:01:22. > :01:27.Here, parts of the region where a third of working households are one
:01:27. > :01:37.bill away from financial disaster. And we're in Brussels on a special
:01:37. > :01:37.
:01:37. > :35:01.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2004 seconds
:35:01. > :35:07.Hello, I am Marie Ashby. My guests in the East Midlands this week as
:35:07. > :35:10.Shadow Treasury Minister, Chris Leslie, MP for Nottingham East and
:35:10. > :35:14.the Conservative MP for Derbyshire South, Heather Wheeler. Coming up,
:35:14. > :35:19.he has been censured for breaching the code of conduct over his
:35:19. > :35:25.European expenses. So should Councillor David Parsons stand down
:35:25. > :35:28.as leader of Leicestershire County Council? We have brought the Mayor
:35:28. > :35:32.of Leicester to Brussels to meet the city mayors here to find out
:35:32. > :35:36.whether he might have an answer or two.
:35:36. > :35:40.First, Nottingham-based Experian has told the Sunday Politics that a
:35:40. > :35:45.club of working households in Ashfield and Leicester are just one
:35:45. > :35:51.bill away from financial disaster, putting them in the 10 most
:35:51. > :35:54.vulnerable areas of the country. According to Experian, as many as
:35:54. > :35:59.238,000 working households have little or no savings and struggle
:35:59. > :36:02.to feed themselves and their children adequately. The coalition
:36:02. > :36:05.is constantly emphasising the importance of being better off
:36:05. > :36:10.working. These are working households and these figures are
:36:10. > :36:18.frightening. Those would be. It is interesting Experian have done this
:36:18. > :36:22.work. And also the areas chosen, Ashfield and Leicester. I would
:36:22. > :36:26.like to see the detail. But actually, what is interesting is
:36:26. > :36:30.that everything we are doing as a government, the coalition
:36:30. > :36:35.Government, is trying to make things better for every strata of
:36:35. > :36:39.society. Some people's experience of what poverty really means is
:36:39. > :36:44.different to other's. This group and described as traditionally
:36:44. > :36:51.proud self-reliant working people. That is good, people should be
:36:51. > :36:55.proud to work. Everything we do is about making work pay. It is good
:36:56. > :37:01.they are classed as working people, not good -- not good they are in
:37:01. > :37:08.such dire straits. White class them as one bill away? Everyone gets
:37:08. > :37:13.bills. -- why are those people classed as one bill away? It has
:37:14. > :37:19.been interesting the way people's pensions and savings and insurance,
:37:19. > :37:22.insurance tax, whatever, people have been attacked over the last 15
:37:22. > :37:32.years with different ways of raising money and France. It has
:37:32. > :37:38.affected people. Undoubtedly. In Europe constituency Nottingham East,
:37:38. > :37:47.22,000 and also that one bill away. -- in your constituency. Low and we
:37:47. > :37:52.are already insignificant poverty in Nottingham as things are. Low
:37:52. > :37:57.You are saying the Government is doing everything that they can.
:37:57. > :38:01.seems to be everything that can be done to make things worse, some
:38:01. > :38:08.changes hitting hard, and very significant changes to housing
:38:08. > :38:14.benefit, to other welfare changes. But some would say you got us into
:38:14. > :38:18.this in the first place. That would be said. We are back in recession,
:38:18. > :38:23.there are not the job opportunities for people to move out of it. More
:38:23. > :38:27.people have to go to part-time work. It is not as though people do not
:38:27. > :38:30.want to work, doing the right thing for themselves and their families,
:38:31. > :38:35.it is the conditions that the Chancellor has decided, stubbornly
:38:35. > :38:40.raising taxes quickly, cutting back the support that has been there,
:38:40. > :38:44.not increasing child benefit. The child share component of the
:38:44. > :38:49.working tax credit, not giving people the opportunity to get back
:38:49. > :38:53.into work. You are looking at the sea wrong way around. In South
:38:53. > :38:57.Derbyshire, the number of apprentices rose by 80% in one ear.
:38:57. > :39:04.That is because there was not meaningful work for those young
:39:04. > :39:07.kids. -- one a year. Those people have those aspirations. In your
:39:07. > :39:15.constituency, the number of job- seeker Allowance claimants has gone
:39:15. > :39:21.up by 19% in 12 months. unemployment has gone down. We can
:39:21. > :39:26.do statistics. You cannot blame everything... You Cabinet Secretary
:39:26. > :39:31.said we could be facing a decade of spending cuts. What do these people
:39:31. > :39:37.have to look forward to? I do not know why Sir Jeremy Heywood said
:39:37. > :39:42.that. The state is too big. We need a smaller state. I put that on
:39:42. > :39:48.every leaflet I distributed and got a 9.8% swing, so people believe me.
