Teaching Assistants take campaign to Westminster – as Farron piles pressure on County Council

South Lakes MP Tim Farron joined Cumbrian teaching assistants Hilary Robinson and Sue Ireland as they met senior Government officials in the latest stage of the campaign to win justice for their cause.

The meeting was a success as officials in the Department of Communities and Local Government agreed to recommend that Ministers might support calls for a review by the Local Government Employers association. Tim is separately calling on The Local Government Employers association - which Cumbria County Council belongs to - to set up a review of the single status process inCumbria.

Cumbria's teaching assistants have suffered as a result of a series of mistakes made by Cumbria County Council's Conservative-Labour coalition during the Single Status process. Most councils in the UK have been the process of bringing in Single Status - but most have managed to ensure that support staff are given a fair deal and none have created the distress and confusion caused by Cumbria which has proposed a pay cut for teaching assistants of around 25%

Tim said "This is a big step forward for our campaign. Teaching Assistants and other support staff have been very badly hit by the unfair single status process in Cumbria, now it seems that Cumbria County Council's failings will be exposed on a national stage. There is still time for the County Council to do the right thing and suspend the proposed pay cuts."