Browse content similar to 25/06/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Politics. With just 24 hours to go before the chancellor makes his big | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
spending review statement, Westminster is pretty chilled about | :00:48. | :00:54. | |
it. We will discuss why. If, as expected, local councils in England | :00:54. | :00:57. | |
see their budgets squeezed again, is it time to rethink what services | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
they provide? We will be joined by the biggest cheese in local | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
government, Sir Merrick Cockell. MPs prepared to debate David | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
Cameron's plans for a �33 billion high-speed rail link from London to | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
Manchester. We will hear the case for and against from two top Tories. | :01:16. | :01:18. | |
And is the cost of government borrowing going up? | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
We have got everything you need to know about the bond market in 60 | :01:22. | :01:29. | |
seconds. With us for the whole programme | :01:29. | :01:35. | |
today is the financial commentator Louise Cooper. Welcome back. Let's | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
kick off with everything you need to know about the bond market that were | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
too afraid to ask. This week, ten year UK bond yields have reached | :01:44. | :01:54. | |
2.56%, up by a third in a month. Why does it matter? Two things. Firstly, | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
the government has a lot of debt. If the interest rate it has to pay on | :01:58. | :02:05. | |
that debt goes up, the government has to spend more. So it puts the | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
government under pressure because it has to pay a larger interest bill. | :02:09. | :02:17. | |
Secondly, mortgages are priced off government debt. So the era of cheap | :02:17. | :02:23. | |
mortgages is slowly coming to an end. How slowly?Lots of people look | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
at stock markets and bond markets. But actually, you need to look at | :02:27. | :02:32. | |
the interest rate markets. They have been volatile over the last two | :02:32. | :02:42. | |
:02:42. | :02:44. | ||
months. They are telling us that the era of cheap money is over, not just | :02:44. | :02:46. | |
in the States, where we had the Federal reserve talking about | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
tapering quantitative easing, the end of money printing, but also in | :02:48. | :02:55. | |
the UK and the Eurozone. There has been a reappraisal of cheap money, | :02:55. | :02:59. | |
and this is coming to an end. Because most people don't look at | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
these rates markets, they don't realise it has happened. Does that | :03:03. | :03:09. | |
mean, despite the fact that the new Bank of England Governor implied | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
that base interest rates, which would affect mortgage rates, would | :03:13. | :03:18. | |
stay low to 2017 to encourage investment, are you saying that will | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
not happen? We don't quite know, because Mark Carney arrives next | :03:21. | :03:25. | |
Monday, taking over Tom Mervyn King. We don't know what he will do. But | :03:25. | :03:31. | |
we do know that the economy is looking stronger than expected. No | :03:31. | :03:36. | |
cripple dip, possibly even though double-dip. I think the economy | :03:36. | :03:43. | |
could surprise with its strength. If you look at the financial markets, | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
they indicate that we could see a base rate increase in the next 12 | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
months. That will surprise many, the titular leave those on mortgages | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
that are linked to base rates. it could be difficult for banks if | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
many of their customers struggle to pay higher interest rates. There is | :04:01. | :04:05. | |
a quote I liked from the US central bank, describing the financial | :04:05. | :04:11. | |
markets as feral hogs. Colourful language. Surely he is hardly | :04:11. | :04:16. | |
surprised by the actions of the markets? We have had a 30 year bull | :04:16. | :04:22. | |
market for bonds, and we have the interest rates at so low that we | :04:22. | :04:28. | |
haven't seen them for centuries. So we have had this phenomenal bull | :04:28. | :04:36. | |
market, cheap money. That is coming to an end. And it is almost like | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
everyone is trying to exit at the same time. That is what he is | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
referring to, the fear that you need to get out before everyone else. | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
Time for our daily quiz. The question is, news has emerged about | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
a government minister who broke their foot after they fell off a | :04:54. | :05:00. | |
table while dancing in a bar in Soho? Who was it? Theresa May, | :05:00. | :05:06. | |
Jeremy Brown, Mark Harper or Eric Pickles? You will be surprised by | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
the ants. Louise, no stranger herself to the bars of Soho, will | :05:09. | :05:14. | |
give us the correct cancer. Now, tomorrow will be dominated by | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
the chancellor's spending review. We will talk about that with Louise in | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
a moment, but there is another big issue on the agenda after George | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
Osborne's set piece speech, and one which is potentially even more | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
controversial, the government's plans for a second high-speed rail | :05:29. | :05:35. | |
line, known as HS2. The plan is to build a new link from London to | :05:35. | :05:37. | |
