:00:39. > :00:46.Welcome to Sunday Politics. The coalition presides over the weakest
:00:46. > :00:56.recovery for generations. Labour's lead slumps. The come when
:00:56. > :01:14.
:01:14. > :01:20.referendum affect? -- the Cameron In the East Midlands: tens of
:01:20. > :01:30.thousands of homes are in fuel poverty. Will a new government
:01:30. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :39:44.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2293 seconds
:39:44. > :39:54.$:/STARTFEED. Tens of thousands of homes are in fuel poverty but we
:39:54. > :39:54.
:39:54. > :40:00.might have the answer. No need for the duvet. And how the new police
:40:00. > :40:05.and crime commissioners are getting started. They have got to deal with
:40:05. > :40:07.organised crime. Hello, I'm Marie Ashby. Joining me
:40:07. > :40:11.this week, the Conservative MP for Erewash Jessica Lee and someone
:40:11. > :40:13.who's been in the thick of the Euro action, Labour's MEP for the East
:40:13. > :40:20.Midlands, Glenis Willmott. Well, It's the story of the week
:40:20. > :40:23.again, Europe. But what does it mean for us here in the East
:40:23. > :40:26.Midlands? Well, Glenis can give us the view from Europe and Jessica
:40:26. > :40:31.has the word from Erewash. Last week we had Heather Wheeler in the
:40:31. > :40:36.studio saying quite openly that she wants us to get out of Europe.
:40:36. > :40:40.you agree? I do not take quite the same position but I welcome the
:40:40. > :40:45.Prime Minister's announcement today. This is the conversation the public
:40:45. > :40:48.have wanted for some time. There are plenty of jobs in my
:40:48. > :40:54.constituency that rely on the single market but there are lots of
:40:54. > :40:58.other aspects of the relationship that people are not happy about.
:40:58. > :41:05.you want to be in or out? At the moment, I would like to try and
:41:05. > :41:09.stay in and renegotiate. Then I will look at it again. Andrew
:41:09. > :41:13.Bridgen says he cannot wait to get out and campaign in his
:41:13. > :41:18.constituency on the referendum. Do you think it will go down well in
:41:18. > :41:23.your constituency? I do. I have had a lot of correspondence from
:41:23. > :41:27.constituents saying they are unhappy. We need to deal with myths
:41:27. > :41:32.about the European Union and realities. How does Labour respond
:41:32. > :41:38.to this, Glenis? You cannot be against people having their say.
:41:39. > :41:43.David Cameron has put the politics of his own party before the
:41:43. > :41:46.interests of the public. Now is not the time to be talking about this
:41:46. > :41:52.when we should be concentrating on getting the economy right. We need
:41:52. > :41:57.Europe for that, surely? We have a million young people unemployed. We
:41:57. > :42:02.should be concentrating our efforts on that. This is about satisfying a
:42:02. > :42:06.few of his backbenchers. He was quite clear he thought it was in
:42:06. > :42:12.Britain's interests to be a solid part of Europe. If he believes that,
:42:12. > :42:17.why is he going down this route? It is like sleepwalking towards the
:42:17. > :42:21.exit door. He does not think it is in the British interests so we
:42:21. > :42:25.should not be doing it. Another European issue, the EU could be
:42:25. > :42:32.about to give another big grant to the BNP to help them with political
:42:32. > :42:35.activities, more than �330,000. What is your problem with that?
:42:35. > :42:39.This is a far-right party that does not agree with fundamental
:42:39. > :42:43.principles of the rights of minorities. A legal party who have
:42:43. > :42:49.won seats in the East Midlands. This is a far-right group across
:42:49. > :42:54.Europe and I do not think we should be funding, taxpayers, a group of
:42:54. > :42:58.people that do not uphold the rights of minorities. Do you agree,
:42:58. > :43:04.Jessica? There has been a lot of cross-party work between the
:43:04. > :43:09.British MEPs on the subject and... Should they get the money? I am
:43:09. > :43:13.going to leave this to the MEPs to take a lead on and they are best-
:43:13. > :43:16.informed to take a decision. Onto the other story of the week,
:43:16. > :43:18.the weather. And as we've discovered, just as the cold spell
:43:18. > :43:22.struck, Government grants for warming our homes ran out. Here's
:43:22. > :43:27.our political editor John Hess. When the winter temperature falls,
:43:27. > :43:34.it is time to wrap up and turn up the heat. What happens if you
:43:34. > :43:39.cannot afford the electric and gas bills? For this man, it became a
:43:39. > :43:44.choice of heating a or eating. was very cold and the room never
:43:44. > :43:50.warmed up. In the evenings, I used to get a duvet or a dressing-gown
:43:50. > :43:55.and sit on the sofa covered up watching TV. What he needed was an
:43:55. > :44:00.overcoat. Not for himself but for his home. His three-bedroom house
:44:00. > :44:06.has wraparound installation, part funded under a government energy
:44:06. > :44:11.efficiency scheme. From the room being cold, it gets warm within
:44:11. > :44:15.about 15 minutes. After half-an- hour, I can switch the heating off.
