23/10/2011 The Politics Show North West

Hello and welcome to the Politics Show in the North West. I'm Annabel

Tiffin. Coming up in the programme: California had the gold rush - will

shale gas transform the Fylde Coast?

And more Free Schools in the North West - will they improve education

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1774 seconds

standards or take money away from Hello and welcome to the Politics

Show in the North West. I'm Annabel Tiffin. Coming up in the programme:

California had the gold rush - will shale gas transform the Fylde

Coast? And more Free Schools in the North

West - will they improve education standards or take money away from

The very idea that, as a normal, ordinary person, that I can

actually make a difference and improve the education for my kids,

This week, will be our end Daresbury in Cheshire. Daresbury is

well known for its pioneering science park. He holed for feature

ideas. It is people living in Blackpool who are bracing

themselves for it but I'd -- big changes at the moment. Huge amounts

of shale gas have been found at the Fylde Coast. Some worry about the

environmentalist, but others see it as an exciting economic opportunity.

One newspaper called it the "Dallas on Sea." others have compared it to

the Aberdeen oil boom. It all points to the same thing. A

possible multi- million-pound gas supply along the Fylde Coast. It is

reckoned that out there and all on this part of the coast set 200

trillion cubic feet of shale gas. That is equivalent to 56 years of

and pause. There is more. The company which found it reckons that

the process of extracting it could create hundreds of jobs. It could

transform this area's economy. Their report commissioned by a

Cuadrilla, the company behind this, found that up to 1,700 jobs could

be created. He is the man who wrote it. There would be a lot of entry-

level jobs, things like construction and the preparation of

the well pad. Hospitality for the visiting workers. Security and

haulage workers. There will also be a lot of high skilled jobs,

particularly machine operatives around the darling. With jobs comes

regeneration. Desperately needed and a part of the world struggling

to keep its tourists, do proportionally hit by public sector

cuts, and still reeling from the 1,400 job losses announced by BAE

Systems earlier this month. The local councils see a possible

lifeline. Our strategy is around diversified our economy. The

economy at tourism is very important, but we need to think

more about the future in terms of the other side of jobs that are

available. All of these things will give us much more to our economy,

and many more things to our bow. The ambitions do not end there.

Aberdeen has become an international hub of expertise for

the iron industry, exporting its skills. With our wind power and

nuclear industry, and our shale gas, why not do the same here, some say.

There could be substantial economic benefits here. We could become the

UK's, of energy exploitation here in the north-west. I could see some

major industries investing in the area, spin-off companies. The

renaissance in the energy industry. We could become a base for energy

knowledge and skills for the country. Professor Howe thinks that

the US public might even bring fuel prices down, as well as

guaranteeing a domestic gas supply. But all this comes at a large

environmental caddie at. Protesters last month outside of Cuadrilla's

test site. Shale gas extraction uses a controversial technique

which forces a solution of water, lubricants and sand into the rock

at high pressure, to release their gas. In America, there are claims

that it has contaminated the water. Here, the technique was suspended

in June after two minor earth tremors. Some say it is not worth

the cost. We do not really have a proper understanding of shale gas

in this country. And even in America, they are still conducting

studies. Until we can be guided by those, I think it is irresponsible

to start raising hopes about jobs and an infrastructure which might

tie the industry to the area. report into this year's earth

tremors is due to be made public in the next couple of weeks.

How well our MPs respond? A political editor has been talking

to one of them. Lot of issues therefore

constituents to consider. Let's pick up with one of the MPs who

would be affected, Mark Menzies. When you are considering whether

you support this or not, already used an? What are the issues for

you? The key thing for me is ensuring that it is safe,

environmental impact and getting all the facts on the table. Clearly

the jobs and benefits will be considerable, and that is something

to consider. But the environmental and safety implications have to be

everything. What d'you think the economic advantages could be?

number we are talking about are up to 1,700 jobs. Even half of that

level would be a considerable economic benefits to Lancashire.

These are jobs that pay a very substantial salaries. You have to

work that through and see that there is a clear economic benefit

to be had, but we can only do that provided that we are satisfied with

the environmental and safety elements. What I the environmental

concerns that you need reassurance on? I have regular meetings with

the environment a busy, with the various other bodies that are

looking at this. All the way through, they are labouring the

point that safety is absolutely paramount. That has to be

everything. Is there something that Cuadrilla are able to reassure you

about? I have visited the site on three occasions, including with the

energy minister and also with the Environment Agency. One was visits,

Cuadrilla have been at pains to share all their information with us.

