:02:45. > :02:55.You might wish to jet away from it all but there's no escaping the
:02:55. > :03:08.
:03:08. > :03:11.The closed shops on our high streets tell the story. Job cuts
:03:11. > :03:21.and recession, rising unemployment and a growing number of people
:03:21. > :03:24.
:03:24. > :03:27.queuing for food parcels. We could not survive without them. We've
:03:27. > :03:31.witnessed the struggle for survival at factories like Bombardier, the
:03:31. > :03:34.lack of hope when giant firms shut up shop and we've listened to the
:03:34. > :03:39.sound of protest as cuts in the public sector have started to bite.
:03:39. > :03:45.A real shock. It is closing down. It might appear there are no
:03:45. > :03:48.reasons to be cheerful. And then there are places like this... A
:03:48. > :03:58.construction college where they're building for the future, is it here
:03:58. > :04:02.
:04:02. > :04:04.we'll find the green shoots of Welcome to this BBC East Midlands
:04:05. > :04:07.Today special on the state of the region's economy. This evening
:04:07. > :04:10.we're the guests of West Nottinghamshire College and here at
:04:10. > :04:13.their construction academy at Kirkby in Ashfield they really are
:04:13. > :04:19.building for the future, providing the training and skills needed for
:04:19. > :04:21.the next generation of plumbers, brickies, chippies and decorators.
:04:21. > :04:31.Joining me, a group of invited guests including politicians,
:04:31. > :04:39.
:04:39. > :04:43.business men and women and people Give yourselves a round of applause.
:04:43. > :04:49.Asha Khemka, you are the principle of this college, we are talking
:04:49. > :04:55.about jobs, how do the courses you round here translate into jobs? How
:04:55. > :05:00.successful is it at finding work? First, let me say welcome to my
:05:00. > :05:04.college, we are proud to host this event. Moving on to what we are
:05:04. > :05:13.doing at the college... As you know There is a link between education
:05:13. > :05:18.and economy. Just like in health, people used a measure of infant
:05:18. > :05:25.mortality to judge a nation's health, similarly, education and
:05:25. > :05:30.youth employment a sensitive measures of how an economy is doing.
:05:30. > :05:35.How successful are you doing? successful. You can see what we're
:05:35. > :05:38.doing in terms of giving people skills. I have three examples...
:05:38. > :05:42.What we are doing in addition to giving people skills and allowing
:05:42. > :05:46.them to progress into jobs... We are providing a job vacancy service
:05:46. > :05:50.at the college were students are prepared to apply for those
:05:50. > :05:55.particular jobs and we have seen 700 young people progress into jobs
:05:55. > :05:59.last year as a result of that initiative. Secondly, we have
:05:59. > :06:04.worked with Mansfield District Council on a summer job shop and
:06:04. > :06:08.trained people on employability skills, on a five-week course, and
:06:08. > :06:14.out of 60, more than 30 progressed into employment, the rest have
:06:14. > :06:20.progressed into other studies and so on. Finally, we showcased the
:06:20. > :06:24.work of students and invited employers and others to look at
:06:24. > :06:32.what they will be employing. Becky, you have been running your own
:06:32. > :06:37.business. But you have come back here to re-train, why? I was
:06:37. > :06:43.running a domestic cleaning business but a lot of professional
:06:43. > :06:46.clients could not afford to actually have my services. So why
:06:46. > :06:53.decided to retrain and I found a cause of professional painting and
:06:53. > :06:58.decorating. Do you see more of a future in that? I do. More of a
:06:58. > :07:04.future and the course is so detailed that it literally will
:07:04. > :07:10.give me the skills I need to get employed. Why are you here? Rather
:07:10. > :07:14.than follow your education through school? I came here because I am a
:07:14. > :07:20.hands-on kind of guy. When I was at school I did not really get to do
:07:20. > :07:23.the practical work I can do here. I was in a classroom, doing work, but
:07:23. > :07:32.here I can develop skills and hopefully go on to become an
:07:32. > :07:35.apprentice. Are you optimistic? hope so. I have gone for a few
:07:35. > :07:42.apprenticeships but due to my hand, because I have had some
:07:42. > :07:47.difficulties with it, I have been let down. I hope it gets better for
:07:47. > :07:52.you. Julian, you see many students like Ryan come through the course
:07:52. > :07:58.and we know there is a shortage of housing, about 124,000 families
:07:58. > :08:00.waiting for new homes, but will people like Ryan get jobs? If they
:08:00. > :08:05.work hard and get the qualifications, there are
:08:05. > :08:09.opportunities for them. As you can see from the facilities you are in,
:08:10. > :08:15.they are fabulous and the staff work very hard to make sure that at
:08:15. > :08:18.the end of the course they have industrial standard skills and have
:08:18. > :08:23.a good chance when they get out there. The couple of days to go
:08:23. > :08:32.before the Budget, what is the true state of the regional economy? What
:08:32. > :08:39.are we looking at? The economy is growing but very slowly. It is not
:08:39. > :08:43.growing in all sectors, all four companies. So it is a mixed picture.
