Councillor Gains Party Conference Backing For Student Fight

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon has won support from Liberal Democrat conference delegates for her fight to get a fairer deal from the government for part-time students.

 

She teamed up with former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader, Baroness Sal Brinton to put a motion to the Birmingham conference to ensure part-time university students were not discriminated against under the new education loans scheme.

 

For the first time, part-time students are eligible for loans to pay for their education; but they have to start repaying those loans after three and a half years before they have completed their courses.

 

And the system for accepting repayments will not be in place until 2016 meaning that students who become eligible to pay in 2013 will have to wait three years and fear their loan may start accruing interest.

 

Cllr Brooks-Gordon and Baroness Brinton, who were both mature students at Cambridge’s Churchill College, are fighting to get changes to the Education Bill to address the issue.

 

“I am delighted that members and supporters gave their support to this fight,” said Councillor Brooks-Gordon, a Reader at Birbeck College, London.

 

“Under the government’s proposals, part-time students, many of whom are single parents or disabled, are being discriminated against. I want to make sure that all students are getting the best possible deal to allow them to accept places on higher education no matter what their circumstances. With the support from conference, we have taken a major step forward in getting this Bill changed.

 

“I took my degree as a single parent with two children and would not have had my career without my university education.”

 

Baroness Brinton said: “Part-time students make up almost half of all students. The Government’s higher education policy means that for the first time since fees were introduced, they won’t pay a penny up front.

 

“Without a doubt, this will encourage people who wouldn’t otherwise have been able to afford it, to come back to education.

 

“But we can still go further. Liberal Democrats supported calls to ensure both part-time and full-time students are eligible to begin repayments at the same time.

 

“This will ensure part-time students are treated fairly, create a level playing field and promote wider participation in our universities.”

Local Liberal Democrats @ Conference Videos

Your local Cambridge City Councillor was fully involved in the recent Liberal Democrat Conference, here are some Press clippings;

Cllr Neil McGovern On the new planning policy (from BBC Look East)

Responding to the leader's speech (from BBC Daily Politics)

Speech on IT policy (from BBC Parliament)

Fight To Give Part-Time Students A Fairer Deal Under Loans Scheme

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Belinda Brooks-Gordon is fighting for a fairer deal for part-time university students under the government’s education loans scheme as the government’s Education Bill is debated in the House of Lords today (Wednesday, September 14).

 

She has teamed up with Baroness Sal Brinton, former Cambridgeshire County Council Liberal Democrat leader to make sure part-time students are not discriminated under the scheme.

 

For the first time, part-time students are eligible for loans to pay for their education; but they have to start repaying those loans after three and a half years before they have completed their courses.

 

And the system for accepting repayments will not be in place until 2016 meaning that students who become eligible to pay in 2013 will have to wait three years and fear their loan may start accruing interest.

 

Cllr Brooks-Gordon and Baroness Brinton, who were both mature students at Cambridge’s Churchill College, are fighting to get changes to the Education Bill to address the issue.

 

“I am determined that part-time students, many of whom are single parents, mature students or disabled, should not be discriminated against in this way,” said Castle Ward Cllr Brooks-Gordon, a Reader at Birbeck College, London.

 

“I took my degree as a single parent with two children and would not have had an academic career without my university education. I am determined that students should get the best possible deal in these difficult times.”

North Area Committee – Thursday 22 Sept

The next North Area Committee will be held on Thursday 22nd September in the Large Hall at the Manor on Arbury Road.

As always, proceedings start at 6.30pm with the Planning Applications, of which there are 3:

11/0727/FUL Cambridge Guest House, 201 Milton Road
09/0731/FUL 107 Darwin Drive
11/0776/FUL Rear of 43-59 Elizabeth Way

Also starting at 6.30, there will be a Photograph Exhibition ‘Living in Horth Area’, and a City Council Customer Service Centre ‘Drop-in’ Session (until 7.30).

The main meeting starts at 7.30 (or following the conclusion of the Planning Applications), and will include the regular item on Policing and Safer Neighbourhoods. The full agenda is available here.

mySociety: New Website Launched >> FixMyTransport.com

After a lot of very hard work the mySociety team (the people behind other successful websites such as TheyWorkForYou, WhatDoTheyKnow, ElectionLeaflets, etc) have just launched a new website that aims to allow users to report problems with their journeys on public transport.

