05/02/2012 Sunday Politics Wales


05/02/2012

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Later in the programme: Det Tomorrow is deadline day for the

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peacocks. What other hopes for its future and that of the Welsh

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1755 seconds

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Hello, I AM Aled ap Dafydd and on the Sunday Politics and Wales we

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will discuss the future for Peacocks as the deadline runs to

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make a bid for the troubled retailer.

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Do private developers get away Wishaw changing our local a 30s? We

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will have a special report. Sitting comfortably, ready to react

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other Conservative MP Alun Cairns and the Liberal Democrat Assembly

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Member Eluned Parrott. You sign this letter, do you

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realise this is a valuable industry in Wales? My scepticism about when

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the industry has been on the record for a long time. I think it is

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inefficient, expensive and drive some peoples energy bills. That is

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what we should focus on. Some subsidies like those for wind

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turbines should be cut because we are in hard Financial Times, would

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you cut it? I wouldn't at the moment. We need to reach around the

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UK that we have a good energy mix and that means stable, secure

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supplies. We need different means of generating electricity to

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achieve that. So to pull the rug out a -- of one particular energy

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has run at the moment. There is more discussion to come. But what

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next for a Peacocks? And will political intervention kick-start

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the Welsh economy? Tomorrow is the deadline for anyone

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interested in making a bid for the retailer which is currently in the

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hands and the administrator. Our business correspondent, Nick

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Servini, has a looking at the story that has taken Peacocks from the

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high street to the headlines and a very challenging economic climate.

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Shop staff leave the company to like not knowing if they have a job

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tomorrow. It is one of our biggest companies.

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Now talks have broken down with its lenders. We found out in the

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morning who has got their jobs. is sad. We come back tomorrow and

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then we leave the company. final deadline for bids for

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Peacocks is on Monday and it will not just affect the 250 people that

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work at the Cardiff headquarters, but those who work in the retail

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outlets in just about every major high street in the UK. This was

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Britain's largest UK -- retail collapse. This was because some I

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Water Lane levels of debt. -- eye watering. If there is any comfort

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for the staff who work for this company, it is that the trading

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performance of the store or and this firm was never the problem. It

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was always the debt. As a result, you would have thought there is a

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chance this company can be bought as a growing concern and as much of

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it can remain intact as possible. But at the same time it is a tough

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trading environment out there and it is a brutal world for any

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company in administration. Two weeks ago the administrators told

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us that this company needed to be slimmed down. The next morning 250

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people, that is have the staff to work at their headquarters, were

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made redundant. Just over a week ago we were told that someone --

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companies were interested. We now understand that that figure has

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been whittled down to six serious runners and riders. Probably the

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best case scenario for the staff here is that if Peacocks retains

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itself as a single entity in Cardiff, a distribution network in

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South Wales. If this business is snapped up by another major

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retailer, it already has an existing headquarters elsewhere in

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the UK, if that happens, the jobs here are likely to be more fun

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rubble. -- vulnerable. There is never a good time to have

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a corporate failure like here. You have to say at the moment it is

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particularly tough, with the UK economy hovering close to recession.

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Unemployment in Wales stands at 180,000, nine - my nearly 9% of the

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working population. And how to boost the economy is occupying the

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minds of not just people in the private sector, but in Government

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as well. Behind me is where we're going to have one of the new

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enterprise zones and Wales. This one for our financial services and

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the centre of Cardiff. It is one of a number being set up across the

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country. All in an attempt to maintain growth in the economy.

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Meanwhile for the staff at Peacocks, more pressing matters of the next

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few days. They will find out if they will have a job or not.

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That was Nick Servini. We will look at the wider economy at the moment.

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We know that there are roughly half a dozen interested parties going to

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make a bid for our Peacocks. Are you encouraged by the amount of

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people showing an interest? Absolutely. I think the staff will

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take some comfort for that. If they are six viable bids coming through.

