Thank you for contacting me about the urgent need for our nation to prioritise the improvement of our education system. 

I absolutely share your passion for education and the importance a good education has on our children.  I believe it should be at the heart of our ambition for Britain, but I am concerned Ministers have no vision of what education is for and what growing up in our country should involve.

The reality is that the past few years have been a very challenging time for children across the country. Therefore, it is only right that they must be at the heart of our recovery from the pandemic.

It is essential we get this right or the damage we will see risks being profound. That is why I have long supported calls on the Government to prioritise children’s learning and development with a coordinated catch-up plan.

Therefore, I was very proud of the ambitious Children’s Recovery Plan that we set out at this year’s Labour Conference. This includes small group tutoring for all children who need it, breakfast clubs and extracurricular activities for every child, quality mental health support delivered by placing trained professionals within schools, ongoing training and development for teachers, and targeted investment for children who struggled most with lockdown. 

Furthermore, I have long supported the expansion of free school meals. It is an absolute disgrace that children are still left hungry in this country. We can do a lot better and the Government needs to be held to account for their failure to address this issue.  I am aware the National Food Strategy report recommended that eligibility for free school meals should be expanded. Therefore, I wrote to the Government to get answers for why the Government is failing children across the country, and to press them to ensure that free school meals are extended. Please visit my website to see a copy of the letter: https://www.louisehaigh.org.uk/policy/2021/10/11/endchildfoodpoverty/

We need a sustainable recovery for children’s education, but I do not believe Ministers have an ambitious plan to this end.

I also have serious concerns their flagship National Tutoring Programme (NTP) is not working. A report from the House of Commons Education Select Committee in May found there were “significant failures” in delivering the NTP, with catch-up support failing to reach the most disadvantaged pupils. The Government plans to gradually reduce subsidies for the programme meaning there is a real possibility that schools will struggle to deliver the tutoring, especially with rising energy bills and other day-to-day costs.

Children have already faced huge disruption from the pandemic, and I am concerned that increased costs of living are further squeezing budgets, which will deny children learning opportunities. The Government has announced that schools will benefit from a discount on gas and electricity for six months from October, but education unions have said this does not go far enough. I believe Ministers must work with schools to ensure rising energy bills do not lead to children missing out on more opportunities.

More widely, I support calls to end tax relief for private schools, which would raise £1.7 billion. I believe this should go towards improving education for children across the state sector with more teachers, professional development for school staff, and professional careers advice and work experience for all young people.