25/03/2012 Sunday Politics East


25/03/2012

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 25/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

In the east, the Mental Health Trust looking to the future

0:01:260:01:31

following a series of critical reports. And the Chancellor's

0:01:310:01:41
0:01:410:01:41

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1837 seconds

0:01:410:32:18

More pain for our motorists as the Chancellor refuses to cut fuel duty.

0:32:180:32:24

But first, let us introduce her guests for this week. We have

0:32:240:32:30

Andrea Leadsom he is a Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire and

0:32:300:32:37

bottlers are up for Labour. Andrea Leadsom, let us begin with

0:32:370:32:41

you on the Budget. A quick word on the so-called granny tax. The

0:32:410:32:46

pensioners' allowance is being frozen. It has had a pretty bad

0:32:460:32:51

reception in the press, ba pensioners affair target?

0:32:510:32:59

Pensioners are not actually a target as he put it. We are trying

0:32:590:33:05

to simplify tax regime which has seen very complicated form filling.

0:33:050:33:09

What the government is trying to do is bring allowances in line with

0:33:090:33:15

each other. We are freezing any age-related allowances so that they

0:33:150:33:18

come into line with each other in preparation for are significantly

0:33:180:33:26

better a single tear -- Single Tear pensions. Does a more incomes will

0:33:260:33:31

not be affected at all. The fact is, a lot of pensioners are affected by

0:33:310:33:36

this and I think it is a triple insult. Not only are they taking

0:33:360:33:39

away at pensioners' allowance which they have had far 100 years

0:33:390:33:47

together tax cut for the richest people in society, they try to do

0:33:470:33:50

it in a way where they presented as simplification, hoping that the

0:33:500:33:55

pensioners will not notice. They then say they will get a five

0:33:550:33:59

pounds increase a week. That is just for this year to cover

0:33:590:34:06

inflation. Will it be known for are the millionaire's Budget, or her a

0:34:060:34:11

Budget for millions? One thing is for sure, it will not be known as

0:34:110:34:15

the Budget for motorists. There was a new face turning the

0:34:150:34:20

Chancellor on the steps of 11 Downing Street for this Budget.

0:34:200:34:28

Chloe Smith is now economic Secretary. It was met -- it was

0:34:280:34:35

left to her to defend the decision not to cut the rates. Fuel is up to

0:34:360:34:40

10p cheaper had at -- would it have been had we stuck with the previous

0:34:400:34:50
0:34:500:34:51

government's actions. This has been done against the backdrop of some

0:34:510:34:54

incredibly difficult economic circumstances which mean it is not

0:34:540:35:00

possible to spend on everything. This was a Budget to help the

0:35:000:35:03

squeezed middle. They were more generous restrictions on child

0:35:030:35:10

benefit. It was also a Budget for business, lower corporation tax, a

0:35:110:35:15

cut in red tape. These measures, which are very pro-

0:35:150:35:20

business, will see thriving businesses in East of England more

0:35:200:35:24

so than before. Governments do not create jobs, businesses creates

0:35:240:35:28

jobs, and small businesses constitute 90 per cent of the

0:35:280:35:32

workforce in the hall of England and Wales and we have more up in

0:35:320:35:37

our fair share of small and medium- sized businesses. Helping

0:35:370:35:41

businesses is one thing, but if we cannot sell anything because of the

0:35:410:35:45

recession and we will not prosper. The fact is we are in serious

0:35:450:35:48

economic trouble, the deficit last month was twice what it wasn't the

0:35:480:35:55

same month last year. We have 80 per cent of the cut still to come,

0:35:550:35:58

which will cost more unemployment and drive us into recession, even

0:35:580:36:08
0:36:080:36:10

depressions. Two of her backbenchers had success.

0:36:100:36:15

We will now or receive itemised tax bills. The big disappointment was

0:36:150:36:19

fuel, and many Conservative MPs are warning that they will keep on

0:36:190:36:24

fighting for a lower tax. Let us discuss those points,

0:36:240:36:30

starting with fuel. Near record prices, how would Labour fund

0:36:300:36:35

removing the 3p fuel duty. The money has to come from somewhere or.

0:36:350:36:40

Well crisis sometimes gallop up or fall flat. When the oil price was

0:36:400:36:45

galloping away before, we did not bring in tax increases, we deferred

0:36:450:36:49

them. I filled up this week and it was three pence a litre more it and

0:36:500:36:53

last week and now we will all have three pence more work than in

0:36:530:36:56

August. Have we not already had a deferral?