:39:48. > :39:52.We do not need a big state, it is too big. We shall leave it there.
:39:52. > :39:56.Next, a story which has sent political shockwaves through
:39:56. > :40:00.Leicestershire County Council. The council's Standards Committee has
:40:00. > :40:06.ruled the leader, David Parsons, breached its code of conduct over
:40:06. > :40:10.his European expenses. She declined to join us. Were as now is
:40:10. > :40:19.Councillor Sarah Hill, deputy leader of the lead in Group on the
:40:19. > :40:22.council. -- with us night. Let us explain how that came about. --
:40:22. > :40:27.deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats group. He was paid by one
:40:27. > :40:32.body, East Midlands Councils, they receive the same amount that he was
:40:32. > :40:38.meant to give back to EMC. The inquiry found he had failed to
:40:38. > :40:42.repay �4,000 on time, not quite the same as pocketing the money.
:40:42. > :40:48.but he had the benefit of the money for over 12 months in some cases,
:40:48. > :40:53.in his back account, so he had the benefit of the interest. Apparently
:40:53. > :41:01.�150, but he said there was no dishonest intent. Free possibly,
:41:01. > :41:09.but a massive failure to keep track of what he was doing. -- quite
:41:09. > :41:14.possibly. What should happen? should resign, not showing the
:41:14. > :41:17.standards you would expect as leader of the council, breaking the
:41:17. > :41:22.Code of Conduct on five different accounts. It is disappointing to
:41:22. > :41:29.see that as a leader of the Council the size of Leicestershire. I am
:41:29. > :41:35.sure others would agree. He the we were, do you agree? Absolutely not.
:41:35. > :41:39.-- Heather Wheeler. There is a lot of money revolving here, it can
:41:39. > :41:44.take six weeks to deal with, but it should not have taken longer than
:41:44. > :41:51.that. But it absolutely dead. There are also disputes about some
:41:51. > :41:56.cheques going missing. It has caused an awful lot of trouble.
:41:56. > :42:03.was warned about this. Have been warned about something is fine. If
:42:03. > :42:11.it is find... He had to act upon it. Free maybe this system needs to be
:42:11. > :42:18.changed. -- Maybe this system needs to be changed. He had letters
:42:18. > :42:22.asking him to change that. should not go through the council.
:42:22. > :42:27.Should David Parsons stand down? The Liberal Democrats are calling
:42:27. > :42:31.for that. The Labour group are calling for that. It has to be for
:42:31. > :42:36.the council and local people to decide. He has been humiliated by
:42:36. > :42:41.these allegations. He has to go through training, for example, in
:42:41. > :42:45.council standards. That is part of the punishment. Ultimately, it is
:42:45. > :42:51.for local people in Leicestershire to have a say on whether he should
:42:51. > :42:56.continue. He has made an apology. Had the Standards Committee met a
:42:56. > :42:59.fortnight earlier, they would have been able to suspend David Parsons.
:42:59. > :43:04.Since then, the Department of Communities has watered down their
:43:04. > :43:10.powers. How can that be right? is not watering down the powers.
:43:10. > :43:14.That is what it feels like. It has made it more important. With
:43:14. > :43:19.allegations of fraud, it is a criminal matter for the police.
:43:19. > :43:23.Nobody has taken this to the police, which is quite right, because it is
:43:23. > :43:27.obviously a mix up in paperwork. Leicestershire County Council has
:43:27. > :43:31.gone from strength to strength under his leadership. None of this
:43:31. > :43:41.paper work should have been going through his hands. It is far from
:43:41. > :43:45.over? It has not. Some papers were released on Friday. Nearly �2,000
:43:45. > :43:50.of outstanding invoices has been discovered. That is unfortunate,
:43:50. > :43:57.pitting us to square one and I am sure there are revelation will come
:43:57. > :44:01.out. And the council will discuss this again at the end of the week?
:44:01. > :44:04.We have a full council, the Conservative group will meet us
:44:04. > :44:10.before the full council, but we will see where it takes us and I am
:44:10. > :44:15.sure it will not only. Thank you. From one man clinging on to a power
:44:15. > :44:19.for another who wants more. The elected Mayor of Leicester, Sir
:44:19. > :44:23.Peter Soulsby, is urging David Cameron to give him more control
:44:23. > :44:26.over the local economy and the transport system. John Hess has
:44:26. > :44:31.taken him to Brussels. This is a journey about political
:44:31. > :44:37.power. Leicester's city mayor, so Peter Salsbury, heading to Brussels
:44:37. > :44:41.to meet its city mayor. Economic development is top of his agenda.
