News from December 2011

Monday, 19 Dec 2011

Council Cuts £600,000 from Local Primary Schools to Give to Schools in North of Borough

I have discovered that the Council is taking way away over half a million pounds from primary schools in the south of the borough to be redistributed largely to schools in the north of the borough. Under a new formula proposed by Hillingdon Council primary schools in the south of Hillingdon will suffer a net loss of £600,000 over the next three years. The schools serving the most deprived pupils will lose out whilst this money will be redistributed largely to schools in the north of the borough, serving the wealthiest areas. Yet again it is the south of the borough that is losing out at the expense of the wealthiest areas in the north of Hillingdon. To remove funds from the schools and children that need them the most is disgraceful. £600,000 is a lot of money and represents a lot of teachers jobs. It is just unfair that time and time again under this council the resources of the south of the borough are being plundered to benefit the north. Local people feel justifiably that we are being robbed.

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Sunday, 11 Dec 2011

Pensions Dispute Debate In Parliament

Last week I intervened in the debate in the House of Commons on the Pensions Dispute. I urged the Government to let proper negotiations take place to settle this dispute and to stop provoking industrial action.

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Opening Laurel Lane Schoool Library

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Last week I had the honour of opening the new library at Laurel Lane School in West Drayton. The library has been developed by the pupils themselves with the help of a volunteer retired librarian and their teachers. The children have designed the layout of the library, chosen many of the books, catalogued them and made labels for the bookshelves. Some of the children have become the school’s librarians and are organising the library on behalf of the other pupils. This is a marvelous school. The children are as bright as buttons and the whole atmosphere of the school is so warm, happy and inviting. This is all down to the total dedication of an inspirational headteacher, a highly committed and professional team of staff, backed up by a hard working set of governors. They all deserve our admiration and thanks.

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Council Starts Attack on Lake Farm Country Park

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This week we discovered that Hillingdon Council had started test drilling on our local Lake Farm Country in preparation for building on this treasured green belt land. Hillingdon Council has given no notice of this work commencing and there has been no public consultation on the Council’s proposals for building a school covering over a third of the country park. Similarly no planning application has yet been published by the Council. There are a range of more suitable alternative sites for a new school but the Council has failed to consult on these options so far. Local Hayes Councillors and residents groups believe that what lies behind the Council’s plans is its aim to gain income from the sale of sites in the south of the borough for investment in the north of the borough. The Council’s intention seems to be to build on our country park and sell off the other available sites and use the capital receipts gained to pay for improvements in Ruislip and Uxbridge. I will be convening a further public meeting on this threat to our green belt early in the New Year to organise opposition to this attack on our open spaces. I fear that if the Council gets its way on building on this important part of our green belt no green belt site will be safe from development in our area.

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