Browse content similar to 16/10/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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The waste was in Cornwall, as a judge changes the incineration | :00:51. | :00:55. | |
plants. And will free schools provide more opportunity were more | :00:55. | :01:05. | |
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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1492 seconds | :01:05. | :25:58. | |
Hello and welcome to the Politics Hello and welcome to the Politics | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
Show in the South West. This week has seen a dramatic development in | :26:01. | :26:04. | |
the row over how to deal with Cornwall's waste crisis. On | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
Thursday a High Court Judge made a decision which means the | :26:06. | :26:09. | |
incinerator which is already being built in St Dennis no longer has | :26:09. | :26:12. | |
planning permission. The judge ruled that the Local Government | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
Secretary and his Planning Inspector have failed to properly | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
consider the impact of the plans on two nearby wildlife habitats. Later | :26:17. | :26:19. | |
we will be talking about the lessons councillors might learn | :26:19. | :26:22. | |
from the judge's decision and what could happen next. But first this | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
report. Every time you think you've reached | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
the end of the story of a new incinerator for Cornwall there | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
comes a new twist. In 2006 a fresh chapter begins as the French firm | :26:33. | :26:38. | |
Sita is brought in to take away the rubbish. It wants to create a huge | :26:38. | :26:40. | |
energy from waste plant in St Dennis but despite planners backing | :26:41. | :26:47. | |
it but the county council, as it was then, says no. | :26:47. | :26:52. | |
Cheers from the campaign bus. But no sooner have they got their | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
voices back then Sita appeals and a public inquiry begins. The | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
protesters know they are in for a long haul. The final decision is | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
referred to the Secretary of State. Enter leader of Cornwall Council | :27:04. | :27:06. | |
Alec Robertson who writes to ministers saying it is the least | :27:07. | :27:12. | |
worst option. Remember he opposed it originally. Eric Pickles agrees | :27:12. | :27:17. | |
the benefits outweigh the costs. And the incinerator is back on and | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
heads are back in hands. Until that is they take on the council in the | :27:22. | :27:31. | |
high court and win. The end? We're not so sure. While the village | :27:31. | :27:36. | |
celebrates, the question is, what next? Cornwall Council, Sita and | :27:36. | :27:38. | |
ministers will no doubt be examining the judge's words | :27:38. | :27:44. | |
carefully. He said the government had not properly considered whether | :27:44. | :27:46. | |
an environmental assessment had to be carried out before signing off | :27:46. | :27:53. | |
the scheme. Initial work on an access road has | :27:53. | :27:56. | |
stopped but doing nothing is not an option though, space in landfill is | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
running out and every month's delay costs �1 million in landfill tax | :27:59. | :28:01. | |
and haulage costs. Sita still believes it is the best | :28:02. | :28:05. | |
solution for Cornwall but as you might have come to expect by now | :28:05. | :28:15. | |
:28:15. | :28:15. | ||
they have got their opponents. There are cheaper ways and more | :28:15. | :28:22. | |
environmentally sustainable ways to deal with the waste. I think the | :28:22. | :28:25. | |
council will get round the table and use some of the talent to come | :28:26. | :28:30. | |
up with a long-term solution. The government is trying reform | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
planning laws so local people have more influence and big | :28:33. | :28:35. | |
infrastructure projects get built here. The courts have made the | :28:35. | :28:42. | |
decisions and they've backed the villagers for now. | :28:42. | :28:52. | |
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I am joined by Dr Colin Trier, a waste management specialist. Should | :28:52. | :29:02. | |
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people be surprised? Yes, I think it is a surprising decision. Even | :29:03. | :29:07. | |
if the section 28 that is being used has never been used | :29:07. | :29:12. | |
successfully in this way so it is not an outcome that one can rely on | :29:12. | :29:19. | |
to stand necessarily. Stephen Gilbert is calling | :29:19. | :29:29. | |
:29:29. | :29:34. | ||
councillors back round the table. How realistic is that? Leaving | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
aside the contractual issues, which are big, it is completely passable, | :29:39. | :29:43. | |
and I think that if the people of Cornwall were encouraged to work | :29:43. | :29:51. | |
with the council grant the company to take on the challenge of going | :29:51. | :29:56. | |
in a different direction, it will only work if everyone works | :29:56. | :30:05. | |
