Anne-Marie Trevelyan, has hailed the pledge by Northumberland County Council to scrap transport charges for post-16 students in their next budget. Anne-Marie has had a long-running campaign to abolish Labour's fees for transport for post-16 education.
Anne-Marie who has campaigned on this issue since former Labour county councillors demanded a huge £600 travel bill for each student back in 2014 said:
"The former Labour administration at Northumberland County Council, introduced extortionate fees to the transport our teenagers rely on to access education provision across the county. This annual, lump-sum fee, in many cases up to £600, is a huge burden for families. I am delighted that the new Conservative administration at the Council has backed the campaign by myself and the community to end these fees which have penalised students and rural communities”
“This was essentially a teenage tax which punished students from rural communities who wanted to gain the skills to allow them to lead their lives’ to the full. Labour showed they simply don’t understand the pressures on family budgets in rural communities, and voters have turned their backs on them. It clearly demonstrates that the Conservatives will always be the party that prioritise supporting rural areas and families, whilst Labour can’t be trusted to do the right thing for our rural communities. This is a big victory and I am delighted for the many students and their families who will have this burden removed”