WATCH: Education secretary says Corby families will see the help they need with cost of living

Lucy Powell’s comments were made following a roundtable meeting for headteachers in Corby and East Northamptonshire on Friday, September 4.

Speaking to this paper, the secretary of state said: “Teachers and families in Corby can really expect to see the help that they need with the cost of living, the cost of having children in the first place, but also, hopefully to see improvements in education, and a broader offer, more opportunity for young people to succeed in somewhere like Corby”.

Ms Powell visited Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Primary School for the event, which gave school leaders the opportunity to ask questions and discuss issues.

The education secretary, who said she was “thrilled” to be in Corby, was greeted by schoolchildren upon her arrival, who gifted her with a handmade card.

Some of the topics discussed during the meeting included SEND reforms and Ofsted.

The education secretary highlighted school funding, particularly around SEND and the support for the reforms that are being introduced, as one of the issues facing Corby.

She commented that “everyone recognises its a big challenge facing schools” and that everyone “is going to all have to work together” to make the “system more inclusive” and to “give schools the support they need” to help children with SEND.

Ms Powell stressed that Corby faces differences compared to other areas of the country.

She said: “There are different issues that face somewhere like Corby as opposed to the big cities sometimes, where there is perhaps more resource on hand, especially to support things like special education needs”.

Ms Powell highlighted measures launched by the Labour government last week to tackle back to school costs, including the cost of uniform, extending free school meals, bringing in free childcare and free breakfast clubs.

She encouraged readers to see if they qualify for the support, saying that the cost of bringing up children is something that is “well aware of”.

Luke Politano, inclusion manager at Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Primary School, attended the roundtable event.

He told the Northants Telegraph that, whilst no promises were made by Ms Powell, there was a “real willingness to listen” and that she gave the impression that she would be fighting for the education sector’s corner.

Mr Politano added that he feels positive to have a dialogue with the education secretary and hopes that the issues raised will lead to action being taken by the Government.

The education secretary said that headteachers will “absolutely” be able to see a difference in education.

“I think everyone recognises the thing needs change,” she said.

“Education has become too narrow, too much of a straitjacket for schools as well as for children.”

“Things do need to change but headteachers worry and teachers worry about what that change is going to be, so I want to work with them and work with the sector to really make the kind of change that will work, that will achieve better outcomes and will give young people that passport that education is supposed to be”.

Ms Powell was also asked about Channel 4 News footage broadcast last week, which appears to show Reform officials suggesting a way to avoid rules on foreign donations,

The secretary of state said that it was a "clear breach of electoral law".

Nigel Farage has described the secretly-recorded comments by senior aides as “loose pub talk”, “injudicious” and that his party has “done nothing wrong”.

You can see our full interview with Lucy Powell by watching the video on this page.