Browse content similar to 30/06/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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biggest road scheme finally gets the go-ahead in the spending review - | :01:13. | :01:23. | |
:01:23. | :01:23. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1922 seconds | :01:23. | :33:25. | |
but wouldn't it be better if we all here in the East. I'm Amelia | :33:25. | :33:30. | |
Reynolds. We're on the road this week as the region's biggest road | :33:30. | :33:35. | |
scheme gets the green light at last after decades of campaigning. But | :33:35. | :33:38. | |
we're told if more robust up to two wheels instead of four, we'd all | :33:38. | :33:47. | |
benefit. MPs are campaigning for investment in cycling. We're also | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
looking at the changes to welfare support, causing worries for people | :33:50. | :33:56. | |
who are struggling with disability and illness. I was once riding home | :33:56. | :33:59. | |
from here on my bike and a bus came a bit too close to me and the | :33:59. | :34:05. | |
thought went through my mind that even if I got hit by the bus, it | :34:05. | :34:11. | |
couldn't possibly hurt any more than I already hurt. We have a Liberal | :34:11. | :34:14. | |
Democrat MP for Cambridge, who is the co-chair of the Parliamentary | :34:14. | :34:19. | |
cycling group and a first appearance for Sharon Taylor, the Labour leader | :34:19. | :34:24. | |
of Stevenage Council and its prospective Parliamentary candidate. | :34:24. | :34:28. | |
Let's start with this week's big story, the government spending | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
review. Salvation is at hand for those who have to endure the | :34:32. | :34:40. | |
congested Arthur, 14. The government has guaranteed the �1.5 billion | :34:40. | :34:43. | |
route through Cambridgeshire. A new toll road will be built on the work | :34:43. | :34:49. | |
will start next year. I am among those in Cambridgeshire who've spent | :34:49. | :34:55. | |
the best part of two decades arguing for this project to go ahead and I | :34:55. | :34:58. | |
think it's important that it does go ahead and it shows we have the | :34:58. | :35:03. | |
financial backing of the government and can make it happen. The budget | :35:03. | :35:06. | |
for science remains ring fenced, while the capital budget is to | :35:06. | :35:11. | |
double to more than �1 billion a year. The government says Cambridge | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
and Norwich research Park will receive a large part of that money. | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
The big loser is local government. The central grant to councils will | :35:19. | :35:25. | |
be cut by 10%. Authorities will have to make up the shortfall through | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
other means. We're looking at car parking, business rates, council | :35:28. | :35:33. | |
tax. The money we have to make the shortfall up from his coming from | :35:33. | :35:40. | |
local people, who are being damaged by changes in welfare reform. | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
Sinclair has spent the week to adjusting all these big | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
announcements. He's in our Norwich studio. Council funding, science, | :35:47. | :35:54. | |
the A14 getting a lot of attention but what else stood out for you? | :35:54. | :35:58. | |
There were two announcements that stood out for me. The first is the | :35:58. | :36:03. | |
increased by 15% in the flood defences budget and the hint of a | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
new deal with the insurance industry. That will be of interest | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
to people where flooding has been a big worry. The other thing was the | :36:11. | :36:16. | |
national funding formula for pupils. At the moment, school funding has | :36:16. | :36:18. | |
been unevenly distributed and that has worried people in | :36:18. | :36:22. | |
Cambridgeshire. There was also more money for potholes and to encourage | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
offshore wind energy. There was more money for local enterprise | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
partnerships, although not as much as they had hoped for. I also | :36:31. | :36:33. | |
clocked that police commissioners will be getting less money and there | :36:33. | :36:39. | |
will also be less money for regional arts and sport. People are saying | :36:39. | :36:42. | |
the spending review as a springboard for the next election so what does | :36:42. | :36:52. | |
:36:52. | :36:56. | ||
it tell us about the amp a message here in the East. You sense that the | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
Chancellor was turning a corner. They say they have a very strong | :36:59. | :37:09. | |
:37:09. | :37:10. | ||
message. MPs in 2015 will be able to point to a completed A11 and the new | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
toll road about to start and say that they have invested in | :37:14. | :37:18. | |
infrastructure projects which they've had to wait years for. I | :37:18. | :37:21. | |
