Browse content similar to The North East. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good evening from Macmillan Academy in Middlesbrough. In two weeks of | :00:00. | :00:08. | |
voters choose the first ever elected mayor for Tees Valley. On the panel, | :00:09. | :00:11. | |
the four candidates who want the job. Ready with their questions, | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
people with questions from the local area. Join me as we debate who | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
should be the first mayor for the Tees Valley. | :00:22. | :00:44. | |
On our panel tonight, for the Liberal Democrats, Chris Foote Wood, | :00:45. | :00:51. | |
for the Conservatives, Ben Houchen, for Labour, Sue Jeffrey, for Ukip, | :00:52. | :00:57. | |
John Tennant. Audience have their questions ready. You can join the | :00:58. | :01:06. | |
debate at home, on social media. That begin with our first question. | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
It comes from Martin, who used to work in Redcar at the steelworks. I | :01:12. | :01:17. | |
worked in the steel industry for almost 40 years, starting straight | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
after leaving school. What I would like to know is, what would be your | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
plan for the steel site at Redcar? What would be the timescale and who | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
will fund the clean-up? Ben Houchen, Conservative candidate, there has | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
been some uncertainty about whether the Government will fund this, an | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
estimated cost of ?1 billion, who should fund it and what should be | :01:41. | :01:44. | |
done with the site? The Government are continuing to fund the upkeep of | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
the site. There is also the task force that has been set up to help | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
those affected by the closure back into employment, potentially | :01:55. | :01:56. | |
starting their own businesses. A big chunk of the money is still to | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
spend, because it was a significant amount. What would you do as Mayor? | :02:01. | :02:06. | |
We have the development corporation, which is key to the development. It | :02:07. | :02:12. | |
needs a full plan, which is in place at the minute. But the combined | :02:13. | :02:20. | |
authority have proposed, in conjunction with the corporation, | :02:21. | :02:23. | |
should be seen through. Sue Jeffrey, you have been involved as a local | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
council leader in this, what is your plan? There are three parts to my | :02:29. | :02:35. | |
plan. I am already trying to push them really hard, trying to get | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
moving. As a huge site of international importance, it | :02:42. | :02:41. | |
requires proper redevelopment to requires proper redevelopment to | :02:42. | :02:46. | |
bring jobs back. What I am interested is getting jobs back into | :02:47. | :02:50. | |
that site, and good jobs, not the sort that some of the steelworkers | :02:51. | :02:54. | |
had to take, which has not been the climate I would like to see. Getting | :02:55. | :02:59. | |
good jobs back, absolutely crucial. We have to do a number of things. We | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
need to secure ownership of the site from the official receiver, and that | :03:05. | :03:10. | |
piece of work are still ongoing. But I am pushing extremely hard to try | :03:11. | :03:14. | |
to ensure that that site comes back under our control as quickly as | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
possible, so we can start making use of all of those interested parties | :03:19. | :03:22. | |
who want to come and invest, because there are a huge number of people | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
who want to invest and create jobs. Ready to get it into a position | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
where we can do that. Third, we need Government to stand up to the mark | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
and if of the money that we need to ensure that the site is put into a | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
position where those investors can start to make that investment. John | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
Tennant for Ukip, what is your priority for the site? The rarity is | :03:48. | :03:53. | |
to secure the long-term future for all four more workers -- for | :03:54. | :04:00. | |
workers. It needs cleaning up, we have to get the funding for that. We | :04:01. | :04:08. | |
have to get the funding not just from the development corporations, | :04:09. | :04:11. | |
but we need to speak to the Department of communities and | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
industry. The way to secure the long-term jobs and future is to | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
build an infrastructure that is needed. The way to do that is to | :04:21. | :04:24. | |
attract investment, jobs and introduced the voluntary sector, and | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
that involved, of course there is a captive audience there, a captive | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
workforce that is crying out for those jobs. You need a mayor that | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
will stand up for that. Chris Foote Wood for the Liberal Democrats, how | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
do you work it? I would like to see more urgency. It has stood empty and | :04:44. | :04:47. | |
then it for 18 months. I am pleased that a good deal has been done to | :04:48. | :04:53. | |
help the people made redundant find new jobs and get retraining, but | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
there is nothing happening on the site, and it is disappointing to | :04:58. | :05:01. | |
hear, we are waiting for the receiver. I would not wait, I would | :05:02. | :05:08. | |
have seen the receiver on day one to get things moving. That is how I see | :05:09. | :05:15. | |
my role as Mayor. The development corporation cannot start until the | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
mayor starts it, and it should start on day one. We need to get things | :05:21. | :05:27. | |
moving. We all know what we want to do, and Sue has confirmed something | :05:28. | :05:31. | |
which I was going to mention, there are firms ready, willing and able to | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
move on to the site, why are they not moving on already? Things should | :05:36. | :05:42. | |
be happening now. Can I just make a point on the receiver? That is the | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
reality of the situation. What I am talking about is real life that is | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
happening now. I agree with the need for pace, there is no way we are | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
going to sit around for 25 years and just build a car park. There will be | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
movement as soon as we can, but we are dealing with real life. It is a | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
shame other people do not realise that. The Government could be | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
accused of dragging its feet. You talked about what it has done, but | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
there is a ?1 billion bill for the clean-up, it would help if the | :06:16. | :06:19. | |
Government said it would fund it. It is dependent on what the use of the | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
site will be. If we get more heavy industry, the cost of the clean-up | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
is different from if you are going to stick houses on it with retail | :06:29. | :06:34. | |
units. In a large sense, we are in some agreement. What the plan is | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
correctly and what the combined authority can do to assist is the | :06:41. | :06:43. | |
right way forward and it is seeing that through which is important. I | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
will go back to the question of Martin. You worked on that site, you | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
must feel very sad to see where it is. Are you convinced that this is | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
going to come back into meaningful employment? Considering that it is | :06:58. | :07:03. | |
still owned by the Thai banks, which needs a compulsory purchase, no. | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
Political parties have a chance to back the steel industry, not only on | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
Teesside nationally. They have not done that. We will come back, | :07:14. | :07:20. | |
because I want to get our second question in, which is relevant to | :07:21. | :07:26. | |
jobs. That comes from Joel. I am currently unemployed and taking | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
training in the hope of getting a job. With the Tees Valley region | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
