Education and Local Government

Ben Everitt Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Ben Everitt (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a genuine honour to rise to give my first speech and to speak for the first time representing my 91,555 electors. Rising for the first time gives me the opportunity to congratulate you and welcome you to your Chair. It also gives me the opportunity to follow in the tradition of paying tribute to my predecessor. My predecessor was Mark Lancaster MP, who was well respected across the House. He entered Parliament in 2005 as the MP for Milton Keynes North East. Throughout that time, he was a colonel in the Territorial Army, and he still is today. He saw action in Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan.

Mark also had a distinguished ministerial career. As a Defence Minister, he rolled out the armed forces covenant and was instrumental in the modernising defence review. In our constituency, his work was very much appreciated, particularly his work on categorising the drug khat as a category C narcotic. His work was welcomed and he is remembered fondly by our communities in the constituency. I asked around for amusing—and shareable—anecdotes about Mark and I received a lot of responses, none of which hit both of those categories. Suffice it to say that he was an excellent MP and an excellent Minister, and that he remains an officer and a gentleman.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Haltemprice and Howden (Mr Davis), who is no longer in the Chamber, mentioned the golden triangle of growth and opportunity that comes up from London to Oxford and Cambridge. Of course, the middle bit of the north side of that triangle is Milton Keynes, which I represent along with my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes South (Iain Stewart). Milton Keynes is a wonderful place. Its economy is worth £12 billion a year to the Exchequer, and it is one of the most productive places outside London. One third of the employees work in knowledge-intensive industries, and it is one of the fastest growing places not only in the UK but in Europe. For that reason, Milton Keynes will play a significant and important role in the UK’s post-Brexit industrial strategy and in our place in the world.

The maiden speech made by my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (David Johnston) was a tour de force. In fact it was a tour de Didcot. I am not going to give the House a tour of Milton Keynes, because there is plenty to do, but if Members were to take a tour of Milton Keynes, it would probably take them about 10 minutes by car. As my wife says, everything is 10 minutes away in Milton Keynes. It is a very functional city.

Mine is a constituency of three parts. There is the city itself—home of the concrete cows, of course—then there is the rural bit, at the northern end of my constituency. As a lad, my first job was sweeping yards on farms and driving tractors in fields whose produce was destined to be exported through the ports mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Tom Hunt) as part of Britain’s contribution to the world. That part of the constituency is incredibly important to me. The third bit is what I call the frontier of Milton Keynes, and I will get to that in a second.

The city of Milton Keynes is the No. 1 destination for business and finance investment outside of London. It is a hub for finance, tech, innovation and industry, as evidenced by the recent opening of Santander’s tech innovation hub, which is worth 6,000 jobs in the constituency.

There is much more to Milton Keynes than business and finance, however. People can shop, ski, dine and drink. In Milton Keynes, our groceries are delivered by robots, and our cycleways are shared with driverless car pods. We are a city that is going places. Our city boasts more waterways than Venice and green spaces that are 10 times the size of Hyde Park and, of course, it is home to the Concrete Cow Brewery—I can recommend the MK IPA.

The rural north of the constituency is geographically the most substantial part of the constituency. It features well-run, well-managed, environmentally sustainable farms that not only contribute to our nation’s food supply, but husband the countryside. It has wonderful villages—vibrant, lively communities—and two beautiful market towns. The market town of Olney is slightly older than Milton Keynes—only a thousand years or so—and the market town of Newport Pagnell, where I spent a considerable amount of time talking to people during the election campaign, is beautiful in a way that only those of us born in market towns can describe. There is something special about market towns, but it is difficult to convey. I spent a lot of time talking to people in Newport Pagnell and, although I did not agree with everybody on matters of policy and politics, we all agreed that Newport Pagnell should remain a market town and not become a suburb of a wider urban metropolis. It is important to retain that character.

That brings me to the third segment of the Milton Keynes North constituency that I mentioned: the frontier. This is the bit of Milton Keynes that is so new that we are still building it. It is a wonderful place. It is a great place to live, work, bring up a family, and grow a business, but we are suffering from reckless over-expansion. Thousands of houses are being bolted on to the side of Milton Keynes. The city, of course, is famous for its grid system and its roundabouts, but the roads are clogging up due to those thousands of new houses on the edge of Milton Keynes. We need our growth to be sustainable, appropriate, affordable and proportionate, and I will strongly champion that, not only for Milton Keynes but for many other places.

