March 6, 2013 11.59 am
This story is over 111 months old
Your MP: Why the new tuition fees system is better
Access to education: Lincoln MP Karl McCartney argues the new student tuition fees system is a more progressive one and does more for those from poorer backgrounds.
I am determined that no-one with the ambition and ability, whatever their background, should come up against barriers to accessing higher education. That is why I am pleased the Government took the tough decision to base university funding on student fees and loans rather than simply face cuts which would have led to reduced student numbers.
Crucially, the new system is a more progressive one. Students will not face any upfront fees, graduates will only pay back their loans once they earn more than £21,000 and monthly repayments will be lower than under the old system. The new system will also do more for those from poorer backgrounds. Maintenance grants and loans will increase and the Government is introducing a new £150 million National Scholarship Programme and institutions will be held to account in fulfilling their outreach and retention obligations.
UCAS figures for the 2013 application cycle show a 3% increase year-on-year. Among 18-year olds, the application rate has risen by 1% to 34.8 per cent, the second highest on record. Importantly, the number of disadvantaged 18-year olds has risen to 19.5%, the highest on record.
Reforms put students at the heart of the higher education system. Institutions will be more accountable to learners and prospective students now have access to a Key Information Set. This includes comparable data on the learning experience, employment outcomes and student satisfaction at different courses and different institutions.
Our Higher Education institutions, such as the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University, are world class and under the new system universities will receive around 10% more resources in cash terms. However, while the excellent reputation of our universities reflects the top quality research output, the Government is now putting teaching in the spotlight as well. This is in the interests of students, universities and employers.
The Government will evaluate the new financing system, access to higher education and improvements to information to ensure the system delivers the best our students. In doing so, the Government has my whole-hearted support.
Karl McCartney was the Conservative Lincoln MP between 2010 and 2017. He is now the Conservative candidate for the city for the next general elections.
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A 38-year-old man from a North Lincolnshire village charged with murder will face an eight-day trial later this year.
Emergency services were called at 4.23am on Saturday, July 2 to reports that a man was seriously injured on South Parade in central Doncaster.
The 28-year-old victim was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.
A post-mortem examination found that he died of injuries to his head, chest and abdomen.
Formal identification of the victim is yet to take place, South Yorkshire Police said earlier this week.
Steven Ling, 38, of Park Drain, Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, has been charged with murder and was remanded in custody to appear at Doncaster Magistrates Court on Monday, July 4.
Ling later appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, July 5 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
No pleas were entered during the hearing, but an eight-day trial was set for November 28, 2022. Ling has now been remanded into custody until the next hearing.
The Lincolnite went on a ride-along with a Lincolnshire Police officer from the force’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU), which aims to disrupt criminals’ use of the roads and reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents.
The team will support the county response including local policing, neighbourhood policing and criminal investigation too.
Operations first began in Grantham in January this year and started in Louth earlier this week with a sergeant and nine PCs based in both locations.
The Lincolnite went out on a ride-along with PC Rich Precious from Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
PC Rich Precious has been a police officer for 22 years after joining the force in 2000 and he recently rejoined the Roads Policing Unit, working out of Louth.
PC Precious, who also previously worked as a family liaison officer for road deaths for 16 years, took The Lincolnite out in his police car to the A1 up to Colsteworth and then back to Grantham. He described that particular area as “one of the main arterial routes that goes through Lincolnshire”.
PC Rich Precious driving down the A1 up to Colsterworth. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Speaking about the new Roads Policing Unit, he said: “It’s intelligence led policing, it’s targeted policing in areas that have been underrepresented in terms of police presence, on the roads certainly, over a number of years.
“We’re hoping that the development of this unit will help address that balance, and look towards using the ANPR system to prevent criminals’ use of the road, and to identify key areas or routes where there’s a high percentage of people killed or seriously injured on the road, what we commonly refer to as KSI.
PC Precious is helping to keep the roads safer in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When asked if he thinks the new team will help reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents in the county, he added: “That’s what the the unit designed for. Sadly, in Lincolnshire our road network does seem to incur a number of those KSI accidents year on year, and we need to reduce that.
“I’ve worked additionally in my roles as a family liaison officer on road death for 16 years, so I’ve seen first hand the impact that road death has on families and victims families.
“I know it’s important that we try and reduce those because, it’s very sad to see how a fatal road traffic collision can affect a family and the victims of that family.”
Marc Gee, Inspector for Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Marc Gee, Inspector for the Roads Policing Unit, told The Lincolnite: “Every day there will be officers on duty from both teams and they’ll cover the whole county or the county’s roads.
“Eventually, we’ll have nine police cars and we’ve got six motorbikes. We’ll be utilising them with as many officers as we can every day basically to make our roads safer and enforce against the criminals who feel like it’s okay to come into the county and use our road for criminal purposes.”
Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones at the launch of the force’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
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