Browse content similar to 21/10/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Later in the programme.you're being asked to vote for police | :01:36. | :01:38. | |
commissioners, they'll set police force priorities and control | :01:38. | :01:48. | |
:01:48. | :01:48. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2285 seconds | :01:48. | :39:53. | |
policing budgets, we'll hear from Hello and on the Sunday Politics | :39:53. | :39:56. | |
Wales we're keeping with Police Commissioners and I'm joined in | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
studio by four people one of whom will become the Police and Crime | :39:59. | :40:04. | |
Commissioner for Gwent next month. We'll hear from them in a minute. | :40:05. | :40:07. | |
As you've already heard, Police and Crime Commissioners will be | :40:07. | :40:09. | |
responsible for appointing chief constables, setting out local | :40:09. | :40:11. | |
policing priorities, reporting annually on progress and setting | :40:11. | :40:16. | |
out budgets. The UK government says commissioners are not there to run | :40:16. | :40:20. | |
local police forces but to hold them to account. We'll be reporting | :40:20. | :40:23. | |
on the elections in all four Welsh police forces in the run up to | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
voting on November the 15th, we're starting today with a discussion | :40:26. | :40:29. | |
between the four Gwent candidates and here they are good morning to | :40:29. | :40:32. | |
you -- before we begin, each candidate has 30 seconds to | :40:32. | :40:39. | |
introduce themselves and set out their pitch. In the interests of | :40:40. | :40:47. | |
fairness, we drew lots before we came on air. The first out of the | :40:47. | :40:52. | |
hat was Chris Wright. You're 32nd starts now. I am independent | :40:52. | :40:59. | |
candidate. I was raised in Caerphilly. I'm standing as | :40:59. | :41:03. | |
independent candidate because I have experience of policing and | :41:03. | :41:07. | |
communities between London and Gwent. It means I am the candidate | :41:07. | :41:14. | |
with will relevant experience. I want to give people the opportunity | :41:15. | :41:18. | |
to vote for a non-political candidate, and to keep control of | :41:18. | :41:26. | |
their local police. My name is Nick Webb, iron the Conservative | :41:26. | :41:31. | |
candidate. I put myself forward for this job because I think it is a | :41:31. | :41:35. | |
fantastic opportunity to connect local grassroots communities with | :41:35. | :41:44. | |
the decision-making end of the police force. IM Hamish Sanderson, | :41:44. | :41:50. | |
I have been a practising lawyer for more than 35 years, living in | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
Monmouthshire for 25 years. As the Labour candidate, I am campaigning | :41:54. | :42:02. | |
against Tory cuts taking bobbies of the beats. -- off the beat. I'm not | :42:02. | :42:05. | |
a former policeman, I am independent of the police, and I | :42:05. | :42:10. | |
intend to hold them to account. If I am elected, my priority will be | :42:10. | :42:15. | |
to protect our public services, of which I believed the police are one | :42:15. | :42:25. | |
:42:25. | :42:26. | ||
of the most important. IM Ian Johnston, I'm an independent | :42:26. | :42:36. | |
:42:36. | :42:36. | ||
candidate. -- I am. I was in the police, retiring after 35 years. I | :42:36. | :42:40. | |
think I have the skills and experience to carry out this job, | :42:40. | :42:44. | |
and I am passionate about policing in Gwent, that is why I'm standing | :42:44. | :42:52. | |
as independents. -- as an independent candidate. That is the | :42:52. | :42:58. | |
candidates, what about the voters? We went to see if election fever | :42:58. | :43:03. | |
have caught on. Does the date, November 15th, mean | :43:03. | :43:09. | |
anything to you? The not really. And though. Not really. Yes, it is | :43:09. | :43:18. | |
Guy Fawkes night. The crime council, sorting out to the budget goes to? | :43:18. | :43:24. | |
You know of any elections coming up? Nose. Non really. I had a | :43:24. | :43:30. | |
letter through about the election. One election is it? And no idea. | :43:30. | :43:36. | |
it is the adverts on the television about community policing. They | :43:36. | :43:41. | |
tease to do with the police governing. Police and Crime | :43:41. | :43:46. | |
Commissioner is, does that mean anything? No. The chances are you | :43:46. | :43:56. | |
:43:56. | :44:09. | ||
voting are perhaps Len? Afraid so. The polls show that around 23% of | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
people are aware of the election. That is about right. It is | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
