:01:16. > :01:20.In the East Midlands, a housing crisis with thousands on the
:01:20. > :01:30.waiting-list and bitter battles to find new homes. Can the Liberal
:01:30. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :36:05.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2074 seconds
:36:05. > :36:09.In East Midlands, a housing crisis. Tens of thousands of people on the
:36:09. > :36:12.waiting list, and it is still growing. We have seen a dramatic
:36:12. > :36:16.increase of people coming into her eyes with housing issues. They are
:36:16. > :36:25.on the list and currently living with family and friends because
:36:25. > :36:30.they are waiting to be rehoused. There are no houses available.
:36:30. > :36:35.can the Liberal Democrats win a seat here in the East Midlands? And
:36:35. > :36:41.I am at Marie Ashby, and joining me are Graham Allen and Julia
:36:41. > :36:44.Cambridge, who has just been appointed as the Lib Dems'
:36:44. > :36:54.parliamentary candidate for Chesterfield. Graham, you sign they
:36:54. > :36:55.
:36:55. > :36:59.saw this week -- you finally saw this week the launch by David
:36:59. > :37:05.Cameron... Yes, Nottingham has been trying for a long time to give
:37:05. > :37:09.babies, children and young people the solid bedrock on which all
:37:09. > :37:13.learning and aspiration is based. We have now taking it to a national
:37:13. > :37:16.level and I was delighted with the launch on Monday. The hard work
:37:16. > :37:20.begins now to take these policies to the rest of the nation and
:37:20. > :37:25.making sure that every young person gets the good start they deserve.
:37:25. > :37:30.How did you manage to persuade all the leaders to go for this?
:37:30. > :37:35.shows it can be done. There is a lot of bickering in party politics.
:37:35. > :37:39.B three party leaders and the political class as a whole has come
:37:39. > :37:44.on this occasion at least, put partisan politics aside and put the
:37:44. > :37:48.needs of young people above any partisan bickering. What difference
:37:48. > :37:54.will have been a Foundation make? We will collect together all the
:37:54. > :37:58.best practice that is that there, all the best evidence and pressured
:37:58. > :38:01.out to scale, in other words, anybody can pick it up and start to
:38:01. > :38:05.do it in their own area using the money available. We need to change
:38:05. > :38:10.the culture of late intervention. We let things become intractable
:38:10. > :38:15.and deep-rooted and then throw money at it. It is better to invest
:38:15. > :38:20.money early on and then we will have a lot of children growing up
:38:20. > :38:27.in more rounded environments. how important is working together?
:38:27. > :38:32.Your party is part of the coalition. First and foremost, I would like to
:38:32. > :38:38.congratulate Graham Allen on this fantastic initiative. If there is a
:38:38. > :38:42.consensus, which they evidently his, behind this new independent body,
:38:42. > :38:46.then everybody needs to work together, and it is something that
:38:46. > :38:52.we welcome. Graham has not only identified a very important issue,
:38:52. > :38:55.but he has actually work at getting a solution, and that is the sort of
:38:55. > :39:00.politics we want more of a. will he make sure the money will
:39:00. > :39:05.stay there to support this foundation? I think, with everybody
:39:05. > :39:09.behind it, the coalition and also three leaders, I think of Graham
:39:09. > :39:14.probably does expected to be well supported, and I can see that
:39:14. > :39:20.continuing in the future. I'm sure you will keep us posted a mat.
:39:20. > :39:24.The East Midlands is in the middle of a housing crisis. Thousands of
:39:24. > :39:31.homes need to be built, but finding the land leads to endless planning
:39:31. > :39:34.rows. A lack of available homes is holding back our economy. Here is
:39:34. > :39:41.Wesley Mallin from Radio Derby. Britain is in the midst of a
:39:41. > :39:44.housing crisis. Depending on which estimate to take, we need to build
:39:45. > :39:48.between 250,000 and 500,000 new homes every year just to meet
:39:48. > :39:54.demand. In the East Midlands, social housing is one of the key
:39:54. > :40:00.pinch points. In fact, across the East Midlands, 116,500 people on
:40:00. > :40:05.the housing waiting list. 40,000 of those I in overcrowded housing.
