Exam Results

Getting exam results can be a nerve racking experience because, for many, the results they achieve at A level and GCSE can have an important bearing on where they go to university, and their future career paths.

In the last fortnight, we have seen some exceptional A Level and GCSE results from our local schools. Redruth School has had its best ever year for GCSE results, and a 98.5% pass rate at A Level. Camborne Science and International Academy achieved a 100% pass rate at A Level, as well as topping GCSE league tables in Cornwall. Hayle Community School and Pool Academy have both seen their GCSE results improve this year and they are all achieving more against a backdrop of a curriculum which is tougher and more rigorous than ever.

I am really proud of all of our schools, which are some of the best schools in Cornwall. They have each made tremendous progress in recent years. When I am visiting them, I always find that there is a sense of pride from students and teachers alike.

 Clearly, our secondary schools are going from strength to strength.  Earlier this year the Maths department at Pool Academy was short listed for a national teaching award for the success of their innovative work teaching Maths.  Hayle continues to do excellent work on modern languages; Camborne boasts impressive international exchanges and work on science and Redruth has a particularly strong sports department and as been on the way up over the last few years.  I am proud that our schools cooperate and learn from each other, whilst maintaining healthy but friendly competition.

I think it is important to create a culture of excellence in the education system where schools are constantly striving to achieve more for all children. You only get one education, so we must do all we can to make it a success. I wish all of our schools the very best for the 2016/17 academic year, and look forward to working with all of them to continue the success that we have seen this summer.

Software Cornwall

Over the last two or three years, we have seen growing momentum behind the embryonic computer software industry here in West Cornwall.  A recent national study identified Camborne and Redruth as one of the fastest growing computer software clusters in the country with huge growth in jobs and turnover. 

Companies like Headforwards Software from Pool which develops software solutions for the telecoms industry are growing exponentially.  In Redruth we have the Barncoose Gateway centre which hosts other home grown local success stories like Blue Fruit and Netbooster.  Earlier this week I visited SCSL at Tolvaddon which is another rapidly emerging company in this new industry.  It was founded by Dr Mark Sullivan, a former GP, who spotted the need for better data monitoring to assist doctors in managing the medication of patients in need anticoagulants to reduce their risk of stroke.  Over the last twenty years they have been developing sophisticated software for use by the NHS which makes them one of the world's cutting edge technology companies in their field.

Software Cornwall is a grouping that now has over sixty members both large and small and Mike Barritt, the Managing Director of SCSL, is heavily involved in organising the annual "Agile on the beach" convention which takes place at Falmouth next week and is now judged to be among the top three such events in the world. "Agile" is a new management concept which can be applied to many disciplines including even in financial management but is especially used in software development.  It is about removing rigid processes, targets and management plans and replacing them with something more flexible, holistic and iterative so that complex challenges can be overcome by natural adaptation.

 I have always said that I wanted to see new industries and higher paid jobs in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle. The ingredients of success are the right infrastructure, like Superfast broadband, and the raw talent of bright individuals who can make things happen.  Then you need critical mass so here is local resilience which we are now starting to get.  Previously, people had to choose between leaving Cornwall and taking a well-paid career up country, or taking the lifestyle choice to live in the most beautiful part of the country but accepting a lower salary.  Increasingly, the young people who have grown up in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle and who are receiving their exam results this week will not be forced to make that choice. 

Structural and Investment Fund Projects

I am pleased that the Chancellor has announced that the Treasury will ensure that all structural and investment fund projects signed before the Autumn Statement will be fully funded. Philip Hammond has also confirmed that agricultural funding will continue until at least 2020. Horizon research funding granted before leaving the EU will also be guaranteed by the Treasury after the UK leaves.  There will also be further announcements in the autumn statement about how the government intends to secure some continuity and consistency of the funding streams currently managed by the EU up until the point we actually leave.

This move will ensure stability and certainty in the run up to our exit from the EU. However, I believe that we now have a wonderful opportunity to design our own domestic policies to run regional policy, support businesses and sectors such as agriculture and science.

In terms of regional policy, in areas such as Cornwall, over the last couple of years the British government has operated a highly successful economic fund called the Local Growth Fund. This has funded the successful Devolution Deal for Cornwall and has had nothing to do with the EU. It is nationally funded, and is audited in a consistent and proportionate way by the National Audit Office. Following problems relating to procurement around EU funding and grants, Cornish businesses have increasingly questioned the risks of EU funding when they could instead benefit from a stable, national regeneration fund implemented property and consistently.