:08:43. > :08:46.-- or four companies. We need to see a further boost to that.
:08:46. > :08:50.know people are claiming unemployment, in fact, the number
:08:50. > :08:57.claiming has doubled since the start of 2008, with thousands of
:08:57. > :09:02.job losses, 17,000 which came from council cuts. Martin, you are out
:09:02. > :09:06.of work. You have been out of work for three years and your
:09:06. > :09:12.volunteering at the moment. What is it like? Very difficult to find
:09:12. > :09:21.jobs out there. You go into some Job Centres and the staff they do
:09:21. > :09:25.not seem to be very helpful. It did not appeal to me, they can be
:09:26. > :09:35.intimidating places as well. many jobs have you applied for?
:09:36. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:44.Over 50. In how long? A very period of four years. Have qualifications,
:09:44. > :09:52.Business Admin, IT... I just want to work. I just want a job. We have
:09:52. > :09:57.people here like Martin who have been trying hard. A over three
:09:57. > :10:01.years, which is very sad. But he wants to work. I know. I am very
:10:01. > :10:04.surprised what you say about your experience at Job Centres because
:10:04. > :10:13.certainly the one in my constituency is a welcoming, good
:10:13. > :10:18.place. I was told last week they can place people, often it takes
:10:18. > :10:22.time and they need to improve people's CVs, they also know you
:10:22. > :10:32.have to apply for a lot of jobs before you finally get the one you
:10:32. > :10:33.
:10:33. > :10:37.are looking for. How many have you applied for? 50. I should imagine
:10:37. > :10:44.somebody who would want to help you would be wanting you to apply for a
:10:44. > :10:50.lot more than 50. Presumably one the government to help you? I would.
:10:50. > :10:54.What would you like to happen? need help. That is exactly what the
:10:54. > :10:59.programmes are there to do, specifically designed to get people
:10:59. > :11:05.into work, or back into work, whatever their circumstances. When
:11:05. > :11:09.I visit them they tell me they are doing a very good job that that.
:11:09. > :11:13.Chris, Your leader says he will guarantee six months' work to
:11:13. > :11:21.people aged between 18 and 24 and sadly you told me your age earlier
:11:21. > :11:26.and I am sorry you do not quite fit into that bracket! There is a catch,
:11:26. > :11:30.you can do it, but you will lose your benefits, is that fair? It is
:11:30. > :11:34.important we address this national scandal of youth unemployment. We
:11:34. > :11:37.sort happened in the 1980s and studies have shown people who have
:11:37. > :11:43.a long-term period of unemployment in the 1980s had their lives
:11:43. > :11:47.blighted as a consequence of that. I don't want to see another wasted
:11:47. > :11:50.forgotten generation as a result of the policies which the George
:11:50. > :11:54.Osborne is pursuing which are not working, they are hurting, but not
:11:54. > :11:58.working. We have seen demand being taken out of the economy, thousands
:11:58. > :12:01.of people losing jobs in the public sector, unable to spend that money,
:12:01. > :12:07.it is no surprise we saw there that shops were closing because people
:12:07. > :12:14.have not got money to spend in retail outlets. It is important we
:12:14. > :12:16.recreate demand in the economy by investing in it and investing in
:12:16. > :12:20.our construction sector, the manufacturing sector, the
:12:20. > :12:24.construction sector is on its knees. When the government came to power
:12:24. > :12:32.this scrap the building schools for the future programme. He wore on
:12:32. > :12:36.that, went to? -- you were on that, were you not? It has been taken
:12:36. > :12:46.away. How does that make you feel? It really knocks your confidence.
