:00:21. > :00:24.Here: Are schools in the North being pressurised into becoming
:00:24. > :00:28.academies with promises of extra funds? We report from Cumbria.
:00:28. > :00:38.This woman can't get the internet at home - we are in County Durham
:00:38. > :00:38.
:00:38. > :37:49.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2231 seconds
:37:49. > :37:54.finding out what life is like in Hello and a very warm welcome to
:37:54. > :37:59.your local part of the show. Coming up: This woman can't get onto the
:37:59. > :38:02.internet, and she's not alone. We report from County Durham on life
:38:02. > :38:05.in the broadband slow lane. And we'll be finding out why a
:38:05. > :38:08.North East peer is walking 3,000 miles from Greece to London.
:38:08. > :38:11.First, the worst performing primary schools, 16 of them in Cumbria and
:38:11. > :38:16.the North East, are going to be closed down and re-opened as
:38:16. > :38:19.academies outside the control of the local council. It is the latest
:38:19. > :38:22.Government move to create more academies, an idea conceived by
:38:22. > :38:25.Tony Blair a decade ago. As well as greater freedoms, new academy
:38:25. > :38:28.schools can expect to receive more money. But is that promise of extra
:38:28. > :38:38.resources forcing some schools into taking on academy status for fear
:38:38. > :38:39.
:38:39. > :38:44.of losing out if they don't? Emily Unia reports from Cumbria. Lunch
:38:44. > :38:48.time at this Academy in Workington. Leicester Pembroke it was the first
:38:48. > :38:52.school in Cumbria to take up the new offer from the government for
:38:52. > :38:56.Outstanding Schools to leave local a authority control and convert to
:38:56. > :39:02.academy status. For pupils there is a new name a new uniform, but for
:39:02. > :39:07.those running the school it means no more queuing for handouts.
:39:07. > :39:11.Primarily for us it was about freedom. Money was a factor because
:39:11. > :39:18.having the full funding entitlement for our children was also very
:39:18. > :39:24.important. Local a authorities take at portioned of all school budgets
:39:24. > :39:30.to spend on their behalf and schools like ours that do well
:39:30. > :39:37.achieve good results, don't cause any problems, don't get overlooked
:39:37. > :39:40.when the carving up of the General Pot's is made. Fight this all to
:39:40. > :39:46.Muff 50 more schools in Cumbria could become academies and it seems
:39:46. > :39:52.money is a motive. The fact is most of them are converting because they
:39:52. > :39:57.cannot afford not to convert. government give councils money to
:39:57. > :40:04.spend on education. The councils give most of that money to schools
:40:04. > :40:07.but they keep come of - - some of the back. But Academy Schools
:40:07. > :40:12.sidestepped the councils and get the money directly from central
:40:12. > :40:16.government. None of it is taken away. They paid for support
:40:16. > :40:21.services themselves. That is the attraction for schools like this.
:40:21. > :40:27.Critics say that the drive for more academies his divisive. It is
:40:27. > :40:32.trying to bribe the better schools into becoming academies. This is a
:40:32. > :40:40.good school. Why should it take it money from other schools in the
:40:40. > :40:46.area? That is quite an immoral stance, because you then think it
:40:46. > :40:54.is I'm all right, Jack. If you look much wider and have properly funded
:40:54. > :41:03.education throughout, then that is much better. The pleas from bomb
:41:04. > :41:08.macro this school decided not to become an academy. Mistakes and
:41:08. > :41:16.education budgets may mean that figure is revised, but that this
:41:17. > :41:22.central academy in Carlisle there is a word of warding two heads
:41:22. > :41:27.pursuing academy status for money alone. I hope they are not. If they
:41:27. > :41:32.are it is really naive and a short- term approach. Education is about
:41:32. > :41:37.the life chances of the children in our care. That is a long business.
:41:37. > :41:44.Any school that becomes an academy just for money has not worked out
:41:44. > :41:48.what this is all about. At the County Council, a decision by two
:41:48. > :41:53.leading schools to stay with the local authority is a vote of
:41:53. > :41:59.confidence in uncertain times. But there is no room for complacency.
:41:59. > :42:05.If more and more start to leave it will impact upon what money we have
:42:05. > :42:10.available for services. We're hopeful that by strengthening our
:42:11. > :42:14.services that people can buy them from us. The government says that
:42:14. > :42:20.academies have raised standards. But by once the worst performing
:42:20. > :42:22.primaries to make the switch, too. It expects high-achieving schools
:42:22. > :42:25.like this one to lend a helping hand.
