Today Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne was at Hutton Hall in Birmingham to attend a Funders Conference.
We discussed the recent report that 1 in 3 of his constituents in Hodge Hill had no formal qualifications and how successful community groups were in helping people within communities become more employable.
The 'Martini' contract which has caused great consternation and distress amongst public sector workers in Birmingham was also mentioned but the MP was unaware of the name workers had given to the change in their conditions of service.
You can listen to the interview using the player below.
We discussed the recent report that 1 in 3 of his constituents in Hodge Hill had no formal qualifications and how successful community groups were in helping people within communities become more employable.
The 'Martini' contract which has caused great consternation and distress amongst public sector workers in Birmingham was also mentioned but the MP was unaware of the name workers had given to the change in their conditions of service.
You can listen to the interview using the player below.
Today saw mass protests around Birmingham, culminating in a rally in Victoria Square and a march around the city where public sector workers showed their objection to changes to contracts, redundancies and pension reforms.
Among those protesting, I spoke to Library Workers dismayed by the council's decision to categorise them as generic council workers who could be called upon to work in any council function and not in the work for which they had experience and training.
This contract change, nicknamed the 'Martini Contract' after the old Martini advertising slogan which read "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere", is of great concern to many of the workers I spoke to who also expressed dismay at the removal of overtime/weekend payments, revised hours which could include Sundays and it being against the terms of the contract to get a second job.
Phillipa Hands who is a library steward described how her pay had only increased £3,000 over 21 years which in real terms amounts to a pay cut.
Below are a series of audio interviews with protesters, recorded in Victoria Square.
Among those protesting, I spoke to Library Workers dismayed by the council's decision to categorise them as generic council workers who could be called upon to work in any council function and not in the work for which they had experience and training.
This contract change, nicknamed the 'Martini Contract' after the old Martini advertising slogan which read "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere", is of great concern to many of the workers I spoke to who also expressed dismay at the removal of overtime/weekend payments, revised hours which could include Sundays and it being against the terms of the contract to get a second job.
Phillipa Hands who is a library steward described how her pay had only increased £3,000 over 21 years which in real terms amounts to a pay cut.
Below are a series of audio interviews with protesters, recorded in Victoria Square.
A survey of 100 prospective university students for Birmingham Budget Cuts confirmed their anger, frustration and discontent at the government's handling of university education.
82% voted against a lifting of the cap on tuition fees, with 3 ‘unsure’ and 15 in agreement. Universities will be able to charge up to £9,000 per year from 2012 upon approval of the Office for Fair Access (Offa).
Second-year college students considering university entry in 2012 were asked if they believed that applicants would effectively shop around for the cheapest degree. 73% agreed and 27% disagreed.
Despite these high statistics, just over half – 51% – said this would deter them from studying for a degree. 43% voted ‘no’ and the remaining 6% were ‘unsure’.
Kirsty Juniper, a prospective journalist, said: “Universities will charge whatever the hell they like, regardless. It isn’t fair that Lincoln University will be charging as much as Cambridge.”
Ron Griffen, a political author, said: “Students don’t agree with higher fees but still want to study at university. In America, a graduate leaves university with debts of up to $100,000.
“We have to cut our deficit, and students aren’t immune. They have to make a contribution and you could say this is the government’s way of balancing responsibility. But then again, students didn’t cripple the economy, so should they be hit as a result of cutbacks? Yes and no.”
Undergraduates starting in 2012 will repay government loans once they are earning £21,000 or more. On comparison, students in Scotland pay no tuition fees.
A group of students from Phoenix Collegiate believe they are being forced to pay the price of the previous government’s recklessness and that a country’s deficit problem is being placed on their shoulders as they are seen as the vulnerable and ‘much easier targets than bankers’.
Concerns from prospective students come on the day it was announced that all universities are to charge at least £6,000, according to The Guardian.
Warwick and Aston have already declared they will be charging £9,000 with Wolverhampton, Stafford and Birmingham City expected to announce their decisions shortly.
In an FOI request to Professor David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of Birmingham University, he replied that from 2012/13 they are ‘planning to introduce enhanced financial support for students from lower income backgrounds and increase outreach activities to promote fair access’.
“In the face of Government funding cuts, from 2012/13 we intend to charge full-time UK and EU entrants to our undergraduate courses a fee of £9,000 per annum – subject to approval by the Offa.”
Information from The Daily Mail suggests students face a £50,000 bill for a three-year degree from next year due to increased fees and the rising cost of living.
“Government cuts mean we’re paying for a deficit we didn’t cause, and times are harder. Poorer students are being hit hardest, university budgets are being cut and it seems like the government doesn’t want anyone to study anymore. It’s an outrage, ” said student Becky Smith.
Raw data released by The Guardian shows that 13 Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects have been scrapped in Birmingham, with 8 unaffected in Labour constituencies.
Schools including Bartley Green and Baskerville – under Gisela Stuart MP’s Edgbaston constituency – and Aston Manor in Ladywood, have seen their funding for refurbishment stopped.
Statistics compiled paint a clearer picture of the situation in the Midlands following the criticism of the government in distributing incorrect figures to authorities. Verified by the construction magazine ‘Building’ the list of scrapped BSF projects confirm that 13 of 28 schools have had their plans for rebuilding work stopped, with the remainder currently in discussion or unaffected.
Figures show that Labour has been forced to stop the majority of projects and the Liberal Democrats the least – due, partially, to the formation of the Con-Lib coalition government where Labour terminated projects in around 418 constituencies across the country. This is compared to 258 for the Conservative Party and 43 for the Liberal Democrats.
Bryan Webb, a financial analyst and accountant, said: “These figures provide an inconclusive overview of BSF. You need to remember that the coalition government brought the hammer down on various constituencies, and it is only too easy to get confused with the fact that Labour probably had little control over these measures as apposed to making the changes directly.
“The total number of projects were 112 across Birmingham and the Midlands. Of the BSF projects stopped, 39 were Labour, 9 Conservative and 1 Lib Dem. As there’s more Labour constituencies it is obvious that they would bear the brunt of this. Most unaffected BSF projects also belong to a Labour constituency, so it is apparent that these factors need to be considered without bias.
“Without a breakdown of this data, it would have been difficult to tell how everything isn’t as bad as the media make out. If 50% of funding has stopped, and 50% is unaffected on a regional basis, when the decisions of the ‘in discussion’ academies are finalised, we won’t have such a balanced 50-50 share. One will go up, one will go down. Don’t confuse politics with financial distribution.”
A Google Map highlights how Wolverhampton is the least affected. Birmingham and Coventry are amongst the largest casualties. Shaun Henefer, a maths undergraduate, noticed a pattern emerge:
“What makes these statistics look more damaging than they actually are is the fact that you don’t see a visual representation of exactly how widespread the stoppages or unaffected decisions are – the larger the constituency groups, the greater leeway in enforcing cuts.
“Birmingham vs Dudley... it’s demographic, economical, mathematical decision making and perhaps with Wolverhampton remaining unaffected, a slight hint of political competency.”
Michael Gove announced the scrapping of the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme pioneered by the previous Labour government which has caused anger amongst school teachers, heads and teachers unions.
Paul Bradshaw, a senior lecturer and world expert in online journalism, said: “There’s a key point of context lacking; how many constituencies in the Midlands are Labour, Conservative or Lib Dem? If 70% of constituencies are Labour then 70% of cancelled programmes being in Labour constituencies isn’t surprising, for instance.”
According to the data, of the 112 constituencies in the West Midlands and Birmingham 85 were Labour, 25 Conservative and 2 Liberal Democrat.
The Birmingham Post and Guardian websites were used to verify the statistics.
Click here to view the Google Map
of BSF Projects Stopped in Birmingham and the Midlands
(in association with Geomaps.com)
BIRMINGHAM’S education watchdog committee has launched an inquiry into the impact of youth service cuts on teenagers in response to a huge petition signed by 15,600 youngsters.
Thousands of teenagers have pleaded for the city’s youth centres and services to be protected. It was the first time a petition large enough to trigger a special scrutiny committee hearing had been seen in Birmingham.
Read the entire story at the Birmingham Mail.
Today, I attended the Train to Teach event hosted by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) in Birmingham which is an annual gathering of potential recruits, second or final year students considering a postgraduate course in teaching, and people considering a change and the transition to the education sector.
Representatives, staff and admissions tutors were on hand to answer any questions, and the TDA provided a range of free materials and information including the established TDA Teacher Magazine as well as advice on making an application. Upon entering the Thinktank Science Museum in Birmingham, I was informed that there would be a number of talks on teacher training, submitting a successful application and the chance to meet people from several Midlands universities.
It was a successful couple of days, running from Friday to Saturday, based on the large numbers of people who had flocked to discover more about this profession. Teachers were on hand to provide information and advice about the first year of teacher training, and there was an overwhelming presence of the TDA trying its hardest to find candidates with degrees in science, mathematics, engineering or languages, apparently priority subjects according to several promotional sources.
I spoke with admissions tutors and representatives from the major Midlands and Birmingham universities, and asked the same question: “What is the current situation regarding teacher training and are you concerned about any cuts to the education sector? What’s been scrapped – and what remains?”
Surprisingly, the response was similar across the board – universities simply do not know, and the uncertainty for next year’s allocations of both funding and candidates remains a mystery. According to several sources, the government are yet to finalise the complete financial package for this year, although allocations for subjects – an increase in primary places and a decrease in secondary – has been revealed by Michael Gove in a letter addressed to the TDA from the Department for Education.
Students who wish to apply for a PGCE in Primary or Secondary Education for 2012 will need to check government websites on a regular basis. In addition, universities confirmed there was a national shortage of students with degrees in technical or mechanical subjects which is the reason as to why the government have scrapped bursaries for what they term ‘non-priority subjects’ such as English.
English was, several years ago, a ‘priority subject’ – but mathematics, science, languages and engineering have never been in such huge demand as now. A university admissions tutor, who wishes to remain anonymous for reasons of upholding professionalism due to the uncertainty of facts and figures, said:
Funding for 2011 has been released by the government, and students are eligible to receive a maintenance loan and a tuition fees loan to cover the cost of the course. For 2012 I’m not sure what the arrangements will be, and we have already seen a decrease in the number of secondary places allocated for this year – but there was an increase in the number of primary places available. The government are really pushing for students with degrees and backgrounds in languages, science, maths or engineering to apply, which are shortage subjects. I’m told next year’s tuition fees for PGCE courses could be anywhere between £6,000 and £9,000 which is why lots of people have tried to apply this year. I’m not sure what financial support will be available next year to students, but I would think the tuition fee loan and some kind of repayable maintenance loan will be available... but the question is, how much? The government have scrapped bursaries in most areas but they still provide huge £9,000 bursaries for the technical or ‘in-demand’ subjects. With cuts to teacher training and financial packages being rethought, the government seem to be very clear on what they aim to achieve… high-calibre teachers who receive incentives and the right kind of support based on whether you are a priority candidate or not... the government definitely know what they’re doing as you also need a minimum of a 2:2 degree to even enter the profession, under plans announced by Michael Gove.
I discovered from discussion with reliable sources from universities, current teachers and staff that the government could effectively merge the TDA with the Department for Education to create a single department. According to one source, this could potentially restructure education but save millions of pounds in the process – exactly what the government aims to do in such stretching circumstances as they try to reduce Britain’s enormous deficit inherited from the previous Labour leadership. The overall picture is that of uncertainty and frustration at universities being forced to wait for allocation numbers and details of financial support for teacher training.
There was a low turnout for a protest against the cuts that Birmingham City University will be facing. Only a handful of students, a few lecturers and some TUC members turned up for this protest at the Perry Barr campus. Flyers were handed out, petitions signed and points put across through a loudspeaker, but the protest will have to go down as a relative failure due to the lack of interest. The timing of the event didn't help, 12:30, when most students and lecturers were still in class, but most of the passing students we spoke to blamed a lack of knowledge and publicity.
The students that were there though did have strong opinions to express;
Karen, an English student at BCU, felt that the students and the university shouldn't have to pay for a crisis that they didn't cause. She said that the rising tuition fees and the cuts would not affect her but would affect her sister who would probably now be deterred from going to university. Karen also raised the point that the politicians implementing the fees and cuts enjoyed a free education when they attended University.
Nick Harte, Music and Technology student at BCU, helped organise the protest. He told us that the government was planning to cut funds to Birmingham City University by 80%. He said his course was already feeling the repercussion of cuts as he had seen a lecturer let go and no new equipment come in. He felt that the high fees would put off a lot of potential students and that the managers of the universities should make a stand against the politicians and refuse to accept the cuts. He also urged people to attend the TUC national demonstration which will be taking place in London on Saturday the 26th March.
Sociology and Politics student, Aiden had traveled from nearby Aston University to lend his support. He called the cuts across education and the council 'disgusting'. Aiden felt that £7 billion could be saved from bankers bonuses and £25 billion could be saved with a crackdown on corporate tax avoidance.
12:00 and the protest begins.
TUC representative Mr Richardson helps set up.
'Birmingham Against The Cuts' flyers are handed out.
Media and Communications student Kate James signs the petition.
Stop the cuts!
Further protests are planned:
The 'Birmingham Against The Cuts' rally Tuesday 1st March from 2pm outside Birmingham Council House, Victoria Square.
TUC National Demonstration. Saturday 26th March, London. Coaches available from Birmingham - contact 'Birmingham Against the Cuts' or your union for details of transport.
The first shows the initial grouping with speakers taking advantage of the 'open mic' offer. The second video shows the student occupation of the council building.
Staff from the Erdington office, along with those who used to work from Aston and Handsworth, have moved to other Connexions premises and there is an attempt to maintain a local presence following concerns the young people may find difficulty reaching Broad Street where the nearest office is based.
