Pupils at a city school have asked Derby North MP Amanda Solloway what she is going to do about the rising levels of crime and drug abuse on St Peter’s Street.
Students at Kingsmead Pupil Referral Centre, in Bridge Street, were invited to ask questions during a virtual meeting with the Conservative MP, which was held to mark UK Parliament Week.
The pupils, who are all on the school council, asked her what was being done to improve the high street, which is on their main route into school and a hot spot for homeless people and Black Mamba addicts.
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Amanda told the students how she had found herself homeless as a teenager after her mother became addicted to drugs and alcohol.
She said: “Life throws lots of things at us and when we look at the rough sleepers and drug-users we have to understand that it’s a very complicated issue.
“A lot of the people who are there have very complex lives and we have a duty of care to support these people as much as possible – no one needs to sleep on the streets of Derby.
“Of course, more people are doing their shopping online and we need a hook to get people back into the area. St Peter’s Street will benefit from regeneration funding and the Business Improvement District team are working hard to revitalize this area of Derby.”
Derby North MP Amanda Solloway held a virtual meeting with Kingsmead pupils to discuss crime.
The students also posed questions about how young people can be involved in the decision-making processes in the city and what the Government is doing to create more jobs for young people in Derby and Derbyshire.
And they asked why children were still expected to attended school when other members of society were being encouraged to work at home.
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Teacher William Broderick said: “I was really impressed with the questions our pupils came up with and by the level of engagement and understanding of political events they showed in the work we did during Parliament Week.
“The pupils found the responses really helpful and informative and I think they were surprised by Amanda’s honesty about her own upbringing, which isn’t something they were expecting but it definitely helped them to relate to her.
“We really appreciate Amanda taking the time out of her incredibly busy schedule for this session.”
ENDS
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