Whenever I have gone with questions, they had been answered. They

encourage anyone with concerns, get in contact with the company.

people do have concerns, don't they? There is concern in many

earthquakes and things like that. Sure. The initial report that has

to come out is inconclusive on that. That is why I am calling for more

research to be done and what facts to be laid on the table. Everything

we do must be evidence-based. a little bit tricky for you? On one

hand, you are the local MP, but on the other hand you at the

ministerial aide at the Department of Energy. Not at all. You are

always able to separate your roles as a constituency Member of

Parliament and any other functions that you do. At the end of the day,

it is my constituents that must always come first. This government

is one that has said that it had to be keen and wanted to be a very

environmentally government. It is also one struggling to get that

growth strategy coming. An interesting balancing act for them.

This government is committed you slid to renewable energy and then

you just have to look offshore now to see the amount of investment

that is going into Olwyn turbines. -- to all wind turbines. He must

also realise that the duty is running out of gas. If we are not

careful, we will become reliant on expensive and insecure forces from

overseas. Thank you very much indeed. Clearly there, Mark Menzies

weighing up the pros and cons, something that his constituents

will be considering as well. Will it is shale gas on the Fylde

coast, people in Cumbria have to think about nuclear energy. If the

government goes ahead to build a new generation of power stations,

where will the house some of the most dangerous nuclear waste? One

option is to build an underground store somewhere in Cumbria. Our

correspondent has followed a delegation of councillors to France

to find out more. On a mission far from home. Tesco's

from west Cumbria deep underground in a unique laboratory in north-

east France. On all sides, and extensive network of shafts and

tunnels. I am now 500 metres below ground. Behind me, excavation

workers are digging into the box so it can be tested by scientists to

see if it might be suitable for the long-term storage of nuclear waste.

This facility will never actually store every delight to waste. But

by 2025, the French government hopes to build a repository in the

area. This is the first step. But can it help councils in Cumbria

make up their mind about allowing nuclear waste to be buried

underground in the county? It is an eye-opener. It gives us a feel of

what could be coming to come do if we do go ahead with a repository

for no clear waste. There is no doubting the importance of the

decision. In the 1990s, the British government tried and failed to find

a site for burying high-level nuclear waste. This time, like

their French counterparts, the politicians must get it right.

There are a number of arguments, but what is important is to make

sure nothing like nuclear waste is buried. It will never be fully

researched. It will collude for an extremely long time and be

incredibly hard to control. Deep disposal is sweeping it under the

carpet. Back in Cumbria, environmental activists are finding

it hard to believe that the county is once again being considered.

This is a crazy process. It is taking us back to the situation we

were in 20 years ago, when the whole bombe was supposed to be

forced on us. Now we are in exactly the same position but it looks as

though the local authorities have volunteered. So where might the

waste be buried? No specific site had been identified yet, but the

British Geological Survey has produced this map, showing the

areas in read that definitely will not be suitable. That means that

some of the most beautiful parts of the Lake District National Park,

where I am now, have not actually been ruled out. The government

would dearly love to find a solution soon, but critics are

hoping that Cumbria's complex dual -- guilty could still be found

wanting. And in the week's other political

news, here is a correspondent. The much-anticipated Commons debate

on Hillsborough was held this week, following an online petition. MPs

wanted a guarantee that documents relating to the football disaster

would be made public and and extracted this promise from the

government. We want to see full disclosure to the panel of all

documents relating to Hillsborough, including Cabinet minutes. Those

documents should be uncensored and a redacted. The former deputy Prime

Minister and one-time minister for Merseyside, Michael Heseltine will,

published his latest vision to be in the great Liverpool. The

recommendations include moving thousands of civil service jobs to

the region, and transforming political leadership. One of the

most important recommendations is that we need the right the Rec --

directly elected mayors. There are also concerns about what happens if

the region's firefighters go on strike next month. Greater

Manchester Fire Service is giving 86 people three weeks of training.

He says it needs a contingency plan. As I mentioned earlier, Daresbury

is known for its science park, and that is where we have come to. It

is made up of lots of businesses, all requiring highly skilled

workers. That is something that a lot of companies say they cannot

get enough of. The Government is reforming the education system. It

is bringing in a Free Schools. They are a little like academies, state

schools but with greater independence. The difference with

Free Schools is that they can be set up by parents or any other

group. Teaching unions are warning that they could take money away

For Rachel and Lewis, it is the start of a new school day. For

their parents, it is the end of the battle to get a new free school

approved in Norrington. The local authority but secondary school is

closing next year, so this family and an army of parents decided to

start their own. I had cared about Free Schools and I did not really

understand what they wear. But the very idea that as a normal,

ordinary person, that I can actually make a difference and

improve the education for my children and the children that fall,

that really empowered me. That gave me the drive to say, right, I am

not happy with the situation in my area. I want to make a difference.