Manchester and Leeds, via Birmingham, the East Midlands and | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
Sheffield. The estimated cost currently runs to �33 billion or a | :05:42. | :05:47. | |
bit more if they spurred to Heathrow is built as well, with the first | :05:47. | :05:50. | |
trains running on the line to Birmingham in 2026 and the whole | :05:50. | :05:55. | |
project completed in 2032. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin is | :05:55. | :06:01. | |
driving the plans, but he faces opposition from his own | :06:01. | :06:03. | |
government's backbenchers. Several Conservative MPs have been hostile | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
to the scheme, including the former Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan, | :06:07. | :06:13. | |
deputy chief whip John Randall and prominent backbencher Andrea Letts. | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
We can't talk to David Tice from the New Economics Foundation | :06:17. | :06:20. | |
think-tank, which recently published a report on high-speed rail, which | :06:20. | :06:25. | |
concluded that the money would be better spent on other things. How | :06:25. | :06:32. | |
have you come to that conclusion? Well, after a long-standing piece of | :06:32. | :06:40. | |
research on HS2, we found three critical issues at play here. The | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
first is that there is little to no proof that the current scheme will | :06:45. | :06:53. | |
stimulate the broader economy. The second is that it is unlikely to | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
bridge the North-South divide. And critically, as you referenced at the | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
top, there are better value for money projects which exist now that | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
can deliver larger benefits to a larger section of the population in | :07:06. | :07:13. | |
a shorter timeline. But it will make journeys quicker? Absolutely, but | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
that is just one of the plethora of potential benefits that could be | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
reaped when thinking about an investment of �33 billion, the | :07:22. | :07:30. | |
largest single investment in UK transport in UK history. So to focus | :07:30. | :07:37. | |
on one potential benefit is looking at things a little myopically, we | :07:37. | :07:44. | |
think. But you could argue that you could have both. Tell me what you | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
think it should be spent on? When you consider the strategic | :07:49. | :07:54. | |
objectives for High Speed two, which include the economic objectives, but | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
also improving conditions across the country, evidence suggests, whether | :07:59. | :08:06. | |
it be from international examples or from long-standing research, all the | :08:06. | :08:12. | |
evidence says that the better bet is to invest locally where you want to | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
see local growth, originally where you want to see regional | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
improvements, and you must echo the context into consideration. The UK | :08:19. | :08:27. | |
has a unique, mature transport system and a unique geography. All | :08:27. | :08:33. | |
the findings by our organisation suggest that we should be spending | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
strategic money in a more dispersed way. | :08:35. | :08:42. | |
With us now is the Conservative MP and former Welsh Secretary Cheryl | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
Gillan, whose constituency will be affected by HS2. We have also been | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
joined by the Conservative MP Stuart Andrew, who co-chairs a group of MPs | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
interested in high-speed rail. What is the main argument in favour of | :08:54. | :09:02. | |
HS2? The main argument is capacity. Both the east Coast and West Coast | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
are running close to full capacity. I get on the East Coast Main Line | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
every week, and if you go at peak time, you are standing all the way | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
to Peter Brooke. If we don't you with this, we will be relying on a | :09:14. | :09:20. | |
Victorian system right into the next century. That is not acceptable. We | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
need an alternative that deals with that capacity, and HS2 is the | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
alternative. It seems a straightforward solution to what | :09:28. | :09:35. | |
will become an increasingly big problem. It will become a �33 | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
billion plus way of solving a bit of overcrowding on a couple of railway | :09:38. | :09:43. | |
lines. The New Economics Foundation did very good work showing what the | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
alternative spend could be and how you could get better value for money | :09:47. | :09:53. | |
for the taxpayer. Would it deal with the overcrowding? I think it would, | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
because it would affect the upgrading of the East Coast Main | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
Line and West Coast Main Line, but would also spread prosperity to the | :10:00. | :10:06. | |
north by involving regional transport schemes. Stuart is talking | :10:06. | :10:11. | |
about a railway that will not be completed before 2033 at the least, | :10:11. | :10:14. | |
and it is looking even longer now that there have been so many | :10:14. | :10:20. | |
mistakes on the consultation and the environmental side. It looks as if | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
this bill tomorrow is just to cover the government and give it some sort | :10:25. | :10:31. | |
of political boost. It will take longer than they anticipated. | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