having one of the highest unemployment rate in the country, | :07:36. | :07:42. | |
what will you do to bring it down? Chris Foote Wood, Liberal Democrats. | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
The number one job for the mayor is to get jobs. Everything else depends | :07:47. | :07:54. | |
on that. The mayor will have quite a number of powers at his or her elbow | :07:55. | :08:01. | |
to do it. I agree, we do need improvements in infrastructure, road | :08:02. | :08:03. | |
and rail and bridges, as I have mentioned, but that will take time. | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
We need to get moving very quickly. It is easy to say, we want jobs, but | :08:09. | :08:16. | |
what did you do to ensure that jobs actually come to the area? One thing | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
that the mayor can do is to identify a land for development, that is one | :08:22. | :08:29. | |
thing. Another, the mayor will have responsibility for reviewing | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
education, training and employment right across the Tees Valley. That | :08:35. | :08:38. | |
is important. That could happen within a year. I do not want to see | :08:39. | :08:47. | |
a long drawn out report. If we can implement what is in the Tees Valley | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
agreement and the devolution deal, that will definitely improve the | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
situation and the infrastructure will also bring jobs. John Tennant, | :08:58. | :09:01. | |
do you believe that you can create jobs? There has to be a recognition | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
that the public sector and private sector both have different ways of | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
creating jobs. The private sector needs infrastructure that is built | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
by the public sector. That is what is needed in the Tees Valley, there | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
is no doubt about it, we need to attract investment, because we have | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
one of the highest levels of deployment in the country. What can | :09:27. | :09:31. | |
you do? Other parties have had their chance to build the infrastructure, | :09:32. | :09:34. | |
and what I would suggest is we need a metro system. We will come back to | :09:35. | :09:43. | |
transport. That is how I would create jobs, by building | :09:44. | :09:46. | |
infrastructure. Sue Jeffrey, you have an vision to create 25,000 | :09:47. | :09:52. | |
jobs. It is easy to ban the figures around, how do you start creating | :09:53. | :09:57. | |
those? The work has been done to identify the sectors where the those | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
jobs will come. The way that we secure that growth is by different | :10:02. | :10:08. | |
investment, in both small companies, medium companies and large | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
companies, about ensuring we get inward investment into the Tees | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
Valley, that our children and young people get the skills to get the | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
jobs that we are going to create. You choosing what to invest in? Of | :10:21. | :10:27. | |
course we will pick winners. What qualification have you got to know | :10:28. | :10:31. | |
who will create jobs successfully? There has been a range of research | :10:32. | :10:34. | |
that has been done over the last year and a half to stop this is one | :10:35. | :10:42. | |
of my advantages, that work has been done, I have published a strategic | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
economic plan. It makes it very clear how those 25,000 jobs are | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
going to be created, and the sectors they will grow in. I am convinced | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
that if we apply the right investment in the right laces to | :10:56. | :11:00. | |
those sectors, that growth will come. One of the first things I will | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
do on election, if I am elected, I will meet with each of those sectors | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
and talk to them about those figures and about the reality of how and | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
where we will get those jobs from. Ben Houchen, how do we create jobs? | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
There are three sections to this. You have to grow the economy, | :11:21. | :11:24. | |
because only with a successful economy can be create jobs. There is | :11:25. | :11:30. | |
the education element, you have to increase a more co-ordinated | :11:31. | :11:32. | |
approach with businesses, apprenticeships, placement, there is | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
a raft of work that the authority and the mayor can get involved with | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
to identify opportunities, rather than saying what they should do. | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
There is nothing worse than when the state gets involved with creating | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
winners, we have to create an environment in which business can | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
grow. And business should step up to the plate. Businesses are happy to | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
say, we need these skills, but they are not willing to put in the time | :11:59. | :12:04. | |
and effort and resource. You prepared to tell businesses that? | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
You create a one-stop shop of information, but you can have | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
businesses going to it and say, we are looking for these skills, I am | :12:14. | :12:19. | |
looking for a job in this sector, and you create the environment. That | :12:20. | :12:23. | |
is a key role of the matter. I want to hear from the audience. A | :12:24. | :12:27. | |
gentleman with the blue suit and the tie. Sue said if she can get the | :12:28. | :12:36. | |
jobs, how come she has not started now? People have been unemployed for | :12:37. | :12:43. | |
years. A gentleman he. I am shocked to save the state cannot pick a | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
winner. Why is he tried to buy an airport? | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
There is a gentleman they are in the cold tyres. Recognising this | :12:54. | :12:59. | |
sincerity of the aspiration of each of the candidatess's answer, how on | :13:00. | :13:05. | |
earth do they think they can achieve this winning decision has been made | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
that Michael Heseltine described as the worst decision of any British | :13:11. | :13:14. | |
post-war government, by taking us out of the EU and going for a hard | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
Brexit out of the single murky and depriving the north-east...? | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
CHEERING The accusation as we can accuse the | :13:27. | :13:29. | |
government of perhaps creating a situation that we are there is high | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
unemployment relatively, although it has dropped, but labour authorities | :13:35. | :13:38. | |
have run the area for a long time, why have they not create jobs | :13:39. | :13:39. | |
already? We have been for the last ten years | :13:40. | :13:43. | |
and this is the huge advantage that we have, we have been working in | :13:44. | :13:47. | |
partnership with business all the last ten years creating jobs across | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
the Tees Valley and I think the figure is something around 20,000 | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
created in that period, and these are real jobs, jobs that are | :13:55. | :14:04. | |
creating wealth, growing our economy and ensuring of our security in | :14:05. | :14:06. | |
terms of our economy going forward. I have no compunction about saying | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
that we can create these new jobs going forward because I have a track | :14:10. | :14:12. | |
record of already doing so and I think we can do so again and | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
continue to do so. John, why not trust Labour to carry on? We have to | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
be clear about this, jobs are not being created, they are being lost | :14:21. | :14:23. | |
here and we are not building the infrastructure needed to create | :14:24. | :14:26. | |
jobs. The point being only to the voluntary sector to get more | :14:27. | :14:29. | |
involved, to give young people... How would you explain that | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
unemployed has dropped significantly? I did not say | :14:35. | :14:37. | |
significantly, but jobs have been lost. We are not protecting industry | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
in this area. This is a strong industrial area, it is not being | :14:43. | :14:45. | |
