This Bill had its second reading in Parliament today.

The key issues in the Bill are:

– accountability of the police and the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners (elected)
– the introduction of new licensing laws to curb binge drinking
– minor changes to Universal Jurisdiction so that the Director of Public Prosecutions decides on arrest warrants for foreign war criminals who come to this country as opposed to district judges
– ensuring that Parliament Square can be used for protests, but not used as a permanent encampment.
– new powers to deal with legal highs

There was a good debate with Labour supporting much (but definitely not all) of the content.

“I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative”

That was the NUS pledge that I signed.

The new proposals are fairer. So – those who are angry at me and feel ‘betrayed’ do at least need to look at the comparative proposals and see if they are ‘fairer’. It would have been much easier to vote against – in a constituency like Hornsey & Wood Green where some Labour voters supported me – but as popular as that might have made me – why would I vote against something which will help poorer students when my mission is a society that is more equal.

For anyone actually interested in the detail – I paste some below.

• No-one pays a penny upfront. Students don’t pay, graduates do.
• For the first time, part time students won’t have to pay up front fees.
• All students will repay less per month compared to now.
• The lowest earning 25% of graduates will repay less overall.
• No-one earning £21,000 or less will pay anything (which will be increased each year in line with earnings).
• It will be the highest earners – around 25% of graduates – who will pay back more than they borrow.
• More than half a million students will be eligible for more non-repayable grants for living costs. Almost one million students will be eligible for more overall maintenance support.
• There will be an extra £150m for a new National Scholarship Programme for students from poorer backgrounds and we will introduce tough new sanctions of universities who fail to improve their access to students from backgrounds.
• The Council of Mortgage lenders has confirmed that higher fees will not impact on graduate’s ability to get a mortgage. Student loans data are not shared with credit reference agencies, so they will not impact on an individual’s credit score (either positively or negatively). Mortgage lenders worry about monthly outgoings which are lower than at preset.

This system gives graduates more disposable income when they need it most, when they’re starting out in their careers and moving home because their monthly payments are lower.

Monthly repayment comparators – our system versus the current system:

Job Title/Starting Salary/ Our System / Current System / Annual Saving                                  

Investment Banking / £38,250  / £129.38  / £174.38  / £540.00

Police constable (London) / £25,536 / £34.02 / £79.02 / £540.00

Average graduate scheme / £25,000 / £30.00 / £75.00 / £540.00

Engineering / £23,500 / £18.75 / £63.75 / £540.00

Social worker / £23,500 / £18.75 / £63.75 / £540.00

Police constable (outside London) / £23,259 / £16.94 / £61.94 / £540.00

Teacher (outside London) / £21,588 / £4.41 / £49.41 / £540.00

Librarian / £19,000 / £0.00 / £30.00 / £360.00

Third Sector / £19,000 / £0.00 / £30.00 / £360.00

Junior Sous Chef (London) / £18,000 / £0.00 / £22.50 / £270.00

Plumber / £17,313 / £0.00 / £17.35 / £208.17

Care assistant /£13,000 / £0.00 / £0.00 / £0.00

The Liberal Democrats are announcing today a major investment for schools in Haringey through the Pupil Premium.

In its first year the programme will target £625m extra funding to the poorest children in school, with this figure rising to £2.5bn each year, by the end of this Parliament.

In year one, every school is guaranteed an extra £430 from the Government for every child on free school meals and every looked-after child.

In Haringey that could mean around £4.5 million in extra cash.

For years, Labour told us that children in inner London boroughs were worth more than children here in Haringey. That was a disgrace and we’re bringing it to an end.

The premium gives Headteachers in Haringey the freedom to use the money how they want, in the ways they know work – not how politicians in Whitehall tell them to.”

By helping some of the most disadvantaged children, we can help whole classes work together better and move forward faster. This is great news for children, parents and teachers alike.

Despite the recent controversy, all the evidence shows that the best way to help bright kids from poor families get to university is to target additional resources at them when they are younger and so give them a head start in life.

Nearly 1.4m children will benefit (2010 figures). 17% of all children. In 2011/12, the PP will be distributed under a flat distribution model, so that FSM children will get the same increase, regardless of where they live. The PP figure will reach £2.5bn a year by 2014/15 – both increasing the amount each pupil receives each year and the number of those eligible for extra funding.

Schools that benefit from this additional cash will not be told exactly how to use it. This is part of our plans to give schools greater freedom. But schools will be expected to ensure children struggling with the basics get the extra support they need so they don’t fall irretrievably behind their peers. But every child in the class will benefit from helping any child, particularly any that are struggling.

