:00:51. > :00:55.The waste was in Cornwall, as a judge changes the incineration
:00:55. > :01:05.plants. And will free schools provide more opportunity were more
:01:05. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :25:58.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1492 seconds
:25:58. > :26:01.Hello and welcome to the Politics Hello and welcome to the Politics
:26:01. > :26:04.Show in the South West. This week has seen a dramatic development in
:26:04. > :26:06.the row over how to deal with Cornwall's waste crisis. On
:26:06. > :26:09.Thursday a High Court Judge made a decision which means the
:26:09. > :26:12.incinerator which is already being built in St Dennis no longer has
:26:12. > :26:14.planning permission. The judge ruled that the Local Government
:26:14. > :26:17.Secretary and his Planning Inspector have failed to properly
:26:17. > :26:19.consider the impact of the plans on two nearby wildlife habitats. Later
:26:19. > :26:22.we will be talking about the lessons councillors might learn
:26:22. > :26:25.from the judge's decision and what could happen next. But first this
:26:25. > :26:28.report. Every time you think you've reached
:26:28. > :26:33.the end of the story of a new incinerator for Cornwall there
:26:33. > :26:38.comes a new twist. In 2006 a fresh chapter begins as the French firm
:26:38. > :26:40.Sita is brought in to take away the rubbish. It wants to create a huge
:26:41. > :26:47.energy from waste plant in St Dennis but despite planners backing
:26:47. > :26:52.it but the county council, as it was then, says no.
:26:52. > :26:55.Cheers from the campaign bus. But no sooner have they got their
:26:55. > :26:59.voices back then Sita appeals and a public inquiry begins. The
:26:59. > :27:04.protesters know they are in for a long haul. The final decision is
:27:04. > :27:06.referred to the Secretary of State. Enter leader of Cornwall Council
:27:07. > :27:12.Alec Robertson who writes to ministers saying it is the least
:27:12. > :27:17.worst option. Remember he opposed it originally. Eric Pickles agrees
:27:17. > :27:22.the benefits outweigh the costs. And the incinerator is back on and
:27:22. > :27:31.heads are back in hands. Until that is they take on the council in the
:27:31. > :27:36.high court and win. The end? We're not so sure. While the village
:27:36. > :27:38.celebrates, the question is, what next? Cornwall Council, Sita and
:27:38. > :27:44.ministers will no doubt be examining the judge's words
:27:44. > :27:46.carefully. He said the government had not properly considered whether
:27:46. > :27:53.an environmental assessment had to be carried out before signing off
:27:53. > :27:56.the scheme. Initial work on an access road has
:27:56. > :27:59.stopped but doing nothing is not an option though, space in landfill is
:27:59. > :28:01.running out and every month's delay costs �1 million in landfill tax
:28:02. > :28:05.and haulage costs. Sita still believes it is the best
:28:05. > :28:15.solution for Cornwall but as you might have come to expect by now
:28:15. > :28:15.
:28:15. > :28:22.they have got their opponents. There are cheaper ways and more
:28:22. > :28:25.environmentally sustainable ways to deal with the waste. I think the
:28:26. > :28:30.council will get round the table and use some of the talent to come
:28:30. > :28:33.up with a long-term solution. The government is trying reform
:28:33. > :28:35.planning laws so local people have more influence and big
:28:35. > :28:42.infrastructure projects get built here. The courts have made the
:28:42. > :28:52.decisions and they've backed the villagers for now.
:28:52. > :28:52.
:28:52. > :29:02.I am joined by Dr Colin Trier, a waste management specialist. Should
:29:02. > :29:03.
:29:03. > :29:07.people be surprised? Yes, I think it is a surprising decision. Even
:29:07. > :29:12.if the section 28 that is being used has never been used
:29:12. > :29:19.successfully in this way so it is not an outcome that one can rely on
:29:19. > :29:29.to stand necessarily. Stephen Gilbert is calling
:29:29. > :29:34.
:29:34. > :29:39.councillors back round the table. How realistic is that? Leaving
:29:39. > :29:43.aside the contractual issues, which are big, it is completely passable,
:29:43. > :29:51.and I think that if the people of Cornwall were encouraged to work
:29:51. > :29:56.with the council grant the company to take on the challenge of going
:29:56. > :30:05.in a different direction, it will only work if everyone works
:30:05. > :30:15.together. But these are in almost - - but these are her gigantic
:30:15. > :30:16.
