Politics

It is deeply depressing that the Tories have chosen to take money away from schools like this – Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on reports that the Treasury has taken back £384 million originally promised for schools in England, said:

“It is astonishing that the Treasury is now clawing money back from the Education budget at the same time as schools spending is being drastically cut.

“There is no better investment a government can make than in education and it is deeply depressing that the Tories have chosen to take money away from schools like this.

“Theresa May needs to answer some serious questions on what this money is now going to be used for if not to help ease the pressure on struggling schools.”

January 27, 2017 GovWorldMagLabourGovernmental • Labour • Labour Party • political

Welsh Government accepts all Talented Women for a Successful Wales report recommendations and marks the occasion with planned Royal visit

To mark the announcement the Minister has also confirmed she will be hosting a special WISE (Women in Science, Technology and Engineering) event in the Senedd, Cardiff, on 13 March, which is being attended by WISE’s patron, HRH The Princess Royal.

The event will celebrate and promote the value of women in STEM in Wales and build momentum around the report’s recommendations.

Talented Women for a Successful Wales is an independent report which the Welsh Government commissioned and published last year.

Led by Wales’ Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Julie Williams, the report aims to tackle the critical shortage of women in STEM roles in Wales, and across the rest of the UK. It identifies the need for a sea change of attitude across society to break down existing barriers and create the skilled workforce needed to support the future economic growth of Wales.

It includes 33 recommendations on dealing with the underrepresentation and poor retention of women in STEM in Wales through four major themes of education, recruitment, retention and promotion – all of which have been accepted by the Welsh Government.

While the majority of the recommendations are for schools, universities and STEM businesses in Wales to action with the Welsh Government advising, encouraging and facilitating where appropriate, there are two actions which are specifically for the Welsh Government to take forward:

The Welsh Government should make improved gender balance in STEM a theme in educational policies and programmes for teacher training, curriculum reform, careers advice, apprenticeships and further & higher education funding.
The Welsh Government should review its support for childcare and consider how it can further support a wider range of parents with the costs of childcare – with the long-term aim of developing an offer of high-quality early childhood care and education.

It is estimated that increasing the number of women in science across the UK could be worth £2bn to the national economy.

Skills and Science Minister, Julie James, is keen to point out that work is already underway to meet these recommendations and over recent year’s the Welsh Government has increased its investment into this important area, saying:

“Science underpins innovation and technology developments and is essential for economic growth and creating high quality jobs. That is why we have already invested more than £100m in recent years to increase Wales’ research capacity and why we are supporting all of the recommendations in this report to encourage more women and girls to pursue STEM skill opportunities.

“Our ‘STEM in Education and Training: A Delivery Plan for Wales’ (2016) already outlines our commitment to improving the participation of girls in STEM and our Education Directorate has made prioritising girls’ progression in maths, physics and computing, and made gender balance in STEM education a condition of grant funding.”

The Minister added:

“While these are all positive developments we recognise more can be done to understand the issues affecting girls’ progression in STEM and how practice in schools can have a positive impact and our programme of education reform aims to address this.”

Plans are also being progressed by the Welsh Government to provide 30 hours of free early education and childcare to working parents of three and four year-olds across Wales for 48 weeks of the year. This is the most generous childcare offer in the UK, giving parents – in particular, women – more choice and a greater ability to have both a family and a career.

The Talented Women for a Successful Wales report can be found here.

January 27, 2017 NewsWelsh GovernmentGovernmental • political • Welsh Government

News story: Foreign Secretary statement on Holocaust Memorial Day

Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, reflects that it is important to remember and educate future generations on the Holocaust’s causes.

Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said

Today we mark Holocaust Memorial Day, the date to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. This year’s theme, ‘how can life go on?’, encourages us to pause and reflect, not only on the terrible truth of the Holocaust, and the innocent lives that were so cruelly wiped out, but to also to draw inspiration from the survivors, who found strength and courage to carry on.

It is important that survivor stories are heard. And as time goes by, it becomes ever more important that we listen, learn, remember, and educate future generations about the causes of the Holocaust, in particular antisemitism. Sadly, this remains an ever-present concern today. We will continue to tackle it head on wherever it is found and stand with our Jewish friends and neighbours around the world in defence of their right to live free from hatred and prejudice.

The UK Government is committed to strengthening international collaboration to promote Holocaust education, remembrance and research. We will continue to honour this commitment, not only through our work with international partners, but also with civil society organisations who are dedicated to these efforts. Together we can put the lessons into practice and so educate the next generation that anti-semitic prejudice is consigned to the past.

Further information

January 27, 2017 HM GovernmentHM GovernmentGB • Governmental • HM Government • political

This latest report from the PAC shows how the Tories have run a rigged economy – John McDonnell

John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, commenting on the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) report on HMRC’s tax collection efforts from high net worth individuals, which shows that the very wealthy are receiving preferential treatment, said:

“This latest report from the PAC shows how the Tories have run a rigged economy where the super-rich pay less and less in tax while earnings for average working households are still below their level of a decade ago. It’s a national disgrace that the amount lost in tax from a super-rich elite under the Tories would be enough to help end the crisis in social care.

“Labour will call time on the super-rich tax-dodgers and give HMRC the legal and staff resources it needs to close the tax avoidance loopholes and scams. We’ll stop the Tories using the excuse of Brexit to turn Britain into a tax haven off the coast of Europe, and build an economy that leaves no-one and no community behind.”

January 27, 2017 GovWorldMagLabourGovernmental • Labour • Labour Party • political

Over £5million investment for Morriston redevelopment work

Vaughan Gething said:

Some of the oldest parts of the hospital date from the WW2 era and others are over 30 years old. The accommodation to be demolished no longer meets modern building standards and guidance.

This funding is in addition to the £142.539m that has already been funded to improve schemes under the HealthVison Swansea programme at Morriston.

Mr Gething made the announcement on a visit to the Haemostasis Biomedical Research Unit on the site.
£5.11 million will be used to demolish obsolete buildings on the site, develop a new on-site crèche and provide new IT infrastructure at the hospital.

“This investment is part of wider modernisation plans for Morriston; it will make the site safer and create space for future healthcare developments as Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board plan for the future of healthcare on the site.”

Sian Harrop-Griffiths, Director of Strategy at Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board said:

“We are extremely pleased that Welsh Government has provided funding to support the next phase of the development of the Morriston Hospital site. This funding will enable the demolition of a large number of outdated buildings now that the services previously provided from there have been relocated in modern, fit for purpose accommodation on site.
“This will also enable space to be made available for some temporary car parking whilst the design and development of a new multi-storey car park on the site are being undertaken, and plans for this are well advanced.”