Debate on the Address

My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to rise to speak for the first time in this House. I immediately thank noble Lords and those who serve your Lordships' House for their courtesy and warm welcome and the help and assistance that they have offered me and my family since I was introduced. I thank in particular my sponsors—the noble Lord, Lord Sheldon, of Ashton-under-Lyne, who I am pleased is in the Chamber, whose unstinting support for me as a resident in my former constituency will always be appreciated; and my noble friend Lady Taylor of Bolton, with whom I worked closely in the Government Whips’ Office in the other place, where we had extremely happy times in spite of the idiosyncratic behaviour of some of our former colleagues. Her kindness to me during that period and since will always be hugely appreciated. It is 19 years since I made my maiden speech in the other House as the first ever Labour Member of Parliament for the Manchester Withington constituency. I was proud of that achievement and now I am proud that Withington forms part of my title. This area of south Manchester has generally thrived over the past 10 years because of the stable economy, low interest rates and low mortgage rates, and because of the investment in public services—especially in new schools and new childcare facilities, in the educational field, and in many new health facilities, in particular the new Withington Community Hospital. Clearly there is much more to be done, with far too many parts of Manchester and other great cities like Manchester suffering from areas of poverty. I believe that this gracious Speech will build on the progress that has already been made in this respect as a result of excellent regeneration projects within the city, employment programmes and world-class events such as the Commonwealth Games, which are a tribute to Manchester City Council and the partners who have worked so hard to address those issues. I wish to highlight a number of policy areas from the gracious Speech. But first I must point out that since the good people of Manchester Withington decided that I needed a long rest, I have been employed as a special adviser in government and public relations in the University of Manchester. It is a privilege to work directly for the president and vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Alan Gilbert, whose inspirational leadership has already made the new combined university a powerhouse within the city, within the region, nationally and, I believe, internationally. The mission to make the university one of the top universities in the world by 2015 drives all our efforts within the city. It also allows the university to contribute more and more to shaping and delivering public policy in this country. The first commitment in the gracious Speech that I welcome is the aim to reduce poverty even further, both here and abroad. Significant progress has been made to reduce family and child poverty in this country, but, as I have mentioned, this work must go deeper and wider in our urban centres, such as the city of Manchester, if all sections of society are to benefit from relative economic prosperity. That prosperity must also extend abroad to places such as Africa, where abject poverty is an indictment on us all. I know that the recently established Brooks World Poverty Institute at the university, with the Nobel laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz as its chair, will play a significant role in helping to shape this very important agenda. Secondly, the continuing programme of educational reform is essential if the aspirations of our young people in Manchester are to be significantly raised. The continued rollout of the Building Schools for the Future programme, the proposals for academies, the 14-to-19 agenda and now, with the Bill already published, the reform of further education, crucially underpinned by high-quality pre-school and primary education, must be coherently organised and clearly accountable to parents with the needs of children at the forefront, if these aspirations are to be achieved. I have some concerns in this respect, however, regarding the reorganisation of the Learning and Skills Councils at the regional level. In Manchester, in my view, there has been a failure: until recently the Learning and Skills Council has not properly been part of the planning process and the strategic direction of education within the city. I will look carefully at the Bill to ensure that the changes proposed do not undermine the council’s renewed efforts to engage with the city and the other partners to bring about better educational standards there. Barely 15 per cent of 18 year-olds resident in Manchester achieve a place in higher education at any institution in this country. That is totally unacceptable. Again, the university will continue to play a key role in supporting all schools in the city by extending its excellent widening participation and leadership programmes. Thirdly, as already mentioned, the emphasis in the gracious Speech on health is welcome. It was with great pleasure that I was recently appointed a non-executive director of the world-famous Christie Hospital, a specialist cancer hospital in Manchester. It has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of delivering the Government’s commitments on cancer services. We must ensure, however, that the 62-day target for treatment is met throughout the country. The Christie Hospital is at the hub of cancer care, particularly for Greater Manchester and the north-west. It is the centre of the cancer network for radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The latest plans for the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, a partnership between the hospital, the university and Cancer Research UK, will provide a world-class centre of excellence for basic, transitional and clinical research, and will more than double the level of cancer-related research activity in Manchester over the next five to eight years. Similarly, the bid for an academic biomedical research centre based in Manchester will further enhance this research activity. I am sure that the bid will be successful. Finally, perhaps I may stray for a moment into the area of transport. The gracious Speech announced a draft Bill to improve public transport. Nothing would be more welcome in the city of Manchester than measures to stop the chaos and havoc that bus deregulation has brought and has inflicted on our roads in the city. The farcical situation we recently had where the logjam of buses almost led to each of them receiving a parking ticket in the city centre must stop. Further investment in our Metrolink system to provide high-quality public transport would also be exceedingly welcome. In closing this maiden speech, I reiterate the honour and pride that I have in entering this noble place. As I have clearly shown, I will use this as a platform to champion and promote the city of Manchester and the north-west region. I believe that the people of Manchester deserve nothing less.