Browse content similar to 23/10/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. Tonight, we're live from the | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
Birmingham City Council House on the day it was announced that over | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
�50 million will be shaved off next year's budget, and 1,000 jobs are | :00:14. | :00:18. | |
on the line. It's the end of local government as | :00:18. | :00:22. | |
we've known it - that's the warning from the leader of the UK's biggest | :00:22. | :00:31. | |
local authority. We've got to a point where we can't find anything | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
easy to take out of the Budget. The Low Hanging fruit has all been | :00:36. | :00:39. | |
picked. Also in tonight's programme: Anger | :00:39. | :00:42. | |
from business after another day of misery and cancelled services from | :00:42. | :00:50. | |
London Midland Trains. It's quite surprising that in today's society | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
such a problem can arise. A new million-pound centre to treat | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
the victims of child abuse opens its doors in North Staffordshire. | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
And the campaign to return a rare hoard of roman coins from the | :01:00. | :01:10. | |
:01:10. | :01:15. | ||
British Museum to where they were Good evening, welcome to the | :01:15. | :01:18. | |
Council House - for 133 years it's been the headquarters of Birmingham | :01:18. | :01:24. | |
City Council and a symbol of civic pride. Today, the council's leader | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
said cuts to the city's budget next year amount to "The end of local | :01:27. | :01:32. | |
government as we've known it". That was the stark warning following the | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
announcement of a multi-million- pound reduction in its grant from | :01:34. | :01:40. | |
the Government. The UK's largest local authority grant is to be | :01:40. | :01:45. | |
slashed by �52 million next year. Birmingham already had to make | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
savings of around �400 million, but now fears the figure could be | :01:48. | :01:53. | |
closer to 500 million. The number of full time council jobs is | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
expected to fall by around 1,000. In a moment we'll be getting | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
reaction from the council leader Sir Albert Bore and the trade | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
unions, but first our political reporter Elizabeth Glinka has been | :02:02. | :02:09. | |
following today's developments. Briefing the media on cuts he says | :02:09. | :02:11. | |
could change the face of local government, Birmingham City Council | :02:11. | :02:16. | |
leaders Sir Albert Bore. The biggest local authority in Europe | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
says, despite savings targets of �400 million in this Parliament, it | :02:19. | :02:24. | |
is likely a further �100 million will now have to be saved. The man | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
who was running the council until May says the current administration | :02:27. | :02:32. | |
is scaremongering. I think this displays political cowardice and | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
weak leadership. We, over the eight years, delivered budgets, kept to | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
them, balanced our budgets, and in fact only the most current one, | :02:38. | :02:41. | |
which had to have �220 million worth of savings, came in under | :02:41. | :02:49. | |
budget. The leader of the council says these spending reductions are | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
so big that it's no longer possible to salami slice from different | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
budgets, and that some services are going to have to go. He also says | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
this could be the beginning of the end of local government as we know | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
it. So, how does Birmingham compare to other local authorities? The | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
city has seen one of the biggest reductions in Government funding in | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
the country at 8%, and cut around 4000 full-time posts before today's | :03:10. | :03:16. | |
announcement. But the Department for Local Government points out | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
that spending per household here is still over �2,500 per year, nearly | :03:19. | :03:26. | |
�400 more than the average spent by councils in England. The Liberal | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
Democrats, who ran the council in coalition with the Tories for eight | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
years, say the local authority must look at new ways of providing | :03:32. | :03:38. | |
services. It is pulling a huge amount in Government grants out of | :03:38. | :03:42. | |
the local authority. As far as you're concerned, is that a good | :03:42. | :03:45. | |
thing? No, it's not, but local government has become over- | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
dependent upon Whitehall funding, and that is a bad thing. We've got | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
to get away from it and broaden the base of local-government income so | :03:52. | :03:58. | |
that we have more freedoms and flexibilities. The final settlement | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
from the Government is likely to be known by December. In the next few | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
weeks, council leaders will begin a consultation with the public on | :04:04. | :04:13. | |
where the axe may fall. A short while ago, I spoke to the leader of | :04:13. | :04:16. | |
Birmingham City Council and began by asking how much responsibility | :04:16. | :04:26. | |
:04:26. | :04:29. | ||
he takes for this situation. Well, the problem is that the government | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
do indeed have a great influence over the money available to local | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