protected. Creating jobs is about building the infrastructure you | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
need. That is the bond sector, the educational sector and giving | :14:51. | :14:53. | |
businesses an area that they can look at and say they want to invest | :14:54. | :14:58. | |
in there. That is how you create jobs. A lot more hands up in the | :14:59. | :15:01. | |
audience, I will come back to the panel and a second. I would like is | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
the one job taken away, and that is the job of the newly elected mayor. | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
About 14 years ago, we had a referendum on a regional assembly | :15:14. | :15:15. | |
that Labour tried to bring in. It was beaten by 80-20 in the polls. | :15:16. | :15:21. | |
The Tory Government have imposed on us with the help and support of five | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
Labour councils, to something in an area that does not exist called the | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
Tees Valley. They have brought Durham into our area. We do not have | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
Cleveland, we do not have Teesside, this is a complete nonsense. Give us | :15:36. | :15:38. | |
a referendum, let the people have their say and I think you would find | :15:39. | :15:42. | |
it would be overwhelmingly we do not want a mayor and we do not want this | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
devolution. OK, a fair bit of support for that in the audience but | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
let's see if anybody has got more points on jobs. I am amazed that | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
none of you have addressed the potential job creation of... Our | :15:56. | :16:02. | |
tourism, and heritage potential. We have got lots of unique inventions | :16:03. | :16:11. | |
in this whole region, including Durham, and tourism is a great job | :16:12. | :16:15. | |
creator. There was a gentleman over here in the grey shirt. I have a | :16:16. | :16:23. | |
question. I live in Hartlepool and I invest about ?1700 per year in the | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
council, the repayment rates, and the return I get on that is ruled | :16:29. | :16:34. | |
that are breaking up, decaying infrastructure and general... We pay | :16:35. | :16:37. | |
the seventh highest rates in the country, we invested the same amount | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
of money as resident in Chelsea and yet the return we get on it is zero. | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
What I would like to know is, this is a Labour-controlled majority | :16:47. | :16:48. | |
counsel, what are the Labour Party going to do when they have got | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
control of the whole region? It is bad enough with one council. I want | :16:53. | :16:58. | |
to raise with Ben, the Conservatives did take it in the nick of the SSI, | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
failing to see that fight. There is the impression of why should they | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
trust you to backs Tees Valley in the future if you let it down over | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
the steelworks? There are two Mac parts to that. The second part is | :17:13. | :17:15. | |
that while what happened at SSI was a tragedy, and it was a horrible | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
situation for all those affected directly and indirectly from the | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
culture, we have to look at what the government did and this Conservative | :17:24. | :17:26. | |
government did to rest on afterwards. The vast majority, | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
verging on all the people, either find new employment, albeit not | :17:31. | :17:32. | |
perfect, or have started their own businesses. Should more action have | :17:33. | :17:37. | |
been taken to keep it in your view? The other part we have got to | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
address as well is that Labour find themselves in this dichotomy in this | :17:42. | :17:44. | |
region because they want to see it is doing very badly, we are losing | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
jobs, we are not doing very well but because they control the region, | :17:49. | :17:51. | |
they're happy to turn around and the jobs are being created. We have a 3 | :17:52. | :17:55. | |
million jobs created since this Conservative government scheme and | :17:56. | :17:58. | |
nationally, 1 million apprenticeships. Start-ups in this | :17:59. | :18:01. | |
region is the highest rate of any in the country. There is a lot of | :18:02. | :18:10. | |
things to be positive about when it comes to job creation... Respond to | :18:11. | :18:13. | |
that but also, why should they trust Labour if they feel they are let | :18:14. | :18:16. | |
down by the council already? First of all, in terms of job creation, we | :18:17. | :18:18. | |
have been interested and been delivering on the job creation | :18:19. | :18:21. | |
agenda despite the Tory Government and despite austerity. That is what | :18:22. | :18:24. | |
we have been doing and continue to do it and will continue to do that. | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
There is no doubt about that at all. The fact is that in relation to the | :18:29. | :18:32. | |
SSI site, and what we have seen a global jobs have been created and | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
people have been brought into jobs and the work of the task force has | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
been excellent in that regard, the average wage in Redcar and Cleveland | :18:42. | :18:44. | |
has gone from the highest in the region to the lowest and that | :18:45. | :18:47. | |
reflects the types of jobs that actually are being created in Tees | :18:48. | :18:50. | |
Valley. I want to address the types of jobs that we are creating, | :18:51. | :18:54. | |
ensuring that they are much higher value, paying better wages and are | :18:55. | :18:57. | |
more secure so that these sorts of jobs you can bring your family up on | :18:58. | :19:03. | |
and not have to depend on having the welfare system. That is my ambition. | :19:04. | :19:09. | |
The issue about the referendum was mentioned. I know one of the | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
candidates or you would have a referendum, would you? No. I think | :19:14. | :19:19. | |
we are creatures of the government. A Conservative government was | :19:20. | :19:25. | |
elected, with 37% of the vote. They became the government. That is a | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
wonderful system. This system has been imposed upon us. The fact is, | :19:30. | :19:35. | |
it is here now. The question is what do we do about it? Do we pretended | :19:36. | :19:39. | |
he did not happen or do we try to turn the clock back and stop | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
everything that has been made? The combined authorities has been | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
meeting for a year now. Do you want to scrap everything that they have | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
done? I think John Tennant is a remarkable man, the only guy I have | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
known in all of my long life involved in politics that said | :19:57. | :19:58. | |
please vote for me and if I am elected, I will resign. That is not | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
a very good thing to do! Is a pretty cynical to go into an election soon | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
you will have to referendum, but in my view, even though I am standing | :20:11. | :20:13. | |
for the job, I think it should be got rid of? Let's be clear, I am the | :20:14. | :20:18. | |
only candidate offering a referendum and if I was not standing for | :20:19. | :20:22. | |
election in this election, there would not be the offer of a | :20:23. | :20:25. | |
referendum on the Tees Valley combined authorities. The point | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
being there is so much voter apathy editor about the combined | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
authorities, nobody is interested. There is not enough PR about it, | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
nobody wants this thing. Nobody was ever asked about it and if I... Two | :20:37. | :20:43. | |
things. They signed up without your say so. One thing very clearly, the | :20:44. | :20:50. | |
fact if it is not possible to have a referendum so that is nonsense to | :20:51. | :20:57. | |
start with. The second thing... Anything is possible. Quickly. This | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
is a really important move for the 660,000 people why did you vote | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
against their mayoral position when it was in the council? | :21:08. | :21:16. | |
PEOPLE SHOWED OVER EACH other and YOU SHOULD HAVE GIVEN THE PEOPLE OF | :21:17. | :21:19. | |
THE TEES VALLEY THE CHANCE TO SEE WHETHER WE WANTED IT. YOU HAVE DONE | :21:20. | :21:22. | |
IT AND THEN POSTED ON US. IT IS NOT DEMOCRATIC. It is totally wrong. The | :21:23. | :21:29. | |
