Phil Willis MP

Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Phil Willis has been appointed to chair the new House of Commons Science & Technology Select Committee.

Earlier this month scrutiny of science and technology seemed at risk with the abolition of the Department for Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills and its select committee. Indeed the scientific community had been pressing for a select committee concentrating on science since the demise of the old committee in 2007.

Phil Willis MP will be visiting one of the country’s most improved schools on Friday.

When Harrogate High School saw 80% of its students attain the equivalence of 5 or more A*- C GCSEs it leapt into the top 25% of the country’s schools and into the top 5% of the most improved schools.

“I am looking forward to discussing with Andy Bayston, the school’s principal, just how the school made such a spectacular turn-round.” said Phil Willis. “This is obviously an exciting time for the school as it celebrates the success of its students.”

ENDS

Phil Willis MP (LibDem, Harrogate & Knaresborough) is giving his strong support to local NHS advice on taking care in the sun and avoiding risks associated with hot weather following a heat wave warning from the Met Office.

“Hot sunny weather can something seem such rarity in this country that we can often forget the dangers of not taking a sensible approach.” said the MP.

The election of Speaker of the House of Commons took on an air of unusual importance on Monday as ten hopefuls entered the race to be the ‘reforming speaker' who would wrestle power back from the executive to parliament and crucially re-connect the House of Commons to the British people.

Harrogate & Knaresborough MP Phil Willis was amongst the first group of MPs to be called to to ask a question at Prime Ministers Question Time by new Speaker John Bercow.
“There is an increase in applications to higher education from groups such as young black males who have traditionally not applied” said Phil Willis, “but the Government is planning to reduce the number of planned additional places from 15,000 to 3,000.
“Up to 30,000 students may be disappointed” he added.

When Norman St-John Stevas MP set up the current Select Committee system in 1979 with the approval of the then PM Baroness Thatcher, the principle that government policy should be open to vigorous public scrutiny was firmly established. The system has served parliament and the public well – though it is ironic that, at a time when public clamour for even greater scrutiny of parliament and especially MP’s is at an all time high, the government itself has become more difficult to challenge.