:01:30. > :01:34.Here, Labour and Conservative councillors warned the government
:01:34. > :01:44.that benefits changes could lead to more evictions and rent arrears.
:01:44. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :30:18.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1713 seconds
:30:18. > :30:23.And there has been a big increase Might guests are conservative MP
:30:23. > :30:26.Mark Spencer as John Mann, Labour MP for Bassetlaw.
:30:26. > :30:30.We revealed that laid-back Conservative MPs have warned the
:30:30. > :30:33.government their benefits changes could lead to more evictions and
:30:33. > :30:40.rent arrears. And I will be revisiting the
:30:40. > :30:45.children of the reserve -- revolution in Cotgrave. Did it
:30:45. > :30:48.work? We can disclose that there has been
:30:48. > :30:56.a big rise in the number of vacancies for carers of vulnerable
:30:56. > :31:02.people in most part of the East Midlands. According to figures, in
:31:02. > :31:08.April in Derbyshire, there were a formidable 94 vacancies less. But
:31:08. > :31:13.in Leicestershire there were double the figure from last year. In
:31:13. > :31:19.Lincolnshire, there was a 600% rise. And in Nottinghamshire, they were
:31:19. > :31:23.up by over 1000, 50%. Mark Spencer, on the face of it,
:31:23. > :31:28.these are pretty alarming figures. There has to be some concerted
:31:28. > :31:32.action to improve the state -- status of carers?
:31:32. > :31:37.It is good news we are talking about vacancies not redundancies.
:31:37. > :31:40.There are jobs out there. We need to raise the profile of some of
:31:40. > :31:44.these couriers and vocational Korea's that people may choose to
:31:44. > :31:48.go down. We have focused for a long time on going to university and
:31:48. > :31:53.getting a degree, when their lorry number of career options out there
:31:53. > :31:57.for people that offer a great deal of personal reward.
:31:57. > :32:00.What do we need to do to get a career structure and salary
:32:00. > :32:04.reflecting the importance of the work?
:32:04. > :32:09.We need to encourage people to go into that, and we need to encourage
:32:09. > :32:13.those in the sector to reflect, both in terms of salary and support
:32:13. > :32:18.of the career, the right skills and rewards.
:32:18. > :32:23.If you pay peanuts, this is what you get. The problem is the
:32:23. > :32:27.turnover. Unqualified, untrained staff going, being paid the minimum
:32:27. > :32:31.wage to work nights, struggling to cope with the work. And they are
:32:31. > :32:35.leaving and are not getting replaced. That is the problem.
:32:35. > :32:39.It is also that this has been a problem with successive government.
:32:39. > :32:43.Your government did not break this problem.
:32:43. > :32:47.It has been a bigger problem in Nottinghamshire ever since the
:32:47. > :32:49.Conservative county council decided to sell off the good care homes
:32:50. > :32:54.with well trained, experienced staff and put them to the bidders
:32:54. > :32:59.in the private sector. This privatisation is a key part of a
:32:59. > :33:04.problem. Paying lower wages, less training, people do not want to
:33:04. > :33:08.work there, the turnover of staff leaving is huge.
:33:08. > :33:12.You are a number of Nottinghamshire County Council, Mark?
:33:12. > :33:17.We are lifting the quality of the care homes and are investing in
:33:17. > :33:21.them. You talk about quality,
:33:21. > :33:26.Lincolnshire, where the number of vacancies has risen by 600% over
:33:26. > :33:33.the last year, Unison say that the minimum wage that is paid to some
:33:33. > :33:37.of the carers, we are talking about �6.80 an hour. A checkout operator
:33:38. > :33:42.get more than that. How can you get quality care like that at poor
:33:42. > :33:46.rates of pay? We need to recognise the rewards
:33:47. > :33:51.you get from entering that career. Relatives of people in those homes
:33:51. > :33:56.are very grateful to those staff, and they get a great deal of reward
:33:56. > :33:59.not just financial, but in terms of your career. We need to make sure
:33:59. > :34:04.there is a development system so that you can progress through those
:34:04. > :34:07.private companies and go up the ladder. It is a stepping stone. If
:34:07. > :34:12.you getting at the early stages, you can progress through the
:34:12. > :34:15.company. Mark Spencer is talking about
:34:15. > :34:21.stepping stones. Is that enough? It is dangerous, because you have
:34:21. > :34:26.got vulnerable people in none of the staff looking after them. It is
:34:26. > :34:30.particularly chronic at night, that is the Real recruitment problem. A
:34:30. > :34:34.minimum wage at night, they are not getting the staff. There is a huge
:34:34. > :34:37.problem and there will be scandals emerging.
