News from Sheffield Labour

Barnsley MPs demand an increase in the Learner Support Fund

In an Open letter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, Barnsley’s four Labour MPs Angela Smith, Dan Jarvis, Michael Dugher and John Healey have demanded the national £180m Learner Support Fund for colleges be increased substantially so that it can properly meet the needs of young students in the town and the rest of the country.

After positive comments made by a Minister to Penistone MP Angela Smith, the MPs want assurances that Barnsley College will be adequately funded to deliver its minimum offer to students at the college. At present this offer, which the college considers to be the minimum necessary, will cost the college £350,000 more than it envisages it will receive via the new Learner Support Fund.

In these circumstances the MPs find it difficult to accept that funds allocated by Government to the new Learner fund are adequate and therefore need raising substantially.

Commenting Penistone MP, Angela Smith said; “I was encouraged by the response I was given by John Hayes MP, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning to my recent question when he said ‘different colleges face different challenges and that is exactly the kind of flexibility the Learner Support Fund is designed to deal with’.

However, these words need backing up with hard cash and here the government is falling well short. Barnsley College’s offer is not extravagant by any degree yet it is still £350,000 over the level of resources allocated by this government. The government needs to up the offer, or it will be failing many young people trying to do the right thing by wanting to study.”

Michael Dugher MP commented by saying; “It is just not good enough that Barnsley College is still in the dark about how much it will be allocated from the new Learner Support Fund. The Government needs to act now and guarantee that the resources allocated to the fund will be sufficient to meet the essential needs of disadvantaged students.”

John Healey MP said: “Last year 3,600 students in Barnsley received the EMA. Local colleges say it has improved attendance, retention, achievement and success.

“With youth unemployment the highest it’s been for 20 years the government should be increasing support for young people, not making it harder for them.”

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