Academies Bill [Lords]

Thank you for the opportunity to address the House—through this Committee—for the first time, Mr Evans, in this important debate. First, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and The Border (Rory Stewart), on making what I believe is his second maiden speech, and the hon. Member for North West Durham (Pat Glass), who has added considerably to this debate. I do not think that I shall be able to add as much, in terms of detail. As hon. Members would expect, I have studied previous maiden speeches and, not surprisingly, found them to be very formulaic. Although I do not intend to stray far from that formula, it would be worth recognising that change has come to this House. I look around and I see my new colleagues brimming with enthusiasm, optimism and energy—[Interruption]—well, some of them—and for this opportunity I will be eternally grateful to the good people of South Basildon and East Thurrock for sending me here. They have put great trust in me. I intend to repay that trust by being open and honest with them, and accessible and available. My one aim is to ensure not only that they have a voice, but that that voice is heard. South Basildon and East Thurrock is based on the old Basildon seat, which has rightly been seen as a bellwether seat for many years. Despite the recent boundary changes, it is still able to claim that title, as I believe it represents a marvellous cross-section of this wonderful country. Situated just 30 miles down the Thames from this place—and yes, I have heard every single Essex joke going, so we do not need to go through those—my constituency is made up of two halves. The Basildon half consists of Basildon new town and the wards of Vange and Nethermayne, as well as Langdon Hills and the established town of Pitsea. To the south, on the Thurrock side, I have two main towns—Stanford le Hope and Corringham—and a number of rural villages, including Fobbing, Orsett, Bulphan, Horndon on the Hill, Linford and East Tilbury, and an area called The Homesteads. The area is one of great diversity and although much of it is new, it has a rich and varied history. Basildon, as hon. Members probably well know, was one of the new towns founded in 1949, following the shortage of housing after the second world war. However, the name Basildon dates back to Saxon times and can be found on many ancient maps. Although many of the other towns and villages that I have mentioned can also claim that, with hundreds of years of history, there is one that particularly stands out: Fobbing, a village where one of the first of the uprisings that eventually led to the peasants' revolt took place—a revolt led by Wat Tyler, who incidentally gives his name to an important local country park. Those uprisings were the beginning of the end of serfdom. How appropriate it is that just over 600 years later it is this new Government who have decided to return some power to their citizens before there is another revolution. It is customary in a maiden speech, and indeed a pleasure, to pay tribute to one's predecessors, which I fully intend to do. However, as South Basildon and East Thurrock is an amalgamation of three seats, I might just need a little moment to do that. First, I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Baron), from whom I have inherited approximately 30% of my seat. He represented Pitsea and Bowers Gifford for nine years, from 2001 until May this year. I would like to thank him for the care and attention with which he served his constituents over that time. I also what to thank him for the support and help that he gave me in my years of trying to win that part of the constituency. I hope I will be able to serve as diligently and as well as he has done. I would also like to recognise the contribution of the former Member for Thurrock, from whom I inherit the villages of Linford, East Tilbury and Muckingford. Although he and I would have sat on opposite sides of the House and been totally politically opposed to each other, we would have shared one desire—namely, to serve our residents, which I know he did so well for so long. Finally, I must pay tribute to my opponent at the election, the former right hon. Member for Basildon. First elected in 1997, she served the local community with great distinction as well as making a significant mark here in the House. Her contribution to the House has been recognised, as she has recently taken up a seat in the other place. Indeed, she made her maiden speech there only this afternoon. Over the 13 years, she worked very hard to highlight local issues and to support the local community—something that I intend to emulate. She also demonstrated unstinting loyalty to the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown)—something that I do not intend to emulate. But she never forgot who sent her here, and neither will I. I am sure that hon. Members would agree that one of the best parts of our job is having the opportunity to support the local community, and to go round and thank local charities, groups and organisations for the work that they do on behalf of the community. Indeed, one of my first official functions was to attend a celebratory dinner to mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of St Luke's hospice. It is an incredible place, as are all hospices. But St Luke's is perhaps slightly more incredible than most, because it was the result of one woman's single-minded determination to turn an idea into reality. With only 25p in the kitty, Trudy Westmore-Cox, together with a small but dedicated committee, went about establishing what is today one of the most respected and supported local charities. It provides a fully functioning multi-discipline hospice offering in-patient care and home care. This requires about £3 million in funding each year, much of which is raised through the support of the local community. This is big society in action, and just one of the examples of the numerous organisations I have had the privilege to support over the years. We are also a very industrious area, in which business plays an important role in the community. Indeed, many hon. Members might have seen the Basildon sign, of ““Have I Got News for You”” fame. It marks the gateway to an incredibly industrious area that employs about 45,000 people in some of the most dynamic and innovative companies around. Those companies thrive on having a supply of well-educated, enthusiastic and aspirational people. It is our duty as politicians to provide an education framework that delivers that, and I believe that the Bill that we are scrutinising today will do exactly that. It feeds into the need to provide a well-educated work force for the future. It is through our businesses and through innovation that we will get our country back on track. I understand the sentiment behind the amendment that we are discussing, but I believe it is ill-placed. From my experience of discussions with governors, staff and teachers, I know that they are desperate to show that they know what is best for them and their pupils, and that they know how best to serve their local communities. We must give them the opportunity to do that. I fear that the amendment would hinder that process and deprive my constituents of the chance to access academies at the earliest possible opportunity. These issues are vitally important to my constituents. Essex attracts many preconceptions: I think that many people misunderstand it. We are a proud county. We have our foibles, but I think that, as well as being proud, we are hard-working, industrious and generous. Those traits—combined with the opportunities that I believe the Bill, unamended, gives us—will help us to emerge from the challenges of the past 13 years. Finally, let me extend to every Member, both in and outside the Chamber, an open invitation to come and see my part of the world. I invite Members to come down and see what a fantastic part of the world south Essex is. I shall then be able to demonstrate to them that what we are discussing here today, and what is being discussed in Government, will make a real difference to the people in my constituency, and to the pupils and staff of my local schools.