Aberconwy Liberal Democrats

£10m to boost literacy - Clegg

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced on Monday that there will be up to £10m additional support for Pupil Premium children who leave primary school without Level 4 literacy - the expected level.

In a keynote speech to teachers and school leaders, he said that the Education Endowment Foundation will be awarding the money to pilot projects to help disadvantaged pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school. The money will be targeted at struggling Year 7s from deprived homes.

"How can a child start secondary school unable to read with confidence?" declared Nick. "That is a basic building block of a good education and no child should begin the race so far behind the starting line. We need to do everything we can to help these children through this transition to get them up to speed.
"That is a responsibility the government takes extremely seriously. And I can confirm that the Education Endowment Foundation will shortly be inviting groups of local schools, in the areas that suffer most with this problem, to bid for extra funds for struggling Year 7s from deprived homes to help them get their reading and writing up to scratch. Extra 'catch up cash', if you like.
"We envisage that schools will want to use it for small catch up classes, or one-to-one tuition, or vouchers for literacy tuition that parents can spend. We will run a proper evaluation, sharing what works with all schools not just those areas taking part in these pilots. It's likely this kind of targeted support is the best way to crack this problem - next year we'll know.
"Of course, we hope as few pupils as possible need it, thanks to the Pupil Premium. And I know primary and secondary schools up and down the country are determined to make this work.
"Some are using the money for breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. Some are funding counselling services, so troubled kids are in the right place, emotionally, to learn. Some are using it for educational visits to places like museums: the sort of experiences middle class children take for granted but poorer child might rarely enjoy."

Nick also announced that he wants to "strike a deal between the Coalition government and our schools and teachers. Teachers who help these children unlock the doors that otherwise hold them back ... they are the key to an open and fair society ... the key to the opportunity Britain I am determined we build."

The best teachers will be offered incentives to work in schools that have large numbers of disadvantaged pupils. The government will ask the School Teachers Review Body to look at giving other schools the same flexibility Academies currently have to use pay to hold on to the best teachers.

Also, from next year, there will be Pupil Premium Awards for the 50 schools that do the best to boost the performance of their poorest pupils and narrow the gap - with cash prizes of up to £10,000 for the best of the best.

Commenting, Stephen Williams said:

"This is a very popular idea which would give the public something back for bailing out the banks.

"I welcome the Treasury Select Committee's review into what to do with the Government's holding in RBS and Lloyds and hope that it furthers the case for giving the public their share."

Long lasting reforms

Key Liberal Democrat initiatives were announced in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday including banking reform, a single tier pension, energy reform, strengthening shareholder power and House of Lords reform.

The Coalition government's next term will focus on helping families, supporting growth and jobs, and delivering long-standing reform to our banking sector. Long lasting reforms are proposed to put the UK on a stable footing and offer help and support to families, small businesses and communities, protect the environment, as well as reaffirming the commitment to helping the poorest nations.

The key themes from the 2012 Queen's Speech are economic growth, justice and constitutional reform.

Main Lib Dem initiatives include:

Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, has called on the Welsh Labour Government to take immediate action to tackle huge NHS physiotherapy waiting lists.

Statistics released today reveal that the number of people waiting over 14 weeks for physiotherapy care increased to 2,755.

The maximum wait for access to specified diagnostic tests is 8 weeks and for specified services is 14 weeks. Today's statistics show that 8,420 patients have been waiting longer than 8 weeks for diagnostic services, while 3,516 patients have been waiting over 14 weeks for therapy services.

Brecon and Radnorshire Liberal Democrat MP, Roger Williams has welcomed the Queen's speech that was delivered today to both houses at the state opening of Parliament. The speech, which sets the programme for the Governments year ahead, had economic growth as its main priority. There was also a commitment to introduce a Grocery Code Adjudicator, reform of electricity markets and the water industry.

These reforms will help build a sustainable future for our country. The Coalition Government's plans will offer help and support to families, small businesses and communities, protect the environment, as well as reaffirming our commitment to helping the poorest nations.

In 2010, Liberal Democrats joined the Coalition Government to act in the long-term national interest. Our most urgent task was to tackle the record deficit left to us by Labour and we're continuing this work today.

We have already made some tough choices, and we will continue to make sure we keep spending down so, unlike the rest of Europe, families can benefit from low interest rates and Britain is protected from the global debt storm.

The key themes from the 2012 Queen's Speech are:

Eluned Parrott AM has questioned the Welsh Government's competency after it has been indicated that hundreds of jobs in Cardiff that had been touted as new are in fact mostly jobs that will be transferred from other parts of Cardiff.

Following his trade trip to India, the First Minister had spoken of hundreds of jobs coming to Cardiff thanks to investment by the Indian-owned call centre Firstsource. However, it has emerged that the majority of staff will actually transfer from another call centre operator in the city with the company stating that there has been a "misunderstanding" and the Welsh Government might have been a bit "over-enthusiastic".

"It's been a disappointing and difficult night for the Liberal Democrats. I'm really sad that so many colleagues and friends, Liberal Democrat councillors, who've worked so hard, so tirelessly, for so many years, for communities and families in their local areas, have lost their seats. And I want to pay tribute to all the great work that they have done.

"I'm determined that we will continue to play our role in rescuing, repairing, and reforming the British economy. It's not an easy job and it can't be done overnight. But our duty is to boost jobs and investment and restore a sense of hope and optimism to our country.

"I believe that, over time, people will come to acknowledge our unique role, the Liberal Democrats, in this Government as the only party that combines responsibility on the economy with social fairness."

Tim Farron says 'Thank You'

The polling stations have yet to open as I'm writing this. I've spent the last few days reminding postal voters to send their ballots in, mostly using the Connect phone bank.

I've also been out with fellow campaigners delivering last minute messages to our supporters - reminding them of our track record of hard work and achievement.

Wherever I go on the campaign trail, I am struck by the passion and determination of Lib Dem candidates and their teams, and by their dedication to their communities. I haven't met a single Lib Dem candidate who doesn't objectively deserve to be elected. But of course, not everyone will have won by the time you read this.

Over the last few weeks, being out on the doorsteps with you - from Dundee to Dollis Hill and all parts in between - has been exhilarating. If I needed reminding why I am a Liberal Democrat, then being out with our activists, who live and breathe community politics would have done the job.

All of us know that for the good of the country we have put ourselves in the political firing line - and made life really hard electorally. We have been given a precious chance in appalling circumstances to make this country greener, fairer and more liberal - we were right to grasp that chance.

All the same, being in power at such a difficult time as this has not made us popular - many of those who identify themselves as Liberal Democrat supporters are confused or even angered by our role in government.

So in our communities we have a chance to make a difference on the ground - whether we were successful this week or not. I often tell the tale of my dear friend and mentor Neva Orrell who lost her seat in Leyland, Lancashire no less than three times. Each time she lost, the Liberal group on the council was down to zero, but each time she carried on campaigning and each time she won her seat back next time.

I hope that most of you reading this will have won in the elections, but if you didn't, can I just say that I am utterly proud of you. Take the weekend off, and then on Monday, get out there and do a Neva.

Responding to the Health Minister's 'remarkable achievement' claim regarding the financial position of Welsh LHBs, Kirsty Williams, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat said:

"I am absolutely flabbergasted that the Health Minister can call this a 'remarkable achievement'. What's remarkable is that the Health Minster thinks that this is an achievement.