thought the Chancellor's argument about cutting spending to councils, | :37:21. | :37:27. | |
despite which public satisfaction with local authorities is at an | :37:27. | :37:32. | |
all-time high at is a strong argument that will come out in 2015. | :37:32. | :37:39. | |
Is that true? Are these the battle lines for the next election? We'll | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
have to see but there was good news in these tricky economic times. We | :37:44. | :37:47. | |
are still coping with the problems that started with the banking crisis | :37:47. | :37:51. | |
and the deficit and debt that was racked up them. But in many ways it | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
is very much the right thing to help jobs and growth in this area. In my | :37:56. | :37:59. | |
Cambridge constituency, we have unemployment substantially down | :37:59. | :38:04. | |
since the general election. I hope that will continue. I've been saying | :38:04. | :38:10. | |
for ages we need to sort out the worst bits of the a 14. Sharon | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
Taylor, infrastructure development, even if it is in three years, is a | :38:14. | :38:20. | |
vote winner, isn't it? It's a very long way off. We've seen some good | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
news and I'm delighted for friends who use the a 14, as I have many | :38:24. | :38:28. | |
times, that there is progress on that but if it is going to be a toll | :38:28. | :38:33. | |
road, there are big issues around that. We still haven't got the major | :38:33. | :38:40. | |
structure that we need which is the widening of the Aone. The East of | :38:40. | :38:44. | |
England has two contribute to the national economy and unless we get | :38:44. | :38:50. | |
the infrastructure investment, house prices in this region are so | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
expensive, particularly for young people, and we still need jobs for | :38:55. | :39:00. | |
our young people. One in four young people are still unemployed. I don't | :39:00. | :39:07. | |
recognise some of the good news story that we're hearing. Fairer | :39:07. | :39:09. | |
funding for education - that's particularly important in | :39:09. | :39:15. | |
Cambridgeshire. Yes and I used to campaign on this as a councillor in | :39:15. | :39:21. | |
Cambridgeshire. Cambridgeshire schools get the least per pupil of | :39:21. | :39:27. | |
anywhere in the entire country, �600 per pupil less than the English | :39:27. | :39:31. | |
average. -- English average. I was pleased the Chancellor confirmed | :39:31. | :39:37. | |
there will be a fairer formula and I will make sure they get the money as | :39:37. | :39:42. | |
soon as possible because I wanted to help our children really soon. | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
big losers here are local government. How are they going to | :39:45. | :39:51. | |
cope with that? We've done our best to make the savings that we've had | :39:51. | :39:56. | |
to do over the last two years but to carry on making those savings, you | :39:56. | :40:02. | |
can't get the same efficiencies out of the same pot more than once. Its | :40:02. | :40:06. | |
front-line services we're delivering. It's looking after | :40:06. | :40:10. | |
vulnerable young people. These are front-line services as well as | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
keeping the roads moving and keeping the streets safe and clean. We can't | :40:14. | :40:18. | |
carry on delivering the same savings out of the same pot. You talked | :40:18. | :40:24. | |
about keeping the roads moving and our roads are not only used by | :40:24. | :40:28. | |
motorists but by cyclists, too, and we're told we should all take up the | :40:28. | :40:32. | |
habit. It could ease congestion is healthier and better for the | :40:32. | :40:42. | |
:40:42. | :40:42. | ||
environment. It will be argued in Parliament soon that huge rewards | :40:42. | :40:52. | |
could be reaped. Our reporter got on her bike to find out more. David | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
cycle six miles to and from his work in Ipswich three days a week. He | :40:55. | :41:00. | |
does it keep fit and save money. days like today you can't beat it. I | :41:00. | :41:08. | |
would rather be on bike man in the car. What are the pros and cons? | :41:08. | :41:13. | |
Traffic is always a bit dangerous. Cars get too close, don't always see | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
you coming out of junctions. You've just got to be very, very careful. | :41:18. | :41:22. | |
The pros are that a lot of the time you can beat the traffic. There have | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
been occasions when I have definitely beaten cars home. | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
David's bosses also a keen cyclist and is encouraging all staff to get | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
on their bikes, even in their lunch breaks. We've created facilities for | :41:35. | :41:40. | |
them to do it, somewhere to keep their bikes securely and if they're | :41:40. | :41:43. | |
