HC Deb 23 June 1999 vol 333 cc1130-6 12.30 pm
Ms Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent, North)

I am grateful for the opportunity to raise issues of real importance to my constituency, and particularly to the city of Stoke-on-Trent and to north Staffordshire. I am pleased that the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, my hon. Friend the Member for Mansfield (Mr. Meale), is here to address what are important issues to the people whom we represent.

I welcome what the Government are doing to tackle economic decline in those parts of our industrial heartlands where manufacturing industry has taken a hammering. I am aware that there are difficulties, but initiatives are taking place. There is a huge commitment across the local community to make a difference. We must make sure that we have joined-up thinking across Government, and that must come from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, which must work with other Departments and agencies to get the changes that we need.

In this respect, I congratulate the Government—particularly the Deputy Prime Minister—on the report "Making the Difference—A New Start for England's Coalfield Communities". I represent an area that was once the north Staffordshire coalfield and which has never properly recovered from the job losses in the coal industry. Traditionally, our area has relied on pits, the pottery and ceramic industry and—to a slightly lesser extent—the textile industry.

The report on coalfield regeneration is thorough, and I welcome it. It has resulted in extra funding, which will be vital. I am slightly disappointed that no one from north Staffordshire will be represented on the trust that has been set up to administer some of the funding. However, I want the Minister to be sure that we have claims on the trust. Also, we want to work closely with it so that all the recommendations in the report can be brought to bear to make a real difference to our area. I know that the Minister understands these arguments as he, too, represents an area that once depended on coal.

I could refer at length to figures and statistics which demonstrate that if ever an area needed extra help, it is ours. That is the case whether we are talking about exclusion from schools, teenage pregnancies or the numbers of people who, because of industrial injury, are out of work. However, I do not wish to quote the figures. I want to get across a positive message from Stoke-on-Trent and north Staffordshire. We are upbeat about what we can do to meet the needs. All we want is a little extra support, recognition and understanding from the Government, so that we can all work together in one big partnership.

I wish to concentrate initially on round 5—the final bid for single regeneration budget funding, which was made by Advantage West Midlands on 30 April. I would not expect my hon. Friend the Minister to give an answer today on this most important proposal, but I am mindful that, in the next few days and weeks, he and his colleagues will be considering the bid. I want to make sure that he is aware of its merits and of the enormous difference that it could make.

The bid talks about partnership, and it has an impressive list of partners, including the north Staffordshire chamber of trade. At virtually every meeting that I and local Members have attended with the chamber of trade, the one thing that has been emphasised is that if we are to do something about all the needs of our area, we must start with education. All the partners that have signed up to the proposal—including the health authority, the voluntary sector, industry and the local churches—agree with our Prime Minister: education is the best economic policy that we have. That is why the SRB bid is so committed to education. We are asking for an opportunity to promote regeneration through education—that is the message that I want to convey today.

There can be no more important way of tackling the problems than education and training. If we do not start to put right the previous Government's legacy of underfunding education—not only in Stoke-on-Trent, but in Staffordshire as a whole—we will not realise the potential of the young people in our area.

It is for that reason that I believe that the bid is vital and timely. We want to work with a partnership of universities, colleges, schools, the voluntary sector, local training and enterprise councils, the careers service, health authorities, the private sector, the probation service and unions in the common cause of tackling our educational problems.

Stoke-on-Trent, in common with many older industrial areas, has had a culture in which—perhaps wrongly—education and training were not considered important. Young people have had low educational and vocational aspirations, but much has been done to combat that. We have had the "aiming high" initiative, which has been introduced in close collaboration with many local schools in our area. Through that initiative, we have now understood that the root cause of some of the problems of low business formation and the little capacity that there has been for community-led regeneration goes back to under-investment in education.

It is for that reason that the partnership is committed to increasing staying-on rates in schools, and to bringing the level of 16-year-olds staying on in school to nearer the national level. I congratulate the Government on the educational maintenance awards, which I am determined will make a real difference to our staying-on rate.

