15/07/2012 Sunday Politics North West

In the north-west - 10 years on, what legacy did Manchester's

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1802 seconds

Commonwealth Games leave the Good afternoon.

10 years on - what legacy did Manchester's, 12 games leave the

region? Let me introduce this week's guest.

We have Kate Green, the Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, and Ben

Wallace the Conservative MP for Preston North and wire.

Ben Wallace, we see that the Government is bringing in a more or

free schools next year. They are making that announcement this week.

Ivy a good thing? They are a good thing where there is a need. Where

parents have felt there has not been the correct provision, and

local authorities have not been as responsive as they should be, there

is a need. What we have to make sure is that the need is in the

right place and that appearance demands are met. That does not mean

that everybody has to have them. It does not mean the are right for

everywhere. They are controversial. I knew a supporter of them? But I

do not see that there is a real need for focusing attention and

resources on them. I lot of them are being set up for her

idiosyncratic reasons. They are or diverting resources out of

mainstream education. I am not prioritising them. Let us stick

with education. The government might like three schools and they

also like academies. Those are schools of greater independence

from the local council. This week ministers have turned the Whitehall

spotlight on Lancashire saying there are too many underperforming

schools there. They want 32 of them to become academies.

Hello. Do you know about shaking hands? She also knows about

twisting arms. Liz Sidwell is the schools commissioner. Her job is to

raise standards. She thinks academies like this one in

Hambleton are the answer. We are looking at an agreement with

additional people who will come on the government body and who will

bring a sustainable solution. Hambleton happily became a primary

academy last January. There is a renewed sense of commitment and

value from the staff. That will raise standards for the future. If

you get a fantastic staff you want to keep them. As the children make

vegetable soup, the government's own recipe is cooking. There are

400 AD for primary-school across Lancashire. The government

calculates one-third of children are leaving without the basics in

English and Maths. 32 schools are failing according to last year's

Ofsted inspections. Schools like Walverdon Primary in Nelson. The

government ordered it to become an academy but the school is appealing.

We have seen continual improvement. However we have not had enough time

for this to go through the whole school. The Conservative controlled

county council says it is already improving standards. They must have

a plan and a timescale as to what they are going to do. I feel

strongly that it is wrong to force a school to become an academy if

they do not want to. The Government is certain that academies are

better and might well try to force schools to join the club.

Joining us in the studio is Professor Mark Brundrett from John

Moores University. Do academies work? Do they boost standards?

jury is out. Some people argue that academies have outperformed normal

schools. His evidence to that effect that they are more

successful. But that is quite a short timescale. There are

colleagues of mine who would argue that the numbers are not that

robust. They mean comparison tends to be made with charter schools in

the United States. Again no they have had some success. But it is a

short time horizon to make a judgment. Ben Wallace, you have got

one of these underperforming schools in your constituency. Do

you want it to become an academy? Some of the problems that it has

need to be fixed. The local authority and the education

authority has not been fixed in there. Nor have the governors of

the school. One of the reasons that academy path is attractive to both

my government and the last government is that it is about

trying to seek other solutions to a problem that has not be fixed under

the old system. We're ahead is allowed to lead, a governor can

take responsibility, those schools improve. But they can do that at

the moment. Under Lancashire County Council, Geoff Driver a

Conservative, said they can lead. He said they are putting �5 million

more in. Turning them into academies is not necessary. If a

group of governors are not doing their job properly, or the head and

the governors think they are doing fine, children's lives are taken by

in the process, it is high and do the local -- it is difficult under

the it structure to bring change. It is easier under the academy

structure. That is an issue that both governments and the past have

search for solutions to. Kate Green, this was originally your

Government's idea. Would you like to see more academies in

Lancashire? I cannot comment on that the situation in Lancashire.

But in general? The answer does not lie fundamentally in the structures.

It lies in good leadership. It lies in having resources for the schools.

It is also important that it is a consensus around the kind of school

that people want. Their idea that these 26 schools in Lancashire

should all become academies against the wishes of a lot of local people

seems to be at odds with Michael Gove's apparent interest in betting

parents set the terms. If you look at the figures here, the Government

is saying that one-third of children are leaving Lancashire's

prima schools without the basics in English and Maths. Is that true?

How can that still be the case? What is the answer? It is true

according to government statistics. It is bad is it not? It is. Their

evidence does show that good leadership is one of the keys to

effective education. If we empower head teachers that is a tremendous

benefit. Over the past 20 years the movement has been to give head

teachers more and more power. Some head teachers are very keen on

academy status. They feel it gives them that kind of power. Others

would say we already have much of that kind of power. Much of the

budget is devolved to as. It is nice to stay within the support of

the local authority. The issue is open to question. We will see which

is more effective over time. There are heads at the moment who see

academies as a distraction. There was certainly no

underperformance 10 years ago when the Commonwealth Games came to

Manchester. At the time critics warned that the City would not be

able to cope with such a big sporting event and that they would

be years of debt. What is the legacy? Our correspondent has been

finding out. Manchester's arrival on the modern

world stage. It is my pleasure in this my golden jubilee year to

declare the 17th, of Games open. But opening ceremony of their games.