Research carried out in 2012 by the independent think tank Open Europe has shown that there are huge dead weight costs to sending money out to Brussels and then bringing it back again with lots of pointless bureaucracy and strings attached.  We now have a chance to do things differently and more effectively so that the money we spend really delivers jobs and growth.

For example, by expanding the existing Local Growth Fund, which would be properly managed by national government in conjunction with the Local Enterprise Partnership, we would be free to invest in projects that really deliver for Cornwall.

I am currently enjoying spending Summer Recess in the constituency. On 23^rd August, I will be holding a pop-up surgery at Asda, South Quay, Hayle, between 2pm and 4pm.

Man Engine

In recent days, it has been fantastic to watch the progress of the Man Engine's tour of the county. In July 2006, the Cornish Mining Landscape became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Man Engine, a 10-metre mechanical giant, celebrates the 10 year anniversary of our World Heritage Status and the successes and struggles of the people whose lives shaped the Cornish mining story.

I believe that this part of Cornwall must make the most of its amazing industrial heritage, and make the most of Cornwall’s World Heritage Status. Camborne, Redruth and Hayle together make up the heart of the county’s industrial heritage. There are also around 8 million people around the world who are part of the Cornish Diaspora, with ancestors who can be traced back to Cornwall. They took mining technology around the globe to places such as Australia, the United States, Mexico and South America. The growth of the internet has made it easier for people to trace their family history and there has been a surge of interest in such research.

A few years ago I organised a conference in Redruth that culminated in the decision to build the Cornwall Archive in Redruth. It has transformed the old derelict Redruth brewery site into a centre for holding the world’s largest collection of maps, photographs and manuscripts relating to Cornwall.

Cornwall has always been unique.  We have a strong identity and our own language and culture. Many of us consider ourselves Cornish before English and in recent years we have seen a renewed interest in learning the Cornish language. I have always believed that we should give more decision making powers to Cornwall, and this week I have had some encouraging meetings regarding the Devolution Deal.

I am enjoying taking the chance to spend time in the constituency over Summer Recess. On Monday, 15^th August, I will be holding an open surgery at Trenithick, Mount Hawke Residents Association Club between 10am and 11.30 am, followed by another open surgery at my office on Commercial Street, Camborne, between 2pm and 4pm.

Olympics 2016

Team GB look set to have a very successful Olympics in Rio. It seems only yesterday that we were preparing for the start of the London 2012 Olympics, in which Mo Farah made history by being the first British man to win gold in the Olympic 10,000 metres.

Cornish athletes have often played a huge part in the success of Team GB. In 2012, Ben Ainslie won his event for the fourth time and Helen Glover took Britain’s first gold of the Games. She will defend her title in Rio. I am also enormously proud that paratriathlete Melissa Reid, from Porthtowan, has been selected to participate in the 2016 Paralympics. I wish her the very best of luck.

The legacy from the London 2012 Olympics is often described as economic, encouraging trade, inward investment and tourism. However, I hope that the most important legacy is that a generation of young people has been inspired to take up sport thanks to the emergence of new role models from various backgrounds, all of whom are about achievement and excellence through hard work.

Locally, I am always very impressed by the efforts of students participating in the Cornwall Schools Games. This allows young people to take part in a huge variety of sports, and is a great way to raise the status of sport in our schools. I am a keen runner, and used to be a member of Cornwall Athletics Club. It is great to see that the club continues to thrive.

I recently watched part of the Cornwall BMX Racing Club Summer Racing Series. It was great to see so many participants, and I am hugely supportive of plans for new and improved facilities which are supported by both British Cycling and Sport England.

I am encouraged by the legacy of London 2012, and optimistic that Rio 2016 will ensure a continuation of this new era for British sport.

 

Summer Recess

Parliament has now dissolved for the summer recess. I am looking forward to taking the opportunity to spend more time in the constituency and catch up on some of the exciting projects in Cornwall. I am looking forward to meeting people around the constituency, and I have a packed and varied diary over the next few weeks.

Next week, I will be having a meeting to catch up on the Cornwall Devolution Deal. Cornwall has its own unique identity and being a peninsula at the end of the line, I have always said we should have more control over the way we configure key services.