The partnership is committed to reducing unemployment by improving access to training and the relevant skill levels for young people, and to improving the participation by young people in the life of the community—for example, by youth parliaments and forums. I was privileged to attend a national award in the House last week involving the Citizenship Foundation, which is keen to work with us in north Staffordshire. The partnership is committed to increasing the numbers of new businesses established by young people.

We have large numbers of young school-leavers who are not settled and are at risk. We want to change attitudes towards education and learning. We want to increase youth participation and decision-making, and we want to deal with underachievers and make sure that the regeneration that the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions is doing so much to bring about is based on and rooted in education.

I must refer to the excellence in cities scheme. The Minister may wonder why I am concentrating on education in a debate to be answered by an Environment Minister. However, he will understand that we must put in place new mechanisms across all Departments. In view of the role that the SRB bid is giving to education, perhaps we need to look at how Departments can work together. We may need a longer time frame for some of the regeneration policies, and we should consider whether the greater prominence for education in the SRB is helpful. If it is to bring about changes locally, we need to ensure that we have expertise in that subject within the regional development agencies. My hon. Friend's Department has a key role to play in bringing together all the players at a national level to achieve that.

I wish to draw my hon. Friend the Minister's attention to difficulties that could be paralleled at ministerial level if we do not address the issues. For example, we must ensure that my hon. Friend the Minister for School Standards, who has responsibility for inner-city education schemes, has some input into the work of the RDAs and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. We are trying to get many initiatives, such as sure start, started in Stoke-on-Trent and north Staffordshire. We do not want those schemes watered down, but we do want clear cohesion to obtain the maximum benefit.

It is important that the Minister understand the support across north Staffordshire for the bid for objective 2 eligibility, because we want north Staffordshire to feature in that. I pay tribute to Mike Tappin, former Member of the European Parliament, for doing so much preliminary work. It is a great loss to us that he is no longer an MEP and I wish to put on record my thanks for the work that he has done.

I ask my hon. Friend the Minister to take account of our support for assisted area status, although I know that other Departments are involved. When the urban task force report is released, and if it contains a challenge for city centre regeneration pilots, I request that adequate time and funding be allowed for all cities to take part.

I am aware of the tremendous work that my hon. Friend the Minister has done in respect of British waterways and canals, which offer enormous opportunities for regeneration. In Stoke-on-Trent and north Staffordshire, we have the Trent and Mersey canal and the Caldon canal, which provide those opportunities. We should like those issues to feature centrally in further funding that we shall request from the Government. We want the Minister to know how much we want to form partnerships with him to work on that issue.

We also have enormous opportunities for regeneration through heritage. I do not know whether the Minister has visited the most monumental site in my constituency—the former Chatterley Whitfield colliery—which was used by English Heritage on 8 June to launch the national buildings at risk register. Chatterley Whitfield is the nation's No. 1 most at risk building. It offers prospects for job creation and sustainable urban regeneration, so that what was once a powerhouse of the past can become a powerhouse of the future to benefit Stoke-on-Trent and the wider north Staffordshire area.

I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Charlotte Atkins), who is in her place, is fully aware of the opportunities for our constituencies that such regeneration would provide. We need a commitment from the Government, Advantage West Midlands and the regional development agency to work closely with English Heritage, in view of the priority that it has given to getting Chatterley Whitfield working again—with new jobs—for the benefit of local people whose lives have been blighted by the closure of the colliery.

No debate on regeneration in Stoke-on-Trent would be complete without a reference to the pottery and ceramic industry. As I walk through the House of Commons, I am always mindful of the tiles and tableware we use which were manufactured in my constituency and neighbouring ones. The industry is experiencing problems at the moment, like most manufacturing industry, but we are grateful for the SRB money that has already helped to revitalise some of our industry.

We are also grateful to the Treasury and the Department of Trade and Industry for combining with a partnership of local companies and civic leaders in a report known as the ECOTEC report. It contains a list of recommendations which, if achieved, would reverse the decline in our industry. We want to use the report to improve management training and skill levels in the ceramics industry, to establish mentoring schemes to spread good practice, and to develop a "Made in Stoke-on-Trent" label to be promoted throughout the world, because we have a worldwide industry.

