2018 January

It was a pleasure to meet the Honourable Speaker of the Kenyan Senate Kenneth Lusaka and a delegation of Members including Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and Senate Minority Leader Moses Wetangula in Parliament on Thursday 25 January 2018.

At Business Questions this week I asked for a statement on UCAS’s data which shows that the number of people applying to become teachers has fallen by a third in the past year, with 6,510 fewer applicants for teacher training in this academic year compared with 2015-16. I also asked for a statement from the Secretary of State for Education on why the number of teachers asking for financial support from the charity Education Support Partnership is up 40% on last year.

I attended the launch of the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy’s annual campaign ‘Great British Spring Clean’ in Parliament on 24 January 2018.

This Bill could help renters in 150,000 dangerously unfit properties in the West Midlands. It is concerning that 17% of all stock of rental homes in the West Midlands are considered unfit for human habitation. This figure rises to 26% when only looking at the private rented properties.

The Government tabled the following two motions on Tuesday 23 January 2018.