authorities. In this case, we are responding to significant cuts they | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
are making in the money that will come to us next year. But you have | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
to deal with that situation, so where are the cuts going to come? | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
Right across the board, no doubt about it. We are looking to take | :04:50. | :04:57. | |
120 million out of the Budget. Over the next six years, we think | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
Birmingham council will have taken 48%, almost 50% of the control of | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
the Budget out of the services that Birmingham currently provide. | :05:06. | :05:12. | |
is across the board, nothing is sacred? The right across the board. | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
We're not doing it in a systematic way that we want to, but we've | :05:15. | :05:22. | |
already started the work for two or three years' time to see which | :05:22. | :05:26. | |
services are delivering outcomes that we want. We will then take | :05:26. | :05:30. | |
decisions to decommission some services. Can you give me any ideas | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
of what those services might be? Can you say at any point that we | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
definitely will not be cutting social services, for example, in | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
light of the Ofsted report last week? All we can say is we going to | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
try to introduce a Budget which is fair. What does that mean in | :05:47. | :05:50. | |
reality? When I look at the cuts and take those issues to the public, | :05:50. | :05:57. | |
they will start to tell us which of those cuts are acceptable. By 2017, | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
after six years of cutting, or we will have lost 50% of the | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
controllable budget of the City Council. That is a huge level of | :06:05. | :06:10. | |
reduction of services. What is your vision for Birmingham? I still | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
believe Birmingham is a great city and will continue to be a great | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
city that offers opportunities for people that live here. How can it | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
do that with such budget constraints? Because it can work | :06:21. | :06:27. | |
with the private sector and with other agencies, and the people of | :06:27. | :06:32. | |
Birmingham. I remember a scheme it years ago when we put in small sums | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
of European capital and we got a revolving capital fund as a | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
consequence in bringing about regeneration in part of the city. | :06:41. | :06:46. | |
That is still actually happening. That was brought in with a very | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
small amount of council money. It is about being innovative. In a | :06:51. | :06:56. | |
word, how serious is the situation? This is as serious as I have ever | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
known it in local government. The The leader of Birmingham City | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
Council Sir Albert Bore talking to me earlier. He says these cuts | :07:03. | :07:06. | |
amount to the end of local government as we know it. But what | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
will it mean for the hundreds of thousands of people in the city who | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
use those service? Earlier we headed out onto the streets to ask | :07:13. | :07:20. | |
Brummies who they blame for the cuts. It affect us more than they | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
realise, I think. I would like to know what they are spending it on. | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
It certainly not on the elderly. You need to use wisdom where the | :07:29. | :07:36. | |
cuts are. Not just cut everything. I'd think it is mismanagement of | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
funds, I think it is public sector inadequacies. Do they have to do it | :07:41. | :07:46. | |
to make ends meet? I don't know. that's the view on the street. But | :07:46. | :07:49. | |
what about those who work for the council? Ravi Subramanian is | :07:49. | :07:51. | |
regional secretary of the public sector workers' union Unison, which | :07:51. | :07:57. | |
represents thousands of Birmingham City Council staff. What of your | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
members been saying? They are very worried, about their jobs, about | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
the future of Birmingham, the services to the community. We're | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
worried about the massive impact this will have on the local economy. | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
You cannot cut that much money out of the Budget without it hitting | :08:13. | :08:18. | |
the local economy. We have already seen the economy devastated by the | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
government's failed austerity measures. But these cuts are going | :08:22. | :08:25. | |
to happen, so you have to face up to the reality of finding a | :08:25. | :08:33. | |
different way of working, don't you? One thing we want to do is to | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
stand up for Birmingham. It is clear the government have targeted | :08:37. | :08:40. | |
these cuts at Birmingham, we have suffered a bigger amount than any | :08:40. | :08:49. | |
are that region. That Tory-run regions in the shires do not seem | :08:49. | :08:55. | |
to have suffered in this in reality, what difference can you make? Well, | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
if we don't stand up and fight, nothing will happen. We need | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
everybody from the business community, from the City Council | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
