Empowering young people, giving them schools capable of recognising and developing their unique talents and an economy that welcomes them whatever their pathway into our complex world of work … this is the mission that drove me to co-found two youth charities, get involved in improving local schools and ultimately brought me into politics.
Too often we get it wrong for young people and more often than not they don’t get a second chance.
At the comprehensive school I went to in the ’80s, I remember everything getting more and more sparse as time went on. Fewer books in the library, less equipment in the classroom and teachers forced to strike to draw attention to the challenges.
I left school in 1989, and when I returned age 25 to start over again I was taught in portacabins in the playground as the classrooms I’d previously been taught in were closed due to water coming through the ceiling when it rained. This was the state the 1980s Tory government allowed our education system to get into.
From 1997, every school in the UK was renovated or rebuilt. Did you know that in 1997 a third of schools still had outside toilets? None did by the time we left office.
Class sizes fell, teaching assistants were introduced so that classes were more productive and tailored to student abilities and every community got a SureStart so kids got the best start in life and were better prepared for school when the time came.
Outside of school, the charitable sector doubled in size and that included youth and community groups that ensured every kid had opportunities to be active and socially engaged.
I say all this because we always assume progress can’t be turned back, that a country like ours always moves forward. How wrong is that!
Since 2010 half our SureStart and Children’s Centres have gone, voluntary sector youth work funding has been cut by 70 per cent and per-pupil funding slashed. Capital funding to keep school buildings up to date and in good nick has all but disappeared.
Since becoming your MP, I have gone to war for young people. I never thought I’d ever see rain falling through a school roof again after my own experience but it happened again right here in Hove, so I stood up in the Commons and shamed the Secretary of State for Education until the money was delivered to get it sorted.
When David Cameron introduced legislation that would have scrapped every local authority school, I went on to the “bill committee” and fought tooth-and-nail until “universal academisation” was dropped.
And the second the funding cuts started to hit our local students I threw myself into the amazing local Save Our Schools campaign.
But more than fighting to stop the bad things happening, I’ve put my heart and soul into creating new and better experiences and opportunities for young people.
For my whole time as MP I’ve chaired the all-party group of MPs on further education and lifelong learning – holding government to account and helping design better policy.
Locally I worked with council to implement the employer skills taskforce which created 1,000 apprenticeships in 1,000 days.