difficult, particularly for independent candidates. In the next | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
couple of weeks, with be TV adverts and the leaflets, we will get the | :44:22. | :44:31. | |
public interested. -- we did the TV adverts. Is the 23%, below 20 some | :44:31. | :44:38. | |
people say, are those figures making sense to? I have been out on | :44:38. | :44:43. | |
the streets knocking on doors all over Gwent. I think at the | :44:43. | :44:48. | |
beginning nobody knew that there was an election, I am hearing that | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
people know they have raised an election. They have notices from | :44:51. | :44:57. | |
their council. What they don't know is what the election is about. They | :44:57. | :45:02. | |
think they are letting the chief a police. What is really important, | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
and I hope this show can help, is to make clear we are not selecting | :45:06. | :45:12. | |
a policeman, but somebody to hold the police to account. To decide | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
how our money is spent. That is a political job, not their policing | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
job. Nick Webb, what is the most important thing you are telling | :45:21. | :45:27. | |
people when you're knocking on the door? I think when you start | :45:27. | :45:31. | |
knocking on the doors, and people understand, there is a lot of | :45:31. | :45:37. | |
interest. It is something you, it'll take a little while, we | :45:37. | :45:42. | |
haven't got much time, we are doing our best. When you start discussing | :45:42. | :45:46. | |
the role, they do take an interest. They see that it is a chance to | :45:46. | :45:52. | |
have a more direct say on how policing is done in the region. | :45:52. | :46:02. | |
:46:02. | :46:14. | ||
address a point that has come up, to review, Hamish and Nick, you are | :46:14. | :46:23. | |
political. Should this be a political role? The fact is, he is | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
a solicitor, he has a law degree, was the turn around and except | :46:29. | :46:32. | |
somebody in a high-profile case, who has been doing the job for a | :46:32. | :46:37. | |
week, standing and fighting his corner? I don't think he would. To | :46:37. | :46:40. | |
hold the police to account, you need to know what happens at the | :46:40. | :46:50. | |
:46:50. | :46:51. | ||
bottom. A response. I am a lawyer, nobody's perfect it! This job is | :46:51. | :46:57. | |
not just about policing, we are agreement, we don't want to have | :46:57. | :47:03. | |
politics in operational matters. We have signed a pledge to protect the | :47:03. | :47:07. | |
operational procedures of the police. We have seen a change in | :47:07. | :47:12. | |
this country, after phone hacking, with a one per to a journalist in | :47:12. | :47:15. | |
charge of holding the press to account? Would anyone put a | :47:15. | :47:22. | |
politician in charge of expenses? Do you want to put a former police | :47:22. | :47:31. | |
officer in charge of holding police -- the police to account? I was | :47:31. | :47:37. | |
looking at a website, you said you were amused that people with no | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
policing experience could carry out his job. You think it is insulting | :47:41. | :47:48. | |
to police officers. It is nothing personal. If you look at the job | :47:48. | :47:51. | |
description, in the first 100 days, the commissioner will be expected | :47:51. | :47:56. | |
to set the budget and policing plan. I am amazed that people think | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
policing is so simple. It is complex. That is why I don't think | :48:01. | :48:06. | |
the public want politicians in this place. A recent poll showed that | :48:06. | :48:10. | |
65% said people standing on a political ticket should not get the | :48:10. | :48:18. | |
job. The public have had enough of politicians. I think the idea of | :48:18. | :48:28. | |
:48:28. | :48:29. | ||
politicising the police is a sound bite the that does not stand up. -- | :48:29. | :48:34. | |
that does not stand up. This is about accountability. If the | :48:34. | :48:37. | |
community feels there not been well served by the police the | :48:37. | :48:42. | |
authorities, they have caused fraction. Once they have a PCC, | :48:42. | :48:49. | |
they will be able to kick somebody out. We have covered the basics | :48:49. | :48:56. | |
about what the election is about. The four of you are standing in | :48:56. | :49:04. | |
Gwent. Let's look at the issues facing the Gwent force. They are in | :49:04. | :49:08. | |
quite good shape, they are on target to make the cuts that they | :49:08. | :49:16. | |