together. But these are in almost - - but these are her gigantic | :30:05. | :30:15. | |
:30:15. | :30:16. | ||
obstacles. This is an alternative but people will have to work for it. | :30:16. | :30:24. | |
I do not think that this objection is a one off. The government must | :30:24. | :30:30. | |
be concerned that there is such a strong opinion against what is | :30:30. | :30:35. | |
quite a primitive technology. And they're all -- and there are | :30:35. | :30:45. | |
:30:45. | :30:48. | ||
alternatives. Find you. -- thank you. | :30:48. | :30:51. | |
A small independent Catholic school in Cornwall has become the first of | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
its kind in the country to be awarded free school status by the | :30:55. | :30:57. | |
Government. St Michael's Catholic Secondary in Truro hopes to expand | :30:57. | :31:00. | |
as a result and move to a bigger building in Camborne. Like | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
academies, free schools are funded directly by central government and | :31:03. | :31:05. | |
they are independent of local authority control. The Government | :31:05. | :31:07. | |
claims they will give parents more choice and provide competition | :31:07. | :31:10. | |
which drives standards up. But critics say they will take money | :31:10. | :31:13. | |
and pupils from existing schools, increase social division and lead | :31:13. | :31:16. | |
to the break-up of the state system. It's hometime prayers at St | :31:16. | :31:18. | |
Michael's Catholic Secondary school in Truro, and thanks is being given | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
for the news this week of the green light in its bid for free school | :31:22. | :31:30. | |
status. Critics are questioning the need, the impact on other schools | :31:30. | :31:33. | |
and why taxpayers should be funding it, but these aren't concerns | :31:33. | :31:39. | |
shared by some parents collecting their children. I think it is a | :31:39. | :31:46. | |
superb idea and it will mean my children have an opportunity to go | :31:46. | :31:54. | |
with other children that is ideal. It is really something that has | :31:54. | :31:59. | |
been run on a shoestring and is now opened two more children so I am | :31:59. | :32:04. | |
pleased about that. Calling itself an independent | :32:04. | :32:07. | |
school with a difference, St Michael's currently educates around | :32:07. | :32:10. | |
30 11-16 year olds, around half of which are here because of faith. | :32:10. | :32:13. | |
It's been running in this old Methodist chapel since 1998 and is | :32:13. | :32:15. | |
funded via donations from parents, supporters, educational trusts and | :32:15. | :32:18. | |
fundraising. The new free school will get cash per pupil directly | :32:18. | :32:20. | |
from the Government, and the headteacher is expecting some | :32:20. | :32:29. | |
controversy. I think it challenges us to look at ourselves and forces | :32:29. | :32:34. | |
us to raise our game and do things better. We are a small school but | :32:34. | :32:38. | |
we are trying to do great things in the area and we are offering that | :32:38. | :32:46. | |
to anyone who wants to take part. I think, in time, people may come up | :32:46. | :32:56. | |
:32:56. | :33:02. | ||
with negative things to begin with but I think they will accept us. | :33:02. | :33:04. | |
Outside direct local authority control free schools have the | :33:04. | :33:06. | |
freedom to choose teaching hours, curriculum, holidays and how they | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
spend their money, but St Michael's won't be going it totally alone. | :33:10. | :33:12. | |
think there is a myth that a free school is completely free and does | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
it -- does its own thing. But where the local authority comes in is | :33:17. | :33:23. | |
that we have to provide transport and meals and other things and when | :33:23. | :33:28. | |
it comes to admissions all of the parents who wish their parents - or | :33:28. | :33:33. | |
her children to go to this school will have to apply to the local | :33:33. | :33:43. | |
authority. -- children to go to this school will have to apply to | :33:43. | :33:52. | |
the local authority. We have to follow the code and it must be non- | :33:52. | :34:00. | |
selective. Faith schools may only recruit up to 50 % of their pupils | :34:00. | :34:10. | |
:34:10. | :34:18. | ||
once they are oversubscribed on a phased basis. | :34:18. | :34:21. | |
The new school has approval to eventually expand to 300 pupils, | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
that's 60 a year in class sizes of 20. So theTruro chapel will no | :34:24. | :34:28. | |
longer be big enough and a move is on the cards to the old county | :34:28. | :34:31. | |
grammar school in the centre of Camborne, metres from the train | :34:31. | :34:34. | |
station and with a catchment of some of Cornwall's most deprived | :34:34. | :34:37. | |
areas. This certainly seems to tick a Government box for free schools | :34:37. | :34:39. | |
to offer improvement in social mobility but not everyone's | :34:39. | :34:42. | |
convinced. We have got good schools already so it is not about driving | :34:42. | :34:44. | |
up standards and I do not think that most parents here would want | :34:44. | :34:47. | |
to send their children to a Catholic school. This is about the | :34:47. | :34:50. | |
