Council spending and education are two key issues for electorate

EDUCATION and council spending emerged as key issues at a Nottingham Post election hustings event on Wednesday.

Candidates competing for seats in the Wollaton East and Lenton Abbey ward answered questions from the 50-strong audience during the event at St Mary's Church Hall in Wollaton Hall Drive.

Labour candidates Sally Longford and Stuart Fox, Liberal Democrat candidates Tony Sutton and Dave Oldham, Conservative candidates James Spencer and Jane Upton, and UKIP candidates Andrew Taylor and Chris Sneap were asked for their views on the performance of schools.

Mr Sutton said Nottingham was making bigger improvements than anywhere else in the country but added: "We are still in the bottom 20 per cent in the league tables."

"People are not less intelligent but somehow they are not motivated. We need to look at how we can improve performance in our schools."

Mr Spencer also said performance needed to be improved.

He added: "Young people need to be ready for the workforce, because at the moment they're not."

Ms Longford said education in the last few years showed "a very strong movement in the right direction".

"But the cancellation of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) has not helped," she added.

"The scheme gave young people a huge encouragement to do well and cancelling it is disastrous."

Mr Taylor said he had taught in a school and observed the way both Labour and the Conservatives had "interfered with our education system".

Defending the Conservative Government, Mr Spencer said no one should pay to go to school but the EMA had been spent on things it should not have been.

Labour candidates clashed with other candidates over a Government directive to local authorities to publish details of all expenditure above �500.

The Labour-run city council is the only authority in the country to ignore it.

Mr Taylor said he was in favour of accountability and expenditure should be shown.

Mrs Upton agreed, saying the council should be accountable to people.

Mr Oldham echoed the view and asked: "Why does Nottingham have to lag behind?

"I believe everybody in Nottingham deserves to know where their money is going."

But Mr Fox said a list of expenditure would be "a 260-page document of nonsense" costing money which he would "much rather spend on front line services".

However, Mr Sutton said he had been told that the list had already been produced and added: "It's there, it's ready, it's just bloody-mindedness."

Other topics discussed were the workplace parking levy, the Alternative Voting system, and a recent decision to make landlords get planning permission from the city council if they want to turn their property into a shared house.

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503354/s/145cfc58/l/0L0Sthisisnottingham0O0Cnews0CCouncil0Espending0Eeducation0Ekey0Eissues0Eelectorate0Carticle0E347840A50Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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