Government have denied promising the IW Council £70 million to pay for reorganizing Island schools from a three- to a two-tier system. And the Island’s MP has criticized the ‘optimistic noises’ on funding given at consultation meetings. In times like this it is vital to have alternate source of income and playing https://www.ufabet168.info/%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%84%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2-sa/ online could help us have some sort of financial safety net.

In a Parliamentary Answer to Island MP Andrew Turner it was revealed that there have been absolutely no promises from the Government to provide the estimated £70 million needed for the changes being proposed by council officials. In answering Mr Turner, Stephen Twigg MP, the Minister responsible for school funding, made it clear that the Isle of Wight council has received no assurances that extra money will be made available for the proposed changeover. Mr Turner has criticized the impression given to parents and teachers that obtaining the money needed from central government would not present a problem.

Andrew Turner said,

“During the meeting I attended at Sandown High School it was clearly stated that ‘we can get’ the £70 million needed to change the system. I was surprised to hear that because that simply isn’t the way that Government works. I have asked the Government what promises they have given and they have clearly told me that they have given none. I have now asked the Council what led them to give such a misleading impression to those who went to the trouble of attending the meeting. I have been told that there have been informal meetings with government officials who support these proposals – I am afraid that does not represent government spending commitments. Frankly I am shocked that optimistic noises were made which misled people.”

Exam results and education standards on the Island are far below the national average and the recent report costing £100,000 by 4S recommended changing the system but did not provide any evidence that this alone would improve standards. Mr Turner went on to say:

“There may well be arguments for changing the system – but changing the system does not guarantee improving standards; the issues should not be mixed up. Even the advocates of change admit it would cost a fortune. If that money does not come from central government it will have to come from existing council budgets and be topped up by Island council taxpayers.

“It is at very least disingenuous to suggest that finding the money to achieve change is not an important issue that needs to be discussed as part of these proposals. I am worried that the Council seems to believe that informal discussions with civil servants translates into promises of many millions of pounds – sadly that is not the case.

“We need to raise standards but that is best done by the Council accepting that some schools are better than others, publishing that information to parents, governors, teachers and the wider public, and tackling the problems on a school-by-school basis. It is not as glamorous as being the architect of a whole new system, but it is much more likely to give our children the quality schooling they deserve.”

END

Contact : Andrew Turner 01983 530808

School Building (Isle of Wight)

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what (a) commitments and (b) undertakings she has made to the Isle of Wight Council regarding future capital allocations provided (i) through the Building Schools for the Future programme or (ii) otherwise, whether (A) contingent on or (B) not contingent on school reorganisation. [216280]

Mr. Stephen Twigg: A letter has been sent to all council leaders stating that, for authorities not prioritised in the first three waves of Building Schools for the Future (BSF), including the Isle of Wight, we are determined to make a start on BSF plans between 2005–06 and 2010–11. Our ambition is that in the next full Parliament, subject to future spending decisions, 60 per cent. of all authorities will have started in the BSF programme, or else be given resources to renew at least one secondary school with the greatest need as a school for the future, or as an academy. Each BSF scheme will be judged on its merits, and is not necessarily contingent on school reorganisation. Other capital allocations to the council and its schools were announced on 30 November, and are set out in the following table:

Government reform to child protection laws cannot make schools 100 per cent safe, parents have been warned by Island MP Andrew Turner. Following scares on sex offenders teaching in schools, Education secretary Ruth Kelly has announced plans to tighten up the rules on registration with the Criminal Records Bureau.

Mr Turner said:

“I welcome Ruth Kelly’s action in the wake of recent evidence that around known 100 sex offenders are teaching in schools across the country. And I am of course very pleased to hear that there are none doing so on the Isle of Wight.

“But however much we tighten the rules, we should never believe that government action, either local or national, is a substitute for parents and headteachers exercising vigilance and good judgement. The official lists of sex offenders only record people who we know have been convicted or cautioned. We don’t have full records of all the 10,000 foreign teachers in the workforce. And even for those whose full records are available, including the 30,000 new teachers who are trained each year, no-one can say for sure that they are 100% safe. In addition, there may be sex offenders among other pupils, and I have tabled questions to the Education Secretary to ask what advice she gives on them.

“I don’t want to exaggerate the threat to children. While all sex offences are serious, some are more serious than others, and thankfully only a relatively small number even of sex offenders pose a threat to children.

“The best people to judge whether children are safe are the people who know them best – that is, their parents, teachers and local communities, and we on the Island are very fortunate to have strong and stable communities where people look out for each other and the population doesn’t turn over too rapidly.”

Ministers have agreed that the interests of low-income families must be taken into account in Government plans to offer patients a choice of five hospitals.

Questioned by Isle of Wight MP Andrew Turner, who asked

“How can there be choice for patients on the Isle of Wight if there is no money to help them get to hospitals on the mainland? It is choice for the rich, but not for the poor”, Health Minister Jane Kennedy MP said,

“The difficulties of transport from the Isle if Wight would need to be taken into account and we are still developing the detail of the commissioning proposal and how the model will work. Those issues will face his constituents on low incomes—I am pleased to hear the hon. Gentleman champion them—and their interests will need to be taken into account so that they can achieve a real and genuine choice of services.”

Mr Turner was taking part in a debate in which the Government came under fire for again redrawing the boundaries of health bodies, including Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities – but he had praise for one of the options available for the Island, when he said,

“I want to congratulate her on recognising the Isle of Wight’s need for a unified PCT and health service trust, covering acute, ambulance, mental health and community services.”

He added afterwards,

“I believe in giving credit where credit is due, and it does look as if this Government has taken our particular circumstances into account in agreeing to what is called a vertically-integrated health solution – that is, one body for the Island. How much more sensible than an ambulance trust and a commissioning body, run from the mainland with a

separate but rather small hospital trust on the Island.

“But I am concerned that they still haven’t recognized the cost of cross-Solent travel to any but those families on income support, and I am pleased that the Minister realises the costs of travel have to be designed in. I will keep pressing to make sure that she does so.”

END

Contact: Andrew Turner 01983 530808

Follows: Extract from House of Commons Hansard, 7th February 2006:

Mr. Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) (Con): I am particularly grateful to the Minister for giving way because However, I wish to follow the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody) by asking how can there be choice for patients on the Isle of Wight if there is no money to help them get to hospitals on the mainland. It is choice for the rich, but not for the poor.

Jane Kennedy (Minister of State for Health): That is an interesting point. The difficulties of transport from the Isle if Wight would need to be taken into account and we are still developing the detail of the commissioning proposal and how the model will work. Those issues will face his constituents on low incomes—I am pleased to hear the hon. Gentleman champion them—and their interests will need to be taken into account so that they can achieve a real and genuine choice of services.

Under practice-based commissioning, GPs and other primary care professionals—the clinicians in daily contact with patients—will be able to redesign services for their patients. All of this allows PCTs to concentrate on a more strategic role. The way we commission needs to be transformed if we are to deliver the next phase of reforms successfully. We need to make commissioning more professional and to learn from the best, and we need to encourage innovation. Above all, we need to make sure that patients have access to the right services in the right place at the right time.