:12:46. > :12:51.It makes you feel down. Jason, we know in this part of the world it
:12:51. > :12:55.is hard to find work. You worry student at this college. But when
:12:55. > :13:01.you wear a student there were more jobs and it was easier to find work.
:13:01. > :13:05.Now there might be 300 more people chasing one job. That is true. But
:13:05. > :13:09.we need to rebalance the economy. You will have noticed there has
:13:09. > :13:13.been around 59,000 more part-time jobs and people with rebalancing
:13:13. > :13:18.the tax system a bit, so lifting some of the poorest people out of
:13:18. > :13:24.tax and lifting millions of people out of the higher paid tax bracket
:13:24. > :13:27.with more disposable income. If shops have disposable income, they
:13:27. > :13:34.are spending it, investing it, people with small businesses have
:13:34. > :13:37.been able to take on an extra member of staff. I think places
:13:37. > :13:42.like this college Ira beacon of hope for the future because they
:13:42. > :13:52.show exactly what can be done when you link skills with the community
:13:52. > :13:53.
:13:53. > :13:56.and have some ambition. Finding jobs and getting people -- Finding
:13:56. > :13:59.jobs and getting people into work is key to growing the economy but
:13:59. > :14:04.the cuts have left some people feeling like second class citizens,
:14:04. > :14:09.like the Reverend Jane Lyon from Ashbourne. By having this effective
:14:09. > :14:17.care package it has enabled me to be a full member of the community
:14:17. > :14:24.and take an active part in life. I was pretty concerned about having
:14:24. > :14:29.to go through being reassessed and I just felt like I was on trial.
:14:29. > :14:36.Almost as if the people who were coming to assess the were trying to
:14:36. > :14:39.catch me out. I think the problem is they sit in their office and see
:14:39. > :14:46.easy targets, but they need to actually look at what people are
:14:46. > :14:51.doing with their lives. It is so important that I and other disabled
:14:51. > :15:01.people contribute to society. We have so much to give but we need
:15:01. > :15:03.
:15:03. > :15:08.Reverend Jane Lyon, you are currently getting �500 a week for
:15:08. > :15:15.care and you have been told that could be slashed to about �40. This
:15:15. > :15:18.dress, as we can see from that film, it is not doing you any good?
:15:18. > :15:24.have certainly been times when I have had suicidal thoughts because
:15:24. > :15:30.I had been so desperate. Some but not all practitioners seems so
:15:30. > :15:36.driven by the cuts agenda, that I feel they cannot see how vulnerable
:15:36. > :15:43.I am. They have stopped caring because they have to make these
:15:43. > :15:48.cuts? That is how it feels. Not everyone. I am glad to hear that.
:15:48. > :15:51.This was always going to be one of the worries though, wasn't it? We
:15:51. > :15:55.accept that these cuts are being made but this was always one of the
:15:55. > :16:00.worries, that the people most vulnerable would become victims yet
:16:00. > :16:05.again? A they shouldn't be, and nobody makes cuts because they do
:16:05. > :16:10.not care. Everyone who goes into politics goes into politics because
:16:10. > :16:16.we do care and one to make changes to make things better for everybody.
:16:16. > :16:21.I do not know this case at all but I am hoping there has not been a
:16:21. > :16:27.determination. I believe it is Derbyshire County Council and they
:16:27. > :16:30.would arch party going see her Member of Parliament. If she was my
:16:30. > :16:35.constituents, I would be fighting like a tiger to make sure that
:16:35. > :16:39.whatever has gone wrong goes right. I would like to think that this is
:16:39. > :16:44.a very unusual case and we have not got the determination. Cuts would
:16:44. > :16:49.be imposed by whichever government one of the last election and we all
:16:49. > :16:54.know why. That is the deficit. We have to bring down the deficit
:16:54. > :17:03.because, in simple terms, our country was on the verge of
:17:03. > :17:07.bankruptcy. People in need in our society should not suffer more.
