OUR children are amongst the lowest funded for education in the country. As a concerned parent of three children who were all educated in local schools, this was the main reason I became involved in politics.

I have been campaigning for over 10 years to change this situation. The Liberal Democrat pupil premium has meant that Herefordshire schools have gained an extra £7.3 million to directly help the poorest children. Herefordshire has gained an above average increase in its education grant but we still have more to do. Herefordshire schools do a fantastic job despite a lack of resources and money.

Education in Herefordshire has problems that need to be recognised and solved. 48% of our children are already struggling by the age of 5. 17% are unable to read well before leaving primary school. We can change this by increasing investment in early-years support and continuing the fight to get Herefordshire’s children a fair share of government grant.

Liberal Democrats in government have helped by improving early-years funding and by giving 5- to 7-year-olds a free school meal. I have seen at my grandson’s school, the advantages to children’s concentration and learning. Parents have also benefited with the assurance that their children have had a healthy lunchtime meal.

We want to go further and increase the number of hours of free childcare from 15 to 20 hours per week.

The colleges in the county are recognised nationally and provide a high level of training. We should be building on their success and offer more skills-based subjects. We have a hospital and local companies that are having to recruit staff from abroad. We need to provide more training opportunities in Hereford-shire, so that local young people can train here and find jobs in our area.