Browse content similar to 08/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Crime in Wales is going down. Burglaries are on the up, this is | 0:00:00 | 0:00:10 | |
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Good evening. If you look at the statistics, crime levels across the | 0:00:12 | 0:00:15 | |
country appear to be falling. If you look at opinion polls after the | 0:00:15 | 0:00:18 | |
economy and unemployment crime and law and order is the third most | 0:00:18 | 0:00:23 | |
important issue affecting all of us. What's the true picture you may | 0:00:24 | 0:00:27 | |
ask? Well the answers may lie in the figures on burglary - Dragon's | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
Eye has learnt that burglary rates have gone up by 20% across Wales | 0:00:30 | 0:00:36 | |
despite a fall in overall crime. The figures come from a new | 0:00:36 | 0:00:39 | |
compilation of recorded crime by UK Crime Stats as I've been finding | 0:00:39 | 0:00:47 | |
out. It is something we all worry about, | 0:00:47 | 0:00:52 | |
how much crime is there in society, how safe are our houses and | 0:00:52 | 0:01:02 | |
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belongings. Overall, crime fell last year by 70%. When we look a | 0:01:02 | 0:01:06 | |
burglary it is a different story. On average, the numbers go up by | 0:01:06 | 0:01:12 | |
20%. That goes against the trend according to one Criminology | 0:01:12 | 0:01:19 | |
experts. It is a concern because it's an area that has traditionally | 0:01:19 | 0:01:23 | |
over the last decade or so, the number of burglaries has been | 0:01:23 | 0:01:31 | |
dropping steadily. Increased security, targeted policing, a | 0:01:31 | 0:01:34 | |
number of reasons why. The police will be disappointed there is a | 0:01:34 | 0:01:39 | |
rise in burglary and they would take the appropriate action and | 0:01:39 | 0:01:46 | |
analyse the data. Of course we want -- will not know if it's a long- | 0:01:46 | 0:01:51 | |
term trend for a number of years. It could be a statistical Spike, | 0:01:51 | 0:01:56 | |
the numbers are not tremendous in terms of overall crime and | 0:01:56 | 0:02:03 | |
occasionally you do get this spike for a number of reasons, even down | 0:02:03 | 0:02:09 | |
to burglars being released back into society. They will look at it | 0:02:09 | 0:02:16 | |
I imagine in a long-term period to see if there's a trend. Different | 0:02:16 | 0:02:26 | |
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parts of the country fare South Wales Police saw the number | 0:02:39 | 0:02:49 | |
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go up from 563 in 20th December 10 to 834. In North Wales, the figure | 0:02:49 | 0:02:59 | |
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What has caused this apparent increase? In the press, headlines | 0:03:01 | 0:03:06 | |
about an austerity crime wave but the man who compiled the figures is | 0:03:06 | 0:03:11 | |
not convinced. The recent data suggesting specifically robbery and | 0:03:11 | 0:03:17 | |
burglary goes up a little bit in recession. However, we should be | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
cautious to because it depends on the area. The national picture does | 0:03:20 | 0:03:25 | |
not give you that much of the field. What affects people is crime in | 0:03:25 | 0:03:29 | |
their area and concerns about the relative risk compared to other | 0:03:29 | 0:03:35 | |
local areas. The Home Office said they are improving the transparency | 0:03:35 | 0:03:39 | |
of information to the public through crime maps so they can hold | 0:03:39 | 0:03:44 | |
their forces to account. Police and Crown Commissioners will act as the | 0:03:44 | 0:03:53 | |
people's champion by setting local In some areas, there will always be | 0:03:53 | 0:03:58 | |
certain problems, the centre of Cardiff is a shopping buzzing | 0:03:58 | 0:04:03 | |
destination at day and a party venue by night. In dozens of pubs | 0:04:03 | 0:04:09 | |