have to. They have a lower crime rate and some are. One of you will | :49:16. | :49:20. | |
be inheriting it a force that is in relatively good shape. What can you | :49:20. | :49:28. | |
do to make a better? The crime reduction news is to be welcomed. | :49:28. | :49:36. | |
It had the biggest reduction in England and Wales. We had 20% cuts | :49:36. | :49:40. | |
by the current government, those 20% cuts mean that across Wales we | :49:40. | :49:46. | |
will have 1,600 fewer police officers. That is difficult. The | :49:46. | :49:50. | |
morale within the force in terms of pay and conditions and pensions is | :49:50. | :49:56. | |
very low. That needs to be addressed. The cuts will only get | :49:56. | :50:03. | |
worse. Hamish Sanderson, I know you are fighting on an anti- | :50:03. | :50:09. | |
Conservative government agenda. Put into perspective how you see the | :50:09. | :50:17. | |
cuts on the force? As I have said, I am concerned about the impact of | :50:18. | :50:24. | |
the 20% cuts. It will mean police station closures, taking bobbies | :50:24. | :50:28. | |
off the beat. The commissionaire won't have the power to increase | :50:28. | :50:32. | |
the budget from Westminster, but we will have the power to set | :50:32. | :50:37. | |
priorities. I would be concerned about prioritising anti-social | :50:37. | :50:40. | |
behaviour, it is still an issue. All credit to Gwent Police, they | :50:40. | :50:46. | |
have had the biggest reduction, but it is a big issue, along with | :50:46. | :50:49. | |
domestic violence. I want a crackdown on domestic violence and | :50:49. | :50:56. | |
hate crime. Those are issues that would go away. We still have after | :50:56. | :51:01. | |
work to do. Nick Webb, you should have the opportunity to respond to | :51:01. | :51:09. | |
what Hamish is saying, it is a direct act on your party -- a | :51:09. | :51:18. | |
direct attack on your party? Those figures should be welcomed. We are | :51:18. | :51:21. | |
looking at a PCC that it will make incremental changes building on | :51:21. | :51:27. | |
that success. In terms of budgetary matters, as the colleges, the PCC | :51:27. | :51:36. | |
will not have a great say on what the Budget is. It has to be decided | :51:36. | :51:43. | |
on a realistic basis. We are getting rid of a deficit of over | :51:43. | :51:49. | |
�100 billion. These are not cuts that are targeted at the police | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
force, we have to make savings across the public sector. People | :51:54. | :51:59. | |
are starting to realise that that is credible budget making. On your | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
website, you retired from the police force one year ago. You have | :52:03. | :52:09. | |
quite recent experience of the force? We are talking about cuts, | :52:09. | :52:13. | |
what is your assessment of any impact that the cuts might have on | :52:13. | :52:17. | |
a force that you will be commissioner rather? They are too | :52:17. | :52:24. | |
wide ranging. This is a reason why you should not have politicisation | :52:24. | :52:34. | |
of the force. They is cuts will happen. We have bubbled into a | :52:34. | :52:38. | |
position where everybody is looking to appoint that when there is | :52:38. | :52:42. | |
nobody else we will call the police. The police have to turn around and | :52:43. | :52:47. | |
say the biggest word in the force, they have to say, no. This is not | :52:47. | :52:51. | |
our job, our job is crime- prevention, attacking domestic | :52:51. | :52:57. | |
violence, attacking a crime. That is what an independent PCC has to | :52:57. | :53:04. | |
do. You have to make difficult decisions, and some of those are to | :53:04. | :53:11. | |
say the police are not doing that any more. A question to make, that | :53:11. | :53:20. | |
the support the cuts? -- a question to Nick Webb, does he support the | :53:20. | :53:26. | |
cuts? We all would come up with different ways of saving money, but | :53:26. | :53:31. | |
I do support these savings. I'm also very proud to be representing | :53:31. | :53:34. | |
a party who have extended the definition on domestic violence | :53:34. | :53:41. | |
which is more up-to-date, that has got Abu Hamza deported, and has | :53:41. | :53:51. | |
:53:51. | :53:51. | ||
made a right decision on the Gary McKinnon case. Let's look at the | :53:51. | :53:56. | |
point of politicisation. You think that people who do not have a | :53:56. | :54:00. | |
background in policing should not be doing the job. There is a view | :54:00. | :54:03. | |
that someone in the police force, who has been in the police force, | :54:03. | :54:12. | |
should not do the job. Answer that? The you have just seen an example | :54:12. | :54:22. | |
about politicians arguing. -- you have just seen an example off | :54:22. | :54:30. | |