Government's hobby horse about free schools but they will not deliver | :34:51. | :35:00. | |
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better standards here. CLIP JUDE Those behind the successful bid say | :35:02. | :35:08. | |
they've already had to prove And they say the relatively small | :35:08. | :35:12. | |
numbers they're aiming at pose no threat to three nearby secondaries. | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
This is not a new school. It exists in a different form elsewhere. | :35:16. | :35:21. | |
Money will be taken out of local authority schools and given to a | :35:21. | :35:27. | |
school that is not fully set up in the spirit of the free schools | :35:27. | :35:36. | |
situation. The earmarked building currently houses a children's | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
centre and it's hoped money raised from the council selling it back to | :35:39. | :35:42. | |
the Government will fund a better purpose built replacement. But some | :35:42. | :35:44. | |
doubts are being raised about quick timescales involved. There's a | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
statutory consultation to be held and capital funding details to be | :35:47. | :35:50. | |
finalised. It's probably fair to say some faith is still needed to | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
get Cornwall's first free school fully up and running by next | :35:53. | :36:00. | |
September. I am joined by three politicians who are geographically | :36:00. | :36:09. | |
far flung. We have a Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, an MP from | :36:09. | :36:13. | |
West Devon, and a Labour peer and former Schools Minister in | :36:13. | :36:20. | |
Westminster. Andrew George, you voted against the Academy Bill and | :36:20. | :36:24. | |
a lot of your criticism seems to be similar to that made by the | :36:24. | :36:32. | |
teaching unions. Do you still stand by that? Yes. I was concerned from | :36:32. | :36:37. | |
a rural perspective that in a place like a Cornwall the introduction of | :36:37. | :36:42. | |
competition into the education market place, particularly in the | :36:42. | :36:48. | |
kind of places I was born and brought up, if you set up free | :36:48. | :36:53. | |
schools in communities that presently struggle to keep one | :36:53. | :37:00. | |
village school, it will undermine the fundamental structure of what | :37:00. | :37:05. | |
should be integrated and enabled by the local authority, not controlled | :37:05. | :37:12. | |
by local authority. Do you taken the view that free schools cream | :37:12. | :37:17. | |
off the more affluent and more or academically able students from | :37:17. | :37:25. | |
other schools? This free school in Cornwall is composed in one of the | :37:25. | :37:28. | |
most deprived areas in the county and that might be the worst place | :37:28. | :37:38. | |
to put one. If you were establishing them in areas where | :37:38. | :37:45. | |
there were just one school you could be potentially damaging them. | :37:45. | :37:49. | |
Everyone would want to ensure that we get the best education for all | :37:49. | :37:55. | |
of the children. My concern was that, yes, some of these schools | :37:55. | :38:00. | |
are could well be established in places where the most deprived | :38:00. | :38:08. | |
cannot get to. There are feelings in the system and communities where | :38:08. | :38:16. | |
some extra assistance is required so I think we should put in the | :38:16. | :38:21. | |
kind of initiative that... On the front page of your manifesto, of | :38:21. | :38:27. | |
course. Geoffrey Cox, do you accept this view that new three schools | :38:27. | :38:34. | |
could well undermine existing schools in the South West? No, I do | :38:34. | :38:40. | |
not see that. I c three schools as a driver of increasing standards, | :38:40. | :38:45. | |
giving people a choice. I have a rural constituency and people come | :38:45. | :38:50. | |
to me and say they do not have a choice and they have nowhere to go. | :38:50. | :38:54. | |
There is one secondary school. There must be some strategic | :38:54. | :38:59. | |
oversight, but offering real choice and diversity, and I see no reason | :38:59. | :39:04. | |
why they should have a damaging impact on existing schools. | :39:04. | :39:10. | |
night, just to clarify Labour's position. Ed Balls said this was a | :39:10. | :39:17. | |
socially divisive policy end Andy Burnham said he would not -- and | :39:17. | :39:22. | |
Andy Burnham said he would not approve three schools. The noises | :39:22. | :39:25. | |
from the Shadow Cabinet recently seemed to think that three schools | :39:25. | :39:30. | |
might be fine as long as they do their job properly. I suspect | :39:30. | :39:36. | |
Michael Gove were not disagree with that. In some communities, three | :39:36. | :39:42. | |
schools may be successful air and not damage neighbouring schools. -- | :39:42. | :39:47. | |
free schools. It would be wrong for a government to try to close them | :39:47. | :39:56. | |
down and that case. What government and oppositions have to do is look | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
at the systemic effect and when you look at the three other countries | :39:59. | :40:05. | |
that have tried this, United States, Sweden and Chile, you have had | :40:05. | :40:15. | |
:40:15. | :40:16. | ||
