General Matters

Andrew Turner Excerpts

Tuesday 17th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) (Con)]

A good education is the best start that a child can be given, so I am pleased that the Isle of Wight further education college provides a great education and now has the added benefit of a sixth-form department. Before the current principal, Debbie Lavin, took over, results were poor, but under her leadership it has become a flagship college. I am also confident that Christ the King sixth form, which will open in September, will be of a high standard and give its students a similar excellent start in life. I wish the principal, Pat Goodhead, the chairman of governors, David Lisseter, and all those involved with Christ the King college well in their endeavours.

Unemployment on the Isle of Wight has fallen in recent months, which is welcome news, but the news is not so good for young people. I know that Ministers are working hard to reduce youth unemployment, but one way of doing that is to increase the number of apprenticeships. To that end, the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, my hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr Hayes), has agreed to visit the island in December to help us boost local apprenticeships.

[Mr Donohoe]

Apprenticeships are dear to my heart, but not enough is being done. Is the college that the hon. Gentleman mentioned going to increase the number of apprenticeships it provides?

[Mr Turner]

It is necessary that apprenticeships be expanded at all levels, which is why I am glad that my hon. Friend the Minister is visiting. I look forward to it.

One positive way of gaining experience while looking for employment is voluntary work, and there are many excellent causes on the island. For example, the Isle of Wight food bank, which has been doing a sterling job since its launch a year ago, has helped more than 2,000 people in dire straits by providing food donated by other islanders. I pay tribute to Hannah King, who runs the food bank, and all her volunteers for the sterling work they do.

Finally, I want to touch on events that brought parts of the island to a standstill for more than 24 hours last month. Many hon. Members will have seen the headlines about the Isle of Wight festival chaos. The festival has been held in its present location since 2002, but owing to atrocious weather and a clear lack of contingency planning, some island roads were gridlocked on 28 and 29 June. The impact on some islanders’ lives was very serious. Vehicles were at a standstill for hours, blocking roads and preventing islanders from getting to work, school, hospital appointments and the ferry terminals, while ferries sat in the Solent for up to five hours, unable to unload cars; there was nowhere for them to go. School children missed important exams, and others walked home when there were no buses. Some families were unable to get to the funerals of relatives, and other funerals were cancelled.

It is not for me to apportion blame, but a bad situation was certainly made much worse by a lack of communication with the island’s media. For example, Michael Coombes and Paul Topping, along with Heather McCallum, Glyn Taylor and Lucy Morgan of Isle of Wight Radio, worked tirelessly to try to keep islanders abreast of events. However, their efforts were largely thwarted, because nobody would tell them what was going on. Thankfully, the situation was finally brought under control on the Friday morning, when alternative car parks were opened. Many islanders showed amazing community spirit, offering food, shelter and other help to stranded festival goers. That included the Vectis 4x4 responders. Without their help, vehicles would have been stuck in the mud bath that was the festival car park for many more hours.

In order to ensure that such problems do not arise again, we need to know what went wrong this year. The organisers, Solo, are not covering themselves in glory. First it was announced that refunds would be given; then Solo said that they would not. I know that VentnorBlog has asked Solo a number of times for a copy of the emergency safety plan, but those requests have been ignored. Solo may not feel accountable to local people or our local media, but without local good will the festival will be harder to stage. I want the festival to continue—so do many others on the island and, of course, off it—but Solo must ensure that local people are able to go about their lives around it. Then we will all benefit again.