The Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire MP led a debate in Westminster on Wednesday (15th) which highlighted the fact that despite the benefits that outdoor education provides, it is an over-looked and under-funded resource.

"I am not talking about persuading urban children to go out and do things such as skin rabbits; this is about getting everybody—whether teachers or pupils—out of a classroom and into a new environment so that they can find something somewhere that excites them and in which they can excel," he said.

He highlighted evidence which reveals that outdoor education meets every social target – in education, health, behaviour, community cohesion and natural environment. He mentioned, among others, the example set by the National Trust at Stackpole for Schools and the Field Studies Council who run the West Orielton field centre, both near Pembroke.

"Outdoor education could therefore play a key role in reducing the amount of permanent and fixed exclusions for physical and verbal abuse in schools which currently runs at the eye-watering level of 300,000 cases per year," he explained.

"It could also help to reduce the cost of youth crime and obesity which is estimated at an even more staggering and depressing £5 billion a year for the tax payer to pick up."

And yet it is overlooked when it comes to funding and timetabling.

"Learning outside the classroom has received only £4.5million in funding since 2005," he added. "This is in stark contrast to the music manifesto, which attracted £332 million of funding in 2007.

Wales leads the way when it comes to recognising the importance of outdoor education, a policy which Mr Hart would like to see copied in England.

"Will the Government reconsider plans to include an entitlement for outdoor learning for everyone within the curriculum?" he asked Sarah Teather, Minister of State for Education.

"We can now prove that outdoor education improves health, education and social benefits for children, young people and society as a whole. We can increasingly prove that if we can obtain those benefits for children and young adults, the economic benefit for the taxpayer in the long term could also be huge and well worth the investment required now."