Of course, like any other town, Milton Keynes has issues such as knife crime. It is devastating and heartbreaking when a young life is extinguished by a blade, and we need to sort this situation. The extra 20,000 police officers will definitely make a difference, and 183 of them are already in recruitment for our local force. They will be complemented by a further 69 uniformed police officers and 140 extra back-office staff to do intelligence gathering, and that really is the key. We need to re-task our police to get tougher on the postcode gangs and to break up the scourge on society that is knife crime.

We also have an issue with homelessness, and my first constituency meeting as the MP for Milton Keynes North was with the Milton Keynes Homelessness Partnership. It does fantastic work and I am sure that it, like me, welcomes this week’s announcement of an extra £700,000 from the Government for Milton Keynes to support our fight against homelessness. Interestingly, my meeting with the partnership was set up by a man called Festus Akinbusoye. Festus is a board member of the YMCA. He is also a self-made man and an adviser to me and other MPs on issues such as community safety and knife crime. Festus was previously a resident of the YMCA in Milton Keynes. Nearly two decades ago, when he had nothing but a roof over his head, the YMCA allowed him to get his life together and make a success of himself. He is now a self-made man, he is an adviser to MPs, and I am very proud to say that he is also chairman of the Milton Keynes Conservative federation.

Milton Keynes, like the Conservative party, is a place of opportunity. These opportunities come from our companies such as Aston Martin, and William Cowley, which makes the vellum upon which the laws we make in this place are inscribed. Then there are the new technology companies like Starship Technologies, which makes those robots that deliver groceries. There are plenty of catapult companies working in artificial intelligence and driverless cars, and, of course, Milton Keynes is home to the most electric car charging points of any UK town or city.

We have 14 outstanding primary schools in the constituency and many wonderful secondary schools, at which it was a pleasure to speak during the campaign. With the schools, with the people, with the entrepreneurial spirit and with the right kind of investment in sustainable, affordable, appropriate growth, the second part of Milton Keynes’s first century can be even better than the first.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Daly (Bury North) (Con)]

Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. My seat of Bury North is made up of the townships of Ramsbottom, Bury and Tottington, and we are blessed with brilliant teachers, teaching assistants and other professionals who support all our children through their educational journeys. But we must do everything to ensure that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs have the best chance to thrive and succeed throughout their lives.

In my maiden speech, I will highlight my own experiences of outstanding educational practice by nurseries, schools and further education providers in my constituency. It has been an honour to serve for the past six years as chair of governors at Bury North’s only state nursery school, Hoyle Nursery School. We are situated in one of the most deprived wards in the borough of Bury, and most pupils come from deprived and disadvantaged backgrounds. They have limited life experience and on entry to the school most children are significantly below the expected developmental level for their age group. However, in the past four years, we have had two outstanding ratings from Ofsted, which is a tribute to the leadership of Val Kay—it is an honour to mention her name in this place; sadly, she passed away earlier this year—and the current headteacher, Rachel. I will quote from the most recent inspection report:

“Children get off to a flying start at this outstanding school. Staff…want the very best for each of the children. They believe that there is no limit to what children are capable of achieving.”

What better statement on education could one have?

A bespoke curriculum is put in place to ensure pupils are on track and ready for the next stage of their learning. We have a specialist special educational needs unit and fully inclusive educational provision to ensure there are no barriers to progress, no matter what issues the children have. I was going to say that no matter what their background, children make good progress at Hoyle Nursery School, but they do not; they make amazing progress, including the much-cherished pupils with special educational needs.

I am also a governor at Springside Primary School, which is another fantastic school in my constituency. Like many schools, Springside has had its issues, but following our recent Ofsted inspection we have moved from “requires improvement” to “good”. It is a good school, delivering good education to children in my area. That has been achieved by concentrating on an inclusive curriculum, supporting the developmental goals of all children and providing a bespoke curriculum for SEN pupils to thrive and succeed. I am proud to be associated with the school.

I will also highlight Bury College in my constituency. Last Friday, together with the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rossendale and Darwen (Jake Berry), and my hon. Friend the Member for Bury South (Christian Wakeford), I went to the college to support the proposed new £6.74 million health, innovation, science, maths, engineering and technology centre. The proposal is supported by £2.25 million from the Government growth deal fund and will provide a high-quality educational facility, delivering training and skills to equip young people in my constituency and the wider area to succeed in their working lives, specifically in careers in the NHS. It is a fantastic project and I thank the Minister for his input into it. I want to take every opportunity to praise those who are doing everything possible to improve the lives of the people of Bury North, including the Minister, who said:

“I think it’s an extraordinary story of ambition by the college and its leaders but also a partnership between the college and Government investing in the future of young people across this region.”