:17:07. > :17:11.say they shouldn't... We don't know yet because this case has not been
:17:11. > :17:19.determined that she has not gone through the process. She has of the
:17:19. > :17:23.worry. I totally reject what and that is saying because in my view,
:17:23. > :17:27.and on all the evidence, this government is using the deficit as
:17:27. > :17:31.a fig-leaf for what is actually an ideological assault on public
:17:31. > :17:35.services. We are seeing huge and that justified cuts on public
:17:35. > :17:39.services which actually define the kind of society in which we live.
:17:39. > :17:41.It is also important to remember that in cutting public services in
:17:42. > :17:47.the way the government is trying to do, that is having a knock-on
:17:47. > :17:51.effect on the wider economy because people do not have the money. 20%
:17:51. > :17:58.of the region's workforce work in the public sector and are being
:17:58. > :18:02.decimated by this government's policies. Attacking public services
:18:02. > :18:05.and the social security benefits that the in place because, as a
:18:05. > :18:12.compassionate society we should look to help people who cannot look
:18:12. > :18:17.after themselves. For every �8 this Government has cut, Labour would
:18:17. > :18:22.have cut �7. It is not growing the economy, that is the problem. The
:18:22. > :18:26.economy needs to grow. The mess we're in is because of the deficit
:18:27. > :18:36.we have inherited which has brought two political parties together to
:18:37. > :18:37.
:18:37. > :18:43.sort it out. Jane, you have your hand up. What they wanted to say is
:18:43. > :18:50.that by having the right support, I have been able to study for an any
:18:50. > :18:54.degree and do my ordination training. I can serve the community
:18:54. > :18:58.as an ordained person. That is what you want to do, serve the
:18:58. > :19:02.community? We have changed the system so people have control of
:19:02. > :19:06.their own budgets to make their own decisions.
:19:06. > :19:09.Alan Lloyd, you are trying to offer help and support of vulnerable
:19:09. > :19:15.people in Mansfield but you feel you have been caught between a rock
:19:15. > :19:20.and a hard place? I do, but in this particular case, it would be
:19:20. > :19:26.interesting to see who is carrying out the assessment and I believe it
:19:26. > :19:30.is a company we use, and they will point out that with us, a 90% of
:19:30. > :19:38.our appeals had been successful. The original verdict had been
:19:38. > :19:42.overturned. I think you're talking about people on disability. Tell us
:19:42. > :19:49.of the effect at the cuts have had on the people you're working with.
:19:50. > :19:57.Since 2009, the cuts started to hit us. We have gone down, our core
:19:57. > :20:01.funding, gone down from 53,000 to 10,000. It will be nothing this
:20:01. > :20:05.year. We work with the most disadvantaged on things like the
:20:05. > :20:09.Work Programme. Some come to us and we introduce them for the first
:20:09. > :20:17.time in their lives to toothpaste and soap and towels. Very basic
:20:17. > :20:20.stuff. What is your experience of this, Helen, from Unison?
:20:20. > :20:25.represent people employed in the delivery of public services and
:20:25. > :20:30.what strikes me about this debate is not only are we putting people,
:20:30. > :20:34.currently an employment and delivering services, I did work,
:20:34. > :20:38.but it then has a negative impact on the people the use those
:20:38. > :20:43.services, people like the Reverend Jane Lyon and that those you have
:20:43. > :20:48.described. It has a negative impact on the local economy because for
:20:48. > :20:58.every �1 spent on local services, 61p of that gets to be spent on the
:20:58. > :21:01.local economy. Do the cuts not have to be made? They do not. There are
:21:01. > :21:05.alternatives to the spending cuts that we have never had a proper
:21:05. > :21:08.debate about. Even if you except the spending cuts have to be made,
:21:08. > :21:13.you can make different choices about what they have to be spent on.
:21:13. > :21:18.You can make tax more fair and cut the deal less than this economy.
