Browse content similar to 13/05/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Sunday Politics South... Worries about bobbies on the beat and | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
finding a police officer in a station as opening hours are | :01:50. | :02:00. | |
:02:00. | :02:00. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2001 seconds | :02:00. | :35:22. | |
Welcome to Sunday Politics South. My name's Peter Henley. On today's | :35:22. | :35:25. | |
show We've heard often enough about how the public wants more bobbies | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
on the beat, but with forces being squeezed, we could struggle to find | :35:28. | :35:31. | |
them in the police station. More front desks are being closed, or | :35:31. | :35:40. | |
having their opening hours reduced. We can meet the politicians that | :35:40. | :35:45. | |
will be with us for the next 20 minutes. The Conservative MP for | :35:45. | :35:48. | |
Christchurch and the deputy Labour group leader on Southampton City | :35:48. | :35:54. | |
Council. Anything particular that he would have liked to have seen in | :35:54. | :35:58. | |
the Queen's Speech or that you didn't like? I think we had lots of | :35:58. | :36:03. | |
interesting things but I think the devil is in the detail and we need | :36:03. | :36:09. | |
to get into the details of the crime aspects. The national agency, | :36:09. | :36:15. | |
I am still doubtful it will achieve what is expected of it. I think it | :36:15. | :36:21. | |
could be an expensive exercise. But I need to do a bit more research. | :36:21. | :36:27. | |
Interesting that you thought there was a lot in it. What do you think? | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
I looked at an item with a private member's Bill on drinking and | :36:31. | :36:38. | |
driving. The drug test? Yes and I am keen for that to progress | :36:38. | :36:44. | |
quickly. There is a legal problem and as a lawyer he would be able to | :36:44. | :36:48. | |
answer that and the test is for impairment. It is not as simple as | :36:48. | :36:54. | |
testing for alcohol, is it? Do we not have a case for testing to see | :36:54. | :36:59. | |
if a driver is just impaired? driver has got illegal drugs in | :37:00. | :37:05. | |
their system, I think they should be guilty of an offence. Even if | :37:05. | :37:11. | |
they have been there a long time? Yes, because drugs are illegal. We | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
understand what interviews with young people that are driving with | :37:15. | :37:18. | |
cannabis in their system, at a high proportion of people have said that | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
if there was a driving offence with cannabis in their system, they | :37:22. | :37:27. | |
would not take it in the first place. I do not think it will be | :37:27. | :37:31. | |
contained in the Bill in that form but I hope we have a chance to look | :37:31. | :37:38. | |
at it in detail. 50 deaths a year in drinking and driving. A loyal's | :37:38. | :37:45. | |
charter, possibly? It is a big issue. If somebody gets killed like | :37:45. | :37:50. | |
that, somebody gets hit head on and a young student is killed, that is | :37:50. | :37:56. | |
a wasted life. Is it a right solution? Probably. But I am | :37:56. | :38:03. | |
concerned about delivery. I think people driving with drugs in their | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
system is probably a growing concern and something we are trying | :38:06. | :38:12. | |
to combat already. I take police I suppose away from their duty if | :38:12. | :38:17. | |
they have got to fill forms and detests. By at we have to do what | :38:17. | :38:27. | |
:38:27. | :38:31. | ||
the public want us to do. -- and Do One of the announcements that you | :38:31. | :38:34. | |
might have missed in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday was the | :38:34. | :38:36. | |
proposed Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill - not the snappiest title | :38:36. | :38:39. | |
perhaps, but the government is so keen on it that they published the | :38:40. | :38:42. | |
actual bill on Friday. According to them, it will beef up protection | :38:43. | :38:45. | |
for farmers and suppliers in their dealings with the big supermarkets. | :38:45. | :38:48. | |
Joining me now from our Westminster studio is Nick von Westenholz of | :38:48. | :38:58. | |
the NFU. Just lately, we have got a lot of supermarkets increasing | :38:58. | :39:02. | |
suppliers from small and local sources. In Hampshire, Devizes, the | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
Isle of Wight, they are looking after the supply chain and | :39:06. | :39:13. | |
investing. Why do they need these changes, barbers? I think -- | :39:13. | :39:19. | |
farmers? I think they have been promoting some of the good work | :39:19. | :39:25. | |
that they have been doing. This is some good work out there which | :39:25. | :39:31. | |
supermarkets are doing. But we have not got any doubt that some | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
producers and suppliers are suffering because of unfair | :39:35. | :39:41. | |
practices. This new Bill published on Friday is going to go closer to | :39:41. | :39:48. | |
resolving that. It is a Court of Appeal and you can represent | :39:48. | :39:51. | |