cycling some distance, shower facilities so they can wash and | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
change before they go to their desks in the morning. And we've provided | :41:47. | :41:50. | |
bicycles for other staff who can't cycle to work use a lunchtime if | :41:50. | :41:55. | |
they want to go to the shops. Although there's been a temper cent | :41:55. | :41:58. | |
increase in cycling to work, it still accounts for just 2% about | :41:58. | :42:07. | |
journeys. A local MP wants to see that increased to 10% by 2025. His | :42:07. | :42:09. | |
Cambridge constituency already has the highest number of cycle commutes | :42:09. | :42:14. | |
to work. The evidence is clear that the more people who cycle, the safer | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
it gets. One study showed that if you double the number of cyclists | :42:19. | :42:29. | |
the accident risk is reduced by over a third. Calls are growing for the | :42:29. | :42:32. | |
spending per person to be brought more in line with other European | :42:32. | :42:39. | |
cities. We're working with employers to try to develop green travel | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
plans. We've got the schools to try to develop green travel plans | :42:44. | :42:47. | |
eventually adding to our infrastructure network of cycle | :42:47. | :42:53. | |
ways, so all those things together are pushed towards getting people to | :42:53. | :43:02. | |
do perhaps just ten minutes on the bike every day. Do you cycle to | :43:02. | :43:12. | |
:43:12. | :43:18. | ||
work? Now and again. It depends on the weather. It's likely to be an | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
uphill battle persuading us to give up our four wheels for two. So do | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
you think the new A14 toll should have a bike lane? Should that be the | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
way forward? If you're going to build new roads, should you | :43:31. | :43:37. | |
incorporate the bike lanes? I don't think alongside the A14 is the best | :43:37. | :43:45. | |
place. Encouraging people to cycle by providing safe facilities does | :43:45. | :43:48. | |
also ease congestion for those people who are driving, so it's a | :43:48. | :43:54. | |
huge benefit. It also says it huge amount of money for public health | :43:54. | :43:59. | |
because people can fit it into their day more easily. There's been a | :43:59. | :44:07. | |
cross-party effort to support cycling. The money we've got from | :44:07. | :44:12. | |
government is very welcome. There are a number of changes to help | :44:12. | :44:16. | |
cyclists but also pedestrians, as well, because we want to have people | :44:16. | :44:22. | |
have active transport. Sharon, we talked about the pressure on local | :44:22. | :44:26. | |
government finances. Have you got money spare to help and support | :44:26. | :44:33. | |
cyclists? You're going to get an outbreak of cross-party agreement. | :44:33. | :44:39. | |
I'm lucky enough to have lived in Stevenage, where the first post-war | :44:39. | :44:42. | |
new town was built with a complete network of cycle ways all around the | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
town. That's a huge boost and I would love to see that kind of | :44:46. | :44:51. | |
facility available in as many places as it's possible to deliver it. It's | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
a great thing. It's environmentally friendly and keeps people fit and | :44:56. | :45:00. | |
the more people that do it, the safer it gets so it's great. It's | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
recreational, a good transport to work and I am all for the more | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
cycling the better and we should invest in it. We keep our cycleways | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
up to scratch and we make sure that we've got good cycle maps and good | :45:12. | :45:19. | |
routes for people to go out when they're using cycling for | :45:19. | :45:29. | |
:45:29. | :45:34. | ||
recreation. Well. This month has seen changes to | :45:34. | :45:37. | |
welfare benefits for people who, through illness or disability, need | :45:37. | :45:42. | |
help with everyday life. If you are over 16 and under 65 you will no | :45:42. | :45:46. | |
longer be able to claim Disability Living Allowance. Instead, you will | :45:46. | :45:49. | |
have to claim a personal independence payment or PIP. It's | :45:49. | :45:51. | |
estimated that half a million fewer disabled people will qualify for | :45:51. | :45:54. | |
that funding by 2018, as the government struggles to curb its | :45:54. | :45:57. | |
welfare bill. And that's worrying people like Nicola Gouldsmith, who | :45:57. | :46:00. | |
runs a haberdashery shop in Needham Market in Suffolk. I started the | :46:00. | :46:03. | |
haberdashery because when I was 38 - I'm 41 now - I became aware of the | :46:03. | :46:06. | |
fact that I was not very well. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. | :46:06. | :46:12. | |
It came on very suddenly. I woke up one day and fell over. The | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