from the workers - everybody to come together. We will be running a | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
campaign to stand up for Birmingham. How watchful eye you that these | :09:13. | :09:23. | |
:09:23. | :09:23. | ||
cuts might be mitigated? -- how hope or are you? Well, when people | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
can see what an impact it will have - not just the people using the | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
information and the services, but the economy itself, I think that | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
might make a difference. Ravi Subramanian, thank you. We also | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
want to hear your opinion on the cuts announced here today or the | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
situation where you live. What's your view - can councils take any | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
more cuts? Get in touch by email, or though Twitter or our Facebook | :09:44. | :09:47. | |
page, and I'll have some of your comments later in the programme. | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
For now though it's back to Dan Pallett in the studio for a look at | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
the rest of the day's news. Thanks, Mary. It's been another day | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
of misery for passengers using London Midland trains in and around | :09:57. | :10:00. | |
Birmingham. Dozens of services have been cancelled again because of a | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
shortage of drivers. One of the worst hit lines is between Nuneaton | :10:03. | :10:05. | |
and Coventry. Today, businesses there described the situation as | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
unacceptable. And the town's MP has called on the rail regulator to | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
intervene. Commuters heading to the rail | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
station to catch a coach. At 8am this morning, there was a | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
noticeable lack of London Midland trains at Nuneaton. The company is | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
struggling to find enough qualified drivers, and that meant Bukola Jack | :10:21. | :10:29. | |
was, yet again, set to arrive at work late. Can't always say sorry | :10:29. | :10:35. | |
all the time because train services are going bad. I see where they're | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
coming from, but at the same time, I don't think my work accept that | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
all the time for being late. This morning, seven services between | :10:42. | :10:44. | |
Nuneaton and Coventry have been cancelled, with more than 60 | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
cancellations across the network across the day. London Midland has | :10:47. | :10:49. | |
again apologised, but said the situation will not be fully | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
rectified until mid-December. The MP for Nuneaton says if that | :10:54. | :11:02. | |
doesn't happen the Rail Regulator must intervene. They need to be | :11:02. | :11:04. | |
making sure that London Midland are fulfilling their obligations in | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
relation to providing services they undertook to provide within the | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
franchise and, quite frankly, if they can't provide those there | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
needs to be financial sanctions on London Midland, and that certainly | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
needs to happen if they don't get their act together very, very | :11:15. | :11:24. | |
quickly. Business leaders say it is local companies currently paying a | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
tougher penalty. Business needs certainty. If there is no certainty | :11:27. | :11:30. | |
there, they find it very difficult to run their business. The longer | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
this goes on, the more difficult that is going to be. Amid the | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
obvious frustration, we did find one happy commuter. We haven't | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
experienced any cancellations. A couple of delays, but only minor, | :11:42. | :11:47. | |
five or 10 minutes. Very good, in general. London Midland has signed | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
an agreement with unions for more flexible working, which should | :11:50. | :11:52. | |
bring improved services. Tomorrow, things look better for passengers - | :11:52. | :12:02. | |
:12:02. | :12:05. | ||
they're being told there aren't Joining me now from Westminster is | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
the Labour MP for Birmingham Northfield Richard Burden. You've | :12:09. | :12:11. | |
raised this already with the Transport Secretary Patrick | :12:11. | :12:19. | |
McLoughlin. What has his response been? Well, I don't know what he's | :12:19. | :12:23. | |
done so far. I raised a last week in the Commons, and he said they | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
were in touch with London Midland and that things were going to | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
improve. But as we've seen from that report, things have been | :12:29. | :12:35. | |
getting worse, not bettered. This is just not acceptable. It is not | :12:35. | :12:39. | |
on for the paying public all the businesses, so I've asked a number | :12:39. | :12:47. | |
of other questions in writing to the transport secretary today. Up | :12:47. | :12:53. | |
to a how bad as it in? It is really bad. If you have a job and you need | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
to be at work for a particular time, that is what time you have to be | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
there. If you are in business and you were trying to clinch a deal, | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
time can be of the essence. So we really do deserve battered. The | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
thing that worries me about this is how did it get to this situation? I | :13:09. | :13:12. | |
