A Record of Action….A Promise of More!

• • Liberal Democrats in Cornwall have consistently campaigned for, and delivered, greater investment in children’s education – over the years greatly raising the proportion of county funds going to schools. Since 2005 Liberal Democrat led Cornwall County Council has won £20 million for refurbishing or rebuilding Cornish schools.
  • Now 58% of primary schools in Cornwall score a ‘good’ rating on their Ofsted inspection – compared to 48% across the region and 50% nationally. Not one school in Cornwall is failing.
  • Our Primary School Strategy for Change was commended for its excellence by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families – winning Cornwall an extra £18.5 million for refurbishment of primary schools.
  • Since 2005 we have already delivered one new secondary school – the first in 30 years – and a second is on the way, as well as refurbishing and improving many more. These represent an investment in our children’s education of £40 million.
  • The percentage of students leaving school with at least 5 GCSEs at grades A* to C was 61.2% in 2008 – up from 55.7% in 2005.
  • We have helped deliver the Combined Universities for Cornwall Campus at Tremough, and are working to see this transformed into a fully fledged university over time.

   

  The Lib Dem Guarantee

  • We will, where a village school is at risk through pupil numbers falling to a single class, prioritise ways to keep it open so long as it can meet children's educational needs - including supporting new affordable local needs housing for families in the community, using surplus space in the school for other community facilities, and federation with other local schools to provide support.
  • We will invest at least £9.5 million a year improving schools, and support schools becoming ‘village hubs’ to keep them open and to re-open facilities like community post offices and shops where that is viable.
  • We will build more schools. Our Primary School Strategy for Change will include £25 million of investment in rebuilding Camelford Primary School, and Torpoint Primary School, building a new school at Carclaze, and refurbishing existing buildings across Cornwall.
  • We will work with EU convergence funding and the Regional Development Agency to invest in training for skills for 16 – 18 year olds, and developing the Combined Universities for Cornwall towards a fully independent Cornish University.
  • We will campaign for rapid Government changes to bring Cornwall’s share of national schools funding up to at least the national average.

  Compare the difference!

  • In contrast, successive Conservative and Labour Governments have given Cornish children a raw deal, allowing Cornish school far less funding per pupil than the national average.
  • Locally, prior to Lib Dem influence at County Hall, Conservative and Independent Councillors combined to squeeze school funding well below national average, leaving Cornwall with decaying schools, outside loos, large class sizes and poor books and equipment long after other parts of the Country had modernised.
  • Nationally, the Conservative Government by 1997 allowed Cornish schools over £100 less per child than the national average. That amounted to more than £100,000 less every year for a typical secondary school in Cornwall.
  • Under Labour, the shortfall has grown to £490 less per child today– so a typical Cornish secondary school now misses out on nearly half a million pounds every year compared to the national average.