:40:05. > :40:09.That figure is up 16% on the previous year. The lack of social
:40:09. > :40:16.housing means more and more people are seeking advice from
:40:16. > :40:23.organisations like cab. We have seen a dramatic increase in people
:40:23. > :40:27.coming into us with housing issues. They are currently living with how
:40:27. > :40:35.-- family and friends, or they are being put up in bed and breakfast
:40:35. > :40:39.by the council because there are no houses available. But it is not as
:40:39. > :40:43.simple as just throwing up a few hundred homes. Many of the site
:40:43. > :40:49.earmarked for building are green field, and nobody wants a major
:40:49. > :40:53.development on their doorstep. This land on the outskirts of Alfred has
:40:53. > :40:59.been the subject of many unsuccessful planning applications
:40:59. > :41:02.over the year. But now and the Bally -- Amber Valley Borough
:41:02. > :41:09.Council have granted permission for several hundred homes on the site.
:41:10. > :41:15.There is no legal basis to refuse. I guess it loses some open space
:41:15. > :41:20.for people to go to. There is very little open space around. It is a
:41:20. > :41:28.shame because there is not a lick of -- a lot of green in Alfreton
:41:28. > :41:32.now. If this goes, 500 houses? Meanwhile, the over occupancy
:41:32. > :41:36.surcharge, or what the Labour Party calls the bedroom tax, is pushing
:41:36. > :41:39.up demand for one-bedroom properties. It will have a knock-on
:41:39. > :41:42.effect, and it is only just beginning now, when people are
:41:42. > :41:48.coming to me and saying they are struggling financially, so I think
:41:48. > :41:52.it is going to get worse. Where joined now by Chris Hobson,
:41:52. > :41:57.the East Midlands chairman of the National Housing Federation. How
:41:57. > :42:05.acute is this problem? Very acute. In the East Midlands each year, we
:42:05. > :42:13.have 20,000 new houses being produced. But only 45% of the
:42:14. > :42:18.demand is being met. We also have people being priced out of buying a
:42:18. > :42:26.home, rising rents in the private sector, so it is squeezing private
:42:26. > :42:29.finances. We know that there are 97 brownfield sites in the Amber
:42:29. > :42:34.Valley area. The Campaign to Protect Rural England says there is
:42:34. > :42:38.plenty of space to build on already. Yes, we need more houses, but we
:42:38. > :42:41.need them in the right places. There are lots of places,
:42:41. > :42:49.brownfield sites, and I think the Government should firstly restore
:42:49. > :42:52.the cut to the ground that was given to build houses. It was
:42:52. > :42:56.goodbye half by this government. And get rid of the bedroom tax.
:42:56. > :43:01.What is the point of pushing people out onto the housing market, when
:43:01. > :43:06.there are no homes for elderly couples or single people? We need
:43:06. > :43:09.to build some of those homes, and you can only do that by getting the
:43:09. > :43:13.housing grant restored, and what that does for you is help to build
:43:13. > :43:18.the economy as well. Construction workers, bricklayers, plasterers,
:43:18. > :43:21.they would get our economy going. Julia, your party are committed to
:43:21. > :43:29.building tens of thousands of new homes. Where are they going to put
:43:29. > :43:32.them? It is important where they go, indeed, and what I would say is
:43:32. > :43:35.that one of the things we have to find his money to actually build
:43:36. > :43:38.houses in the first place. Something the Liberal Democrat
:43:38. > :43:44.state when they came into the coalition, which the Labour Party
:43:44. > :43:49.had flatly refused to do for their whole term of office, was to free
:43:49. > :43:55.up local councils to have money to invest in properties by being able
:43:55. > :43:59.to keep the council rent money. That is what we have done. Councils
:43:59. > :44:02.can now keep the revenue from rent that they get from council houses
:44:02. > :44:06.and they can put it back into property and get this thing moving
:44:06. > :44:12.again. I think that finance is extremely important. Some people
:44:12. > :44:15.say you're party did but do enough when you were in power. We did
:44:15. > :44:19.twice as much as his government in terms of the money put into new
:44:19. > :44:24.housing. I have to peculiar up on this question of the revenue
:44:24. > :44:30.support. Everybody knows that council expenditure has been
:44:30. > :44:39.savaged by the Government. The Liberal Democrats support every
:44:39. > :44:42.single night of the week the Kurds to councils. I am a great revolver,
:44:42. > :44:47.and I think that councils will do the job and know the best places
:44:47. > :44:51.for housing. That is better than having edicts from Eric Pickles in
:44:51. > :44:55.Whitehall telling people what they have to do. You can hear the
:44:55. > :44:59.different opinions it. What you think about what our politicians
:44:59. > :45:02.have to say? First novel, you're absolutely right to say that we
:45:02. > :45:06.need to know where the homes are needed and we need to build in the
