Gordon, Why is the Labour Party continuing with implementing policies on the hoof that are thoroughly thought out beforehand. We are 12 points behind in the polls. What Labour need is real ideas from real people. Moving from one bad idea to another is embarassing.
How about a political academy similar to the one in France?

Gordon Brown, when Chancellor missed a great opportunity to really embed enterprise into education. He gifted schools more than £55million per year for three years for enterprise. However, that money was not ringfenced, its spend wasn't monitored and he asked for no outputs from it. As a result, schools did not use it for enterprise, anything but. So, we do not have enterprising young people coming out of schools - only enterprising head teachers who found other things on which to spend the funding.
I am extremely disappointed that an Enterprise Academy is being built in the South East - what evidence is there that the South needs such an establishment? The North East is an area with pockets of extreme deprivation, with low business start up rates and high rates of business failure, particularly in the first, crucial years of trading. Would it not be sensible to place such an Academy here to address a real need?

In terms of the new Enterprise strategy, there are organisations already in place who have been championing enterprise in education since their inception - Education Business Link Organisations - strategic organisations who gave some direction to the plethora of providers delivering work related learning and enterprise. The Government now sees fit to divert that funding to Local Authorities from next year, dispensing with what are on the whole, extremely successful structures in EBLOs. I have no doubt we will see the funding either absorbed into the bureaucracy of LAs or issued directly to schools through the standards fund and we will see the same outputs as were achieved from the Enterprise Funding - None.
If the Government wants young people to gain from the richness that business can offer to schools in terms of work related learning, it needs a vehicle to do that - schools are notoriously bad at making sustainable relationships with employers, Local Authorities will be no better as it is their wont to know best.

At last...someone with some sense. I could not have said it better myself. I have been teaching enterprise education for over 10 years as an independent organisation, struggling to convince schools to use their unfenced funding for the activities it was given for. A handful of Head teachers do the right thing and allocate money to their teachers for enterprise activities and the others build bike sheds. We were forced into consortia organisations which failed and now all funding is distributed through the Local Authority. In Dorset the local authority with this budget is also a delivery EBP. This is not an open process and surprise surprise we have had no funding!! Check out our website www.enterpriseandskills.co.uk. In 10 years we have taught enterprise to over 40,000 students but who cares!!!!

Hi! I think is a great idea increasing the prices of alcohol and cigarettes (you could do a bit more), but not increasing the price of diesel. About unemployed people I think you should apply the same system as in Germany. Make the people earn their benefits making them doing some community work while they are looking for jobs. Also for people in prison I agree with the conservatives of making the prisoners earn they way out with hard work, so they would learn their lesson. In the schools I think you need to apply far more discipline and respect, don't let the children to control the education, let the teachers to be in control but make sure the teachers are fully qualified and professionals; Parents play a great part on this because the first education starts at home and children live by example. For people using illegal drugs the government needs to give them clear options, they either sort themselves out and except the help that is offered or cut their benefits, and what is more important make them to do something in that way they would be busy and don't thinking in their addiction all the time. You have the power to change this; the system is abuse for many people and now is time to change it and put is right. Make as many playgrounds and places for children and teenagers to play and do something so they don't feel there is nothing to do. Address the bad behavior of children and teenagers with hard measures so they don’t do it again. Change the compensation system (don’t allow people to claim for the minimum thing that goes wrong). About the solders in Irak and Pakistan, bring them home, they could do so much here in the country like helping the police with the security and looking after the country. And the last the elderly, give them some dignity, they have worked all their lives, all they want is to live in Pease the last year or their lives and look after properly (don’t forget everybody will get older one day) ……. I hope you take some notice of this ideas and make the real difference for the people’s own good and if I can help, please contact me.