If you'd like to make use of the new service it can be found at;

www.FixMyTransport.com

E-Cops - Kings Hedges Community Action Day

The Kings Hedges Community Action Day is tomorrow, Saturday 17th September 2011 between 9.30am - 3.30pm.

Local churches are working together with the City Council & other agencies to offer help in the area. Housing Officers, City Rangers, Re-cycling Officers, Police & Fire Service will be attending.

Rubbish skips will be located on The Ship car-park (Northfield Avenue) during the morning & help can be provided to collect items of bulky rubbish from people's homes. It may also be possible to offer assistance with gardening or small odd-jobs.

There will be a 'Take it or Leave it' scheme for people to recycle and exchange their unwanted items.

From 12:30 there will be a family BBQ outside the North Arbury Chapel, plus lots more........

For further information please contact:-

Reverend David Maher on 01223 351844 or e-mail vicar@churchofthegoodshepherd.co.uk

Beverley Clissold on 01223 458403 or e-mail beverley.clissold@cambridge.gov.uk

Hope to see you there.

Your North Police Team

More Positive News from The Manor

The march of continual improvement at the Manor* is continuing (despite very turbulent times in Education in England) as this years results build on last years success.

This year for the first time over 60% of the Manors' Students achieved 5 higher grades wit almost 50% managing the same achievement including Maths and Science.

Given the significant areas of deprivation (some of the worst in the County) within King's Hedges and Arbury this is an impressive achievement.

The overall figures are;

• 5 higher grades  = 61.3% - 3% up on last year,
• 5 higher grades including Maths and Science = 48.4% - about the same as last year (0.2% change)
• 5 A* - G grades = 91%

The continual improvement is probably the best news. Being able to build on last years fantastic results is a real tribute to the hard work of Ben Slade (the Principle), the staff, the Governing Body and above all the students.

*- Just in case you aren't aware; I'm Chair of Governors at the Manor.

Cambridgeshire Boundary Commission Proposals Published

The Boundary commission has published it's proposed changes across Cambridgeshire in order to make MP's constituencies roughly balanced with somewhere between 72,810 and 80,473 electors. At the same time the number of constituencies (and therefore MP's) will be reduced to 600, in England this will mean a reduction from 533 to 502.

Here in Cambridge there is no change at all the only slight exception to this being that Queen Ediths will now sit in a slightly reconfigured South Cambridgeshire. Cambridge will not change in the slightest.

The brief, from Government, was for "minimal change" and that certainly seems to have been the guiding principle in Cambridge. In the rest of Cambridgeshire the changes are;

• two seats in Peterborough (North & South) will include wards of Huntingdonshire and Fenland
• Huntingdon takes in Chatteris
• A "new" seat is formed from St Neots (from Huntingdonshire) and a great chunk (roughly Gamlingay, Cambourne, Hardwick and Bar Hill) of South Cambridgeshire
• The remains of South Cambridgeshire District teams up with Queen Edith's
• The whole of East Cambridgeshire District joins with the 4 wards of Newmarket to become a cross-county seat with Suffolk
• March and Wisbech join Downham Market to form a cross-county seat with Norfolk

What effect these changes will have, if they go through - consultation is scheduled to start soon, I'll leave up to the papers to crunch the numbers and produce the interesting pictures. Given that all other seats in Cambridgeshire were Conservative and the one Liberal seat (Cambridge) is unchanged I predict the only significant piece being the changes to South Cambridgeshire and the new seat.

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers! (Meeting Tonight!)

The meeting for volunteers interested in being involved in next years Arbury Carnival is taking place at 7pm tonight at the Arbury Community Centre (on Campkin Road).

The more volunteers there are the more that the Committee will be able to do for the local community and the better the event will be.

Events like this only happen because of the small band of dedicated people working hard behind the scenes to make it happen; Could you be one of them?

Arbury Carnival 2012: Calling all Volunteers!

This years Arbury Carnival was one of the most successsful ever and if you'd like the opportunity to be involved in the 35th Anniversary event next year then now is your change.
The Arbury Carnival committee is holding a public meeting in a weeks time (Tuesday 13th September at 7pm) in the Arbury Community Centre on Campkin Road to start planning for the 2012 event.

If you would like to help out with this fantastic local event, either on the day or to plan the event, then please come along. The more the merrier!