:45:06. > :45:12.right places. We used to have a national strategy which gave
:45:12. > :45:16.targets for building across the region for -- the regions. But that
:45:16. > :45:21.has been scrapped. Councils need to step up to the mark and make the
:45:21. > :45:29.right decisions. In terms of the money and the economy, I absolutely
:45:29. > :45:33.agree that we need continued grants for building homes. If we build the
:45:33. > :45:42.number of houses needed in East Midlands, that would generate �1.5
:45:42. > :45:50.billion in the local economy. Those jobs would be local. Can the
:45:50. > :45:59.Council's resolve this problem? -- can be councils resolve this
:45:59. > :46:04.problem? I think they have a part to play. There are only -- it was
:46:04. > :46:09.only a couple of days ago about protests in Binham against new
:46:09. > :46:13.building houses. The local government in Cambridge have got
:46:13. > :46:18.plans to build 500 homes, and contested, and the local people are
:46:18. > :46:22.very happy. It is not always the case, though. No, it is not always
:46:22. > :46:26.the case, but I think with waiting lists as they are, all sorts of
:46:26. > :46:31.low-cost housing is needed. We need to start building small houses now,
:46:32. > :46:38.in light of the bedroom tax. Well, we need to know what kind of homes
:46:38. > :46:43.are needed in which every is. -- areas. To come back on the point
:46:43. > :46:46.about people not wanting to build on certain areas, everyone
:46:46. > :46:52.recognises there is a need for new homes, just not at the end of their
:46:52. > :47:00.vote. We need to show them what the impact is of not building new homes.
:47:00. > :47:06.The closure of pubs, the drop in services, and so on. And if we
:47:06. > :47:10.build new homes, we can bring a vibrant new areas with jobs as well.
:47:10. > :47:18.We are now forcing builders to approach councils to develop land
:47:18. > :47:22.which is inappropriate, which could be on a flood plain, or on a green
:47:22. > :47:28.space in a precious area. There is a stress and pressure coming now.
:47:28. > :47:32.We should leave these things to local councils to fill a particular
:47:33. > :47:37.space and a gap in the market. At the moment, we are pressing
:47:37. > :47:41.councils because they have abolished spatial strategies. The
:47:41. > :47:46.Government is pressing them from a national level. It is inappropriate
:47:46. > :47:51.to try to meet these ridiculous targets. Thank you very much.
:47:51. > :47:53.It is less than two weeks until the elections in Nottinghamshire,
:47:53. > :47:56.Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Each week, we are hearing from the
:47:56. > :48:00.leaders of the main parties in those counties. This week,
:48:00. > :48:05.Derbyshire. Andrew Lewer is the leading of the
:48:05. > :48:10.Conservative group. His party is promising 1000 new apprentices, no
:48:10. > :48:17.council tax increase next year, and no library closures. We have a
:48:17. > :48:22.manifesto called Quality Services, low taxes, and I would encourage
:48:22. > :48:27.people to look at our track record over before Maggie is in those two
:48:27. > :48:31.areas. We have delivered front line services in an excellent fashion,
:48:31. > :48:35.despite profound financial pressures. We have modernised the
:48:35. > :48:39.county council. We have also delivered three years of 0% council
:48:39. > :48:44.tax, so if people say, how can we believe what is in your manifesto?
:48:44. > :48:50.I would say, look at what we have done. And West Indies the Labour
:48:50. > :49:00.group leader. They want to introduce a living wage. -- and a
:49:00. > :49:01.
:49:01. > :49:04.Western. -- Anne Western. We want to promote growth in the Derbyshire
:49:04. > :49:09.economy. Until we get jobs Wigan people and the economy growing, we
:49:09. > :49:12.will stagnate. The Government has put a lot of funding into cities,
:49:12. > :49:17.but the rural areas, the towns and villages in Derbyshire have not had
:49:17. > :49:22.any of that funding. We have to make the case for Derbyshire, for
:49:22. > :49:26.jobs and regeneration to. That will then help us to support families
:49:26. > :49:31.better and raise income levels. Derbyshire has become a low-pay
:49:31. > :49:34.economy and we need to do something about that. Then we will be able to
:49:34. > :49:38.support families better and look after old people better as well.
:49:38. > :49:41.Stephen Flitter is leader of the Liberal Democrats on Derbyshire
:49:41. > :49:46.County Council. He says the Lib Dems will not make promises they
:49:46. > :49:51.can't keep an will concentrate on providing excellent council
:49:51. > :49:55.services and a balanced economy for Derbyshire for in the past, you
:49:55. > :50:00.have had years of tax and spend. You have had Kurds from the left
:50:00. > :50:06.and the right. The Liberal Democrats will look at things
:50:06. > :50:10.logically and soundly. We will consult with local people and take
:50:10. > :50:15.the appropriate action, where it is there for everybody in Derbyshire.
