Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Thursday 20th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Paul Howell (Sedgefield) (Con)]

As always, it is a privilege to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Wantage (David Johnston). As many Members have already said, we all aspire to represent and promote our communities in the way Sir David Amess was famous for. Unlike him, I do not have a town that is big enough for me to campaign to make it into a city; however, I do have Newton Aycliffe, which has its 75th birthday this year. It is also the 75th birthday of its community newspaper, Newton News, and for Newton Press, it is 60 years—I got that wrong two weeks ago, so I needed to correct that detail.

At the start, I would like to commend the hon. Member for Swansea East (Carolyn Harris) for her work on the menopause and give a call-out to a constituent of mine, Kathrine Winter, who works very hard in that space as well. I also offer my support to Rob Potts in his campaign to be the police and crime commissioner for Durham and Darlington in the upcoming elections, and I encourage the current PCC to make sure that the community retains its complement of police officers, which is currently under threat because the facility is being challenged by having to share with the fire station. That needs to be sorted, in the short term and also, critically, in the long term. I do not want to have to wait for Rob to get elected before we get this sorted out—it needs to be done much earlier than that.

The main theme I want to talk about is opportunity through education. Education is a lifelong opportunity. I was elected on a manifesto that recognised and promised to address the need to equalise educational opportunities across our nations. Breaking for summer recess gives us an opportunity to look back on what we have done so far, and I will talk about the progress we are making in Sedgefield. It has always been accepted that the best way to improve your situation or to get out of poverty is through work, and the better your education, the better the chance to take work opportunities when they arise. It is important that the Government help to deliver the platforms and that students are able to make informed choices.

In 2019, 77% of the schools in my constituency were rated good or outstanding; now, 91% are. As the APPG for “left behind” neighbourhoods that I chair found, education is critical, even more so in left-behind neighbourhoods, so I thank local trusts for their support. I look to the dormant assets scheme to deliver a community wealth fund to help these communities.

Since 2019, the Government have committed to investing in a number of our local schools, including Woodham Academy, Ferryhill Station Primary School, Forest Park School and Greenfield Community College. I am thrilled at the work going on at Woodham Academy in Newton Aycliffe. The complete rebuild of this secondary school is expected to be finished in September next year, so we are one academic year away from its reopening. The development is funded through the Department for Education’s school rebuilding programme, and facilities include a swimming pool, a sports hall and a fitness studio. As well as benefiting students, it will be open to the community outside school hours.

Woodham Academy is doing everything it can to ensure that the building is green from the ground up, with heat pumps and photovoltaic panels to reduce the carbon impact. It will have electric vehicle charging facilities, but also cycle parking, and I think the Government need to continue their efforts to encourage our children to walk or cycle to school wherever possible.

Ferryhill Station is another local school benefiting from the rebuilding programme. Built in the 19th century, the school has been enjoyed by generations of students, but it is definitely showing its age. Although Ferryhill Station’s plans are at an earlier stage than Woodham’s, as a former chair of the governors at the primary school, I am confident that they will be just as ambitious and I look forward to seeing the outcome.

From next year, we will also have Forest Park School, a small special educational needs school for students aged 11 to 16 that is focused on enabling them to grow academically and socially. It plans to offer adapted extracurricular activities, so that students who find standard offerings difficult to access can still enjoy them. I have been to the school; the way it is developing is outstanding, and I really look forward to its delivery. Developments at Greenfield Community College in Aycliffe will also help to deliver improved provision, and I look forward to those concluding.

As we all know, though, schools are nothing without excellent teachers. I have visited many of the schools in Sedgefield and I applaud all the teachers, teaching assistants, kitchen staff and estate staff who deliver for our young people. All of them made fantastic efforts throughout the pandemic years, and many have made a huge difference, but our young people have still had the most disrupted education of any generation for many a year. I congratulate all those who persevered and have continued their education.

I call out in particular the Ferryhill ambassadors for their community engagement, Hardwick Primary in Sedgefield for being nominated as one of the top 10 schools worldwide for innovation, and Deaf Hill Primary for its success in the Kellogg’s Breakfast Club awards. When I call out some schools but miss out others, I know it is a risk, but from Welbeck in the north to Hurworth in the south, Bishopton in the east and Heighington in the west, and everywhere in the 250 square miles in between, there are examples of excellence.

As students progress, their opportunities come from having choices and applying themselves. It is crucial that their choices are informed and that they see options like University Technical College South Durham, rated third out of 4,518 schools in England for students entering an apprenticeship. Questions have been asked about some UTCs and T-levels, but the partnership UTC South Durham has with Hitachi and Gestamp means we have an outstanding facility in Newton Aycliffe.