Promoting diversity of industry in our area comes back to education. We must do something about educational achievement. I hope that we will obtain increased educational funding in the future, but in the meantime we place a great deal of hope in the SRB bid. If we can convince the Government of the merits of our proposal, we can start to work in real partnership for improved economic prosperity and educational achievement across the area that we represent.

12.46 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Mr. Alan Meale):

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) on securing this debate. She is a worthy warrior for Stoke-on-Trent and the north Staffordshire area. I have known her all the time that I have been in the House, and she never misses an opportunity to raise issues of concern to, or to campaign on behalf of, the area.

On a lighter note, I wish to commiserate with my hon. Friend because Port Vale, a football league club, lost their assistant manager a few days ago. He has now been appointed manager of Mansfield Town, and I hope that he will bring all the skills of the north Staffordshire area to the east midlands area.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising issues relating to regional policies and regeneration in the Stoke area. As she rightly pointed out, Stoke does face a range of difficulties, and no one with any sense would seek to deny that. For instance, as she said, the Stoke-on-Trent economy is highly dependent upon the ceramics industry, which accounts for one in six jobs there. That industry has been declining in employment terms and there has been a corresponding fall in employment in other supporting firms, and also in the mine and steel industries. Growth in service sector employment has not been as rapid as in other parts of the region.

The Government recognise that there are areas of deprivation in the city, which is why it is in receipt of considerable levels of Government regeneration funding. We also recognise that there are links between such deprivation and social exclusion, and we are developing a range of new policies in this area that are likely to benefit the city now and in the future.

The Government wish to contribute to making Stoke-on-Trent more prosperous and an even better place to live and work. To that end, we are working with local partners and regional agencies to implement a wide range of new initiatives and programmes, some of which I will refer to today.

My hon. Friend raised the matter of the single regeneration budget. Stoke-on-Trent is benefiting from three major SRB schemes, totalling £52 million in direct Government grant. Those schemes are the Corbridge community renewal, the villages initiative and the Stoke approach. By levering in an additional £142 million of other funding from both the public and private sectors, the schemes have attracted a total of £194 million to the rebuilding of the Stoke-on-Trent economy.

As my hon. Friend mentioned, Stoke-on-Trent has also submitted a bid under the current SRB round 5, entitled "Realising the Potential of Young People". Decisions are currently being taken on SRB round 5, and a national announcement of the successful bids will be made in early July. As I am sure my hon. Friend will appreciate, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on Stoke's bid at this stage of the proceedings, but I wish the city well in its application.

I appreciate my hon. Friend's concerns about the assisted areas review. The Government are considering the proposals that they will make to the European Commission for new assisted areas in this country. Final decisions are expected in the coming weeks. The needs of all areas are being carefully considered under the review, including those of Stoke-on-Trent and other parts of the west Midlands.

The Government's aim is to designate assisted areas where financial assistance to industry will be effective in addressing need. We are seeking to combine areas of need with opportunities for employment creation, investment and regeneration.

My hon. Friend asked about the relationship between the assisted areas review and the structural funds review. The Government are also currently considering the proposals that they will make for European structural funds objective 2 areas. The two maps have different policy objectives. They should not have to be identical, nor should one be expected to be contained within the other. Taken together, however, they should offer a coherent approach to regional development.

Better educational attainment is a key element in Stoke's future success. The city has applied to the Department for Education and Employment to set up the rainbow zone, which aims to address the poor levels of educational achievement in the Stoke-on-Trent area. It will cost £3 million over three years, and the partners in the scheme aim to raise a quarter of the £1 million needed each year. The zone could start in January 2000, subject to approval by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment.

Stoke has also been selected as one of 15 pilot areas under the education maintenance allowance scheme to test incentives for young people to continue in full-time learning after the age of 16. Under the Government's new sure start scheme, partners in Stoke-on-Trent have submitted a proposal to address family support in north Stoke, which will start later this year.

