£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.

Members of the LDEG executive including George Dunk, Carol Weaver and Jonathan Fryer took part in the ELDR Party Council meeting in Yerevan last weekend soon after Armenia's parliamentary elections. LDEG chair Phil Bennion MEP also spoke at a fringe event on 'Making Liberal Climate and Resource Policies Work'.

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:

In a vote to clear the EU's budget for 2010, MEPs have today sent out another strong message of support for a single working location of the European Parliament.

EU Member States continue to veto a single seat for the European Parliament despite the fact that it would achieve estimated savings of € 180million (£145million) a year.

Today the European Parliament approved a report on the future of regional airports. The text sets out for the first time a framework and a definition for regional airports, which are increasingly proving to be key in boosting competitiveness and in promoting European regional development.

MEP Giommaria Uggias (Italia dei Valori, Italy) ALDE spokesperson on this dossier said: "With this report the European Parliament stresses the vital role that regional airports can play in reinforcing European cohesion policy and EU territorial continuity. In addition, regional airports can act as catalysts for the creation of new jobs, especially in the most depressed and less developed areas of Europe ".

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.

WILLIAMS WELCOMES QUEEN'S SPEECH

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.

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.