:21:18. > :21:21.Before he say anything else, I want to bring in Phil Matthews of the
:21:21. > :21:26.Police Federation. We know very clearly that police forces across
:21:26. > :21:28.the country have been severely affected. How many officers from
:21:28. > :21:38.Nottinghamshire had been made redundant and what has been the
:21:38. > :21:40.
:21:40. > :21:44.impact? We have lost over 300 already and we are scheduled to
:21:44. > :21:50.lose another 100 or 200 before we see the end of these cuts, which is
:21:50. > :21:53.approximately one in five of our numbers. We have seen about the
:21:53. > :21:58.equivalent other civilian staff bowlers well, about one in three.
:21:58. > :22:02.Is that the same story in Derbyshire and Leicestershire?
:22:02. > :22:07.Nottinghamshire had the fourth highest reduction of all the police
:22:07. > :22:13.forces in the country. Derbyshire have lost something like 8% and
:22:13. > :22:18.Lincolnshire something like 12%, Leicestershire something similar.
:22:18. > :22:26.We have seen massive cuts on an unprecedented scale. You're not
:22:26. > :22:32.alone. There are a lot of big companies in this area, such as
:22:32. > :22:40.Bombardier. Tough times, Kevin Owen. How hard has it been that
:22:40. > :22:45.Bombardier? Since we lost the Thames Link order, we have lost
:22:45. > :22:55.nearly 1200 staff. A lot of agency staff but they believe some of them
:22:55. > :22:57.
:22:57. > :23:01.would have been kept on if we had got the Thames like. -- Link. It
:23:01. > :23:08.has been devastating. What is it been like for colleagues with all
:23:08. > :23:12.this uncertainty hanging over them? -- has it. They really did not know
:23:12. > :23:15.what to do because they thought government was going to back
:23:15. > :23:21.British industry and manufacturing in Britain but it does not seem
:23:21. > :23:27.like we had the backing. Backing and support is what we need to get
:23:27. > :23:34.this economy growing. You're from Leicester where you chair the Asian
:23:34. > :23:39.Business Association, what is your experience? What -- I think we buy
:23:39. > :23:44.into the localisation agenda. Let's have support for the start-ups and
:23:44. > :23:49.social enterprise, but one group of men and women we have forgotten his
:23:49. > :23:53.those already in business, and have been in business, and suffer
:23:53. > :23:58.because they have a bad credit rating on a bad banking record
:23:58. > :24:04.through no fault of their own. Might the two of the politicians
:24:04. > :24:07.here and of the three parties and the banks, is to it, going forward,
:24:07. > :24:12.creator road map for these men and women to bring up their credit
:24:12. > :24:16.record, and start creating those additional jobs and profitability
:24:16. > :24:20.so we can have prosperity again. I would welcome any support in that
:24:20. > :24:26.area. Because the business does not do well first time around does not
:24:26. > :24:31.be it cannot do well in the future with support? And trying times,
:24:31. > :24:36.everything is scarce. The biggest asset we have in this country is
:24:36. > :24:41.entrepreneur's. If men and women, through no fault of their own, have
:24:41. > :24:47.on the side through bad debt are bad credit rating, we ate create a
:24:47. > :24:52.mechanism, and this is a plea to George Osborne as well, let's
:24:52. > :24:57.create a road map so these men and women can rebuild their credit and
:24:57. > :25:02.start creating a just no jobs and profits. We need entrepreneurs and
:25:02. > :25:08.need to support them. One way to help those who have lost their jobs
:25:08. > :25:13.is to support them but going alone can be very daunting.
:25:13. > :25:18.I had to go home and tell my family that mum had lost her job. I did
:25:18. > :25:22.not think it would happen. The last eight years, I had been helping
:25:22. > :25:30.disabled people. Last March, I was told I was going to be made
:25:30. > :25:33.redundant and it came completely out of that move. It was completely
:25:33. > :25:38.terrifying and what they realised was the council were looking to
:25:38. > :25:43.other avenues to provide services to disabled people, and they
:25:43. > :25:46.realise that divided not fill the gap, somebody else would. I could
:25:46. > :25:55.UN look to others to help me as a cat to get up and the morning
:25:55. > :25:59.myself. It was a if I had to take. I started at college three years
:25:59. > :26:03.ago and managed to get into an apprenticeship. My employer was
:26:03. > :26:07.selling the business and they got the opportunity to buy. A lot of
:26:07. > :26:14.hairdressers and salons in the area are closing. It is a big recession
:26:14. > :26:19.but you have to take the risk to move forward.
