Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Stephen Metcalfe

Thursday 20th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Stuart Andrew]

I know that my hon. Friend has been campaigning hard on this issue, and we had a Westminster Hall debate on it very recently. I have committed to looking at some of the structures, but we need to see more evidence that the limits already there are not being reached at the moment. I will certainly keep the matter under review.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking to support skills and training in the creative industries.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Stephen Metcalfe

Thursday 15th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stuart Andrew)]

That is precisely why we are working at pace to try to get exactly that information. The evidence that we have been receiving shows a mixed picture, so rather than just giving everybody a bit, I would rather ensure that we target those areas that need it most. I assure the hon. Member that I am as keen as he is to get that money out of the door as quickly as possible.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

Further to the question from the hon. Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore), 18% of all female criminal prosecutions in 2021 were for the non-possession of a television licence, which seems completely unreasonable. Will my right hon. and learned Friend meet me and my constituent Josiane to discuss that further and receive a 250,000-signature petition asking for decriminalisation?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Stephen Metcalfe

Thursday 9th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stuart Andrew)]

As I said earlier, I am acutely aware of the difficulties that are being felt, but they are happening in different parts of the country, which is why we are taking time to have a look at exactly where those specific problems are and what measures we may be able to take to introduce some help and support. The other thing to think about is that some of these buildings are very old and very expensive to run, so we perhaps need to consider a longer-term solution as well.

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

As my hon. Friend will know, the creative industries have grown at twice the rate of the wider economy since 2010. Does she agree that, by harnessing the power of science and technology, the sector can continue to prosper and grow? Will she meet me to discuss what more we can do to ensure that this is the place in which to create digital content?

Improving School Leadership

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Stephen Metcalfe

Wednesday 10th September 2014 Westminster Hall

[Stephen Metcalfe]

I completely agree with the right hon. Gentleman that it is about the team. Successful schools tend to have a good head teacher with a good team around them, which is often down to the head teacher’s inspirational leadership. I agree that, where a school faces particular challenges, it is not a bad idea for it to be able to be flexible in the pay and conditions that it offers staff.

Speed is paramount, which is why the achievements at Woodlands school are so important. Students mostly get only one chance of an education, and for every day, week or month that they are not receiving a good education, we are doing them an incredible disservice, potentially damaging their future prospects and hampering their chances of reaching their full potential. We should celebrate the fact that Karen Kerridge has set the school back on the right path in less than a year, and we should thank her.

I would like to celebrate all the schools that are doing well in my constituency, but I am conscious of time and I want to hear what the Minister has to say. I am fortunate to have some great leaders who are helping to ensure that education in my constituency is improving, but unfortunately that is not the case everywhere. Unfortunately, there are too many schools that may not have the right leader with all the right skills and talents to deliver the kind of education that our children need, and often that is not the leader’s fault.

More than ever before, we have to deliver a world-class education, and we need able leaders to do that. It is a tough, difficult job that is not suitable for everyone. The job is different from any other in our education system. As the system is currently designed, however, if someone wants career progression, the obvious path is to head towards taking up a management role and, ultimately, their own headship.

But, as I said, being an inspirational, dynamic and consistent head teacher is like no other role in our education system. Head teachers have to manage complex and large budgets, perhaps a large staff body, premises and a range of other challenges. They are running medium-sized businesses, and they have to be able to deal with that fairly, consistently and in an orderly and professional manner, and many, many do. Despite all the training available and all the mentoring that can be given, we occasionally find that the wrong person has found themselves in an unsuitable job.

I suspect it is a bit like being an MP. Whatever a person imagines the job to be, it is not until they are actually in the hot seat that they fully understand everything it involves and know whether they are personally suited to it. However, an MP can step down at an election and pursue a different path without it being the end of their working life, but head teachers who feel they are in the wrong role have nowhere to go, which can cause problems both for them and for the school.

There are three options when that happens, none of which is a satisfactory solution. First, if the governors recognise that the wrong person is in the job they can initiate capability proceedings, which is a painful, devastating and destabilising experience for all involved, including the staff and students. It may force out of the profession an otherwise excellent teacher, which is a loss both for them and for the wider education system. Nobody gets to be a head teacher without being a good teacher and an asset to the system, and it would be a shame to lose all their talents simply because they lack some of the talents required to do a specific job.

Secondly, there is the “do nothing” option: the school coasts along, slowly declining, because the issue is put on the “too difficult to tackle” pile. Supporters of the school increasingly have to defend the declining performance and prop up the senior management team until finally a devastating Ofsted report is published that presents incontrovertible evidence that the school is not performing as it should. Suddenly, the head teacher is vilified and forced to leave the school and probably the profession, possibly to retire. Again, the damage done can be incalculable for the school, which may have failed students for years; for the head teacher, who has left a profession they probably love; and for the community they served, which feels let down.

Finally, there is the “hope and pray” approach: the governors hope the individual will move on or retire while they try to support those around the head until things get better. Unfortunately, that rarely happens, so one of the other options is usually adopted.

The problem with all those approaches is that even if the ultimate outcome is good, it can take years to deliver. However, there is no time to waste when delivering education. We need a system that supports great teachers, and encourages and nurtures fantastic leaders, but is fleet of foot enough to act rapidly if somebody finds themselves in a role they are not suited for and does not result in their having to leave the profession.