:44:15. > :44:20.The room stays constant and I hardly lose any temperature at all.
:44:20. > :44:23.No need for the duvet? No need for the duvet! The government
:44:23. > :44:28.recommends temperatures should be around 21 degrees in your living
:44:28. > :44:33.room. That makes it warm. If you spend more than 10% of your income
:44:33. > :44:37.on those gas and electricity bills, you are deemed to be in fuel
:44:37. > :44:41.poverty. According to government figures, 22% of households in this
:44:41. > :44:48.area of Nottingham are in fuel poverty, one of the highest rates
:44:48. > :44:54.in Britain. 850 homes both rented and private on this 1930s estate
:44:54. > :45:00.had installation improvements. have a layer of will. It is made
:45:00. > :45:05.from ground rock. This woman is explaining the contents of the
:45:05. > :45:08.unsolicited overcoat. She works for an independent charity behind the
:45:08. > :45:13.in the first -- the energy- efficiency makeover and says fuel
:45:13. > :45:18.poverty is on the increase. In 2006, there were 2.2 million people
:45:18. > :45:23.classified as being fuel poor. Looking at the figures now, it is
:45:23. > :45:29.in excess of 5 million. A huge increase. The average home now
:45:29. > :45:33.costs one buzz of �400 a year to heat and fuel costs are rising --
:45:34. > :45:40.�1,400 a year. The government has scrapped some schemes turning up
:45:40. > :45:44.the political temperature. We are trying to get help but my
:45:44. > :45:50.constituents have been told they must wait in freezing temperatures,
:45:50. > :45:57.very vulnerable and elderly people. It is nothing short of a disgrace.
:45:57. > :46:01.Policy is this -- it is defined to... The green deal is the
:46:01. > :46:07.government's answer. Subsidies for installation, new boilers and solar
:46:07. > :46:10.panels. It was piloted in Nottingham. Moving towards the more
:46:10. > :46:15.advanced energy saving measures and new policies, there is a definite
:46:15. > :46:20.funding gap. We are looking at solid wall insulation fought harder
:46:21. > :46:27.to treat properties. You are looking at costs of up to �10,000
:46:27. > :46:33.per property. That is so far cry from �200 to �400 for the loft and
:46:33. > :46:37.cavity wall insulation. It is not just the temperatures that are
:46:37. > :46:41.rising. The number of households in fuel poverty over the next three
:46:41. > :46:46.years is expected to reach 9 million. If you have not heard of
:46:46. > :46:54.the Green Deal, you will. It is the coalition's flagship policy to
:46:54. > :46:58.tackle growing fuel poverty. Well, we're joined by Jane Daw from
:46:58. > :47:03.Barnardo's who runs children's centres in Leicester. You are
:47:03. > :47:08.campaigning on fuel poverty. How bad is it? It is really bad for
:47:08. > :47:13.families in Leicester. A recent property report said that there
:47:13. > :47:18.were 26,000 children in Leicester living in poverty that is 32% of
:47:18. > :47:23.all children. My children centre is based in a very deprived area on a
:47:23. > :47:26.large estate which was one of the original Sure Start areas. Families
:47:26. > :47:32.are increasingly finding themselves in debt even though they are being
:47:32. > :47:38.supported by us to manage their budgets well. It is having an
:47:38. > :47:45.impact. There are having to make extreme sacrifices. Really hard
:47:45. > :47:49.decisions. Fuel is... They are cold. Children are wearing outside coats
:47:49. > :47:54.and under duvets. Certain families have no flooring and cannot afford
:47:54. > :47:58.even the essential items. We are having to refer people to voluntary
:47:58. > :48:04.organisations and charities in order to get the essential items.
:48:04. > :48:10.We have a food bank and we are constantly referring people there.
:48:10. > :48:14.You are saying is backed up by the figures -- what you are saying. In
:48:14. > :48:19.the 10 worst constituencies in the East Midlands, more than 20% of
:48:19. > :48:24.people are in fuel poverty. In the Derbyshire Dales, it is 25%. What
:48:24. > :48:29.is being done to help these people, Jessica? There is work being done.