is the problem, the completion time. We are looking so far into the | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
future, and the situation both economically and the demands on the | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
transport system may have changed. But if we don't start planning now, | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
we will have a serious problem in 20 years' time. We have been here | :10:47. | :10:51. | |
before. We had the upgrading of the West Coast Main Line which took ten | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
years of long delays, liens of pounds and has not solved the | :10:55. | :11:01. | |
problem. If we are serious about tackling this problem, which is | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
getting worse, we need a solution. I am not saying HS2 is the only thing | :11:05. | :11:10. | |
we should do to stop we have to do the regional things as well. | :11:10. | :11:15. | |
government says it is committed to a variety of infrastructure plans. �33 | :11:15. | :11:23. | |
billion is a huge amount of money, but it will be spread over many | :11:23. | :11:25. | |
years, and businesses in the Midlands and the north are in | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
favour. Well, you only have to look at what outside commentators have | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
said. For example, the National Audit Office, an independent | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
observer, said the strategic objectives were unclear and doubted | :11:38. | :11:45. | |
the ability of the Department to even deliver this budget competently | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
and on-time and on cost. It is not just me saying this. The government | :11:49. | :11:58. | |
has failed to look at other alternatives. I believe it said it | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
will examine the alternatives when the hybrid Bill comes in later this | :12:01. | :12:07. | |
year. However, I think the bill tomorrow is unnecessary. We did not | :12:07. | :12:13. | |
have a paving bill for HS one or crossrail. This is just to give the | :12:13. | :12:20. | |
government political cover and to tie in labour. Politically, you are | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
into constituencies that are affected in different ways, so one | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
might argue that you have a vested interest. �33 billion is a lot of | :12:27. | :12:31. | |
money and of course you could spend it on other projects, but if you | :12:31. | :12:36. | |
think about what could be bridged in terms of the North-South vied, is it | :12:36. | :12:42. | |
money well spent? I am always sceptical of the economic analysis | :12:42. | :12:52. | |
:12:52. | :12:55. | ||
that points to great benefits, the cost frankly, they just don't know. | :12:55. | :12:57. | |
As you were saying, the supposedly independent National Audit Office is | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
the sceptical of this project. At a time when we are heavily indebted, | :13:01. | :13:08. | |
desperately in need of economic growth, this is a project which | :13:08. | :13:12. | |
costs �33 billion. I don't see the economic advantage. We know we have | :13:12. | :13:17. | |
a problem with Heathrow and the M25. You say you stand on the train | :13:17. | :13:23. | |
to Peter borough. I commute every day in London and I never not stand. | :13:23. | :13:27. | |
Wimbledon to Canary Wharf, an hour and a quarter, I am always standing. | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
Travellers in London will tell you there ain't no sitting down in | :13:31. | :13:37. | |
rush-hour. We are talking about long distance train journeys here. We | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
have to get our cities better connected. We are seeing crossrail | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
built to benefit the south. We want investment that helps us in the | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
north so that we can take advantage. I want my constituents to | :13:50. | :13:59. | |
benefit from the wider economy. not sure this will make a | :13:59. | :14:06. | |
difference. Then start it in the north. I looked at this project and | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
I started by saying, it goes through an area of outstanding natural | :14:10. | :14:15. | |
beauty and I am against it. I then looked at it in more detail, and I | :14:15. | :14:22. | |
think it is the wrong product. Started in the north. But also, we | :14:22. | :14:32. | |
:14:32. | :14:33. | ||
are investing in the north. We are seeing the rail line between Leeds | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
and Manchester being electrified and new stations being built everywhere. | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
This will, and HS2. Looking at it politically, how many of your | :14:40. | :14:48. | |
Conservative colleagues will join you in voting against this will? | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
have no idea. It is a small bill to give the government cover. The real | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
problem will be when it comes to the hybrid Bill and the petition | :14:57. | :15:01. | |
process. I think over 30 colleagues have signed the recent amendment to | :15:01. | :15:05. | |
the paving bill tomorrow, cross-party as well will stop but | :15:05. | :15:10. | |
tomorrow is about the government saying, Parliament supported HS2, so | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
we will go ahead with it. And it is to tie in the Labour Party. It was | :15:15. | :15:22. | |
not needed for the Channel Tunnel rail Link. This is political cover. | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
It is a project that will benefit far more people across the country. | :15:25. | :15:34. | |
We have 20 years to talk about it! As I hope you all know by now. If | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
you don't you have not been listening, tomorrow's big news with | :15:38. | :15:41. | |
