Speeches by Alaba.

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for securing this debate on a very important issue to many of my residents. The discovery of dozens of deceased dogs at the South Essex rehoming facility last year brought the con…”

“T5. The decision by the University of Essex to close its Southend campus has sent shockwaves through my city. Students deserve continuity of study and staff deserve job security. Will the Minister outline what steps the Government are taking to secure an alternative provider for the courses that are currently offered i…”

“Absolutely; this closure affects the community in Southend and in Colchester. Four hundred members of staff will be made redundant across both campuses. Another consequence is the uncertainty that this is causing the student community, the staff and the whole wraparound community that supports the institution. I welcom…”

“Yes, I do agree. We need to look at the business model and make sure that it is sustainable, certainly when it comes to higher education, which is a huge and significant asset of our country. We need to future-proof it, so I welcome my hon. Friend’s comments.”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution and welcome his comments. Indeed, the business model that a lot of universities have used over the past 14 years has meant that they have focused on international students, which is one of the reasons that we are having this debate. Passionate staff fear that if the unive…”

“I am pleased to have secured this debate on Government support for higher education. The UK is home to some of the world’s most respected universities and we all benefit from the opportunities, knowledge and growth they create—whether it is for young people pursuing exciting academic ambitions, members of staff support…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution, and I agree. I have met members of the aviation community. In my constituency, we have London Southend airport, so I have met its senior leadership team, who have expressed the need to get more talent—to get more pilots through. That is hard, and it is prohibitively expensiv…”

“Absolutely, and even from a local authority point of view they are tuned in to what kind of groups are out there. I have set up some in my constituency, but local authorities will be able to, and I am sure colleagues around the table will be able to as well. I definitely commend tapping into local government.”

“Yes, and I suppose you have the issue that it is very location dependent as well. If you look at coastal communities and some rural communities where tourism is a piece, where that is quite important, if and when and how those assets can be put back into community use will be important. We have something similar in Roc…”

“Definitely. Andy, I know it is probably harder for you because of security issues, but is that something that you would consider and look at?”

“That is good, some context definitely. Richard?”

“In their evidence Historic England suggested that they are transferring publicly owned assets and their ownership into community use. Do you think this is a logical solution? Is this a way forward? I will start with Mark and then Richard.”

“Brilliant. My final question: do you have any examples where you have worked with and partnered with private organisations to prevent deterioration to avoid neglect? Do you have any examples of that?”

“There is obviously a financial gain for both parties, so there is a motivation for the MOD to, where possible, work with partners to dispose of sites as well.”

“Thank you for that. On opportunities for the public sector working with private partners to reduce the burden—I fully understand the cost implications of some of these buildings that are not relevant for current operational use—are there any plans to work with the private sector to be very creative and try to bring som…”

“I want to come first to Andy. You mentioned the history of some of the sites and the operational use that is relevant, which has carried forward to now. I broke out in a bit of a cold sweat when you mentioned some of those sites, but that is from an earlier life. You spoke about Shoeburyness, which is in my constituenc…”

“Emma, is there anything you would like to add to that?”

“I want to touch on the skills element again and that gap, and about conservation societies. I work with a couple in my constituency of Southend East and Rochford. The Milton Society and the Rochford steering group have been quite active in reanimating some local community assets and working closely with the council. Ia…”

“Absolutely, and even from a local authority point of view they are tuned in to what kind of groups are out there. I have set up some in my constituency, but local authorities will be able to, and I am sure colleagues around the table will be able to as well. I definitely commend tapping into local government.”

“Yes, and I suppose you have the issue that it is very location dependent as well. If you look at coastal communities and some rural communities where tourism is a piece, where that is quite important, if and when and how those assets can be put back into community use will be important. We have something similar in Roc…”