would have thought that London Midland would have been planning | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
ahead. The idea of drivers moving from one company to another is | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
nothing new, they should have been planning their staffing properly to | :13:19. | :13:25. | |
avoid this. My worry is that the franchise system we have on the | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
railways at the moment when you get towards the end of a franchise as | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
London Midland are, you should be getting short-term thinking which | :13:33. | :13:37. | |
is bad for the industry and passengers. To you saying they | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
don't deserve their franchise? been the most important thing is | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
that they resolve the problem, the issue of Which company gets the | :13:44. | :13:48. | |
franchise is secondary to me. They need to sort this out and get the | :13:48. | :13:57. | |
drivers in place and that main -- the trains running. If they can do | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
that, when the franchise comes up they will be in a stronger position, | :14:01. | :14:05. | |
but at the moment, they are not covering themselves with any glory | :14:05. | :14:11. | |
at slow all. I do read the transport secretary learns lessons | :14:11. | :14:21. | |
:14:21. | :14:24. | ||
from this. They're not being run properly at the moment. And tonight | :14:24. | :14:26. | |
the Rail Minister Norman Baker issued a statement about the | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
situation at London Midland. He says he has spoken to the company's | :14:29. | :14:32. | |
managing director Richard Brooks today to raise his concerns. Mr | :14:32. | :14:35. | |
Baker says he wants normal services resumed as a matter of "absolute | :14:35. | :14:37. | |
priority." Workers at car maker Jaguar Land | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
Rover have voted overwhelmingly to accept a two-year pay deal, which | :14:40. | :14:43. | |
will see their wages rise by nearly 10%. They employ 21,000 staff at | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
sites in Castle Bromwich, Solihull, Halewood, and the research sites at | :14:46. | :14:53. | |
Gaydon and Whitley, in Warwickshire. Workers voted to accept the deal by | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
a margin of 4-1. The deal will also see more than 2,000 agency staff | :14:58. | :15:06. | |
take up staff jobs in November. Restricted visiting will be allowed | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
at Warwick Hospital after an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug | :15:09. | :15:11. | |
Norovirus. Last week, all visitors to the hospital were banned to | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
prevent the infection spreading. The trust says visitors will be | :15:16. | :15:22. | |
allowed onto unaffected wards this evening. | :15:22. | :15:25. | |
Figures released by the NSPCC show there's been a 16% increase in the | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
number of children contacting a helpline in Staffordshire. The | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
charity's seen a rise in the number of callers to Childline, which last | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
year helped hundreds of young victims of neglect and abuse. Many | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
of them were younger than 10 years old. The charity has just moved | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
into a new �1 million centre and our Staffordshire reporter Liz | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
Copper has been given exclusive access. | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
This is Carole House in Newcastle under Lyme - a centre to help the | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
most vulnerable children in Staffordshire. Morris Robinson was | :15:54. | :15:57. | |
abused throughout his childhood and believes centres like this show | :15:57. | :16:07. | |
attitudes are changing. I honestly think in the fifties things were | :16:07. | :16:12. | |
different. It was very draconian. He did not approach the subject | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
anyway. Now, it is getting media coverage and there is a team out | :16:17. | :16:21. | |
there of charities and agencies. All you have to do is use the | :16:21. | :16:24. | |
telephone and the help is there. well as providing counselling for | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
victims of abuse, this centre will also offer help to families who are | :16:28. | :16:34. | |
struggling. I think as time has gone by, we have unravelled more | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
and more of what is going on behind closed doors. We are only | :16:38. | :16:47. | |
scratching the surface, really, even now, in the 21st century. | :16:47. | :16:53. | |
sent shares cost �1 million. The NSPCC depends upon fund-raising for | :16:53. | :17:00. | |
most of its income bull stopped -- its income. And this is the latest | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
fundraising effort - workers at JCB practice for a sponsored mud run, a | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
sort of extreme obstacle course. Behind the smiles is the very | :17:06. | :17:13. | |
serious business of raising money for the running costs of the centre. | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
We are horror stories about what is happening with the neglect of | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
vulnerable children. It is about how we can put a stop to that. | :17:22. | :17:24. | |
is the NSPCC's latest advert, highlighting the increasing demand | :17:24. | :17:31. | |
for its work. When you walk into a place like this, it is a different | :17:32. | :17:39. | |
world. It is a safe haven. I can't stress how important it is, if | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
somebody is doing something wrong to you, you can stop it inches -- | :17:43. | :17:47. | |
instantly by walking into this centre and talking to one of the | :17:47. | :17:53. | |