Among the more unusual visits is one to Cornish Edible Insects at Carnkie. The company offers insect-based products for human consumption, and is a unique enterprise for the region. I am also looking forward to several “out and about” days in Mount Hawke, Portreath, Hayle and Constantine, where I meet as many local people and local groups as possible.

I will also be catching up with young people who are taking part in the National Citizenship Service (NCS). NCS aims to bring together young people from a range of backgrounds, helping to break down social barriers and develop self-confidence. I have met groups participating in NCS previously, and it has always been clear to me just how beneficial the scheme is. I was working for David Cameron when he first came up with the idea over a decade ago and it is good to see the scheme growing.

I will also be catching up with local companies including Rodda’s, and visiting the Kresen Kernow Archive Centre at Redruth.  I am very proud of what has been achieved at the Archive Centre. Redruth is the most international of Cornish towns. Of the 8 million strong world-wide Cornish Diaspora, around a quarter can trace their roots back to Redruth. We exported mining expertise around the globe from Australia and South Africa to California, South America and Mexico. Redruth Town Council has shown tremendous enthusiasm for the archive project and credit should also go to both existing and former local councillors for their support.

Government reshuffle

I am delighted that I have been re-appointed as Minster of State for Farming, Food and the Marine Environment at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. I said during the EU referendum campaign that I hoped to be the first Farming Minister in over 40 years with the power to design a new national agriculture policy starting from first principles, so I am delighted to be offered this opportunity.

 

We have an enormous task ahead of us. I do think it is important now to bring the country together, put the campaign behind us and all work together to implement the collective will of the nation.  I am pleased that a government has now been formed, giving us the certainty to move forwards and put in place new agriculture, fisheries and environment policies.

 

Rather than having lawyers coming in to my ministerial office to tell me that nothing can be done because of EU law, instead my office can now become a vibrant hub of discussion with farmers, fishermen, scientists, ecologists and volunteers talking about how we can try new things and do better for our agriculture, fisheries and environment.

 

I want us to put in place a very close partnership with the EU based on friendship and cooperation and I want the UK to be a generous and outward looking country that is a good global citizen.  I will strive in the months ahead to ensure that we get our approach right.

Development

When it comes to development around our towns I have always been clear that we should prioritise building on brown field sites over green field sites.  The industrial legacy that we have around Camborne, Redruth and Hayle means that we have a large number of heritage buildings but many of them are falling down.  If we spend the time and effort getting things right, we can save these buildings and the unique features that make them special while providing new homes and employment for families who grew up in the area.

There are always complications to developing brown field sites with the extra costs of thinking about unique designs as well as the costs of remediation and land decontamination.  To make things more complicated still, we are never far from a mine shaft in this part of the world and that can add to the cost in unexpected ways.  But the prize is worth the extra effort.  Consider how the old Holman's site around Camborne Train Station has been transformed or how Heartlands in Pool has really started to take shape. Consider the transformation of Hayle Harbour and the major changes taking shape at the old derelict Redruth Brewery with the new archive project.  We have made great progress but there is further to go.

In recent weeks I have had meetings with several of the key developers who own remaining difficult sites at Tuckingmill, South Crofty and the old Avers garage site.  I want to get things moving at Tuckingmill.  I have also met local planners to ensure that the latest version of the Cornwall Council local plan will retain a strong preference for brownfield development in the existing footprint of our urban area.   We need to keep up the momentum and focus on solutions to these difficult, derelict sites so we can make Camborne, Redruth and Hayle the place of choice to live and set up a business in Cornwall. 

Leadership

I have never known a more turbulent time in politics.  Scarcely a day goes by without another resignation of some sort.  We are in the eye of the storm.  However, it will settle down in time and clarity will eventually prevail.  By the time you read this article the first two rounds of the Conservative leadership contest will have been completed.

 

I wish that David Cameron hadn’t resigned.  He did not need to in my view.  It was quite possible for him to put together a negotiating team to manage the outcome of the EU referendum while staying on to provide some continuity and to help with relations with other EU countries.  However, he didn't want to carry on so now we must calmly choose a new leader.

