Recently. thirteen headteachers from Bristol’s schools wrote to the Government to express their concern over the effect of continued education funding shortfalls. They said that the cuts mean that they will be forced to introduce larger class sizes, lay-off teaching assistants and other support staff, cut down on school trips and free after-school activities, and […]
1.16 million households are on Social Housing waiting lists, but the Government have delayed their publication of a Social Housing green paper. With private rentals increasingly expensive this is urgently needed. Darren signed a letter calling on the Government to provide details of when this will be published. He was one of 35 strong, cross-party […]
Darren was present at the Science and Technology committee’s third evidence session for its Social media and screens-use inquiry. Here, charities, learned societies and academics were asked about cyber-bullying, addiction and body image. The first set of witnesses was Anna Clark, Cardinus Risk Management, Dr Vicky Goodyear, Lecturer in Pedagogy in Sport, Physical Activity and […]
The Government are reviewing children’s services for 16-17 year olds. Children’s services provide extra support to vulnerable children. However, they are only reviewing these services in relation to education outcomes. But we know outcomes are worse across employment and health outcomes as well. That’s why Darren wrote to the Government to ask they extend the […]
Darren has signed a letter calling for stronger powers for the Electoral Commission. Recently, the Electoral Commission investigated improper spending by the BeLeave campaign in the Brexit referendum, and found them to have done so. Darren signed a letter calling on changes to what the Electoral Commission does in order to prevent this happening again […]
Food insecurity is a widespread problem in the UK, with the Trussell Trust alone seeing a million people at its food banks a year. However, there are no statistics on exactly how many people are struggling for food for how long. To tackle the problem we need to know how widespread it is, so Darren […]
The Science and Technology Committee are currently holding an inquiry into energy drinks. They are looking at the effect of these drinks on health, particularly of young people and children. Darren asked a mixture of industry representatives and regulators about the advertisement of these drinks. He firstly asked about the effect of caffeine, which is […]
Deaf Children rely on public services to learn to communicate and support them at school. These services are already at breaking point, and are going to be cut by £4 million. Darren wrote to the Government minister responsible for these services to ask that he meet with the National Deaf Children’s Society to discuss the […]
Today, legislation went through parliament allowing the Conservative-controlled West of England Combined Authority to add a supplement to business rates which will go direct to the Authority. Darren questioned how accountability over spending of the rates would be guaranteed and what spending would take place.