and clubs hundreds of shops and visitors every year, it might be | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
surprising Cardiff city centre has the highest number of crimes in | 0:04:12 | 0:04:17 | |
Wales. The area also has the 7th highest number of crimes in the | 0:04:17 | 0:04:23 | |
whole of England and Wales. Last year, there were over 11,500 crimes | 0:04:23 | 0:04:30 | |
committed last year and of those over 3,500 or anti-social behaviour. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
That is 10 every day. Anyone who spends a night out in Cardiff may | 0:04:35 | 0:04:40 | |
have seen the antics of some revellers. According to our expert, | 0:04:40 | 0:04:44 | |
high numbers of crime recorded could be because of more bobbies on | 0:04:44 | 0:04:49 | |
the beat. The problem with recorded crime figures is that it is just | 0:04:49 | 0:04:54 | |
the crime we know about. And it is the fact that more police you put | 0:04:54 | 0:04:58 | |
on the streets, invariably what happens is more crime is recalled - | 0:04:58 | 0:05:03 | |
- reported. It's a case of we know what we know, we don't know about | 0:05:03 | 0:05:08 | |
what we don't know about. It sounds strange. There is a lot of crying | 0:05:08 | 0:05:12 | |
in society we do not know about because it's not report it. -- | 0:05:12 | 0:05:19 | |
crime. There are many reasons why. The falling crime overall will be | 0:05:19 | 0:05:25 | |
welcome news to many but the burglaries will be cause for | 0:05:25 | 0:05:28 | |
concern. The UK Government is pushing through some far reaching | 0:05:28 | 0:05:31 | |
changes to Welsh and English police forces - budgets are being cut but | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
Home Office Ministers insist less bureaucracy will free up more | 0:05:34 | 0:05:38 | |
officers to patrol our streets. We're also just a few months away | 0:05:38 | 0:05:42 | |
from the first elections of elected police commissioners. Plenty to | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
discuss, then, when Dragon's Eye's, Tomos Livingstone met up with the | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
shadow policing minister, the Delyn MP, David Hanson and began by | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
asking him what he made of the twenty per cent rise in the | 0:05:51 | 0:05:59 | |
burglary rate. I am very concerned because | 0:05:59 | 0:06:04 | |
burglary is a crime that affects people in their homes. With | 0:06:04 | 0:06:09 | |
personal crime going up 11% over the last year, the worrying trend | 0:06:09 | 0:06:13 | |
emerging in police forces. What explains this rise, is it the | 0:06:13 | 0:06:19 | |
recession? The Labour government was the first year of the recession | 0:06:19 | 0:06:23 | |
and I remember as police minister being surprised we contained the | 0:06:23 | 0:06:29 | |
levels of crime during the recession. This is the beginning of | 0:06:29 | 0:06:33 | |
a new trend to show crime is rising as the recession starts. But part | 0:06:33 | 0:06:41 | |
eg because of growing unemployment -- parlay that is due. There are | 0:06:41 | 0:06:45 | |
reductions in expenditure and reductions in spending on crime and | 0:06:45 | 0:06:52 | |
justice. What can people do about it? I know the police have been | 0:06:52 | 0:06:58 | |
trying hard to ensure the rise is stopped. That is often undertaken | 0:06:59 | 0:07:06 | |
by prolific offenders, we need to tackle in the longer term drugs and | 0:07:06 | 0:07:12 | |
alcohol and performance in prison to make sure they do not reoffend. | 0:07:12 | 0:07:18 | |
I know the police are keen to focus on those prolific regular offenders. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:23 | |
Burglary rates were falling and has holders might be less alert to this | 0:07:23 | 0:07:30 | |
crime. Crime overall fell by 43% over 13 years. We're now seeing, | 0:07:30 | 0:07:35 | |
despite the best efforts of the police, a rise in burglary and | 0:07:35 | 0:07:39 | |