:34:37. > :34:43.There has been scandals a long time before the Conservative government,
:34:43. > :34:48.and we have been looking at that very closely to make sure that this
:34:48. > :34:52.does not happen. Next, the government's changes have
:34:52. > :34:55.come in for a lot of criticism from the opposition, but we can reveal
:34:55. > :35:03.that Labour and Conservative councillors have now joined forces
:35:03. > :35:09.to warn that they could lead to more evictions and rent arrears.
:35:09. > :35:12.If the government's -- the government contributes towards the
:35:12. > :35:17.cost of your housing, it can give it to direct your landlord. It
:35:17. > :35:23.keeps things simple, and reduces mistakes. But for most people, that
:35:23. > :35:28.option is about to be taken away. That is bad news for people like Jo.
:35:28. > :35:33.She works part-time as an administrator, and is entitled to
:35:33. > :35:37.housing benefit. It but used to come out at the
:35:37. > :35:43.beginning of every month, but it that extra money comes in the, I do
:35:43. > :35:47.not know what benefit it does to give it to the person who is paying
:35:47. > :35:50.it, because I could just do whatever I wanted with it.
:35:51. > :35:55.Do you think people could struggle with it?
:35:55. > :35:59.Definitely, you will get people who will take advantage of it.
:35:59. > :36:04.Now, fears over the change have given rise to a chorus of
:36:04. > :36:08.opposition from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire's counsellors.
:36:08. > :36:11.If you are giving people money and telling them to pay the rent, there
:36:11. > :36:16.will be other priorities, especially these days when you have
:36:16. > :36:21.got inflation, or the energy bills to pay, there is a danger of
:36:21. > :36:26.massive debt. And eventually evictions.
:36:26. > :36:32.Already, bailiffs are reporting an increase in business, largely as a
:36:32. > :36:34.result of council tax arrears. But it is not just Labour-led council
:36:34. > :36:40.has which are opposed to this particular change to the benefit
:36:40. > :36:45.system. -- a Labour-led councils. Nottinghamshire County Council, a
:36:45. > :36:50.conservative one, as well as the districts and boroughs, are asking
:36:50. > :36:53.the government for a rethink. There are people who may have been
:36:53. > :36:57.very reliant on the welfare system for a number of years, and all the
:36:57. > :37:01.sudden, they are being asked to take over complete responsibility
:37:02. > :37:06.for all their budget. With the best will in the world, many will do it
:37:06. > :37:09.and get it right, but we know there will be a significant proportion of
:37:09. > :37:14.bad ball really struggle. You are hoping the government will
:37:14. > :37:16.change its mind? Mr Cameron and likes to say he is a
:37:16. > :37:20.listening Prime Minister had the government is a listening
:37:20. > :37:30.government, and I certainly would not dream of asking him to do a U-
:37:30. > :37:34.turn, but maybe just a slight turn. We do need to look at this more
:37:34. > :37:37.sensibly. What are the chances of a U-turn?