the George Osborne's statement on the Spending Review. We will look | :15:41. | :15:46. | |
ahead to that in a moment. First, what is a Spending Review anyway? | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
Across the great departments of state, they await judgment from | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
above. The Chancellor, George Osborne, has, in simple terms: Asked | :15:55. | :16:01. | |
for �11. 1.5 billion more of savings or cuts in their overall budget, | :16:01. | :16:06. | |
whilst leaving some areas, the NHS, overseas aid, and the schools | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
budget, untouched. Who has to save what for the period 2015-16 is | :16:11. | :16:17. | |
essentially what the Spending Review is about. To paint you a picture | :16:17. | :16:22. | |
about what a Government Spending Review is about, it's a review of | :16:22. | :16:29. | |
Government spending. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Except, it | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
kind of doesn't. It is about how much money is going to be taken away | :16:33. | :16:37. | |
from whichp department. So, the money is at the centre of it. But, | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
of course, it is the politics in the end that will determine who loses | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
the money, or who loses more and who loses less. It's politics that fogs | :16:45. | :16:51. | |
things. 2016 is after an election. Meaning the current Government's | :16:51. | :16:54. | |
spending priorities, are now those the current Opposition, who might | :16:54. | :16:57. | |
rise to form the next Government, have already said they'll stick | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
with. But, theds' argue, the very need -- they'd argue, the very need | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
to have a Spending Review is a sign of Government failure. The | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
Government argue it is they who are taking the brave and sensible | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
overview on spending. And, of course, there has been a battle, or | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
at least hard dealing inside Government. Actual lit decisions at | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
the end are taken by a very small group. -- Actually the decisions are | :17:24. | :17:28. | |
taken by a very small group. If they can't get agreement in the end, they | :17:28. | :17:33. | |
may have to impose. They don't want to impose and that risks | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
resignations and so on but it is actually them that hold all the | :17:36. | :17:42. | |
cards. Lest we think that this is a modern phenomenon, two years after | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
the Great Fire that destroyed the original St Paul's, the king, | :17:45. | :17:51. | |
Charles II was having just the same problem. He asked for savings in | :17:51. | :18:00. | |
expenditure. Apparently ministers were, in the words of one historian | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
- pathetically timid. There were savings of �84. Kings Charles was | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
unimpressed and sent them back it the drawing board to think again. He | :18:07. | :18:11. | |
wanted them, in what we might say these days - to go harder and | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
faster. Oh, and just to bring you bang up to date. Tomorrow the | :18:16. | :18:21. | |
Government will refer to this Spending Review, as a spending | :18:21. | :18:25. | |
round. Sometimes it's as if they like to confuse you. We are easily | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
confused. Louise Cooper is still with me. Should we care too much | :18:29. | :18:34. | |
about what a Government's promising to do in a couple of years' time? It | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
is not for the now? It kind of tells you - it indicates what their | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
thinking is. To me, my problem with the Spending Review is the | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
ringfencing. Because if you ringfence 60% of your spending, then | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
the rest has to take massive hits, as we all know. And particularly on | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
the health care costs. You know, we all know that health care is rising | :18:59. | :19:05. | |
much faster than either GDP growth or inflation. Now that is a big | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
problem. And rather than being open and honest and trying to have some | :19:09. | :19:13. | |
kind of engagement with the electorate and trying to say - what | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
do you want us to do? It is just public opinion says no cuts on | :19:17. | :19:22. | |
health care, so that's it. Well, you kind of need to engage the public | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
and say, we cannot afford an ever-rising health care bill, what | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
do you want us to do? The absence of that political discussion is across | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
all parties. Although, interestingly, it is with this | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
Spending Review, that it has at least been considered. Maybe not on | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
health, particularly but whether ringfencing is a good idea because | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
so many members of the Cabinet, Secretary of States have fought hard | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
against it because as you say, it distorts spending in other | :19:47. | :19:50. | |
departments but for political reasons they don't want to look at | :19:50. | :19:55. | |
it. What about welfare? The commitment this time is not to make | :19:55. | :19:59. | |
any further cuts to welfare in 2015-16 because they have taken a | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
