Each week certainly has a theme, and last week’s was focussed on Building Schools for the Future.

As I am sure you are aware, we have had some confusion over the future of Blackpool’s BSF programme. Sadly, the bulk of the projects have been cancelled because of the tight fiscal constraints we are working under. Three projects in Blackpool, however, remain under consideration because they had progressed further in legal and financial terms. Two of these are in my constituency – St Mary’s College and the smaller Mountford Centre scheme in Bispham.

Monday
There was a great deal of confusion in particular over the status of St Mary’s in particular. Sitting in the Chamber on Monday to hear the Education Secretary Michael Gove’s statement, I was quite certain that St Mary’s was a sample project that would be under review. I was pleased it had not been cancelled – and determined to make sure we did all we could so it got approval. So imagine my surprise when it crops up on a list as ‘unaffected’ and therefore going ahead. I called the school head Stephen Tierney to confirm – and we agreed it almost sounded too good to be true.

Wednesday
Which it was. By Wednesday, reports were circulating of errors in the list. Most of Wednesday was spent by me on the phone to councillors, headteachers, council officers and ministers’ offices trying to establish the facts of the matter. Eventually we had confirmation that St Mary’s was still under review – as we had originally expected. Whilst it is easy to try to dissect the administrative errors, I’m now focusing on doing all I can to get St Mary’s given the go ahead. Part of the programme for St Mary’s includes diocesan funding for a new Christ the King Catholic Primary which serves the Grange Park estate – a deprived area which was the site of our 2007 Conference Social Action Project. Should the project fall, so will diocesan funding for the primary school.

I would therefore emphasise the transformative nature of St Mary’s plans. The benefits are not restricted only to Catholics in Blackpool at all – all secondary schools will benefit from a ‘ripple effect’, thereby making up for some of their disappointment at the remainder of Blackpool’s BSF programme being cancelled.

To make sure we were all heading in the right direction, I made time to see Stephen Tierney at St Mary’s, and after Education Questions in the House I will be heading over to the Department for Education to hand over the letters to Michael Gove from the headmaster and the Bishop of Lancaster, along with my own.

The issues with St Mary’s are a good example of the dilemma facing MPs. At the same time as the confusion, there was a Westminster Hall debate on autism and mental health which I had hoped to speak in, given a number of constituents had approached me on the issue. As an MP, you have to make choices about your diary continually as there are always five things going on at once. I prefer to think about the difference my involvement can make to something, and apportion my time accordingly. Given the impact of St Mary’s across Blackpool, it wasn’t a difficult decision to put that first. A letter to the Minister on autism will be going out this week too!

All of this occurred alongside a very late night sitting until about 2.30am thanks to Labour MPs debating past the point of no return the Budget provisions. Free speech is important, I agree, but listening to what they had to say in the early hours, I was struck by the fact they didn’t have very much to say at all. Good debates on important issues are one thing, but playing childish games to deny us sleep is quite another! It seemed impossible to find a taxi, so I ended up getting the firstTube train back for a shower and change before managing another long day immediately afterwards.

Thursday
Lots of time was taken up with St Mary’s, but not all of it! The All-Party Group on Muscular Dystrophy had a worthwhile session looking at whether specialised commissioning for neuro-muscular conditions (which cover a broad spectrum, including motor neurone disease) are actually achieving what they set out to. I had a quick drop in on the All-Party Isle of Man Group since we are so close geographically – and Blackpool airport is such a key link.

I attended a fascinating briefing with Professor Steve Fothergill (of the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research) who has been doing research estimating the number of jobs reliant upon tourism in the “Greater Blackpool” area – something which has never been done before apparently. He did it by assessing just how many jobs over and above what you would normally expect in a town with no discernible tourist trade. In “Greater Blackpool”’s case (his designation, not mine), it amounted to 19,400 jobs year-round (i.e. not just seasonal). Across the country as a whole, seaside tourism employs more people than aviation or pharmaceuticals – important comparisons to cite when raising the profile of the issue. However, many questions still remain unanswered about the trends within all these statistics, as Prof. Fothergill himself admitted.

Thursday night/ Friday/ Saturday
Finally, Thursday night and Friday in the constituency saw me drop by the Cleveleys Park Junior Chess Club at the Methodist Church, a meeting with Helen France to discuss some of the thematic issues that frequently crop up, a visit to meet Gazette editor David Helliwell, a surgery at the City Learning Centre, the opening of an Art Exhibition at the Votive Shrine with the Historic Chapels Trust, and a visit to the East Pines Gala in Anchorsholme on Saturday in between catching up on emails. I think I had a few hours off on Sunday where I didn’t do any work!

Regards,
Paul
Paul Maynard MP
Conservative
Blackpool North & Cleveleys

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