11/11/2012 Sunday Politics South


11/11/2012

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In the south, the town centre redevelopment that is causing

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ructions in Dorchester. No replacement car-parking, but the

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2141 seconds

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Welcome to Sunday Politics South. My name's Peter Henley. On today's

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show: The Charles Street redevelopment in Dorchester was

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meant to regenerate the town with a luxury hotel and new council

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offices, but halfway through the council's had to step in with �2

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million to keep it on track. Let's meet the politicians with me for

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the next 220 minutes. Caroline, still the reverberations from Ford

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pulling out have Southampton. You met with the chairman this week.

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Have you got to the bottom of whether they should or shouldn't

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have received this government grant just before they made it all those

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people redundant? We haven't really got to the bottom of that and there

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are still a lot of questions being asked in the house on that point.

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From my perspective, the most important thing that I can do is

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work with Ford, with the local agencies, to make sure there is

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support not just for the direct employees but for the contract to

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us and those in the supply chain. And it to look to the future to see

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what will happen to the site. it must have been inevitable and

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office to this government ministers handing over at taxpayers' money to

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Ford, that when Labour Cosworth third as British cast in Turkey and

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they did not have enough capacity, that was where the jobs were going

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to go -- labour costs? There were no discussions prior to those

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awards of public money. From my perspective we can analyse what has

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gone on previously. It's important that we do that. But it is also

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important to make sure there is the maximum support available for those

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employees. And also for getting new jobs in to Southampton. And that

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new jobs, Tony Page, in Reading, the employment rate is pretty good,

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but those are jobs for the future rather than those Ford drops. In

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this downturn, may be starting to pick up, do think employment is

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more resilient in the Thames Valley area? It has been although there is

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a major skills gap in the Thames Valley. Reading is grateful that we

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have been given the chance to work with the government on the City

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Deal and we have been one of the 20 authorities offered the prospect.

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It is not confirmed yet but the focus, it is around the skills gap,

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because we have more vacancies, a cohort of people who don't have the

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skills. The jobs are there, they can't be filled and we have got to

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get people skilled to fill those vacancies. That would make a major

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hit locally and it also reduce benefit payments and would also

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give people that opportunity to break out of an unskilled white

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staff. Tying a lot of things together. -- and unskilled at

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lifestyles. On Remembrance Sunday we're obviously thinking more about

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servicemen and women, and especially those who've been

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disabled. I'm joined now by Peta Wilkinson, from the charity the

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Enham Trust, based at Enham Alamein in Hampshire. It's a village that's

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been associated with disabled service personnel since just after

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the First World War. A remarkable place, where you are. It is. It was

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after the First World War that disabled soldiers first were given

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this opportunity to earn money, wasn't it? Absolutely. We were the

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first world war help their heroes and provided opportunities for

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people to have a home and work when they were returning from the wall,

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injured and sick. And after the Second World War? Yes, a pivotal

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point in the Second World War and pivotal for our development.

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Pivotal for the Egyptian people who put a lot of money into the

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development. How did things move on and had good progress in terms of

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helping people with disabilities? From the Second World War, were

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provided a home, work, social integration, we then created a

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charity to provide key elements every aspect of disabled people's

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lives to the border committee. We provide homes, skills, education

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and work -- the disabled community. In the Independent such a gender,

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the last 10 years, it has really going to ground -- the

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Independents' agenda. Yes, the focus has to be on independence and

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transition and opening up choices. We have focused ball-retention are

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making sure we build appropriate homes for people -- focused all our

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attention. It is based on their own needs and aspirations. There is a

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threat that comes from some of the support from tax payers at the

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moment. Is that worrying people? is very worrying. If we look at the

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report recently produced under Baroness Thompson, we found that up

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to 450,000 people could be affected in a negative way. 100,000 children

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could be affected by up to �28 a week. 230,000 disabled adult

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thriller cut themselves could be effected between 28 and �58 a week

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and 116,000 disabled people in work, because their disability component

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is moving into the new system and it could be 55 up to �45 a week.

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-- 75 % of people get their allowance pro-life time. Perhaps

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they are more independent of modern technology and we could spend it

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when people need it more? We are focusing clearly on certain groups

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of people. We think for a government needs to protect the

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most vulnerable people in society - - we think the government needs to.

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Caroline, a lot of worry. You think it will become clear when the

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assessments start being made that this is going to the most

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vulnerable? That is certainly the intention. I'm very conscious from

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my own postbag as a Member of Parliament that people are worried.

