Liberal Democrats announce commitment to scrapping tuition fees         

Many of us have been pressing for a while now for a clear policy to scrap tuition fees. It is welcome that the Liberal Democrat have now announced the party’s commitment to scrapping university tuition fees.  The party has revealed plans which gradually phase out the fees over the course of six years. The commitment means that the Lib Dems are still the only one of the three major parties promising free university education for all.  In contrast, Labour and the Conservatives refuse to address the issue of fees, leading to worries that they may rise.

University should not be elitist or only available to the wealthy. It should be open to all on ability only. Fees simply saddle young people with debt. Not all graduates go into high wage jobs and those that do will pay more tax over their working life.

However here in Bath we also want to see better regulation of housing for students and believe that Universities should be obliged to ensure that all first and final year students are housed in purpose built student accommodation.  The Government could help by taking the simple step of allowing councils such as B&NES to count student housing units in their housing targets.

Spent this morning at Hayesfield School this morning spending two sessions with groups of gilrs answering questions about being a Councillor, the role of the Council and politics in general.

There was a clear understanding about how they wanted society to move on but plenty of confusion as to what exactly a Council was responsible for and delivered. We do not deliver hospital and police services as some thought. They clearly wanted better housing provision and safer parks and better play areas.

The issue of safety in parks was a big concern especially a concern about the behaviour of older teenagers. (The groups we met were 12 and 13)

We also discussed the role of women in politics and the need to make being a Councillor both attractive and acheivable for young women to consider as a possibility. We also discussed the failure of MPs in leadership and their disgust at the behaviour of claiming for non-existant mortgages, flipping and the one that really got them annoyed was the Conservative MP Viggers and his claim for a duck island.

Well done to Hayesfield school for asking 6 Councillors in to meet with young students and talk about being a Councillor.