Hoe Valley School have launched a public consultation about plans to expand their existing building and open a sixth form in September 2023. The plans are quite modest, as the school wants to extend their building slightly at the front – but this relatively small change would enable to school to open a sixth form, […]

Yesterday, the Conservatives running Surrey County Council dismissed calls by the Lib Dems and I to roll out 20 mph zones in residential roads and outside schools across Surrey. My Lib Dem colleagues and I put forward a motion calling for a bigger and bolder programme of schemes to implement 20 mph areas using signs […]

My Lib Dem colleagues and I have come out in support of commuters who are facing more uncertainty following South Western Railways’ decision to introduce a new reduced timetable. South Western Railway are citing reasons of reduced passenger numbers and staff shortages due to a high number of Omicron infections.  The timeframe for reinstating normal […]

Parents of almost 150,000 children in Surrey would receive vouchers worth £200 a year to spend on catch-up classes and educational activities, under plans announced by the Lib Dems. The policy would empower parents to help their children catch up after months of school closures and disruption during the pandemic.  The vouchers could be spent on […]

Schools across Surrey are set to lose £1.1 million in funding for the most disadvantaged pupils in the county following the Government’s decision to alter the method of calculating pupil premium funding. The pupil premium, which aims to close the attainment gap by providing extra money to pupils eligible for free school meals, was a […]

Last week, the news broke that the verdict of Ofsted’s most recent monitoring visit to Surrey County Council’s Children’s Services would not be published until after the election on Thursday 6th May. The explanation for this from the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills is that “it is normal practice to delay […]

The Lib Dems have called for teachers to be vaccinated against covid after the Government admitted schools were the epicentre of high community transmission. My colleague Daisy Cooper, who is the Lib Dem Spokesperson for Education and MP for St Albans, has written a letter to Ministers Gavin Williamson and Matt Hancock to ask them […]

The Conservatives running Surrey County Council have launched a consultation on plans to cut school funding for pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN). They plan to abolish the “additional SEN funding” which goes to 67 primary and 2 secondary schools in Surrey.  Beaufort, Goldsworth, St Hugh of Lincoln, West Byfleet Infant and West Byfleet Junior Schools […]

Earlier today, the Conservative majority on Surrey County Council used their own amendment to vote down a Lib Dem motion that would have tackled child food poverty. If approved, the original proposal by my Lib Dem colleagues and I would have committed the Council to taking the small, albeit valuable steps of ensuring the availability […]

We have all become more aware of the need for free school meals in the last few months, but child food poverty did not start with the covid pandemic. That is why my Lib Dem colleagues and I have called on Surrey County Council to take steps to address this growing problem across the county. […]