Nick Clegg: A Deal With Teachers (Guest Post)

For me, nothing better illustrates the Liberal Democrat mission to make Britain a fairer place than our Pupil Premium: extra money for the most disadvantaged children in our schools.

We are letting schools decide the best way to spend this money.  I want to strike a deal with our schools and teachers: we’ll give you the cash, the freedom, and we’ll reward and celebrate your success.  But in return, we want you to redouble your efforts to close the gap between your poorer pupils and everyone else.  We won’t be telling you what to do; but we will be watching what you achieve.

Click here To View Video

It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto.  And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.
 
Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.

The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

Lower Energy Bills And A Green Recovery In Cambridge And The East Of England

Thousands of households across Cambridge and the East of England are set to benefit from lower energy bills, new jobs and the basis of a green recovery.
Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, has announced a landmark deal with the major energy suppliers. From now on, energy suppliers will have to inform their customer if they are paying too much, and help move them on to a cheaper tariff.

In addition, over 3,300 homes in Cambridge have benefitted from home insulation, with plans for much more. From autumn this year the Government's Green Deal, headed by Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, will implement the most ambitious home insulation scheme the UK has ever seen.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat commitment to a green economy has paved the way for over £300 million of private sector investment in the East of England, with a further £30 million in the pipeline. Overall, this would create nearly 500 jobs in the green economy.

Julian Huppert, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Cambridge, said "rising energy prices and a boom in the number of tariffs have left people confused and paying more than they should. That is why Liberal Democrats have made the energy companies take responsibility and let people know how to knock the bills down.”

"As a Liberal Democrat, I know this is only the first step. Our reliance on dwindling supplies of oil and gas, mostly from volatile regions, is bad for consumers and bad for our energy security.”

"We are therefore absolutely wedded to a green recovery. We've fought hard to generate investment in a sustainable economy, so I'm delighted to see over £300 million of new investment in green industries in our region."

"These measures will help put our country on to a sustainable economic and environmental footing once and for all."


NOTES
The Green Deal - a Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment - will come into force across Britain later this year. It is the most ambitious home insulation scheme the UK has ever seen and eliminates the need to pay upfront for energy efficiency measures and instead ensures that the cost of the measures will be covered by savings on bills.

Currently, energy companies are obliged under the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) to help households in Great Britain reduce their use of electricity and gas to lower their carbon emissions. CERT will end when the Green Deal takes over.

Lib Dems Win National Accolades For Their Work In The City

Cllr Rosenstiel Accepts The Award From Nick Clegg MP

Cambridge Liberal Democrats have been recognised nationally with accolades for their contribution to the local economy and work in the city.

The group won the Local Government Association’s award for Outstanding Contribution to the Local Economy and was declared runner up in the Council Group of the Year award which it won last year.

Cambridge City Council Leader, Sian Reid said: “We are delighted to have won these awards. Our long-term attitude to our economy and growth is really paying off for us. This is not a reaction to the recession but a long standing and profound commitment to getting it right.”

The LGA awards come just weeks after Cambridge was revealed as the UK’s most successful city and well placed to drive the country’s economic recovery.

The Cities Outlook 2012 report by Centre for Cities showed how well Cambridge had fared during the economic downturn compared to other cities.

In making the awards, judges took this evidence into account and considered the city council’s work with the vulnerable.

Cambridge City Council Deputy Leader, Catherine Smart said: “Despite hard times, protecting and enhancing our services for the vulnerable has been our number one priority.

“Indeed in the midst of a large savings programme we are putting money into youth programmes, restorative justice, help for the homeless and street drinkers, investment in community centres and more. We have managed the council so we have the resources to put vulnerable people first.

“We are extremely proud of this and these awards are testament to the hard work that has gone into safeguarding these services and contributing to the city generally.”

Summer Schools Fund Promises Benefit For City's Poorest Pupils

Cambridge MP Julian Huppert

Cambridge head teachers are being urged by MP Julian Huppert to help their most disadvantaged pupils by taking advantage of the government’s £50 million Summer Schools Fund.

Applications for the fund, which was launched last September by Liberal Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, opened yesterday (Thursday, March 1).

It is designed to help disadvantaged pupils nationally, including more than 8,000 across Cambridgeshire, to make the transition from primary to secondary school.

