Students from The Bedford Sixth Form joined a talk from a member of the House of Lords staged at Bedford College. Baroness Young of Scone met students who are active in the life of the college, such as class representatives, as well as those studying Politics, and explained the role of the House of Lords and her own work.
This was followed by a question and answer session on various aspects of the parliamentary process and life at the Houses of Parliament generally.
Rosalind Birtwistle, Student Participation adviser, said:
“We arranged this visit to give our students the opportunity to interact with someone who knows the parliamentary system inside out, as it can sometimes seem far removed from their daily lives, but now they understand more clearly the way Westminster works. The Baroness is very much in tune with the concerns of our young people who asked some perceptive questions and she gave straightforward replies, with examples of matters with which she had been personally involved.”
The visit was arranged through the Lord Speaker’s “Peers in Schools” outreach programme, which was established across the UK in 2007 and has so far involved around 90,000 young people. Members of the House of Lords visit schools, academies and colleges to give talks in support of the citizenship curriculum. For further information, and to make an application, see the Lord Speaker’s web page at www.parliament.uk/lordspeaker.