Browse content similar to 11/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the East. Housebuilding plumb it so leaving family's out in the cold. | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
And from Leicester to this. It least save money but is it keeping | :01:33. | :01:43. | |
:01:43. | :01:43. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1807 seconds | :01:43. | :31:50. | |
Good morning. It is getting harder to find somewhere to live in the | :31:50. | :32:00. | |
East of England. Not enough houses are being built. | :32:00. | :32:10. | |
:32:10. | :32:10. | ||
Our guests at this week are Dr Theresa coffee and David Ellesmere. | :32:10. | :32:20. | |
:32:20. | :32:29. | ||
-- Dr Therese Coffey. One of the things that has happened | :32:29. | :32:34. | |
is that the government in raising the tax threshold has lifted over 1 | :32:34. | :32:44. | |
:32:44. | :32:48. | ||
million people out of paying income tax and most of those are women. | :32:48. | :32:53. | |
the debate on Thursday in the House of Commons, it was fascinating to | :32:53. | :33:03. | |
:33:03. | :33:03. | ||
listen and interact to other women MPs on a variety of issues. Just | :33:03. | :33:08. | |
tackling the things that do matter to women. Labour has talked a lot | :33:08. | :33:11. | |
about getting and people apprenticeships, but what about | :33:11. | :33:18. | |
getting women into the work place? I can understand why women are not | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
happy with the government. The government appears to be hitting | :33:21. | :33:27. | |
women hardest. If you look at the changes that are being made it to | :33:27. | :33:34. | |
benefit, to taxes, to wage freezes, 70% of those are hitting women | :33:34. | :33:41. | |
rather than men. Women's unemployment is at its highest rate | :33:41. | :33:49. | |
since 1974 and is rising faster than men's. Let's move on to | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
switching off street lights. It is claimed that money can be saved by | :33:54. | :34:04. | |
:34:04. | :34:07. | ||
doing this. Essex is rolling out plans to extend its switch off | :34:07. | :34:17. | |
:34:17. | :34:19. | ||
county-wide. Put that light out! The night-time | :34:19. | :34:23. | |
of blackouts of the Second World War war may be the stuff of | :34:23. | :34:32. | |
nostalgia, but Essex County Council has started putting its alight out | :34:32. | :34:37. | |
between midnight and 5am. High streets and town centres will | :34:37. | :34:44. | |
continue to be let all night and so will main roads like this one. -- | :34:44. | :34:53. | |
lit. But you may have to carry a torch if you are using side streets | :34:53. | :35:03. | |
at night. Maldon it is a step ahead of the rest of Essex. What is the | :35:03. | :35:08. | |
verdict from the ladies at the local keep-fit club? I think in | :35:08. | :35:15. | |
light is too early. Perhaps 2 o'clock in the morning. When we | :35:15. | :35:21. | |
were young, we just took torch is everywhere. But the town council | :35:21. | :35:29. | |
wants the county council to push back the switch of time by one hour. | :35:29. | :35:39. | |
:35:39. | :35:41. | ||
We have a night-time economy. If they could have some of the lights | :35:41. | :35:47. | |
are on, that would be better. it is estimated that switching of | :35:47. | :35:52. | |
70% of that the street lights it will save almost �1 million a year | :35:52. | :35:59. | |
for one Council. When we put that figure together, we were very | :35:59. | :36:04. | |
conservative in our estimate. Since we came up with that figure, energy | :36:04. | :36:14. | |
:36:14. | :36:17. | ||
costs have gone up, we also save on carbon tax. If you look at what | :36:17. | :36:27. | |
:36:27. | :36:28. | ||
happened in other areas, we could be saving over �70,000 per year. | :36:28. | :36:34. | |
Crime figures do appear to have dropped where lights have been | :36:34. | :36:44. | |
:36:44. | :36:53. | ||
switched off, but the fear of crime could be rising. Councils are now... | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
What about concerns about safety? There are savings to be made. | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
Suffolk County Council are expecting to sit about half a | :37:01. | :37:06. | |
million pounds a year from this. There are concerned, and certainly | :37:06. | :37:11. | |
people in Ipswich do have concerns out of the town centre. In | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
particular, there is the fear of crime, but it is also about safety | :37:15. | :37:21. | |
as well. Mothers are worried, not for themselves, but for their | :37:21. | :37:31. | |
:37:31. | :37:32. | ||
children who are working late at night and coming home. One report | :37:32. | :37:36. | |
says that cuts to street lighting, female friends tell me that if you | :37:36. | :37:41. | |
cannot afford a taxi and are you still walking around in safety, it | :37:41. | :37:47. | |
does make a difference having a curfew imposed. There is certainly | :37:47. | :37:53. | |
a lot of concern about it. People do not feel as safe as a result of | :37:53. | :38:01. | |
this. The street maintenance budget has been cut as well so there are | :38:02. | :38:06. | |
potholes as well. It is not just about crime, there is a fear of | :38:06. | :38:16. | |
accidents. Do you disagree? I think most people I'm not think it is a | :38:16. | :38:26. | |