personal crime. People need to be vigilant, take steps in their home | 0:07:39 | 0:07:43 | |
to mark their equipment and locked windows and doors. The police need | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
to look at regular offenders to make sure they are not committing a | 0:07:47 | 0:07:52 | |
repeat offences. All of us need to ensure we improve the levels of | 0:07:52 | 0:07:57 | |
funding for police. You mention the funding and cuts. The government | 0:07:57 | 0:08:01 | |
argue they are cutting back office functions not officers, is there a | 0:08:01 | 0:08:07 | |
connection between spending on police and crime? I will let the | 0:08:07 | 0:08:11 | |
viewers make up their own mind. Police officers have been lost in | 0:08:11 | 0:08:16 | |
Wales, there are 4,000 fewer police officers on the street than a year | 0:08:16 | 0:08:25 | |
ago. I think people in Wales will recognise fewer police means more | 0:08:25 | 0:08:28 | |
difficult challenges insuring with police effectively. The police are | 0:08:28 | 0:08:34 | |
doing a great job but with few of them, it is difficult. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
government argued there is not enough money to keep funding the | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
police to the levels previously, what would a Labour government do | 0:08:41 | 0:08:46 | |
differently? We had plans to make savings and efficiencies in back | 0:08:46 | 0:08:51 | |
office staff. The government are cutting a 20% of the police budget | 0:08:51 | 0:08:56 | |
this year, last year and next year. It is not sustainable. We need to | 0:08:56 | 0:09:00 | |
invest more in the police and give strength to local people to take | 0:09:00 | 0:09:05 | |
action. The Government's strategy will not help reduce the burglary | 0:09:05 | 0:09:11 | |
despite the great efforts of police. David Hanson, thank you very much. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:14 | |
The Conservative AM, Byron Davies spent many years in the police and | 0:09:14 | 0:09:19 | |
used to be part of the UK National Crime Squad. He's with me now. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:26 | |
Thank you for joining us. Reading back what David Hanson raised, | 0:09:26 | 0:09:30 | |
because of the UK Government's cuts, there are fewer police officers on | 0:09:30 | 0:09:34 | |
the street, less spending on community safety and a reduction in | 0:09:34 | 0:09:39 | |
the overall spending on crime. He says it is on your watch and puts | 0:09:39 | 0:09:47 | |
the blame on the UK government cuts to budgets. It comes as no surprise. | 0:09:47 | 0:09:51 | |
Let me say burglary is a very unpleasant, especially residential | 0:09:51 | 0:09:57 | |
burglary. We have had to deal with a situation where we have two | 0:09:57 | 0:10:02 | |
thirds of the police force on the streets patrolling, the rest are in | 0:10:02 | 0:10:07 | |
back-office jobs. We have had to release those people. It is a case | 0:10:07 | 0:10:11 | |
of getting people back on the streets patrolling which is where | 0:10:11 | 0:10:17 | |
police officers should be. Is that going to happen? 283 fewer police | 0:10:17 | 0:10:22 | |
officers in Wales in the last year alone. It will be difficult, | 0:10:22 | 0:10:27 | |
getting to grips is not easy. course it will be difficult but the | 0:10:27 | 0:10:33 | |
fact is the public expect value for money. We are in or austere times. | 0:10:33 | 0:10:38 | |
It is about getting police sitting in offices out on the street | 0:10:38 | 0:10:44 | |
patrolling. The object of any force is on the streets patrolling. | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
paperwork has to be done by somebody, if you have few officers, | 0:10:47 | 0:10:52 | |
somebody has to do those back office functions. Indeed but I have | 0:10:52 | 0:10:59 | |
to say this government has ensured the paperwork is reduced. Something | 0:10:59 | 0:11:07 | |
like 70 forms had to be completed a for a burglary, that is going out | 0:11:07 | 0:11:15 | |