big hit but again t has raised the debate about universal benefits for | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
pensioners, for example. Is that a good thing? -- it has raised the | :20:07. | :20:12. | |
debate. If we can afford universal benefits, marvellous. But we can't. | :20:12. | :20:15. | |
We had a rise in the welfare state, under Labour, that what happened | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
because we were in a credit boom and a prolonged upturn cycle. We could | :20:20. | :20:27. | |
only afford that welfare state temporarily. Unfortunately, taking | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
people's benefits back from them, when they now think they are a | :20:31. | :20:36. | |
right, an entitlement, is incredibly difficult. But that is what needs to | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
happen. With, as we have been hearing, George Osborne will outline | :20:41. | :20:44. | |
his Spending Review tomorrow and local councils in England are once | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
again expected to take a significant hit. The Local Government | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
Association says councils have already had their budgets cut by | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
one-third, since 2010 and warn any further squeeze will jeopardise some | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
services. Is it time to re-think how things like libraries and sports | :20:59. | :21:08. | |
centres are run and paid for? The argument about whether council | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
cuts are necessary, or harsh, will always be there. But it's down to | :21:12. | :21:19. | |
our councils to decide what is lost from the landscape. There's no room | :21:19. | :21:23. | |
for efficiency savings any more. We really are down to the bones of | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
service delivery and we are looking at cutting the limbs off. Closures | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
and moth balling, two words we've heard a lot of recently. Frontline | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
services are being affected and councils tell us there is not enough | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
money to run things any more. In the process of balancing the books, the | :21:39. | :21:44. | |
third word that keeps cropping up is - volunteers. With cutbacks here it | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
stay, some communities have realised if they want to take their services | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
open, they're going to have to run them for themselves. This leisure | :21:52. | :21:56. | |
centre was closed two years ago. Barnsley Council decided the | :21:56. | :22:00. | |
couldn't afford to run it. It lay empty for nearly a year but a group | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
of volunteers have got it up and running. I think you can see the | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
mill due everywhere. One of the pipes burst when the building was | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
shut. We have a dehumidifier still going to try to get rid of the | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
moisture. Leisure is seen by some as an easy target for savings. Councils | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
don't have to provide T maybe Martin and his team are all part of the big | :22:24. | :22:27. | |
society. -- don't have to provide it. I don't think it matters what | :22:27. | :22:31. | |
you call T but lots of people who are interested from the local | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
community, if we have come together to get a community-based facility up | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
and running, I don't think you can knock that, from whatever part of | :22:40. | :22:45. | |
the political spectrum you are from. There are around ten classes here | :22:45. | :22:51. | |
every week. It brings them in �600 a month. But there is serious sweat | :22:51. | :22:55. | |
and toil to be done before this can be a have Iable leisure centre. | :22:55. | :23:05. | |
Leaving it to volunteers, not a bad thing says the Government. Public | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
satisfaction with council services since 2010 has gone up. They need | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
tolike at new ways of working, sharing management and sharing | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
resources and being innovative and not doing what they have always done | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
because they have always done it. But looking at the wider spectrum of | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
opportunities out there. Six months on, Martin and the team have won an | :23:24. | :23:29. | |
award for their work keeping the leisure centre open and they are | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
diversifying. The man who runs the community church have moved to hold | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
their services here on Sunday afternoon. Today it is a if the ball | :23:37. | :23:43. | |
pitch. On a Sunday, it is a church. Good luck to him. But there is hard | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
work still to do. The centre is not ready for gym-goers yet and more tin | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
admits it can be a struggle to put up once a council puts down. -- | :23:54. | :23:58. | |
Martin admits. You have to think - will this work when you set it up? | :23:58. | :24:04. | |
If you think you can, stand up and have a go. If you don't, maybe | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
nobody else will. Add private companies to groups of volunteers | :24:09. | :24:13. | |
and could some see a time when councils aren't needed at all? | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
yes I can. I think now an elected councillor, regardless of what party | :24:17. | :24:22. | |
they are in, have to ask themselves the question: Why am I going into | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