I worked for David Cameron for almost three years including during his own campaign for the Conservative leadership. From the very beginning I could see that he had the judgement and temperament to become a really great Prime Minister.  It has been fascinating to see him catapulted from an unknown MP twelve years ago to become leader of the party and then leader of our country.  I have seen him grow at each stage and as each challenge presented itself.  No one is born to be Prime Minister and there is no special training.  You have to learn it from trial and error on the job.  You either have the aptitude to do it, and manage to overcome obstacles and become stronger after each and every setback or, rather like Gordon Brown, the job overwhelms you and you get gradually eroded by it.

While David Cameron will be disappointed at the way things have ended, I think that history will judge him well. He took the helm in desperate times and steered the country back to economic recovery. He was the only Prime Minister I can think of who had the temperament to make coalition government really work for a full five years.  I am very sad to see him go but it has been a real privilege to have worked with him.

EU Referendum

Our decision to leave the European Union last week was a big decision but the right decision for our country.  I am very proud of the courage shown by so many people in Cornwall.  They overcame the natural apprehension people often feel when facing really big decisions in life and they weighed up all the facts carefully.

Now that the campaign is over it is essential that we reconcile our country and bring people back together.  As we negotiate a new partnership with the EU it is essential we reassure voters and demonstrate to them that, while we have decided to re-establish democratic self-government in the UK, we will still be a generous, cooperative and outward looking nation. 

I think there is scope for widespread cooperation in a new partnership between the UK and the EU.  We can cooperate on the mutual recognition of technical standards to ensure that trade continues to work freely.  We can cooperate on measures to protect the environment.  We can support cooperation between our universities to promote science and technology and we can cooperate in the field of international security and fighting terrorism. 

However, in my view, there is one red line: we would no longer accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice which has undermined our democracy and which second guesses the decisions of elected governments.  We would no longer accept EU auditors coming here and overturning decisions we have made and arbitrarily fining the tax payer. We would no longer accept the European Court overturning ministerial decisions to deport dangerous criminals or terrorists and we would no longer abdicate responsibility for our trade policy to the EU.  The future will be based on willing cooperation not reluctant subjugation.

I believe that in a few years’ time, once a new partnership is concluded and we see the benefits of regaining control, the only question people will ask is why we didn't do it sooner.  As it turns out, membership of the EU was just a passing phase in our nation's long history.  Its time has come and gone.

Jo Cox

The appalling murder of the Labour MP Jo Cox has caused shock and revulsion throughout the country and the fact that over £600,000 was raised for her designated charities literally overnight shows how people have been moved by these tragic events.

There are lots of things that divide the different political parties but there is one thing that unites us all and that is a passionate belief in democracy.  One of the things that makes our democracy so special is the fact that local MPs are accessible.

Every MP holds regular surgeries in their constituency to try to help people with problems in their lives.  From people who have had their quality of life blighted by intractable planning disputes with their neighbours, through to those having difficulty getting sense out of the system to gain the care support they need for a disabled loved one.  From really difficult issues involving social services and child custody, right through to the most terrible of tragedies where constituents have lost children in road accidents or loved ones in hospital operations that went wrong.  Wherever you might have come from in life, the experience of being a constituency MP is a leveller.

Making sure that MPs are exposed to and empathise with all of these problems is what keeps the system on its toes.  MPs return to parliament and can table difficult questions to any Minister.  Ministers, in turn, know that local MPs can alert them to problems on the ground. Sometimes new problems are discovered and put right.  The way our system works enables a small injustice or failure locally to be translated all the way to the top.

That is why, despite discussion about the security around MPs, it is essential that things carry on as before and that MPs remain accessible.  Jo Cox was clearly a talented MP with a great future ahead of her. She had great experience of the charity sector and expertise in international development which she brought to the House of Commons and she earned respect across the House.  Her murder is a loss for parliament and a tragedy for her family, especially her two young children.  Our best answer to this senseless murder is to ensure that we carry on.

EU Referendum Campaign

We are in the final week of the EU referendum campaign and it will shortly be time to decide. Referendums can be really refreshing for our politics because they bring together coalitions of people from all parties who share the same view on a single issue. A referendum is the one time when the tables are turned and the people get to tell the politicians what to do.  It is not a time for big politicians like Obama or overpaid, self-appointed "experts" to dictate what should happen.  Although the national discussion has been fractious at times, I am detecting that the public are really engaged in the detail.  They recognise that leaving the EU is a big decision but one they should not duck or avoid. Here in Cornwall, it feels like there is a very solid majority for leaving the EU and taking back control.