:42:25. > :42:27.Well, let's talk about academy schools now with Mary Glindon, the
:42:27. > :42:33.Labour MP for North Tyneside, and Darlington councillor Ian Galletley,
:42:33. > :42:43.who is chairman of the Conservatives in the North East.
:42:43. > :42:44.
:42:44. > :42:52.You voted against the Government's Academy Schools legislation.
:42:52. > :42:58.Government has really turned is on the head. It was about turning
:42:58. > :43:03.schools around, about failing schools and helping people. Now it
:43:03. > :43:07.seems that money is an element and it isn't just about redressing
:43:07. > :43:11.inequalities. The announcement by Michael Gove that feeling primaries
:43:11. > :43:21.should become academies, that is tackling the schools that have
:43:21. > :43:25.failed. But, again, the worry is that he is taking 200 out of 1400.
:43:25. > :43:29.That premise school we just all, it was a primate that was performing
:43:29. > :43:36.well. The other issue is, is that the right way to do it? If the
:43:36. > :43:44.schools are failing... I suppose the idea is that it has failed
:43:44. > :43:47.under the council so let's give it another chance. But at what cost?
:43:47. > :43:51.Expanding this programme and slicing many of the education
:43:51. > :44:01.Budget, taking more schools out of the control of councils who I
:44:01. > :44:02.
:44:02. > :44:08.believe to a good job, to me does not seem right. He is doing this in
:44:08. > :44:15.a week and there has been a chaotic situation around money that is
:44:15. > :44:19.going to the schools, as well. There is a funding inequality being
:44:19. > :44:25.built into the schools. If you become an academy you do a lot
:44:25. > :44:31.better. There is a dispute about how this funding has been arrive
:44:31. > :44:39.that that has to be resolved. There is a fundamental argument here
:44:40. > :44:46.about the future of education in the whole country. I just want an
:44:46. > :44:51.answer as to whether or not this is bribery. That would seem like a
:44:51. > :44:56.good argument for not having local a authorities at all because the
:44:56. > :45:01.schools are funded directly there would not be a need to proportion
:45:01. > :45:05.its in line with somebody else as criteria. I can we have a model of
:45:05. > :45:09.education based on a model of being funded by the government, provided
:45:09. > :45:15.they are professional people and the clients being families. Like a
:45:15. > :45:19.we just have those three? Were his this local authority to income
:45:19. > :45:26.from? It is history. Is it not making sure that certain services
:45:26. > :45:29.are provided on a cost-effective basis centrally? Yes, but it is
:45:29. > :45:37.justifying the way education is currently organised saying that
:45:37. > :45:41.schools must fit in with local authority. You are democratically
:45:41. > :45:49.elected as a councillor. Surely that is a good thing that these
:45:49. > :45:53.councils have some authority over local schools. By people who have
:45:53. > :45:58.never worked in schools have to say so on how schools could be
:45:58. > :46:03.organised? What right have they got to tell teachers how to run schools
:46:03. > :46:07.and to instruct parents on what to demand of the school? My camper to
:46:07. > :46:12.just go straight to each other? Headteachers are in the best
:46:12. > :46:17.position on how to run a school. But everyone has the role to play.
:46:17. > :46:21.All schools have governing bodies and largely the governing body
:46:21. > :46:27.operate the Budget and they make the decisions within the schools.
:46:27. > :46:30.As a school governor who has never been a teacher of a smiling their
:46:30. > :46:40.because working with their head teachers you have a vast array of
:46:40. > :46:44.
:46:44. > :46:47.people on the governing bodies. I think that works very well.
:46:47. > :46:51.this double can still be on the governing body, it is just making
:46:51. > :46:58.sure that the head teacher has control of the Budget. That is how
:46:58. > :47:05.the link is made. The local- authority is always there as their
:47:05. > :47:10.main stay he can refer back to you have the expertise to advise. When
:47:10. > :47:14.we are talking about funding, the schools to decide to remains within
:47:14. > :47:21.the local authorities are going to suffer when the schools that go
:47:21. > :47:23.through two academies take more of the funding. Why should the most
:47:23. > :47:29.successful schools gain while some of the schools that stay in the
:47:29. > :47:32.system but do not successful lose? Let's look at what the point of
:47:32. > :47:40.this week's statement about the 200 schools been taken out of local-
:47:40. > :47:45.authority control. There is a really good argument for change.
:47:45. > :47:50.But why isn't that happening at secondary schools? Why isn't the
:47:50. > :47:55.Government not just saying that every school become an academy?