suppliers as a third party and they can go there and somebody can | :39:51. | :39:57. | |
decide if they are getting a fair price and deal? It will not really | :39:57. | :40:03. | |
be on price. That is outside the scope of its powers. They will look | :40:03. | :40:06. | |
at the code of practice for supermarkets which came in a couple | :40:06. | :40:13. | |
of years ago. We have not had any referee to enforce the rules. | :40:13. | :40:18. | |
it not revolve around the price and the money they are getting? | :40:18. | :40:23. | |
might impact on that. A lot of farmers have found themselves being | :40:23. | :40:31. | |
asked to contribute to promotions at supermarkets. That clearly | :40:31. | :40:37. | |
impact upon the price that they are getting. But the bulk of produce is | :40:37. | :40:43. | |
purchased from big multinationals like Unilever or. Why do we need | :40:43. | :40:49. | |
adjudication for them? We had a report in 2008 and that found it | :40:49. | :40:53. | |
had an effect on competition, where risk was passed down the supply | :40:53. | :40:59. | |
chain. Even if this adjudicator is consigned about the supermarket and | :40:59. | :41:05. | |
the supplier, when supermarkets are acting unfairly, that will get | :41:05. | :41:09. | |
unfairly passed down to the producers at the end. It is often | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
producers that bear the brunt of that practice. Do you think we have | :41:13. | :41:21. | |
got a chance that this will put up cost? Is this extra regulation? | :41:21. | :41:27. | |
must say, I am sceptical about whether it will do what it says. We | :41:27. | :41:32. | |
have got very competitive supermarket. We have got much lower | :41:32. | :41:38. | |
customer costs than a lot of other countries. And I am not sure it is | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
will address the big issues, like why are greengrocers not able to | :41:43. | :41:50. | |
operate on the high street? That is because of the burden of rates. Why | :41:50. | :41:55. | |
is the cost of getting food from the farm to the supermarket I? That | :41:55. | :42:03. | |
is because, largely of big diesel prices. We have got big issues and | :42:03. | :42:08. | |
I am not sure if this is worthy of the parliamentary time involved. I | :42:08. | :42:13. | |
think we have got more serious and underlying issues to be addressed. | :42:13. | :42:23. | |
I'll be fiddling at the edges? are we? Well, we do have bigger | :42:23. | :42:29. | |
problems. We have got a big problem with the way supermarkets Street | :42:29. | :42:34. | |
the producers. We have got cross- party support. -- treat the | :42:34. | :42:39. | |
producers. I think this will go through pretty quickly and we will | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
get it up and running by the end of this year, early next year it. | :42:44. | :42:49. | |
most dangerous bills are the ones with cross-party support. You have | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
to build connections with the countryside because they have | :42:53. | :43:00. | |
fallen out badly with your party. Yes, and we have to engage with | :43:00. | :43:03. | |
rural communities and areas in the country that are still suffering. | :43:03. | :43:08. | |
We recognise that. We are starting to engage on a much bigger scale | :43:08. | :43:15. | |
and in a better way but a lot to be done. Thank you for joining us from | :43:15. | :43:22. | |
Police officers from all over our region were at a march in | :43:22. | :43:25. | |
Westminster this week - not policing the marchers this time, | :43:25. | :43:27. | |
but actually protesting themselves against budget cuts and changes to | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
their pay and conditions. It is not just on the front line though that | :43:31. | :43:33. | |
the cuts are biting. As Tiffany Foster reports, police station | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
opening hours are being reduced or in some cases the stations are | :43:36. | :43:44. | |
being closed down entirely. This is the scene of Act -- this is the | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
scene of a crime at a village hall, where a gas cylinder used to be. It | :43:48. | :43:53. | |
was stolen and it deprived the class using recall the next day of | :43:53. | :44:00. | |
hot sausage rolls. Not the Great Train robbery. But who do we report | :44:00. | :44:05. | |
this crime to? The nearest station is miles away. That is where this | :44:05. | :44:12. | |
Secretary has been. In the old days, we had a local policeman in the | :44:12. | :44:16. | |
village. But we are now having to travel all this distance to report | :44:16. | :44:21. | |
the crime. I could have done it by telephone but I wanted to talk to | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
somebody. Front desk opening hours are being reduced in the Thames | :44:25. | :44:31. | |
are being reduced in the Thames Valley to save �600,000. In | :44:31. | :44:36. | |
Wokingham, this station will be open 14 hours every day from July. | :44:36. | :44:41. | |
But down the road, it will be open just four hours a day, five days a | :44:41. | :44:48. | |
week. In Hungerford, just four hours a day, three days a week. But | :44:48. | :44:52. | |
better than Hampshire, where 17 front desks have been closed | :44:52. | :45:00. | |