Julian said: “I hope Cambridge head teachers will apply for this funding to run summer schools for disadvantaged youngsters across the city who will be moving on to secondary education this autumn.

“This money could help pupils by giving extra support in English and maths or provide wider activities such as music and sport or trips to theatres and museums.

“I am delighted that the coalition government has been able to target education funding in this way. It is clearly understood that youngsters from poorer backgrounds struggle at school. Some go on to secondary education with low literacy and numeracy skills.

“The Liberal Democrat-led Summer Schools Fund and the Pupil Premium will help to address some of these issues by giving disadvantaged young people the help they need and deserve to succeed.”  

Cambridge head teachers applying for the funding will be able to design and run their summer schools, targeting pupils who will benefit the most.

Vince Cable: Putting More Money Back In *Your* Pocket

As families face more of a squeeze, today Liberal Democrats are arguing for greater tax cuts for hard working people.

Between now and the Budget, Nick and Danny and I will be arguing for faster tax cuts, giving you a reward for hard work. And Nick will be setting out our case in a speech today.

Given the budget constraint we have to raise money for the tax cut elsewhere and have plans to raise an equivalent amount from the wealthiest taxpayers.

At the last election the Liberal Democrats promised to raise the personal allowance for ordinary taxpayers to £10,000. I am proud that the Coalition has committed to doing so over the course of this Parliament.

For millions of ordinary hard working people, that means paying £700 less in income tax each year. Low earners, mostly women will benefit from being lifted out of tax altogether.

But times are tough and quite simply, Liberal Democrats in Government want to help families who are currently being squeezed by moving more quickly.

Whether it’s targeting an extra £7bn from tax evaders and avoiders, taking an extra £2.5bn every year from the banks in a balance sheet tax, or the announcement I made on Monday to curb the excesses of executive pay, this Coalition is taking important steps to deliver a fairer economy.

And we have already made a big difference, click here to see how.

We are building a new economy, one that benefits the whole country, not just bankers in the City of London. Making the tax system fairer is crucial to that. This is a huge task that will make Britain a fairer and more liberal country for generations to come.

Yours,

Vince Cable MP

Member of Parliament for Twickenham and Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

Nick Clegg talks to Julian Huppert about Hacking

Over the past few weeks many members have been in contact about the latest allegations on phone hacking, so to help answer some of your questions I sat down with Julian Huppert MP, who has played a prominent role on the select committee, to talk about some of the issues being raised. 

You can view the video below;

Or on our YouTube channel here



The phone hacking scandal has uncovered a crisis that strikes at the heart of our democracy, calling into question our trust in the institutions and individuals tasked with protecting our freedom and enforcing the rule of law. 


Liberal Democrats have for more than a decade challenged the dominance of News International, with successive Parliamentarians raising the issue, from Paddy Ashdown in 1998 to Chris Huhne just before the General Election. We have time and again battled both the Conservatives and Labour to push for stronger laws on media plurality seeking to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of a few media moguls. 


It is vital that we now build on the select committee hearings and cast a greater spotlight on what was clearly a murky relationship between the press, police and indeed politics. That is why the Liberal Democrats have made sure the inquiry is Judge-led and has the power to summon witnesses to give evidence under oath and sits in public.


It is clear that much more detail will come to light, but I think we are now embarking on process of greater openness and greater accountability, finding out what really happened. 


If you have any comments or questions, you can email me on this subject at;


phonehackinginquiry@libdems.org.uk


With all best wishes,


Nick Clegg MP
Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Conference Speeches

Slightly more political post than usual ... but it is an election year ;-)

I'm sure you'll have seen Nick Clegg and Vince Cable's speeches mentioned in the papers but if you'd like to view them yourselves (and make up your own mind) then I've embedded the two videos from YouTube below. Enjoy.

Clegg at Conference

This is something of an experiment: a video on the blog.





I feel that Clegg's speach in Bournemouth has not been fully reported, the emphasis he placed on fair tax has been simplified to just tax cuts. See for yourself what Clegg said by viewing this video or going to view it on YouTube.

BBC's newsnight did an interesting piece on the reaction of floating voters to the three party leaders. It can be viewed online at the BBC Newsnight website.