Knowsley has now been without A-level provision since September 2017, and despite repeated promises from Government Ministers that a provider recognised as excellent would be established in the area, no progress has been made. On MondayI asked the Secretary of State for Education what she is doing to deal with this issue and why these promises have not been delivered.

Yet again, she sidestepped the question and refused to commit to these earlier promises. It was an extremely disappointing response from the Secretary of State, especially for young people in Knowsley who cannot access A-Levels locally and have to pay travel costs to study elsewhere.

It is not right that the Governmenthave made false promises and done nothing to restore A-level provision to Knowsley.I will continue to press the Government on this issue until they do what they agreed to.