#CutTheCosts

[umangotsolar123]

From sunlight to savings, it's a win-win! Discover the magic of solar panels.

[successwithopentextbooks]

Good on ya Tide Water College. Leading the way again. Why aren’t we doing this in the UK?

[nataliehelenab]

Reading up on the horrific potential cuts to higher education funding in Wales. Those in power are destroying higher education completely! #cutthecosts #highereducation

[lsesu]

Save Our Maintenance Grants

Earlier this summer, we announced our opposition to the cuts to maintenance grants, and promised a plan of action. Here's how you can help in our campaign to save them. 

Maintenance grants are an integral part of financially supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The current government proposals will cut this support, and put more debt on poorer students. 

That is not fair, it is not equitable, and students have said time and time again that they wouldn’t have been able to go to university without this vital support.

As a Sabbatical team, we feel our local MPs need to hear that. As part of the National Lobbying Day on Friday 18th September, we will be telling them. 

We have drafted a template email (below) to send to our local MPs - and if you agree that this is an urgent issue, we urge you to do the same.

This is just the first step in the campaign, and the input and involvement of LSE students is important at every stage. On Thursday 30th September we launch our Campaigns Network, as part of which everyone is invited to discuss your views and plan how involved you’d like to be. We will then form a taskforce of students to help us lead the campaign and make it as impactful as possible.

We’re interested to see how many MPs respond - so please forward any responses you receive to su.campaigns@lse.ac.uk, or tweet @lsesu with #CutTheCosts.

In unity, 

Nona, Jon, Katie and Aysha Your Sabbatical Team

Tweeting your MP

Our suggested tweet is:

.@Coyleneil, LSESU demands that you pledge to save maintenance grants #CutTheCosts

Writing to your MP

Dear [name of MP],

I am writing to you as a student at the London School of Economics to express my deep concern about the government’s intentions to scrap maintenance grants for students going to university from 2016/17, as announced by the Chancellor on 8 July.

I believe the government have gravely underestimated the impact that cutting this grant will have on the ambitions and choices of poorer students. I need your support to make the case to government for why this vital grant must be protected and to ensure that this decision cannot be implemented without a full and open debate in Parliament.

I will be participating in a national constituency-based lobby day on 18th September, coordinated by the National Union of Students, and I would very much like to meet with you on this day at your constituency office so that we can discuss this further.

Maintenance grants are currently provided to poorer students to help them with their day to day costs when studying. This money means that they can go to university knowing they have the means to pay for food, clothes, accommodation, and text books.

[Add in your personal experiences here if you wish]

Adding to the already massive debt students face could restrict the choices they make about where and what to study. The poorest students are the most debt averse, and more likely to choose to live at home to save money, choose a town based on its lower living costs, or even choose a shorter course of different subjects based on financial reasons rather than what they genuinely desire to study.

This is a highly regressive move from the government and one which will impact hundreds of thousands of young people – this year over half a million students are receiving maintenance grant support.

These changes will not require new legislation and therefore there will not automatically be an opportunity for Parliament to debate and vote on this. However, when the regulations are laid before Parliament, MPs are able to ‘pray against’ them to force a debate. Please will you ensure we have a full debate by praying against these regulations?

I look forward to hearing from you, and I would very much welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss my concerns either on the 18th September or on a date which is convenient to you.

These reforms should not be rushed through without the opportunity for MPs to represent the interests of the young people in their constituencies and speak up for our futures.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]

[Address including postcode]

Finding Your Local MP

To find out who your local MP is and how to contact them, enter your postcode at www.theyworkforyou.com.

If you’re in an LSE hall of residence, they’ll be on this list:

Bankside: Neil Coyle MP (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) Tweet Neil

Butler’s Wharf: Neil Coyle MP (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) Tweet Neil

Carr-Saunders: Keir Starmer MP (Holborn and St Pancras) Tweet Keir

Grosvenor House: Mark Field MP (Cities of London and Westminster) Tweet Mark

High Holborn: Keir Starmer MP (Holborn and St Pancras) Tweet Keir

Lilian Knowles: Rushanara Ali MP (Bethnal Green and Bow) Tweet Rushanara

Northumberland House: Mark Field MP (Cities of London and Westminster) Tweet Mark

Passfield: Keir Starmer MP (Holborn and St Pancras) – Tweet Keir

Rosebery: Emily Thornberry MP (Islington South and Finsbury) Tweet Emily

Sidney Webb: Neil Coyle MP (Bermondsey and Old Southwark) Tweet Neil

Urbanest Kings Cross: Keir Starmer MP (Holborn and St Pancras) Tweet Keir

[artscampaigns-blog]

Join the Campaign to Save Student Grants!

Last month, I wrote about the government’s plans to scrap maintenance grants for students from low-income families - and why it’s a terrible idea. Now it’s time for us to act, and do all we can to stop the cuts. On September 18, students around the country will be targeting different MPs, telling them to save our grants. UAL students will pay a visit to the Universities Minister Jo Johnson. The UAL activist group Arts Attack has called a protest in front of Johnson’s office. We’re meeting at 12 and travelling all together. Please come and join us! https://www.facebook.com/events/988003811256974/ Busy on Friday? Tweet your support using the hashtags #CutTheCosts and #GrantsNotDebt! You can also sign and share this petition:  Would you like to help us make a badass banner? If yes, come to the SUARTS office on the first floor of 272 High Holborn, on Monday September 13 from 5.30pm! It’s also a good opportunity to meet your officers and other activists, and hear more about the campaign. https://www.facebook.com/events/965186076856589/ See you soon!