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What we need to hope is that those bids are ones to take their company

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Hall as -- forward as a whole and retain as many jobs as possible. As

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administrators are appointed to get the best possible deal for the

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creditors, not for their economy as a whole or the staff who work for

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the organisation in question. thing is to have a quantity of beds

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and then the quality of beds. We have seen in terms of another party

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of their Peacocks Group, the new owners have decided not to take on

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around and 60 stores and there is talk about a third of their work

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load -- workforce losing their jobs. Peacocks is a different structure

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and the stores are making money. I think we need to expect that the

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stores will be OK. There might be some changes in other areas. By

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enlarge the stores are OK. The prize has to be the headquarters

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based in Cardiff. I think things like private equity investment

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might be better than in competitor buying out the stores, because all

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the competitor will do is shift the head office functions to wherever

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they currently operate from. Rather than maintaining the Peacocks as a

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separate brand, Peacocks's headquarters. In their report, we

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heard there was never a good time for such a collapse to happen. With

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unemployment out nearly 9%, do you anticipate things will get worse

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before they get better? I think it is very difficult to say. We are

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starting to see the first green shoots. The World Trade

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Organisation have given the UK economy as a whole a picture of

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growth for the next year. And stronger growth will be seen in

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other places in Europe. I AM hopeful that we'll start to see a

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corner being turned. I AM concerned that the Welsh Government has a

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strong role to play. The structure of the and employment market is

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such that I worry their young people are not able to get onto the

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career ladder and the first places. You talk about youth unemployment,

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there around one million young people currently unemployment. The

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collision Government chose to axe the future growth fund. Was that

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regrettable? Not at all. The current programmes have shown that

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even people now have been long-term unemployed, 20 presenter finding

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work. You talk about a new programme. That was introduced in

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2011. They are now 133,000 young people unemployed. That seems to

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suggest the new programme has failed. Not at all. The news that

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was presented this week showed how successful the new programme is.

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The economic criteria in context has changed. In general, Wales went

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into greater decline when the economy in the UK was not growing.

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The economy in the UK is in difficulty, but there are some

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signs of green shoots that we are seeing. But what I AM more worried

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about her is the economy in Wales, partly because of the education

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standards and Wales are poorer than the rest of the UK and because of

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the inward investment performance. I AM worried about their planning

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rules that a very different. Welsh Government is creating

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enterprise zones. They are creating these nine months after they have

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been running in England. They will be up and running in April. Many

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people are suggesting that these will be the cure to the ills of the

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economy. Is that the reality? single pill is going to be the cure

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for the disease which is the structural problems in the Welsh

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economy. These include education and training. They also include

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infrastructure, for example the lack of access to broadband that

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many of our towns across Wales have. But in central Cardiff there are

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areas where you cannot access broadband. That is shocking. There

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are real structural problems. Enterprise zones are a really

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fantastic opportunity if they you - - if they are used well. There has

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to be a good level of parish are working between the local

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authorities to have been successful forbidding -- bidding for

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enterprise zones. We have to in that discussion there.

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On to more matters, more than have Welsh local authorities are road

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money by private developers who haven't had the side on planning

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deals. -- haven't kept their side of the bargain on planning deals.

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Merely to play �3 million have gone to councils or the past seven years

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education, affordable housing and maintaining public spaces. But some

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authorities have told Sunday Politics they don't even have

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systems in place to keep track of the payments due to them.

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There will be a new development year. There will be new libraries

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and new schools partly funded by the developer in what is known as

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the sex and one of sex planning agreement. -- planning section one

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or sex. - one of six. More than half of Welsh councils are waiting

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for the money owed to them. When we first spoke to these people and

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Bridgend, the developers of the new houses they're all at the local

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authority more than �80,000 for education and play facilities.

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think you should be made available as soon as -- possible. If they say

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the money is available, it should be handed over Auric competition

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should be set up to decide what the priorities are. And not put it off

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from one month to the next and it could be disappearing and no one

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knows what has gone too. We are chasing up the money. I know that

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there are other a 30s not doing that. There are a lot of money of

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the up -- on to a 30s. At a time when there are kickbacks taking

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place, thousands of pounds going to the coffers and it would make him

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what a difference to them. Since Sunday Politics investigated, the

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money due from the developer has been played into Bridgend council's

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bank account. But there are plenty of Welsh councils still waiting for

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the cash they are owed under similar arrangements. At least

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three of authorities do not appear to be keeping track of what they

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are owed. Anglesea said they could not answer our questions which we

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answered under the fee minimum information act. The Vale of

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Glamorgan said it is undertaking a full review to see a fun thing is

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under -- anything is outstanding. It was recruiting someone to

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improve things. The Welsh Local Government Association says the

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councils are trying to be flexible and realistic with developers

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during in incredibly difficult period. The associate and says a

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number of agreements are subject to resume causation, but councils

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remain robust in collecting money they are owed. It can have an

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effect on council services, increased traffic on roads. If they

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are not collecting the money then those extra up things have to be

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catered from from the central budget. The golden pot is long gone.