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They're not sure what is going to happen yet. The government is going

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to make significant changes. The delay has not been reviewed accents

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1992 -- big deal out a. It is time we look at it very carefully. --

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the DLA. And a lot of these things are being farmed out to agencies,

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aren't they? Yes, and a lot is being offloaded on to local

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authorities. A range of benefits is being attributed to us and

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protecting the most vulnerable is going to be a challenge. With

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pension is being protected, it means the cut falls more heavily on

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the remaining -- pensioners. We are having to consult to allocate less

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money, effectively. The fear is, and Patrick Jenkins warned in the

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House of Lords only a few weeks ago that this was potentially a new

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poll tax. Local-authority is having to pursue people for perhaps as

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little as �2.50 or �3 a week, often consuming more resources in

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pursuing people than the total debt. There will only have to be a couple

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of examples of people who were of the disadvantaged, and terribly

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unfairly, but among the newspapers and they will be, this is a crazy

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system. The welfare bill has increased enormously. The

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government has asked to look at that. The last thing I want is that

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they are vulnerable to be disadvantaged. If you've been

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through Dorchester recently you'll know that there's some building

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going on. Quite a lot of building, actually. It's all part of a �10

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million scheme to regenerate the town centre. Rather unusual in the

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current economic climate, but as Tristan Pascoe reports, it's the

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economic climate that's made it all rather controversial. There has

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been secrecy. There has not been transparency. It was never brought

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to the executive committee, never to the council meeting. Assurances

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it had been given are not worth the paper they were written on.

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just under �10 million, Dorchester was promised a revitalised town

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centre, new council offices and a county library. But halfway through

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cover the developers said the plans were unviable, so out goes the new

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hotel and crucially hundreds of underground car-parking spaces. The

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council has had to stump up another 2 million quid to keep on track.

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unfortunately, the council decided to place its new offices and the

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car park with 200 and we to six spaces, which is the equivalent of

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600,001 our parking opportunities per year. They have now gone.

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of our most established department stores is this one. Last month, the

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chief executive of this family run business wrote to the council

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warning that it is inconceivable that the new scheme would be viable,

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given the significant reduction in adjacent car parking spaces.

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Something the leader of the council reject. At the moment, our servers

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show there are a ticket -- our surveys show there is adequate car-

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parking space. These motorists disagree. I have spent 10 or 15

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minutes going round and round. It is very bad. Absolutely terrible.

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Especially when stays, everybody parks on double yellow lines. --

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especially under Wednesday's. is a hugely controversial scheme.

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93 % of our opposed to the council relocating to their new offices

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hair, and local traders say they are already feeling the effects of

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losing hundreds of town-centre car parking spaces. The impact was

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immediate for us. In the first 12 months of this development, we lost

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over 7,000 customers and �31,000 in trade. We rely on passing trade.

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Others say the council have bodged the scheme. They said, we will put

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our offices here and then we'll get the rest of the development. They

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have now said they will spend another �2 million, but still

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without a guarantee that we get the development. They're trying to work

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in an area in which they do not have the expertise, clearly the

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market forces aren't appropriate at this time. It is not a viable

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scheme. Leave it until things change. And some councillors say

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they were not given all the facts before they were asked to approve

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the revised scheme. At this stage, we now know that a viability

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assessment had been published the day before the council meeting and

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it was not presented to the council for consideration. That is where

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this whole process has been riddled with undone -- undemocratic

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decision-making. An auditor's report said the council and needed

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to be more transparent and open. Did you'd helical cap -- local

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taxpayers through your community link magazine that the second car

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park would be closed for 160 weeks during construction? I think it was

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absolutely clear. We have always said we were going to put in place

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measures to counteract the fact that those parking spaces were not

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available during the construction period. There has never been any

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lack of clarity and that. council says project will beat sub

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Dec two public scrutiny -- will be subject to public scrutiny. Where

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are the other me going to park? They will have no were. The outlook

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for these businesses is not very good. It is the transport issues as

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ever. Not enough car-parking spaces. Ready -- Reading is slightly

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different because there was a lot more transport than a rural area,

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but people still really care. And people seem to be care if

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politicians are spending money on their own office bays. Invading you

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have had a similar issue. -- their own office space. Yes, it buildings

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don't last very long. We have taken the decision to relocate to

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existing empty offices nearby, but we did have a scheme given planning

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permission about five years ago for a new office block. We decided

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after the recession that a politically, it was not viable to

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go ahead with the scheme. On paper, one could argue that it was better

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value for money, but politically it was simply not possible. We are

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relocating to an existing office block which isn't much better nick

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and what actually be accessible to members of the public -- which is

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in much better nick. But is the issue that it is the cancer was

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working and -- in an area where they haven't got expertise,

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property development, and those -- and they should stick to what they

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no? It strikes me that it might have been done that in a bit too

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close to a fashion in Dorchester. We had independent validation and

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experts assisting last. We used the services of Hampshire County

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Council, who have a very expert... Who have come under criticism, but

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they have a very skilled resource that we have drawn on to good

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effect. Do you think that the houses of parliament will ever get

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redeveloped? Not redeveloped, but there's an enormous amount of work

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to be done to them to make them safe, watertight, get rid of

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asbestos, and get rid of the Maes! -- but rodents. Not much longer now

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to make up your minds about who to vote for in the Police and Crime

:53:59.:54:02.