progression of the disease has been quite aggressive so I've had to | :46:16. | :46:20. | |
change the way that I work. In the end I decided I would teach the | :46:20. | :46:27. | |
skills I have to people instead of trying to do it myself. At the | :46:27. | :46:32. | |
moment, I can so for about an hour. Then I can't so again for a week. | :46:32. | :46:38. | |
The people around me are very patient and help me quite a lot. | :46:38. | :46:44. | |
This time last year I was coming to work in my pyjamas and my mum was | :46:44. | :46:49. | |
helping me dress in the office. When I was first ill, I didn't really | :46:49. | :46:53. | |
know much about rheumatoid arthritis. I didn't know anything | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
about the disability living allowance. I printed out the form | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
and started filling in the form it took me about three months because | :47:02. | :47:08. | |
my hands were so bad and this is when I was getting about flare up by | :47:08. | :47:11. | |
prescription has changed about ten times in that time so when I was | :47:11. | :47:16. | |
filling in the drugs I was taking, it was difficult. I nearly gave up. | :47:16. | :47:23. | |
On the old DLA form, it asked how far you could walk without pain or | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
how many steps you could take. In the new form, as far as I can see | :47:27. | :47:32. | |
it's how far you can walk. Well, I can walk but I have to stop and if I | :47:32. | :47:38. | |
stop for any length of time, it takes me a long time to start again. | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
The way I read it is that if you approach your illness, sickness or | :47:42. | :47:46. | |
disability in a positive manner and accommodated into your life and | :47:46. | :47:50. | |
adapt what you do, you will be penalised because it won't be seen | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
as having an effect on you. I think the people that are assessing people | :47:57. | :48:02. | |
like me have no understanding about pain management, where destruction | :48:02. | :48:07. | |
and motivation are very much relied on rather than drugs. That was my | :48:07. | :48:14. | |
concern. I know of a few people who haven't applied because they think | :48:14. | :48:18. | |
they're going to get turned down and they can't put up with being turned | :48:18. | :48:24. | |
down. The Minister for disabled people, estimate of eight, wouldn't | :48:24. | :48:27. | |
give us an interview so I spoke to Doctor Stephen Davis from the | :48:27. | :48:32. | |
Institute of economic affairs. The institute has argued the case for | :48:32. | :48:35. | |
the urgent reform for disability benefits and questioned why the | :48:35. | :48:39. | |
numbers of people claiming them really need to. So what did he make | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
of Nicola's point that many people will just not apply because they'll | :48:42. | :48:48. | |
find it too depressing. If people feel they shouldn't apply for those | :48:48. | :48:52. | |
reasons, they're making quite a serious mistake because the point of | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
this new system that the government is trying to create is one to have | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
interviews or assessments to establish exactly how the disability | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
that you have affects you and therefore how much help you need. So | :49:05. | :49:12. | |
there is a very strong reason to apply, rather than to not apply. | :49:12. | :49:16. | |
isn't the key point here that the government is just trying to cut | :49:17. | :49:20. | |
costs and save money, rather than responding to the needs of disabled | :49:20. | :49:26. | |
people. Not at all. I actually suspect they're not going to save | :49:27. | :49:30. | |
much money. I think when it comes out ultimately, the budget is going | :49:30. | :49:36. | |
to be the same as it was under the DLA. I think they're going to end up | :49:36. | :49:38. | |
spending the same money so I don't think this is going to have a | :49:38. | :49:43. | |
money-saving. The government has said they need to cut the bill by 20 | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
percentage. That is what they say but I suspect the way this is going | :49:47. | :49:56. | |
to work out is that they are not going to say that much. Half a | :49:56. | :50:01. | |
million people will no longer receive funding. When you are living | :50:01. | :50:04. | |
in the 21st century in a civilised society, shouldn't people that need | :50:04. | :50:10. | |
support get it? Well, it's whether or not they still need it. The big | :50:11. | :50:14. | |
changes having regular assessments. What has been happening in many | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
cases is that people who did need assistance at one point, their | :50:19. | :50:22. | |
condition has improved or something has happened and changed their | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
circumstances and they no longer needed. But the of assessment has | :50:26. | :50:34. | |