:30:16. > :30:24.obstacles. This is an alternative but people will have to work for it.
:30:24. > :30:30.I do not think that this objection is a one off. The government must
:30:30. > :30:35.be concerned that there is such a strong opinion against what is
:30:35. > :30:45.quite a primitive technology. And they're all -- and there are
:30:45. > :30:48.
:30:48. > :30:51.alternatives. Find you. -- thank you.
:30:51. > :30:55.A small independent Catholic school in Cornwall has become the first of
:30:55. > :30:57.its kind in the country to be awarded free school status by the
:30:57. > :31:00.Government. St Michael's Catholic Secondary in Truro hopes to expand
:31:00. > :31:03.as a result and move to a bigger building in Camborne. Like
:31:03. > :31:05.academies, free schools are funded directly by central government and
:31:05. > :31:07.they are independent of local authority control. The Government
:31:07. > :31:10.claims they will give parents more choice and provide competition
:31:10. > :31:13.which drives standards up. But critics say they will take money
:31:13. > :31:16.and pupils from existing schools, increase social division and lead
:31:16. > :31:18.to the break-up of the state system. It's hometime prayers at St
:31:18. > :31:22.Michael's Catholic Secondary school in Truro, and thanks is being given
:31:22. > :31:30.for the news this week of the green light in its bid for free school
:31:30. > :31:33.status. Critics are questioning the need, the impact on other schools
:31:33. > :31:39.and why taxpayers should be funding it, but these aren't concerns
:31:39. > :31:46.shared by some parents collecting their children. I think it is a
:31:46. > :31:54.superb idea and it will mean my children have an opportunity to go
:31:54. > :31:59.with other children that is ideal. It is really something that has
:31:59. > :32:04.been run on a shoestring and is now opened two more children so I am
:32:04. > :32:07.pleased about that. Calling itself an independent
:32:07. > :32:10.school with a difference, St Michael's currently educates around
:32:10. > :32:13.30 11-16 year olds, around half of which are here because of faith.
:32:13. > :32:15.It's been running in this old Methodist chapel since 1998 and is
:32:15. > :32:18.funded via donations from parents, supporters, educational trusts and
:32:18. > :32:20.fundraising. The new free school will get cash per pupil directly
:32:20. > :32:29.from the Government, and the headteacher is expecting some
:32:29. > :32:34.controversy. I think it challenges us to look at ourselves and forces
:32:34. > :32:38.us to raise our game and do things better. We are a small school but
:32:38. > :32:46.we are trying to do great things in the area and we are offering that
:32:46. > :32:56.to anyone who wants to take part. I think, in time, people may come up
:32:56. > :33:02.
:33:02. > :33:04.with negative things to begin with but I think they will accept us.
:33:04. > :33:06.Outside direct local authority control free schools have the
:33:06. > :33:09.freedom to choose teaching hours, curriculum, holidays and how they
:33:10. > :33:12.spend their money, but St Michael's won't be going it totally alone.
:33:12. > :33:17.think there is a myth that a free school is completely free and does
:33:17. > :33:23.it -- does its own thing. But where the local authority comes in is
:33:23. > :33:28.that we have to provide transport and meals and other things and when
:33:28. > :33:33.it comes to admissions all of the parents who wish their parents - or
:33:33. > :33:43.her children to go to this school will have to apply to the local
:33:43. > :33:52.authority. -- children to go to this school will have to apply to
:33:52. > :34:00.the local authority. We have to follow the code and it must be non-
:34:00. > :34:10.selective. Faith schools may only recruit up to 50 % of their pupils
:34:10. > :34:18.
:34:18. > :34:21.once they are oversubscribed on a phased basis.
:34:21. > :34:24.The new school has approval to eventually expand to 300 pupils,
:34:24. > :34:28.that's 60 a year in class sizes of 20. So theTruro chapel will no
:34:28. > :34:31.longer be big enough and a move is on the cards to the old county
:34:31. > :34:34.grammar school in the centre of Camborne, metres from the train
:34:34. > :34:37.station and with a catchment of some of Cornwall's most deprived
:34:37. > :34:39.areas. This certainly seems to tick a Government box for free schools
:34:39. > :34:42.to offer improvement in social mobility but not everyone's
:34:42. > :34:44.convinced. We have got good schools already so it is not about driving
:34:44. > :34:47.up standards and I do not think that most parents here would want
:34:47. > :34:50.to send their children to a Catholic school. This is about the
:34:51. > :35:00.Government's hobby horse about free schools but they will not deliver
:35:01. > :35:02.