Conservative government decided it was not an offer for the Tees | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
Valley. I was not going to turn down the opportunity to create jobs, | :21:34. | :21:36. | |
bring in infrastructure, build houses and create a better place for | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
people to live and that is not... Let's discuss some of those issues, | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
because they cannot have a referendum until it is over anyway. | :21:46. | :21:53. | |
Let's go to a third questioner. Teesside has benefited immensely | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
from EU funding. When this is no longer available, what plans do the | :21:59. | :22:01. | |
candidates have to opt in alternative funding? John Tennant, I | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
am sure it was a great day for your and your party last year, and | :22:07. | :22:12. | |
obviously the people of... The north-east of course voted to leave | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
the European Union but there will be a hole left by the finding that | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
comes to the area. What will you do? The point needs to be said that it | :22:20. | :22:23. | |
is our money in the first place for as we leave the EU money is still | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
there. We will not be giving it to the European institutions. Only for | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
them to us to tell the defendant. We knew it was coming from Europe and | :22:35. | :22:37. | |
do not know it is coming from anywhere else. We are still paying | :22:38. | :22:40. | |
the same business rate and income tax. We will still get the same | :22:41. | :22:44. | |
amount into the government department will not be giving it | :22:45. | :22:47. | |
to... But we do not have a guarantee, and I know you're not in | :22:48. | :22:50. | |
government, that the government will replace that money in a long term. | :22:51. | :22:53. | |
They have said they will in the short-term but how do you do it in | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
the long run? Speak at the mayor is going to have to go down to | :22:58. | :23:00. | |
Westminster and fight and make the case to keep that funding going and | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
it can be done, because we already have that funding. It is just we now | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
have a situation whereby the EU is telling us to spend it, how to spend | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
it. We will not have that problem any more. The government have given | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
short-term guarantees. Ukip wants to see long-term guarantees. 'S ben, | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
the government did make some short-term reassurance of about that | :23:22. | :23:24. | |
but her vital is it that it is recognised that this money will need | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
to be replaced, because it did make a difference? It did make a | :23:30. | :23:31. | |
difference that I have to agree with John in that it does not mean that | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
we cannot nationally impose our own system in which to support areas of | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
the economy. We did not go far enough in that it is all very well | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
and did getting ?100 million to Europe for them to send back half of | :23:45. | :23:47. | |
it and tell you with strings attached how it should be spent. I | :23:48. | :23:51. | |
would rather an elected national government of the UK fed on a | :23:52. | :23:54. | |
platform we are going to spend this money and get to these regions in | :23:55. | :23:58. | |
this form and we will support local economy. I do not think there is an | :23:59. | :24:01. | |
issue from that point of view that we are all going to be in agreement | :24:02. | :24:04. | |
that there needs to be some support in the form | :24:05. | :24:23. | |
that it is going to take, and whoever becomes mayor, diffidently | :24:24. | :24:27. | |
and Robbie Findley that funding, to continue to support the economy. In | :24:28. | :24:29. | |
the longer term, I would suggest that we need to be able to grow the | :24:30. | :24:32. | |
local economy so we are less reliant on those funds than in the past. | :24:33. | :24:35. | |
Chris Foote Wood, Liberal Democrats and they enthusiasts for you, what | :24:36. | :24:37. | |
is the alternative? It is to make the most of the situation that we | :24:38. | :24:40. | |
have got. I was in favour of remaining but I am also a Democrat | :24:41. | :24:43. | |
and the country voted to leave, they are for as far as I'm concerned, we | :24:44. | :24:46. | |
are going to leave but make the best of that situation. It is quite | :24:47. | :24:48. | |
obvious that with what Theresa May has set out we are going to leave | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
and... What are you going to do as where to drive -- to try to fill any | :24:53. | :24:55. | |
gaps might be poised to become a bursting to do is to make sure from | :24:56. | :24:58. | |
government that European funding that we have previously got and the | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
north-east is one of the biggest areas to receive European funding, | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
that we want to make sure that all that funding still comes to us from | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
the government, because it will not be paying it to the EU. We still | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
made that equivalent of European funding to come here and that is | :25:16. | :25:18. | |
something which you need to negotiate hard and make sure that | :25:19. | :25:21. | |
you get it. I will. CHEERING | :25:22. | :25:25. | |
Brexit is coming, how do you deal with that? | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
45% of the investment pot that the combining authority have is made up | :25:31. | :25:33. | |
of the EU funding. You can see immediately the scale of what we may | :25:34. | :25:37. | |
lose. There is a clear investment process that we need to enable us to | :25:38. | :25:47. | |
replace that fund and that is a ?25 million additional amount from | :25:48. | :25:52. | |
government added to per year from 1919 onwards, and that will make up | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
from the deference that we were losing European funding. I hope, and | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
I would like to hear all of this panel, commit to ensuring that our | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
government, whoever it might be after the election, will give us | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
that ?25 million -- ?25 billion and ensure it is made up because of it | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
is not we will be losing out as a region. I want to hear from the | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
audience again, the gentleman there with his hand up in the middle of | :26:19. | :26:22. | |
the back row. On past performance, all that money not go to the south | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
east and not the north-east? Thank you very much for that comment. A | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
woman just there. That is exactly the point I want to make. When you | :26:34. | :26:37. | |
look at funding of the arts, for transport, per head of population it | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
is disproportionately biased towards the south east, we are in dire | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
straits without a European funding. It is going to get worse. I don't | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
know how much more money you have got to cut from your local authority | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
because of austerity, but in County Durham we have got another 100 | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
million to cut. What are you going to do to make central government, | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
especially after this election, do something about that and treat the | :27:06. | :27:13. | |
north-east fairly? The point is, I suppose, you are a Labour | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
politician. Go down to London, try and talk to ministers, are they | :27:19. | :27:21. | |
going to give you much of a hearing with your gap in your hand asking | :27:22. | :27:26. | |
for more money? I am not going to go anywhere with a cap in hand. I am | :27:27. | :27:29. | |
going to go with an investment plan which shows why they need to invest | :27:30. | :27:32. | |
in the Tees Valley and by investing in the Tees Valley you will create | :27:33. | :27:35. | |
wealth not only by the people that live here but the whole of the UK. I | :27:36. | :27:39. | |
am very clear about what we did it. We need to see their distribution of | :27:40. | :27:43. | |
those resources repatriated to this country as a result of Brexit and no | :27:44. | :27:46. | |