That was then, this is now. This stadium is currently home to

Premier League champions Manchester City. Back then it was the

centrepiece of the Commonwealth Games.

More than 5,000 athletes and officials from 72 countries took

part in 17 sports in front of a global television audience of 1

billion people. It cost �110 million. �77 million was provided

by Sport England. The rest was provided by the city council.

People ask what was the legacy? One legacy was that people walk taller.

They are proud to say that they were involved with the Commonwealth

Games. They are proud that be hosted the Commonwealth Games which

was a success. For every pound the council Britain they got almost

three back. Not immediately, but all on the back of the Games.

were very clear that in planning, organising, and delivering, it was

important that we did not just plan and deliver two weeks. We also used

to the sporting events to create a platform for a long-term legacy and

investment. As part of a post Games event programme the city has lost

at a number of large events. A Champions League final. At

Paralympic World Cup. 2008 was a stand-out year - the biggest year

of sport since the Games. Manchester hosted three world

championships and three world-class events.

10 years on the benefits are still coming. In a deal renegotiated in

2010, Manchester City paid the council �3 million per year to play

here. That money still goes into grassroots sport. It is somewhat of

all accounts. It is used to support sports development programmes

throughout the city. It allows schools access to these world-class

facilities. It also ensures that the facilities are maintained to a

high quality. While the cluster of the venues created for the Games

remains buoyant and will use, up the supporting area of the city is

also earmarked for major regeneration. It is hoped that

regeneration will be accelerated by 20 years as a result of the El --

as a result of the Games in 2002. A recent report showed their eyrie at

is still one of the most deprived in the country.

What did the games do for this region? It did not affect us.

are a lot of new buildings caught up. They are making it better. The

difference now is unbelievable. Business has been brought to the

area. It has done a lot for it to be honest. You will not transform

somewhere. It is not going to happen. But if the people living

there say they think it is better, what better positive feedback do

you want? The buzz word for London 2012 his legacy. There will be

envious eyes looking north at what Manchester has achieved.

With as in the studio is Lesley Giddings who was the director of

the Commonwealth Games in 2002. When it you were planning the

Commonwealth Games 10 years ago how important was the issue of legacy?

It was fundamental. The reason why Manchester initially wanted Alan

Biggs -- wanted the Olympics, was as part of a milestone. It was not

just about putting on a great show, it was also about what could be

done for Manchester as a result. think so. Putting on a great show

as part of that. Are you have to put on a great show. That will get

people looking at you and thinking about you and investing in you.

What about the Olympic Games? Do you feel that they have been done

in such a way that it is a legacy there for the rest of the country,

as opposed to just London? I hope so. There is huge excitement in my

constituency. We will be hosting the football. Will you go to it?

have not been able to get a ticket. A I did not think it was sold out.

I went on line and it was impossible to get a ticket. There

has been a lot of thought to making the most of the Olympics. You could

see that when the torch came through Manchester a couple of

weeks ago. Even in my part of the city, when the torch came through

on a very wet day, there were hundreds of people out talking

about sport and wanting to engage in what is coming. We have also

seen a load of other legacy activities beginning to develop

around culture. You do not have Old Trafford in your constituency.

There is no Olympic football beer. What about you? Is there enough

from other bits? I hope so. Manchester had great leadership. It

had a direction. As a city it believed in itself. It crystallised

all those things together. The Commonwealth Games brought

redevelopment of the centre. I do not know of the Olympics will do

that. Did they, of games too much for the rest of the region, or just

for Manchester? A Manchester does well, the region does well. Preston

is doing well. Manchester is a powerhouse in the north-west. It

started back in the 1990s. It, of games, the football. It is a city

that believes in itself. What we have to work out about the 2012

Olympics is the events, the redevelopment, whether or not the

Amir of London will capitalise on that. If he does that then we can

replicate what happened. When you were doing it, we have games did

you think about the future? We had a programme of regeneration. Some

people question that it had done enough for her East Manchester.

spread the benefits as far as possible. We had a range of social

projects. We had a volunteer programme for excluded communities.

We had a whole range of people involved. It is a sports event. You

cannot change the world with a sports event. We were tried to

impact on as many people as we could. Will there be enough legacy

from the Olympics? It is too early to say. There is a real challenge

with their Olympics because it is so big. They have done a lot of

things. There is a programme of volunteers. It will be interesting

to see over the next 10 years if they can sit I might we Annecy it

was fabulous. In true Olympic style here is a hundred yards - through

some of the news in the region. Plans to shut six factories

employing disabled people in the North West are being supported by a

local Conservative MP. Factories in our region are to shut later this

year. M P Paul Maynard who had cerebral palsy himself told the

Commons he does not believe in segregated employment. Young people

have higher aspirations that has spent 40 years of their working

lives in segregated employment. Chief Minister of Isle of Man says

there are no plans for the islands to go independent. He says now is

not the time to go independent. But he does say the issue should be

looked at. I campaign launched in the region

for the installation of defibrillators in public buildings

was taken to Westminster. The campaign was set up in the name of

a boy who died at a swimming pool when his heart stopped.

We are of a year until September. Will you be seeing any of the

Olympics? From Television Centre. I have got