HS2’s benefits for the North

To his credit, however, Sir David Higgins, the highly impressive new chairman of HS2 Ltd, tackles this problem head-on in his review of the project, published today.

According to his report, there has been too much emphasis on the North-South line, linking Leeds and Manchester to London, and far too little discussion of how its benefits can be spread as far as possible across the North.

It is not, as many seem to think, a choice between spending public money on HS2 or investing it in a range of improvements to the existing network.

This is not an either/or debate. Rather, it is a matter of ensuring that these two objectives are complementary, of treating HS2 as an opportunity not only to boost capacity on existing lines, but also to improve connectivity between places such as Manchester, Bradford, Wakefield and Hull, which, as any rail user will recognise, is woefully bad.

The fact that Sir David is now bringing this kind of clarity to the issue is to be welcomed. But it is an indictment of the Government’s failure to explain its own policy that this type of review is needed to dispel the misconceptions and false assumptions that have been allowed to build up.

Equally welcome is the fact that the HS2 chairman is putting so much emphasis on rail infrastructure as a means of boosting economic growth in the North.

And while it is disappointing that Sir David is suggesting scrapping the proposed HS2-HS1 link, which would end hopes of a direct route from Yorkshire to the Continent, it is nevertheless increasingly clear that the North is being viewed as an equal partner in this project and that HS2 is far from being the rich Londoners’ folly that so many once assumed.

Must try harder: Ofsted inspections found wanting

MICHAEL GOVE has had his differences with Ofsted in recent months, so it is no surprise that a think-tank closely connected with the Education Secretary is calling for a radical overhaul of the schools inspectorate.

It is not just Mr Gove, however, who should be concerned about the findings of Policy Exchange. Parents, too, will be deeply concerned at the suggestion that inspectors’ classroom observations are “neither valid nor reliable”, that some schools prepare lessons solely for the benefit of Ofsted’s observers and that many inspectors lack relevant experience and knowledge and cannot analyse or interpret data properly.

There is clearly a need for a rigorous inspection system that can hold struggling schools to account and it is hard to see how classroom observation cannot be part of this. But if teachers are being prepared to behave in a different manner when inspectors are about, and if the inspectors themselves are unable to recognise this, then Ofsted’s judgments are in danger of being rendered worthless.

A system in which many schools live in terror of the impending Ofsted visit, while simultaneously having little faith in the inspectors’ abilities or judgment, is clearly at odds with any notion of schools being encouraged to improve.

And at a time when the more reliable method of simply inspecting test results clearly shows that far too many children are struggling with the basics of literacy and numeracy – as highlighted in The Yorkshire Post’s Turning The Page campaign – the need for overhauling Ofsted is clear.

Seaside memories go on show

FREQUENTLY kitsch, and embarrassing to rediscover at home years after the holiday ended, British seaside souvenirs are becoming much more than mere reminders of good times on the beach.

They are mementoes of an era fast vanishing into history.

Whether a fading postcard or a hairbrush embossed with the word Scarborough, they are a last link with the golden age of the annual British summer holiday and this is why they will be on show at Scarborough Collections in the town on April 1.

Nor is it only the seaside holiday that is fast becoming a museum piece, as shown in the appeal by Filey Museum for information on the resort’s almost vanished fishing industry.

Yorkshire’s seaside towns have had their setbacks, but they are making valiant efforts to re-invent themselves and find new ways of attracting visitors and if they, too, are not to become little more than historical artefacts, they deserve all the support they can get.