team. 300 children a year will use this centre. A reflection of the | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
rising number of young people calling on the NSPCC for help. | :17:57. | :17:59. | |
More now on the government's announcement that the | :17:59. | :18:01. | |
Gloucestershire badger cull won't go ahead. Instead it has been | :18:02. | :18:05. | |
postponed until next summer. Our environment correspondent David | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
Gregory-Kumar joins me now in the studio. David, just remind us where | :18:08. | :18:15. | |
this cull was going to take place and what it was trying to achieve? | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
Well, we don't know the exact area, but it was around Tewkesbury and | :18:19. | :18:28. | |
the Forest of Dean. This particular bin was managed by a company who is | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
registered as a accompany in Warwickshire bus stop they have | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
been key in organising this cold. We asked the President what he and | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
his members thought. The farmers watching your programme will be | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
genuinely worried that this has been put off yet again. We have had | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
strong assurances by Alan Paterson on the floor of the House this | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
morning saying he is determined to drive this policy forward. The | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
worst thing would be if the farming industry said, we are worried about | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
it being dropped as a policy, and therefore we take a risk with the | :19:01. | :19:04. | |
numbers this late in the season. The argument is it was better to do | :19:04. | :19:08. | |
this properly and wait six months rather than push it ahead this year. | :19:08. | :19:12. | |
Had they got it wrong, that would also damage prospects for further | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
cull Emmanuel Adebayor down the line. A why the delay? Team a | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
Badger's, not enough time. Last week, there was a proper estimate | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
of double the number expected. There were just too many. Also, if | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
you look at the terms of the licence, they cannot shoot bad as | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
all year round. They have a deadline. So basically, they ran | :19:35. | :19:40. | |
out of time. Do you think the Cole will take place next summer? They | :19:40. | :19:46. | |
are keen to push ahead with it. But more badgers killed is more | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
worrying for those opposed to the cuts. | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
Campaigners are hoping a unique hoard of thousands of Roman coins, | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
found in a Worcestershire field, will soon be able to go on | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
permanent display in the Midlands. The collection is currently being | :19:59. | :20:01. | |
examined by the British Museum while fundraisers seek the �40,000 | :20:01. | :20:05. | |
needed to keep it in our region. Cath Mackie has been to the British | :20:05. | :20:14. | |
Museum to see how the work's coming They were found beneath the | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
Worcestershire countryside. Thousands of Roman coins now being | :20:17. | :20:22. | |
studied by the British Museum. interesting thing is that in | :20:22. | :20:25. | |
Worcestershire this is classed as a rare find. Around the time the | :20:25. | :20:31. | |
hoard was buried was a terribly turbulent period of Roman history. | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
Curators at the Museum spent several weeks cataloguing the 4,000 | :20:34. | :20:41. | |
coins which span the lives of 16 hampers. We sought a court by the | :20:41. | :20:49. | |
emperors on the coins. It gives us an idea of the chronological span. | :20:49. | :20:54. | |
The latest emperors show when the hoard was buried. It went on | :20:54. | :20:57. | |
display shortly after was banned last year by two friends using | :20:57. | :21:02. | |
metal detectors. It had been buried one century after the last coin was | :21:02. | :21:07. | |
minted. It is the only known British example. They might look a | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
bit green and worse for wear, they will after all buried for 1800 | :21:11. | :21:16. | |
years. There is excitement about them prospect of them returning to | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
Worcestershire. This is a unique collection of national significance. | :21:22. | :21:25. | |
Keeping it in Worcestershire is absolutely the right thing. It | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
would be a travesty for it to be sent off somewhere else. But it | :21:29. | :21:34. | |
will cost �40,000 to buy the ward, clean it up and put it on display. | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
So far, the Museum of was to show has raised 9,000. They are hoping | :21:38. | :21:44. | |
the problem -- the public will dig deep. It wouldn't be top of my | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
priorities at the moment. You need to keep their local. He if it's | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
bound in Worcester, it is part of our history. If they can't raise | :21:53. | :22:01. | |
the cash, the board will return to the people who found it. | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
Back to our top story this evening. Today, Birmingham Council Leader | :22:04. | :22:07. | |
Sir Albert Bore said cuts to the city's budget next year will amount | :22:07. | :22:11. | |
to "The end of local government as we've known it". That was the stark | :22:11. | :22:14. | |
warning following the announcement of a �52-million reduction in its | :22:14. | :22:20. | |
grant from the Government. Mary Rhodes is at the council house now. | :22:20. | :22:27. | |
What does this mean for the future of the city as a whole? | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
