News Insight: Balls finds the going tough in Morley
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
In the final of three reports from around the country, Neil Puffett takes CYP Now's "Election 2010 Bus" to Morley and Outwood in West Yorkshire to investigate the issues facing children in the constituency being contested by Children's Secretary Ed Balls.
Situated just south of Leeds, Morley and Outwood is a constituency that has attracted plenty of media attention ahead of this week's general election.
A newly formed seat, it is made up of the market town of Morley and a number of former pit villages either side of the border between the Leeds and Wakefield council areas.
Contested by none other than Children's Secretary Ed Balls, it is the focus of a concerted bid by the Tories to oust him despite what appears to be a healthy estimated majority of 8,669.
But Balls appears comfortable and confident as he arrives at a school in the village of Tingley to meet and greet teachers and chat to children.
Lack of ambition
In the afternoon sunshine, Balls is in his element shaking hands and posing for photos, but you don't have to go far to find a number of local issues affecting children and young people.
The seat has a strong working-class presence with around one in six of the population living in social or council housing, and Janet Cole, a teacher at Blackgates Primary School says a lack of ambition among pupils is a concern.
"I don't think there's a lack of jobs as there are jobs around here," she says. "There seems to be a lack of ambition to work, or leave the area. You can have families that haven't worked in two or three generations."
Despite the seat being a target for the British National Party (BNP) - a party document leaked in 2008 revealed there were 90 members in the town, the highest of any town in the country - racism in the classroom is not a concern.
Andrea Waite, another teacher at the school, says surrounding areas such as Batley, a town with a higher population of ethnic minorities, experience more problems.
In an attempt to prevent negative attitudes emerging, the school runs regular cultural activities and has received the Stephen Lawrence education standard award - given for the promotion of inclusion and race equality.
Outside the classroom there are other concerns. Linda Holmes, who runs a support group for childminders in the Morley area, fears her profession is on the decline.
She says the rise of children's centres and the economic situation means parents are less willing to pay for childminders. She also blames the Early Years Foundation Stage for creating more paperwork.
"We used to have around 30 childminders but numbers have dropped. The government has put a lot of money into training childminders but what's the point when they take it away with the other hand (providing free childcare)," she says "We can't offer childcare for free like children's centres do. They can be subsidised but we still have all the bills to pay."
Unsurprisingly, the Conservatives are trying to latch on to any dissatisfaction in the area.
Just how seriously they are taking the seat is evidenced by recent high-profile visits, with party leader David Cameron paying a whistlestop visit last week, preceded by shadow children's secretary Michael Gove the week before that. Meanwhile, a giant poster billboard featuring David Cameron pledging to restore discipline in schools sits just off Morley High Street on a major road.
Balls' Tory opponent Antony Calvert points to antisocial behaviour, the availability of work and concerns involving or affecting children and young people in the constituency. "People are concerned about their kids getting jobs and whether they are going to come out of university with fees and debts," he says. "They are also worried about whether they are going to get involved in drugs, knife crime or violent crime. All these things are playing around in people's minds."
Calvert is eager to create an electoral upset on a similar scale to when Conservative MP Michael Portillo was voted out of his Enfield Southgate seat in 1997 when Labour MP Stephen Twigg overcame a majority of 15,563.
He says, should he be elected, he will make a concerted attempt to get young people to spend more time away from computer games by encouraging them to play in parks. He also wants to allow "kids to be kids".
"I don't want them to be taught sex education separately from the age of five," he says. "One big fear I have is that government will not allow them to be kids. They will be told to grow up too quickly."
Long-term challenge
Balls is quick to defend his record in the area. He points to the improvement in education provision in his former constituency of Normanton, as well as his work taking up cases on behalf of individual constituents - he has dealt with cases involving child protection and stammering.
"Obviously because of my national role we have been pushing very hard to get school investment and we have the Building Schools for the Future programme coming to Wakefield. We need that to come to this part of Leeds," he says. "I'm pushing for one-to-one tuition and making sure we keep increasing tax credits, which we have been doing over the past year for families."
Balls adds that issues around nurturing ambition in young people in the area will take time to remedy.
"Raising aspirations is a big challenge for us where the old culture is leaving school at 16 and going into mining," he explains. "This is a long-term challenge. It will take a generation or two. I need to make sure we have school or college places and the apprenticeship places to deliver for these children."
Other candidates running are James Monaghan for the Liberal Democrats, Chris Beverley for the BNP and David Daniel for the UK Independence Party.
CHALLENGES IN MORLEY AND OUTWOOD
Lack of ambition As a former mining area, many older members of the population worked in traditional industries. There are concerns that young people lack the aspirations to look further afield for opportunities
Antisocial behaviour Conservative candidate Antony Calvert claims to have worked hard as a local councillor to prevent children from getting hold of alcohol from shops
School places Pressure on secondary school places is a problem. Balls is keen for more investment in the area under the Building Schools for the Future programme.
2005 general election result: Morley and Outwood (notional voting figures based on 2005 results)
Labour 19,024
Conservatives 10,355
Liberal Democrats 4,159
Other Not estimated