Natascha Engel (North East Derbyshire, Labour)

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to make my maiden speech in this debate on the Thames Gateway. Before anyone else tells me, I know that the Thames does not run through North-East Derbyshire.

I want to pick up on the theme of the Thames Gateway as a regeneration project. What is happening in North-East Derbyshire defines regeneration. Harry Barnes, the MP for the past 18 years, spent much of his time putting in the foundations for that regeneration and overseeing many historic changes. Harry had to deal with the devastating consequences of mass pit closures and the resulting unemployment, but he made sure that North-East Derbyshire got its share of compensation and clean-up money. Right to the end, only weeks before his retirement, Harry got millions of pounds from this Labour Government to clean up the environmental mess left by the Avenue coking works in Wingerworth.

Regeneration is about change—change for the better—but it is also about building on what we have. North-East Derbyshire used to be dominated by mining and steel, and we still have a working pit in Eckington, but both industries are in decline nationally and locally. Although many of the mines are closed today, it is brilliant to see that the community spirit that bound people together in the villages is alive and kicking. That spirit has survived and adapted to our new industrial landscape, and it is the spirit of socialism. Without socialism, regenerating our communities and helping those who live in them to develop and grow would not be possible—it is the simple idea that if someone helps their neighbour, their neighbour will help them.

Speaking of neighbours, I thank all the Labour Members in Derbyshire, who have made me so welcome. I was introduced to the Derbyshire Labour MPs when I was on maternity leave, and they brought me on a campaign to prevent the closure of medical assessment centres in Chesterfield and Derby. Yesterday, it was announced that both centres will stay open. That was achieved only by the collective strength of the Derbyshire Labour MPs working together with a national Labour Government. This is, to me, the spirit of trade unionism.

True socialism and trade unionism, the very roots of the Labour movement and the essence of regeneration, are about recognising that an individual finds dignity in work, self-esteem in skills and a sense of civic pride in community engagement. From the ashes of coal dust and the coking plants, we have grown higher-tech, higher-skilled and more highly paid jobs.

The Markham employment zone at junction 29A, which is more commonly known in our part of the world as Skinner's junction, gives us a unique opportunity to look a decade ahead.—[Interruption.] It is called Skinner's junction. We can identify the skills that are needed, train local people to do a job of work and let them apply their new skills. The pits, the coking plants and the steel works have also blighted much of our countryside. That project means that we are developing an expertise in cleaning up the environmental mess that we created. Skinner's junction is employing hundreds in the construction industry today, and it will provide anything up to 5,000 jobs in the future. In the same way as London and the south-east of England have embraced the Thames Gateway, we must grab that opportunity with both hands.

As MPs, our challenge is to make sure that good ideas and projects are supported by good public policy. The biggest problem with national legislation is that there is no one size that fits all—all people are different and no two circumstances are the same, which is why our Labour Government's policy on localism is so exciting. Localism is about breaking the culture of centralism and devolving power and resources to communities. In North-East Derbyshire, there is a fantastic example of how that works in practice.

The Staveley neighbourhood management project was set up about three years ago by the Deputy Prime Minister to address the problems of declining industries. Community-level services are co-ordinated and tailored to suit the needs of the community. The project covers everything from health, education and housing to transport, crime and community safety—just about every aspect of national government—but they are Staveley's policies matched to the needs of the people of Staveley.

Another village, Grassmoor, recently built a brand new community centre. It is heavily used, but not by the younger people who live there. The centre therefore organised a day of activities to attract young people in and to find out what they wanted. Apart from learning some fencing, archery and ox-boxing—I still do not know what that is—I spoke to a lot of the 12 and 13-year-olds about what they would normally be doing on a Sunday afternoon. They all said that they would be watching telly, hanging around or doing "whatever"; none of them would have been charging around, full of energy and enthusiasm and learning new things. This is what national taxpayers' money should be supporting. Who knows, one of these kids could take up fencing and end up representing us all at the 2012 Olympics.

As politicians, we must have the ability to look ahead not just for years but for generations. Whether it is building a Sure Start centre in North Wingfield, a brand new primary school in Clay Cross, or a secondary school in Dronfield, we have to look at what we will leave behind. We must make the best use of what we are already lucky enough to have, however big or small. At the moment, I feel like the luckiest person alive. I am doing a job that I love and the possibilities seem endless.

We have an industrial culture and manufacturing skills that are second to none. I want us to continue that tradition in North-East Derbyshire by building a university for manufacturing to harness and pass on those skills to future generations. I want to see true regeneration whereby we equip the young people of today with enough confidence and know-how to make decisions about the future. If younger people are to take the lead in rejuvenating our communities, it is down to us to give them the skills to do it, and we must respect their decisions if we want to be respected in turn.

Harry Barnes is a sincere and respectful man, and as a result he earned a mountain of respect in his 18 years as MP for North-East Derbyshire. I have only been an MP for a few months, but I have already made my own personal contribution to regenerating North-East Derbyshire—I had a baby a couple of weeks after the general election. It seems that a lot of other MPs on both sides of the House have done the same. It is good to have plenty of new parents here. We need a more representative mixture of parliamentarians. It gives us a stronger focus on life outside this Chamber and keeps us closer to the real-life experiences of many of our constituents. It might keep us up at night, but most importantly it will keep our feet on the ground.

I am really pleased to be making my maiden speech during a debate led by my hon. Friend the Minister with responsibility for regeneration. She is living proof that it is possible to combine good parenthood with the work of an MP. On top of that, she has always taken time to give me good practical advice. In fact, it was she who told me that none of us can get too self-important when we are walking around with baby sick on our shoulders.

I hope that all the kind voters of North-East Derbyshire who put me here and everyone in Westminster—all my hon. Friends and all the staff who work here—will make sure that I never get too self-important and help me to do the job that I was put here to do—to represent everyone in North-East Derbyshire to the very best of my ability.

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