changed and people like Nicola are concerned about that. Well, she's | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
concerned with the question of ability assistance. Mobility | :50:37. | :50:42. | |
assistance. There is still an element of that and it's based upon | :50:42. | :50:48. | |
whether you can move around and whether you can plan and organise | :50:48. | :50:53. | |
travel effectively. So if people still find that they aren't able to | :50:53. | :51:00. | |
show the assessor that they can't move easily, they will get | :51:00. | :51:08. | |
assistance. Are you reassured by that? Of everything this government | :51:08. | :51:12. | |
has done, I find this to be the most worrying and appalling. The amount | :51:12. | :51:18. | |
of concern and worry that people have been caused... And what I can't | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
understand is why we can't trust the commissions that look after these | :51:22. | :51:26. | |
people to do the work to say whether they are recovering from a | :51:26. | :51:31. | |
disability or not. Over and over again, they've been hit - by bedroom | :51:31. | :51:38. | |
tax, council tax support its use and now this change. The basic idea of | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
personal independence payments, I support. They should have the | :51:42. | :51:47. | |
ability to make decisions about what they need. But to take money out of | :51:47. | :51:51. | |
the funding pot and the impact of local government cuts in funding, | :51:51. | :51:56. | |
which have also impacted on the same group, is just not acceptable. I | :51:56. | :52:00. | |
don't think that's the sort of country that we want to see in the | :52:00. | :52:10. | |
:52:10. | :52:11. | ||
UK. I don't think saving money should be the point. Nicola's case | :52:11. | :52:16. | |
was very powerful. Sharon and I would agree that the principle of | :52:16. | :52:20. | |
personal independence payments is the way to go - to trust people who | :52:20. | :52:24. | |
are disabled to spend money, rather than tell them what we think. What | :52:24. | :52:27. | |
we have to avoid is the disaster we saw with work capability | :52:27. | :52:37. | |
:52:37. | :52:45. | ||
assessments. At us have a very bad reputation. -- AtoS. You do need to | :52:45. | :52:48. | |
save money but the number of disabled people aren't going to | :52:48. | :52:54. | |
suddenly dropped by 20 percentage. Yes, but the people who need support | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
will get it. It's not a limited budget. I'd save the money in all | :52:59. | :53:06. | |
sorts of other ways. There are other ways of doing things and I would | :53:06. | :53:15. | |
want to see the books balanced on the back of people who need help. | :53:15. | :53:18. | |
The welfare bill has got to come down and we've said we will look at | :53:18. | :53:23. | |
this very hard before we get to 2015 to have a look at what needs to be | :53:23. | :53:29. | |
done to bring that welfare bill down. I would call small council | :53:29. | :53:33. | |
homes so that we're not spending huge amounts of money on housing | :53:33. | :53:36. | |
benefit to pay twice the amount of rent in private housing that the | :53:36. | :53:42. | |
board have to pay elsewhere. So I would do that straightaway. Which is | :53:42. | :53:47. | |
why the statement had more money for affordable housing. It's time now | :53:47. | :53:52. | |
for a snapshot of this week's political news. We've talked about | :53:52. | :54:02. | |
:54:02. | :54:07. | ||
cars and bikes but what about plans Calls for the board of the East of | :54:07. | :54:13. | |
England Ambulance Trust to go were heard in Westminster this week. | :54:13. | :54:19. | |
is deeply alarming and, in my view, thoroughly disgraceful is that there | :54:19. | :54:21. | |
are five nonexecutive directors who have resided over the mismanagement | :54:21. | :54:30. | |
of this trust and they still sit on the board. Not any more they don't. | :54:30. | :54:38. | |
The Scouts have now been claimed. The case was being made for more | :54:38. | :54:48. | |
:54:48. | :54:48. | ||
funds at Kettering General Hospital. Nine MPs that an amendment against | :54:48. | :54:55. | |
HS2. And there were calls against a cut on expenditure on the military. | :54:55. | :55:02. | |
Will the Prime Minister gave an assurance that will be no further | :55:02. | :55:11. | |
cuts? And an MP deleted to eat after an unfortunate spelling error. Have | :55:11. | :55:16. | |
you ever do is is a tweet or may don't mistake like that? | :55:16. | :55:21. | |
-- deleted a tweet or made a mistake like that. Know but I sometimes get | :55:21. | :55:30. | |
my grandson pressing the buttons on my phone! Julian, you're an avid | :55:30. | :55:37. | |
tweeter. How important is it? important so people know what I'm up | :55:37. | :55:41. | |
to and why they can ask the questions and I have made errors, to | :55:41. | :55:46. | |
do with auto correct. The big thing is that if you delete it, people | :55:46. | :55:52. | |
wonder what you're trying to hide. So you have regretted pressing the | :55:52. | :56:02. | |
:56:02. | :56:03. |