07/07/2013 Sunday Politics East Midlands

the economy - we hear plans to create 70,000 new jobs in the

region. And Tory legend Michael Heseltine

tells us there's hundreds of millions of pounds' worth of

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2165 seconds

regeneration money available - we about the economy. We hear plans to

create 70,000 new jobs in the region. Coming here, this fabulous

place where we are working, I have learned a lot, learned a lot about

myself and I feel confident about the future now. And Tory legend

Michael Heseltine tells us there are hundreds of millions of pounds worth

of regeneration money available, we only have to ask. What I want to see

is local people in Leicestershire, for example, saying that what

Leicestershire really wants is to build on these strengths and devise

policies for that purpose that are very locally relevant. Hello, I am

John Hess and my guests today, the Labour MP for Derby South, Margaret

Beckett, and Jason Zadrozny, leader of the Liberal Democrats on

Nottinghamshire County Council. First, and apologies to you both,

have we got too many politicians? The local government Boundary

Commission is to investigate the number of councillors on Leicester

City Council. Is one for every 500 voters, but in Leicestershire, it

represents twice that figure. If the commission recommends there are too

many City Council is, some local politicians might be heading for the

chop. What do you make of this, Margaret? Bombing here from the

Prime Minister, he is telling us there are too many politicians.

but you have to take that with probably a bag of salt. The Prime

Minister, who came forward with this idea that we should have new

boundaries so that we could have a lot fewer MPs, that would save

money, in the interim he spent far more than he would ever have saved

on the new Commons boundaries on putting extra people into the House

of lords. So he speaks with a forked tongue on this issue. The important

thing is, how many people are the individual politicians supposed to

be trying to respond to and how practical is that? Jason Zadrozny,

people must be confused at the levels of district councils, county

councils, and so on. Wouldn't it make sense to reduce the number of

elected politicians with pressure on budgets? There is a balance to be

struck. In Leicester, they have got an elected mayor so they see a

public figure who is responsible for the Council so there is a

juxtaposition to strike with that. With some districts, all of

Nottinghamshire going through boundary changes at the district

council level and we have reduced the number of councillors but people

still want to be represented well and there is a balance to strike but

Margaret is right, there is an interesting position coming from Mr

Cameron. What would happen if the Boundary Commission removed their

tanks moved into Derby city and say that Derby City Council has got too

many councillors? I would be slightly surprised but you can't

take anything for granted because we have quite large wards in Derby.

Often 10,000 people so you need enough people to deal with the

problems of that area. The other thing is quite a bit dependence on

how big the intrinsic problems of an area are. There may be more problems

in Leicester than in some other cities. Jason, I am often told there

aren't enough people coming forward to stand for local councils so

wouldn't it be a bigger advantage to have fewer opportunities and a

better calibre of individual? represent 9000 people and it takes a

lot of time to deal with in many -- deal with many problems. Thank you

very much indeed for the time being. 70,000 new jobs, the headline figure

from our new local enterprise partnerships. They will unveil plans

for regenerating the East Midlands economy. We will hear from the

businessman with the task of reigniting the local economy for

Leicestershire and Leicester but first the head of the

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire LEP tells us how he is planning to

create 45,000 jobs. Spin back to 1771 and Derbyshire's there went

Valley, a stroke of genius ushered in the first Industrial Revolution.

It was Richard Arkwright who came up with the idea of harnessing the

power of water to run machines. So where are the big ideas of the

future going to come from? Talking up plans to turn Arkwright's mill at

Cromford into a tourist attraction is a business leader we will hear a

lot more from. I am David from the local enterprise partnership.

was set up to grow the local economy. And that is the hub of the

coalition government and local businesses. The single egg is

message we hear from businesses is the lack of skills among the

workforce, people leaving school and college and university, and also the

workforces themselves and we have established a skills commission. We

are publishing a skills plan next Tuesday as part of our new growth

deal for the area. But do the new LEPs have enough clout? This

business is looking to its LEP to provide some heavy lifting to plug a

skills shortage. We are having to ring people in that are very raw and

trained them with the skills -- bring people. This takes time and as

a small company, we have not always got that time. That Maria shared by

co-director Caroline Wright, who set -- that worry is shared, her father

set up this company. It is looking to the LEPs now. Some of the kit we

deal with his very expensive and some investment into machinery would

be a bonus to our business. underlined six key priorities that

we would tackle including apprenticeships. We do not think

they can be a second choice, we think they should be present in an

area where they should be a priority, it is famous for building

things here. This college offers the type of training that the LEP is

recommending. It is part of a scheme to help these students find work.