of the window. These targets are finished. Looking at the 20% | 0:11:15 | 0:11:19 | |
increase in burglary over the last year in Wales, to what extent can | 0:11:20 | 0:11:23 | |
that be attributed to the recession, we are living in difficult times | 0:11:23 | 0:11:29 | |
and you're likely to see the theft and burglary go up? You do get | 0:11:29 | 0:11:35 | |
these spikes as was pointed out in the interview. The point is | 0:11:35 | 0:11:40 | |
burglary, I would be silly to say it is related to the current | 0:11:40 | 0:11:47 | |
financial crisis but there is no excuse for it. As I say, it is | 0:11:47 | 0:11:51 | |
about being out there, good intelligence and arresting these | 0:11:51 | 0:11:56 | |
people. One of the big ideas of the UK government is elected police | 0:11:56 | 0:12:01 | |
commissioners, how will that help? Enormously. They would take the | 0:12:01 | 0:12:06 | |
bureaucracy at the bottom have at the moment, we have people directly | 0:12:06 | 0:12:13 | |
elected by the people and police pals will be representing the local | 0:12:13 | 0:12:19 | |
authorities and people and they will feed their views up to chief | 0:12:19 | 0:12:24 | |
Constable's directly. Thank you for joining us this evening. Today we | 0:12:24 | 0:12:27 | |
learnt that Cardiff has been unsuccessful in its bid to bring | 0:12:27 | 0:12:30 | |
the UK Government's three billion pound Green Investment Bank to the | 0:12:30 | 0:12:33 | |
city. It was announced this morning that the headquarters will be in | 0:12:33 | 0:12:35 | |
Edinburgh. The Enterprise Minister, Edwina Hart, had lobbied UK | 0:12:35 | 0:12:38 | |
ministers to bring the bank to Cardiff which the Welsh Government | 0:12:38 | 0:12:40 | |
has designated its Financial and Professional Services Enterprise | 0:12:40 | 0:12:50 | |
0:12:50 | 0:12:58 | ||
The aim is to create a central business district attracting top | 0:12:58 | 0:13:03 | |
financial institutions to Cardiff. The City employs 50,000 people in | 0:13:03 | 0:13:12 | |
the sector making up 124,000 across Wales providing financial services. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:18 | |
The government wants an increase of 200,000. It will pay a -- play a | 0:13:18 | 0:13:23 | |
key part. It is the closest capital city to London but that is the | 0:13:24 | 0:13:29 | |
headline. The reality is our ability to bring the organisations | 0:13:29 | 0:13:36 | |
into Cardiff is dependent on the people. The government is | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
establishing a Green Investment Bank to have �3 billion of public | 0:13:40 | 0:13:45 | |
money to spend on energy schemes. Cardiff was one of 32 areas bidding | 0:13:45 | 0:13:50 | |
to host the headquarters of the new body which will invest in recycling | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
facilities. The UK government announced it would be based in | 0:13:54 | 0:14:00 | |
Edinburgh. The minister says she is disappointed the bid to bring the | 0:14:00 | 0:14:03 | |
bank to Cardiff has been unsuccessful. She says she pressed | 0:14:03 | 0:14:07 | |
the case with the business Secretary Vince Cable but says | 0:14:07 | 0:14:12 | |
there will be other opportunities for Welsh companies. There is so | 0:14:12 | 0:14:16 | |
much more you could do to have secured the investment bank. I was | 0:14:16 | 0:14:20 | |
in Westminster before Christmas and one of the rival bids was hosting a | 0:14:20 | 0:14:25 | |
parliamentary reception with a glossy brochure and people going to | 0:14:25 | 0:14:31 | |
put the case for that city. The Welsh government hasn't done any of | 0:14:31 | 0:14:36 | |
that for Cardiff. Sources say it Cardiff did not make it into the | 0:14:36 | 0:14:46 | |
0:14:46 | 0:14:46 | ||
Scotland to have more financial services and a historic base of | 0:14:46 | 0:14:53 | |
them. We are not alone in that. Other regions are also trying to | 0:14:53 | 0:14:56 | |
latch onto this high-value industry, so it is about improving our | 0:14:56 | 0:14:59 | |