If we vote to leave on 23rd June some things will change immediately. The very next day, it will become the official policy of the British Government to withdraw from the EU. The Prime Minister will accept the verdict and commit himself to delivering what the country wants and the entire civil service machine will become dedicated to delivering an orderly transition to independence.   Things that have been described as impossibilities during the campaign will suddenly be revealed as eminently doable after all.

Our European partners will want to build a close working partnership based on friendship and cooperation. It will be very easy to agree a Free Trade Agreement between the UK and EU.  Our starting point is that we are in the single market, and there is a high degree of equivalence and compatibility in our approaches to issues like product specification, food safety and labelling etc.  

There is no one in government today who has ever known anything other than being told what to do by the EU.  It's the only reason we have put up with it for so long.  If we decide to leave, we will stop sending £350 million a week to Brussels and end the supremacy of EU law. We will be able to deliver the change that is so desperately needed.

Royal Cornwall Show

This week is Royal Cornwall Show week and, like most of the shows, one issue is dominating discussion: the referendum.  I will be attending on Friday and taking part in several debates to explain why I believe that Cornish agriculture and the wider food industry in Cornwall will be better off if we vote to leave the EU on 23rd June.

The UK government will continue to give farmers and the environment as much support - or perhaps even more- as they get now. The Prime Minister has made this clear and I agree with him. After all, non-EU countries such as Switzerland and Norway actually give more support to their farmers than we do. In the scheme of things, the amount of money spent on our countryside and wildlife is very modest when compared with spending on other departments.  But we could spend our money more effectively if we had control.

We will also maintain a free trade agreement.  Last year, we exported £7.5 billion worth of food to the EU but we imported food worth £18 billion.  We have an annual trade deficit with the EU in food alone of £10 billion, meaning that EU member states need a free trade deal as much as or more than we do.

In Cornwall, companies like Lynher Dairies have created new markets with their highly acclaimed Cornish Yarg. Rodda’s Cream are creating new export markets, and Falfish have ensured that Cornwall is the market leader for many fish species. These great companies will continue to do well because they have strong brands and fantastic high quality products that the rest of the world wants to buy.

I have fond memories of the Royal Cornwall Show, and my family used to show our South Devon Cattle there. My brother and father will be there this year, showing the family’s rare breed Lop Eared Pigs. I am very much looking forward to it.

EU Referendum

Last week the referendum campaign got going properly with Boris Johnson kicking off a nationwide tour for the Leave campaign starting in Cornwall and with local volunteers delivering thousands of leaflets to get the message across the county.  These volunteers play an important role because the pro-EU campaign have benefited from over £9 million of tax payer funded support on a pro-EU leaflet.

I took a decision in February to join the Leave campaign because I didn't like the way our Prime Minister was sent back from Brussels empty handed after he tried to argue for the return of powers.  He got nothing.  So I think we should show them we are serious and act decisively to end the supremacy of EU law.  We should replace our membership with a different sort of partnership where we stop sending £350 million a week to Brussels and stop European Courts undermining our democracy.

None of the arguments put forward by the pro-EU campaign have been very persuasive.  In fact, as the volume of scare mongering propaganda has increased, the credibility of those arguing we should remain has gone down even further.  We have had all sorts of bankers and bureaucrats wheeled out to tell us how to vote.  These are usually the same sorts of people who said we should join the euro and have a track record in being wrong.  We have also had an American president ordering us to get to the back of the queue while other EU countries want us to stay because they need our money.

In my view, as a country, we should do what is right for us in this referendum and vote to leave.  We should not allow ourselves to be told what to do by other countries.  We will always have an international outlook, but this is one occasion when we should think about the UK.  Here in Cornwall, I am detecting a growing consensus that we would be better off if we were to leave, but nationally this contest is going to be very very close.  

PCC Elections

This time last week voters across the UK went to the polls for the local elections. In Cornwall we had the second election for Police and Crime Commissioner.  This is still a relatively new role and many people remain sceptical about it.  However, it should be remembered that this is not a new tier of administration within the police as some presume.  

It is simply a directly elected role to replace the old, unaccountable Police Authorities that existed before. So whatever people might think about the performance of Tony Hogg over the past three years, it is difficult to argue that having a more visible, elected role is not a step forward from the days of Police Authorities.