As the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education have said, university choices need to be clear; students need to be very aware of the life options that will arise from their choices, and the universities have to provide courses that deliver full value. Sedgefield is not blessed with a university, but we are surrounded by them. We have Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria, Teesside and Sunderland, all of which give complementary opportunities for students to choose from. I am an alumnus of Durham, I studied night classes at Teesside, and I have been to the Newcastle and Northumbria campuses. While space must be left for those who want non-vocational study, it is imperative that universities engage with businesses to deliver the workforce of the future.

I have talked with many businesses about their needs and I have seen some fantastic engagement recently, particularly in Durham and Northumbria, in support of our growing space and semiconductor industries. Northumbria University recently received a £5 million award from the UK Space Agency to develop a new laser-based communication system.

A good public transport service is essential for our students to get to school or college, but such a service is not available for people in the Trimdons, Ferryhill, Cornforth, Fishburn and Sedgefield in particular. Just like my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Peter Gibson), I believe it is imperative that Arriva and our local councils get together to solve the bus problems that exist in our area.

[Ian Mearns]

I have listened carefully to what the hon. Gentleman has said. I am a member of the Education Committee. In order for our students to get to colleges or apprenticeships, they need not only good public transport, but good quality, independent and impartial careers information, educational advice and guidance to direct them there in the first place and to show them what opportunities exist. I am afraid to say, however, that independent and impartial advice is not always available in many institutions that provide education to those below the age of 18.

[Paul Howell]

I can only agree about the need for that information. I drive around an industrial estate in Aycliffe that has 10,000 jobs and lots of boxes in it. Behind each one of those boxes, there are so many different careers and opportunities. Getting visibility of that is absolutely crucial.

I am pleased to say that a north-east mayoralty has been created, covering the area from Newton Aycliffe, in my Sedgefield constituency, all the way through Northumberland to the Scottish border. The area has been allocated one of the investment zones, and I hope it will position itself as an arc from Sedgefield to Blyth, recognising innovation and science throughout the north-east. Attracting the right prime to support that should be a critical part of the role of the new metro Mayor, when they are appointed. That prime could then be a key platform for building career paths and educational pathways for the north-east’s students.

Students need to know about how such pathways can lead to great careers. When it comes to communicating opportunity, role models are a great tool. One of the best role models I have come across is our new chancellor of Durham University, Dr Fiona Hill. With her story, from the back streets of Bishop Auckland to Washington DC, or, as she calls it,

“from the coal house to the White House,”

Fiona is committed to supporting social mobility and I could not be more supportive of what she is trying to achieve.

While highlighting extraordinary stories like Fiona’s, we need the breadth of opportunities to be visible too. We need to shine a light on and support the extraordinary businesses and research in our area, because that will inspire people to apply. It is through personal application that opportunities arise. In my youth, there was a golfer called Gary Player, who said:

“The harder I work, the luckier I get.”

We need to inspire our young people to work hard and get lucky.

I conclude, as most Members have done, by thanking you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and the members of Mr Speaker’s team for their service, and I thank the people around this great place for everything they have done to make our lives easier. I thank my team—David, Maggie, Doug, Hannah and Jonathan—and, as always, my family and friends. My wife is in the Gallery; the biggest thanks go up there. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I wish everybody a happy recess.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Mearns]

I think I am subject to another Government cut here, Mr Deputy Speaker. [Laughter.] This has been a wide-ranging and well-supported parliamentary event, with an oft-repeated theme of ticket office closures, and I am glad that the rail Minister has been here to reflect on some of that. It has been a fitting tribute to the memory of Sir David Amess, and I also need to mention the Member who was not here but who was—the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).

Mr Deputy Speaker, to you, right hon. and hon. Members across the House, and all the staff who work tirelessly to support the functions of the House and keep us safe, I wish a fantastic and well-deserved summer recess. I wish Members safe journeys back to their constituencies, homes and loved ones.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Before everybody disappears, I just want to say that the spirit of Sir David Amess and his light absolutely shine bright on our proceedings. We all miss him greatly. We all have great memories of Sir David, and his spirit remains here.

I thank all my staff, because they at the frontline and take a lot of the flak before it gets anywhere near us, so we are grateful for them. All the staff who work here, from the Clerks to the cleaners, from the secretaries to the security, make sure that our democracy works as well as it does.

I want you all to have a superb recess. As president of the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Show, I look forward to welcoming thousands of visitors to the Ribble Valley tomorrow and over the weekend, demonstrating how important rural agriculture is to this country. Have a great recess everybody.