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DAVID DIMBLEBY LAUNCHES THE SEARCH TO FIND A YOUNG STAR TO APPEAR ON
BBC QUESTION TIME PANEL
DAVID Dimbleby has
launched a national competition to find a young member of the public
to go head-to-head with politicians and public figures in the BBC
ONE television debate on Thursday 10 July 2008.
To win a place on the Question Time panel, applicants must be aged
18 to 21 and submit a short mobile phone video clip explaining why
they want to be on Question Time. The BBC team will be looking for
an articulate, well informed young debater who is passionate about
the important local, national and international issues that affect
them as citizens. The deadline to enter is Sunday 15 June. For
further information about entering the panel competition, including
full terms and conditions, applicants should visit
www.bbc.co.uk/sqt and click on
the link to the Question Time Panellist Challenge.
The panellist competition is an important part of this year’s
Schools Question Time Challenge. The Challenge, supported by the BT
Better World Campaign, the Institute for Citizenship and the BBC, is
a nationwide competition involving schools and colleges staging
their own debates based upon the BBC ONE Question Time format. The
Schools Question Time Challenge is now in its 5th year.
2 students from each of the 4 winning schools in the Challenge will
work with David Dimbleby and the Question Time production team on
July 10 to produce the real BBC Question Time programme. Pupils from
Gwernyfed School in Wales, Holyhead School in Birmingham, Ringwood
School in Hampshire and The Tiffin Girls School in Kingston upon
Thames will be involved in all aspects, from making editorial
decisions to researching and taking on production roles for the
programme.
David Dimbleby, host of BBC Question Time, said:- “For the 3rd
year running, a young member of the public will be voted onto the
Schools Question Time panel for the programme on July 10. The past 2
years have shown that young people can hold their own in political
debate alongside elected politicians and political pundits. This
year’s programme takes place against a background of unprecedented
economic, political and social challenges globally and locally.
Young people know that current events affect their futures and with
their grasp of technology and desire to communicate, they want their
voices to be heard and to contribute to decision-making. Voting a
young member of the public onto the panel as an equal member
recognises the importance of young voices and young views.”
From all the entries, the best 10 applicants for the panel
competition will have their mobile phone video clip uploaded to the
BBC Question Time website and the general public will be able to
post comments explaining who their favourite candidate is and why.
The BBC, as executive editor of the programme, will consider these
posts when selecting a short list of five candidates to audition in
London for the panel. Following auditions, 1 of the 5 candidates
will be chosen by the BBC to join the Question Time panel on the 10
of July. Further information about the Question Time panel
competition and the Schools Question Time Challenge can be found at:
www.bbc.co.uk/sqt or
www.schoolsquestiontime.org.
All UK schools can still benefit from the Schools Question Time
Challenge even if they did not enter the competition by downloading
free resources from
www.schoolsquestiontime.org.
The educational resources include teacher’s notes, lesson plans and
activities. The resources aim to help pupils form opinions, improve
their speaking and listening skills and engage with the issues that
affect them as citizens.
BETTER WATER IN THE PIPELINE FOR SOUTHPORT
RESIDENTS in
Wennington Road, Southport can be assured that water supplies will
be maintained whilst United Utilities carry out vital mains
replacement work. Engineers are installing a new water main
which when completed will enhance the overall reliability of the
network and improve drinking water quality. The scheme started
on Monday, 2 June 2008 and should take approximately 12 to 14 weeks to
complete.
United Utilities’ project engineer Henry Bennett said:- “We
have already replaced smaller mains on Wennington Road which has
improved drinking water quality for customers living in that area.
The new water main we are in the process of laying has been designed
in such a way that will minimise disruption to three shut-offs
during the project as opposed to supplies being shut off every day
for 14 weeks.
We do apologise for any inconvenience caused. This work is essential in that customers across North Southport and
Banks will benefit from not only better-quality drinking water but
also a more reliable network. This is one of the many schemes
that our customers’ bills help to fund and it will be well worth it
when it is finished.”