:44:41. > :44:50.The mayor can provide co-ordination and influence, but does not up a
:44:50. > :44:58.banner to make things happen. are in the historic heart of
:44:58. > :45:04.Brussels city centre to meet an old Brussels friend, Jef Baeck. They
:45:04. > :45:10.are some with their own mayor. beats Sir Peter on the mayor's
:45:10. > :45:18.powers. You have the police, one thing, but all other activities.
:45:18. > :45:24.You organise a city, commercial activities, even health. I would
:45:24. > :45:29.say, it is a local king. We have come to visit one of the mayor's
:45:29. > :45:35.projects that probably merits a royal seal of approval. It is
:45:35. > :45:41.lovely... It was once derelict, but it has been transformed, promoted
:45:41. > :45:48.by the city mayor, and has won awards. It was a factory until the
:45:48. > :45:55.1980s, was in the for almost 20 years. There are now 42 apartments,
:45:55. > :46:00.if mostly three-bedroomed, poor families to rent. We decided it
:46:00. > :46:08.could be a good idea to make this from the factory, a place for not
:46:08. > :46:13.really social housing, but average housing. To create a mixed city.
:46:13. > :46:18.Fascinating. This is the type of economic regeneration that he wants
:46:18. > :46:23.as part of his city next for Leicester. If only, he says, he had
:46:23. > :46:27.the powers of the Brussels may have. The mayor has control of the site,
:46:27. > :46:35.knotting -- not sitting around waiting for someone, having control.
:46:35. > :46:41.What local people, you can make things happen. -- with local people.
:46:41. > :46:45.Time for us to meet the city's mayor. On top of the staircase, a
:46:45. > :46:50.reminder of predecessors. Freddy Thielemans has been the Socialist
:46:50. > :46:56.mayor of Brussels for 12 years. Do you have responsibility for
:46:56. > :47:03.economic development within your area? For example, the police? I do
:47:03. > :47:10.not have control of those. And have both and they are very important.
:47:10. > :47:15.The mayor is the chair of the city. And he is the identity of a city.
:47:15. > :47:21.Exactly right. That is very important.
:47:21. > :47:28.Quite a wide range of funding available to you?
:47:28. > :47:36.We have commercial taxes that will local, restaurant taxes, terraces,
:47:36. > :47:38.taxes on charities, taxes on parking, taxes that helps a lot,
:47:38. > :47:47.giving us and the Normans independence.
:47:47. > :47:53.He faces elections this autumn, with public transport a big issue.
:47:53. > :47:57.We want to improve what is happening in the city, more backing
:47:57. > :48:06.of public transport, more individual possibilities, like
:48:06. > :48:09.walking, cycling, motor biking. I think that that is truly the
:48:09. > :48:13.future demand. The city mayor of Brussels, Freddy
:48:13. > :48:19.Thielemans, is more than just a figurehead with significant
:48:19. > :48:22.political powers over police and economic development, for example,
:48:22. > :48:28.that out of powers because Salsbury wants for Leicester and he is
:48:28. > :48:33.taking that message to Downing Street. -- the sort of powers that
:48:33. > :48:36.Sir Peter Soulsby wants. It is not just about powers. It is also about
:48:36. > :48:42.providing leadership. To that extent, the role of the mayor of
:48:42. > :48:47.Brussels and one of a UK cities such as Les there are many similar.
:48:47. > :48:52.Two men with very different powers to run their cities. -- such as
:48:52. > :48:56.Leicester. He wants to tell the Prime Minister that Brussels has
:48:56. > :49:02.the answer for me UK. If it is good enough for Boris
:49:02. > :49:08.Johnson, surely he should have more powers? I think it is a pretty
:49:08. > :49:13.convincing case. If you are the leader of a Cabinet, as in
:49:13. > :49:17.Nottingham, whatever the form of constitution, I think our cities
:49:17. > :49:22.and local authorities do need to have more powers devolved to them.
:49:22. > :49:25.Ultimately, we have to accept that we are living in one of the most
:49:25. > :49:30.centralised constitution's anywhere in the developed world. Whitehall
:49:30. > :49:38.is very good at clinging on to Paris. Across the political divide,
:49:38. > :49:42.we all sometimes see -- clinging on to Paras. We all sometimes say that,
:49:42. > :49:48.despite all those promises about devolving, it has not been
:49:48. > :49:52.happening. Will David Cameron give them more? The public and
:49:52. > :49:56.astonished at the short memories of politicians. There were referendums
:49:56. > :50:06.all over the country asking what people like a mayor. Nottingham
:50:06. > :50:09.
