Students from across south-west Durham were hailed as “top class” contributors following a unique opportunity to listen to and debate with a member of the House of Lords last week.
Lord John Shipley OBE visited Bishop Auckland College as part of the Learn with the Lords programme.
Lord Shipley, who has been a member of the House of Lords since July 2010 and is currently involved in work on the Renters’ Rights Bill and the Select Committee for Public Services, met with the college’s senior leadership team, along with Bishop Auckland MP Sam Rushworth.
During the visit, Lord Shipley’s presentation to students explained the differences between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, while he detailed how the Lords interact with MPs.
The presentation was followed by a lively group discussion, where students from Bishop Auckland College, Spennymoor’s Whitworth Park Academy and nearby St John’s Catholic School & Sixth Form College debated ideas for the design of a Second Chamber.
Speaking afterwards, Lord Shipley said: “This visit to Bishop Auckland College was fantastic. The thing that came across to me the most was that people feel London is quite a long way away.
“Parliament needs to engage far more with the distant parts of the country. I fully support that. The quality of debate and contribution from the students here was absolutely top class.”
The event left a lasting memory on students too.
Amelia Clayton, 18, a performing arts level 4 student from Bishop Auckland, offered her thoughts to the Lord during the 90 minute presentation.
Amelia said: “It was very informative and educational. I wasn’t aware of much around the whole subject beforehand. It hasn’t been a topic I have been brought up with, and I now know how the country is run.
“I spoke up for my course by making suggestions to the Lord following the group discussion. I said we need more coverage of the different industries in the Second Chamber and more people from different parts of the country to represent the least populated parts of the country.
“We need more people in the Chamber to represent the country as a whole.”
Lord Shipley – a member of the Liberal Democrats and he previously served as leader of Newcastle City Council between 2006 and 2010 – believes the whole experience and the Learn with the Lords programme is a hugely beneficial exercise.
He said: “Parliament is very keen to explain how it works right across the United Kingdom, and particularly to explain to young people about the importance of democracy, voting, participating and campaigning, and the role of the House of Lords in particular, because it isn’t well understood.
“I do a number of visits like this across the North-East of England. We talk about the importance of parliamentary democracy and whether the House of Lords is an institution that needs to be updated, and most people agree that should happen, but how do you do that?
“I thoroughly enjoy hearing young people’s ideas and learning more about their priorities. While it is not the House of Lords’ job to interfere with the working members of parliament who represent constituencies, I myself try to reflect the North-East of England, where I have lived my entire life.”
Lord Shipley met with Bishop Auckland College Principal Shaun Hope and staff before talking to the students.
And Anne-Marie Chiswell, Assistant Principal at Bishop Auckland College, thinks the event was a valuable learning experience for everyone there.
She said: “This unique initiative gave students the chance to engage directly with a member of the House of Lords, offering valuable insight into politics, democracy and public service.
“Students from Bishop Auckland College, Whitworth Park Academy and St John’s Catholic School & Sixth Form College all contributed and will have gone home that day having learned something new from an informative and inspiring session.”
Visit by local Newcastle based Lord Shipley OBE, to the college as part of “Learn with the Lords” educational visit to schools and colleges
