I RECENTLY met a group of residents with severe learning disabilities and was deeply concerned to find that the further education courses they attend, to help them work towards more independent living and better employment, have been cut from September.

In my new "front bench" role, I was able to take the problem direct to the minister responsible, but I was dismayed with the response that I received.

It seems that the Government had no intention of cutting courses attended by severely learning-disabled adults, but the reality is that in asking further education colleges to focus on Level 2 qualifications, many other courses have had to be cut to provide the funds.

Unintended consequences are too common in the education system.

Why can't we trust those people who are successfully running further education colleges, such as those in Alton and Newbury, to meet the needs of our local communities, rather than having Government officials in Whitehall do the job for them?

I WAS invited by politics students at QMC to talk about my first year as MP for Basingstoke.

This is the third year I have been in to QMC to meet the students.

I have become used to this group asking me the difficult questions and this year was no exception!

DANESHILL House is an important part of the history of Basingstoke and the former garden remains an oasis of nature and wildlife in a major residential area of the town.

Basingstoke retains many other wide open green spaces - the War Memorial Park, Old Basing Common, Eastrop Park and Gabriel Park.

These open spaces are an important part of what makes Basingstoke an attractive place to live.

But all too often residents are finding anti-social behaviour that is associated with these areas difficult to tolerate, particularly during the summer months.

Why is the solution so difficult to find? Surely more visible policing, along with the issuing of penalties for specific offences at the beginning of the summer, will make it clear that rowdy behaviour is not acceptable anywhere in our part of north Hampshire.

First published: Wednesday, May 3, 2006