Stephen Twigg MP

I was pleased to have secured a debate in Parliament yesterday on the future of BSF programme in Liverpool. In our Constituency there are several schools possibly affected including De la Salle, Holly Lodge, St Edwards, St John Bosco, Sandfield Park special school and Clifford Holroyd School. During the debate I impressed upon the minister the absolute need for these scheduled improvements to go ahead and the massive disappointment this would cause across Liverpool if the Government decide to not press ahead with improvements or rebuilds that have previously been agreed.

I was delighted that there was such strong cross city support at the debate, I was supported strongly by the 4 other Labour MP's in the city as well as my colleague from Sefton Bill Esterson. I was delighted that the Minister for Schools Nick Gibb joined me
in congratulating West Derby Schools on their fantastic performance over recent years. I have no doubt that the minister is now fully aware of the
strength of feeling surrounding this issue and implored him to think seriously about the issues involved before any decision is undertaken.

During the course of the debate I managed to secure a promise from the Minster that Lord Hill (Education Minister) would meet with a delegation from Liverpool in the near future to hear first hand the great work schools in the constituency (and city wide) do and the potential impact of BSF funding not progressing as planned.

You can read the full debate in Hansard here :

http://tinyurl.com/Stephen-Twigg-Hansard-BSF

and you can also watch the debate via Parliament TV here :

http://tinyurl.com/Stephen-Twigg-BSF-Debate-TV

(you need to fast forward to a 1hr 58 mins to find the start of the debate)