Since I last wrote about further education, the Prime Minister has taken the commendable step of launching a review into funding for post-18 education.
An examination of the current university tuition fee system is certainly needed but it is the Government’s stated intention to challenge the increasingly dated attitude towards technical qualifications that excites me the most.
Professional apprenticeships and advanced technical skilling are vital for engineering, technology, and trades that power the economy. We should be working on parity of esteem with undergraduate courses. Many of these seem to offer little challenge and dubious utility other than to the institutions providing them at £28,000 a pop.
I’ve been having a go at GWR about reliability on behalf of service users. South Western Railways customers have not been bending my ear quite so much recently but I am joining with other West Country MPs in writing to the Transport Secretary to demand a fair share of available cash for a shopping list of overdue infrastructure improvements. Better, modern rolling stock would help too.
A town the size of Westbury can’t be left indefinitely without a Post Office. I have written to Post Office HQ to urge action on this front and for a timetable. When I have an update I’ll post it on my website; andrewmurrison.co.uk.
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