Looked after children will be eligible for the premium as their attainment is very low –  just 15% achieved five good GCSEs last year compared to the national average of 50%.

After year one, as resources for the pupil premium increase, it will be extended to cover more pupils (FSM6), and will be made more responsive to geographical variation in underlying schools budgets. This government’s ambition is to ensure every deprived young person gets access to the same level of educational support, no matter where they live.

The gap between pupils on FSM and their peers is already, sadly, apparent by the time they reach the end of primary school. At secondary the gulf grows wider still.

By sixteen, a pupil not entitled to free school meals is over 3 times more likely to achieve five good GCSEs as one who is entitled.

In 2007/08, out of a cohort of 600,000 pupils, 80,000 pupils were eligible for free school meals. And of those, just 40 made it to Oxbridge. Fewer than from Eton and Westminster.

I visited a Women’s Aid refuge yesterday to raise awareness of the support available for victims of domestic violence over Christmas. I spent time at Solace Women’s Aid refuge, at a confidential address in North London, and spoke to support workers and victims about their experiences.

The Home Office is working with Women’s Aid and the charity Refuge to encourage victims of domestic violence to seek help and support over the Christmas and New Year period and encourage people to look out for signs of abuse in family, friends, colleagues and neighbours.

Christmas and New Year is a time of joy for many people but can be very difficult for those living in fear of violence or abuse in their own homes. If you are a victim, or if you suspect you know a victim – help is available. Domestic violence is not a private matter and everyone needs to be involved in helping victims.The work carried out at in refuges and by all the support services for women in danger of domestic violence is of vital importance.

Last year there were more than a million female victims of domestic violence in England and Wales, nearly two women each minute. And every week two of those women lose their lives at the hands of a current or former partner. Each year more than 300,000 women are sexually assaulted and 60,000 women are raped. Overall in the UK, more than one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can go to the Freephone 24 Hour National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or go to http://www.nationaldomesticviolencehelpline.org.uk (new window). Anyone in immediate danger should call 999.

This is the column I wrote for the Ham & High last week:

Ever since I took my first step into elected politics – when I became Leader of the Opposition of the first ever LibDem Group (group of then three – now twenty-three) on Haringey Council in 1998 – parking has been the local issue that has so often stirred local people to activism.

Much of the angst around parking has been less about whether or not there is a need for some parking controls but far more about the fear that Haringey’s Labour council will not listen properly to local people and will simply push through their proposals like a juggernaut regardless of what local people say and sometimes in the teeth of the results of consultations. Additionally – there has always been an undercurrent of belief that Haringey uses parking charges as a means of revenue raising rather than as a means to ensure good management of parking – which should be their only purpose.

As someone who believes that we have to manage scarce resources, in this case there being more people wanting to park in many places than there are spaces to fit – I am also someone who believes exactly that – it has to be about enabling parking, about traffic flow and about safety – not about the money.

So no surprise then – that Haringey at this desperately hard time both for individuals and businesses – announces that they are going to raise parking charges – and not by a small sum. In Crouch End and Muswell Hill, for example, charges are proposed to rise from £1.40 per hour – to £3.00 per hour.

So my Liberal Democrat colleagues on Haringey Council have acted swiftly to ‘call-in’ this decision. This happens when the cabinet (Labour) have made a decision on which the opposition (Liberal Democrat) has substantive grounds to challenge that decision. This ‘call-in’ will have been heard at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

I very much hope they see sense in that there cannot be a worse time to raise charges and put our local high streets under even more economic pressure than they already are. Cllr Lyn Weber, who leads for us on environmental issues and will lead the challenge to the decision, has been out and about talking to local traders who are devastated at these poorly timed proposals.

Haringey Labour are arguing that this is to bring our local parking charges in line with other parts of London. However – these are our local high streets – not Westminster or Knightsbridge! We need our local shops to do well – as they are at the heart of our communities.

Any call in has to have, as I said, substantive grounds on which to raise such a challenge. In this case the Liberal Democrats challenges are that:

– The Council has failed to carry out a full impact assessment to ascertain the affects of the increases in parking charges on local independent shops and businesses.

– The Council has failed to consult with local businesses and traders on the proposals.

– The proposals are contrary to the Council’s priority to achieve a “thriving Haringey” by tackling “decline, attract growth and create a more vibrant local economy.”

– Proposals to increase charges for pay and display parking will reduce the number of shoppers using parking in Haringey’s town centres, cause local businesses and shops to lose business and take money out of the local economy.