:48:29. > :48:33.We are all in agreement about how important this issue is. Fuel
:48:33. > :48:37.poverty is an issue that has been on the rise for a number of years.
:48:37. > :48:43.What the government is doing is working hard trying to get the
:48:43. > :48:47.energy companies... There are too many choices at the moment. People
:48:47. > :48:52.need to have... Under the energy bill, the government proposal is
:48:52. > :48:58.that there would be just four energy tariffs available so people
:48:58. > :49:03.can make clear choices. The Green Deal, that is meant to pick in next
:49:03. > :49:08.week. But the energy revolution campaign which Barnardo's is part
:49:08. > :49:11.of has already said it will not be enough to halt what is happening.
:49:11. > :49:15.am listening very carefully to all of the representations being made
:49:16. > :49:19.but there are new-issue -- new initiatives coming through. The
:49:19. > :49:24.energy company obligation will help hundreds of thousands of families.
:49:24. > :49:29.We need to be investing. We saw in the film the homeowner it going for
:49:29. > :49:33.the installation... To be honest, winter happens at the same time
:49:33. > :49:39.every year. We know what is going to happen so we should be doing it
:49:39. > :49:43.now. Things are being done now. This yet... It was the middle of
:49:43. > :49:47.the summer that the government was having the conversations with the
:49:47. > :49:50.energy companies. They need to take responsibility and be clear with
:49:50. > :49:55.customers what the options are and help them to make sure they are on
:49:55. > :50:00.the lowest possible tariffs. Europe help on this, Glenis? We are
:50:00. > :50:04.working on this and we think... I think some of the money from the
:50:04. > :50:08.carbon tax should be used to alleviate fuel poverty. But the
:50:08. > :50:12.problem with the green deal is that it is not fair. It is expensive and
:50:12. > :50:19.the interest rates are very high. Sometimes the interest is more than
:50:19. > :50:23.the work itself. Fuel poverty is not a Conservative issue. It was a
:50:23. > :50:28.problem under Labour as well. did not do enough but we brought 2
:50:28. > :50:34.million people out of fuel poverty. But more needs to be done. If you
:50:34. > :50:38.have got to choose between fuel and food, that is outrageous. It is
:50:38. > :50:42.even down to essential items. One child got respiratory illness
:50:42. > :50:49.because they could not keep their house and burka car was broken...
:50:49. > :50:53.They cannot afford a bed -- the cooker was broken. They could not
:50:53. > :50:58.keep the House warm enough. The stress on the family was incredible.
:50:58. > :51:02.All of the good work we were doing to improve the outcomes is at risk
:51:02. > :51:06.of being undone. Why Barnardo's is supporting this campaign is because
:51:06. > :51:12.it is something that would make a significant impact because it would
:51:12. > :51:17.reduce bills by about �310 a week. Do you feel Labour and
:51:17. > :51:21.Conservatives have failed to? These families are really suffering.
:51:21. > :51:26.Children are going to school without proper codes. If they want
:51:26. > :51:34.shoes, it is down to things like, we will cut our food back and we
:51:34. > :51:39.will be cold. It is these essential items, it is not luxuries. They are
:51:39. > :51:43.managing budgets. You are not doing enough now when the people need it.
:51:44. > :51:48.I do not accept that. I am under no illusion that the biggest issue for
:51:48. > :51:52.all families is the cost of living. I would say that is the priority
:51:52. > :51:58.for government. That is why they are trying to take the very poorest
:51:58. > :52:04.people out of paying tax altogether. Briefly, Glenis. Wholesale prices
:52:04. > :52:09.have been coming down since 2008. Prices for us are going up. We have
:52:09. > :52:12.got to get a grip. Thank you for joining us.
:52:12. > :52:14.They were elected on a wave of indifference from the public. But
:52:14. > :52:18.now the police and crime commissioners are working out how
:52:18. > :52:21.to spend your money. The PCCs have had a couple of months to come up
:52:21. > :52:24.with a policing budget for the next five years and to accommodate
:52:24. > :52:27.millions of pounds of cuts. So, what have they been up to?
