Karen Lumley MP joined many Members of Parliament at the launch of the Silver Star Diabetes Challenge at the Houses of Commons. At the special MPs testing event, held on Wednesday 19th October, Karen took the quick and simple Type 2 diabetes test to help raise awareness of the need for public testing for the disease.

Karen was also issued with a Silver Star Pedometer to measure the amount of steps taken during a Parliamentary Week as part of the 50 day challenge. The public can keep track of their MP on the Silver Star website and the winner of the 50 day challenge will be announced in February 2012. The key to preventing diabetes is physical activity and a healthy diet.

The NHS spends £1 million per hour on diabetes-related illnesses and it is estimated that more than one million people in the UK are unaware that they have the condition.

Karen said ‘The diabetes test was so easy. It only takes two minutes and can save lives. I hope my constituents will also take the test and I am looking forward to finding out the results of the pedometer challenge in February.

Special Guest Hari Dhillon, Dr. Michael Spence on BBC’s Holby City, joined in the effort to highlight the problem of diabetes worldwide.  He said, ‘The evening was a triumph and I was delighted to contribute to such a worthwhile cause’.

Silver Star, launched in January 2007, is a registered charity campaigning to raise diabetes awareness. The Charity runs Mobile Diabetes Units (MDU) that carry out important diabetes testing. They seek to promote culturally sensitive healthcare, with particular regard to the high prevalence of diabetes in the major towns and cities of Britain. The Units travel to local community centres, schools, work places and other organisations. The Chairman of the Trustees for Silver Star, Dr Modhwadia said ‘The diabetes test is so quick and simple. I am delighted that so many MPs decided to take the test and be part of the Challenge. It will help raise awareness of this largely unseen health condition”

Karen Lumley MP for Redditch County welcomes doubling of the pupil premium and hails plans for more!

Karen has given a warm welcome to the government’s announcement that the total amount paid out for the pupil premium will double next year, that there will be an immediate increase of £58 per pupil and that schools in Redditch have already received almost £1 million to target spending on more deprived pupils.

Karen, who has campaigned for many years for a fairer system of school funding, advocated a pupil premium before the general election and welcomed its inclusion in the Coalition agreement. She has spoken in Parliament to support it and to congratulate Ministers on finding extra money for it as well as extending the scheme to service families and looked after children.

Figures from the Department of Education show that 1958 pupils in Redditch are eligible for the full pupil premium and there are 13 service children eligible for the service child premium. Across the County there are 9,398 pupils eligible on the basis of deprivation, 67 service children and 352 looked after children who will benefit from a total £4,771,000 funding. England’s most disadvantaged pupils are set to benefit from an extra £58 each after the Department for Education announced this year’s Pupil Premium will increase to £488. Schools receive the extra cash for every child eligible for free school meals (FSMs). The money has been released because fewer-than-expected children have registered for FSMs this year.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said: “The Pupil Premium will benefit poorer pupils, providing extra money directly for those pupils who need it the most. We know that just 27 per cent of pupils on free school meals get five good GCSE grades compared with 54 per cent of non-free school meal pupils. This extra funding will help tackle this inequality and enable schools to provide the extra support they need to reach their full potential.”

News of the extra cash comes after Ministers recently announced that the total funding available for the Pupil Premium in 2012-13 will rise to £1.25bn, double the amount this year. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg also recently announced a new £50 million Pupil Premium summer school programme to help the most disadvantaged pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school. The scheme will help up to 100,000 pupils per year. They will benefit from two weeks of additional teaching through the scheme.

Karen said, “I am delighted to see from government figures published that schools in the Redditch area are receiving close to £1 million and across our county almost £5 million in pupil premium payments this year, that those payments are increasing as from this week and that next year’s payment will be even more substantial. As I have said before, for far too long Worcestershire schools have been poorly served by a complex and wrong headed funding formula, this cannot be allowed to continue. I am continuing to actively campaign to have that formula reformed but the impact of the pupil premium is a big positive step forward in addressing the balance. Even in such difficult economic times, and I’m sure many would agree, that it is essential that the government should invest everything it can afford in the future of young people and the pupil premium is an excellent way of making sure those most in need of help receive it.”

Redditch County MP Karen Lumley has added her name to a plea from the six MPs for Worcestershire for a fairer deal for the county’s schools.  The MPs have today sent in a detailed response to the government’s  consultation on a fairer funding formula for schools, putting the case for the government to deliver swiftly on its promise of a fairer system. The joint response from all six of Worcestershire’s MPs, drawn together by  Worcester MP Robin Walker, calls on the government to deliver its reforms without delay and to start their implementation as swiftly as possible.

The government’s consultation raises a number of detailed questions about the way a fairer funding formula should work, how academies, free schools and the pupil premium should be affected and asks respondents how  quickly it should be implemented and the extent of smoothing to make sure that no school sees too sudden a change to its budget.

Worcestershire County Council and the f40 group, which campaigns on behalf of the lower funded local authorities have also made their own responses to the consultation all pushing for swift implementation of reforms and a more activity based approach. Robin will be speaking at f40’s conference on the new funding formula next week.

The joint letter says:
We wish to reiterate our commitment to a fairer funding formula and put on the record our determination that it should be delivered as swiftly as possible.  We hope you will bear in mind that local authorities such as  Worcestershire have been underfunded for too long under the old formula and that year after year of using “spend plus” methodology has made that underfunding more entrenched.  As such we believe it is essential that this Government, which is so committed to fairness, move forward swiftly with the changes that will make the formula fairer and more transparent.

Karen Lumley commented, “This serious issue has been a problem for our area for far too long – I feel it is imperative to give the children in Worcestershire the best education possible.  The last government had the chance to do something about this and failed.  The new government is moving firmly in the right direction and I sincerely hope our representations will encourage ministers to do the right thing by Worcestershire.”