:47:55. > :48:00.Because a volunteer is worth 10 pressed men. You can just instruct
:48:00. > :48:06.people when I did change education. Let's look at the school stands
:48:06. > :48:10.have become academies this week. 200 schools. Hundreds of thousands
:48:10. > :48:20.of children who have been in the care of local authorities for
:48:20. > :48:22.
:48:22. > :48:31.generations and still those schools are failing. I think you'll find
:48:31. > :48:36.very soon... but the fact that these schools are going to be
:48:36. > :48:40.�300,000 per if they don't become academies. The Labour Party is
:48:40. > :48:46.wedded to local authority control. They're keen enthusiasts of
:48:46. > :48:50.political control of schools in some regional council role. We have
:48:50. > :48:54.a difference of view. We think that the best relationship for schools
:48:54. > :49:00.is government money, teacher provides a service, families accept
:49:00. > :49:04.it or don't. But is the new model on which schools should be built.
:49:04. > :49:13.If you have this discussion in seven years' time, it will be
:49:13. > :49:19.abnormal to be in a local authority school. It seems that people like
:49:19. > :49:29.Tony and Clare - - it seems that Tony Blair would still be doing the
:49:29. > :49:30.
:49:30. > :49:36.City was in government. Looking at the actual fact, the issue is this
:49:36. > :49:40.government is about competition. We have seen it in the health service.
:49:40. > :49:50.This is going to set schools against each other and schools that
:49:50. > :49:56.
:49:56. > :49:59.become academies will be the top of the heap. Thank you both very much.
:49:59. > :50:02.Now, many of us take the internet for granted these days whether
:50:02. > :50:05.booking train tickets, doing your shopping or catching up on the news.
:50:05. > :50:08.It's even more important if you are running a business. The Government
:50:08. > :50:11.has promised to provide the "best broadband in Europe" by 2015 and is
:50:12. > :50:15.funding four pilot schemes to help connect rural areas. One of them in
:50:15. > :50:17.Penrith. Yet in large parts of the North there is still no fast
:50:17. > :50:24.broadband connection available, and in some places no access to the
:50:24. > :50:29.internet at all. I went to County Durham to find out more.
:50:29. > :50:32.The car is a vital part of staying connected in the countryside. When
:50:32. > :50:37.this may be get some, the connections are not so good.
:50:37. > :50:42.Getting online in this part of TI's deal is nearly impossible. We can
:50:42. > :50:52.get anything. They have sent 13 in juniors around, British Telecom,
:50:52. > :50:53.
:50:53. > :50:58.but they can help. We can do shop, book tickets, research. The
:50:58. > :51:03.children's education in the area is suffering. On a neighbouring farm,
:51:03. > :51:10.the lack of the services causing problems. The government is
:51:10. > :51:15.expecting our farmed the sent off VAT, income tax, like stock
:51:15. > :51:20.movement records all through the Internet and it is becoming
:51:20. > :51:25.impossible. This community is not alone. 36 % of those in Bishop
:51:25. > :51:31.Auckland can get a decent broadband connection. Backers of but 30 % and
:51:31. > :51:37.North Durham and 46 % in north-west Durham. 87,000 people in the county
:51:37. > :51:45.are struggling to connect. The council did bid for 9 billion - -
:51:45. > :51:49.�9 million to help getting people get connected. On this occasion �50
:51:49. > :51:53.million was told that the Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon, and
:51:53. > :51:57.County Durham got nothing. there will mean is that will put
:51:57. > :52:03.places like the north-east into digital still lame. That has a
:52:03. > :52:07.massive impact on businesses, maintaining businesses. We have
:52:07. > :52:14.been told of house-owners not been prepared to move to the area. We
:52:14. > :52:18.need this. It is important to business as access to roads,
:52:18. > :52:27.realNetworks etc. In North Yorkshire more communities are
:52:27. > :52:32.getting connected. People like Carol have had to fight for it. She
:52:32. > :52:37.decided to do something about it. Be printed off 400 letters and went
:52:37. > :52:42.round putting them through all the letterboxes of the neighbouring
:52:42. > :52:52.villages and arranged a meeting in the local pub and it went on from
:52:52. > :52:52.