offering said that competition really does not faze us, because at | 0:14:59 | 0:15:04 | |
the moment I think we are being competed out of the market. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:08 | |
An adviser to the Welsh government says the public and private sectors | 0:15:08 | 0:15:13 | |
are now working together to make Cardiff a successful centre. | 0:15:13 | 0:15:16 | |
The government has put it at the top of its agenda to support | 0:15:16 | 0:15:20 | |
organisations which bring jobs into Wales. In the last three weeks, | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
there have been at three large investments, all of which have been | 0:15:24 | 0:15:29 | |
supported by the government, and which have been recommended by the | 0:15:29 | 0:15:32 | |
panel of Ministers. Edwina Hart would not be | 0:15:32 | 0:15:36 | |
interviewed by this programme. Critics say the Welsh government is | 0:15:36 | 0:15:40 | |
sending out the wrong message to financial institutions. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:45 | |
The errors something hypocritical to try and get those who engage in | 0:15:45 | 0:15:48 | |
financial activity to come to Cardiff and generate income locally | 0:15:48 | 0:15:53 | |
and to spend their money, to then actually say that we support a | 0:15:53 | 0:15:57 | |
financial transaction tax. Even more worrying is that when the | 0:15:57 | 0:16:00 | |
Welsh Labour government said they supported a financial transaction | 0:16:00 | 0:16:05 | |
tax, something which the UK Labour Party doesn't, it is a quite | 0:16:05 | 0:16:09 | |
bizarre step -- step to take, it is not be positive message you want to | 0:16:10 | 0:16:14 | |
put out their. This Plaid Cymru adviser says more | 0:16:14 | 0:16:19 | |
needs to be done. One of the things I have pledged | 0:16:19 | 0:16:24 | |
the Welsh government to do is to establish stronger relationships | 0:16:24 | 0:16:30 | |
with the venture capital community in London. We have not done that. | 0:16:30 | 0:16:34 | |
Missing out on the Green Investment Bank may be a blow, but it is also | 0:16:34 | 0:16:38 | |
being reported that another big employer, Legal and General, may be | 0:16:38 | 0:16:43 | |
backing out of an agreement to create a business district around | 0:16:43 | 0:16:47 | |
the station. Those working in the financial | 0:16:47 | 0:16:50 | |
services sector in Cardiff say the city will have to keep building for | 0:16:50 | 0:16:55 | |
the future in order to attract companies in. | 0:16:55 | 0:17:03 | |
Less discusses with the leader of Cardiff council. First of all, | 0:17:03 | 0:17:07 | |
Rodney, the fact that the Green Investment Bank will be located in | 0:17:08 | 0:17:12 | |
Edinburgh rather than Cardiff, how much of the losses that? | 0:17:12 | 0:17:17 | |
Clearly it is disappointing, but we still have a very clear plans for | 0:17:17 | 0:17:23 | |
our central business district. It took us some time to persuade the | 0:17:23 | 0:17:26 | |
Welsh government to back that up by giving us enterprise zone status, | 0:17:26 | 0:17:32 | |
but we will very much continue with these plans. As was highlighted in | 0:17:33 | 0:17:38 | |
the report, the financial sector is very important to Cardiff's economy. | 0:17:38 | 0:17:44 | |
It employs about a quarter of our workforce, it produces 30% of our | 0:17:44 | 0:17:48 | |
economic output. We have been growing our financial services | 0:17:48 | 0:17:52 | |
sector in recent times, despite the economic downturn, so we can have | 0:17:52 | 0:17:59 | |
confidence that we can move ahead. Looking at what was said there that | 0:17:59 | 0:18:03 | |
it took some time for Cardiff to get enterprise zone status, to what | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
extent do you think the Welsh government was dragging its heels? | 0:18:07 | 0:18:11 | |
The UK government announced these months before the Welsh government | 0:18:11 | 0:18:16 | |