– Proposals to increase the banding of pay and display parking bays charges in Muswell Hill, Crouch End and Green Lanes from medium to high use will result in a 114% increase in the charge and make shopping in these areas less attractive.

Let’s hope that Labour and their officers understood how damaging their proposals are and dropped the proposals.

That would be a good Christmas present – and very timely!

I supported the Government on Higher Education funding last night.

For someone like me – who has always believed that education should be free – it has been a difficult decision. Sadly, my view of education (free through raising taxation) isn’t on the table – or anywhere near it. That vision was ended when Labour introduced tuition fees and the principle of free education for all fell. So last night I chose to vote for the proposals because they are fairer than either the NUS or Labour proposals. I also could not justify students being the only group in society protected from the cuts.

Not only will paying back be at a cheaper rate than the current system – but no one will have to pay back until their salary reaches a higher threshold than before (£21,000 up-rated annually). Students from poorer backgrounds will have £150 million in bursaries and the maintenance grant which is over £3000 and has increased slightly doesn’t have to be paid back at all. Moreover, for the first time, part-time students (often poor, often missed first chance and often women) will also not have to pay anything up front – removing a real barrier to further education.

However, the key question for me was will that level of potential debt put poorer students off? When Labour introduced tuition fees – I believed poorer students would be put off. That didn’t happen. In fact more students went to university – and more of those students came from poorer families. With these increases I remain concerned – but have received assurances that if there is any sign of a falling off of applications from poorer students – action will be taken.

At this point in time, with the widest gap between rich and poor and social mobility non-existent – I believe the biggest inhibition to children from poorer backgrounds going to university – is that they don’t see themselves in that way and don’t have that aspiration. That is why for me the money we are putting into early years and into the pupil premium is so important. Closing that gap and increasing social mobility has to be the priority.

Lastly – on breaking the NUS pledge – I can only apologise. However, for me, that pledge was super-ceded by my signing up to the coalition agreement and although the coalition agreement allowed for abstention – for me that would have felt like opting out of making a very important decision.

I have listened to local students, local residents, party members, council group members and colleagues – and thank them all for their views. It is clear that everyone cares passionately about education and life chances – and that just because we may have differing views on how best to go forward – we all do care.

I just thought that given the interest in the Government Equality Strategy – it might be useful if I posted a fuller version. The entire document is available on the GEO website – but this is a useful synopsis for those who are interested.

Government Equalities Strategy
2nd December 2010

In my conference speech this autumn I spoke about my vision for “an equality which sets people free, rather than imprisons them with rules.”

Today the government was able to realise this vision with the publication of the government’s cross-portfolio strategy for equalities.

The strategy sets out the government’s commitment to tackling equality of opportunity, with five key principles defining this approach:

Creating opportunities for all – moving from solutions geared only to specific “groups” to developing frameworks that help create fairness and opportunities for everyone
Devolving power to people – instead of top down targets and centralised control

Supporting social action – giving the voluntary sector and public sector the ability to work together to create a more inclusive society
Embedding equality – leading by example and embedding equality into the heart of this government’s policies and priorities
Transparency – giving communities and individuals the tools to scrutinise and challenge organisations who do not operate fairly

As I said to conference in September, though legislation has come some way in making Britain a more equal place, we need a different approach to change peoples’ attitudes and behaviour. The strategy is divided into five sections to highlight the new cross-governmental approach. These five sections are all means to a more equal society, and will resonate with all Liberal Democrat members:

1. Early years, education and social mobility

Aim: tackle deprivation and inequalities relating to family background, and improve social mobility

Actions:

? We have already taken 880,000 of the lowest paid workers out of income tax
? Fund an additional 4,200 health visitors to support families with young children
? Extend free early years education to all disadvantaged 2 year olds
? Target Sure Start services on the most disadvantaged and at-risk families
? Introduce a Pupil Premium to support the poorest children, with schools reporting to parents on how they have spent this additional funding
? Nick Clegg chairs a Ministerial group on social mobility, and the government will publish a social mobility strategy by February 2011
? Support schools with the latest research e.g. into the underlying issues associated with higher rates of exclusion for African Caribbean boys
? Education Endowment Fund – to fund innovative ways to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in under performing schools
? Set up a new Ministerial Working Group to drive action across government to tackle inequalities experienced by Travellers
? Publish a Child Poverty Strategy next spring

2. A fair and flexible labour market

Aim: work with business to develop a fairer and more flexible labour market that draws on the talents of all to build a strong economy

