Amendment of the Law

Hazel Blears Excerpts

Monday 23rd March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Hazel Blears (Salford and Eccles) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr Walker). Perhaps he has caught a bit of the virus of optimism bias this evening, but it was a pleasure to hear what he had to say.

This is probably my last chance to speak in Parliament. I am sorry that it sounds to colleagues like a series of valedictory speeches, but we are all taking our opportunity, which I want to use to talk about an issue close to my heart, and it is what brought me into politics more than 30 years ago.

Poverty in Salford was all around me—poor housing, no jobs, but above all at that time a sense of hopelessness and a belief that things could never be different. I was brought up by parents who both left school at 14. They had no chance to stay on, but they were determined that their children would have the chance to do well and get on in life. I think my mum thought of the phrase, “Education, education, education” long before the former Prime Minister ever dreamed of it. Education was then and is now the key to progress and success, not just for individuals, but for our economy and our country as a whole. Social mobility is at the heart of that.

I shall start by saying a few words of thanks and congratulations—do not worry, it will not all be this nice—to the Chancellor and to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, in particular for finding £200,000 a year for the next couple of years to support the Speaker’s parliamentary placement scheme, which has been such a success and has changed the lives of so many young people over the past four years. I set it up because I was very worried about the fact that so many of our leading Members of Parliament and our Ministers came from what I called the transmission belt—being a special adviser, working for a Minister, getting a safe seat and being fast-tracked into the Cabinet. In 1979 only 3% of all MPs took that route. At the last election the figure was 25% and rising.

Our scheme aimed to bring working-class young people to work in Parliament—people who would never have got a foot in the door. They included Kay Nuttall from Salford, who had a fantastic experience here, went back to Salford, got a great job and stood to be a parent governor at her child’s school—a contested election that she won, and she is Labour. It is amazing. Another participant was Siraj Odedra, who stayed in Parliament and is working for my right hon. Friend the Member for Slough (Fiona Mactaggart). He no doubt will have a long and, I hope, successful career in politics as well. Thanks very much for taking that step. I thank all the Members of Parliament who helped me establish the scheme and those from all parties who have agreed to take it on. I hope we will have a long-lasting scheme that gives young people the sense that they come here and can make a difference to politics.

I thank Alan Milburn for his work on the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission. In his recent report, “Fair Access”, he said:

“Unpaid internships clearly disadvantage those from less affluent backgrounds who cannot afford to work for free for any length of time…Given their centrality to young people’s career prospects, internships should no longer be treated as part of the informal economy.”

That means that we should introduce proper terms and conditions, including remuneration. I am pleased to say that long-term unpaid internships are virtually a thing of the past in Parliament. When I came here, they were widespread. Unfortunately, they still exist in the media, fashion, culture and the creative industries. That means that unless young people have the bank of mum and dad, they cannot make that first step in life.

I thank the Social Mobility Foundation and Victor Blank, the chairman, and David Johnston, the chief executive officer, who have done so much to remedy that situation. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has just done an evaluation of the Social Mobility Foundation’s work. It found that those programmes give people the kind of back-up they would get if they had had a private school education or a good family background, which means that among those who go to university, the Social Mobility Foundation projects increase the likelihood of attending a Russell Group institution by between 17% and 27%, compared with those with similar attainment from similar backgrounds who do not participate in the SMF programme. It is making a real change to hundreds and thousands of young people’s opportunities in the future.

The final thing I want to highlight is a local project, because for all my political career, I have been extremely proud of the things that happen in my constituency. We have the RECLAIM project, which is a two-year leadership programme, again for young people, men and women, who would never get a chance to do such work. It aims to inspire, challenge and develop people to become true leaders for the future. A young woman called Jaimeel, a local girl, who has been through the project, says:

“When I started RECLAIM I had very little idea about who I was, who I wanted to be or where I wanted to go. Due to RECLAIM I have completed several work experience placements, including a project to design a gym. I am a member of a music collective. I have had a work experience placement with the Co-op and with Investec Specialist Banking.”

She is now on the second year of an accountancy degree at Birmingham university. Her life has been changed by the RECLAIM project.

The thing that concerns me most is that in real terms in the next period, education spending will fall by 7% and the widening participation budget has been slashed from £130 million to £67 million. This a false economy. All the examples I have given show that our young people have talent. If we give them hope, encouragement and support, they will have the same chances that people like me have had. I hope that the next Government will take that on and make it a reality.