Northumberland’s Labour group says our children need to look forward to a brighter future as the country comes out of the pandemic.

Labour Group Deputy Leader Scott Dickinson said: “Our teachers and teaching staff responded magnificently in almost impossible circumstances during the pandemic, and that was despite the government not because of it. Last minute planning, numerous U-turns and a lack of knowledge centrally about what life is actually like for school children led to a chaotic mess, only made better by the selfless work of our teachers and teaching staff.

“I am delighted that Labour launched its Bright Future Taskforce* working with experts and experienced people who understand reality. This will help children recover from the impacts of the pandemic and ensure all children can reach their potential.

“As well as the educational impact, we have seen many more children pushed into poverty with 3.9m children is this country living in poverty. In a rich country like ours in 2021 this is simply unacceptable and the government should be ashamed for letting so many children down.”

Labour is calling for breakfast clubs to help make up for lost school time. Breakfast clubs will support children’s wellbeing with extra time to socialise, while also giving schools extra time to provide targeted tuition or catch up support.

* Find out more about the taskforce at https://labour.org.uk/bright-future-taskforce-2/