:50:15. > :50:18.That is why people should vote for the Liberal Democrats on May 2nd.
:50:18. > :50:23.We head there from the Lib Dem leader for Derbyshire, and Julia,
:50:23. > :50:28.you are aiming to become a Lib Dem MP for East Midlands. It is not
:50:28. > :50:33.exactly a happy hunting ground for your party, though, is it? You say
:50:33. > :50:40.that, but recent history shows that we have an excellent MP in
:50:40. > :50:44.Chesterfield. Paul Holmes came into this programme many times that he
:50:44. > :50:49.is no longer an MP for you, is he? We are aiming to get back into
:50:49. > :50:52.Chesterfield as quick as we can. Paul left a fantastic legacy, as
:50:52. > :51:00.did our council, and am going to build on that. Why is it, do you
:51:00. > :51:05.think, that there are no Liberal- Democrat MPs in this area? You have
:51:05. > :51:14.to look at the demographics. The East Midlands, a traditional Labour
:51:14. > :51:24.Party, mining community -- communities. You go around any
:51:24. > :51:25.
:51:25. > :51:34.corner and you see the miners' union clubs. To make inroads, we
:51:34. > :51:38.have done an amazing job, but we intend to do more. You are a strong
:51:38. > :51:41.second in some of our seats. Are the Lib Dems a threat? A couple of
:51:41. > :51:45.by-elections in Nottingham recently, they were fighting with
:51:45. > :51:49.Conservatives fought 4th and 5th place. I feel sorry for Julia
:51:50. > :51:52.because she is up against one of the most active members of
:51:53. > :51:55.parliament in Toby Perkins in Chesterfield. I have been out on
:51:56. > :52:00.the knocker this weekend and it is difficult to see or find people who
:52:00. > :52:05.admit to being Lib Dems, even when we know there previously have been.
:52:05. > :52:09.I think the big tactical problem, the decision that was made when
:52:09. > :52:15.Nick Clegg decided to be close to David Cameron rather than be the
:52:15. > :52:21.great in the oyster, people are saying, especially with the fees
:52:21. > :52:26.questing, they do not believe the Lib Dems. When people get hundreds
:52:26. > :52:30.of pounds in their back pocket from our fantastic policies of lowering
:52:30. > :52:34.the tax threshold, they are not going to be saying that. I would go
:52:34. > :52:40.further than Graham Allen and say that the Labour MP in Chesterfield
:52:40. > :52:45.is underperforming. His party knows it. To say that he is one of the
:52:45. > :52:49.top performers, as far as I'm concerned, that is disingenuous.
:52:49. > :52:54.is one of the hardest workers in the House of Commons. Why do the
:52:54. > :52:56.Lib Dems struggle so much in the East Midlands? We went out to get
:52:56. > :53:03.your views. What we take for you to vote Lib
:53:03. > :53:09.Dem? I am interested to find out. What we take for you to vote Lib
:53:09. > :53:12.Dem? I don't know if I ever would. I don't really understand how they
:53:13. > :53:16.differentiate themselves from the Labour Party. They don't seem to
:53:16. > :53:20.have any policies that are sufficiently different to make me
:53:20. > :53:25.go for them. What would it take for you to vote Lib Dem? To understand
:53:25. > :53:31.what is going on! Do you think they should make their policies more
:53:31. > :53:37.clear? More understandable. So I can understand what's going on, to
:53:37. > :53:43.vote for whoever. So you would not vote Lib Dem? No. I don't believe
:53:43. > :53:48.in them. I am a working-class Labour Party man. Investing in
:53:48. > :53:53.things like education for my children, that I had to have, the
:53:53. > :53:58.NHS system and making sure that people go to work really benefit
:53:58. > :54:02.from going to work. I understand we are in a time of crisis and we'll
:54:02. > :54:05.have to stick together and say that pay rises cannot be given
:54:05. > :54:10.everywhere, but I sometimes feel like the working man does get
:54:10. > :54:14.forgotten about. I don't really understand the Lib Dem policies. I
:54:14. > :54:18.think they are wishy-washy. I don't really understand it. The
:54:18. > :54:20.Conservatives, you know from their history where they are going. The
:54:20. > :54:23.Labour Party, you understand from their history where they are going.