These improvements are part of United Utilities’ £2.9 billion water
quality and environmental improvement programme between 2005-2010. |
NEW
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS POTENTIAL TO DOUBLE ECONOMIC OUTPUT OF RURAL AREAS
"THE UK's rural
economies have an unfulfilled potential and could double their
economic output up to £347billion a year;" says Dr. Stuart
Burgess, the government's Rural Advocate and Chairman of the
Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), in his report on releasing
the potential of England's rural economies handed today to the Prime
Minister. As an example, in North West England rural businesses
constitute 40% of the business base but contribute only 25% of the
employment levels.
The report follows a request from the Prime Minister to the Rural
Advocate to investigate ways in which rural economies might be
strengthened in the wake of flooding and foot and mouth disease
incidents in 2007. The report sets out a package of practical
proposals for coordinating government activity to improve areas of
support for and development of people and enterprises in the rural
business sector in order for this potential to be realised.
Proposals include the creation of a Rural Finance Forum, the
creation of a Rural Innovation Initiative, development of new forms
of networks to improve access to employee and business support and a
new compact between government, insurance and rural industries to
improve response to shocks caused by disease and bad weather and
develop new insurance products.
Speaking about his report Dr. Burgess said:- "In my visits to
rural areas I am constantly reminded how enterprising rural people
are and what diversity of successful firms and resilient communities
we have.
My report
records their economic strengths and the substantial contribution
they already make to the nation's economic performance.
However, we also know there is scope for significant improvement,
and for some communities this will only come from better support. I
was delighted, therefore, to be asked by the Prime Minster to
prepare this report to identify ways in which the full potential of
rural economies can be harnessed.
Rural areas host 30% of England's businesses. In 2005 these earned
at least £325 billion. However, a similar proportion of firms
located throughout England, not just in our villages and rural
towns, earned higher levels of turnover, showing us that rural
economies have a further potential for growth.
My report
suggests this unfulfilled potential from rural firms might be around
£236 to £347 billion per annum. By lifting the performance,
especially of medium and larger firms in rural areas, by attracting
more investment, by strengthening the capacity to innovate, they
could perhaps double their economic contribution; helping reduce
worklessness and poverty in rural areas, close the persistent gap
between rural and urban wages and make more rural communities
resilient against future economic and environmental shocks.
My report sets out a package of practical proposals for
coordinating government activity to improve areas of support for and
development of people and enterprises in the rural business sector
in order for this potential to be realised:-
· the creation of a Rural Finance Forum to examine and overcome the
causes of lower capital investment, poorer access to finance, and
lower funding for rural economic initiatives;
· the creation of a Rural Innovation Initiative to address the
special challenges and opportunities in sparse or remote rural
areas;
· development of new forms of brokerage, networks and clusters to
improve access to employee and business support programmes and share
good practice; and
· a new compact between government, insurance and rural industries
to improve response to shocks caused by disease and bad weather and
develop new insurance products.
At the heart of any drive for improvements will be better
understanding of the scale and performance of rural economies from
business and city leaders, economic departments and agencies. This
is why I have also recommended that the government convenes a
national summit and sponsors a series of regional summits to focus
attention and activity of government and its agencies on releasing
the potential of rural economies.
I now look forward to government - nationally, regionally and
locally - being inspired to seize this compelling opportunity and
focus coordinated efforts on the needs of rural entrepreneurs,
businesses, employees and residents, not just for the benefit of
rural England but the entire nation."
In Dr. Burgess' report a number of examples of outstanding rural
business are highlighted - such as the village of Broughton in
Yorkshire which has won recognition for transforming a declining
rural community into a beacon of rural enterprise. Rural
England is also seeing a boom in home-working, healthy rates of new
business start-ups, high levels of entrepreneurship (where levels
among women are much higher than the national average) and the
growth of small firms in new business areas. |