The election was much closer this time and the turnout much higher. The Labour Party also put more effort into the election than they did previously.  That’s good because important democratically elected roles like this only work when the political parties contest them vigorously. Political parties are not always popular because, in power, they have to take difficult choices.  However, without political parties, and the thousands of volunteers who give up their time to deliver leaflets, democracy simply does not work.  

I was very pleased to see Alison Hernandez elected our new PCC. She had actually gone for the role three years ago and was only very narrowly beaten by Tony Hogg.  What impresses me about her is that, in the intervening years, she has really developed a real understanding of what is required in the role. She has worked out the bits that Tony Hogg got right and what she would like to retain. This is crucial because any new PCC should build on their predecessor, retaining what is right and changing what is wrong. In particular she has some really good ideas on developing the "tri-service" model like what is currently used in Hayle. There are certainly challenges ahead, but I think Alison has what it takes to earn the respect of the police and to champion the great work they do.

Trevithick Day

We had fine weather and a great turnout at Trevithick Day last weekend, and although the Puffing Devil was absent from its place at the head of the parade it was fantastic to see so many people coming out to celebrate the life of Cornwall's greatest engineer and inventor of the steam locomotive.

Six years ago, when I was first elected to Parliament, I made Richard Trevithick the main focus of my maiden speech.  I found a wonderful statement from him saying that, although he had been criticised for trying new principles and was left in severe financial hardship as a result of his pioneering endeavours, he knew in his own heart that he had brought forward new ideas that would be of boundless value to his country.  For many years, Trevithick's achievements were not really recognised which makes it all the more important we celebrate them now.  

For me the achievements of Richard Trevithick epitomise the contribution made by Cornwall to the industrial revolution, and while Holmans and the mines may be gone, Camborne and Redruth still has many world leaders in specialist engineering. We have LDD, based in Tolvaddon, which works on offshore oil projects in countries as far flung as Argentina and Malaysia, while Severn Subsea in Redruth helps manufacture complex components for the oil and gas industry.  DP Engineering, also in Redruth, manufactures specialist components for the aerospace industry while Rigibore in Hayle produce highly specialised, computer guided drill bits for use in precision hydraulics manufacturing.

In some cases, the driving forces behind these companies trace their roots back to Holmans.  It is why the greatest legacy left by Holmans wasn't the buildings but the people they trained. I would like to see us build on our heritage and expertise in engineering.  We are seeing our local schools bring in a renewed focus on science and technology to prepare the next generation for a rewarding career in technology and, in recent years, the government has delivered a huge expansion in apprenticeships to help young people get a career.  

George in Japan

Last week I represented the UK at the G7 summit in Japan where we discussed how to address the challenge of feeding a growing world population while protecting the environment. 

Around the world countries are turning their attention to the challenge that demographic changes pose. The world population is currently projected to grow to about nine billion by 2050 and demand for food could increase by around fifty percent. The truth is we are going to need our farming and fishing industries like never before and we will need leaps forward in technology to deliver more food more sustainably.

In the UK we are leading the world in developing new technologies which mean we can make better use of things like satellite data to have more precise use of inputs like fertilisers.  We are also doing work to breed new proteins from peas that will enable us to reduce our reliance on imported soya beans for animal feeds and we are funding a range of breeding programmes to develop new varieties of crop that are drought tolerant so that developing countries will still be able to produce food even from land where water becomes scarce.

Fish protein will also be important.  We have made big strides over the last two decades in understanding the science of our oceans and in improving the sustainability of the fishing industry. There is also scope to do far more by way of aquaculture and the UK is funding work that would enable essential Omega 3 fish oils crucial to fish farms to be synthesised in crops grown in the soil. 

While in Tokyo I also did some trade promotion work to promote British food and drinks products.  It was great to see Cornish company Tregothnan out in Japan selling Cornish grown tea to the Japanese and other Asian markets. They had even been asked to be the judge in a competition to assess the quality of tea!  We have some amazing and unique food and drink producers in Cornwall who are increasingly finding an interest for their products overseas.

Schools Funding

One of my priorities is to try to correct some of the historic unfairness to Cornwall when it comes to various funding formulas.  In terms of education, per-pupil funding in Cornwall is £4,782 compared to a national average of £5,225. To put it another way, Cornwall Council is ranked 143rd out of 151 Local Authorities, placing our pupils amongst the most poorly funded in the country.  This has been the case for decades and I am pleased that the Government has committed to a complete overhaul of the existing funding system to try to put things right.

