Alison Hume MP has welcomed the announcement of a targeted education programme to improve outcomes for young people in coastal communities such as Scarborough and Whitby.
The launch of ‘Mission Coastal’ – a new initiative designed to tackle entrenched disadvantage in seaside towns – was confirmed in the publication of the Schools White Paper, after Ms Hume, who is Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Coastal Communities, had pressed for action to be taken.
Focused on boosting opportunity in areas where it is limited by fragile local infrastructure, poor transport links and deprivation, the Mission Coastal programme will work with schools and academy trusts to break down the barriers to learning.
Crucially, it also encourages collaboration via local partnership boards, set-up to bring teachers, school leaders, councils and other local representatives together.
Ms Hume, who was elected to represent Scarborough and Whitby in 2024, said:
“I was proud to back this campaign from the very beginning because young people here deserve the same focus, ambition and support from government as those growing up in our major cities.
“Mission Coastal is a huge step forward for young people in our area, because it provides exactly the kind of bold and targeted intervention that local schools and families have been calling for.”
The roll-out of Mission Coastal comes after Ms Hume published the findings of her surveys into SEND across Scarborough and Whitby, which canvassed opinion among parents, families and teaching professionals.
The data, which has been passed on the Ministers, revealed a number of key themes including long waits for assessments, children being identified with needs too challenging for existing mainstream provision but which do not meet the strict criteria for special schools and a lack of SEND school places with Whitby emerging as a particular pressure point.
Noting how Mission Coastal has been designed to replicate the achievements of the London Challenge – which had a hugely positive impact in the capital after being established by a previous Labour government – Ms Hume added:
“It has the potential to deliver the same transformative impact for young people in coastal communities as the London Challenge did for their counterparts in the south.
“Mission Coastal shows the same ambition for coastal young people as New Labour had for London — the determination needed to deliver a decade of renewal and opportunity in coastal areas that have been neglected for too long.”
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