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In two years time these at hoc deals between councils and

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developers will be replaced by any levy system. It aims to provide

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facilities for committees and a clear and consistent way. A very

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low levy will be regarded as very desirable by developers and that

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kind of response might appeal to a particular group of politicians. At

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the other extreme are very, very high levy designed to raise

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considerable sums of money for major infrastructure would perhaps

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be more favourably regarded by other groups and politicians.

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council budgets being squeezed, it is more important than other that

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deals with developers worth millions of pounds are honoured.

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That was poll Heaney reporting. It comes to something but it takes a

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BBC investigation to have a council paid back the money it is odd.

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is a subject close to my heart because I love and are now

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development where there has been some controversy about the payments

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between the develop -- developer and the Council who have not been

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able to provide you with details of how much money is outstanding. That

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is a real worry. Yes, some councils a said they are all some money. But

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to be told we cannot tell you how much is owed his to shopping.

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will strike a lot of people as being odd is that this is free

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money for councils. We are talking about a time when councils up and

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down the country are complaining that services will have to be cut

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and they are not being funded adequately. Yet again they do not

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have processes that in place to monitor the money which is owed to

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them. It is of is that some developers are running rings around

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some councils. Because of the size of some councils they know their

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capacity to challenge them and to hold the developers to the letter

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of the agreement. They are not strong without some court action.

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Some tactics let developers are views it is that they go quietly

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out of business as the project comes to an end, so it is difficult

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to go chasing them and that is what part of the problem is with

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collecting money. Should there be a tougher sanctions on the? That is a

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merit and looking at that. There needs to be clear transparency in

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terms of what money is being paid, or where it is being paid. It is

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far every project. If you love and a development and you have allowed

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are supported the extension of a development because it would

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provide a community centre or because it would provide play for

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assault is, then it is only right that people in that committee can

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see how much money has been paid into the local council and where

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that has been followed through and track. One thing that was mentioned

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and the report with the changes to the planning system which will be

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introduced the 2014, will that simplified things? I hope that it

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will. But the devil will be in the detail. On the face of it they are

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very clear. The amount of money is set aside any agreement and the

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payment schedule is set aside in the agreement. The question now is

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how is that followed through? I AM hopeful that the new levy will take

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care of it but I AM not convinced. We will keep a close eye.

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It is our round-up of the goings-on in the Assembly and Westminster.

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Here is the Regan 60 seconds. -- here is the week in 60 seconds.

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The chair of the Assembly's Public Accounts Committee was up saying he

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was astonished that the bother of a critical report had not been

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contacted. The Welsh Government is investigating allegations of

:48:31.:48:37.

financial irregularities. The Liberal Democrats warned councils

:48:37.:48:41.

could seek to blame school governors far falling standards.

:48:41.:48:46.

Aled Roberts was worried councils could copy others who have applied

:48:46.:48:50.

to suspend school governors. Chris Evans asked employers to be more

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flexible with workers to live with the chronic condition inflammatory

:48:54.:49:01.

bowel disease. He expressed concern over North Wales police decision to

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reorganise rapid-response groups. The Welsh Conservatives should have

:49:07.:49:12.

a leader in Wales, that is the view from the Assembly group leader

:49:12.:49:19.

Andrew Davis. He added that the person do not have to be an AGM. --

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Assembly Member. Word from Westminster Alun Cairns

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is that Alan Davies's docks were not welcome. There is a leader in

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Wales and that is the Prime Minister. The Secretary of State

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and the leader of the Assembly group work together so that

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provides leadership at a Welsh level. I do not see what the

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issuers. You don't agree with it? do not see what the agree - might

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need is for it at the moment. I see the leader in Wales as the Prime

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Minister. You have lost a Cabinet Minister in Westminster this week.

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That is the second to bite the dust since the coalition was formed. Is

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this beginning to be a problem for the Lib Dems? Not at all. Chris

:50:06.:50:11.

Huhne has done the right thing in standing aside. Obviously we cannot

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comment on that. A quick prediction on the rugby this afternoon? Wales

:50:20.:50:30.
:50:30.:50:30.

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