PM 'implores' school trust to install field ramp

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has "implored" a school trust to install a ramp so a disabled pupil can access a playing field.

Millie, 12, from Warmington, Northamptonshire, had her left leg amputated after she was diagnosed with bone cancer last year.

In response to a question in the House of Commons, Sir Keir urged the East Midlands Academy Trust, which runs Prince William School in Oundle, to "put in that ramp and match the positivity and the courage that Millie has shown all of us".

The trust said it had already made "adjustments to support Millie" and was carrying out a feasibility study to confirm the cost of the ramp, estimated at £100,000, before deciding what to do next.

Millie, a talented horse rider and promising footballer, who has played for Peterborough United's academy and Oundle Town girls, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma after a football injury.

The accessibility issue was raised at Prime Minister's Questions by Lee Barron, Labour MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire.

Millie watched from the public gallery, with her sister and parents, Gordon and Gemma, who are both Cambridgeshire Police officers.

Barron said that since having the amputation, Millie could no longer access the school playing field because the slope was too steep,

"Her parents, the school and I have asked the East Midlands Academy Trust to put in a ramp, but it has refused, claiming that it is not subject to certain parts of the Equality Act 2010," he said.

"Does the Prime Minister agree that the trust has an absolute moral obligation to make those adjustments to give Millie full access to all the school, so that she can play and thrive with all her friends?"

In response, Sir Keir said he and fellow MPs were "humbled" by Millie's "courage and positivity".

"I really do find it hard to understand how a school trust could make a decision like that in relation to the ramp," he said.

"Rather than berate those in the trust from the Chamber, I would just implore them... to reconsider that decision, put in that ramp and match the positivity and the courage that Millie has shown all of us."

Millie said her trip to the Commons had been an "incredible day" and while her school had always been "accommodating", the issue was with the trust.

She said she was "missing out on socialising at lunchtime with friends and I want to be able do some sports on there".

A trust spokesman said: "We have already made a wide range of reasonable adjustments to support Millie's learning and we continue to work closely with her and her family.

"This issue rightly shines a light on the stark choices schools across the country are having to make and we look forward to the upcoming Send (special educational needs and disabilities) white paper and its implications for Send funding."

In July a team of 30 people walked 88 miles (142km) from Peterborough United's London Road ground, to Stamford Bridge, the home of Chelsea, to raise money for a specialist prosthetic leg and Millie's future treatment.

Millie's father said she was was determined to play for England women's amputee football team and to compete in the Paralympics.

Additional reporting by PA Media.