Parliamentary group puts dyslexia on schools agenda

CHANGES to the school curriculum across the country could be triggered by a new all-party Parliamentary group on dyslexia which has been group started by West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger (pictured).
Around 200 members of the House of Commons and the Lords have now signed up to the Dyslexia Parliamentary Group.
The group has already won the attention of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, Lord Andrew Adonis, who wants to be kept informed of its progress.
Mr Liddell-Grainger, who is dyslexic, was told it was the first time anybody had started such a group in Parliament.
He said: “It is also one of the biggest groups in the House and, as well as MPs and peers, the various dyslexia groups in the UK are signing up to it.
“One thing that is already clear and which we have found absolutely horrifying is the attitude of so many local education authorities towards children with dyslexia.
“The way they work and operate is just not good enough.
“Taking the country as a whole, there are hundreds of cases of young people with educational problems like dyslexia that are just not being addressed.
“As chairman of the Parliamentary Dyslexia Group, I am determined to make it better.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger said Lord Adonis had been ‘immensely supportive’ and had agreed to address the group.
He said: “Not only that, but he would like us to look at the way the country is working in providing special educational needs for children.
“So, the group wants to come up with a strategy that can be adopted into the curriculum by schools throughout the UK.”
Photo submitted.

Quaywest radio lining up awards night for favourite local businesses

VOTING closes on Friday, June 15, in the first-ever Quaywest radio ‘Business Awards’ competition.
As The Crier went to press, more than 1,000 votes had already been cast by Quaywest listeners for the 27 businesses which have entered the awards.
The awards will be announced at a celebrity presentation evening in Minehead Football Club on Friday, June 22, when local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger will also be attending.
A charity auction will be held as well, with the proceeds being shared by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Devon and Somerset Air Ambulance, and the Somerset Fire Service benevolent fund.
The evening will be compered by Quaywest presenter Drew Haddon.
Anybody who takes part by voting for their favourite local business could also win a murder mystery evening with the West Somerset Railway, as they will be entered into a draw.
And those who attend the presentation evening can win a meal for two in Reeves restaurant, in Watchet, by dropping their business card into a box on the night.
The business with the most votes from West Somerset will win a 30-inch plasma screen Panasonic television, a month’s free advertising with Quaywest, and a year’s advertising on the boarding around Minehead’s football pitch.
People can vote online by using a form to be found on Quaywest’s website, http://www.quaywestfm.net/ or with voting slips available in a number of retail shops in Minehead, Watchet, Williton, and Porlock.
The businesses which have entered the awards, together with their voting number, are: 1 Aquasplash Leisure Centre, 2 Webberbus, 3 The Lighting Company, 4 Minehead Computer Services, 5 Stuart Lowen quality butcher, 6 Natalie Poat travel counsellor, 7 Ekos Kitchens, 8 Dunkery Beacon Hotel, 9 Penny Pine Ltd, 10 Glenmore Café, 11 Blondies, 12 Chives delicatessen, 13 Alan Harman Car Sales, 14 Morris Carpets and Beds, 15 Minehead Glass, 16 Babys First, 17 Corner House Stores, 18 Willows Café and Gifts, 19 Friday Print, 20 West Somerset Motors, 21 Trenz, 22 The Shoe Centre, 23 Chapel Roofing and Building Services Ltd, 24 Cream, 25 Blue Anchor Bay Garage, 26 Cornerstone Projects, 27 Antlers Pet Supplies.
As well as being an awards presentation, the evening also promises to be a huge networking event for local businesses.
Quaywest sales executive Gerry Baxter told The Crier: “We are having the awards as a way of getting businesses together and everybody having a great evening as well.
“Yes, the businesses who have entered want to win, but they are also looking forward to the evening itself as a fun networking opportunity.
“As Drew Haddon puts it, it is about ‘keeping your lolly local’ and supporting the businesses we have here in the Quaywest catchment area.
“When we started the awards we had hoped to have about a dozen entries, but to get 27 involved in the first year is tremendous.
“Everywhere we go, people are talking about it, and we regularly mention it on the radio, so people can keep listening to 102.4 and 100.8 fm Quaywest Radio for more information.”

MP demands debate on threat to close West Somerset sub-Post Offices

A PARLIAMENTARY debate to try to save some of West Somerset’s sub-Post Offices from being closed by the Government is being demanded by the district’s MP, Ian Liddell-Grainger.
Mr Liddell-Grainger is leading cross-Party calls for the debate after failing to obtain a list from the Government of local sub-Post Offices which could be doomed under plans to close 2,500 in the next 18 months.
He said: “I do not know whether the Government does not have a list, because the Post Office is drawing it up, or if it does have one but will not release it.
“Either way, MPs across the political divide are saying it is scandalous – we want to know where the losses will be.
“Any loss of rural Post Offices is absolutely unacceptable, so I have asked for a debate.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger said the issue had been debated in the Chamber but not in the Westminster Hall ‘where we have a better chance of bending the Minister’s ear’.
He said: “It is an unfolding disaster that started when the Government refused to allow Post Office to sell its facilities as first choice – they come after banks and building societies.
“Margaret Beckett promised there would be ongoing funding for rural Post Offices until after 2010. That promise been broken.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger is now writing to postmasters and postmistresses in the constituency ‘to keep them up to speed’ with the issue.
Our photograph above is for illustration purposes only and does not imply any direct threat of closure to the sub-Post Office concerned. Photo submitted.

