Breaking up
Yesterday was the last day of Parliament before the summer recess. But for those of us who sit on the Treasury Select Committee, today was the last day as we had an existing meeting with the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, arranged before the Parliamentary session dates were finalised, which we could hardly postpone!
I'll go off on a quick tangent here to give a brief overview of this morning's committee meeting for those of you who might be interested.
There wasn't actually enough time to ask all the questions that I would have liked but it was useful to be able to meet with the Governor before the summer recess to address a few points. He remained considerably sceptical. Despite the strong 1.1 percent estimate of GDP growth in the second quarter that was announced last week, King said that we shouldn't read too much into it and that we are still far from confident that the recovery can be sustained. He added that it was very much a balancing act to provide the right amount - not too much, not too little - of stimulus to improve the economic outlook, but that he looked forward to smoother times ahead. I think we all do!
Now back to the main thread.
It's been an odd final week, or rather few days, in Parliament. Usually it is used as a wind up period and an opportunity to tie up any loose ends, not to rush through huge bills with no real chance to scrutinise the detail of the proposals, as was the case with the Conservative/LibDem coalition's Academies Bill on Monday night. These methods are commonly only used to pass emergency terrorism legislation, so it's safe to say that it's almost unprecedented to push such major public services reforms through with just a few weeks between its publication and its passage onto the statute book.
The Academies Bill diverts the previous Labour Government's Academies scheme from improving the weakest schools to helping only the strongest, at the expense of the majority of other schools. This paves the way for the Conservatives' "free market" schools where parents' groups and private companies will be able to open new schools with funding from the taxpayer, even where there are already sufficient places. The reforms are based on Sweden's schooling model, which actually promoted inequality and an overall drop in standards.
You may have picked up a copy of the Enfield Advertiser today. In it I wrote an article on the devastating impact of the loss of the Building Schools for the Future programme in our local area. We are still unsure as to whether our two academies in Edmonton - Turin Grove and Gladys Alyward - will have their funding cut like the rest of the schools, or whether they will be able to continue with their improvement plans as promised. The new Academies Bill compounds the disappointment felt by the schools that have had their funding cut, as the money that would have gone to them will be used to fund free schools. These are plans that even the LibDems have called "madness," a "gimmick" and a "shambles."
It is a shame that we are now going into the summer recess with such a bad taste in our mouths over this Bill, and with no option for official debate or recourse until Parliament returns on Monday 6th September. I shall be doing what I can in the constituency but I fear that it won't be enough to change the course that our local schools are headed down.
Happy holidays?
I'll go off on a quick tangent here to give a brief overview of this morning's committee meeting for those of you who might be interested.
There wasn't actually enough time to ask all the questions that I would have liked but it was useful to be able to meet with the Governor before the summer recess to address a few points. He remained considerably sceptical. Despite the strong 1.1 percent estimate of GDP growth in the second quarter that was announced last week, King said that we shouldn't read too much into it and that we are still far from confident that the recovery can be sustained. He added that it was very much a balancing act to provide the right amount - not too much, not too little - of stimulus to improve the economic outlook, but that he looked forward to smoother times ahead. I think we all do!
Now back to the main thread.
It's been an odd final week, or rather few days, in Parliament. Usually it is used as a wind up period and an opportunity to tie up any loose ends, not to rush through huge bills with no real chance to scrutinise the detail of the proposals, as was the case with the Conservative/LibDem coalition's Academies Bill on Monday night. These methods are commonly only used to pass emergency terrorism legislation, so it's safe to say that it's almost unprecedented to push such major public services reforms through with just a few weeks between its publication and its passage onto the statute book.
The Academies Bill diverts the previous Labour Government's Academies scheme from improving the weakest schools to helping only the strongest, at the expense of the majority of other schools. This paves the way for the Conservatives' "free market" schools where parents' groups and private companies will be able to open new schools with funding from the taxpayer, even where there are already sufficient places. The reforms are based on Sweden's schooling model, which actually promoted inequality and an overall drop in standards.
You may have picked up a copy of the Enfield Advertiser today. In it I wrote an article on the devastating impact of the loss of the Building Schools for the Future programme in our local area. We are still unsure as to whether our two academies in Edmonton - Turin Grove and Gladys Alyward - will have their funding cut like the rest of the schools, or whether they will be able to continue with their improvement plans as promised. The new Academies Bill compounds the disappointment felt by the schools that have had their funding cut, as the money that would have gone to them will be used to fund free schools. These are plans that even the LibDems have called "madness," a "gimmick" and a "shambles."
It is a shame that we are now going into the summer recess with such a bad taste in our mouths over this Bill, and with no option for official debate or recourse until Parliament returns on Monday 6th September. I shall be doing what I can in the constituency but I fear that it won't be enough to change the course that our local schools are headed down.
Happy holidays?