Free Schools are funded by the taxpayer, subject to Ofsted

inspections, and free to attend. Unlike state schools, they are not

run by local authorities. Parents, teachers, charities and businesses

can now start up their own schools and have an influence on what is

taught. That many children on this area, it has a new school on the

doorstep. My children have always gone to hear, I went here and I

want to move up to Walston as a new school group. Everyone is getting

split up and going everywhere. idea of a Free Schools come from

Sweden. David Cameron believes that a country which gave us about,

flat-pack furniture and follows got it right when it came to education.

Three schools are not the way that we would have went around improving

schools. We have the academies programme and some very good

academies in Liverpool. We have lots of other ways to giving

support to all schools. My worry is that the Conservative government's

approach is focusing on a very small number of schools. I want to

focus on the needs of children in all schools, whether they are

academies, Free Schools or the schools that most children go to,

community schools. The Maharishi School in Skelmersdale is one of

two Free Schools in the north-west. On the curriculum, English, maths

and meditation. It was a fee-paying private school, but now receives

state funding so pupils can go free of charge. Standards would be

applied as a private school are being applied in exactly the same

way as a Free Schools. That was a key for us, that transcendental

meditation, a few minutes of meditation in the morning, a few in

the afternoon, we were insisting that it had to form part of the

curriculum. The Government has accepted the hundreds of scientific

studies showing the effectiveness of this system of education. Do you

think we will see more Free Schools in the north-west? I would imagine

so. Once the Free Schools proposals to is, the ensure that the

standards of education are going to be better. That is obviously

crucial for the Department of Education. They must allow for

diversity, and they also insist upon inclusion. Data to sell's

prediction could well be correct. Six more Free Schools have been

approved in the north-west and are due to open in 2012.

-- of Dr Cassell's. We're now inside the Daresbury innovation and

science campus, and to discuss the issue of Free Schools and joined

with the Conservative MP for Weaver Vale, Graham Evans, and a poor --

Avis Gilmore of the National Union of Teachers. The coalition are

basing their model of Free Schools on the Swedish version, but am I

correct in saying that even the Swedes have said, do not follow her

example? I have not heard that. I have only heard good reports

regarding the Swedish model. think that their actual education

minister has said that, actually, it has not worked particularly well

in Sweden and that it would not work over here. We will see. Time

will tell. But we are cracking on with the Swedish model and we have

had some success. The Labour Party started the Academy programme, and

we're taking Labour's academies a step further. Avis Gilmore, is this

a step too far? Absolutely, and you are quite right. The Swedish

Minister for Education has publicly advised the government not to go

ahead with the Free Schools system. It has been problem not to raise

attainment in educational achievement in Sweden, and it has

produced quite a lot of segregation within the communities. But it is,

I am sure the coalition would say, it is going to provide more choice

for parents and children, and that has to be a good thing. I am not so

sure if parents get any choice at all. Take the example of where we

are here in Woolverstone, where we have a school planned for closure

because of the falling rolls, because there are not enough pupils.

And yet, if the school on the same side has been authorised. It is

clear from parents' campaigns, that they wanted the original school to

stay open. So the coalition will be putting more money into Free

Schools? Yes, it comes from the committee, though. It comes from

parents. It could come from businesses, it could come from

charities. The money is not though, the money is coming from the state.

Dr Free Schools, they are independent state schools. Could

that money not be better served in the local school that is already

there? This is localism in action, if it is the case that the money

can be spent in the school then that is fine, but in the area that

we are in, the local parents for than the provision is not good

enough, it is about parents' Choice wanting the best quality of

education of other children. Good standards of discipline.

Unfortunately, too many parents feel the need to send their

children elsewhere. If we take the example of the school in

Skelmersdale, which was in a report, that was previously fee-paying

school. Those parents will now not have to pay those fees as it has

been turned into a fee school. It is wonderful for them. It will be a

free school for 850 pupils that it will be open for all stop how do

you justify a private school that there was the pain now becoming a

state-funded school? Children going to schools just one mile around the

road, 60% a free school meals, will have access to that school. Those

children are have access to high standards of education.

Science, technology and sports. Let me bring Avis Gilmore end. Those

children have access to a good school now. If the government want

to put more money into that school or encourage businesses into that

school, they can do it now. There is no need to close the school to

be open another one and take money out of the education system. We are

not closing the school, this is an additional school to give parents

that choice. As I have said, some of my poorest constituents, just

down the road from me, they have access to that very high education.

We have been feeling children from the poorest backgrounds for a

generation. What this country needs is engineers, scientists and

entrepreneurs. This sort of campus gives access to these people from

poorer backgrounds to those kinds of opportunities. Avis Gilmore and