said we will follow suit? I do not think there is anything in | 0:18:16 | 0:18:19 | |
that at all. We have the only business enterprise zone anywhere | 0:18:20 | 0:18:23 | |
in the country, in the centre of Cardiff. That is a unique selling | 0:18:23 | 0:18:28 | |
point. I agree with probably about the fat that we are very | 0:18:28 | 0:18:30 | |
disappointed that the Green Investment Bank will not come to | 0:18:30 | 0:18:39 | |
Cardiff. -- I agree with properly. What about the fact that enterprise | 0:18:39 | 0:18:46 | |
zones are targeted at specific industries? Anglesey is an energy | 0:18:46 | 0:18:51 | |
area. In England, an enterprise zone is an enterprise zone, and you | 0:18:51 | 0:18:57 | |
cannot attract what you want. We know that has failed in the past. | 0:18:57 | 0:19:01 | |
It failed in the 1980s in Swansea. If you have a general enterprise | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
zone, all you end up doing is sucking into that part of the city | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
businesses that otherwise would be located outside it. We are very | 0:19:09 | 0:19:14 | |
clear that we want specialist zones to avoid that problem, and to be | 0:19:14 | 0:19:18 | |
able to concentrate and build on the strength of an area. The | 0:19:18 | 0:19:21 | |
strength in the centre of Cardiff are very different to Anglesey, and | 0:19:21 | 0:19:25 | |
we want to play to the strength of an area. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:30 | |
Would you prefer to see a broader approach to attracting a group of | 0:19:30 | 0:19:33 | |
companies rather than targeting financial companies? | 0:19:33 | 0:19:38 | |
It would have given us more scope. Having said that, I do not think it | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
is the be-all and end-all of everything. We are clear that we | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
are not looking to sucking jobs from elsewhere in Wales. We are | 0:19:45 | 0:19:48 | |
looking to get the kind of firms that will come to Cardiff that | 0:19:48 | 0:19:52 | |
would not go to any other part of Wales. We are looking at competing | 0:19:52 | 0:19:56 | |
with other cities in England to get these jobs, so I am not that | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
bothered about the argument about displacing jobs from elsewhere in | 0:19:59 | 0:20:05 | |
Wales. As we heard about Legal and General. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:12 | |
How confident are you about their future will -- future in the City? | 0:20:12 | 0:20:17 | |
We are looking at plans for various parts of our district. We are | 0:20:17 | 0:20:21 | |
discussing plans with employers, and this is still ongoing. We are | 0:20:21 | 0:20:26 | |
confident they will remain. There seems to be a lack of detail | 0:20:27 | 0:20:30 | |
in terms of what can be offered by these enterprise zones. We do not | 0:20:30 | 0:20:37 | |
know what a company will be getting. That is not the case in England. | 0:20:37 | 0:20:45 | |
We are no different. But you get answers sooner England. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:49 | |
We will deliver in the same way, and such uncertainties apply | 0:20:49 | 0:20:53 | |
equally in England as they do in Wales. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
Is there a problem in the relationship with the UK government | 0:20:55 | 0:20:59 | |
and the Welsh government, which has been fraught over the last few | 0:20:59 | 0:21:03 | |
months? I do not think that is true. Edwina | 0:21:03 | 0:21:09 | |
Hart was in London speaking to Vince Cable about this decision. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:14 | |
She was meeting chief executives and chairs of companies. I think | 0:21:14 | 0:21:18 | |
when it comes to making decisions, and Real Business, the relationship | 0:21:18 | 0:21:23 | |
between Wales at Westminster is still strong. -- Wales and | 0:21:23 | 0:21:28 | |
Westminster. Almost 300 workers at Remploy | 0:21:28 | 0:21:32 | |