more of this business of not distributing on the basis of need, | :27:47. | :27:49. | |
which the government is doing time and time again. We have just seen | :27:50. | :27:52. | |
the last revision of skills funding that severely disadvantaged schools | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
in the North of England, and that sort of thing has got to change. -- | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
of schools. Some of the audience do not trust the Conservatives to | :28:03. | :28:04. | |
deliver for this region. You may well be in government again passed | :28:05. | :28:09. | |
this next election. Can you as a conservative influence them? The | :28:10. | :28:15. | |
devolution deal was given to the Tees Valley area by a Conservative | :28:16. | :28:19. | |
government, by the MP for Stockton South... Not as yet saying they will | :28:20. | :28:25. | |
replace the European funding. He was the Northern powerhouse visitor who | :28:26. | :28:28. | |
delivered on this page brought this additional funding. | :28:29. | :28:33. | |
Will you tell the minister you want the European money replaced? It is a | :28:34. | :28:41. | |
British money. It is coming back. If we elect a national Government, | :28:42. | :28:45. | |
there will be additional funds available, because we are not paying | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
to Europe, and it is up to the Government how we spend it. I would | :28:51. | :28:54. | |
influence it by electing more Conservatives in the region. On the | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
8th of June I am confident... What are you going to do at the mayor? | :29:01. | :29:08. | |
Try and elect Conservative MPs? Of course the mayor will have | :29:09. | :29:13. | |
influence, the mayor will walk into Whitehall with a new Conservative | :29:14. | :29:16. | |
Government after the 8th of June and knock on the open door and say, we | :29:17. | :29:20. | |
need additional funding. We will see what happens. A gentleman in the | :29:21. | :29:27. | |
middle, in the striped shirt. Yes, sir. The only people who are going | :29:28. | :29:36. | |
to make a profit out of this election and the forthcoming general | :29:37. | :29:44. | |
election are the people who are the Chief Executive 's, and therefore | :29:45. | :29:52. | |
the election officers, who will get a bonus of up to 15,000 just for | :29:53. | :30:14. | |
running the election. I am sure that is not | :30:15. | :30:14. | |
you not think this role has just you not think this role has just | :30:15. | :30:22. | |
created to deflect attention from the | :30:23. | :30:22. | |
delivering this deal, we have up to delivering this deal, we have up to | :30:23. | :30:22. | |
against other investment. I will against other investment. I | :30:23. | :30:27. | |
leveraged against the pension fund, which could contribute towards | :30:28. | :30:32. | |
investment. Half ?1 billion goes into this area. When there is a | :30:33. | :30:38. | |
Conservative Government, we saw it with the developer the Corporation, | :30:39. | :30:44. | |
the retail park, the Teesdale site revamp, that is all under a | :30:45. | :30:47. | |
Conservative Government, all funds that came through, and we will see | :30:48. | :30:54. | |
it again. The Labour candidate intends to create the jobs to drive | :30:55. | :30:57. | |
the market. That is a Labour candidate, we have five Labour | :30:58. | :31:02. | |
authorities, they have not created the jobs. The Northern powerhouse is | :31:03. | :31:11. | |
a complete failure. We had a Labour Government that ruined the economy | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
nationally and... They lost jobs. We must move on. The Labour councils | :31:17. | :31:23. | |
have been working with business over the last ten years creating jobs in | :31:24. | :31:26. | |
the Tees Valley and doing a sterling job, despite the economic | :31:27. | :31:32. | |
circumstances that we have had to work with. The next question. As a | :31:33. | :31:42. | |
student at Newcastle University I often come across transport issues | :31:43. | :31:44. | |
when travelling around the north-east. What plans do the | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
candidates have for improving the local infrastructure and the | :31:50. | :31:51. | |
transport connections within our area? Chris Foote Wood, I looked at | :31:52. | :31:59. | |
your statement. You have a thing at the top, talking about an hour test | :32:00. | :32:04. | |
track, which I worked out that if you went from hot to Darlington, it | :32:05. | :32:08. | |
would take two minutes, 800 miles an hour! What would you do? It is a | :32:09. | :32:15. | |
test track, it is to bring top-level technology to the area. It will be | :32:16. | :32:20. | |
somewhere in this country, why not in the north-east? Why should we not | :32:21. | :32:26. | |
build it? That will not help her move around. We need a metro. Every | :32:27. | :32:32. | |
cannot have one in the Tees Valley cannot have one in the Tees Valley | :32:33. | :32:38. | |
because the River Tees is in the way. We need a link downstream, it | :32:39. | :32:43. | |
has already been mooted that we should have a road link downstream, | :32:44. | :32:50. | |
let's have a road and rail link, I combined super bridge that will not | :32:51. | :32:55. | |
only improve the road transport right around the Tees Valley, but | :32:56. | :33:01. | |
also create a rail loop, and if you go to any... I have lived in | :33:02. | :33:08. | |
Tyneside, in London, the Metro is essential for getting people around | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
Wrigley, cheaply and easily. That would get everybody moving around. | :33:13. | :33:17. | |
You could get to school, college, whatever, and that is what I want to | :33:18. | :33:22. | |
see. I will come back to how we will fund this. John Tennant, you have | :33:23. | :33:28. | |
talked about a metro as well. If we look at the success of the Metro | :33:29. | :33:32. | |
system in Tyne Wear, it has helped the airport, both for people to go | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
abroad and for people from abroad to visit, we do not have that in | :33:38. | :33:44. | |
Teesside, but we could have it. How would you find it? You get ?15 | :33:45. | :33:48. | |
million a year and a transport budget, a metro costs hundreds of | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
millions of pounds. The Last Panthers was mooted, thrown out by | :33:55. | :33:57. | |
the coalition Government, they said no, we can bring it back to life, | :33:58. | :34:06. | |
the last time it was priced at ?220 million, and a lot of private | :34:07. | :34:11. | |
investment was interested. Could you do it yourself or is this something | :34:12. | :34:14. | |
you would have to go to the Government for? Who would have to go | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
to the Government, but we need the infrastructure. People have to | :34:19. | :34:23. | |
travel from Hartlepool to Darlington and work, we have to get people | :34:24. | :34:26. | |
travelling around. Businesses can go, we have a captive workforce, | :34:27. | :34:32. | |
they are prepared to travel, and there is a system in place to help | :34:33. | :34:36. | |
them get there quickly. It will also help the airport. It needs its | :34:37. | :34:43. | |
infrastructure. I know you support the idea of the metro as well, but | :34:44. | :34:47. | |
what else can be done? We need to see where we are. Because the local | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
authorities have been working together collectively, we have a | :34:53. | :34:57. | |
stronger position with an organisation which has ensured we | :34:58. | :35:00. | |
will get Government funding for a number of big projects, not least | :35:01. | :35:05. | |
the new crossing across the river Tees, which is really important, | :35:06. | :35:08. | |
improvements to the railway tracks to ensure we can get freight from | :35:09. | :35:13. | |
the port and out onto the main lines, and ensure that the road | :35:14. | :35:15. | |
network is more effective going forward. One of those things are | :35:16. | :35:19. | |
happening anyway, that is really good, and we are doing it because we | :35:20. | :35:23. | |
have a collective voice, and if we had not stood together, we would not | :35:24. | :35:29. | |
have had it. What is also important is we start getting public transport | :35:30. | :35:32. | |
right, especially the buses. We have a new opportunity with the bill that | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
will give us the option to start speaking to the bus companies and | :35:38. | :35:40. | |
start thinking about how we can apply public subsidy in a way that | :35:41. | :35:45. | |
ensures that we have got bus routes that get people to and from work, | :35:46. | :35:52. | |
town centres, and around the region, to encourage our economy to grow, | :35:53. | :35:55. | |
and that is crucial. Ben Houchen, how would you help people get around | :35:56. | :36:02. | |
that? There are practical things. There is already an effort structure | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
plan. Improvements to the a 19, Darlington station, track | :36:08. | :36:10. | |
improvements, which would improve passenger numbers, as well as | :36:11. | :36:18. | |
freight. We have the legislation of the line which links with the | :36:19. | :36:21. | |
