Councillor Robert Oliver
Recently he has campaigned for tougher action on littering and fly-tipping; better operation of the traffic lights on the A690/A19 roundabout; improvements to the Lakeside turning circle; action on dog fouling and new facilities for the children’s play area in Middle Herrington Park.
A typical councillor’s day for Robert usually starts with residents’ emails and ‘phone calls to officers at the Civic Centre followed by a couple of hours delivering newsletters to keep people informed of what he is doing and canvass opinion. He always buys the Sunderland Echo at a local shop to read about goings-on in the City and check on coverage for St.Chad’s Ward. In the evening he will have at least one meeting, the most important of which are those which directly affect the ward such as residents’ associations, the Police or meetings with officers about current projects.
As the Conservative Children’s’ Services Spokesman, Robert uses his experience as a Head of Politics at a secondary school to speak on Education in the City. Recently his views have appeared in the local press on SATs results, Oxbridge entrance, School Meals and lowering the voting age. You can read some of his letters to the Sunderland Echo through the link below.
Robert works full time, teaching mainly sixth form classes in Politics as well as History to younger pupils. As well as running the school’s Debating Society and Law Club he organises an annual visit to the Battlefields of Ypres and the Somme.
When away from work he likes to spend some of the school holidays travelling, especially to Spanish-speaking countries as he speaks the language. In recent years he has worked for the youth development charity Raleigh International on a local government project in Chilean Patagonia and visited the northern provinces of Argentina. As a specialist in US Politics he recently made a trip to the Texan border and crossed into Mexico ending up in Mexico City. Every year he accompanies school language trips to Spain.
Sport is also a favourite pastime especially swimming at a local club , running or cycling. After years of practice he can now run round the perimeter of St.Chad’s Ward in forty minutes and can cycle from one end to another in about fifteen!
Letters By Robert
All the letters below are available for you to down in PDF format. You will need Adobe Reader to view these on your computer.
Conservative Education Policy
Double Counting
Gambling
Headteachers
Healthy Eating
Labour Scandals
NEETs
School Lockins
Sutton Trust
Value Added
Youth Opportunities