It's not all that often your name comes out of what is referred to as 'the shuffle' for Prime Minister's questions but this week I was lucky.
I put my name in almost every week but the system ensures no one comes out too often. Most times, like most others, I put in what is an open question. You may have noticed that in reply to the first question the PM says “This morning, I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in this House, I shall have further such meetings later today.” This is because an open question asks the PM to list his appointments for the day. Closed questions which pose a specific question, as mine did last week fell out of fashion many years ago as when they were submitted they were referred to the Department concerned so if you asked about the roads in your constituency you would receive a note saying it had been referred to the Transport Minister and would appear on the next occasion he or she was replying. Similarly if you asked about troubles in the Middle East it would be passed to the Foreign Office.
This might be very convenient for the PM of the day but the whole point of PMQs is that members can ask a question on any subject and as the Head of Government the buck stops with whoever is, to give the office holder their official title, First Lord of the Treasury which is what it says on that gold plate on the door of number 10.
Of course no individual knows the answer to every question as thousands of decisions are taken every day in the name of ministers, most of them by officials but it is the elected representative who is responsible.
My question this week centred on the socio-economic problems that affect coastal towns and communities. Why, despite the fact that we have some high-performing schools our results are often lower, as indeed in other coastal communities.
Mr Cameron's reply was spot on in that it showed that the Government recognise the need to attract top teachers to places such as Cleethorpes. He said “One issue is making sure we get very talented teachers and leaders into those schools, and that is what the national leaders of education service is all about.”
The aim of national leaders of education is to increase the leadership capacity of schools to help raise standards.
The second point I made was to stress the importance of our young people being able to access top quality sport, arts and cultural events. For the modern world we must lift the aspirations and broaden the horizons if the next generation are to benefit from all that the world has to offer.
Of course there are wars, rumours of wars and much evil in the world but there is so much good and we mustn't close our eyes to it.
Another event at Westminster was one organised by Seafish under the banner ‘Responsible Fishing.’ It was an opportunity to meet with Marcus Coleman their new Chief Executive. It’s easy to forget how important fish and fishing remains to this area. I’ll be meeting with Marcus again in the near future to consider, in more detail, the issues facing the industry.
As well as questioning the PM I was also fortunate to be able to question the Cabinet Office minister Rob Wilson about the National Citizens Service. I’m always impressed with those young people who take part in and also those who lead the various projects. Last week I was speaking with Lee Stephens, one of the local people who supervise the projects. He was saying how the project at St. Andrew’s Hospice had left a marked impression on the youngsters and he was sure that they would be better people because of their experiences. It’s an excellent movement for involving young people and I’m pleased that the Government has given an assurance that it will continue to fund it.