:26:19. > :26:23.It has not been easy, has it? has been a very challenging 12
:26:23. > :26:27.months. The irony is that the council that make you redundant is
:26:27. > :26:30.buying back your services. I knew that was going to happen because I
:26:30. > :26:35.knew that the government agenda was to empower people to purchase their
:26:35. > :26:40.own services. I knew that in Derby there was a gap in the market. I
:26:40. > :26:45.felt that I had the experience and the knowledge to deliver effective
:26:45. > :26:52.social enterprise in Derby. In some ways, are you glad that this has
:26:52. > :26:59.happened? Yes. I would not go back to employment. I am glad I am self-
:26:59. > :27:03.employed. Jodie Whitemoor, it took some guts doing what you did,
:27:04. > :27:08.starting a business in the middle of the recession? A lot of people
:27:08. > :27:13.have said so. It is a big weight but I believe that ambition is the
:27:13. > :27:16.key to building any business. A lot of supporters out there if you want
:27:16. > :27:19.to tap into it but I feel there should be more support for growing
:27:20. > :27:27.businesses. You would agree with that Uday Dholakia, that there
:27:27. > :27:32.should be more support. In the middle of a recession, starting a
:27:32. > :27:36.business like Jodie has, you can make it anywhere, can sue? It is
:27:36. > :27:40.fantastic to see that. The important point to remember is that
:27:40. > :27:44.the private sector has created more jobs than the last two months than
:27:44. > :27:48.the public sector has led Gorbals up we are seeing a rebalancing of
:27:49. > :27:55.the economy which is very progressive. Senior people setting
:27:55. > :27:58.up new businesses is just what we want. We have seen in a survey done
:27:59. > :28:03.by expedient for us that the biggest rise in business set up in
:28:03. > :28:08.the last couple of years has been in Leicester. UN in less than one
:28:08. > :28:15.of those business people - how has it been for you? It is going very
:28:15. > :28:19.well. The support unless there has been strong. Coming from university,
:28:19. > :28:24.I had an opportunity to go on a programme which offered �5,000 as
:28:25. > :28:30.well as support. The support unless there is actually very good. I
:28:30. > :28:35.think without that support moulding you it into what you expect it
:28:35. > :28:43.would be very difficult and daunting without. Does it take a
:28:43. > :28:49.certain kind of person? I was asked that her son by a young student for
:28:49. > :28:58.the BBC school reports show this week. What they refer to his, at
:28:58. > :29:02.Chase here passion, not your pension. Passion is the key thing.
:29:02. > :29:07.Becoming in Bedford brewer, you learn over time. Had he said to me
:29:07. > :29:13.12 months ago, it is totally different. It makes you better as a
:29:13. > :29:21.leader as up -- and as a person and you grow in your skills. For people
:29:21. > :29:25.who don't know, you sell items at 99p and the internet? You're very
:29:25. > :29:30.good at it because you have won lots of Lords.
:29:30. > :29:34.Not everyone wants to know what these people were doing.
:29:34. > :29:38.everyone wants to and not everyone can. Until we address the
:29:38. > :29:42.fundamental problems in the economy, which as far as I'm concerned is
:29:42. > :29:46.about growth and creating employment, you're not going to
:29:46. > :29:50.grow the economy and address the problems of unemployment, when you
:29:50. > :29:53.have a great hole where it is going out the back door. We are
:29:53. > :29:57.continuing to make people unemployed in the public sector
:29:57. > :30:02.with 15,000 jobs lost in the public sector last year. That will be
:30:02. > :30:05.created this year and next year at the year after that. We're not
:30:05. > :30:12.seeing the sort of compensated mechanism of jobs being created in
:30:12. > :30:19.the private sector. Adam, let me bring you in here because you say
:30:19. > :30:25.you're creating jobs? You employ 50 people? I want to put up something
:30:25. > :30:32.George said. Debbie has gone out and created a business which is
:30:32. > :30:36.fantastic, but it is essentially replacing the public service.