0:36:560:36:59

Yes that we need to defend again because oil prices are going up

0:36:590:37:03

faster. Where will the money come from to defer the petrol duty

0:37:030:37:09

increase? Do not give a tax cut to the richest people in society, 5p

0:37:100:37:13

in the pound is a huge tax cuts and could have been used to keep petrol

0:37:130:37:18

prices down. Many of you Conservative colleagues are

0:37:180:37:23

surprised, even angry? The last government built in their fuel duty

0:37:230:37:32

escalator, which means that Oliver Budget forecasts have to be pieced

0:37:320:37:37

-- have to be based on that those taking place. The price of fuel a

0:37:370:37:41

litre by a this August already had been 10p less than you would have

0:37:410:37:45

been under Labour's plans. The government has a lot to keep the

0:37:450:37:50

price of fuel down, but it always comes back to the fact that we have

0:37:500:37:53

a massive Budget deficit left to us at last government and we have to

0:37:530:37:58

get the money back somewhere. If we simply do fairer again, then that

0:37:580:38:03

is effectively a tax cut. You are happy for this rise to go ahead and

0:38:030:38:07

all this? Happy is not a word I would use, but I can see, from an

0:38:070:38:13

economic point the... When Labour left office, we had to tax receipts

0:38:130:38:19

going like that... We have to bring it back. Was that a Budget for

0:38:190:38:23

business? A cut in corporation tax to 20 per cent, as signal that

0:38:230:38:30

words 20 per cent, Britain is open for business? That is a reasonable

0:38:310:38:34

measure. Kelvin Hopkins put his point on it, business will not do

0:38:350:38:39

well on this people can buy what they are making. The problem is

0:38:390:38:44

that people's money that they have an air pocket is going down, and

0:38:440:38:50

one measure will be particularly disastrous for the area that I come

0:38:500:38:58

from and that is their idea of bringing in -- bringing in regional

0:38:580:39:02

differences in public sector pay. This will not only be unfair on

0:39:020:39:06

nurses and teachers and police, having their pay cut, but it will

0:39:060:39:11

mean there is less money in the local economy for people to spend.

0:39:110:39:15

Andrea Leadsom, D believe it is a Budget for growth? People say that

0:39:150:39:21

there is nothing to stimulate demand. There is nothing to cut

0:39:210:39:29

business rates. By it is completely ludicrous. We have cut corporation

0:39:290:39:36

tax by 2%. One of the biggest companies in the world have

0:39:360:39:40

immediately responded by saying there will create 1,000 new jobs in

0:39:400:39:44

the world. Those were patent measures which were devised by

0:39:440:39:48

Labour and implemented by the Tories. This Budget is absolutely a

0:39:480:39:52

Budget for growth. What we have to do is recognise that it is the

0:39:520:39:56

private sector and it is proper jobs that create good public

0:39:560:40:01

services, it is not the other way round. This talk of how we have to

0:40:010:40:06

shelter higher-paid public sector workers against poorer paid private

0:40:060:40:11

sector workers is just nonsense. Be warmly get well for everyone if we

0:40:110:40:16

keep our economy growing. A now too disturbing reports on one

0:40:160:40:20

of her mental health trusts. Cambridge and Peterborough NHS

0:40:200:40:24

Health Trust have been heavily criticised after a number of

0:40:240:40:29

inspections. Allegations included concerns over the reporting of

0:40:290:40:35

deaths, lack of staff and failure to provide areas to keep staff say.

0:40:350:40:40

It appears to retain the corner, but why has it taken so long to

0:40:400:40:46

make the changes? We take our mental health for

0:40:460:40:50

granted. We also take it for granted that when her health is not

0:40:500:40:56

so good we will get the treatment that we need. I sa how patients

0:40:560:41:02

were treated. I was not happy with the way the nurses were responding.

0:41:020:41:07

They spend far too much time in office and they did not try to

0:41:070:41:10

establish friendly relationships with patients to help them with

0:41:100:41:16

their problems. As a result, the patients were left to help each

0:41:160:41:20

other and this is really difficult when you are talking about people

0:41:200:41:25

with really severe illnesses. Care Quality Commission assesses

0:41:250:41:30

hospitals run by the Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Health Trust.

