School Councillors quiz Deputy Mayor and MP about more rights for mums and dads

Pupils from Three Lane Ends Primary School have given first hand advice to Deputy Mayor, Councillor Darran Travis, and local MP, Yvette Cooper, about their childcare experiences during a specially convened School Council meeting.

The visit to the school was part of retail union Usdaw’s national Supporting Parents and Carers campaign which has put more rights for mums and dads right at the heart of the political agenda. The meeting was made up of children aged five to 11 who have been elected by class members.

The visit was particularly significant after the Government had announced a substantial increase in maternity and paternity leave and a right to request flexible working for parents of children aged up to six years, or up to 18 years for children with disabilities.

The Deputy Mayor is an active Usdaw member and organised the visit to discuss with children exactly what would help them spend more time with their working mums and dads who are trying to achieve a proper work/life balance.

“We discussed with the children what Usdaw’s campaign will mean for their parents or carers and got some honest feedback,” Councillor Travis said. “As Chair of the Governors I know how articulate and well informed our School Councillors at Three Lane Ends are so the meeting was a robust but very useful exchange of views.”

“The Supporting Parents and Carers campaign has already scored some successes with paid maternity pay being increased to one year by the end of this parliament and the recent announcement of an extension of paternity rights for working dads.”

“But we don’t have a monopoly on good ideas and we wanted to find out exactly what the children who, after all, are the most affected by these proposals actually wanted so we could see if there was anything more we needed to address in the campaign. It’s a real joy to be part of these sessions as the feedback and contributions we got from a smashing bunch of children was very refreshing and incredibly useful.”

Pontefract and Castleford MP Yvette Cooper has been campaigning for more affordable childcare in Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley for a number of years and is an active supporter of the Usdaw Parents and Carers campaign.

“I want to see more after school clubs and holiday clubs in this area to help working parents and to provide more opportunities for children. That’s why it was so important to hear what kind of ideas the School Councillors had and what sort of clubs they want to see. Our campaign for more childcare in the Five Towns is already delivering new children’s centres for the under-fives. Now we need after school clubs for older children too.”

Notes to Editors:

• Pictures of this event are available from Usdaw. • Contacts for newsdesks: Usdaw’s Media Officer, Paul Clarke, can be contacted on 0161 249 2469 or e-mail paul.clarke@usdaw.org.uk.

• Usdaw (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK’s fifth biggest trade union, with over 341,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.

• More information and news releases are available at our online Newsroom.

• Journalists can subscribe to receive Usdaw news releases via our online e-news service.

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