I turn to the role of the governors and the governing body. Having been a governor, I know how dedicated, selfless and hard-working they are. The role is becoming ever more demanding and requires a high degree of professionalism to be carried out well. Governors are the unsung heroes of our education system, and I want to thank them personally for what they do and apologise if they feel my earlier remarks were critical of them. The problem is that, as schools’ independence increases, the role of the governing body grows in importance, and it falls to the governors to hold the head and the school to account more than ever before.

[Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. He is making an important and excellent point about the impact of not taking action. I want to strengthen his point by saying that if governing bodies do not make that decision early, it becomes a much bigger problem for them, the school and the wider community.

[Stephen Metcalfe]

I thank my hon. Friend for his excellent point. I was just coming to that issue. He is entirely right that speed is important, but that means that governors have to make some difficult decisions.

UNHCR Syrian Refugees Programme

Debate between Stuart Andrew and Stephen Metcalfe

Wednesday 29th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in this important debate. I welcome the Government’s statement, which is a positive step in response to a positive call, and I am pleased to hear that we will not descend into a political argument over this.

It is hard not to be moved by the images of suffering and pain that we have seen on our television screens and in our newspapers. The humanitarian tragedy that is unfolding is, as we have heard, the greatest in modern times. The numbers vary, but at least 2.4 million are displaced externally and many millions more internally. It is a story of human misery and suffering and a growing humanitarian crisis on which we cannot turn our back.

Some might notice that I am still wearing the Holocaust memorial day badge and I am doing that to remind us of our duty. Yes, we have duties at home, but our duties do not end at our borders. They extend beyond them. These are men, women and children who need our help and I for one am proud of what we have done so far and today. I hope that the combined actions will stop the crisis becoming another in a growing list of examples of man’s complete inhumanity to man.

We talk proudly of the £600 million we have given in aid, and we are right to be proud of that. It is an achievement, but having just visited a camp on the borders of Syria and Turkey as part of an Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists group, I must say that the countries in the region are playing their part, too. We might be giving aid, but they are delivering it on the ground. Turkey estimates that it has spent about £2 billion on setting up camps to house its guests.

The purpose of the visit was to get a better idea of the situation, and I certainly think that we did. We met Turkish politicians to hear about their efforts and understand their commitment. They have a lot to be proud of. We met the Syrian opposition groups, both the Syrian Opposition Council and members of the Free Syrian Army. The opposition is a complex group representing the majority, but not necessarily all, of those who oppose the current regime. Understanding that is part and parcel of trying to find a solution.

The most important and moving part was visiting the Nizip 2 camp, one of 22 camps set up by the Turks which house approximately 140,000 of the 600,000 or 700,000 refugees who are now in Turkey. The camp we visited is home to 5,500 people, half of whom are under 18, and is made up of nearly 1,000 containers and other buildings. During our time there, we met the refugees—or guests, as the Turks like to call them—and the overwhelming view was that they just want to go home. They are waiting. They are cared for, they are safe and secure and they are fed and watered, so moment by moment they are okay. Scratch the surface, however, and there is fear, frustration and—dare I say—desperation.

As you go about the camp, seeing beautiful, happy, playful children, it is quite cheering until you stop and think, and ask what their future will be. Are they the lost generation? What are their education opportunities or their life opportunities? You start to feel their pain and try to carry out a small act of kindness, giving out sweets and warm clothing, only to be mobbed. A sense of how a situation can change strikes you and if you think too much about it, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sense of loss of hope.

Those people are our fellow humans, and anyone who is not moved by their plight needs to see it first hand. The problem is that Syria is a long way away and it is easy to push it out of sight and out of mind. If we were more local and it was in our own backyard, we would do even more than we are now, and we would persuade other people to do even more.

As I have said, I am pleased by today’s announcement. I have no objection to playing our full part in the UNHCR’s call for countries to take a number of refugees. Indeed, I feel that it is our moral and ethical obligation to play our part in helping the weak and the vulnerable, the displaced and the war-weary, but I do not want our action to be tokenistic. I am also concerned that we are taking people away from their natural communities and local support networks just to salve our consciences. I still believe that, as I have seen, the best place to provide the widest possible support to the largest number of people is on the ground, locally, within the region.

[Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. I was also on that trip and what struck me most was the fact that the camps were so well organised in providing education for the many children who are there and who want to go back and rebuild their country once the regime has gone. Does he not think that the investment in providing education to those children is a crucial element of the support we offer?

[Stephen Metcalfe]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. One feature of the camp we visited is the service the Turkish are providing in education and access to skills learning. Unfortunately, however, only 14% of children receive any form of formal education. The Turks are doing their best, so if we really want to help we could expand such services on the ground.

All that having been said, however, there are some who would truly benefit from the security and safety that Britain can offer. I support that, but we must remember that whatever we do will be only a small drop in a very large ocean and that by far the best way to help the largest number of people is, as we have heard, to bring all the sides together to resolve the conflict so that the poor souls we met on our trip who have been displaced can return home and start to build the secular, democratic and secure country that I am sure the majority desire.