This fabulous place we are working in, I have learnt a lot about myself

and I feel very confident about the future, now. So where is the money

for the LEPs coming from? We are barking -- we are embarking on major

reforms, the creation of the local fun... A new �2 billion a year fund

was even to the LEPs and �500 million from the EU as well for the

five LEPs that represent the area. We argued our case to our MPs and

local politicians and to our businesses that this area can have a

step change in its economic growth. Arkwright's ideas were a huge change

as well. The region's enterprise partnerships can only hope his

vision can inspire the current generation of business leaders.

Joining us to discuss all that is businessman Andrew Bacon, chairman

of the Leicestershire and Leicester LEP. David Ralph was talking about

45,000 jobs in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. What is your target for

Leicester and Leicestershire? established a plan 18 months ago for

25,000 new jobs to be created for the development sites we were

investing in. Five key development sites will develop and deliver

16,000 jobs. The enterprise zone in Leicestershire is already up and

running generating 250 jobs, 400 investors on site, the -- for

investors -- four major investors. Is the Chancellor backing the LEPs

with the clout to deliver? We would have liked a larger sum but we have

made great progress so far, we have been particularly fortunate in the

past couple of years with the levels of investment coming into

Leicestershire. The �2 billion single pot per year will be of value

but it is really about the flexibility and a lack of

constraints. We want one single pot, not ten or 20 different projects to

bid for. Margaret, we have heard mention about money. Are you

convinced that this government is putting forward enough money to try

to get that step change? I think there are a number of problems. One

of them is that the Government has been really geared towards public

service cuts, any investment they are making tends to be toward the

longer term. We are worried about getting things kick-started now and

I am sorry the Government has not taken our advice and gone for an

infrastructure boost that will bring jobs and construction on at the

present time which is where we need it. But we are pleased with what

ever does come. There has been a big criticism, Jason, that we are 2.5

years into the Government and we are only now getting the detail about

what some of these LEPs will be offering. It is slower than people

have anticipated but let's not underestimated, we are excited.

Excited? They call these the most ambitious postcodes in the UK and it

is essential for politicians like us to sing the praises of our region.

55,000 jobs, we are talking about �20 billion of investment over the

period. It is not as much as we wanted but we have created 1 million

jobs and 1.2 million apprenticeships. We have to start

somewhere and the future is much brighter than it was. You specialise

in the whole area of regeneration policy but what persuaded you that

the LEPs could be more successful than, say, the EMDA that the last

Labour government created? It is a three pronged approach. About having

the right people in the right places and with the tools. Didn't the

enterprise agencies as well? Third sector partners are able to make

sure there are able pulling shelf ready projects already. We are

talking about this over 10,000 years, in a manufacturing area that

has big names like Rolls-Royce and Boots, is it that ambitious?

thing that worries me is that we have still got some highly

successful employers, for example bombardier and Rolls-Royce but down

the supply chain, people still having difficulties and many small

and medium-sized businesses would like to expand and create jobs who

are making no progress with the banks. Whatever the Government has

done so far does not seem to have cracked that problem, getting in the

investment where it is needed. about you, Andrew, are you

ambitious? Your LEP will be in competition for Nottinghamshire and

Derbyshire for the same sort of companies that you would want to

attract to your area as opposed to the other parts of the East

Midlands. We are collaborating more than competing. Most developments in

and around Leicestershire will be benefiting surrounding areas as

well. The economy has no borders. The competition is with the

opportunities and the challenges are establishing those links with

business to find out the specific projects that need the funding. That

is the real challenge. They will be elements of competition. We are all

going for the same pot but it is not competition in that sense. Are you

confident? Very. We have had two years of building a solid platform,

we have invested and returned well on that investing. I am looking

forward to the next couple of years because we can start to progress the

projects. And also skills mentioned earlier on, that is a major

challenge for us. 20,000 people we have that could be matched with the

20,000 vacancies, that is another challenge. Thank you. How about this

for a plan for economic regeneration? Transferring more

powers and billions of pounds to our regions. It is an idea with powerful

backing. Lord Heseltine, Deputy Prime Minister to John Major and an

adviser to David Cameron, he has been in the region demoting his

regeneration thinking and spoke to Rob Pittam about what it could mean

to our region. We are the only country that centralises all

decision-making on its capital city. Every other country like ours

has different levels. We have London in this country and I think it is

like a monopoly. It also has another weakness, it is divided into

functions. Housing, transport, environment, schools, all-important

in their own way but it means they all focus on their own departmental

responsibilities. I want to see local people in Leicestershire, for

example, saying that what this area wants is to build on these

Leicestershire strengths. And devise policies for that purpose, that our

local and locally relevant. Giving local powers to local areas,

Nottingham is a very big city for example. What can Nottingham do and

what areas can it be? You are going to the same question. It is for

Nottingham to work that out. must have an idea? No, no. I cannot.