trans-Pennine. That is already going on. Would you go the same way? I | :36:22. | :36:29. | |
think the buses is a shocking idea, and I would like to rule out the | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
idea that a combined authority would run a bus franchise, but was | :36:35. | :36:39. | |
otherwise the authority would become a bus franchise. It is all right for | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
them to run an airport, apparently! Interesting! Tyne Wear looked at | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
this idea, and a transport Commissioner decided it would not be | :36:51. | :36:54. | |
able to afford to do it. Ready to look at the powers that the act | :36:55. | :36:59. | |
gives us, because that was not available. I do not think the | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
combined authority would wonder bus services, it would work with | :37:04. | :37:09. | |
business and industry to work out where public funded bus services | :37:10. | :37:11. | |
would support economic growth across the Tees Valley and use that | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
selective investment to ensure we get services where we do not have | :37:17. | :37:19. | |
them now. The next question, it is pertinent to transport. In light of | :37:20. | :37:26. | |
recent controversy surrounding the airport, what with the candidates do | :37:27. | :37:29. | |
to ensure a viable future for the local airport? There is one | :37:30. | :37:33. | |
candidate who has been very clear about what his plans are, we will | :37:34. | :37:40. | |
question him about it. Firstly, I quality side airport, the idea we | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
call it Tees Valley anything is ridiculous, this made up in the | :37:45. | :37:49. | |
deep. It is a positive, because... What is your plan? Who want to buy | :37:50. | :37:55. | |
it. We could talk about infrastructure, transport to and | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
from, how fantastic the local economy would be, but the biggest | :38:01. | :38:03. | |
problem with the airport are the owners. Until it is addressed about | :38:04. | :38:09. | |
what we do about the current owners, who are not interested in running it | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
as an airport, and are holding all five Labour run authorities to | :38:15. | :38:17. | |
ransom on pension contributions, and houses that have been approved, | :38:18. | :38:22. | |
until we address the issue of ownership, and the only option is | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
taking them out of ownership, the airport will not be here in five | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
years. There will be no money left. It is an important issue. The | :38:31. | :38:36. | |
company are not here to defend themselves, they want to carry on | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
running services. If you are committed to this and this is your | :38:41. | :38:46. | |
policy, you have to deliver it, they just keep raising the price to sell | :38:47. | :38:47. | |
it to you. They have you over a it to you. They have you over a | :38:48. | :38:54. | |
barrel. I disagree. There is a plan that would mean that is not a's that | :38:55. | :39:02. | |
that would not happen. There are compulsory purchase powers that have | :39:03. | :39:04. | |
been devolved to the Mayor, which would be used as a last resort. We | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
resolution around the table. There resolution around the table. There | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
are other powers that could be set up. There are partnerships in | :39:14. | :39:16. | |
Newcastle Airport and Manchester Airport that have seen them thrive. | :39:17. | :39:20. | |
There are plenty of options available, but until they come | :39:21. | :39:24. | |
around the table, rather than picking the pockets of the | :39:25. | :39:27. | |
authorities and asking for more and giving nothing back... They have | :39:28. | :39:34. | |
only committed to keeping the airport open for five years, because | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
the local authorities said there would take on the responsible the | :39:39. | :39:42. | |
pension, and they have given houses in Darlington. That at least is a | :39:43. | :39:49. | |
plan for revising an airport that is in bad trouble. About the planning | :39:50. | :39:56. | |
system, it is unacceptable for the candidate to sit there and say that | :39:57. | :39:59. | |
the planning system in some way is skewed towards secure objectives | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
that are not planning objectives. The system is was a judicial, run in | :40:04. | :40:10. | |
a fair way. We need to know that. It is wrong... You are not in favour of | :40:11. | :40:19. | |
taking them into public ownership. I would not buy an airport that is | :40:20. | :40:22. | |
losing ?2 million a year and pass that debt onto every single one of | :40:23. | :40:30. | |
you. You just sold one for ?500,000. You would take a piece of | :40:31. | :40:35. | |
infrastructure that is so important and give it away. That is what | :40:36. | :40:40. | |
Labour did in the early 2000. Will not listen to the answer! Let her | :40:41. | :40:48. | |
speak. I will not buy the airport, I will invest in it and turn it into | :40:49. | :40:53. | |
the thriving international gateway that we should have in the Tees | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
Valley if our economy is going to grow. You not doing the company's | :40:58. | :41:03. | |
job for them? Everything I will do is about growing our economy, | :41:04. | :41:07. | |
creating jobs and making is a thriving community, and this is a | :41:08. | :41:11. | |
key part of that. I am not doing their job for them. I am working in | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
partnership with a major business in the Tees Valley, as I am doing | :41:17. | :41:21. | |
across the Tees Valley, physical the best possible outcome. There are a | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
number of things that need to be done. I do not want to go into all | :41:27. | :41:31. | |
of them. Are you confident it will revive the airport? There are real | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
opportunities, not least with the third runway at Heathrow, we will | :41:37. | :41:41. | |
get direct flights. That bring the rest of the panel in. The one thing | :41:42. | :41:47. | |
that is stopping us having a thriving airport that we need this | :41:48. | :41:50. | |
the recent decision by the Labour-controlled Darlington Borough | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
Council to give planning permission for 350 houses right next to the | :41:55. | :42:04. | |
airport. That decision has to be reversed if the airport is to have a | :42:05. | :42:10. | |
proper future. Here we have Sue Jeffrey sitting here talking about | :42:11. | :42:13. | |
the airport, she is a member of the airport board applied for the | :42:14. | :42:17. | |
planning permission. She has a conflict of interest, she should not | :42:18. | :42:20. | |
be on the board and on the combined authority. I will let you come back | :42:21. | :42:28. | |
in one minute. It is not often that I agree with the Liberal Democrats, | :42:29. | :42:31. | |
but having said that, the most important thing is as regards the | :42:32. | :42:36. | |
airport, it needs the infrastructure around it. It needs the ability for | :42:37. | :42:41. | |
people to get there and it will attract investment. 350 houses built | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
next to an airport is an absolute shambles, it is a terrible idea, | :42:48. | :42:52. | |
because if the airport gets its investment and it expands, those | :42:53. | :42:55. | |
houses will have to be pulled down. We need a longer term plan. Let's | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
stop wasting taxpayers' money. Labour cannot be trusted on the | :43:02. | :43:03. | |
economy. 13 years of Government... The suggestion that there is any | :43:04. | :43:14. | |
influence but I have over a planning decision in Darlington is completely | :43:15. | :43:17. | |
and absolutely wrong... You applied for at! You applied for the planning | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
permission. And yes, I do have an interest in Durham Tees Valley | :43:24. | :43:26. | |
airport. I have an interest to make it grow and thrive and be | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
successful. Letter from the audience because there are a lot of passion. | :43:32. | :43:37. | |
Just to put this into perspective, what happened on the 29th of March | :43:38. | :43:40. | |
was that the Labour-controlled council in Darlington gave Peel ?25 | :43:41. | :43:47. | |
million. Prior to that date, the Peel Holdings were telling you that | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
the port was losing ?200,000 per month. It was effectively worthless. | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
Since they got the planning approved, it is now worth ?25 | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
million minimum. But look at it this way. The port, that ?25 million | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
value is the land at about ?1 million per hectare. There is 338 | :44:07. | :44:11. | |