factories in Wales are at risk of losing their jobs. It is because | 0:21:32 | 0:21:36 | |
the UK government has decided to stop funding seven of the nine | 0:21:36 | 0:21:40 | |
factories working here. They are unlikely to achieve financial | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
viability without government support. The move has angered many | 0:21:44 | 0:21:47 | |
politicians, who claim it is going to be tough for Remploy workers to | 0:21:47 | 0:21:54 | |
get jobs elsewhere. My question is, yes, I want to see | 0:21:54 | 0:21:58 | |
disabled people being mainstream and having jobs that they want, but | 0:21:58 | 0:22:02 | |
where are they? It is a sad state of affairs. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:06 | |
An independent review which recommended that government funding | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
should support individuals rather than subsidising factory businesses | 0:22:09 | 0:22:14 | |
formed the basis of this decision. The Minister for Disabled People, | 0:22:14 | 0:22:18 | |
Maria Miller, says the thundering - - funding going to have Remploy | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
factories will be reinvested into other schemes to help disabled | 0:22:20 | 0:22:25 | |
people find work. It is a decision that has been welcomed by some | 0:22:25 | 0:22:30 | |
campaigners, including Rhian Davies, chief executive of Disability Wales, | 0:22:30 | 0:22:35 | |
who was owed to me earlier. Looking at some of the workers and | 0:22:35 | 0:22:38 | |
the headlines today, and what was said about the announcement, they | 0:22:38 | 0:22:42 | |
said they felt shafted and disgusted, they really do not want | 0:22:42 | 0:22:46 | |
this to go ahead. But I get the sense you do. Why are you welcoming | 0:22:46 | 0:22:51 | |
this move? Disability Wales has long | 0:22:51 | 0:22:56 | |
campaigned for a fully inclusive society, and the rights for -- of | 0:22:56 | 0:22:59 | |
disabled people. At the opportunities for disabled people | 0:22:59 | 0:23:03 | |
to work in mainstream jobs. However, are we do recognise that we are not | 0:23:03 | 0:23:07 | |
living in an ideal world, and that for many disabled people, it is | 0:23:07 | 0:23:12 | |
hard to get work. This is a very difficult jobs climate for all | 0:23:13 | 0:23:18 | |
people, let alone disabled people. If I fully appreciate the concerns | 0:23:18 | 0:23:24 | |
that many of the workers feel about the future, and this has been a | 0:23:24 | 0:23:28 | |
very sudden decision in many ways. The future must be looking very | 0:23:28 | 0:23:33 | |
bleak for many of those workers. One of the things I have heard is | 0:23:33 | 0:23:38 | |
that it would be better for Remploy employees to work in more | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
mainstream work forces. How difficult will that be, considering | 0:23:41 | 0:23:47 | |
it is tight economic times? There are many obstacles and | 0:23:47 | 0:23:51 | |
barriers to disabled people attaining work, things like skills | 0:23:51 | 0:23:56 | |
and qualifications, workplace barriers like access, transport | 0:23:56 | 0:24:01 | |
barriers, and also employer attitudes. Disability Wales and | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
other organisations have worked hard for many years to campaign for | 0:24:05 | 0:24:09 | |
those to be tackled, but we are still a long way from achieving | 0:24:09 | 0:24:13 | |
that, so again, for workers and other disabled people seeking work | 0:24:13 | 0:24:18 | |
in the mainstream, it is a tough one to get into. | 0:24:19 | 0:24:22 | |
This is not the worst possible time to make an announcement about | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
pulling the funding for Remploy factories? | 0:24:25 | 0:24:30 | |
It is an extremely tough time. There has been a question over | 0:24:30 | 0:24:35 | |
Remploy as a business, as a brand for 20 years. Successive | 0:24:35 | 0:24:38 | |
