As a parent, I want to ensure that the world which we pass onto future generations is one in which they will be safe, happy, and healthy. I am on a mission to ensure that all children in Wolverhampton have a great start in life, with good schools, training opportunities, and personalised careers support. As part of this, I am working with leaders from across our city to create a brighter, better future for young people.
Supporting Families:
- Wolverhampton has access to a share of £301 funding to help 75 local authorities to deliver better early help and intervention for families across a range of services, including health visiting, mental health support, parenting courses, and infant feeding advice.
- Working parents could get up to £2,000 a year to pay for regulated childcare, including holiday clubs and out-of-school activities in the school holidays as part of the Tax-Free Childcare Offer. For every £8 deposited into an online account, families will receive an extra £2 in government top-up. It is available for children aged up to 11, or 17 if the child has a disability.
- Wolverhampton Council has been allocated £1.9 million to coordinate and provide free provision including healthy food and enriching activities in the school holidays in 2022. The Government is investing over £200 million in the Holiday Activities and Food Programme this year and has committed to do so every year for the next three years.
Improved Schools Funding:
- We are increasing primary school funding so every primary school will receive at least £4,362 per pupil, and every secondary school at least £5,669 per pupil. Schools in Wolverhampton will receive £295 million in funding this year. This represents a funding boost of £25 million from last year.
- Schools in the constituency have also been allocated more than £1 million in COVID-19 catch-up funds. This is part of our £5 billion education recovery plan, which includes £1.5 billion in national tutoring, £400 million for training and professional development, and £200 million for summer schools.
- We are repairing and upgrading the condition of school buildings across the country through our transformative ten-year rebuilding programme. In Wolverhampton, a new school will be built and a well-established one will be rebuilt so that it can offer enhanced facilities
Skills, Education and Training:
- I am thrilled that the Government has backed our ambitious plans to build a new, integrated City Learning Quarter with £20 million funding. Over a 10-year period, around 45,000 people would benefit from learning there. The project would also support 750 jobs and create around 7,500 apprenticeships.
- We are also increasing skills funding by 42 per cent in cash terms – meeting our National Skills Fund commitment. This includes more hours learning for 16-19, expanding T Levels, more traineeships, the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, upgrading our further education college estate, quadrupling the number of places on our skills bootcamps, and spending record sums on apprenticeships by the end of the Parliament. Find more details about employment support here.
Find out more about my work on this issue via the articles below:
