Strike Action in Schools

Many people will have read in the news about the national strike over teachers' pay. There is a march taking place today in Oxford from the Town Hall to County Hall by members and supporters of the NUT. Some of our local primary schools are affected, so read this County Council link to check out your own situation.

We can only hope that this action will be resolved soon so that children and parents can get back to normal again.

Boost for Fitzwaryn

Excellent news for our local special school Fitzwaryn in Wantage who have received £2m for refurbishment. This is a long-awaited and much needed project which has been desperately overdue. Read the full story here.

Readers of my blog will recall my visit to the school at Christmas to see their wonderful production of 'Scrooge' and also the International award they received from the British Council. This is an outstanding school according to their latest OFSTED report and this boost to invest in their facilities is richly deserved. It was a real pleasure to attend the County Council's Cabinet today to support this decision which will benefit the children, parents, teachers and our community.

Praise must go to the efforts of the headteacher who has made such an huge impact on the development of the school. It was not so long ago that many of us feared for its future, but now the future is rosy with the prospect of more investment on the way, subject to the finances being available at the County Council.

No Easy Ride on the Buses

Many people have complained to me that since we have had 3 different bus operators running our local services to Oxford, Didcot, Abingdon and surrounding villages, there are problems with having to purchase separate bus tickets for separate journeys, and worse, not so easy to use season tickets. So after much thought, investigation and research, I put a motion to the County Council today in the hope that we may be able to introduce a multi-operator ticketing system which could enable passengers to travel within the area using a system which would enable them to use one ticket for their journeys.

Well, it sounds too easy doesn't it? One ticket in a plastic wallet is all it takes! Unfortunately, the Conservative administration at County Hall did not have the political will to promote this. They argued it was too difficult to do, or more likely they couldn't be bothered to give it a try. This is a party which promotes the motto "Can Do", however when it comes to public transport it is far easier to hop in the car and forget it.

What a pity that this opportunity has now been lost which could have enormously benefitted passengers who are using our local bus services, some of which are subsidised by the very Council which is not willing to promote it.

And this happened on the day that the government announced the Concessionary Bus Pass scheme for all those who are retired to travel free off-peak anywhere in the country. Look at Vale website here.

Lots of pensioners are now taking the opportunity to get out and about and we welcome this. Unfortunately, the government has not completely funded the scheme and some district councils are now suffering a shortfall in their budgets - but the good news is that we will keep lobbying to make things better.

Well it was April Fool's Day - but unfortunately this is no April Fool!