Wednesday, March 15, 2006
One of the most stressful experiences for a school governor is an OFSTED inspection. However, I have no doubt that this stress is nothing compared to the pressure that is put on staff! OFSTED recognise this and in recent times have changed their inspection regime to make it more useful to a school and less of a burden. Gatton Primary School, where I am Chair of Governors, had a 2 day inspection commencing on Tuesday so I had to attend an early morning meeting with the inspection team to discuss progress made at the school and answer any questions they had. The inspection went very well and the school received a good report despite only very recently moving into new premises.
On Tuesday 7th, in the evening, I opened an exhibition at St Georges Hospital - 'Nature's Fury'. International development charity Concern Worldwide commissioned award winning Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam to travel to Pakistan after the earthquake last year - the photographs are on display on the first floor of the Lanesborough Wing at St George's Hospital, and are very moving indeed.
After the opening of the exhibition I rushed to a fundraising dinner organised by Putney Labour Party. The main guest speaker was the brilliant author John O’Farrell, who in his brilliant book "Things Can Only Get Better" managed to encapsulate the feelings, anguish, pain and eventual joy of thousands and thousands of Labour Party members who suffered for 18 years before May 1997. John's book is set mainly in Wandsworth and so has additional resonance for me. I had the misfortune to follow his painfully funny speech, but focussed on the challenges of the next few weeks in the run up to the local elections.
On Wednesday morning I visited Wandsworth Prison along with two Ministers – Rosie Winterton, Minister of State for Health, and Baroness Scotland, Minister of State for the Criminal Justice System. We met the Deputy Governor of the prison, staff in the health teams, prison officers and representatives from St George’s Mental Health Trust. The purpose was to discuss how to adopt a more integrated approach to the mental health needs of prisoners – particularly focussing on early intervention, and helping resettlement and rehabilitation after the sentence is over.
The Public Accounts Committee today looked at the Crown Prosecution Service and making effective use of Magistrates Courts. The CPS prosecutes about 1.25 million people each year. Most of these prosecutions (92%) are handled in Magistrates courts. One of the things we examined was the high number of delays and dropped charges. The Director of Public Prosecutions was able to confirm the huge progress made over recent years in the experience of victims and witnesses as well as the quality of CPS lawyers.
On Friday 10th I was present in the House of Commons for the 3rd Reading of Mark Lazarowicz Private Members Bill on Climate Change. I supported the Bill’s Second Reading back in November. It has two main objectives - firstly it will encourage measures that will combat climate change throughout the UK. Secondly the Bill encourages the development of microgeneration (the generation of energy by individual householders or small groups of householders) and other methods to improve energy efficiency. If this Bill is passed into law, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would be required to report annually to Parliament about the level of greenhouse gas emissions. This report would then be subject to a debate in the House of Commons, which would give MPs the opportunity to hold the government’s record on climate change to account. Microgeneration units, which emit little or no carbon dioxide, can be installed in the home. Examples of such units include Micro wind, solar thermal and micro hydro systems. The Bill sets both national and local targets for microgeneration, which will help to reduce the capital costs currently involved in this scheme. It also calls for the Government to contribute more towards the development of community energy schemes, whereby local people collaborate on renewable energy projects. Lastly the Bill would enable the Secretary of State to establish a ‘renewable heat obligation’. This would ensure that a specified percentage of heat generated by utilities would have to be produced from renewable sources.
In the afternoon I travelled down to Hastings to take part in Radio 4's "Any Questions". The show was preceded by a dinner with the host Johnathan Dimbleby and the other panellists – Michael Mansfield QC, Ann Widdecombe MP, and Nigel Farage – a UKIP MEP.
Sadiq
On Tuesday 7th, in the evening, I opened an exhibition at St Georges Hospital - 'Nature's Fury'. International development charity Concern Worldwide commissioned award winning Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam to travel to Pakistan after the earthquake last year - the photographs are on display on the first floor of the Lanesborough Wing at St George's Hospital, and are very moving indeed.
After the opening of the exhibition I rushed to a fundraising dinner organised by Putney Labour Party. The main guest speaker was the brilliant author John O’Farrell, who in his brilliant book "Things Can Only Get Better" managed to encapsulate the feelings, anguish, pain and eventual joy of thousands and thousands of Labour Party members who suffered for 18 years before May 1997. John's book is set mainly in Wandsworth and so has additional resonance for me. I had the misfortune to follow his painfully funny speech, but focussed on the challenges of the next few weeks in the run up to the local elections.
On Wednesday morning I visited Wandsworth Prison along with two Ministers – Rosie Winterton, Minister of State for Health, and Baroness Scotland, Minister of State for the Criminal Justice System. We met the Deputy Governor of the prison, staff in the health teams, prison officers and representatives from St George’s Mental Health Trust. The purpose was to discuss how to adopt a more integrated approach to the mental health needs of prisoners – particularly focussing on early intervention, and helping resettlement and rehabilitation after the sentence is over.
The Public Accounts Committee today looked at the Crown Prosecution Service and making effective use of Magistrates Courts. The CPS prosecutes about 1.25 million people each year. Most of these prosecutions (92%) are handled in Magistrates courts. One of the things we examined was the high number of delays and dropped charges. The Director of Public Prosecutions was able to confirm the huge progress made over recent years in the experience of victims and witnesses as well as the quality of CPS lawyers.
On Friday 10th I was present in the House of Commons for the 3rd Reading of Mark Lazarowicz Private Members Bill on Climate Change. I supported the Bill’s Second Reading back in November. It has two main objectives - firstly it will encourage measures that will combat climate change throughout the UK. Secondly the Bill encourages the development of microgeneration (the generation of energy by individual householders or small groups of householders) and other methods to improve energy efficiency. If this Bill is passed into law, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would be required to report annually to Parliament about the level of greenhouse gas emissions. This report would then be subject to a debate in the House of Commons, which would give MPs the opportunity to hold the government’s record on climate change to account. Microgeneration units, which emit little or no carbon dioxide, can be installed in the home. Examples of such units include Micro wind, solar thermal and micro hydro systems. The Bill sets both national and local targets for microgeneration, which will help to reduce the capital costs currently involved in this scheme. It also calls for the Government to contribute more towards the development of community energy schemes, whereby local people collaborate on renewable energy projects. Lastly the Bill would enable the Secretary of State to establish a ‘renewable heat obligation’. This would ensure that a specified percentage of heat generated by utilities would have to be produced from renewable sources.
In the afternoon I travelled down to Hastings to take part in Radio 4's "Any Questions". The show was preceded by a dinner with the host Johnathan Dimbleby and the other panellists – Michael Mansfield QC, Ann Widdecombe MP, and Nigel Farage – a UKIP MEP.
Sadiq
