Newspaper column 27 August 2020 - nature, exams and eating out

 

Following last week’s GCSE results, it was good to see the proportion of the highest GCSE grades awarded in England this year has jumped by 26%, following the decision to rely on with school-assessed grades to score the estimated marks.

While we are yet to see the breakdown on Cornwall’s results as of my writing this column, I hope they will see a similar trend.

As per my column in last week’s paper, if you have any concerns with marks given, please do contact me on the details below and I will do my best to assist.

In more good news for education last week, it was confirmed that Truro and Penwith College will be benefiting from £1,283,707 of Government funding as part of a national £200million boost for colleges to repair and refurbish buildings from September.

The cash boost forms part of a major £1.5bn investment that will transform colleges over the next 5 years. This initial investment is being fast-tracked so colleges can kick-start work this year and so students and staff will benefit a least a year earlier than originally planned.

This week sees the final days of the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, which has benefited dozens of restaurants and cafes across Truro and Falmouth, with discounted eating from Mondays to Wednesdays throughout August. I have heard many experiences of some of our excellent eateries being completely booked out through the past month on the days when the scheme has been running, and I am pleased this has both kick-started our hospitality economy while also giving people affordable meals after a time of difficulty.

Last week I was also pleased to see that Cornwall has been selected as one of five pilot areas nationally that will test how the recovery of England’s landscapes and wildlife can be driven locally.

Cornwall will receive a share of £1 million of funding to set up ‘Local Nature Recovery Strategies’ (LNRS) pilot studies to help map the most valuable sites and habitats for wildlife in their area and identify where nature can be restored. This could see the creation of wildflower habitat for pollinators, green spaces for people, or new woodlands and wetlands which are important for both healthy communities and in the fight against climate change.

With our vast array of different habitats Cornwall is a natural choice to be a pilot, and I look forward to seeing what Cornwall Council, along with local stakeholders can achieve with their share of this funding.

Finally, the latest figures released by the Office of National Statistics last week showed that the number of coronavirus cases confirmed in Cornwall has nearly halved in the last week of tests, dropping from 14 to 8, more evidence that we are winning the fight against COVID-19 and my thanks continue to go to all those involved in the frontline battle against this virus.

As ever, my team and I are here to help and if you need support with anything, please get in touch with me at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or on 01872 229698 or you can write to me by letter at Lemon Chapel, William Street, Truro, TR1 2ED.

 

 

Protect the Hen Harrier – Campaign Response

Thank you to the many constituents who have recently got in touch with me regarding the Hen Harrier campaign.  

All wild birds are protected by law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and there are strong penalties in place for offences committed against birds of prey and other wildlife. Anyone wishing to kill or take wild birds can only do so when operating under a licence. Wildlife licences are used for a range of essential purposes including to protect public health and safety, prevent damage to livestock and agriculture, and to allow important conservation work to take place in accordance with the law.  

In recent decades we have witnessed serious declines in the populations of herring gulls and lesser blackbacked gulls (declining by 60% and 48% respectively). These species were removed from general licences last year and an individual licensing system was introduced to ensure that lethal control is kept within a sustainable level in rural areas where the traditional colonies have experienced the most dramatic declines.  

To address concerns about killing birds of prey, the government and enforcement officers have identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority. The National Wildlife Crime Unit monitors and gathers intelligence on wildlife crime, including raptor persecution, and aids police forces in their investigations when required.  

Ministers have always been clear of the need to gradually phase out rotational burning of protected blanket bog to conserve these habitats. There has been good progress in promoting sustainable alternatives and there is legislation which is being looked at which could help achieve this. The England Peat Strategy will be published later this year which will detail further how we can protect, restore and reduce damage to our peatlands.  

The government is concerned about hen harrier populations, which is why it took the lead on the Hen Harrier Action Plan. The plan sets out what will be done to increase hen harrier populations in England and includes measures to stop illegal persecution. 

If you have any other concerns about any other issue, then please do not hesitate to contact me: 

cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk

Newspaper column 20 August 2020 - Results

Today students across Truro and Falmouth will be receiving their GCSE results, following AS and A-Level students getting theirs last Thursday. I wish all students the best of luck with their results in this particularly unusual and difficult year.

