I had the great pleasure of attending two events last Friday which were memorable. The first was a children’s opera, Dawn to Dusk at the Grange which had been written specifically for children. Pupils from Perins School and one in Basingstoke along with the Hampshire Youth Choir were very impressive.
The second was the presentation of the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards in the Great Hall in Winchester. One of my children completed the Gold Award so I know how much hard work is involved and we heard about each journey. There were several awards for those from Meon Valley so a particular congratulations to them for achieving such a prestigious accolade that is recognised by universities and employers.
This week I met City & Guilds to discuss skills. My work on education is about making sure young people have the skills employers need in the modern world. It is also important to assure employers that they are being listened to.
On Monday, we had an Education Select committee private roundtable on Ofsted. Having been a lay Ofsted inspector in the 1990s when it was first set up, it was interesting to hear the reflections of inspectors and academics about what they thought of the inspection system that has changed since I was an inspector.
We are doing an inquiry on it and the meeting will help shape the course of how it runs. I personally would like to see it go back to its original way of working. I think it was fairer as it gave inspectors longer in schools so we could really get a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses and help with school improvement. I am really looking forward to this inquiry!
I then ran to the Public Accounts Committee where we were talking about the Asylum Transformation Programme. We first thanked the department for its work on getting the passport office sorted and people are now receiving their passports in a timely manner – some as little as five days if it is all done digitally.
The same official oversees getting the asylum system sorted so I am very optimistic they will get rid of the backlog of casework deciding on the status of asylum seekers. We need to get them out of hotels and ensure that those who can stay go into the workplace where they can be productive.
This leads me onto the Illegal Migration Bill on Tuesday. As I mentioned before, I had grave reservations about some of the original bill and had several meetings with colleagues and Ministers on this. One was on the length of time of detention for children, which is now at eight days rather than the original 28 days. This is acceptable to me. Those who are young children will be processed quicker and put into appropriate accommodation. Those whose age is less certain will take the eight days. We were concerned about the suitable accommodation and have been assured that there is ongoing work on this. Pregnant women will be processed within 72 hours.
Modern slavery is still a concern but difficult to prove so I am waiting to see further amendments to this as Ministers have promised. The last issue I was concerned about was safe and legal routes. I had long discussions about this one with the Minister.
It will help stop the traffickers if we have a robust and fair system of identifying conflict countries that need our help and give legal routes that they might apply for asylum. We already are part of the UN system and have taken around 550,000 since 2015.
The Lords Amendment was a clause that the Secretary of State must, within two months of the publication of the report, make regulations specifying additional safe and legal routes. I thought this is too prescriptive but would like a transparent and regular system of identifying safe and legal routes and the Minister assured me they would look at this. The upshot is: I voted with the Government this time.
There will be further amendments and I hope that Ministers have listened to concerns and will adjust the Bill accordingly. It now goes back to the Lords. It is a very difficult bill but designed to help prevent people from taking dangerous crossings. We spent 3.5 hours voting on the 18 amendments and I know it could be longer when it comes back again from the Lords next week.
On Tuesday I had a health question and asked about the new hospital to be built between Winchester and Basingstoke over the next few years. This should be a centre of excellence with good outcomes and we need to keep reminding the Department because we don’t want any slippage in the timetable. My colleagues and I have asked for a meeting to press this point.
Work goes on to bring superfast broadband to Cheriton and Bramdean. I have been pressing Openreach and SSE so that the cables can travel on SSE's existing poles. I contacted the Chief Executive of SSE to speed things up after it emerged Openreach need a licence from SSE which they do not currently have. I expect agreement soon.
I have had other meetings on various countries and education plus a lot of reading of reports from the two select committees so they can be amended and published. I popped into the To Be Heart Safe Westminster drop-in. This charity raises awareness about Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome and was set up by Sam Richards whose 22-year-old son, Toby, died. It is usually inherited and the aim is to test 14-35yr olds as well as training in CPR.
I hope we will get to a point where everyone is genetically tested for potential risks so they can adjust their lifestyles but it is going to be very expensive. I met the former Premier League footballer, Fabrice Muamba, who suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch at Tottenham Hotspur’s match. It often impacts very fit people. Do let me know if you are interested in learning more.
Thursday was spent in Tidworth learning about the Royal Tank Regiment, which both my father and grandfather served in as regulars for many years. My grandfather was at the Battle of El Alamein when British and Commonwealth forces beat Germany’s Afrika Korps, and my father served at Suez. I was delighted have a go at commanding a tank myself!
This morning has been spent at Hampshire County Council with other Hampshire MPs to hear about the financial and other issues which affect our county.
I hope you have a great weekend.