local politics? What is it I can actually do? | :24:27. | :24:33. | |
James Vincent reporting there. We have been joined by the Chairman of | :24:33. | :24:35. | |
the Local Government Association, Merrick Cockell. On the back of that | :24:35. | :24:39. | |
film, which statutory services, provided by the council will be at | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
risk if the Chancellor goes ahead with further cuts to local councils? | :24:43. | :24:48. | |
We will know the pressures we are under, particularly around social | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
care and that there maybe good news on that tomorrow, but that is | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
skewing public services, so that many of those universal services, | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
the things that people experience day-to-day and value, are under risk | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
because of those statutory responsibilities you talk about. So | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
it is difficult to predict. We think there are about 86 councils around | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
the country and there are a mixture of districts, counties, | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
Metropolitan, London Boroughs, that are at risk of perhaps beginning to | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
fail some of the key responsibilities and I think that's | :25:18. | :25:23. | |
a matter of real concern. You have mentioned social care as a matter of | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
statutory responsibility. What other areas with the councils, which | :25:26. | :25:31. | |
responsibilities might they not be able to fulfil? Well, each will have | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
different circumstances. Tomorrow we'll hear more, particularly about | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
sharing around health, integration around hale. This is going to be key | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
tomorrow for us. -- around health. We know there is bad news about a | :25:41. | :25:46. | |
reduction in our grant but the good news would be if we would begin to | :25:46. | :25:51. | |
integrate with health arounded adult care that. Doesn't apply to district | :25:51. | :25:55. | |
councils, but that might lesson some of the pressure if the numbers are | :25:56. | :26:01. | |
significant. -- might lesson. It has to be the start of a progress | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
of real integration, not just in health but all public services. It | :26:05. | :26:11. | |
may be a way through the problems. The example in the film wasville | :26:11. | :26:17. | |
tiers stepping into the breech, for example if a community centre has to | :26:17. | :26:24. | |
close. -- volunteers stepping in. I don't see it as a way of dealing | :26:25. | :26:29. | |
with problems with finance. I think it is the right way of working with | :26:29. | :26:33. | |
your communities and the response to question about - should councils be | :26:33. | :26:38. | |
there? Has missed the point. Councils are not just about | :26:38. | :26:40. | |
providing whether you are commissioning or delivering them | :26:40. | :26:45. | |
yourselves, they are actual lit democratic accountability about. -- | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
they are actually the. It is the fact that people are accountable for | :26:49. | :26:55. | |
public services in their areas. it about accountability, and | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
deliverability. If public services could be delivered in the way shown | :26:58. | :27:03. | |
in the film, you say you are in favour, then it would mean much | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
smaller councils Councils have to let G if we are saying to Government | :27:07. | :27:12. | |
- you must hand over control of local services to local people | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
through the democratic process and that has also to do the with English | :27:16. | :27:20. | |
question, then councils have to pass that down to the be communities and | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
sometimes there won't be much money, if any at all going with those | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
things we pass down. You spoke about the problems of ringfencing. One of | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
the distortions is the hit local councils take. 8-10% cut. That | :27:32. | :27:37. | |
sounds big, to me Clearly there was a lot of fat there. I remember when | :27:37. | :27:43. | |
I had my son in 2009. I went to baby massage classes, which were | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
marvellous, but I'm not sure my local council should be providing | :27:47. | :27:52. | |
that. However, from the data I have looked at, local councils have taken | :27:52. | :27:58. | |
one-third off their budget. Over many years. There is a point where | :27:58. | :28:04. | |
politically it is easy to hit local councils than to make big decisions | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
nationwide. The volunteers are a good thing but it can't replace | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
council services. That's right. We haven't been consulted and | :28:12. | :28:15. | |
negotiated with on this. I think, rather as you were saying earlier, | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
we need a different approach as to how we provide public services. We | :28:20. | :28:23. | |
need agreement on four or five years, not on a single year | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
announced at the beginning of the process. Time to find out the answer | :28:27. | :28:31. | |
to the question. The question as to which Government minister broke | :28:31. | :28:37. | |
their foot after falling off a table while dancing in a bar in Soho? | :28:37. | :28:43. | |
I've love to think it was Eric Pickles? It is not.It puts an | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
amazing image into my mind. It is not. It is Mark Harper. Thank you | :28:47. | :28:52. |