Well, I think many people will be wondering what a bit means when he | :22:32. | :22:40. | |
talks about a whole new way of working for the city. Patrick, is | :22:40. | :22:44. | |
this the end of local government as we know it? A in some ways, a key | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
is right. We are moving from slicing to chopping certain parts | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
of non-statutory services. There are some people out there who think | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
that it should be. I've been talking to the tax payers alliance, | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
and they say that at a time like this with heavy demands on the | :23:00. | :23:05. | |
taxpayer, it would be lazy politics if Sir Albert Bore did not think | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
very radically about how they deliver their services. The final | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
point on this is that the government also point out that | :23:12. | :23:15. | |
local government alone accounts for a quarter of all public spending, | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
and they want local authorities to take their share of the | :23:19. | :23:23. | |
responsibility for the deficit reduction. Politically, what is | :23:23. | :23:28. | |
going on here? Well, before the end of this year we will have the | :23:28. | :23:31. | |
government's settlement for the finances of local government for | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
the next year. You always get a bit of a political tough -- rough-and- | :23:36. | :23:44. | |
tumble between local and central government. Thank you. John Rider | :23:44. | :23:52. | |
is chair of West Midlands Institute of Directors. Thank you for your | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
time. This is this serious situation. What does that mean to | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
you and businesses in the City? are very committed to supporting | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
Sir Albert Bore in what he is trying to achieve. It is serious, | :24:03. | :24:09. | |
but there is not that much to worry about. We really want to help. | :24:09. | :24:15. | |
seems amazingly optimistic. What do you mean? Well, an example. | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
Yesterday, we had a sports summit. Disporting fraternity across the | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
city wants to continue with what they had been doing for a long time. | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
We are the great global reputation as a sporting capital. We are going | :24:27. | :24:33. | |
to continue that, but we know we can't do it with council money. So | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
its partnership stop. We're pretty comfortable about what we're going | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
to do. That will be music to the ears of Sir Albert Bore, because he | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
said this new way of working is all about collaboration. He will be | :24:45. | :24:49. | |
looking to business as more and more. Don't forget, some things | :24:49. | :24:55. | |
have already been outsourced. That has worked beautifully. We are | :24:55. | :25:00. | |
quite comfortable about it. We are up for collaboration. I'm also | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
working with the City Council on and employment opportunities they | :25:04. | :25:10. | |
anybody that is displaced. We're all in this together. We love | :25:10. | :25:13. | |
Birmingham and we will carry on. Thank you for those words of | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
optimism at! Earlier we asked for your comments | :25:17. | :25:20. | |
on whether councils can take any more cuts. Here are a few of them. | :25:20. | :25:23. | |
Heather McIntyre said: "The council needs to learn to be a bit more | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
savvy with our money, people can't afford to pay extra on top of fuel, | :25:27. | :25:29. | |
food, water and heating bills." Safran Khan said: "I seriously | :25:29. | :25:36. | |
think the coalition need their heads banging together. People are | :25:36. | :25:38. | |
struggling so by cutting services and raising taxes, who are they | :25:38. | :25:41. | |
trying to make better off?" And finally Austin Bacchioci contacted | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
us to say: "I live in Birmingham and think that it is disgraceful | :25:45. | :25:55. | |
:25:55. | :25:59. | ||
that this council need to make Now, a look at the weather of. We | :25:59. | :26:04. | |
are still stuck with drab and dreary conditions. But as I say | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
yesterday, there is some milder weather on the way. Across the | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
Channel in northern France temperatures rose to 22 Celsius. | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
Our hopes of getting that by the end of the week are completely | :26:17. | :26:22. | |
dashed by this colder air flooding in from the north. There is an | :26:22. | :26:24. | |
arctic plunge which percolates through the region, introducing | :26:24. | :26:34. | |
:26:34. | :26:35. | ||
clearer, cold -- colder air. This is that the weak will pan out. It | :26:35. | :26:40. | |
is mild and murky, damp and cloudy at the moment, but it ends up cold | :26:40. | :26:45. | |
and clear. Right now, we don't have any warnings that Bob tonight, more | :26:45. | :26:49. | |
of a breeze. There is still fog around, just not as extensive as it | :26:49. | :26:56. | |
was last night. Particularly dense around the east of the region. | :26:56. | :27:01. | |
Otherwise, a misty, murky picture. Again, a mild night with | :27:01. | :27:06. | |
temperatures between 10 and 12 Celsius. We hope the we keep hold | :27:06. | :27:12. | |
of that moderate breeze tomorrow so that cloud lifts. Just to give us a | :27:12. | :27:17. | |
bit of brightness. Temperatures should rise to 14 or 15 Celsius, | :27:17. | :27:22. | |
but, as I said, by the end of the week a cold front a rides on the | :27:22. | :27:32. | |
:27:32. | :27:33. | ||
north, introducing clearer and cold Thank you. That's it from us today. | :27:33. | :27:37. |