Dear James

Thank you for contacting me and for your question.
I have always maintained that whilst none of us can choose where we start in life, we can choose where we are heading. This is why, if elected, I will always fight for opportunity for everyone to have the chance to make their life better.
Many policy areas need to be considered to unlock people’s potential. However, I think some solid places to focus would be in Education (at any  stage of life), Mental Health, Early Years Support and Sport  areas where an individual’s aspiration and confidence can be built.

In regard to Education, I was pleased to see the Advanced British Standard qualification is in the Conservative Manifesto. This will bring A-Level and T-Levels to an equal par and help break down the barriers between academic and technical routes. I think this will be very helpful for people in post-16 education, giving them more options and choice to build skills in areas they are most interested in and help set them up for success. I will fight to ensure that Knowsley has greater post-16 education capacity.
I am also pleased that a commitment to fund for 100, 000 apprenticeships is in the Conservative Manifesto. I am an extremely strong advocate for apprenticeship schemes, as it was an apprenticeship that provided the opportunity for me to earn while I learnt. It was the stepping stone for me into a career and regular income, helping give me and my family stability, security and a positive direction for my future.
Additionally, I would also work hard to ensure access to adult education is continued throughout a person’s life, so there is opportunity for people of all ages to develop the skills they need to get good jobs and support businesses to find or develop talent to fill skills gaps.
As mentioned previously, I believe good mental health is important to ensure a person can realise their full potential. Mental health should have parity of esteem with physical health. This is another area I would champion and work to increase awareness of, especially in schools to help equip young people with the tools they need whatever life throws at them.
NHS services such as talking therapies, have been recently introduced and I would work hard to ensure these continue and awareness is spread as far as possible to help remove the taboo of people talking about their mental health. Talking is the first step to finding a solution.
I have a young family and I am acutely aware of the importance of community and support throughout a child’s upbringing, especially in those early days, for both the child and the family. The Early Years Review which was published in early 2021 laid out an ambitious programme of work to transform how families are supported.  Taken from the review, leading child health experts agree the care given during the first 1,001 critical days has more influence on a child’s future than at any other time in their life, and experiences during this time have a significant impact on the health, wellbeing and opportunity of children throughout life.
This is why I will fight to ensure the recommendations from the report continue to be rolled out. We have already seen Knowsley secure a share of the £302 million Best Start for Life government fund, for the creation of new Family Hubs to make sure the right targeted support is available for families and is aligned to local needs. I will ensure there are enough opportunities such as this for families in Knowsley by advocating for more family hubs so they are easily accessible to families with or without their own transport. I will also liaise with care providers and other organisations on ways to make certain, that parents are made aware of these support services.

Again, as mentioned earlier, I am a strong advocate for sports. Whether it’s team sports or individual disciplines, sports teach young people so many valuable life skills as well as keeping them healthy both physically and emotionally – from team work, self-discipline and resilience to leadership skills.
This is why I was pleased to see so much being done for Sport in the Conservative Manifesto. Such as extending the PE and Sport Premium funding to secondary schools and increased funding for School Games Organisers to get more competitive sport into schools and work with sporting bodies to create more UK-wide school competitions like National Finals, to identify the best sporting talents.  I will make certain that schools in Knowsley are at the forefront for this funding, opening up opportunity and aspiration to our younger generations.

I am a low tax Conservative and feel strongly that work must pay and people should be able to keep more of their hard earned cash to spend as they see fit. This is something I will always speak up for, for the people of Knowsley. It is right that we see within the Conservative Manifesto a commitment to bring down a number of taxes over the next 5 years. We have already seen National Insurance cut from 12% to 8% and this will be cut further under a Conservative government, down to 6% by April 2027.

Another policy commitment which I am glad to see and will be helpful to families, is ending the unfairness in Child Benefit.  Within the policy, the High Income Child Benefit Charge will only be paid by households with a combined income of more than £120,000 per year. This will be up from £60,000 threshold currently. The taper rate will also be extended, meaning the point at which Child Benefit is fully withdrawn will be extended to £160,000 per household. This will end the unfairness in the current system, especially for single parent families, and benefit 700,000 households by an average of £1,500 per year, ensuring parents are never penalised for hard work.

I am also very proud of our NHS and I recognise that good health and preventative care are integral to living a happy life and will help people have a better chance to realise their potential.
If elected, I will fight for further investment in more out-of-hospital care so that people don’t need to go to hospital in the first place. I will ensure Knowsley will benefit through the Pharmacy First scheme allowing pharmacists to treat more non-urgent conditions and where there is housing growth, there should be a focus on more GP surgeries and Community Diagnostic Centres in these areas to match demand.
Thank you for taking the time to read my response. I would also like to add that if elected, whilst I do have a number of areas of focus, I also want to listen and hear from people in Knowsley about their concerns. I would do this by holding regular surgeries across the constituency, throughout the month.
I am also a strong advocate for volunteering as it is a great way to engage with people and benefit the community. If elected, I would endeavour to join volunteer groups on a regular basis to find out more about what people care about and help integrate myself within the community.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me and read my email. I hope it is helpful and gives assurances that as the Member of Parliament for Knowsley, I would always work hard to ensure everyone, regardless of where they start in life will have the chance to take control of their own destiny and find opportunities to improve theirs and their families’ futures.
With very best wishes

Sherrie McDaid
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Knowsley