House Notes

There is an unreal feel about Parliament at the moment (perhaps there always is, but now even more so). We are entering into the last few months of the Parliament before a General Election.

There’s plenty of legislation to debate. Since the New Year, I have spoken from the Conservative frontbench on the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, the Corporation Tax Bill, the Taxation (International Provisions) Bill and the Terrorist Asset Freezing Bill as well as a host of other debates in Committee.

In some respects, there is a rush to get everything out of the way before the General Election. But, frankly, some of the measures don’t really amount to much and are simply about filling in the time until the Prime Minister goes to the Queen and a General Election is called.

There is a sense that there are important things that need to be done but we are not doing them. I think this tends to happen at the end of a Parliament, particularly when there is an expectation that there may be a change of government. But there is a sense that Parliament is marking time.

One factor that, of course, hangs over this Parliament is the issue of MPs’ expenses. It was a dominant issue for much of 2009, and one I have written about previously in these pages. But, with the Legg Report and four Parliamentarians being charged with theft, it has been back in the news again.

I was pleased that I was given a clean bill of health by the independent Legg Report and not asked to pay back any money. But for all of us, there is a big challenge to restore trust in the public finances. A General Election, and allowing voters to express their views, will be a necessary part of this process.

One issue which I hope the next Parliament will address is making it easier to create new schools. I have written before about short of school places we are. I am delighted that there is a parents’ group which has been formed to campaign for a new school in the Rickmansworth area. I have written here before about how the demographic trends mean that this is necessary.

But we create very few new schools in this country. There has long been a fear of ‘surplus places’ by local authorities reluctant to open a new school, possibly at the expense of an unpopular, neighbouring school losing pupils. The planning system makes it difficult. And there is a view that every secondary school must be a big school.

It is time that we changed this approach. We need to make it easier for a new school to be created. Maybe it could be established by the local education authority but perhaps an outside body – a voluntary group, the church, a chain of existing schools or even by local parents.

If we free up our education system, given the numbers of children in the area, our part of the world would be a very attractive place to set up a new school. I hope we can all work together to make this happen.