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Summer Recess Adjournment

I start by reflecting on the fact that in the county council elections this year, the Conservatives took control of Derbyshire county council for the first time in 28 years. I congratulate Andrew Lewer, the county councillor for Ashbourne, on becoming leader of the council. The last time we took control of Derbyshire county council was in 1977, which was followed by the famous election victory of my noble Friend the former Prime Minister, Lady Thatcher. I hope that what we have achieved in Derbyshire is the precursor of an event that may take place in the not too distant future—whenever the next general election is held. A few moments ago, Madam Deputy Speaker, you read out the names of a number of Bills that had received Royal Assent and had become Acts of Parliament. I want to talk about a Bill that was taken through the House some years ago: the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. I have received a letter from the headmaster of Queen Elizabeth's grammar school in Ashbourne—before people draw the conclusion that that is a grammar school, I point out that it is, in fact, an 11-to-18 comprehensive school. The headmaster is concerned about the implications of the Act for hosting foreign students. He wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, from which I shall quote:""From November 2010 any family hosting a child under the age of 18 must have one adult, considered to be primarily responsible, registered with the Independent Safeguarding Authority, i.e. a CRB check must be made. Aside from the cost, and we do not know who will pay, I wonder how many people will be willing to undergo this imposition. It is intended to ensure child safety yet there will be adults in every household who will not need to be checked."" Only one adult needs to be checked. The letter continues:""However the questionable effectiveness of such a scheme is totally undermined by the fact that no similar checks, beyond the informal ones we currently do…have to be undertaken by the host schools with whom we exchange students in France, Germany or the USA. Every Derbyshire Head to whom I have spoken assumes it will be the end of school exchanges."" Surely the Government cannot have intended that to be the case. The Act, like so many others, has unintended consequences. Much can be gained from foreign exchanges for schools, and I am concerned that the regulations being applied to local authorities and schools will rule out such things. We have several times heard the Secretary of State say that he wants to encourage such exchanges, because he believes they are good for the development of individuals. I believe that too, but unless the Government take some action to change the regulations, they will lead to the ending of all those foreign exchanges. As with so much of the legislation we pass, good arguments were made about the measure, but when we see the reality of its coming into effect we wonder how we ever allowed it. The Government have treated the victims of Equitable Life disgracefully. The simple fact is that the Government have had the report for some time. Last November, the Prime Minister told us that we would have a statement on Equitable Life before Christmas. The statement came after Christmas and, as ever with the Government, time after time there have been delays. A lot of people are suffering great hardship because the Government did not move faster to deal with the problems. People who have done the right thing and invested for their future have been let down by the failure of the regulator. The victims of Equitable Life deserved to be looked after more quickly than the Government have pursued the matter. My constituency has a huge rural area and we are suffering badly from bovine TB. The Government should pay much more attention to the subject. They have hung on for far too long; as the disease has spread through cattle it has cost the state more than £600 million. In West Derbyshire we have a specific problem with bovine TB. We have waited for reports, but the Government now have a huge number of them, and they need to take action urgently. Time is short, so I have raised just three issues that are very important in my constituency. There are many other such issues, but I know that other colleagues want to speak.