:37:37. > :37:41.The government says it wants all households to be responsible for
:37:42. > :37:45.their own household budget. But the government says it will look at
:37:45. > :37:50.providing support to families who need help with managing their
:37:50. > :37:54.finances. There is a cross-party consensus in
:37:54. > :37:57.Nottinghamshire that it is the wrong thing to do. Housing
:37:58. > :38:01.associations will also be making representations. I think they are
:38:01. > :38:07.being extremely naive. The government is not for turning
:38:07. > :38:16.Ed Balls. But with a list of coalition U-turn as standing here -
:38:16. > :38:21.- stacking up, could there be room for one more.
:38:21. > :38:24.The leader of Newark Council says that another look is needed. Is he
:38:24. > :38:28.right? Simplifying the benefits system has
:38:28. > :38:37.to be the right thing to do. We have to make sure some of the
:38:37. > :38:41.extortionate rents get paid. It is important not to patronise people.
:38:41. > :38:46.To say these individuals cannot manage their own finances could be
:38:46. > :38:48.a bit patronising. Some people can, but there will be a small sector of
:38:48. > :38:55.society that cannot, and the government will have to look at
:38:55. > :38:59.those people at but -- and protect them. A Kay Cutts, the Tory leader
:38:59. > :39:02.of Nottinghamshire County Council, she says you should be going back
:39:02. > :39:07.to the drawing board on this. If she right or wrong?
:39:07. > :39:10.To be fair, she has a good antenna for these things, and I think if
:39:10. > :39:17.local councils are saying this, then the government should have a
:39:17. > :39:20.look at it. I think the general principles are correct.
:39:20. > :39:24.Tony Roberts says this is a listening government, so why no
:39:24. > :39:33.change? Let Toad the government is in
:39:33. > :39:38.listening mode. -- leads hope. It is easy to say that a certain
:39:38. > :39:42.approaches the correct one, but we should not patronise these people.
:39:42. > :39:46.John Mann, the coalition says it wants to give people more power
:39:46. > :39:54.over their lives. Is it not patronising to say that we do not
:39:54. > :39:58.trust people to pay their own rent? It is ideology not common sense. I
:39:58. > :40:01.think there will be yet another U- turn. If there is enough space in
:40:01. > :40:07.the U-turn Callender, I think we could predict that we will see this
:40:07. > :40:12.happen. You're either accused of U-turn in
:40:12. > :40:18.or listening, and I think, frankly, it is pretty much a of a government
:40:18. > :40:23.to say that these are the changes we want, and there we can change it.
:40:23. > :40:26.This is a government that is not doing his homework. It is bring --
:40:26. > :40:30.bringing forward all kinds of Bonnie proposals and gets its
:40:30. > :40:34.fingers burned. Everybody knows that if Kay Cutts is saying the
:40:34. > :40:39.government has got it wrong, this must be a pretty extreme proposal,
:40:39. > :40:43.and it needs to be got rid of. Simplifying and changing the
:40:43. > :40:46.benefit system is the right thing to do, and we need to pursue this.
:40:46. > :40:51.There will always be some wrinkles that need to be shaken out, and I
:40:51. > :40:55.think this is one of them. They're all the families in my constituency
:40:55. > :40:59.that have invested in a property that see that as an investment,
:40:59. > :41:04.they do not have to be scared of renting a property to someone on
:41:04. > :41:08.benefits if they do not want their income, so that is something to be
:41:08. > :41:13.looked at. Landlords are the most hostile to
:41:13. > :41:15.this, because instead of them getting the rent, there will be
:41:15. > :41:23.some, presumption of negotiation over what the rent should be, and
:41:23. > :41:27.in not getting paid. It will create work and bureaucracy for everyone.
:41:27. > :41:32.The government says there will be held for vulnerable people.
:41:32. > :41:36.That means we will have to spend more taxpayers' money covering up
:41:36. > :41:41.the mistakes of a flawed policy. Let's have a another U-turn in the
:41:41. > :41:44.next week or so. -- let's have another U-turn.
:41:44. > :41:48.The government is to listen to these issues and recognise that
:41:48. > :41:53.there is a small group of people that are going to need some support.
:41:53. > :41:56.I cannot emphasise enough that we must not patronise people.