As the Member for Bury North, I will do all I can to continue to support all schools and educational providers in my constituency to deliver an outstanding educational journey, providing all Bury youngsters with the life skills and qualifications they need to thrive during their working lives. I should also say that we have many fantastic private sector nursery providers who are delivering outstanding educational provision.

My predecessor, James Frith, served on the Select Committee on Education in the last Parliament and was a vocal advocate for improvements to the education system. I have known James for many years and we both served as councillors together in Bury. I wish to pay tribute to his formidable campaigning skills and thank him for the courteous way he behaved towards me in the general election campaign. He is a good man; I wish him and his family well for the future.

It would be remiss of any Bury MP not to talk about the disgraceful circumstances that have led to Bury football club losing its football league status this season. Some 135 years of history and tradition have been ignored by the football authorities. The Football Association and the English Football League should prioritise the fans of clubs, who are the lifeblood of their existence. Thousands of people in my constituency continue to see Bury football club and its Gigg Lane home as central to our town’s identity. The club’s current predicament has impacted on local businesses and the wider economy, but more than that it has increased social isolation for those I have met and spoken to who have long supported their hometown club—some for 70 years—and now no longer see the friends they have made over a lifetime.

I pay tribute to everyone in Bury and elsewhere who is fighting to ensure that football returns to Gigg Lane, and I hope all Members in this House support the campaign. I will work together with others to ensure that the interests of football fans are properly defended by the football authorities and that football fans are not penalised due to the unscrupulous actions of owners. Let me quote my hon. Friend the Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Damian Collins), in his role as Chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Talking about Bury football club, he said:

“From the evidence we have received, we believe that the EFL’s failure to enforce its own rules and regulations both prior to and following”

the current chairman’s

“takeover of the club contributed to the problems that ultimately led to Bury’s expulsion.”

What an indictment that is.

Like all other Members, many other issues impact on my constituency. Due to the time, I shall comment on only three: first, I will continue to campaign to protect the green belt in my constituency; secondly, I will work with stakeholders to improve bus services, specifically the much-needed direct link between Ramsbottom in the north of my constituency and Manchester city centre; and thirdly, I will speak up for my Kashmiri constituents, who are concerned about human rights abuses in Kashmir.

It is the honour of my life to be given the opportunity to represent the residents of Bury North. I am delighted that Bury has elected two Conservative Members of Parliament for the first time since 1992. Although my hon. Friend the Member for Bury South is not here, I am sure we will make a formidable team, speaking on behalf of our borough. I have been a councillor in my constituency for more than seven years and a partner in a small business based in Bury, where I have worked for the past 12 years. I spent nine of those years as a criminal defence legal aid solicitor, representing the most vulnerable before Bury magistrates court.

We have touched on those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs, but I wish very briefly to mention Mathew. I began representing Mathew in court when he was 12 years of age. He was a young man from a terrible background, but he had more talent in his finger than I have in my body. At 12 years of age, he gave the best mitigation in a court room that I have ever heard. For seven years, I tried to keep him out of prison and, ultimately, I did not succeed. It is one of the great indictments of our society that, if Mathew had been born to a middle-class couple, he would be stood where I am now. We must do everything to make sure that Mathews do not fall through the net.

In conclusion, I pay tribute to my wife Joanne for her support and selflessness, which has allowed me to be here, and to everyone else who has supported me. For many years, I have played cricket, spectacularly badly, for Brooksbottom cricket club in my constituency. I urge the parliamentary cricket team to come to Brooksbottom to test the wicket out—

[Ben Everitt]

And to play you.

[James Daly]

Yes. I have loved cricket since being a young boy, but have not had the talent to match my aspiration. Over all the years I have played for Brooksbottom, I have not yet scored 50—after 10 years. I will continue to strive. The joy of being part of a team, working to a common goal and never giving up may be an apt description of my cricket, but I hope it is also a characteristic of my representation of my constituency.

I have one final secret that I would like to let you in on, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Bury North we have the finest football coach in this country. He is called Danny Grundy and he is the manager of Walshaw Wildcats under 8s. Above all else, I look forward to watching them on Saturday in the top-of-the-table clash with Shawside.