Following pressure from local Liberal Democrats, local MP Stephen McPartland and concerned clinicians, the privately run Surgicentre, which provided planned surgery (like knee and hip replacements) and ophthalmology to local NHS patients, is now to be run by the E&N Herts NHS Trust.
A recent report to the Education and Skills Cabinet Panel on the Standards and Quality in Hertfordshire Schools shows that at Key Stages 2 and 4 children with free schools meals are achieving far lower results than their fellow pupils. The figures are damning. At key stage 2 , 24% fewer children with free school meals made the expected progress in English and Mathematics, 7% worse than the national average and significantly worse when compared with similar authorities. At Key stage 4 it's the same story. Only one third of pupils with free school meals achieved the expected progress from Key Stage 2 to 4, 11% worse than the national average. Last year Hertfordshire Schools received £16 million pounds of additional Pupil Premium funding specifically to improve the education of disadvantaged children.
Liberal Democrats in Government are delivering Fairer Tax.
News has just come in that the Herts County Council Executive Member with responsibility for highways has asked for an additional urgent item to be added to the agenda of the next Cabinet Meeting on Monday, 23rd April.
The New Barnfield Incinerator Inquiry, due to start on 10th September, has an evening 'community' session scheduled for Tuesday 22nd October.
The number of workers automatically enrolled into a workplace pension across the UK has now reached five million. This marks a milestone halfway point of policy roll-out which will see around 10 million automatically enrolled by 2018.