Local MP Sarah Newton is being called on to help stop planned cuts to Educational Maintenance Allowances (EMA), as student protesters took to the streets in Truro on Tuesday 11 January and lobbied Cornwall Council which manages the EMA.

Government cuts will otherwise leave many students in Cornwall with less money in their pockets. The EMA helps families support the cost of young people over the age of 16 being in education or training at college or school. For families who qualify it is worth £30 a week.

The EMA was introduced by the Labour Government. An independent report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies found that the EMA increased participation in education for 16 year olds from 65 to 69 per cent, and for 17 year olds from 54 to 61 per cent. The study also found that recipients of the EMA on average achieve A level results which are four points higher than those who do not receive it. This shows that the EMA helps students who are able to benefit from staying on at college or school achieve better qualifications and raise their prospects of getting better paid jobs and going on to university.

During the 2010 election the Tories pledged not to abolish the EMA but have now done a U-turn announcing most of its funding is being cut.

Truro and Falmouth Labour Party is calling on Sarah Newton MP to speak up for local young people and their families who are helped by the EMA, and to vote against the cuts when this is debated in the House of Commons.

Just like on school sport and the BookTrust, the Government must be persuaded to reconsider and not proceed with cuts that will otherwise spoil the life chances of thousands of teenagers in Cornwall.

Serious concerns have been expressed by Truro and Falmouth Labour Party about the impact of Government cuts on the most vulnerable people locally.

Up to £300 a week will be withdrawn from vulnerable people with care needs by 2015. Labour’s ‘independent living fund’ which supported people to live in their own homes while receiving the care and support they need, is to be axed.

Abolition of the independent living fund is likely to mean that in future residential care will be the only available option for some people with high levels of need. This will increase demands on local authority budgets for social care which are already under severe pressure.

On top of this, it was announced on Wednesday 22 December that up to 100 Cornwall Council jobs caring for and supporting vulnerable people will go. This will affect at least 1000 vulnerable adults across Cornwall, including people in Truro and Falmouth.

Labour’s ‘Supporting People’ funds are no longer ring-fenced and so are subject to bigger cuts. This will have a huge negative impact on care for some of Cornwall’s most vulnerable adults who want to live independently. The Tory led Cornwall Council previously claimed they would protect vulnerable people from the impact of cuts.

These heartless cuts will make life harder for many people in Cornwall. We challenge Sarah Newton MP to explain to her constituents why she has abandoned her promise to support ‘compassionate’ policies which protect the vulnerable.

Unless it is overturned by the House of Lords on Tuesday 14 December, the decision – which was supported by Falmouth’s MP Sarah Newton – is likely to go ahead.