:52:52. > :52:56.there. They resulted in the service we now have. The Conservatives said
:52:56. > :53:00.that rural communities can make a difference by taking control of
:53:00. > :53:06.their own destinies. This is a distancing feature between this
:53:06. > :53:12.government and the last one. Looking at my constituency in North
:53:12. > :53:17.Yorkshire, the most rural county in England, those communities are
:53:17. > :53:21.coming together and defining what they want for their businesses and
:53:21. > :53:27.the environment and then defining that am working with the providers
:53:27. > :53:37.and central government. Will people power be enough? Labour says rural
:53:37. > :53:37.
:53:37. > :53:42.areas will not be connected unless the Government invests more. That
:53:43. > :53:47.two megabytes by 2015 target seems very minimal. Of the state is
:53:47. > :53:53.better than nothing. To do most of the pains that businesses and
:53:53. > :53:59.schoolchildren want to do, it won't really meet their needs. What about
:53:59. > :54:04.Mary? There she hopeful of a new done by 2015? I am not holding my
:54:04. > :54:08.breath. Maybe we will have moved by them because he wants to live in a
:54:08. > :54:11.place where you have got no communication with other people.
:54:11. > :54:14.Rural communities and the government can only hope that other
:54:14. > :54:18.people are prepared to hang on a bit longer.
:54:18. > :54:20.And you can find out which parts of the North East and Cumbria have the
:54:20. > :54:22.best, and worst, broadband connections on my blog. Just log
:54:22. > :54:26.onto bbc.co.uk/richardmoss. That's if you've got the internet, of
:54:26. > :54:29.course! Now, most talk about the Olympics
:54:29. > :54:32.so far has centred around the difficulty of obtaining tickets.
:54:32. > :54:35.And, no, I didn't get any either! But for one member of the House of
:54:35. > :54:39.Lords, the North East Peer Michael Bates, there is far bigger issues
:54:39. > :54:42.at stake. To prove the point he is currently walking from Olympia in
:54:42. > :54:46.Greece all the way to London. That is an incredible 3,000 miles. The
:54:46. > :54:54.aim is to try and bring some peace to parts of the world beset by
:54:54. > :54:58.violence and war. This sun is beating down and the
:54:58. > :55:04.scenery is spectacular, but this is no stroll in the park. It is a walk
:55:04. > :55:08.with the purpose for Conservative peer Michael Bates. He is taking
:55:08. > :55:13.time out to try to raise awareness of one aspect of the Olympic Games
:55:13. > :55:18.that most people have never even heard about, the Olympic truce.
:55:18. > :55:24.problem is that fighting men cannot lay down their arms voluntarily
:55:24. > :55:30.because they look weak. You need to provide them with an opportunity
:55:30. > :55:35.where they can look manly and yet stop killing each other. The idea
:55:35. > :55:42.of the Games was conceived. A period of truce covered it. That
:55:43. > :55:49.ran for 1200 years. Violations were extremely rare, one or two in 1200
:55:49. > :55:53.years. The truce still accompanies every Olympic Games and is now part
:55:53. > :56:00.a of a United Nations resolution. Rarely does any country do anything
:56:00. > :56:06.to make it happen. The resolution only asks that you take initiatives
:56:06. > :56:13.for reconciliation during the period of the Games. If other
:56:13. > :56:18.people don't agree to the truce, there can be no truce! What it is
:56:18. > :56:22.saying is we have given a solemn undertaking the four of the General
:56:22. > :56:27.Assembly of the United Nations that we will do something. If we don't
:56:27. > :56:32.that we can do it, we shouldn't sign it. If we do signed its, we
:56:32. > :56:38.should implement it. This time Michael Bates wants it to be
:56:38. > :56:42.different. He hopes that by October they UK government will take the
:56:42. > :56:52.tray seriously. Local seer are willing to give him the benefit of
:56:52. > :56:55.
:56:55. > :57:05.the doubt. I am walking to London. But this critic - - quite a typical
:57:05. > :57:06.
:57:06. > :57:13.reaction. I am 75 years old. I will never stop saying that we are crazy.
:57:13. > :57:18.It is a very good action doing this, because I cannot do that. So, 500
:57:18. > :57:23.miles into the 3000 mile journey, there is a long way to go. But for
:57:23. > :57:27.Lord be its this to be a price worth paying for a short pause in
:57:27. > :57:30.conflicts around the world. Our thanks to Sam Farmar for
:57:30. > :57:33.letting us use those pictures. And we'll keep you posted with Michael
:57:33. > :57:36.Bates' progress over the next few months. And, finally, if you live
:57:36. > :57:39.in Darlington there is a chance to put your questions directly to the
:57:39. > :57:42.man running the local council next week. Bill Dixon will be taking