governments have talked about closing down. This one has taken | 0:24:39 | 0:24:44 | |
that step, but obviously it is that the worst possible time for all | 0:24:44 | 0:24:49 | |
people, and especially disabled people. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:53 | |
The government say they may keep them as a going concern. How viable | 0:24:53 | 0:24:58 | |
do think these seven factories are? I do not have detailed knowledge, | 0:24:58 | 0:25:03 | |
but I think what is important is that there is a consultation with | 0:25:03 | 0:25:07 | |
the employees themselves, who were no better than anyone the business, | 0:25:07 | 0:25:12 | |
the opportunities, local contacts. At what Disability Wales would be | 0:25:12 | 0:25:15 | |
interested in seeing is whether there is opportunities for disabled | 0:25:15 | 0:25:19 | |
people, those workers, to take over those factories themselves, to be | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
in control of them and make those decisions with the support to | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
enable that to happen. For those workers who are facing | 0:25:25 | 0:25:29 | |
losing their jobs, what would be your message? What can the UK | 0:25:29 | 0:25:33 | |
government do for the now? I think every effort has to be made | 0:25:33 | 0:25:38 | |
to support the workers. This is no fault of their row. We need to look | 0:25:38 | 0:25:44 | |
at retraining, skills, jobs are bored, poaching, contact with local | 0:25:44 | 0:25:54 | |
0:25:54 | 0:25:54 | ||
businesses. For those who do not feel that is the right option. | 0:25:54 | 0:25:59 | |
Thank you for joining us tonight. You have probably noticed it has | 0:25:59 | 0:26:02 | |
been international Women's Day today, and we have honoured that by | 0:26:02 | 0:26:08 | |
having a man presenting, but Felicity will be back! It is women | 0:26:08 | 0:26:13 | |
in politics will be talking about now with Betsan Powys. We are going | 0:26:13 | 0:26:18 | |
to discuss a possible fall in the number of women's politician -- | 0:26:18 | 0:26:28 | |
0:26:28 | 0:26:28 | ||
women politicians. It is an issue which is concerning. | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
People are concerned with Welsh politics and the representation of | 0:26:32 | 0:26:36 | |
women in it. It is a bit of a water if game, but I think it is worth | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
getting. The assembly, what do people know about the number of | 0:26:40 | 0:26:47 | |
women in the assembly? There was a point where it was 5050, the first | 0:26:47 | 0:26:54 | |
legislature in the world where it was done in that way, but the | 0:26:54 | 0:26:59 | |
number has come down a bit. There is a hope it might rise again in | 0:26:59 | 0:27:04 | |
2016. But look at boundary changes and Westminster, and start playing | 0:27:04 | 0:27:11 | |
that game. It is a real game of questions, because we do not know | 0:27:11 | 0:27:20 | |
what will happen. There is a possibility that Susan Ellen Jones | 0:27:20 | 0:27:30 | |
0:27:30 | 0:27:31 | ||
will lose. What if that were to cut across the Jessica Mordon? Other | 0:27:31 | 0:27:34 | |
politicians may be standing down, and suddenly you start to find that | 0:27:34 | 0:27:39 | |
the number of women represented from Wales would start to fall. And | 0:27:39 | 0:27:42 | |
there is a concern that parties they to spot that early and try and | 0:27:42 | 0:27:51 | |
consider what they might do about He is the rare thing they can do? | 0:27:51 | 0:27:57 | |
-- is there anything they can do? They can, and the Labour and Plaid | 0:27:57 | 0:28:02 | |
Cymru have done a lot of good in that regard. But what if Alan | 0:28:02 | 0:28:07 | |
Michael becomes a police commissioner? Then there will be a | 0:28:07 | 0:28:17 | |
0:28:17 | 0:28:17 | ||
contest for his seat in a you cannot have an all-women shortlist. | 0:28:17 | 0:28:23 | |
-- in Penarth. The parties might want to do something about it, but | 0:28:23 | 0:28:29 |