Mark Harper (Forest of Dean, Conservative)

It is with some considerable honour and humility that I rise to make my maiden speech: honour because it is a great privilege to be elected to the House and humility as I contemplate the trust put in me by the electors of the Forest of Dean.

I start on a note of agreement with my immediate predecessor from the Labour Benches. In her maiden speech, she took issue with two of her hon. Friends—the hon. Members for High Peak (Tom Levitt) and for Stirling (Mrs. McGuire)—who had described their constituencies as the most beautiful in the United Kingdom. She claimed that description for the Forest of Dean, and I am delighted to agree with her most strongly. She did not contest the seat at the general election and I wish her and her family well in her retirement from the House.

The Forest of Dean constituency lies between the Rivers Wye and Severn in the west of the county of Gloucestershire. It has had a tradition of industry, mining, farming and forestry in the past, but its employment patterns today are becoming more typical of our county. Increasingly, more of the working population are forced to commute out of the area to work—about 40 per cent. each day. I want to focus on working to encourage more high-quality local jobs in the area during my term of office.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor but one, Paul Marland, the former Member for Gloucestershire, West and to thank him for leaving behind a very positive reputation that cannot but have helped my campaign to be elected to the House. I have lived in the Forest of Dean for more than five years and the most enjoyable thing about the years leading up to my election has been getting to know many remarkable people. There is a strong tradition of independence and individuality in the Forest of Dean, so I hope that I will demonstrate at least some of that while I am here—I hope, for fear of damaging my career for ever, that the Whip on the Front Bench will forget that part of my speech.

I understand from those that note these things that my election to the House marks the first time that a Labour Government have not been able to count on the Forest of Dean to return a Labour Member of Parliament. It is also the first time, with the current boundaries, that the Forest of Dean has elected a Conservative MP.

Probably the best known former MP for the Forest of Dean was Sir Charles Dilke, who held the seat in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won the seat in 1892, successfully defended it in 1900 with a massive majority, and was unopposed in 1906—that is an electoral record worthy of emulation. His name lives on, as one of our two fine community hospitals, the Dilke Memorial, carries it proudly. The location of the hospital and the services that it provides are currently under review by our primary care trust. I have been contacted by many local people, an overwhelming number of whom wish to see the hospital developed on the existing site with an increased number of services available locally. I shall campaign strongly for that.

One of the issues that occupied a great deal of my interest and concern as a candidate—it continues to be a special interest for me as a Member of Parliament—is provision for special educational needs. The parties that ran Gloucestershire county council until 5 May had embarked on a process of closing special needs schools throughout the county, including Dean Hall and Oakdene special schools in the Forest of Dean.

The school closures were passionately opposed by the parents, children, heads and teachers. My Conservative colleagues and I supported them in their campaign, but were not able to stop the closures in time. The new special school to replace Dean Hall and Oakdene—the Heart of the Forest community special school—will provide education for children with severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, and complex needs. For those children, I am sure that it will provide an excellent service and do an excellent job, and it will have my full support, but that leaves an important gap in provision.

Children with moderate learning difficulties, who would once have been taught at Dean Hall, will now be expected to cope in mainstream education. I am pleased to say that the new Conservative administration, which took power in Gloucestershire on 5 May, was elected on a pledge, and it will commission and carry out a full review of special schools provision in the county and the Forest of Dean, in line with that commitment. Once the review is complete, the council will respond appropriately. Possible responses could include increasing places at the Heart of the Forest community special school or other options, depending on what the review throws up. I warmly welcome this commitment and know that it will be good news for many families in the Forest of Dean.

A number of children with special needs from my constituency attend the Alderman Knight special school in Tewkesbury, in the constituency of my hon. Friend Mr. Robertson. This school was also scheduled for closure by the previous regime at Shire hall. I am pleased that the Conservative administration gave a commitment to keep the school open and has started that process already. My hon. Friend should be congratulated on the vigorous campaign he waged, which is now paying off.

The lesson I learned from those experiences is that while it is right to include children with special needs in mainstream schools where that is appropriate, it should not be the only option. There are children for whom a special school is the right and best option for their future. They must be given that opportunity. As politicians, however, we must also be wary of second-guessing their parents. They know their children better than any bureaucrat or so-called expert, and we should do them the courtesy of listening to their views and be wary of prejudging them.

I conclude with this thought. My experience of the campaign to retain special needs education in Gloucestershire highlights something else, touched on by other hon. Members—the importance of voting and participating in political debate, and the impact that has on the lives of ordinary individuals in our communities. Special needs education was an example of something on which different parties had different views, and was an issue of tremendous personal importance to those involved. The decision to close or not to close a range of important schools depended directly on the votes cast in an election. Regardless of the view one takes on the issue, it cannot be denied that voting made a difference. I hope people learn from that example, get involved in political debate and participate in the process. They may not be able to change the world, but they can certainly change their part of it for the better.

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