Commissioner elections on Thursday. Over the past few weeks we've heard

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from the candidates in Dorset and the Thames Valley. Today Alex

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Forsyth has a round-up of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight

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candidates. Hampshire on the edge of the Solent, home to Winchester

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Cathedral and of course the Hampshire hog. Here, police have

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faced budget costs. -- cuts. The force has balanced the books by

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posing police -- closing police stations. Using technology to save

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time. This chief constable has been at the head for four years, but he

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is leaving to head up the new National College of policing. The

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new PCC will choose the next top cop, and all six candidates are

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keen to get started. My natural interest in this job came out of

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the fact that my father with a policeman in Hampshire for 30 years.

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My brother is currently in a policeman, so I have got a natural

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interest in that aspect. That gave me the interest. I have also got

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the skills to actually do it. come from a background of business,

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and in these times of austerity, policing is very much going to be

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dictated by the Budget. I'm used to looking at balance sheets and

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making these decisions. Those skills will be very useful. In this

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election, I'm the only candidate who has ever walked the beat,

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warned a police uniform and carried the police warrant card. Turnout

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was not a problem at this recent hustings in Winchester. In fact,

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people were turned away. With the perfect chance for candidates to

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convince voters of their credentials. I have been

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responsible for a police force before. After that the fact that I

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have kicked around for a long time so we know my way around government

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-- so I know my way. Her will have all the right connections to be

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able to come to the right decisions. I believe I'm the only person with

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on-the-job experience, having been on the police authority for 16

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years. I have real on-the-job experience. I have no agenda have

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passion about policing. As well as candidates from four political

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parties can the two independents are in the race. A I have practical

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experience. I have got contacts from my old days. Angrily be

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motivated to do should the job. I'm Hampshire -- I'm very much

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motivated to do the job. I believe that party politics shouldn't enter

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into the remit. I believe I have got sufficient experience to

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undertake the role. I'm currently chairman of the Crimestoppers

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charity for Hampshire and Omagh past chairman of Hampshire Police

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opera to -- and I am a past chairman. Come November 15th, it

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will be up to you. Don't forget, if you'd like to see

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details on any of the candidates in the election, there's a special BBC

:57:25.:57:35.

website. There's the address on screen now. There will be a regular

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look at all of the candidates throughout the rest of the next

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week. Now our regular round-up of the political week in the South in

:57:44.:57:54.
:57:54.:57:56.

The Co-op at cowls was the appropriate place for the launch of

:57:56.:58:02.

Isle of Wight milk. Farmers hope processing on the island will

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produce a better price. Dorset campaigners celebrated the decision

:58:07.:58:12.

to reject four industrial wind turbines Nick Gillingham.

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And Sussex MP and former minister and the cabinet warned people not

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to return to bad planning. Biting council is complaining it

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has been stitched up over finances. -- Brighton council.

:58:35.:58:38.

Bournemouth council finally yielded to local pressure, starting

:58:38.:58:45.

demolition of the hated IMAX building on the seafront. But the

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surf reef is again in troubled waters, as the builders have gone

:58:49.:58:59.

bust. On the wind turbine story,

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Hampshire County Council is proposing to ban wind farms, not

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single turbines from its buildings. It is a bit of a theme about his

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best placed to take these decisions. Many of them spent on IMAX and the

:59:14.:59:21.

surf reef, and the public hated certainly IMAX. It is very

:59:22.:59:25.

difficult for a politician to have all the expertise they need. It is

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better to have on some of these decisions out? I think local

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accountability is what really matters. If local authorities have

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good offices and councillors are well-advised, then of course they

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are the best people to take this. But they are not the experts all

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the time. They can take advice from all sorts of people. Transparency,

:59:47.:59:54.

Tony Page? Yes, I agree entirely with Caroline. If you want experts,

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you don't necessarily have democracy. You can go to some

:59:58.:00:01.

countries in Europe where experts have been appointed to run the

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government and they don't necessarily make better decisions.

:00:05.:00:09.

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