Under current arrangements, the Dedicated Schools Grant is based on information that is over ten years old. This means that the existing system does not take into account all that has occurred over the last ten years regarding demographic changes, thereby preventing funding from reaching those pupils that need it most. 

This outdated system is further compounded by the fact this funding does not go directly to schools, but rather to councils, who then use their own formula to distribute it locally. Different councils use different formula, and spend different amounts on factors like sparsity and attainment. This means we end up with a confused, inconsistent system where a secondary pupil with low attainment would attract over £2,200 of additional funding in Birmingham, compared with £36 in Darlington. 

Under the proposed formula, pupils will now attract the same basic level of funding regardless of where they live in the country. This basic per-pupil funding will then be augmented by additional factors such a deprivation ensuring that those pupils who require the most help will receive the support they deserve. 

Most importantly, by 2020, this funding will bypass councils entirely, and go directly from Government to schools, removing the need for councils to set local formula. This will provide head teachers with certainty about their budgets, and do away with the post code lottery which defines our current system.  There is further to go, but the commitment to overhaul the funding system offers Cornwall's schools an opportunity for the future.

Fishing and the EU

Last week I met with fisherman in Newlyn to discuss the future of the industry in the event of a vote to leave the EU. 

There are some things which we would definitely retain. We would still target sustainable fishing limits to ensure our fisheries remain profitable for the future, and we would still have as a quota system as it is the only system that works in a shared fishery with mobile species. In addition, we would still strive to challenge the wasteful practice of discarding dead fish back into the sea. 

However, free from the hindrance of the EU, the UK would be able to assert itself in the North Sea to deliver fair and sustainable fishing. There are two key reasons why we would be better off. 

Firstly, the North Sea is the most important fishery in the UK. However, fishing opportunities for stocks are decided by the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission, not the EU, which only has a seat at the table, alongside Norway, Iceland and even the Faroes. It is extraordinary that the UK, despite being the country with the greatest interest in the North Sea, is denied a seat at the table and we must put our faith in the hands of an EU negotiator, who more often than not, fails to deliver. 

The second reason for voting leave is important for fisherman in the West Country. Outside the EU we would re-establish national control for 200 nautical miles as provided for in international law. We would then be in a strong position to argue for a fairer share of quota allocations in many fish stocks. 

There has long been an historical injustice in quota allocations to the UK fleet. In 2015 the UK allocation of Cod was just 834 tonnes compared to 5,500 for France. For Plaice in the Channel is was 1,300 tonnes for the UK, but 2,600 for France. The list goes on. If we take control of our fishing grounds we will have the opportunity to revisit these issues and deliver a fairer share of fishing opportunities. 

Recess in the Constituency

The great thing about recess is that it allows MPs to get away from Parliament, and catch up with work in their constituencies.

On Tuesday I started off in Constantine where I met volunteers from the Helford River Association where we discussed the issue of boats being abandoned and left to decay. There is often a problem with boat owners avoiding mooring fees by simply tethering their boats to trees on the banks of private land and it can prove difficult to identify the owners.

Then I met volunteers involved in the conservation of the Helford passage and we discussed some of the issues of illegal netting in the river which could pose a threat to diving birds. The Helford has numerous different marine protection designations and it’s good to have such an enthusiastic volunteer network.

This was then followed by a visit to the Mawnan Smith Crafts Workshops, where I met the talented craftsmen based there, ranging from carpenters to jewellery makers and the local blacksmith.  

I also had two meetings last week with local farmers where we discussed a number of issues including TB and the Rural Payments Agency and some of the debate around the EU referendum.

Wednesday brought me back into Camborne, where the main event for that day was a two-hour drop in surgery which I held in my constituency office. Case work is the bread and butter of any MPs job, and it was a good opportunity for anyone to come in off the street and speak with me about any issue that might be troubling them.

On Thursday I had a meeting about the closure of Cardrew Health Centre, which gave me the chance to seek assurances about the new walk in service that will be opening at Barncoose Hospital. I also visited the new memory café at Cornwall College Camborne which is a great project that allows those suffering from memory loss and their carers to come together in a social setting and take part in a number of challenges such as quizzes.