Working all year around for Stratton Conservatives

09/12/11 - Swindon Advertiser Weekly Article

I have written a lot in this column, and elsewhere, about my campaign in Parliament on the subject of financial education for young people. Our report, to be published next week, will call for financial education to be made a compulsory part of the national curriculum. I believe we have a duty to equip our young people with the financial skills needed to make informed decisions as consumers. I also believe in the importance of giving the next generation of entrepreneurs the financial grounding they need to set up their own businesses. We will not only help them, but also business start-ups can provide the much needed new job opportunities so crucial to our economy.

My experience is that young people have the energy, enthusiasm and ideas to innovate; they just lack the support to take the risk. I recently visited both Swindon and Cirencester Colleges to share with business and finance students my experiences of the business world. Before I entered Parliament, I ran my own printing and marketing company in Swindon for ten years and so I know only too well the challenges new businesses must overcome to survive. At Swindon College I met a student who had previously run her own business. She commented that the formal financial education she is now receiving would have made a real difference to the success of her business. At Cirencester College, students had all sorts of fantastic business ideas inspired by programmes such as Dragons Den and The Apprentice. Yet when I asked who was planning to put their ideas into practice, the hands fell. The issue that came up time and again was the lack of advice available about starting a business and how to manage the risks involved.

This is why I welcome the announcement this week from the Government of a new online Business Link service www.businesslink.gov.uk that provides over 200 learning resources to support entrepreneurialism and start up business owners. This goes hand in hand with the other programmes the Government has launched to help support those with the ideas and commitment to start their own businesses. The New Enterprise Allowance will also give young people access to a business mentor and provide the loans needed to turn their dreams and ideas into a thriving reality.

On a related note, I spoke in a Westminster Hall debate on the use of calculators in primary schools. The over-use of calculators at a young age is tied to a worrying trend that children are not competent in mental arithmetic, causing problems in later life. I am pleased that, following the debate, the Government has confirmed that it now be reviewing the use of calculators.