BRADFORD MP Naz Shah has told Gavin Williamson his visit to Bradford "isn't enough" to make up for cuts to school budgets made by his Government over the past decade.

The Education Secretary was visiting the University of Bradford - where he spent his student years in the early 90s studying Social Sciences - and schools yesterday.

Mr Williamson was speaking about Bradford's progress as an 'Opportunity Area' since the designation in 2017 to boost social mobility and the billions of investment being made to help children catch up on lost learning.

But Bradford West MP Naz Shah, while welcoming the minister to her constituency, slammed the Conservatives' record on investment in education.

She said: "I welcomed the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson to Bradford, and the opportunity given to education providers in my constituency to speak with him directly.

"The Secretary of State’s presence in Bradford, alone, is not enough to deal with the blow to learning and attainment in Bradford.

"The Government is claiming to be supporting schools and colleges, but the new batch of funding barely scratches the surface, and does nothing for early years providers despite mounting financial pressures.

"The last decade has represented the largest cuts to school budgets in 40 years and the ongoing pandemic has risked the futures of students in Bradford.

"Yet still the Government fails to deliver an education recovery plan, which delivers for students and education providers in Bradford.

"Throughout the pandemic, I have heard from maintained nurseries, early year settings, primary and secondary schools, Bradford College and the University of Bradford, about the challenges they have faced.

"The education recovery plan as it stands today will fail to address their challenges and will fail an entire generation of pupils in Bradford, if it does not and amongst others, give an education recovery premium to every student and deal with the budget crisis within schools."

Mr Williamson said £3 billion has been invested in 'catch-up' education and "more is to come" and said the University of Bradford is a "research and development powerhouse" and has "enormous potential".

Ms Shah added: "The University of Bradford and Bradford College, two of the largest education providers in the north, have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to deliver online learning.

"However, students at the University have become increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of guidance from the government.

"Universities UK has asked the Prime Minister for an explanation for the omission of reference about university students in the Government’s roadmap. I hope the University of Bradford was given clarity and guidance during the visit.

"I look forward to following up with the Secretary of State regarding his visit to Bradford."