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Over 100 new Free Schools announced today

Bees are absolutely vital to British agriculture and ecosystems: more than three-quarters of all crops are pollinated by bees, an action FOTE values at nearly £2 billion. Unfortunately, bees are in decline.

Last week I attended an exhibition at the House of Commons on the appalling practice of modern-day slavery.

Two lives were tragically lost to Carbon Monoxide poisoning over the Easter weekend in Windermere.  The victims were a 36-year-old woman, a 10-year-old girl, and a man who has received treatment at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.  I send my deepest condolences to those who were affected by this tragedy.

My speech to the House in response to the Budget.

This week has been the 6^th annual National Apprenticeships Week celebrating the successes and positive impact of apprenticeships across the country.

Ending the Death Penalty in India

Michael Gove as Education Secretary has, it seems, been given a free rein by David Cameron and Nick Clegg to make merry.  Gove in response has decreed that it’s the best elements of the education of the past that will take education and our economy into the future.  I would ask – where’s the evidence?

Cancer Research UK has launched www.cellslider.net to help accelerate groundbreaking research.

A significant number of new mothers suffer from postnatal depression in the weeks and months that follow childbirth. These women deserve access to the highest quality treatment and support but in all too many cases this does not happen.

Barry Sheerman calls for a statue of Harold Wilson to stand in Parliament

For the UK to truly thrive, we need all of the regions to be humming with jobs and opportunities. We should simply sit back and let the focus of Government and policy-making drift back to London and the South East to the detriment of the rest of the country.

Does this Government really think that a railway, High Speed 2, that will only be completed in 20 years is adequate investment to breathe life back into our economy?

Barry sets out his views on same-sex marriage in the context of tomorrow's debate

Barry Sheerman's call to save one of Huddersfield's most historic buildings

Barry's view on the Castle Hill controversy, as seen in the Huddersfield Examiner

As climate change continues worldwide, energy bills are soaring in this country, so what better time to recall the huge efficiencies and other benefits of sustainable, green energy solutions?

Addressing high student turnover

The Chancellor is not unreasonable in wanting to ‘drive down the deficit’ – particularly  as there is an attractive logic to making a national budget sound like a household budget.  But the reality is more complicated.

New interest in this debate.

My views on reducing the voting age.

I believe that our manufacturing sector is vital if we are going to rebalance our economy geographically, away from an overreliance on London and the South East, and by sector, away from an overdependence on too few industries.

If you ask most social workers what they would wish for, it might be the ability to see into the future.

When a social worker begins working with a child and his or her family they are hoping against hope that the parent or parents will be able to take the necessary steps to prove that they are able to care for the child.

The education sector has long been plagued with trying to understand how best to assess and measure children and young people’s attainment.  How do we measure how much information this person knows?  How do we measure how effectively a school or college has made information available to young people through teaching?

In my role as Chair of the Education and Skills Select Committee, and as a long-standing parliamentarian, I have visited hundreds of schools and colleges and met, through that process, hundreds of extraordinarily dedicated and talented Headteachers, teachers, teaching assistants and governors.

There are, however, people who work in education who believe that schools are there to serve their needs primarily, and not those of the next generation of scientists, entrepreneurs, and indeed, teachers.

I recently tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) on children’s summer holiday reading and attended an excellent Storylab event managed by The Reading Agency and supported by Arts Council England.

In signing the EDM, parliamentary colleagues joined me in recognising that there is an inarguable link between literacy and reading skills developed in early childhood and people’s long-term life chances.

How will we ever forgive ourselves if we do nothing to help young people coming out of school, college, and university, to find a job?

Actor Patrick Stewart has unveiled a new weather station at the John Clare Centre in Helpston.

The station will provide educational and environmental learning facilities for local schools and the community.