Possible help with student travel costs

In regard to the article by Nick Powell concerning the travel costs for post-16 rural students in Further Education, I thought people should be aware that an opportunity currently exists, albeit a long shot, to try and obtain funding for rural students in respect of their travel costs.

This is due to the fact that the CAP Single Farm Payment is currently being renegotiated and our Secretary of State for Defra, the Right Hon. Owen Paterson M.P., from North Shropshire is set upon increasing the modulation factor (that is the amount deducted from farmers' payments to be used to assist the rural economy in other ways) from its current 9% to 15%.

This will amount to £1.89 billion pounds but if approved, will not come into effect until 2015.

I recently wrote to Defra to suggest that some of this money would be well invested in subsidizing the travel costs of rural students who are already discriminated against in terms of rural isolation in comparison to their urban equivalents.

I received the sideways brushoff which is typical of the organisation so our only hope is to campaign directly to our MPs, in particular direct to Mr Paterson himself – so if any of his constituents read this can they please raise it directly.

Meanwhile contact your own MP and he/she will pass our request onto the Minister. It will not be a quick solution but it is certainly one worth fighting for and speaking as a farmer myself, it would be a far better use of the money than some of the schemes it currently funds and would be a real investment in the future of the rural economy, albeit indirectly.

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