ON Friday, I was asked to present Webheath First School with its Sports Mark Gold Award and its third Eco Flag.

Both awards are richly deserved and reflect the hard work that teachers put in to extend activities at the school.

Instilling our children with a positive attitude to the environment in which we all live can only be a good thing and ensuring that children lead a healthy life is crucial too.

On Monday, I had a meeting with the Redditch Disabled Access Forum.

We had an interesting question and answer session on a range of issues.

For instance, we touched on how the new Disability Rights Commission is going to work, particularly following this October when new laws about access to buildings come into effect.

We also talked about the cars parking on pavements that can block the way for those in wheelchairs, scooters or people with pushchairs.

In some cases, paths are blocked on a regular basis.

If you are a car driver and are tempted to park on the pavement, please imagine the effect on a wheelchair user who won't now be able to get past or the people with prams who'll have to push their children into the road.

Finally, I was really pleased Ipsley Middle School was praised for its facilities for disabled access.

It just goes to show that with the opportunity for a brand new school and a new site, just what can be achieved.

When I was a minister at the Department for Education, the Government earmarked more than £200 million to make our schools more accessible.

I am glad it has paid off.