:50:10. > :50:14.said no. But no new cars. Should there be more? -- but no new Paras.
:50:14. > :50:19.The new mayors coming in, where the towns and cities said yes, there is
:50:19. > :50:23.the appetite on it. That will show how good they are, then be able, as
:50:23. > :50:28.they will have a cabinet meeting with all the mayors coming to a
:50:28. > :50:35.number 10, it is all very exciting. But should they have to prove
:50:35. > :50:40.themselves? Absolutely. Exactly as Boris Johnson proved himself, being
:50:40. > :50:47.re-elected, do you really think everyone will go carte blanche and
:50:47. > :50:56.have tax-raising powers? The idea of Derek Hatton in Liverpool!
:50:56. > :51:00.the idea that they should only get those if elected. Let me finish. --
:51:00. > :51:05.if re-elected. It is the cities and the people that should be able to
:51:05. > :51:10.shape their own destinies, not wait to be told by departments in
:51:10. > :51:15.Whitehall. We are seeing it as the budgets are cut, councils becoming
:51:15. > :51:23.very dependent on central Government. What about localism
:51:23. > :51:29.bill? Everything how you have recalled... It dictates to councils.
:51:29. > :51:32.You must have been sitting through a different bill. I suspect I was.
:51:32. > :51:37.And should be elected police commissioners would have something
:51:37. > :51:41.to say. When we have those elections, yes. There is danger of
:51:41. > :51:46.a dish joint. A meal that is directly-elected, a police
:51:46. > :51:50.commissioner, -- an air that is directly-elected, Police
:51:50. > :51:55.commissioner, but we need to sort out from an English perspective
:51:55. > :52:00.what we are doing on devolution. The difficulty is the boundaries.
:52:00. > :52:04.If it was a city with a city police force, it would be right to have
:52:04. > :52:11.someone like on us. Time for a round-up of the stories and 60
:52:11. > :52:18.seconds. -- in 60 seconds.
:52:18. > :52:23.US retailer, Walgreen, is being �4 billion on a 45% in Alliance Boots.
:52:23. > :52:29.Walgreen would have the option to take over in three years' time.But
:52:29. > :52:32.we are committed no jobs will be lost. We think it is an opportunity
:52:32. > :52:36.to grow up jobs. Leicestershire police say they have
:52:36. > :52:40.acted on claims that some officers have stopped and searched a
:52:40. > :52:44.disproportionate number of black people. Equality and Human Rights
:52:44. > :52:50.Commission says it will take legal action unless the ports can prove
:52:50. > :52:55.the situation has improved. Corbett Conservative MP has launched a
:52:55. > :52:59.macro blocking site to rival Twitter. She has regularly been the
:52:59. > :53:05.victim of abuse from twitters that she has described as immoral and
:53:05. > :53:08.misogynistic. Margaret Thatcher brought in the right to buy council
:53:08. > :53:14.homes. Now the coalition is allowing the Labour majority in
:53:14. > :53:17.Derby to keep the proceeds of new sales.
:53:17. > :53:21.All those years that councils complained they could not keep hold
:53:21. > :53:26.of the money from council house sales at the coalition has made
:53:26. > :53:31.this happen. It is very partial, looking at the details, being only
:53:31. > :53:35.allowed to keep the proceeds of the right to buy in some council house
:53:35. > :53:39.sales. That means the council will have a few tens of thousands for
:53:39. > :53:46.every sale, but will that replace like-for-like the houses that are
:53:46. > :53:51.sold on? I think it is very dubious. The proceeds can be kept as long as
:53:51. > :53:59.it is invested in new homes. have not seen new builds in social
:53:59. > :54:05.housing. I am really sorry... you know how many new houses?
:54:05. > :54:12.is terrible. There is just no will to do it. I arrived late here,
:54:12. > :54:17.because I came from an opening of eight new social houses. This was
:54:17. > :54:26.the first one of how many that have been done. We have been taking the
:54:26. > :54:32.money that we have been given, the 50% up until now, and...
:54:32. > :54:37.waiting lists are just growing. much money? Discounts of up to
:54:38. > :54:43.�75,000, not leaving a lot for councils? Before it was only 50%,
:54:43. > :54:49.so it will be more. Wetbacks are better than nothing? Of course.