:41:56. > :42:00.It is small details that are not being looked at which create a
:42:00. > :42:03.political row. It is an enormous task to change
:42:03. > :42:07.the benefit system, and it is something we have taken on and have
:42:07. > :42:11.decided to do. That is the right thing to do it.
:42:11. > :42:17.What about the concern over evictions? We heard from Graham
:42:17. > :42:21.Chapman, he says that it will lead to more evictions.
:42:21. > :42:25.You only get evicted if you do not pay your rent, and if we can look
:42:25. > :42:32.after that small start -- small section of society that cannot
:42:32. > :42:35.manage, we will be fine. Next, we like to keep an eye on the
:42:35. > :42:40.stories we cover on the Sunday Politics, add one in particular
:42:40. > :42:45.springs to mind. It is the first anniversary of the Cotgrave
:42:45. > :42:55.Revolution, but we have been back to the scene of something that has
:42:55. > :42:59.all the ingredients of a political version of Midsomer Murders.
:42:59. > :43:03.Nine new councillor celebrate victory. Nothing unusual about that,
:43:03. > :43:13.but these newcomers are plotting revolution in, of all places,
:43:13. > :43:16.
:43:16. > :43:20.This former pit town of, or whether colliery closed in 1993, is now run
:43:20. > :43:25.by a group of shopkeepers, churchgoers and professionals, who
:43:25. > :43:30.call themselves the Cotgrave Revolution. So, one year on, what
:43:30. > :43:35.has happened to the revolution? Have we seen the end of poisonous
:43:35. > :43:40.parish-pump politics? Well, no, the children of the revolutions in to
:43:40. > :43:45.have fallen out. Two defections, two resignations, including the
:43:45. > :43:52.leading light, Penny Bunn. You would have thought we have
:43:52. > :43:57.stormed the Bastille and not been elected democratically. There were
:43:57. > :44:01.hate groups on Facebook within days of us being elected, pouring out so
:44:01. > :44:05.much abuse. There were leaflets flying around the village, nasty
:44:05. > :44:10.stuff. How worried were you?
:44:10. > :44:17.Frightened to death. Penny Bunn blames the old guard of
:44:18. > :44:23.the Labour Party. Time to revisit a Drew Wilkie, seen by some as
:44:23. > :44:27.Cotgrave's Peter Mandelson. He says it is just politics.
:44:27. > :44:31.I expect someone to come back to me if I criticise them. I will not
:44:31. > :44:35.shrink and asked why they are doing that. There was an allegation we
:44:35. > :44:44.had hacked into their computer system and computers of individuals,
:44:44. > :44:47.that was refuted by the police after an investigation of.
:44:48. > :44:53.Community events are proving to be popular with residents. The the
:44:53. > :44:56.council is now led by this man, Ian Shaw, one of the original members
:44:56. > :45:00.of the revolutionary team. These days, he is not fond of that
:45:00. > :45:04.word. It was a misinterpretation, and I
:45:04. > :45:08.do not want anything to do with it, because I do not want that would
:45:08. > :45:13.mention from our side. Controversial plans to redevelop
:45:13. > :45:17.the old pit site on now going ahead, and Ian Shaw feels it is time to
:45:18. > :45:22.depoliticise the council. I do not think a council of this
:45:22. > :45:27.size has run for Party politics. It should be working purely for the
:45:27. > :45:32.benefit of the people who'd it represents, and should get all the
:45:32. > :45:37.parties wobbling out of bed. But not, it seems, for the benefit
:45:37. > :45:42.of former town clerk Anne Ellis, once dubbed Cruella De Vil by the
:45:42. > :45:47.revolutionaries. She lost her job when the new regime took over.
:45:47. > :45:50.I was sad that there was something of a cloud over it, when I should
:45:50. > :45:54.have been allowed to leave with my head held high and proud of the
:45:54. > :45:58.achievement I brought a Cotgrave. She would not co-operate at all,
:45:58. > :46:03.and it was very frightening for us. She was a very frightening woman
:46:03. > :46:07.when she wanted to be. Do you stand by the Cruella De Vil
:46:07. > :46:10.jibe? Yes, I do.
