One of the cornerstones of a happy, healthy and successful life is having access to a great education. A high-quality education makes all the difference to the prospects of young people living in our area.
One of the great achievements of successive Conservative Governments has been 14 years of rising education standards, meaning children here in the UK benefit from a world leading education. I’m determined to make sure that residents throughout our constituency benefit from these rising standards.
What I’m campaigning on:
- One of the big challenges towards the end of a young person’s education is transitioning into the world of work. That’s why I’m working on providing a link between employers and young people in our area such as my previous virtual apprenticeships fair, as well as inviting schools to my larger jobs and skills fairs.
- One of the best bits of my constituency diary are visits to local schools. I’m always speaking to teachers and pupils to see how I can help support them as their local Member of Parliament and champion their causes.
What we’ve achieved so far:
- By 2024, 36/37 of the schools in the Hornchurch & Upminster constituency were rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. Since being the MP for our area I have visited all of our schools to offer my support.
- A big part of having a good start in life is ensuring that families have good childcare support around the school day. That’s why in 2023, I lobbied the Chancellor for more childcare support for those with young families, which we secured.
- In 2019, I campaigned for more post-16 education funding in Havering to address budget challenges faced by schools and colleges. I was delighted when the then Chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced an additional £400m for further education in the UK.
- In 2023, I welcomed the Conservative Government’s decision to award Havering Sixth Form College a £4m grant for a new teaching block. This has opened up more post-16 education spaces in our borough for young people.
- Ensuring that children with special educational needs get the right support is absolutely vital, and back in 2019 many local schools highlighted the financial pressures on SEN services. After lobbying the Department for Education, we helped to secure approx. £611k for SEN services here in Havering.
- I supported local schools to access the Government’s Condition Improvement Fund, with 30 schools receiving grant support from the Conservative Government in the last two Parliaments. This means that our schools have the facilities they need to keep doing well. Read about some of them here.
- Following the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, schools faced continued pressures on their budgets, especially with their energy bills. I welcomed the Conservative Government’s extra funding to support schools with these bills in 2022, meaning they could keep spending their money on education.