hectares of land there. How are you going to resist any further planning | :44:12. | :44:15. | |
applications for housing? I will tell | :44:16. | :44:25. | |
you, if I go for? Wake up, you lot. We have already talked in terms of | :44:26. | :44:35. | |
the cost of the board. Fundamentally, it is because we did | :44:36. | :44:37. | |
not get regional theatres when we had a Labour government. Why did the | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
Conservative Government not give it regional status and allowed to raise | :44:42. | :44:45. | |
funds and expand? We talk about costs, it is rather surprising that | :44:46. | :44:48. | |
Sue Jeffrey is not mentioned that the council just got cost for a | :44:49. | :44:53. | |
millions of pounds pension make up for appeal all in October the outset | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
it was 300,000, and no one point of a million is to be found for me, you | :44:59. | :45:02. | |
and everybody else in this room to pay for that. Let's take the | :45:03. | :45:07. | |
gentleman in the golden tie. The shambolic management of the entire | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
Teesside airport is a demonstration of why we need devolution, to have | :45:13. | :45:18. | |
an authority that is big enough to manage the critical fight off the | :45:19. | :45:22. | |
value itself and, above all, and under no circumstances should this | :45:23. | :45:28. | |
be an extension of the 1-party state by the Labour Party that has brought | :45:29. | :45:32. | |
this region to its knees over decades. One more coming from the | :45:33. | :45:44. | |
audience. This whole issue about the Tees Valley airport, or Teesside | :45:45. | :45:48. | |
airport, has been brought about because of the combined authority, | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
they sold it for a pittance. They owned 11% of the airport right now. | :45:53. | :45:56. | |
Had they not sold it for next to nothing, the council would still own | :45:57. | :45:59. | |
it and we would not have this problem of no houses being built on | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
it and we could invest in it. It is totally disgraceful what these | :46:05. | :46:06. | |
Labour run councils have done over the years. The councils have been | :46:07. | :46:15. | |
working as hard as they can over the last numbers of years to secure the | :46:16. | :46:18. | |
future of Durham Tees Valley airport. We continue to do that by | :46:19. | :46:27. | |
ensuring... By building housing on it. By ensuring that there will be | :46:28. | :46:31. | |
investment going forward and that investment is going to do a number | :46:32. | :46:34. | |
of things that will secure the future of that airport and the fact | :46:35. | :46:39. | |
is, without doubt airport, our economy will not succeed and it is | :46:40. | :46:43. | |
in all of our interest to get pains plans to see its future secured. Is | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
there anybody in the audience who has got a comment on buses, trains, | :46:49. | :46:55. | |
any other element of transport? Gentleman in the middle. On the | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
metro, be careful of what you ask for, because the Tyne... Tyne and | :47:01. | :47:13. | |
Wear Metro. Yes, every now and again, about once in seven days, it | :47:14. | :47:18. | |
announces that there are no problems on the metro. The reason it has to | :47:19. | :47:24. | |
announce it is because breakdowns are so frequent, because there is | :47:25. | :47:29. | |
not enough investment to keep the metro going properly. Anybody else | :47:30. | :47:37. | |
with views on transport? My comment is not about the metro, actually, | :47:38. | :47:44. | |
but what I find very often... Issues being discussed by people who are | :47:45. | :47:54. | |
not by a large transport users. I do not drive until I on public | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
transport and sadly over the years, the years, the subsidies to bus | :48:00. | :48:02. | |
services have been cut. I live in East Cleveland and it is extremely | :48:03. | :48:05. | |
difficult to travel around East Cleveland on a bus after five | :48:06. | :48:09. | |
o'clock in the evening and that is fundamental to people's quality of | :48:10. | :48:14. | |
life, and that is the kind of integrated transport plans that we | :48:15. | :48:18. | |
need for ordinary people who actually... Whose lives are affected | :48:19. | :48:26. | |
by lack of public transport. Applause | :48:27. | :48:31. | |
Slight problem with the sound. I take the train every day to | :48:32. | :48:34. | |
Middlesbrough where I work and frequently between dialects. The | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
trains that we take were built when I was six years old, 30 years ago, | :48:39. | :48:46. | |
there is no connection. When my dad was ill in James Cook, if you go | :48:47. | :48:49. | |
from Saltburn to Middlesbrough you have to wait for ageing. There is no | :48:50. | :48:53. | |
connections between the different train companies or if you need to | :48:54. | :48:56. | |
take a bus. They do not come at the same time. Everybody has to wait and | :48:57. | :48:59. | |
there is now joined up nice and that is why Transport for London works | :49:00. | :49:03. | |
because they do that with lots of private companies as well as the | :49:04. | :49:06. | |
public once so what are you going to do about that? John Tennant, what | :49:07. | :49:13. | |
would you do to help some of these problems? Basically you're making | :49:14. | :49:15. | |
the same point that I made earlier on, we need to have a metro system | :49:16. | :49:22. | |
with frequent services. And those services, and each station needs to | :49:23. | :49:26. | |
have its bus service so it is fitting it to. It has got to be | :49:27. | :49:29. | |
integrated, as the lady said earlier on. Chris Foote Wood as well. I am | :49:30. | :49:37. | |
well old enough to have a bus pass and use it frequently and I think it | :49:38. | :49:40. | |
is one of the best things that ever happened. The only thing is, having | :49:41. | :49:44. | |
a bus pass is no good if there is no buses. So you need to find some ways | :49:45. | :49:48. | |
of improving the situation, because it is quite true. The subsidies on | :49:49. | :49:54. | |
buses have all gone, and that is why the services have been cut back. It | :49:55. | :49:59. | |
simply means that if you want better services, you're going to have to | :50:00. | :50:02. | |
find some means of getting money into them, whether it is from | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
wherever it comes from. The other thing is of course escort mission. I | :50:07. | :50:13. | |
quite agree. Having travelled widely on the continent, you go to cities | :50:14. | :50:17. | |
on the continent, what do you find? The buses and trains actually | :50:18. | :50:20. | |
coincide with one another! Is it not wonderful? Why can we not do that? | :50:21. | :50:27. | |
Just on the trains. We are running short on time so I am going to run | :50:28. | :50:31. | |
it on to our next question, Yvonne Richardson. Much of our older local | :50:32. | :50:38. | |
housing stock is being bought up by private, Providence accessed | :50:39. | :50:40. | |
landlords who have no interest in the community and do not carry out | :50:41. | :50:46. | |
proper repairs. -- profit obsessed. What will you do to tackle this and | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
ensure investment goes into these homes? We are starting to run short | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
on time but Sue Jeffrey, on housing, how would you answer that? Housing | :50:57. | :51:00. | |
market renewal funding ran out into those in sex. That was the money | :51:01. | :51:03. | |
that was going to regenerate communities right across the Tees | :51:04. | :51:06. | |
Valley. It was lost, it does not happen, we need to get that money | :51:07. | :51:10. | |
back into those communities to ensure that those areas are | :51:11. | :51:13. | |
generated. It cannot just be about building houses on greenfield sites. | :51:14. | :51:20. | |
It must be about putting the heart back into our town centres and our | :51:21. | :51:23. | |
communities, as I say, like the place that I represent, South bank | :51:24. | :51:26. | |
in Middlesborough. For too long, we have the money going into, as I say, | :51:27. | :51:31. | |
just building new homes. We need money going into regeneration and | :51:32. | :51:34. | |
proper regeneration, not just in terms of bricks and mortar but also | :51:35. | :51:37. | |
the people and communities that live there. What would you do on housing | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
if elected mayor? There must combined authority has a land | :51:43. | :51:45. | |
commission and to be able to address the housing issue, we need more | :51:46. | :51:50. | |
affordable housing and for me across the set, Denton and Hartlepool we | :51:51. | :51:53. | |
need more housing generally and one of my key policies is to allow the | :51:54. | :51:57. | |
land commissioner, as part of the combined authority, to find a viable | :51:58. | :52:02. | |
sites for a new village, a new town with a master plan so it has the | :52:03. | :52:06. | |
infrastructure... Have you got any idea of where that would go? | :52:07. | :52:10. | |