:46:10. > :46:14.I am yet to be presented with any evidence as to how they acted like
:46:14. > :46:18.Cruella De Vil. The arguments continue, but Ian
:46:18. > :46:23.Shaw claims there is a new community spirit in Cotgrave. And
:46:23. > :46:28.what of the revolution? Postponed indefinitely, and, from what we can
:46:28. > :46:32.tell, hardly missed. I do not know anything about the
:46:32. > :46:37.Cotgrave Revolution. I took no notice.
:46:37. > :46:40.I had no idea there was a revolt going on in Cotgrave!
:46:40. > :46:44.But Penny Bunn feels they missed a real opportunity.
:46:44. > :46:48.It is a lovely dream to think that I was going to do something great
:46:48. > :46:53.for my community and be really involved and make big changes, but
:46:53. > :46:58.dreams cannot always come true. Are there any lessons to learn from
:46:58. > :47:07.what has happened in Cotgrave? Well, perhaps just this, that at whatever
:47:07. > :47:11.level, politics can be a brutal and dirty game.
:47:11. > :47:21.A political thriller from Rob Whitehouse. Next, some of the other
:47:21. > :47:23.
:47:23. > :47:27.political stories in the East Midlands this week.
:47:27. > :47:33.The new Labour majority in Darby says it will fight any plans to
:47:33. > :47:38.turn more schools in two academies. It backs co-operative trussed like
:47:38. > :47:42.the 84-1, where schools work more closely with local communities. --
:47:42. > :47:45.Da Vinci Community College. Beat UKIP member of the UK parliament,
:47:45. > :47:52.Geoffrey Bloom, once Lincolnshire sausages to be given the same
:47:52. > :47:57.protected status of champagne and Parma ham. The problem is, our own
:47:57. > :48:01.departments, DEFRA, is not convinced. Next, the contest for
:48:01. > :48:06.elected police commissioners. After giving their members a vote, the
:48:06. > :48:10.Conservatives have a selected Sir Clive Loader as their candidate in
:48:10. > :48:13.Leicestershire and Rutland. Finally, mega shake-out a council has issued
:48:13. > :48:18.much tougher guidelines for wind turbines. The county already has
:48:18. > :48:27.many more than the rest of the region. Now they are being advised
:48:27. > :48:30.not to approve any less than a mile from people's homes.
:48:30. > :48:38.John Mann, do you sympathise with Lincolnshire and the dilemma they
:48:38. > :48:43.have had with all these wind farms? I agree, I do not want any
:48:43. > :48:51.whatsoever in Bassetlaw. I would have solar panels instead. I would
:48:51. > :48:54.have conventional energy. We... If David Cameron and George Osborne
:48:54. > :48:59.and Nick Clegg love them, they can have them. I do not want them in
:48:59. > :49:03.Bassetlaw, as the vast majority of people do not either. They do not
:49:03. > :49:09.work. I was one of the original 101 MPs
:49:09. > :49:12.saying it should be looked at again, and I think I am not offended by
:49:12. > :49:16.them, but I think from the point of view of the taxpayer, I think we
:49:16. > :49:21.can spend our money more wisely on solar panels.
:49:21. > :49:28.So we have got two sceptics on this whole issue of wind turbines. How
:49:28. > :49:33.do we need renewable target? Anaerobic digestion, solar panels,
:49:33. > :49:38.ground and air sauced heat pumps, and nuclear power, because it does
:49:38. > :49:43.not release carbon. I am happy with nuclear power, but
:49:43. > :49:46.stick the windmills of Shaw, where the results of wind. It is a shame
:49:46. > :49:53.they have not been put there, because that is where they should
:49:53. > :49:57.Also, coal, because if we can capture carbon, that has a lot of