successful schools and failing schools. They have had no systemic | :40:16. | :40:21. | |
standards and I think Andrew is right. Competition is not really a | :40:21. | :40:26. | |
reality in these sorts of areas. It is a luxury to think that we can | :40:26. | :40:31. | |
afford extra places, surplus places, just for these I have got -- | :40:31. | :40:37. | |
ideological reasons. This feels like a policy dreamt up here in | :40:37. | :40:42. | |
London and trying to make it work in regions like the South West. It | :40:42. | :40:48. | |
might look -- work in urban areas but not then roll ones. Labour is | :40:49. | :40:58. | |
giving a grudging acceptance? rural ones. It is not sensible for | :40:58. | :41:03. | |
an incoming government to close so accept -- successful schools. If | :41:03. | :41:08. | |
the schools are working then you should keep them open. But one | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
thing that is really missing in all of this is that it is far and for | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
parents to set up three schools but if they go wrong they have got no | :41:16. | :41:23. | |
one to go to -- three schools. They have no one to go to accept the | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
second day at -- Secretary of State. Jeffrey, this is a serious issue. | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
We could end up with most of the schools with a local authority | :41:32. | :41:39. | |
control. What we want are more good schools. Good schools are producing | :41:39. | :41:43. | |
good standards. If they are good schools then that is a good thing | :41:43. | :41:48. | |
and it will drive up standards in the existing schools. I think the | :41:48. | :41:53. | |
blanket uniformity of the days when the monolithic state provision was | :41:53. | :41:59. | |
the only solution are long gone. Labour were trying this idea or | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
similar ideas under the previous government and we are taking it | :42:03. | :42:10. | |
further forward. Let's try it. What people are wanting his innovation, | :42:10. | :42:17. | |
imagination, that is what we want to see. -- wanting his imagination. | :42:17. | :42:24. | |
You can have that with the previous academies. The local authority | :42:24. | :42:33. | |
consistently failed to help a school, I saw this in my time as a | :42:33. | :42:38. | |
minister, we needed a better ministers with better leadership. | :42:38. | :42:43. | |
More intervention, more intervention, more government | :42:43. | :42:49. | |
control. What we want to see our independent, three schools, where | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
they pass the necessary tests of confidence. If they are good | :42:53. | :43:02. | |
schools, what is wrong with more good schools? The higher risk is | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
that you will build lots of extra schools on top of the ones that are | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
needed with no accountability locally and no guarantee of success | :43:11. | :43:17. | |
just because it is a free school, and that does a mean it will work. | :43:17. | :43:24. | |
Some work and some gold. I think it is worth saying that free schools | :43:24. | :43:28. | |
will be part of a monolithic centralised state. They will be | :43:28. | :43:37. | |
funded, monitored and regulated by the young people's learning Agency. | :43:37. | :43:42. | |
Independent schools are currently monitored. They are able to | :43:42. | :43:47. | |
flourish using their own initiative and innovation. That is what we | :43:47. | :43:51. | |
want to see. Parents want to see choice and higher standards. This | :43:51. | :43:57. | |
will be the engine of that. We have so migrate independent schools in | :43:57. | :44:03. | |
this country and we have some small failing ones as well. All of the | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
secrets of success of a good school system anywhere in the world is | :44:09. | :44:14. | |
that you have a good amount of autonomy and they worked together. | :44:14. | :44:18. | |
You also have collaboration. My worry about three schools in some | :44:18. | :44:23. | |
of these communities is that they will not work with the neighbouring | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
communities and they will expel pupils who are not getting on and | :44:27. | :44:33. | |
others will have to deal with the problems. That is fantasy. The | :44:33. | :44:38. | |
children are completely -- complaining loudly about government | :44:38. | :44:43. | |
intervention. Constantly interfering in what teachers can do. | :44:43. | :44:46. | |
It is one of the most delegated school systems anywhere in the | :44:46. | :44:55. | |
world, here in England. I think we will have to leave it there. Thank | :44:55. | :45:05. | |
:45:05. | :45:07. | ||
That is almost all from the South West bar the news that the region | :45:07. | :45:09. | |
is now officially home to Westminster's top dog. Wilberforce, | :45:09. | :45:12. | |
who belongs to Neil Parish, the Conservative MP for Tiverton and | :45:12. | :45:14. | |
Honiton, has won the annual Parliamentary Dog of the Year | :45:14. | :45:24. | |
:45:24. | :45:25. | ||
Competition. It is great for him, isn't it? He won and it didn't have | :45:25. | :45:30. | |
much to do with me. He is a great dog with huge character. I am | :45:30. | :45:37. |