Saturday 17 February 2018

Good news for local students


I am so pleased to hear that Northumberland County Council has started the process to reintroduce free transport for post-16 students, fulfilling a manifesto pledge to reverse the charges introduced by the previous Labour administration. The Council has allocated £1.4 million in 2018-19 and £800,000 in 2019-20 to remove the charge. The reintroduction requires a formal consultation which will run for six weeks, finishing on Friday 30th March, and the updated policy should be published by the end of May to ensure that there are no charges for the start of the new academic year in September. This is really positive news for students and it is great to see that the Council is committed to fulfilling its manifesto pledges. I am always keen to ensure that our local schools get the best possible outcomes for their pupils, and this week I was pleased to meet with the Head of Haydon Bridge High School, Darren Glover, and Dr Caroline Pryer, Head of Ponteland Community Middle School. I particularly enjoyed sitting in on a GCSE PE lesson at Haydon Bridge High School and seeing how enthusiastic the students were. My relationship with local schools is such an important part of my job as MP, and I am always happy to meet with Head Teachers to discuss how we can make our schools the best possible for students.