Back in March, the Government took the difficult decision, in light of the public health emergency, to cancel all GCSE, AS and A level exams due to take place in schools and colleges in England this summer.

Since exams were cancelled, Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, developed a process that provided a calculated grade for each student for each subject, which should have reflected their performance as fairly as possible. While no alternative system could be a perfect substitute for real exams, the over-riding objective of the system was to ensure that wherever possible students received qualifications this summer which have the same value as in any other year and which would enable them to move on successfully.

Since the AS and A Level results were published last week, I have been contacted by numbers of students from across Truro and Falmouth who were concerned with their grades following results day.

I fed back both the number and nature of these complaints to Government, along with colleagues, and am pleased to see they have listened and changed the process accordingly, and on Monday Ofqual announced that A-level and GCSE students in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by the system previously planned.

Students will now receive the higher of their teacher-assessed grade or their moderated grade.

As with many things this year, these are unprecedented times with huge decisions we never thought we would have to make, and it is only right that the Government should listen and be able to adapt its processes accordingly.

I will continue to work with colleagues locally and nationally to get the best outcome for local residents.

However given that this is a new system, there will always be some queries with the results, where the process gets it wrong. In these cases, there are several things you can do.

The National Careers Service runs an Exam Results Helpline for students who want advice on their next steps, including appeals and autumn exams. The helpline is free and will be open from 12-28 August from 8 am to 10 pm, 7 days a week on 0800 100 900.

In addition, student who have missed the grades for their university offer are advised to contact their university directly.

Universities have committed to be flexible and most are considering a wide variety of factors in addition to the grade awarded.

Of course students who have concerns with their grades are also more than welcome to get in touch with me direct and my team and I will do our best to support you through this process by signposting and getting in touch with the relevant departments.

Anyone with concerns about their grades or anything else, should please get in touch with me at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or on 01872 229698 or you can write to me by letter at Lemon Chapel, William Street, Truro, TR1 2ED.

Newspaper column 13 August 202 Funding, Speeding and Schools

 

I hope you all managed to enjoy some of the lovely weather we had over the weekend.

I spent time on Saturday walking a charity walk from Tresillian to Truro for Endometriosis UK – more on this next week when I finish totting up the donations, needless to say it was a fantastic walk in amazing conditions, thanks to everyone who donated and took part.

Last week, the big news for me was that two projects in our constituency were confirmed to be receiving a share of the £14 million the Government has made available for shovel ready projects in Cornwall.

The Hall for Cornwall is getting £1.5 million of this money, along with £2.9million going to the GEL lithium extraction plant at United Downs

The Government has made this funding available with the aim to give a much-needed boost to the economic recovery of local areas as they begin to recover from the impact of COVID-19. The funding is targeted at projects that can be completed within the next year and hopes that it will accelerate completion of these projects.

I also joined Perranarworthal Community Speed Watch and Cllr Peter Williams to see first-hand the issues with speeding on the A39 through the village.

There is no doubt this is a dangerous road and the speeding makes it worse. I am determined not to see another fatality on this stretch of road. It was clear from joining the volunteers that yhere is an issue with speeding and the data from the speed watch team proves it. The team believe average speed cameras would be the solution.

I will now work with Perranarworthal Community Speed Watch, Cllr Peter Williams, Cornwall Council and the police to find a solution to this issue.

At the end of last week I was also pleased to see that two schools in the Truro and Falmouth constituency will benefit from over £2 million in funding to improve school facilities.

Falmouth School and The Roseland Academy will receive funding to ensure they get the improvements to the school buildings that will greatly enhance the experience of their students. The two schools will receive a combined total of £2,372,694.

This is really brilliant news for two fantastic local schools. The last few months have been really difficult for teachers and students. This funding will hopefully give a welcome boost to these two schools creating the opportunity to upgrade their buildings to make them the best possible place for our children to learn.

Our focus is very much starting to turn to children getting back to school in September. We need to ensure that schools have the facilities and classrooms they need to support the high-quality education our children deserve.

 

This welcome funding will help ensure local children have the very best possible schools and education, enabling them to gain all the knowledge and skills they need for success.

Please continue to stay safe. If you need my assistance with anything, please get in touch at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or on 01872 229698 or you can write to me by letter at Lemon Chapel, William Street, Truro, TR1 2ED.