0:41:300:41:40
0:41:400:41:41

Their report at beginning of 2011 confirmed her experiences. The

0:41:410:41:44

reports of 2011 and 2012 have scratched below the surface. They

0:41:440:41:47

have highlighted stories of demoralised staff ignoring

0:41:470:41:54

patients', patience and Secure Unit simply going missing, and the

0:41:540:41:59

bedrooms and bathrooms simply not being fit for purpose.

0:41:590:42:03

This centre in Peterborough also had serious failings. Between the

0:42:030:42:08

two hospitals, issues were highlighted including have

0:42:080:42:11

insufficient safety areas for patients who were likely to sell

0:42:110:42:18

palms and a lack of individual care plans for patients. -- likely to

0:42:180:42:25

self-harm. There are still problems which are the same things that her

0:42:250:42:29

happening time and time again. It is highly disappointing ended

0:42:290:42:33

cleaves everybody feeling disillusioned, not only myself, but

0:42:330:42:40

also the families. They claim that they should have and could have

0:42:400:42:44

done better. No one comes into mental health because they want to

0:42:440:42:48

do a bad job. We want to do the best for our patients but sometimes

0:42:480:42:53

that gets lost along away and I think we did lose their weight

0:42:530:42:59

temporarily. They are back on track now and I believe that we can do a

0:42:590:43:07

good job. Has it taken too long? some the us, yes. In environment

0:43:070:43:11

and clear -- and care planning we should have been able to resolve

0:43:110:43:18

those much quicker than we did. has just got brighter. This week,

0:43:180:43:24

the latest report shows a clean bill of health at one hospital, not

0:43:240:43:34
0:43:340:43:34

quite so at the other. They are still showing consistent concerns

0:43:340:43:39

about how a patient's right to dignity a upheld and maintained.

0:43:390:43:44

reflection, we could have gone back earlier. We did not, but we were

0:43:440:43:47

getting reassurance from the trust that the actions were being

0:43:470:43:51

delivered against. Both hospitals will now be kept on a tight rein

0:43:510:43:57

and can expect more regular tech -- regular checks. For some, the

0:43:570:44:03

damage is done. I had quite a lot more problems because it was so

0:44:030:44:07

stressful on the word. I felt very misunderstood. His is an

0:44:070:44:11

environment he would be happy for one of their family members to the

0:44:110:44:16

end? Yes, I wait. I think a lot more of our staff will be able to

0:44:160:44:21

say that now than they could have done three or four months ago.

0:44:210:44:31
0:44:310:44:35

Joining us, is the chief executive of Scene, -- Hussain, a charity

0:44:350:44:41

looking at this conditions of psychiatric patients. It is

0:44:410:44:46

extremely difficult to balance the individual rights of a patient with

0:44:460:44:49

compliance to standards and safety. When you hear of people absconding

0:44:490:44:57

from poor words, and when you talk about patient dignity and there are

0:44:570:45:02

still some things lacking in that then you get concerned. We have to

0:45:020:45:06

a plot that the trust has been quite honest. I have been

0:45:060:45:09

extraordinarily pleased with them saying this and that things have to

0:45:090:45:14

be improved. What about the role of the Care Quality Commission, have

0:45:140:45:20

befallen them on the job? They have had a very difficult task, they

0:45:200:45:24

took over from the Mental Health Act Commission and have tried hard.

0:45:240:45:28

The difficulty is that we ever the goal, like any inspection, they

0:45:280:45:33

just take snapshot of the place at the time and that does not

0:45:330:45:36

necessarily capture the more refined failures and shortcomings

0:45:370:45:43

to meet to patients's meets. Are you satisfied that there was this

0:45:430:45:47

12 month gap between the first damning report and the next? No, I

0:45:470:45:54

am not, but I think that Marjorie Wallace is right to say that the

0:45:540:45:58

Care Quality Commission have had a serious job to do. I am quite sure

0:45:580:46:02

that they will have learnt lessons from this. It is about limited

0:46:020:46:07

resources and being able to follow up on various different things.

