Lobby of Westminster – UCU #lovefe Campaign: 16 June 2015
On the 26th February 2015 the Coalition Government announced that funding cuts in adult further education of 24% would be imposed during 2015-16. The University and College Union (UCU) estimates that these appalling cuts could lead to a loss of more than 400,000 college students in 2015/16 alone. The severe and sudden cut to the adult skills budget has put huge pressure on a number of colleges across England which has resulted in the proposed closure of several TUC centres and Branches will recall the carriage of Motion E7 at this year’s General Conference where reference was made to this issue during debate.
This LTB draws Branches attention to the UCU #lovefe campaign to save adult education from the proposed 24% cuts to the England lifelong learning budget and publicises the fact that UCU will be holding a lobby of parliament at Westminster on the afternoon of Tuesday 16 June 2015. Newly elected MPs will be asked to stop the cuts and commit to properly funded lifelong learning. In order to make the lobby as effective as possible, the UCU needs to know how many MPs they will be engaging with. CWU Branches may wish to participate and enter details as advised below to help the UCU gather the appropriate information.
Details of the lobby are:
• Assemble: 2pm, Parliament Square and then lobby and meeting with speakers between 3pm-5pm at Houses of Parliament.
To attend the lobby, please contact the UCU by navigating to http://fefunding.org.uk/attending-the-lobby/ and completing the online form. The UCU will be able to provide a template letter to contact MPs and book appointments for the lobby. Any questions relating to this can be directed to info@fefunding.org.uk
In the meantime Branches are urged to encourage members to sign and circulate the UCU led petition which states that:
“We note the decision of the government to cut the English adult further education budget for 2015/16, once funding for apprenticeships is excluded, by 24%. This enormous cut in funding will decimate further education provision, leave millions of the most vulnerable adults without access to any opportunity to improve their education or retrain and put thousands of FE jobs at risk. We call upon the government not to implement these cuts and to instead invest properly in lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
The online petition can be found at http://fefunding.org.uk/sign-the-petition/ any queries relating to this LTB should be forwarded to lwakeman@cwu.org in the first instance.
Best wishes,
TRISH LAVELLE
Head of Education and Training
On the 26th February 2015 the Coalition Government announced that funding cuts in adult further education of 24% would be imposed during 2015-16. The University and College Union (UCU) estimates that these appalling cuts could lead to a loss of more than 400,000 college students in 2015/16 alone. The severe and sudden cut to the adult skills budget has put huge pressure on a number of colleges across England which has resulted in the proposed closure of several TUC centres and Branches will recall the carriage of Motion E7 at this year’s General Conference where reference was made to this issue during debate.
This LTB draws Branches attention to the UCU #lovefe campaign to save adult education from the proposed 24% cuts to the England lifelong learning budget and publicises the fact that UCU will be holding a lobby of parliament at Westminster on the afternoon of Tuesday 16 June 2015. Newly elected MPs will be asked to stop the cuts and commit to properly funded lifelong learning. In order to make the lobby as effective as possible, the UCU needs to know how many MPs they will be engaging with. CWU Branches may wish to participate and enter details as advised below to help the UCU gather the appropriate information.
Details of the lobby are:
• Assemble: 2pm, Parliament Square and then lobby and meeting with speakers between 3pm-5pm at Houses of Parliament.
To attend the lobby, please contact the UCU by navigating to http://fefunding.org.uk/attending-the-lobby/ and completing the online form. The UCU will be able to provide a template letter to contact MPs and book appointments for the lobby. Any questions relating to this can be directed to info@fefunding.org.uk
In the meantime Branches are urged to encourage members to sign and circulate the UCU led petition which states that:
“We note the decision of the government to cut the English adult further education budget for 2015/16, once funding for apprenticeships is excluded, by 24%. This enormous cut in funding will decimate further education provision, leave millions of the most vulnerable adults without access to any opportunity to improve their education or retrain and put thousands of FE jobs at risk. We call upon the government not to implement these cuts and to instead invest properly in lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
The online petition can be found at http://fefunding.org.uk/sign-the-petition/ any queries relating to this LTB should be forwarded to lwakeman@cwu.org in the first instance.
Best wishes,
TRISH LAVELLE
Head of Education and Training
CWU Eastern No5 Branch 
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