shocking and embarrassing admission that shows Gavin Williamson is simply not up to the job. “The Education Secretary has let down children, parents and teachers by failing to secure enough cash to catch up on lost learning during the pandemic. "Now he has confused two black sporting heroes and failed to recognise Marcus Rashford, who has led the charge on fighting child poverty. “If rumours of an imminent reshuffle are true, this must surely be the final nail in the coffin for Gavin Williamson holding ministerial office ever again." After claiming to meet Marcus Rashford online, Gavin Williamson's team later confirmed that he met…
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