:35:02. > :35:08.better standards here. CLIP JUDE Those behind the successful bid say
:35:08. > :35:12.they've already had to prove And they say the relatively small
:35:12. > :35:16.numbers they're aiming at pose no threat to three nearby secondaries.
:35:16. > :35:21.This is not a new school. It exists in a different form elsewhere.
:35:21. > :35:27.Money will be taken out of local authority schools and given to a
:35:27. > :35:36.school that is not fully set up in the spirit of the free schools
:35:36. > :35:39.situation. The earmarked building currently houses a children's
:35:39. > :35:42.centre and it's hoped money raised from the council selling it back to
:35:42. > :35:44.the Government will fund a better purpose built replacement. But some
:35:44. > :35:47.doubts are being raised about quick timescales involved. There's a
:35:47. > :35:50.statutory consultation to be held and capital funding details to be
:35:50. > :35:53.finalised. It's probably fair to say some faith is still needed to
:35:53. > :36:00.get Cornwall's first free school fully up and running by next
:36:00. > :36:09.September. I am joined by three politicians who are geographically
:36:09. > :36:13.far flung. We have a Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, an MP from
:36:13. > :36:20.West Devon, and a Labour peer and former Schools Minister in
:36:20. > :36:24.Westminster. Andrew George, you voted against the Academy Bill and
:36:24. > :36:32.a lot of your criticism seems to be similar to that made by the
:36:32. > :36:37.teaching unions. Do you still stand by that? Yes. I was concerned from
:36:37. > :36:42.a rural perspective that in a place like a Cornwall the introduction of
:36:42. > :36:48.competition into the education market place, particularly in the
:36:48. > :36:53.kind of places I was born and brought up, if you set up free
:36:53. > :37:00.schools in communities that presently struggle to keep one
:37:00. > :37:05.village school, it will undermine the fundamental structure of what
:37:05. > :37:12.should be integrated and enabled by the local authority, not controlled
:37:12. > :37:17.by local authority. Do you taken the view that free schools cream
:37:17. > :37:25.off the more affluent and more or academically able students from
:37:25. > :37:28.other schools? This free school in Cornwall is composed in one of the
:37:28. > :37:38.most deprived areas in the county and that might be the worst place
:37:38. > :37:45.to put one. If you were establishing them in areas where
:37:45. > :37:49.there were just one school you could be potentially damaging them.
:37:49. > :37:55.Everyone would want to ensure that we get the best education for all
:37:55. > :38:00.of the children. My concern was that, yes, some of these schools
:38:00. > :38:08.are could well be established in places where the most deprived
:38:08. > :38:16.cannot get to. There are feelings in the system and communities where
:38:16. > :38:21.some extra assistance is required so I think we should put in the
:38:21. > :38:27.kind of initiative that... On the front page of your manifesto, of
:38:27. > :38:34.course. Geoffrey Cox, do you accept this view that new three schools
:38:34. > :38:40.could well undermine existing schools in the South West? No, I do
:38:40. > :38:45.not see that. I c three schools as a driver of increasing standards,
:38:45. > :38:50.giving people a choice. I have a rural constituency and people come
:38:50. > :38:54.to me and say they do not have a choice and they have nowhere to go.
:38:54. > :38:59.There is one secondary school. There must be some strategic
:38:59. > :39:04.oversight, but offering real choice and diversity, and I see no reason
:39:04. > :39:10.why they should have a damaging impact on existing schools.
:39:10. > :39:17.night, just to clarify Labour's position. Ed Balls said this was a
:39:17. > :39:22.socially divisive policy end Andy Burnham said he would not -- and
:39:22. > :39:25.Andy Burnham said he would not approve three schools. The noises
:39:25. > :39:30.from the Shadow Cabinet recently seemed to think that three schools
:39:30. > :39:36.might be fine as long as they do their job properly. I suspect
:39:36. > :39:42.Michael Gove were not disagree with that. In some communities, three
:39:42. > :39:47.schools may be successful air and not damage neighbouring schools. --
:39:47. > :39:56.free schools. It would be wrong for a government to try to close them
:39:56. > :39:59.down and that case. What government and oppositions have to do is look
:39:59. > :40:05.at the systemic effect and when you look at the three other countries
:40:05. > :40:15.that have tried this, United States, Sweden and Chile, you have had
:40:15. > :40:16.