:52:27. > :52:33.The Leicestershire and Rutland police and crime commissioner is
:52:33. > :52:37.the Conservative Clive loader. He has presented a plan involving a
:52:37. > :52:41.freeze on the council tax element of his budget for two years. He
:52:41. > :52:46.plans an increase of 2% be on that. He is not appointed a deputy and
:52:46. > :52:52.does not have an allocated car. In Derbyshire the Labour PCC is
:52:52. > :52:57.proposing a budget of �170.6 million. An increased contribution
:52:57. > :53:02.from local authorities are of almost 2%. That is expected to add
:53:02. > :53:09.�3.21 a year to the council tax for a household on Band D. He has
:53:09. > :53:14.appointed a deputy. He is not taking up a car either. In
:53:14. > :53:19.Nottinghamshire, the PCC is still finalising his budget. He has
:53:19. > :53:22.appointed a part-time deputy on �36,000. He has also spurned a
:53:22. > :53:26.company car. The Derbyshire Police and Crime
:53:26. > :53:32.Commissioner Alan Charles is with us. The headline, a rising council
:53:32. > :53:38.tax to pay for your Budget. How can you justify that? It is difficult.
:53:38. > :53:42.I know people are suffering. But if the government have cut 20% from
:53:42. > :53:49.police budgets in Derbyshire which is having an impact on policing.
:53:49. > :53:54.They have given a state council tax freeze grant. It is for one year
:53:54. > :53:58.only. -- they have given us a council tax freeze grant. It is
:53:58. > :54:03.like a pay-day loan. The only way I can go forward is to put in a small
:54:03. > :54:07.council tax increase to try and maintain police numbers. I hear
:54:07. > :54:13.what you are saying but can you let our viewers know what why it is
:54:13. > :54:22.Unido full-time deputy when other PCCs have said they do not? There
:54:22. > :54:26.are not many full-time PCCs who have not decided to have a deputy.
:54:26. > :54:30.Yesterday afternoon, I was in Glossop talking to a family
:54:30. > :54:37.suffering terrible anti-social behaviour. I cannot do it on my own.
:54:37. > :54:40.They are in million people in Derbyshire. It is an expensive job.
:54:40. > :54:50.The police authority office was costing just over a million pounds.
:54:50. > :54:52.
:54:52. > :54:58.I have cut �100,000 from that. There will be for more PCSOs. --
:54:58. > :55:01.four more. How will people in your constituency feel about it? They
:55:01. > :55:05.will be disappointed. It is straight back to the taxpayer to
:55:05. > :55:10.ask for more money. Crime is down in Derbyshire by 17% in the last
:55:10. > :55:14.year and it is a credit to all involved. But I would say it is
:55:14. > :55:18.very disappointing while everyone else is managing to look carefully
:55:18. > :55:25.at where the savings can be made that it is not being achieved by
:55:25. > :55:30.the PCC. You are also imposing a cut in pay on police officers?
:55:30. > :55:37.I would say to that is that we have a PCC whose job and responsibility
:55:37. > :55:41.it is to look at how best to manage the Budget. Crime is lower and
:55:41. > :55:44.taxes should not be going up. knows as well as I do that during
:55:44. > :55:50.the whole election campaign what people wanted to see his police
:55:50. > :55:53.officer numbers maintained. If I do not increase council tax, we will
:55:53. > :55:56.lose 20 officers a year year on year and that is not what people
:55:56. > :55:59.want to see. Well, we've heard what the police
:55:59. > :56:02.and crime commissioners are planning to do. But what do you
:56:02. > :56:03.think they should be doing? Des Coleman has been in Leicestershire
:56:03. > :56:08.to find out. Your police commissioner has been
:56:08. > :56:13.elected by youth so what is it you want from them? I am here in
:56:13. > :56:17.Loughborough to find out. They have got to look at what is going on
:56:17. > :56:22.with the major pockets of crime and deal with it. Organised crime is a
:56:23. > :56:25.big part of the Budget. The rest is down to communities taking
:56:25. > :56:32.responsibility rather than blaming the police for everything. What we
:56:32. > :56:37.do like to see them do? Cut crime in the town centres. That is the
:56:37. > :56:46.majority... Especially for the elderly. Policing the streets. That
:56:46. > :56:51.is my concern because being told... -- being old. And of the lady. We
:56:51. > :56:56.get scared. I would like to walk my dogs in the evenings but I dare not.
:56:56. > :57:01.I have been accosted by young people. I had an incident last
:57:01. > :57:06.night... They do not come out when they need to. It is, we will put
:57:06. > :57:14.you in the diary and come when it is convenient. I have got to wait
:57:14. > :57:20.until Thursday. Good-looking couple. Let us talk to them. Do you know
:57:20. > :57:25.who your local police commissioner is? No. Did you vote? No. What can
:57:25. > :57:30.they do to cut crime? I have been working in a pub and lobbying and
:57:30. > :57:37.to get the pub watch going. I am hoping they will do a fine job on
:57:37. > :57:41.our behalf. The people of Loughborough have spoken.
