Education and Adoption Bill

Debate between Lord Watson of Invergowrie and Lord Addington

Tuesday 17th November 2015 Grand Committee

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, this is a fairly minor point, but I heard the Hewett School in Norwich being mentioned, and I am one of its alumni. Possibly that explains quite a lot.

[Lord Watson of Invergowrie]

It is no longer the Hewett School but the Hewett Academy.

[Lord Addington]

It is still a school or an academy, and if we remembered that it might help some of the progress on this Bill.

Regarding some of the points raised by the noble Lord, that school sits on sports grounds that have served half the sports clubs in the area. Indeed, the club where I started my career—I should declare—and finished, started on those grounds. These are the sorts of things that need to be worked into the system. We have to try to get them in somewhere along the line. On its use as a community asset, the noble Lord will not know the place but these are acres of prime playing fields in the heart of one of the fastest growing cities in the country. They are wonderful playing fields on flat, open ground that have been used as an asset by everything going on there. How we build on such a utility is something that should be taken into account. What are we doing on the broader picture? That has not been brought in here, and it should. The fact that the community and parents should be given that courtesy is self-evident. That greater asset to the local community is something we seem to have missed so far.