Local MP backs legislation to put children first

MP backs landmark education legislation to save families in Bury North £500 a year

• MP backs landmark education legislation to save families in Bury North £500 a year
• Labour’s Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill passed Second Reading in Parliament, putting children’s interests at the heart of government policy
• Landmark reforms include measures to improve school standards, ease cost of living for parents and strengthen children’s safeguarding
• Bill to deliver on commitments to rollout free breakfast clubs in Bury North and cap number of branded uniform items

James Frith, MP for Bury North, has come out in support of a landmark children’s bill, designed to put children and their wellbeing at the centre of government policy, as it makes its way through Parliament.

The focus of Labour’s Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill is to make ‘child-centred government’ a reality through a series of reforms to deliver on the government's mission to break down the barriers to opportunity.

Central to the bill are a number of measures to cut the cost of sending children to school and make life easier for families in Bury North, notably including a cap on the number of branded school uniform items. It comes as research shows almost half of parents are concerned by the cost of uniform and over 1 in 10 experience financial hardship as a result. Estimates show the legislation could save parents over £50 per child on the back to school shop. Accompanied by Labour’s plan for free breakfast clubs in primary schools, to save families an estimated £450 per year per child, the bill contains measures that could keep a sizeable £500 in parents’ pockets.

In addition to steps to ease the burden on families, Labour have outlined a number of reforms to schools in order to drive high and rising standards. This includes putting more qualified, expert teachers at the front of classrooms and rolling out a new, cutting-edge national curriculum designed to ensure young people are ready for work and ready for life.

In response to a number of shocking cases of children being failed by a disjointed system over recent years, the Labour government has also brought forward a number of measures within the bill to protect children at risk of abuse and stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks.

James Frith, MP for Bury North, said:

““Every child matters. This is not just political guidance, but an ideal to live by and to come into politics for. I welcome the first steps that the Bill represents: steps towards a change in the security and fortunes of all young people in Bury and Britain.

“In Bury North we confront a grim reality: 42% of children in Bury North are living in absolute poverty. Poverty must no longer simply be glanced at by our politics.

“I strongly support the Bill’s first moves to ease the burdens faced by so many families, by cutting the cost of children going to school. Common sense on school uniforms will save parents more than £50 a child on the back-to-school shop.

“Free breakfast clubs for all primary school children will save hard-pressed parents up to £450 a year per child. Critically, that can help working parents to make their hours.”

“Measures in this bill will make a real difference to the household finances of families and the life chances of children across Bury North.”