:38:26. | :38:27. | ||
safe -- most people final think it is our sensible idea. I would say | :38:27. | :38:33. | |
that, of course, if you have concerns about your particular area, | :38:33. | :38:37. | |
you can ask for the likes to be put on again. And I know that that has | :38:37. | :38:46. | |
happened. In areas where it has happened, crime has gone down. | :38:46. | :38:53. | |
what about the fear of crime? not know what research has been | :38:53. | :39:01. | |
done by Labour women, but what people do feel that there is an | :39:01. | :39:08. | |
issue, I believe at the County Council has kept those lights on. | :39:08. | :39:13. | |
Is there enough public information about this happening? I think a lot | :39:13. | :39:18. | |
of people are surprised when it does actually happen. But it is | :39:18. | :39:25. | |
fight that a lot of people are not and about at these times, -- it is | :39:25. | :39:33. | |
right that a lot of people are not out and about at these times. And | :39:33. | :39:39. | |
light can be switched back on if there is a problem. We have done | :39:39. | :39:43. | |
that on streets where there has been any crime. It is absolutely | :39:44. | :39:53. | |
essential that people have to be aware of that. How far is this | :39:53. | :40:01. | |
going to go? I would like to see it county-wide, and a nationwide, I | :40:01. | :40:11. | |
:40:11. | :40:11. | ||
think it makes sense. Light pollution is also an issue. | :40:11. | :40:16. | |
The housing shortage now. We are the fastest-growing region in the | :40:16. | :40:24. | |
country, but despite the will of consecutive governments to build, | :40:24. | :40:30. | |
there is a crisis. Planning permissions are down by 25%. The | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
social housing waiting list is up. And first-time buyers here now need | :40:34. | :40:41. | |
a deposit of around �29,000. It is expected the government will | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
announce his planning policy framework this month, but will it | :40:45. | :40:51. | |
help? Colchester is expected to be the career with the largest number | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
of people needing help. A after three difficult years, the | :40:56. | :41:00. | |
building industry believes that things are starting to pick up. At | :41:00. | :41:04. | |
this site in Colchester, homes are under construction. They will be | :41:04. | :41:12. | |
ready by the summer and they are expected to sell fast. Things are a | :41:12. | :41:18. | |
lot more positive. Because see changes in the planning system | :41:18. | :41:26. | |
coming through. There are improvements in net mortgage market. | :41:26. | :41:32. | |
Colchester needs more homes. 1400 need to be billed here every year | :41:32. | :41:42. | |
:41:42. | :41:47. | ||
for the next 20 years. -- needed to be built here. Jose needs are not | :41:47. | :41:52. | |
being met. The number of new homes being built in the East has fallen | :41:52. | :41:57. | |
by one-third in the last six years. Our region needs at 32,000 new | :41:57. | :42:04. | |
homes every year for the next 20 years. But the report says that | :42:04. | :42:09. | |
just 44% of the homes we need are being started. The federation it | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
assess it is partly to do with the economy, but also the planning | :42:12. | :42:19. | |
system. The planning system is between an old regime and a new | :42:19. | :42:25. | |
regime that the government is introducing. Quite a lot of local | :42:25. | :42:29. | |
councils have not felt the pressure that we would like to see to get on | :42:29. | :42:36. | |
with positive planning. building federation has a vested | :42:36. | :42:39. | |
interest, but those who work with almost say the problem is getting | :42:39. | :42:45. | |
worse. We have 3000 people on the waiting list in Colchester. We are | :42:45. | :42:54. | |
not producing the supply to meet that need at all. Cassey Clitheroe | :42:54. | :43:03. | |
and Darrell Mole have just moved him to a new call you. They were on | :43:03. | :43:13. | |
:43:13. | :43:14. | ||
the council waiting list for three years. -- a new home. Everywhere we | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
looked at, there was almost 20 people and front of us. It was a | :43:20. | :43:28. | |
constant frustration. People stay at home longer with their parents, | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
they share houses when children come a long. We are starting to see | :43:32. | :43:39. | |
street homelessness again as well. The number of homeless in the East | :43:39. | :43:43. | |
has increased by 28%. The government wants to see more homes | :43:43. | :43:53. | |
:43:53. | :43:57. | ||
being built. It has introduced a new Holmes bonus. -- homes. | :43:57. | :44:00. | |
Ministers and the industry say there is a need for housing which | :44:00. | :44:10. | |
:44:10. | :44:11. | ||
is not being met. Why is housing it so slow? What is | :44:11. | :44:16. | |
the real problem here? I think part of the problem is the planning | :44:16. | :44:23. | |
system. It is a tortuous process. There is a mixed message coming | :44:23. | :44:28. | |
from the presumption for development and the government | :44:28. | :44:33. | |
saying to local community groups, you can store development in your | :44:33. | :44:41. | |