:40:16. > :40:21.successful schools and failing schools. They have had no systemic
:40:21. > :40:26.standards and I think Andrew is right. Competition is not really a
:40:26. > :40:31.reality in these sorts of areas. It is a luxury to think that we can
:40:31. > :40:37.afford extra places, surplus places, just for these I have got --
:40:37. > :40:42.ideological reasons. This feels like a policy dreamt up here in
:40:42. > :40:48.London and trying to make it work in regions like the South West. It
:40:49. > :40:58.might look -- work in urban areas but not then roll ones. Labour is
:40:58. > :41:03.giving a grudging acceptance? rural ones. It is not sensible for
:41:03. > :41:08.an incoming government to close so accept -- successful schools. If
:41:08. > :41:12.the schools are working then you should keep them open. But one
:41:12. > :41:16.thing that is really missing in all of this is that it is far and for
:41:16. > :41:23.parents to set up three schools but if they go wrong they have got no
:41:23. > :41:28.one to go to -- three schools. They have no one to go to accept the
:41:28. > :41:32.second day at -- Secretary of State. Jeffrey, this is a serious issue.
:41:32. > :41:39.We could end up with most of the schools with a local authority
:41:39. > :41:43.control. What we want are more good schools. Good schools are producing
:41:43. > :41:48.good standards. If they are good schools then that is a good thing
:41:48. > :41:53.and it will drive up standards in the existing schools. I think the
:41:53. > :41:59.blanket uniformity of the days when the monolithic state provision was
:41:59. > :42:03.the only solution are long gone. Labour were trying this idea or
:42:03. > :42:10.similar ideas under the previous government and we are taking it
:42:10. > :42:17.further forward. Let's try it. What people are wanting his innovation,
:42:17. > :42:24.imagination, that is what we want to see. -- wanting his imagination.
:42:24. > :42:33.You can have that with the previous academies. The local authority
:42:33. > :42:38.consistently failed to help a school, I saw this in my time as a
:42:38. > :42:43.minister, we needed a better ministers with better leadership.
:42:43. > :42:49.More intervention, more intervention, more government
:42:49. > :42:53.control. What we want to see our independent, three schools, where
:42:53. > :43:02.they pass the necessary tests of confidence. If they are good
:43:02. > :43:06.schools, what is wrong with more good schools? The higher risk is
:43:06. > :43:11.that you will build lots of extra schools on top of the ones that are
:43:11. > :43:17.needed with no accountability locally and no guarantee of success
:43:17. > :43:24.just because it is a free school, and that does a mean it will work.
:43:24. > :43:28.Some work and some gold. I think it is worth saying that free schools
:43:28. > :43:37.will be part of a monolithic centralised state. They will be
:43:37. > :43:42.funded, monitored and regulated by the young people's learning Agency.
:43:42. > :43:47.Independent schools are currently monitored. They are able to
:43:47. > :43:51.flourish using their own initiative and innovation. That is what we
:43:51. > :43:57.want to see. Parents want to see choice and higher standards. This
:43:57. > :44:03.will be the engine of that. We have so migrate independent schools in
:44:03. > :44:09.this country and we have some small failing ones as well. All of the
:44:09. > :44:14.secrets of success of a good school system anywhere in the world is
:44:14. > :44:18.that you have a good amount of autonomy and they worked together.
:44:18. > :44:23.You also have collaboration. My worry about three schools in some
:44:23. > :44:27.of these communities is that they will not work with the neighbouring
:44:27. > :44:33.communities and they will expel pupils who are not getting on and
:44:33. > :44:38.others will have to deal with the problems. That is fantasy. The
:44:38. > :44:43.children are completely -- complaining loudly about government
:44:43. > :44:46.intervention. Constantly interfering in what teachers can do.
:44:46. > :44:55.It is one of the most delegated school systems anywhere in the
:44:55. > :45:05.world, here in England. I think we will have to leave it there. Thank
:45:05. > :45:07.
:45:07. > :45:09.That is almost all from the South West bar the news that the region
:45:09. > :45:12.is now officially home to Westminster's top dog. Wilberforce,
:45:12. > :45:14.who belongs to Neil Parish, the Conservative MP for Tiverton and
:45:14. > :45:24.Honiton, has won the annual Parliamentary Dog of the Year
:45:24. > :45:25.
:45:25. > :45:30.Competition. It is great for him, isn't it? He won and it didn't have
:45:30. > :45:37.much to do with me. He is a great dog with huge character. I am