No foundation to homes plan

The latest example is the New Homes Bonus, a £7bn initiative intended to stimulate the economy by offering financial rewards to local authorities to help kickstart housebuilding schemes – the construction industry remains a key driver of growth.

It was funded by Ministers taking money previously earmarked for local authorities via direct grants. This scheme, they promised, would remove the barriers to growth and get councils behind a new house-building drive.

Two years in, it is now clear that much of the allocated funding has gone to local authorities in the South – such as Swindon – where house-building was already underway.

The consequence is some property developers enjoying rich pickings while councils and public bodies across Yorkshire continue to make some unpalatable cuts.

Yet, while Ministers continue that the New Homes Bonus is still in its infancy, the latest criticisms of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee perpetuate a familiar theme – the failure of officials to live up to their promises and ensure that taxpayers receive value for money at all times – and that policies are targeted to have the maximum impact where they are needed most.

Their conclusions also expose another contradiction. Despite advocating localism, particularly when difficult decisions have to be made, Ministers still seem reluctant to allow local councils to shape their own future – and invest in a new generation of social housing. If they did, it is very likely that town halls would have achieved far more with this fund than the Whitehall control-freaks who were put in charge of this venture.

Continuity counts

THERE is no cap on aspiration or personal ambition, despite a flurry of social mobility reports suggesting otherwise. Children from all social backgrounds can prosper academically if they have sufficient drive, as well as appropriate support from their parents and teachers.

It is this latter point which Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw addressed as new data revealed that attainment levels of pupils from poorer backgrounds in Yorkshire was below the national average, in part because there is an “invisible minority” of disadvantaged children living in “leafy suburbs, market towns or seaside resorts”.

Sir Michael’s explanation is this: rural and coastal communities were neglected when a concerted effort began to raise school standards in urban areas and that a cadre of “national service teachers” should be recruited so they can parachuted into those towns where standards are deemed unacceptable.

While this notion has merit, it will only provide a short-term fix before the services of these super-teachers are required elsewhere.

What pupils require is continuity – they will have a better chance of prospering if lessons are taught by experienced teachers rooted in the local community – and individuals who are passionate about their specialist subject.

This reality is not exclusive to those LEAs that are at 
the foot of the national league tables – it applies to every school. Take York. While some of its primary schools are struggling, its secondary education has a solid reputation. Yet it will only take one or two teachers to move on for the reverse to be true. That is why Sir Michael’s long-term goal needs to be raising teaching standards at 
every school.

Museum villains

GEORGE Galloway, the outspoken Bradford West MP, will always polarise opinion with his stirring oratory. Yet, in a Parliamentary debate on the future of Yorkshire’s museums, he spoke for all.

Mr Galloway’s words are worth repeating in full. He said: “It is all very well these panjandrums of the culture industry sitting in London, in the Victoria and Albert, deciding which of their northern chess pieces they can dispose of, but it is Ministers who must decide, and it is Parliament, to whom Ministers are accountable, and democracy, to which we are all accountable, that really count.”

In short, the future of national museums for media, railways and coal mining – all run by the London-centric Science Museum Group – was briefly threatened because its leaders had little idea of their economic importance and social value to Bradford, York and Wakefield respectively.

Their plan was only derailed by the likes of Mr Galloway building a very effective cross-party alliance in Bradford with his foes from the Tory, Lib Dem and Labour ranks.

This is what politics should be about more frequently – MPs, councillors and activists working together.

But the battle does not end here. As York MP Hugh Bayley stressed, these attractions will only prosper, and reverse recent declines in visitor numbers, if there 
is renewed investment 
in the exhibits – and facilities.

The reason is this. People of all ages will continue to return to these museums, rightly described as “national treasures”, if they continue to innovate – just like London’s great attractions.