I’ve always enjoyed meeting school groups each week as part of my role as Watford’s MP for the past nine years and have been so impressed by the enthusiasm local pupils have for their education.

We are lucky to have some of the best schools in the country in Watford and it’s important that our hard-working teachers are properly supported so that they can continue to provide excellent, first-class education.

This is why I fully support the recent announcement of an extra £14 billion for schools’ core budgets in England over the next three years, which will mean all schools in our community see an increase in funding. I welcome the fact that schools will see a cash increase of £2.6 billion next year compared with this current year, which is excellent.

As the local MP, I work closely with local primary and secondary schools to listen to concerns that they have and I find my ministerial colleagues at the Department for Education keen to engage with teachers to hear their feedback.

This is why I invited the Education Minister, Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, to Watford in June to hear first-hand from teachers and pupils.

Following on from this, last week I hosted a group of teachers in Parliament with the minister to discuss the funding announcements and how it would mean for our local schools.

As the old cliché goes, children are the future and it’s so very important as an MP to relay the needs of schools to ministers in government so that their reflections are heard loud and clear.

  • Richard Harrington is Independent MP for Watford