Ms Walley

Does my hon. Friend agree that those considering a sure start application should take into account the fact that more than one area is involved? If the scheme is suited to those different areas, we will be able to trail blaze right across the city.

Mr. Meale

There is no doubt about that. The Government recognised the diversity of the area in the recent coalfield task force, and want to encourage economic regeneration of all the coalfield areas. The coalfield initiative has been implemented by several Departments, but we must remember the local importance of the ceramics industry, to which my hon. Friend referred, and of the steel industry. All local industries deserve the help offered to young people by the sure start educational support scheme.

My hon. Friend also mentioned the excellence in cities programme. As the programme develops—depending, of course, on the availability of resources—we will be looking to involve further areas in the initiative. Some elements of the programme—for example, the expansion of beacon schools and specialist schools—already apply beyond the initial six pilot areas. The Government are therefore pleased that Stoke-on-Trent is taking advantage of so many of our new initiatives to support education. Improving the skill levels of young people is vital to the well-being of the city and the region.

My hon. Friend is understandably concerned about the problems of the ceramics industry in Stoke, which has suffered several major redundancies in the past 12 months. The Government appreciate that this is a difficult time in the industry, and we will continue to help to alleviate the effects on people made redundant from ceramics companies in north Staffordshire. The Department for Education and Employment's rapid response fund is already helping many redundant workers with traditional pottery skills to retrain in order to seek jobs in alternative industries. It will continue to do so throughout 1999.

There remain problems in the industry due to increasing foreign competition and other factors. The industry clearly needs to compete in the marketplace, and the Government will do what they can to help it modernise. We will also help Stoke to diversify its economy through relevant programmes, including European assistance.

Ms Walley

My hon. Friend mentioned the importance of supporting the ceramics industry, and of helping people who have lost the jobs that they had in it. Does he agree that it is also important to work closely with firms currently in difficulty and that we should help them modernise before they are forced into receivership? Should we not do more to prevent problems arising in the first place, and should not policies on competitiveness pay more attention to that?

Mr. Meale

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We need to help the ceramics industry and other traditional industries to diversify and modernise. As I said earlier, we will do everything to help in that process.

European funding has been very important in Stoke's regeneration as a modern city. Stoke has been awarded some £14 million in grant from the 1994–96 objective 2 programme, and £3 million from the 1997–99 programme. A further £3 million has been offered for the final phase of Trentham lakes, a flagship regeneration project on a key gateway site that involves a joint public-private partnership to produce new job opportunities. In total, European assistance so far has led to 344 jobs being created and has encouraged £175 million of private sector investment in the area.

Stoke has also suffered from colliery closures in recent years. I have some knowledge of that problem, as I come from a strong coal mining community. My hon. Friend referred to her interest in the former Chatterley Whitfield colliery site, which represents a major regeneration opportunity for the city. I appreciate that the site has particular significance for the local former mining communities and the wider population of Stoke-on-Trent. Although I have not yet visited the Chatterley Whitfield site, I promise that I shall arrange a visit as soon as possible to examine regeneration matters and to talk to local people about the regeneration of the canal network in the Stoke-on-Trent area.

The Chatterley Whitfield site is designated as a scheduled ancient monument. It has been identified by English Heritage as a grade A building at risk, with national and international significance in terms of industrial heritage. Following a number of unsuccessful initiatives, English Heritage has been working recently with my hon. Friend and the city council to find a viable use for the site.

On 8 June, English Heritage announced funding support of £1 million to kick-start regeneration proposals over the next three years. The first stage is in hand, and the aim is to produce a clear set of proposals and a business plan by the end of 1999. I know of the problem with land ownership, but I promise my hon. Friend that the Government will do all we can to try to resolve that difficulty so that we can proceed.

In conclusion, I can tell my hon. Friend—my friend of many years—that my Department and others will do everything possible to help regenerate the economy in Stoke-on-Trent and the north Staffordshire area and to find work and education opportunities for local people.