:54:24. > :54:28.But the Lib Dems do not have a great history, so it is difficult
:54:28. > :54:32.to understand that if they came into power, or total power, what
:54:33. > :54:36.they would actually do. Why did you vote Lib Dem? Because they don't
:54:36. > :54:42.knock on my door and tell me what they are about. As simple as that.
:54:42. > :54:46.Go and knock on a door. I knock on the doors every day. And at
:54:46. > :54:51.weekends at the moment! What are they not getting? They want to know
:54:51. > :54:53.what you stand for. What I would say is we have a fantastic
:54:53. > :55:01.opportunity with the general election coming up and the council
:55:01. > :55:04.elections, if people want a stronger economy, a fairer society,
:55:04. > :55:10.allowing everyone no matter what their background to get on, then
:55:10. > :55:13.there may have to look at the Lib Dems -- then they have to look at
:55:13. > :55:17.the Lib Dems. All of our policies underline that message and those
:55:17. > :55:20.values. But you need to get that message across more, because what
:55:20. > :55:24.those people were saying is that they understand what the other
:55:24. > :55:29.parties stand for, but not you. You have a lot of groundwork to do
:55:29. > :55:35.there. Nobody can deny we have work to do, like all the parties. Those
:55:35. > :55:38.were vox pops, and I talk to people every day, and I have people
:55:38. > :55:41.repeating that to be what they have been getting it from the press and
:55:41. > :55:45.the papers, and they seem to understand what we are about. That
:55:45. > :55:49.is not to say there is no work to be done, and we will be doing that.
:55:49. > :55:55.Will you be picking up some of these boats, Graham? I think so.
:55:55. > :55:59.The Liberal Democrats were always the party of protest, and they
:55:59. > :56:04.think a lot of people copped out of a decision and voted for them. Now
:56:04. > :56:07.people have seen them in government, not us protest but in government,
:56:07. > :56:11.and every night and in the House of Commons and the Lib Dems vote
:56:11. > :56:14.through the lobbies with the Conservatives, whether that is
:56:14. > :56:18.welfare cuts or changes to the health service, right the way
:56:18. > :56:24.across the board. They have been in government and they are tarred with
:56:24. > :56:29.the Conservative brush. A has he got a point? Graham Allen does not
:56:29. > :56:34.have a point. We are autonomous and be a scene as a party which has put
:56:34. > :56:39.forward some amazing policies which would have only been there if it
:56:39. > :56:41.had been for the Liberal Democrats. Keep knocking on his stores. Time
:56:41. > :56:51.to round up the other political stories in the East Midlands this
:56:51. > :56:55.
:56:55. > :57:00.Jessica Leigh has been sleeping rough to raise money for the
:57:00. > :57:04.homeless. She joined a sleep had organised by a charity, which
:57:04. > :57:08.provides accommodation for homeless men.
:57:08. > :57:13.Leicester city Council is planning to cut its homeless accommodation
:57:13. > :57:17.by almost half. The council is considering reducing the number of
:57:18. > :57:20.units from 129-70. The Church of England in
:57:20. > :57:27.Nottinghamshire has set up a new group to help people cope with the
:57:27. > :57:30.impact of welfare cuts. The diocese of Nottingham has set up
:57:30. > :57:35.transforming the area. There had come to get volunteers to help
:57:35. > :57:40.people out of the web of poverty. Differing reactions from our MPs to
:57:40. > :57:43.the latest unemployment figures in the East Midlands. Conservatives
:57:43. > :57:47.had the Wheeler and Andrew Bridgen tweeted that the number out of work
:57:47. > :57:54.in the constituencies is falling. John Mann from Bassetlaw says that
:57:54. > :57:58.youth unemployment is increasing. That is the way it is looking
:57:58. > :58:01.across the East Midlands. What have you got planned for this week?
:58:01. > :58:07.Either be speaking at a conference on early intervention, which I do a
:58:07. > :58:11.lot of. It is your baby. It is. I'm trying to range -- raised �20
:58:11. > :58:15.million for an endowment to keep it going for ever. And they will be
:58:15. > :58:20.out there campaigning to win back the county council in Nottingham
:58:20. > :58:26.for Labour. I am confident we will come close and hopefully get there
:58:26. > :58:31.in the end. Julia? More of the same. I will be campaigning all week with
:58:31. > :58:35.our hard-working councillors, out on the doorstep delivering, all
:58:35. > :58:39.over Chesterfield. And going to see that woman in our film! Thank you