Mol-mac, I am not an expert on land planning. So is this to avoid the | :52:11. | :52:16. | |
knot in my backyard issues will you park it in the middle of nowhere? | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
No. There is a serious point. For too long, across the area we have | :52:21. | :52:25. | |
got local authorities that do not have up-to-date local plans and so | :52:26. | :52:28. | |
haphazardly approving planning proposals across the region that are | :52:29. | :52:32. | |
affecting our market towns and villages and hamlets, that are being | :52:33. | :52:35. | |
attacked by ad hoc planning applications from developers. A | :52:36. | :52:39. | |
chunk of those ad hoc housing requirements could be soaked up by a | :52:40. | :52:45. | |
new site, that is one of the key reasons for it. On top of that, the | :52:46. | :52:48. | |
combined authority, and I would be looking at funds of additional | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
funding to bring back into use some brownfield sites were in previous | :52:53. | :52:57. | |
years that funding has not come in. John, on housing, short of time, one | :52:58. | :53:02. | |
idea? The thing is, we have to look at... Bringing a lot of indie houses | :53:03. | :53:06. | |
back into use. There is a lot of them in the Tees Valley. -- empty | :53:07. | :53:11. | |
houses. That is how we solve the social houses crisis we're having | :53:12. | :53:14. | |
because the Right to Buy scheme destroyed social housing. We have | :53:15. | :53:18. | |
got to put a stop to that and to protect people, particularly | :53:19. | :53:21. | |
vulnerable and people who cannot afford to get onto the housing | :53:22. | :53:23. | |
ladder. That is what we should be doing and not what Labour or the | :53:24. | :53:27. | |
Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats are offering you. Chris | :53:28. | :53:33. | |
Foote Wood, what would you offer? I would like to see, when I was a | :53:34. | :53:38. | |
Council Leader, we emphasised renewing houses, repairing houses, | :53:39. | :53:41. | |
renovating and bringing up to modern standards. It is almost always | :53:42. | :53:47. | |
better, instead of knocking a house down to modernise it. It costs less | :53:48. | :53:51. | |
and it keeps the community together. That is the principle I would like | :53:52. | :53:56. | |
to see done, particularly whereas in Middlesbrough, where I used to live, | :53:57. | :53:59. | |
vast areas in dereliction of where it has been flung clearance to stop | :54:00. | :54:03. | |
when you clear the slums, you're not just clearing houses, the people are | :54:04. | :54:09. | |
making out and you are losing your communities. I agree it is silly. | :54:10. | :54:11. | |
Let's keep the community together by making sure that housing is brought | :54:12. | :54:17. | |
up to modern standards. -- I agree with Sue Jeffrey is. It saves a lot | :54:18. | :54:22. | |
of money. Let's move onto our final tonight. This is a lot of response | :54:23. | :54:29. | |
ability. What experience do you have that makes you best suited for the | :54:30. | :54:38. | |
job? Let's go to Ben. I think I've got a lot of experience. I am | :54:39. | :54:41. | |
currently reading the Conservative group on Stockton Council, so I have | :54:42. | :54:44. | |
a good understanding of the pressure that local authorities face but also | :54:45. | :54:47. | |
some of the opportunities that local authorities are possibly not taking | :54:48. | :54:52. | |
advantage of that can be done by the combined authority. I also run my | :54:53. | :54:55. | |
own business, started my own business just over 12 months ago. I | :54:56. | :55:01. | |
grew that with myself -- from myself and a couple of other people to more | :55:02. | :55:05. | |
than 20 employees. I understand the pressures faced by the business | :55:06. | :55:08. | |
community over skills, training, access to funding, business rates. I | :55:09. | :55:13. | |
was also in private practice as a solicitor for a number of years and | :55:14. | :55:17. | |
so have seen the same problems from clients across the Tees Valley, who | :55:18. | :55:20. | |
are facing both finishes. I have got not just the public experience but | :55:21. | :55:23. | |
also the private experience of what is happening on a daily basis. John | :55:24. | :55:30. | |
Tennant. Your qualifications? I am the leader of the UK opposition | :55:31. | :55:33. | |
group on Hartlepool Borough Council and that experience at a local | :55:34. | :55:36. | |
level. From ordinary people, I understand about the Tees Valley | :55:37. | :55:39. | |
combined authority and most people do not like it. They do not support | :55:40. | :55:42. | |
it. As somebody who has been involved in Ukip for a long time, we | :55:43. | :55:46. | |
were the party that brought to there the pressure on the government to | :55:47. | :55:50. | |
offer the referendum. We can do the referendum. We can do this in here | :55:51. | :55:53. | |
and I have that experience. I have heard you talk about career | :55:54. | :56:04. | |
politicians, but what do you have talked about having no career | :56:05. | :56:06. | |
politicians, but you are a career politician. Of course not. I have | :56:07. | :56:09. | |
been Ukip for a long time. The point being we have always been turkeys | :56:10. | :56:13. | |
voting for Christmas and we have achieved far more as a party in 23 | :56:14. | :56:16. | |
years... You are not really getting personal qualities. I am going to | :56:17. | :56:20. | |
move it on. Chris Foote Wood, your personal qualities? I am not a | :56:21. | :56:25. | |
modest guy. I know my capabilities and I would say without doubt I am | :56:26. | :56:31. | |
the best qualified person of the four to be mayor of Tees Valley. I | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
have been a Council Leader for six years, making real decisions. I have | :56:36. | :56:40. | |
also been, more important, a member of all-party bodies. I make a point | :56:41. | :56:44. | |
here. We already have five out of the six members of the combined | :56:45. | :56:50. | |
authority are Labour. If we have a Labour mayor, it will be the | :56:51. | :56:55. | |
equivalent of a 1-party state. The way that this should be run, this | :56:56. | :57:00. | |
should be run to be successful on an all-party basis and I believe when | :57:01. | :57:04. | |
you go to government, and I used to go to government, lead a delegation, | :57:05. | :57:09. | |
but I made sure that delegation included representatives of the | :57:10. | :57:11. | |
other parties on the council, because when you go to government, | :57:12. | :57:17. | |
it is much better to say we are representing on an all-party basis, | :57:18. | :57:20. | |
the whole of the Tees Valley, and that is what I will do. I need to | :57:21. | :57:24. | |
get Sue Jeffrey on. You might want to answer that. It is a labour cabal | :57:25. | :57:28. | |
of you're the head of this. The command my personal qualities, first | :57:29. | :57:33. | |
and foremost, I have only the leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council. | :57:34. | :57:37. | |
Before that, I was a housing professional. I work in planning, | :57:38. | :57:43. | |
development and the regional level. I have written authorisation that | :57:44. | :57:46. | |
after Madrid was the Tees Valley and more. More than that, I am a | :57:47. | :57:49. | |
resident in Southbank. I know about my community and work on it. | :57:50. | :57:54. | |
And how about the causes of you sitting with five Labour councillors | :57:55. | :57:59. | |
questioned a big Mac and I am a mum and grandmother, which I am proud | :58:00. | :58:02. | |
of. In terms of being a Labour cabal, as you call it, what it is | :58:03. | :58:09. | |
about is a partnership of local authorities, the mayor, business and | :58:10. | :58:13. | |
the community and the whole of the Tees Valley, 600,000 -- more than | :58:14. | :58:16. | |
600,000 people standing together, fighting for the Tees Valley thing | :58:17. | :58:19. | |
we are going to do things for ourselves, make a difference, grow | :58:20. | :58:22. | |
our economy, create jobs and be a better place. That is what I am | :58:23. | :58:25. | |
standing for. I would love to have time to go back | :58:26. | :58:30. | |
to the audience but unfortunately, it is against us and has run out. My | :58:31. | :58:34. | |
thanks to the panel, to our audience here at the Macmillan Academy and, | :58:35. | :58:38. | |
of course, to you at home for tuning in. The debate goes on. Just | :58:39. | :58:43. | |
remember that the Twitter # is tease me if you want to have your say in | :58:44. | :58:46. | |
what you have heard and there is much more about the mayoral | :58:47. | :58:49. | |
conflicts coming up over the next few days with more online. It has | :58:50. | :58:52. | |
been a lively debate and it is a pretty big job ahead for whoever | :58:53. | :58:55. | |
wins this election on the 4th of May but for now, it is good night from | :58:56. | :58:58. | |
Middlesbrough. Spring is arriving - | :58:59. | :59:04. | |
in a whirlwind of pink. We're in Japan to celebrate | :59:05. | :59:07. | |
the sakura. So join us on Friday, | :59:08. | :59:10. | |
21 April at 8.30 on BBC TWO. TV: He's not your father. | :59:11. | :59:15. | |
WOMAN GASPS so why not pay your TV licence in | :59:16. | :59:27. | |
weekly instalments, too? | :59:28. | :59:41. |