politicians arguing. You need a police officer, one who has worked | :54:30. | :54:35. | |
at a local level. The way that this is set up, we saw it early on the | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
programme, the way it has been written, there will be conflict | :54:39. | :54:46. | |
between the PCC and the Chief Constable. That is going to happen. | :54:46. | :54:51. | |
My fear, if we have politicians and the role, is that they will be | :54:51. | :54:59. | |
answerable not to the people, but to Cardiff, and to Westminster. | :54:59. | :55:02. | |
would like to pick up on the fact we should be looking at a much more | :55:02. | :55:09. | |
local level. It is quite a small force, all we need at the PCC to do | :55:09. | :55:16. | |
is what the people once. That is what the PCC should be doing. | :55:16. | :55:25. | |
are going to end now, I will ask the four argued, let's -- be four | :55:25. | :55:35. | |
:55:35. | :55:39. | ||
of you, let's hear one thing from you. Identified Fry better budget. | :55:39. | :55:45. | |
-- I am going to fight for a better budget. You're absolutely right to | :55:45. | :55:47. | |
say that there are a lot of similarities, the difference | :55:47. | :55:55. | |
between me, I am going to get people see the raw data. In terms | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
of supporting victims, I want to put together a panel in which | :55:59. | :56:03. | |
charities will be involved, so we provide a good service. I think | :56:03. | :56:08. | |
that I should fill the job, because I had the experience, the skills, I | :56:08. | :56:11. | |
understand policing, and I care passionately about the people of | :56:11. | :56:21. | |
:56:21. | :56:22. | ||
Gwent. a lot of other people think they have the skills, to? A it is | :56:22. | :56:30. | |
the experience of policing. Nobody wants crime to increase, 24% of | :56:30. | :56:34. | |
domestic violence is reported, the police are not doing a good job, | :56:34. | :56:38. | |
they need to get further into domestic violence, and if we have | :56:38. | :56:42. | |
an increasing crime, all recorded crime, to show that we are doing | :56:42. | :56:47. | |
the job properly, the PCC needs to have the strength to say that is | :56:47. | :56:50. | |
why it is done. I'm the right person, because that is what I will | :56:50. | :56:55. | |
do. We have to end the discussion there, you can find out more about | :56:55. | :56:58. | |
the police and crime commissioner elections by going to our online | :56:58. | :57:06. | |
pages, the address is on the screen. I hope you've enjoyed today's Gwent | :57:06. | :57:09. | |
debate, we'll be having reports from the other three Welsh force | :57:09. | :57:19. | |
:57:19. | :57:19. | ||
areas in the run up to election day on the 15th of November. We will | :57:19. | :57:23. | |
have reports from the other three areas on election day. That's | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
nearly all from us this week but before we go back to Andrew, here's | :57:26. | :57:30. | |
a quick spin through some of the political stories of the week in 60 | :57:30. | :57:40. | |
:57:40. | :57:43. | ||
seconds. Implied Krumrey's Bethan Jenkins | :57:43. | :57:49. | |
said she regretted the rat -- and actions after being arrested for | :57:49. | :57:59. | |
:57:59. | :58:03. | ||
drink-driving. David Jones said he was not hostile to new laws passed. | :58:03. | :58:09. | |
The assembly's Public Accounts Committee will investigate the use | :58:09. | :58:14. | |
of public money given to a charity. The Audit Office said that | :58:14. | :58:16. | |
ministers failed to act on numerous warnings about the organisation | :58:16. | :58:24. | |
before it was brought down by funding scandal. The skills | :58:24. | :58:29. | |
Minister is hoping to meet Neville Southall, after he told people on | :58:30. | :58:34. | |
the programme that he wanted to help jobless youngsters get a into | :58:34. | :58:44. | |
:58:44. | :58:52. | ||
That was the week in Sixty Seconds. When will he be out campaigning? | :58:52. | :58:56. | |
mat tomorrow. Our iron out all around the area. A I'm out tomorrow, | :58:56. | :59:04. | |
I think people deserve a rest on a Sunday. I'll be asking people what | :59:04. | :59:08. | |
priorities should be. IM out tomorrow, a number of meetings, | :59:08. | :59:12. | |
including a press conference and a public meeting. If you want some | :59:12. | :59:16. | |
more politics then tune in to Radio Wales: Betsan Powys is chairing a | :59:16. | :59:18. | |
discussion on the impact on Wales of the Scottish independence | :59:18. | :59:21. | |
referendum, that's on Radio Wales very shortly. And don't forget to | :59:21. | :59:24. | |
watch the Wales Report with Huw Edwards after the Ten O'Clock News | :59:24. | :59:34. |