Long gone are the days when the bobby on the beat was the same | :45:00. | :45:05. | |
person behind the counter at the local station. Now, you are | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
expected to telephone or even use the internet or even social media | :45:10. | :45:15. | |
to report crime all learn about prevention. It is about matching | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
service and demand. We are talking about less than 20 by tasks per | :45:19. | :45:27. | |
week actually carried out. -- 25. We need to reduce the hours | :45:27. | :45:32. | |
according to when they are actually used. In Hungerford, that is why | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
fewer hours should not mean less street contact. But no front | :45:37. | :45:41. | |
counter would be going too far. would object to complete withdrawal. | :45:41. | :45:48. | |
We are a long way from Newbury and any other police force. I think we | :45:48. | :45:52. | |
need to have that positive contact with them, where people can go and | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
complain if necessary. If not through the council then directly | :45:56. | :46:03. | |
to the desk. This is about face-to- face contact with the police. | :46:03. | :46:06. | |
disagree that we do not have opportunities for interaction. We | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
have got plenty of opportunities. We have increased officers on | :46:11. | :46:14. | |
neighbourhood patrol and we have got opportunities for people to | :46:14. | :46:19. | |
meet the police in places where we operate, schools, town centres, | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
community events. Plenty of opportunity to do that. This is | :46:23. | :46:27. | |
about making savings in areas where the public are not using the | :46:27. | :46:32. | |
service. It is all very well picking up the telephone to report | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
crimes in areas where opening hours are restricted or in Hampshire, | :46:36. | :46:41. | |
some stations do not have a front counter, but that relies on people | :46:41. | :46:49. | |
knowing the number. 101, by the way. But nobody in Tadley appeared to | :46:49. | :46:55. | |
know that. A town the size of Tadley, with the number of people | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
we have got, lots more housing and more people going to the area and | :46:59. | :47:03. | |
big employers, and not having front line police and front desk but is | :47:03. | :47:10. | |
is dreadful in my opinion. As long as it is open, I just think it is a | :47:10. | :47:16. | |
deterrent. Anything that closes is just asking for a bit more trouble. | :47:16. | :47:21. | |
Finally, it appears local knowledge is key to confidence in the police. | :47:21. | :47:27. | |
Back at this village hall, this dog handler from Fleet is worried. | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
Coming back late at night, we have got a traffic jam because we have | :47:31. | :47:36. | |
got a load of cows on the road. We have got a Taliban that we can use | :47:36. | :47:42. | |
but I am not sure where it takes you did. -- telephone. I said it | :47:42. | :47:47. | |
was dangerous because the roads was not lit and I was asked, where was | :47:47. | :47:53. | |
the road that it happened in? He was obviously not local and | :47:53. | :47:58. | |
ultimately, he said he expected the patrol man knew where it was. | :47:58. | :48:03. | |
Pressure is on to reduce spending and cut in front desks is just one | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
measure. It is not popular but perhaps inevitable, with every | :48:07. | :48:12. | |
effort focused on the human touch, valued by everybody. It is all | :48:13. | :48:17. | |
about confidence, isn't it? About knowing that they have got somebody | :48:17. | :48:23. | |
they want to talk to? Very much said. But not just in Hampshire but | :48:23. | :48:27. | |
nationwide research has said that people are being told the public | :48:27. | :48:32. | |
want more officers on the beat. And to do that, whether it is for | :48:32. | :48:36. | |
reassurance, or whatever, we need to make sure that would be cuts | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
being forced upon us, we must deliver. We have been closing | :48:41. | :48:46. | |
buildings in Hampshire but we have been investing in people. With | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
Police Authority is, we are happy for the fund desks to be closed but | :48:50. | :48:57. | |
we should have more money? -- front desks. I think money should be | :48:57. | :49:03. | |
spent more wisely. That is the right decision? I think would be | :49:03. | :49:07. | |
consultation, yes. We have some open and we have not closed them | :49:07. | :49:14. | |
all. And in the Thames Valley, they are talking about keeping some | :49:14. | :49:21. | |
stations open for just a few hours, for 80 days per week. Are we being | :49:21. | :49:29. | |
squeezed too hard? -- a few days. think that these police and crime | :49:29. | :49:32. | |
Commissioner candidates will have to explain to the electorate what | :49:32. | :49:37. | |
the policies are going to be. We have got to have a lot of room for | :49:37. | :49:43. | |