area. -- stop development. Local authorities are in the middle tried | :44:41. | :44:49. | |
to build the homes we need for people that want them. 1400 houses | :44:49. | :44:53. | |
needed to be built every year for the next 20 years, how many are we | :44:53. | :44:57. | |
getting at the moment? About half of that. Before the recession, we | :44:57. | :45:04. | |
were building about 1000 homes a year. We are doing pretty well, but | :45:04. | :45:13. | |
we are not meeting either need. What about social housing? | :45:13. | :45:19. | |
waiting list is around 5000, we are just scratching the surface of it. | :45:19. | :45:24. | |
When the new developments are built in Colchester, we insist on 35% of | :45:24. | :45:28. | |
that being social housing. But it is not having a good effect because | :45:28. | :45:35. | |
there are so many people coming on to the list. But is it moving now? | :45:35. | :45:41. | |
Yes, there does seem to be a bit of movement this year. Development is | :45:41. | :45:47. | |
picking up a little. We have got to be confident and optimistic because | :45:47. | :45:55. | |
if we are not, things will never improve it. Should he be | :45:55. | :46:02. | |
optimistic? Is the government's planning policy going to meet that | :46:02. | :46:07. | |
need? Planning has always had a presumption in favour of | :46:07. | :46:14. | |
development. This chargeable give greater freedom to councils in how | :46:14. | :46:23. | |
they decide what building has to be done. The there will not be | :46:23. | :46:31. | |
prescriptions about parking places and other issues such as that. They | :46:31. | :46:35. | |
will be able to decide the shape and feel of the communities they | :46:35. | :46:41. | |
wish to see. They will also be able to say where they do not want it. | :46:41. | :46:50. | |
The that is not true, they cannot do that. The district and but | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
development councils set their areas for development. That | :46:54. | :46:59. | |
information has not got across. This Government has been saying | :46:59. | :47:05. | |
that we needed to build more houses, they are giving incentives to build | :47:05. | :47:11. | |
new houses and introducing, for first-time buyers, a home start | :47:11. | :47:18. | |
programme. David Ellesmere, we had targets under Labour, but we did | :47:18. | :47:25. | |
not meet them. The scrapping of targets is causing problems. What | :47:25. | :47:32. | |
we are seeing is councils under pressure because people do not want | :47:32. | :47:36. | |
to see development in their own backyard. We should not blame are | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
the planning system entirely. In Ipswich, we are finding that the | :47:41. | :47:49. | |
real problem is that the government has cut the housing budget by 60% | :47:49. | :47:56. | |
and developers are not coming forward because they cannot find | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
social housing developers. there is also freedom for the | :48:01. | :48:09. | |
housing associations to be charging 80% rather than 60%. They can | :48:09. | :48:15. | |
spread the burden. What do you need in order to get those houses built | :48:15. | :48:20. | |
in Colchester? The slashing of the funding to the homes and | :48:20. | :48:29. | |
communities agencies has had a real effect. If you have 80% of the | :48:29. | :48:34. | |
market based in Colchester, that is an affordable for most people. They | :48:34. | :48:44. | |
can afford a 60%, but 80% takes it out of the range of many people. We | :48:44. | :48:47. | |
need to be able to give the money to housing associations so that | :48:47. | :48:57. | |
they can afford to build the houses that people can afford to let him. | :48:57. | :49:05. | |
-- to live in. Housing will always be a controversial topic. �400 | :49:05. | :49:08. | |
million is being given to developers at the moment to get the | :49:08. | :49:15. | |
schemes going, to build housing, but we also have to get into houses | :49:15. | :49:23. | |
into this game as well. This week saw the loss of one of | :49:23. | :49:33. | |
:49:33. | :49:42. | ||
almost colourful politicians. -- our most. Lord St John Has died. | :49:43. | :49:52. | |
was a great man, a great parliamentarian and a great wit. He | :49:52. | :50:02. | |
:50:02. | :50:05. | ||
called Margaret Thatcher Attila the Hen! That deadlock or down too well | :50:05. | :50:15. | |
:50:15. | :50:19. | ||
at all. -- that did not go down too well. Douglas Carswell took great | :50:19. | :50:28. | |
pleasure it in goading the Prime Minister. It is because of the | :50:28. | :50:38. | |
constraints of coalition or because of the Whitehall machine? Would you | :50:38. | :50:44. | |
like to see those conservation zones on the Suffolk coast? I think | :50:44. | :50:47. | |
they are pretty controversial. I can understand why they want to do | :50:47. | :50:56. | |
it, but it is where tourists goal sort I am not so keen on the idea. | :50:56. | :51:02. | |
Should wildlife come first? It is absolutely right that our natural | :51:02. | :51:07. | |
environment should be protected from exploitation. But much of our | :51:07. | :51:12. | |
landscape has been shaped by humans. If humans are working their, | :51:12. | :51:19. | |
fishing and so on and tourism, so long as there is not too much of it, | :51:19. | :51:25. |