A demonstration on Thursday received a lot of support from politicians, union members, members of the local community and service users. Along with a photo album documenting the day on our Facebook page, you can also watch a report on what happened with comments from those who gave their support by watching the video below.
Erdington MP, Jack Dromey, described the Connexions service as "lifeline" for young people and that closing the office was "absolutely wrong", especially in the current economic climate.
UNISON steward, Wendy Connop said she was "really worried" about the closure, and expressed concerns about whether the young people would be able to access the service in Broad Street, as the financial implications of having to travel could make this difficult.
Ex-local teacher Heather Bryson has first hand experience of working with Connexions. She told Birmingham Budget Cuts that when she and her colleagues feared they might lose a student, they would turn to Connexions for help and support, describing it as a "lifeline" for young people. "It's not going to save the country any money in the long term because there's going to be more people on benefits" she told us, and described the closure as "upsetting and quite distressing".
Penny Holbrook, Labour Councillor for Stockland Green said the Connexions service was "vital to the future of the young people of Erdington" and that she feared the gap between the affluent and less well off would increase as young people who drop out of education or leave with few or no qualifications would have no-one to help and advise them. She also warned that the implication of closing local Connexions offices could be a "generation of kids ... thrown on the scrapheap". This view was shared by John Griffin, the UNISON convenor for Connexions in Birmingham who described the office closure as a "scandal" and claimed that the government could "properly fund an all ages career service".
As the shutters came down on the Erdington Connexions office for the last time, there was no doubt that the local community has lost a valuable service. We wait to see if the measures the local council have put in place will be as successful as they claim and we would welcome your thoughts either here or on our Facebook page.
Thousands of schoolchildren and sixth formers are expected to take part in a national walkout on Wednesday as student protests over fees, which saw more than 50,000 people march in London last week, are stepped up across the country.More than 16,000 young people have signed up to take part in the "day of action" and student leaders are predicting sit-ins, demonstrations and occupations in protest at plans to raise tuition fees and scrap the education maintenance allowance [EMA].
Read the full story in the Guardian here.
A campaign to reverse "devastating" cuts to school sports funding will be taken to Westminster later.
Headteachers and coaches from across England will take part in a seminar with MPs at the Houses of Parliament in an effort to save a key grassroots sports programme.
Read the full story here.
Guest Blogger Kat Higgs of Birmingham City Students' Union is disappointed with media coverage of demo2010.No Ifs, No Buts, NO EDUCATION CUTS!
The energy and excitement amongst the student protesters yesterday at the NUS/ UCU demo was overwhelming. Marching in a crowd of over 50,000 students all in unity was something you don’t experience every day! There were thousands of banners and placards all expressing disappointment, anger and betrayal and broken promises. The message was clear- students wanted to DO something about it and stand up for fairness and equal rights to education.
The march was enjoyable with 130 Birmingham City University students amongst 50,000 wanting their voice to be heard. Only a small minority of people attempted to ruin what was a peaceful demo with their shameful behaviour. Birmingham City Students’ Union heavily opposes an increase in tuition fees and education cuts but in no way supports the disgraceful actions of the minority yesterday.
I’m so proud of Birmingham City students for taking part in the biggest student march of a generation. I was looking forward to seeing the overwhelming number of students peacefully marching through the streets of London, standing up for future student generations shown all over the news. I came home to find headlines of ‘student yobs’ and videos of ‘riots’ what was just a minute part of such an otherwise magnificent day.
It’s a shame that the media have decided to focus on the actions of a minority, which included students and non-students, young and old and University staff and overlook the fact that over 50,000 students and academic staff took to the streets of London to stand up for what is an unfair step backwards in the UK education system, for a more sensationalist, negative approach.
As part of Birmingham City Students’ Union, I will continue to fight the rise in tuition fees and education cuts. It was their generation who caused this, so why should we pay for it?
Kat Higgs
Communications Officer | Birmingham City Students' Union
Follow me on twitter @BCUcomms
Proposals contained in the Browne Review into Higher Education Funding pave the way for fees to be hiked to £7,000 or more per year.
In a news release, the union says it fears a return to the "bad old days when the rich went to elite universities while others had to make do with a ‘bargain basement’ education at under-resourced institutions, if anything at all."
You can read the full media release here.
Concerns are prompted partly by fears that the increase in student fees will be offset by a dramatic cut in central government funding, to be confirmed in the Comprehensive Spending Review on October 20.
Read full article in Birmingham Post: http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-education-news/2010/10/15/universities-at-risk-over-increase-in-fees-warn-vice-chancellors-65233-27473216/#ixzz12bhPg7yt
Related Links:
Download the full report
Download a summary of the report
Browne Review website
BIS Press Notice
Related article:
Birmingham views on tuition fees report (BBC)