Actions:

? Require large public bodies to be transparent about the make-up of their employees and their gender pay gap
? Launch a voluntary scheme for gender pay reporting in the private sector. We will annually review the numbers of companies releasing information and its quality, to asses if further measures are required, including a mandatory approach
? Take strong action where there is evidence of discrimination
? Extend the right to request flexible working to all employees
? Encourage shared parenting from the earliest stage of pregnancy and consult on a new system of flexible parental leave
? Improve careers advice for girls, women, ethnic minorities, disabled and others who can be disadvantaged in the workplace
? From April 2011 allow employers to apply positive action when faced with multiple candidates of equal merit. This is not positive discrimination which remains illegal.
? Work with business to promote more women on boards of listed companies
? Lead by example with a government aspiration for 50% of all new appointments to public boards to be women by 2015
? Publish research which explores the barriers that employers face in establishing LGBT-friendly workplaces
? Phase out the default retirement age to allow older workers to remain in work if they want to and are capable
? Reform Access to Work so disabled people can apply for jobs with funding already secured for any adaptations and equipment they need

3. Opening up public services and empowering individuals and communities

Aim: Devolving power to local communities and promoting greater participation and inclusion in public, political and community life

Actions:

? Move towards personal budgets for adult social care
? Test the Right to Control in five initial trailblazer areas from December 2010; giving disabled people the right to know how much support they are eligible to receive, and to decide and agree the outcomes they want to achieve, and how they receive that support
? Protect funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant
? Provide a £100 million Transition Fund to help voluntary and community groups who want to provide public services
? Train a new generation of community organisers
? Support LGBT people to get more involved in their community
? Provide government support to disabled people who want to become elected officials

4. Changing culture and attitudes

Aim: building respect for all, tackling discrimination, hate crime and violence

Action:

? Promote better recording of, and response to, all hate crimes
? Guide and support schools in how better to tackle prejudice-based bullying, especially homophobic bullying, and bullying of disabled children and children with SEN
? Work with key interest groups to discuss what the next stages for civil partnerships should be, including working towards allowing same sex couples to register their relationship in a religious setting if they wish to do so
? Introduce the new Equality Duty which will require all public bodies to have due regard for the need to foster good relations between different groups
? Host regular Body Confidence round tables to tackle issues of low body confidence
? Publish cross-government action plan to tackle violence against women and girls e.g. by committing extra funding for rape crisis centres
? Work with governing bodies of different sports to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport
? Crack down on irresponsible advertising and marketing to children, and take steps to tackle the sexualisation and commercialisation of children
? Change the law so that people with historical convictions for consensual gay sex with over 16s can have their record deleted
? Scale back the process of vetting and barring to common sense levels
? Reform the draconian DNA database to adopt the protections of the Scottish model
? Use Britain’s influence internationally to work towards a more fair and equal global landscape, by:
o Stop the deportation of asylum seekers who have had to leave their country due to persecution because of their sexuality or gender identity
o Work bilaterally with EU countries to overcome legislative or policy barriers which prevent them recognising UK civil partnerships
o Continue to push for universal ratification and implementation of the UN conventions on racial discrimination and discrimination against women, and those promoting the rights of children and disabled people
o Recognise the vital roles of women in development and seek to increase the number of women and girls in education; improve maternal health; improve economic empowerment of women through jobs; promote gender equality
o Work with UN Women to ensure it focuses on key priorities, including violence against women and delivery of the Millennium Development Goals

5. Making it happen

Aim: the public sector will lead by example and empower citizens and communities with the information they need to hold public services to account

Actions:

? Require public bodies to publish data on the equality results in their services and in their workforce
? Ensure that all government data is easily accessible, especially to those with particular needs such a older people and disabled people
? Widen access to the civil service through internships schemes for those who are currently under represented such as ethnic minorities
? Listen to and involved the public and partners in the development of policy, including through a new strategy for engaging with women and women’s organisations
? Implement a cross-government programme to support the LGBT community
? Reform the EHRC so that it concentrates on its core roles as a modern regulator and as a national human rights institution
? Ensure child poverty concerns are built into policy-making across government, supported by the Child Poverty Unit

For this coalition government – equalities is not an add-on – it is an integral part of how we intend to build a stronger economy and a fairer society.

The media coverage of the launch of the Equality Strategy and the announcement that we are going ahead with positive action and gender pay reporting is instructive.

The right wing press says that we are introducing Harman’s law.

The left wing press says that we are scrapping Harman’s law.