Richard Spring MP
Member of Parliament for West Suffolk

Last month the Government announced its three-year school funding settlement for every Local Education Authority in England. As with most public investment, urban areas continue to be favoured while rural areas like Suffolk are short changed. We are 134th out of 149 Local Education Authorities. 

One of the most fulfilling challenges for people of a certain age is to re-train and re-skill. For example, many have been able to master new technologies such as the internet and email by attending courses.

Thus, it is very surprising that there has been a large decrease in the number of Suffolk adults participating in education. Suffolk has seen a 26% decrease since 2003/04 in the number of adults in further education and a further 15% decrease in the number participating in adult and community learning programmes.

Gordon Brown has placed much emphasis on young people staying in education. But more needs to be done to encourage adults to learn new skills and gain new qualifications. Not only does it lead to self fulfilment but it is often a bridge to employment. Its erosion in Suffolk is very disappointing and no doubt is replicated elsewhere.   

Well this has been a week rightly dominated by the Budget, but soon we shall be in local elections territory.

Yesterday evening Suffolk County Councillors voted to reverse a three tier schools system introduced in 1974, in favour of a two-tier structure. Many people are very upset about this. The vote was based on a recommendation of a cross party Liberal-Labour-Conservative group of councillors. However, last night, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors voted against it. Two days ago a letter appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times from the Labour Group leader in the Council, criticising the silence of the county’s Conservative MPs. What I can unhesitatingly say is that the MPs have worked extremely hard on this issue both in public and in private – the assertion truly is rubbish.

However, political advantage is sensed, ahead of those elections. Whatever the merits of the three versus two tier system, the entirely predictable manoeuvrings of Labour and Liberal councillors in Suffolk tell us just how nervous they are about 3^rd May.

Anger over middle schools or not, I do not think they will be enjoying the day.

When Tony Blair became Prime Minister he proudly proclaimed that his number one priority was “education, education, education”. It is true that giving every child the best possible education for the future not only allows them to maximise their own potential but provides the country with a skilled and dynamic workforce to help us compete with countries such as the United States, China and India.

Unsurprisingly, if we probe behind Blair’s soundbite, we begin to see what this means in practice. The education funding figures for pupils in England and Wales for 2007/08 were published recently. Naturally I looked to see how much pupils in my constituency would receive from this Government. Scanning further and further down the list, I found Suffolk in the bottom 10% of the whole country for education funding. It was 134^th out of 149 Local Education Authorities with £3,591 per pupil. This is below the national average of £3,888 and the East of England average of £3,721.

Sadly this is true across the board when it comes to public services. Rural areas are discriminated against by this metropolitan, urban-obsessed Government which primarily distributes public money to where its political support is strongest. I have consistently highlighted that Suffolk does not receive a fair deal when it comes to NHS funding. It is below the national average, and well below the Prime Minister’s constituency which will annually receive £420 more per person than people living in my constituency. If you look at transport funding or police numbers, the story is always the same.

I believe in the principles of One Nation where all parts of the country should be given a fair slice of the national cake. Under this Government, rural regions like Suffolk are simply not treated fairly. The degree to which this is happening is a new and cynical departure in British politics.

The County Council in Suffolk has decided to recommend that the three tier school system should merge into two, the same arrangement as with most of the rest of the country.

Parents are very anguished because they do not like change: they are committed to the existing schools and the staff who teach there. The County Council has produced evidence to suggest that a two tier system enhances educational achievement.

All of us will remember being somewhat disoriented when we ourselves moved from primary to secondary schooling – some head teachers feel concerned that this happens twice in Suffolk.

At the heart of many peoples’ concerns is the range and scale of reorganisation which has afflicted our public services. In my Parliamentary lifetime, we have gone from a West Suffolk Health Authority to a pan Suffolk Health Authority, then five primary Care Trusts, then three, then back to one. The administration of the NHS really has deteriorated. Similarly we have seen reorganisation in local government and local criminal justice – has performance improved?

The key question is – even if there is educational improvement, is it enough to offset all the inevitable cost, financial and human, that this change would bring about. This is not, of course, a party political issue but already the Liberal Democrats are sniffing the wind, and no doubt Labour too, to see how the debate and consultation plays out. Regrettably, you can be sure that on their local track record their judgment will not exclude any possible party political advantage. We wait to see!

In Suffolk, the County Council is proposing to move away from the present three tier school system where pupils have an interim stage, from 8 to 13, between primary and secondary schools to simply a two tier system with no middle schools.

The whole process has had considerable interest from head teachers, councillors and parents. As the local MP, my main concern is what is in the best interests of the children and their future education. That is why I am keen to consult as widely as possible and listen to the views of all interested parties.

I have set up a special email address middleschools@richardspring.com for people to contact me with their views on the issue.

I have also made a short video about the changes which can be viewed on my website www.richardspringmp.com