MP presses Minister for better school transport and special needs education

WEST Somerset mp Ian Liddell-Grainger is pressing the Schools Minister, Lord Andrew Adonis, to improve school transport in the district and also the provision of special needs education.
Mr Liddell-Grainger was meeting the Minister for face-to-face talks on the issues on Wednesday, May 9.
It was Mr Liddell-Grainger’s second meeting with the Minister (pictured, top) to discuss education issues in the constituency.
Mr Liddell-Grainger said the meeting was a follow-up to a recent visit to the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency by Lord Adonis.
He said: “We will be looking at the proposals for four brand new secondary schools (in Bridgwater) and the provision for children with special needs.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger said he would discuss education provision in the West Somerset area of the constituency ‘where things are less rosy’.
“I am very concerned about special needs provision in West Somerset, where the very tough measures brought in by the county council are failing the children,” said Mr Liddell-Grainger.
“I also intend to bring up the subject of transportation.
“I know it is a big area, but the way children are being transported around the district cannot be right.”
M Liddell-Grainger is also pushing for a debate with Communities Minister Ruth Kelly (pictured, below).
He wants a better deal from the Government for the county, as he says the present level of funding is ‘awful’.
“Somerset is still the poor relation, and that is so unfair,” said Mr Liddell-Grainger.
“I am asking for a meeting with the Minister - who, by the way, went to school in Somerset, so she knows the county and its needs - and I am pushing for a debate with her in the House of Commons.”
Photos submitted.

Unitary protest MP sells 'Somerset County Council' for charity

WEST Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger (pictured) has sold off ‘Somerset County Council’ on eBay for charity.
A three-figure sum was raised by Mr Liddell-Grainger’s internet auction of the name
The stunt was organised to highlight opposition to the Liberal Democrat-run county council’s bid to become a unitary authority and take over all local government services in Somerset.
There was fierce bidding on eBay from across Britain and even abroad, with the reserve price exceeded in just two hours.
Mr Liddell-Grainger eventually accepted a private offer from a Bridgwater area man whose identity has not been revealed but whose initials were ‘DM’.
He said: “Every single penny will go to a local charity for the benefit of the people of Somerset.
“I do not own the name Somerset County Council, but now that the county council is determined to become a huge new unitary authority, this important piece of heritage could soon become redundant.
“So, I offered it on eBay on the strict condition that all the money raised would go to charity.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger said ‘DM’ shared his belief that the idea of scrapping Somerset County Council was ‘absolutely crazy’.
He said: “What will he get for his money? Just a name. But a name with a proud history that the current rulers of the county council seem quite happy to chuck on the scrapheap.”
Photo submitted.

MP setting up dyslexia group in House of Commons

A PARLIAMENTARY dyslexia group is being formed by West Somerset’s MP, Ian Liddell-Grainger (pictured), who is himself dyslexic.
The all-Party House of Commons group will help MPs, parents, and others to work together to address the issue.
Mr Liddell-Grainger said it was high time people with the condition were given a louder voice.
He said: “There are some excellent organisations, such as the British Dyslexia Association, which is active in West Somerset.
“But I and a few other MPs thought it would be useful to set up an official, non-political group in Parliament so that we can speak out.”
Mr Liddell-Grainger is also holding a meeting in London with the local dyslexia association.
He said: “I am delighted to have this opportunity to discuss what is or is not being done in the county for people with dyslexia.
“I am very impressed with the feedback I have been given when making inquiries in Government.
“Given that, and the strength of feeling at grass roots level, I feel we are in with an excellent chance of raising the profile of dyslexia.”
Anybody who wants to contact Mr Liddell-Grainger about dyslexia or any other relevant issue can write to him at his constituency office, 16 Northgate, Bridgwater TA6 3EU.
Mr Liddell-Grainger also has a website at www.liddellgrainger.org.uk.
Photo submitted.

MP launches Salvation Army Christmas appeal

LOCAL MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has officially launched a charity appeal to bring Christmas cheer to children in West Somerset.
Mr Liddell-Grainger announced the start of the Salvation Army’s annual Pass the Parcel collection appeal when he attended the launch in the Superdrug store, in The Avenue, Minehead.
Superdrug is partnering the Salvation Army for the 2006 appeal in West Somerset, which is running from November 18 to December 18.
Earlier, some of the WWE Wrestling stars appearing at Butlins, together with the holiday centre’s Redcoats, presented gifts to representatives of the Salvation Army to kick-start the appeal.
People are asked to take toys and gifts for children and young people to Superdrug, from where they will be collected by the Salvation Army for distribution to families in need.
Capt Steven Watson, Salvation Army minister in Watchet, said: “The generosity of people living in West Somerset is second to none and has allowed us to bring a little bit of happiness to many children’s lives over the last seven years.”

• Our photograph shows (left to right) Salvation Army minister Capt Steven Watson, MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, and Superdrug Minehead manager Mark Granger. Photo by Mark the Photographer, ref M1117023. Order photo reprints online at www.tcpbymtp.co.uk.