:30:36. > :30:40.thing is missing. The private sector absolutely has to be
:30:40. > :30:44.responsible for creating jobs and wealth for the economy, but they do
:30:44. > :30:48.not think you can claim success if we are essentially just privatising
:30:48. > :30:55.elements of the public service. this to do with the right people
:30:55. > :31:01.for the right jobs? We looked at the college creating people with
:31:01. > :31:11.the skills. We employ people generally with degrees. I have had
:31:11. > :31:32.
:31:32. > :31:39.a challenge for years. There is no I apprenticeships the answer?
:31:39. > :31:44.They're important. -- are apprenticeships the answer? We have
:31:44. > :31:47.to grow the economy, that is key. An economy that is flat lining, and
:31:47. > :31:51.the government having to borrow even more money, they came to power
:31:51. > :32:00.saying they were going to cut the deficit. If I was asking about
:32:00. > :32:03.apprenticeships. I think they are very successful, there is a lot of
:32:03. > :32:09.positive feeling about the number of apprenticeships which cross
:32:09. > :32:14.across the board. Then they end up just being cheap labour? Not at all.
:32:14. > :32:17.That is an unfortunate way to describe it. A non my description,
:32:17. > :32:22.but what some people say has happened to them. I somebody
:32:22. > :32:26.looking at deploying an apprentice in my office, I can assure you they
:32:26. > :32:30.are not cheap labour. It is the most wonderful balance of hands-on
:32:30. > :32:37.work experience, plus going to college and getting skills as well.
:32:37. > :32:42.Hopefully a job at the end, too. definition, apprentices are doing a
:32:42. > :32:45.job, learning skills, earning a wage. In my college alone we saw
:32:45. > :32:55.last year 5000 apprentices going through the system and progressing
:32:55. > :32:57.
:32:57. > :33:02.into employment. I think we have to remember the solutions, not the
:33:02. > :33:09.problems. What are they? If is about maximising potential. Yes,
:33:09. > :33:12.the right attitude, positive energy, the right skills set so people
:33:12. > :33:15.think creatively, think about opportunities, let's think about
:33:15. > :33:19.the big countries and how the economies grow there, because
:33:19. > :33:23.people are entrepreneurs. We have to take lessons and do things
:33:23. > :33:27.differently. According to the report commissioned for the BBC,
:33:27. > :33:34.our region ranks 4th best in its export potential. Is that somewhere
:33:34. > :33:39.we should be looking at more? But his potential enough, if you're not
:33:39. > :33:44.maximising potential, what you feel? We're a lucky to have a
:33:44. > :33:50.strong manufacturing base in this region. A is is still strong?
:33:50. > :33:56.We have major companies like Rolls- Royce, Toyota, an engineering and
:33:57. > :34:00.rail sector. It is important we give a balanced position here.
:34:00. > :34:05.There are job losses in the public sector but the private sector is
:34:05. > :34:11.creating new jobs, particularly in relation to exporting because we
:34:11. > :34:16.still have parts of the World where growth is of eight, 10%, there is I
:34:16. > :34:25.areas which companies are getting involved in -- those are the areas.
:34:25. > :34:30.Martin Taylor, you sell British cheese abroad, Stilton. Yes,
:34:30. > :34:33.Stilton and other cheeses, we are very proud of it. We sell to 39
:34:33. > :34:38.countries and we focus on the British nature of Bee Gees and the
:34:38. > :34:48.product. His that what we should be doing? Promoting the best of what
:34:48. > :34:51.we do -- the cheese. We need to focus on the value end of the
:34:51. > :34:57.production and say yes, it is British, the quality and everything
:34:57. > :35:03.that goes with it. One of the businesses that understands the
:35:03. > :35:13.need to sell skills abroad is the University of Nottingham. I spoke
:35:13. > :35:28.