:57:41. > :57:47.The surprising thing is that the figures show crime is going down
:57:47. > :57:51.but a lot of people have been victims of crime. Yes, they have.
:57:51. > :57:55.Anyone who has been a victim of crime feels traumatised. One of the
:57:55. > :58:00.things I am keen to do is talk to victims to see how we can improve
:58:00. > :58:06.things for future victims and help to stop people becoming victims in
:58:06. > :58:11.the first place. Jessica. It is a good priority this for the
:58:11. > :58:17.government, extra assistance for victims. We have a great Justice
:58:17. > :58:22.Minister who feels passionately about this. It is about reassuring
:58:22. > :58:27.people. It is often a fear of crime that causes distress, although not
:58:27. > :58:32.as much when you are a victim of crime. What people want is somebody
:58:32. > :58:35.to work quickly. You cannot get to everybody. You cannot please
:58:35. > :58:38.everybody. I do not think that was Derbyshire Police force but if
:58:38. > :58:43.someone rings us and it is not an emergency we will make an
:58:43. > :58:51.appointment to go and see them. I think that is beneficial to the
:58:51. > :58:55.police service and the person calling. They cannot turn out on a
:58:55. > :59:01.999 response to every call but we certainly do for emergencies.
:59:01. > :59:05.you think you can work together, Jessica? Absolutely. I will always
:59:05. > :59:09.work and we work cross-party. This is I would say one issue that is
:59:09. > :59:13.perhaps a myth with the public. Behind the scenes, there are lots
:59:13. > :59:18.of cross-party groups and issues. We may ultimately take a different
:59:18. > :59:22.view about how best to serve the country but we always have to work
:59:22. > :59:30.together and we do. We make our representations as best we can.
:59:30. > :59:37.What happens next? The budget goes to the police and crime panel next
:59:37. > :59:42.week. The plant also goes as well. -- the plan. The chief constable
:59:42. > :59:46.will then start working on the plan which he is already doing. He is
:59:46. > :59:51.already directing resources to key areas. Are you glad you took it on?
:59:51. > :59:55.Very much so. It has been a lot of pressure but it is good. Yesterday
:59:55. > :00:00.getting out into Glossop and meeting people was the best part.
:00:00. > :00:03.Thank you very much for joining us. Time for our regular round-up of
:00:03. > :00:13.some of the other political stories in the East Midlands this week in
:00:13. > :00:15.
:00:15. > :00:20.Could there be more train stations in the East Midlands? The Transport
:00:20. > :00:23.Secretary and Derbyshire Dales MP has released an extra �20 million.
:00:23. > :00:28.Campaigners in Ilkeston are hoping it will lead to the reopening of
:00:28. > :00:31.the town's station. East Midlands MPs have criticised
:00:31. > :00:35.the ambulance service in a Parliamentary debate. The service
:00:35. > :00:40.wants to replace 65 stations with large tubs and smaller community
:00:40. > :00:43.bases to become more efficient. The Broxtowe MP and junior Health
:00:43. > :00:49.Minister said she will reveal national standards for waiting
:00:49. > :00:54.times for an ambulance -- she will review. I will be making those
:00:54. > :00:56.recommendations to say that we need to look again at the ambulance
:00:56. > :01:01.service. Local organisations are among the
:01:01. > :01:06.most gay-friendly organisations in the company. The NHS Trust came 4th
:01:06. > :01:13.and Leicestershire County Council were 20th out of 370 employers
:01:13. > :01:18.surveyed by the gay rights group Stonewall.
:01:18. > :01:24.Well done to them for that Stonewall award. A story there
:01:24. > :01:28.about money for new stations. Good news for Ilkeston? We are hoping so.
:01:28. > :01:31.A significant development. Viewers may remember last year the
:01:31. > :01:36.Secretary of State said that thanks to the campaign I led that a fund
:01:36. > :01:42.was going to be set up and the fund is now open. I am told the bids
:01:42. > :01:47.will be quickly. The announcement on HS2 is expected tomorrow.
:01:47. > :01:50.only we knew! We are going to have to wait till Monday. I hope there
:01:50. > :01:56.will be regeneration and Investment in the East Midlands foster a good
:01:56. > :02:01.news for the East Midlands, Glenis? Absolutely. I am sure it will be
:02:01. > :02:06.fairly close. Do you know any more about it? I wish I did. David
:02:06. > :02:13.Cameron is making the announcement in Leeds tomorrow so I hope you are
:02:13. > :02:18.both right. Do not forget, we want to hear from you. Put your