common sense. In my constituency, the police station moved out to and | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
out of town location and that was replaced by having police officers | :49:47. | :49:52. | |
in the community centre at. I think we have got a lot more scope than | :49:52. | :49:58. | |
having a dedicated police station. Why can of this has not moved to | :49:58. | :50:03. | |
the local places? You might get better value for money. But with | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
elected commissioners, it will be an interaction between the public | :50:07. | :50:12. | |
and the commissioners to determine the pattern. I am amazed that he | :50:12. | :50:17. | |
both agree. Of course, you what about you for money. -- you both | :50:17. | :50:23. | |
agree. But is that squeeze actually going to lead to quite dire | :50:23. | :50:29. | |
consequences for the inquiry? not think so. I think we have got a | :50:29. | :50:34. | |
bit but scaremongering here. I did not think anybody does not believe | :50:34. | :50:39. | |
that we have not got savings to be made in policing. Is it just | :50:39. | :50:46. | |
scaremongering? I do not then it is. 60,000 fewer officers, they need to | :50:46. | :50:50. | |
be done, these jobs by other people in the country. By fulfilling the | :50:50. | :50:56. | |
jobs in other ways, that cannot be good for anybody. Of course we must | :50:56. | :50:59. | |
make savings and there are savings to be made if you look hard enough | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
and that is what we have done in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, | :51:03. | :51:06. | |
but this is putting pressure on people serving the community is | :51:07. | :51:15. | |
daily. Do you sympathise with that London march? Did I? Yes. You are | :51:15. | :51:19. | |
nothing when you say you should support the boys on the beat. | :51:19. | :51:27. | |
nodding. I think we should support the police. But it is about having | :51:27. | :51:34. | |
enough money. Any other public service is paid for by the | :51:34. | :51:39. | |
taxpayers and it is reasonable to expect that in times of constraint, | :51:39. | :51:43. | |
these police officers should not find it quite as easy as it was in | :51:43. | :51:47. | |
the past. Perhaps they have got a bigger pension contribution and a | :51:47. | :51:53. | |
lot about a public service his hat. It does not mean that we should not | :51:53. | :52:00. | |
have any scope for reduction and Now our regular round-up of the | :52:01. | :52:10. | |
:52:11. | :52:18. | ||
Big changes on the M4 motorway. The transport ministers said we should | :52:18. | :52:23. | |
be able to drive on the hard shoulder when it gets busy. We will | :52:23. | :52:31. | |
get a brand new line and we will be using the asset. The road got | :52:31. | :52:37. | |
clouded -- crowded this week. Police protesting against caps. | :52:37. | :52:40. | |
When I call the police I want to understand that somebody is | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
actually coming. And across the region, public sector workers on | :52:45. | :52:49. | |
the picket line, striking because of plans to reduce pensions will | :52:49. | :52:54. | |
stop a I will have to work longer and pay more --. I will have to | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
work longer and pay more money. cost of public sector pensions has | :52:59. | :53:04. | |
gone up by one-third. And the cost of aircraft carriers continues to | :53:04. | :53:09. | |
rise faster than the vertical take- off of aircraft that the Navy has | :53:09. | :53:19. | |
:53:19. | :53:20. | ||
A lot of protest this week. What do you think of the public mood at the | :53:20. | :53:25. | |
moment? I think morale is very depressed. If we talk to people | :53:25. | :53:30. | |
from a range of industries, they think that the pressure is biting. | :53:30. | :53:33. | |
I was disappointed I could not have been on the march yesterday because | :53:33. | :53:39. | |
I would have been supporting the Hampshire contingent. On the public | :53:39. | :53:45. | |
sector pensions, as the Government got to face that down? So it | :53:45. | :53:50. | |
appears. The cost of public sector pensions has been shooting up. That | :53:50. | :53:56. | |
is the cost falling on the taxpayer. And when times are hard, we have | :53:56. | :54:00. | |
got to make sure people make a bigger contribution. I think that | :54:00. | :54:04. | |
is where people are complaining because they have got to pay more | :54:04. | :54:08. | |
because they are living longer and pensions are therefore going to | :54:08. | :54:13. | |
cost more and it they do not contribute more, the taxpayer does. | :54:13. | :54:18. | |
His David Cameron the man to do it? I have always been a great | :54:18. | :54:23. | |
supporter of the man as Prime Minister, yes. And that continues? | :54:23. | :54:31. | |
Of course, gets it. I am not. know! What about the aircraft | :54:31. | :54:38. | |
carriers? You only have to watch some of the media interviews that | :54:38. | :54:44. | |
David Cameron has done. He does not know if he is coming or going. | :54:44. | :54:51. | |
word to you. When the facts change, then a sensible and prudent | :54:51. | :54:57. | |
government can change opinion and that is what has happened. That is | :54:57. | :55:00. |