0:46:070:46:11

Recently we have seen the problem of inadequate care for elderly in

0:46:110:46:18

our hospitals and the C T C had to be on top of that. -- Care Quality

0:46:180:46:24

Commission. But it has been held up to be inefficient. I am not making

0:46:240:46:29

excuses, but I can understand that that might have been the case and

0:46:290:46:36

there Commission might have learned from this. They report a you recall

0:46:360:46:39

refused to declare the trust compliant, but they were not

0:46:390:46:47

regarded as enforcement issues. fiercely that is not good, and I do

0:46:470:46:51

not know the details. But the Care Quality Commission are going round

0:46:510:46:59

the country and by Labour -- finding quite a lot of issues. It

0:46:590:47:04

is any area where people need a lot of care. Sometimes the staff and

0:47:050:47:08

those establishments are very stretched. My local hospital were

0:47:080:47:13

found wanting and then I discovered that they had 64 unfilled posts,

0:47:130:47:19

that was because they had to reduce their her public -- their Budget by

0:47:190:47:25

�20 million. What Should a patient affected by mental health expect

0:47:250:47:31

from care? They should expect the best, should they not? Of course,

0:47:310:47:34

but it is very hard for the nurses to balance these different demands

0:47:350:47:39

and they have been under resourced for her their different -- for a

0:47:390:47:44

very long time. Be area we are talking about here is not half as

0:47:440:47:48

bad in some ways as the reports we have found around the country, of

0:47:480:47:55

the awards are considered uninhabitable and unfit. We have

0:47:550:47:59

stories of patients with nothing to do, no structured activity and not

0:48:000:48:04

even able to quiet and have friends here in the gardens. It is a lot to

0:48:040:48:08

make up on and a lot of neglect over the years that we now have to

0:48:080:48:13

make up on. Andrea Leadsom, I can see you are nodding. Is this an

0:48:130:48:20

issue close to a heart? It really is. I had been involved with a

0:48:200:48:27

Parent Infant psychotherapist the talent -- charity. Mental health

0:48:280:48:31

can be a key determinant of the whole future all mental health of

0:48:310:48:35

the baby. A mother who cannot bond because she is postnatally

0:48:350:48:39

depressed or has a psychotic episode around the birth of her

0:48:390:48:45

child, her own maternal health has about impact on the long-term

0:48:450:48:49

mental health of the baby. We do not enough at the moment to address

0:48:490:48:53

those problems. If you do not address the problem early then it

0:48:530:48:57

becomes a problem for society later on trying to deal with the

0:48:570:49:02

consequences. And now for our poll likely -- No

0:49:020:49:12
0:49:120:49:13

If our weekly political wind up. It has been a busy week for the

0:49:130:49:23

Royal Family. 0, not that one, the Queen unveiled her diamond jubilee

0:49:230:49:29

window commissioned by one of RMT's. Her Majesty will be the first

0:49:290:49:32

sovereign to have her Royal Arms in that Lendl since the time of King

0:49:320:49:42
0:49:420:49:43

Henry VII. Her Majesty also tend fair to the title of Sir on the

0:49:430:49:50

voice of Colchester. The Duchess of Cambridge delighted credits in

0:49:510:49:57

Ipswich, but the prime minister but is there to Airth with plans to

0:49:570:50:05

finally up great the A 14. Are the only way is Essex.

0:50:060:50:15
0:50:160:50:17

So much for finishing on a high 0. -- a high note.

0:50:170:50:24

What about the future of the A 14 team at when we started building

0:50:240:50:30

motorways in this country we should have had stalls -- should have had

0:50:300:50:35

to tolls. The ball not take kindly to pain at all they use the road,

0:50:350:50:41

even if there is an extra lane provided. Why is the infrastructure

0:50:410:50:46

so bad in this country?? It is a small land mass and it is very

0:50:460:50:56

Heley and curvy. I certainly think it is so worth considering a of

0:50:560:51:00

road tolls for a certain capacity. It would be reasonable to say that

0:51:000:51:08

they extra lane, if that is pup funded privately, would be...

0:51:080:51:14

have a high-speed rail link in your constituency. A I have not, but

0:51:140:51:22

that is the plan. My view is that it does not make economic sense in

0:51:220:51:26

this country and it does not have good value for money. D accept

0:51:260:51:33

that? In the eastern region, some of the priority has to be our roads.

0:51:330:51:36

End our region, we could do with some more roads up there and I do

0:51:360:51:42

not think we should have all the money in the big schemes. There are

0:51:420:51:47

under resourced parts of the country in terms of transport.

0:51:470:51:52

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS