Mr Phillip Whitehead: I know that the Minister cannot answer for the Arts Council, but does he agree that it would be a complete scandal if the £1½ million invested in the Palace theatre were to be wasted and if the people were to be deprived of opera in the Manchester region purely because of a decision taken one year in advance, before the Royal Opera House could know what financial support it could get in the...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: I beg to move, That the Education (Mandatory Awards) Regulations 1982 (S.I., 1982, No. 954), dated 12th July 1982, a copy of which was laid before this House on 16th July, in the last Session of Paliament, be revoked. Labour Members have fulfilled their pledge to bring he regulation to the House after the Government's ignominious defeat in Committee. That is the first time the Government...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: At least I was there. The hon. Gentleman was not. We are endeavouring to discover why so many Conservative Members chose to be away. In my view, silence is eloquent and absence sometimes makes its presence felt. On that occasion, the Under-Secretary of State was left with his faithful Sancho Panza, the hon. Member for Rugby (Mr. Pawsey), and little other succour. I am heartened by the...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: No. The hon. and learned Gentleman will be disappointed in that as in much else from me. I do not wish to be drawn into discussing student loans because it is an issue which, to some degree, is outside the general tenor of the regulations. However, it is my view that student loans will act as a disincentive to the sort of students whom we wish to encourage into the State system of education....
Mr Phillip Whitehead: I appreciate my hon. Friend's argument. The Secretary of State, who is with us in the flesh, has erred in telling students—it is fine advice from him—that they should find part-time jobs. One of the occupants of the Social Democratic Party's Bench—he is the only SDP member in his place tonight—has said that there are 3·5 million reasons why students cannot get part-time jobs. I refer...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: If the Government are doing so much better, how is it that in answer to me on 8 March this year the hon. Gentleman suggested that the age participation rate would fall to 91·7 per cent. in the academic year after that and 11·2 per cent. for 1984–85. Where is the triumph in that?
Mr Phillip Whitehead: From rich students.
Mr Phillip Whitehead: As the hon. Gentleman suggests that the Opposition want to splash money on people who do not get any grant for non-advanced further education, will he tell the House whether he is satisfied about the lack of support that people in those deserving categories get? I think that he is not.
Mr Phillip Whitehead: What conclusions does the Minister draw from the fact that on the London-Midland line, which serves the hon. Member for Harborough (Mr. Farr) and me, revenues have dramatically increased since the belated introduction of high-speed trains between London and Sheffield? Does the Minister agree that such investment raises both morale and revenue, and that that is what we need, rather than...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: Will the right hon. Gentleman confirm or deny that the Hunt committee was asked to accept, as one of its assumptions, that there had to be a split between the carriers of the cable systems and the providers of programmes?
Mr Phillip Whitehead: The Home Secretary said that the Government accepted the Hunt recommendation that there should be no separation between the cable provider and the programme provider, but he did not say why. Surely we have a right to know.
Mr Phillip Whitehead: If there are to be split franchises, as has now been widely leaked, and the longer franchise is for the operation of the cable system and the shorter one is for the provision of programmes, surely that will remove the sanction if the provision of programmes is inadequate.
Mr Phillip Whitehead: Research shows that 85 per cent. of the use of video recorders is for films which are hired in the high street. That cuts into the home box office market, which Hunt believes will be the most profitable for cable television.
Mr Phillip Whitehead: How long should they be for?
Mr Phillip Whitehead: I agree with the hon. Member for Hastings (Mr. Warren) that cable television and all the other adjuncts of the communications revolution can be either a threat or a promise. The hon. Gentleman chose to concentrate on the promise, and rightly so. There are many things on the shopping list that he gave the House which we, too, would find desirable. However, we must also concentrate to some...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: Yes, I accept that. Lord Weinstock saw a role for British Telecom and I believe that he was right. It is no use Conservative Members simply attacking British Telecom and Opposition Members attacking private industry. Unless there is a partnership in the best spirit of a mixed economy, the kind of national grid that I wish to see will not be installed. I hope that the Minister will tell us...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what consultations he had with the local authorities, unions and others in the teaching profession, before the announcement of a new pilot scheme for technical and vocational education for 14 to 18-year-olds on 12 November.
Mr Phillip Whitehead: It appears to many of us that the DES has been pushed aside. Are we now to have schools for the 14-plus pupils who will be going to them outside the orbit of the DES as separate institutions with perhaps the kind of curriculum censorship by the MSC that we have begun to see? Is the Secretary of State aware that, as far as we can see, the only form of research sponsorship now going on in the...
Mr Phillip Whitehead: Assuming that the award that has been announced will be the last one for this Parliament, how much worse off in real terms will students be after the period of office of this Administration?
Mr Phillip Whitehead: indicated assent—