I am pleased that the Isle of Wight Council took the decision not to close three East Wight primary schools - Brading, Oakfield, and Wroxall. I have visited each of these three schools and met their dedicated staff and happy, eager to learn children. Each school plays an important part in the wider community they serve, and it would be detrimental to close them, particularly for children from less well-off backgrounds. The Island has a continuing problem of fewer children than school places. The national “per-pupil” funding criteria creates pressure to close schools on financial grounds. A recent report commissioned by the Government to help deliver on its “five missions” identifies the East Wight as the second most “left behind” constituency in the country so we have the evidence we need for more support from Government. I have therefore written to the Government to ask how it intends to deliver that support and ensure that it understands our education challenges because of our unique geography and population demographics on the Island.
I attended the National Crime Beat Awards, in London where I saw Community Action Isle of Wight’s Bay Youth Project collect a national award. This was a huge achievement, and entirely down to the hard work of Julian Wadsworth MBE and his team and the inspiring young Islanders involved with the project.
I am also supporting Cllr Adrian Whittaker’s campaign to fix the dangerous junction between the Fairway and Lake Hill. It is in the top 10 most dangerous road junctions on the Island, and Adrian has met with the Leader of the Council and Island Roads. I will be following up to ensure the junction is made safer for pedestrians and all road users.
It was great to visit Network Ryde to meet with Bex, Jo, and Kaiya and hear about their work, from drop-in sessions and cookery classes to allotments and the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme. I also visited Ryde Academy and spoke to the Year 11 citizenship class who pitched ideas for law change to me. I was impressed by the awareness and knowledge of the important issues of our times.
Last Friday I attended the Isle of Wight Radio Small Business Awards. It was great to see so many brilliant businesses and charities recognised, including The Football Factory, Finns Beach Café, and the Donkey Sanctuary.
On a national level, I am deeply concerned about the Government’s welfare reforms. They are planning to strip £5 billion from an unreformed welfare system as a “quick fix” to the economy which has stalled since the October Budget. That risks removing money from those with genuine needs while failing to address the structural problem with our welfare system which has too many loopholes and a growing amount of money wasted. I am campaigning for targeted structural reform which will reduce costs while protecting people with genuine welfare needs.