:35:28. > :35:33.to Professor Nick miles from Yarm We use and the phrase soft landing
:35:33. > :35:37.spots, so in Nottingham we have a soft landing spot for East Midlands
:35:37. > :35:42.companies, National companies interested in China, and this is
:35:42. > :35:47.replicated here. So we know with the landscape here it has come in
:35:47. > :35:53.by her cars in Nottingham and vice versa, Chinese companies are coming
:35:53. > :35:56.to us and asking how can we get to the UK? So there is a movement in
:35:56. > :36:03.both directions. But fundamentally what companies and organisations
:36:03. > :36:08.are looking for a talented people, which is what we are producing. So
:36:08. > :36:12.what we find as a university is that our employment rate is one of
:36:12. > :36:17.the highest in China. These companies want our talented
:36:17. > :36:25.graduates. To me, that is a real measure of success. Young people
:36:25. > :36:29.are coming to us, getting education and moving on. It seems to work in
:36:29. > :36:33.China. But we have the eyes of the world from us this year. We have
:36:33. > :36:38.the Olympics, the diamond jubilee, if we cannot do it now, we really
:36:38. > :36:42.are going to miss the boat. You are training students that demand for
:36:42. > :36:50.university for a career in fashion. How important is it to seize the
:36:50. > :36:54.day? When are we going to be in such a position again? We will have
:36:54. > :36:58.the world's spot light on us. Now was the time to export our product
:36:58. > :37:05.and encourage our students to carry on with that optimism they need to
:37:05. > :37:08.believe we can do it here. certainly need optimism. You work
:37:09. > :37:17.in the bioscience industry in Nottingham, what are the dangers if
:37:17. > :37:21.we do not exploit what we do best? I think we will just be overtaken.
:37:21. > :37:25.It is frightening if you take a trip to China to see the rate of
:37:25. > :37:31.expansion and investment over there. At the moment we have a great big
:37:31. > :37:37.advantage in life science, we have the know-how here in the UK. Are we
:37:37. > :37:43.in danger of losing some of the skills it? It depends on a -- skill
:37:43. > :37:47.set. Hygiene factors are very important. You can get a good
:37:47. > :37:50.education here in the UK, if you don't spend too much time in
:37:50. > :37:56.traffic going to work and the weather gets better, I think you
:37:56. > :38:01.would be more inclined to stay here than move over to a city like
:38:01. > :38:05.Shanghai, which is fairly foggy and polluted at the moment. I think it
:38:06. > :38:10.is a question of time. I just hope we can grow our knowledge economy
:38:10. > :38:15.here in the UK so that we are not in a position where we see a great
:38:15. > :38:20.brain drain. Debbie Williams, we have to blow our own trumpet here,
:38:20. > :38:26.don't we? You promote than East Midlands as a place to come and
:38:26. > :38:29.make films and television. It is quite a powerhouse for making TV,
:38:29. > :38:35.film, digital products, including games. We have a great number of
:38:35. > :38:40.games developers in this country -- this part of the country. The same
:38:40. > :38:43.issues apply to be a creative -- the creative industries so we are
:38:43. > :38:46.looking at how better our products can be exported. There are a couple
:38:46. > :38:50.of barriers that the creative sector, it is still not seen as a
:38:50. > :38:55.proper sector in some senses. That is partly because the measures are
:38:55. > :39:00.not a place to demonstrate its significance. In terms of promoting
:39:00. > :39:04.activity, we lack confidence, we know what makes a good...
:39:04. > :39:08.Confidence and positivity. Other reasons to be cheerful? There are.
:39:08. > :39:11.We are seeing developments come forward and we are seeing new jobs
:39:12. > :39:15.being created and new companies being formed. We are talking to
:39:15. > :39:25.manufacturers about bringing production back from China back
:39:25. > :39:29.
:39:29. > :39:37.into the UK. The budget is a couple of days away. If there was one
:39:37. > :39:41.thing you could have, what would that we should be? I would like
:39:41. > :39:44.George Osborne to give the banks fiscal rebate if they are prepared
:39:44. > :39:51.to take a chance on existing business men and women who need
:39:51. > :39:55.their support. Adam? I am nervous about asking banks for money