How can I know what is right for Nottingham? Because I hardly know

Nottingham. If I was a minister, I would have to make those decisions.

Somebody would come to me and say, this is what our plan is for

Nottingham. I personally reject that concept. I won't Nottingham to work

it out. Turning to the regional growth fund, you are in charge of

the advisory panel which advises the Government on how to spend the

money. A real problem here, we regularly come bottom of the table,

in the last round with a �40 million which got �124 million in the West

Midlands. The whole point was to concentrate money on those areas

badly affected by the cuts and those were areas where relatively,

Felicity spinach was a bigger proportion of the total demand --

and those were areas where relatively speaking at a bigger

proportion of the total demand. it different from the West

Midlands? View then had to get into the detail and look at the

concentrations of wealth and look at the nature of the scheme that other

people have put forward. In the West Midlands, there are areas of

significant deprivation. There will be some in the East Midlands as well

but this is where we came in as an advisory body. You seem to be saying

that we can never expect to get very much out of this regional growth

fund in the East Midlands? They would not come high on the list of

the areas that you associate with high and public expenditure and

therefore particularly adverse effects. Margaret, has he got a

point, are we to centralise as a country? It is not the first time

that when I come to talk about industrial policy that Michael

Heseltine is talking from our hymn sheet than he is from the one that

is usually put out by his own party. I welcome it and the difficulty he

has had and he might even admit it rabidly is that he has never been

able to take his Treasury colleagues with him and I am not sure he is

doing it now. You have been in government and then around this

course before where they talk about devolving to the big cities and

regions. And the Whitehall machine resisting. How do you get round that

in government? It is never easy but what you'd do need to have -- what

you do need to have, I was talking to someone else about the secret to

this, you need to know clearly what you want. If as a government you

should and can devolve much more power to regions and localities,

then you have to get on with it. Michael Heseltine never really

carried the rest of his colleagues with him. You are signed up to

this, Jason? What Margaret says is right, the Government has never

trusted local politicians or areas to make those decisions. Now we have

Nick at the top table, that is changing but it needs to be more

radical. Let's listen to what some of the people on the streets have

said. Lord Heseltine says we must come up with our own idea said

theirs has been out in Derby to find out how you think we can regenerate

our economy. -- Desmond has been out. How would you create thousands

of jobs and boost the economy? Manufacturing, it has to be. It

seems to be lacking somewhat. Even Belper, Thornton is used to be big

there, and also other companies loads of manufacturing, that has all

gone down and down. Private enterprise. You must encourage it.

And the way it is going at the moment, it is not being encouraged.

How long have you been unemployed? Two years. What do people need to do

to implore you? Have a variety of jobs and listen more records I have

ploughed through 1000 jobs in a month, sending CDs, and I have had

to see these back and two e-mails back. They don't listen. I think

apprenticeships, and investment in the railway industry. Public

transport is the way forward. older generation could have a lot

more done for it. Teenagers, 16-19 -year-olds, and someone like myself

now unemployed, not a lot available. Training and retraining. It is

difficult to get back into work. Offer more volunteer or

apprenticeship opportunities for young people to get the foot in the

door. Lots of places say they won't experience but how can you get that

when there is nobody offering it? Jason, the thing that is interesting

is that you have a number of ideas that you could put into an economic

strategy. It is great, everybody has an idea, one thing that was he was

apprenticeships. You are nodding, Margaret? I was lucky to start my

working life with a five-year apprenticeship and I think it is

terrific. People see them differently and they must be seen as

a viable option, but a second class thing. I did a vocational course at

college because I was not very good academically and that was a better

route for me. People must see that is just as good a route into a good

job as a degree now. The whole issue of apprenticeships, do you see the

coalition are getting it now? They are putting more money into it.

talk is great. Our worry is that the sort of apprenticeships that Jason

and I would recognise, I am not sure that all the things that are

labelled with that word are that solid and that would be a pity

because it is not numbers we want, it is quality. Margaret and Jason,

thank you. Time for a round-up of the other political stories in 60

seconds with Rob. Dusting down your caravan for the

summer, East Midlands Conservative MEPs are fighting plans to impose

tougher testing. The EU wants to extend MOT tests for caravans and

trailers. A new train service for North Nottinghamshire has moved

closer since the Sherwood MP Mark Spencer says. Network rail is to

send him a feasibility study it made into a train service to Allerton and

Edmonstone. Labour's Leicester West MP wants more to be done to make GP

appointments more convenient. She wants to see surgeries offer more

evening and weekend appointments. After it was revealed that police

officers in Nottinghamshire had used their own vehicles to get injured

people to hospital, the East Midlands police collaboration unit

which represents the unit's police forces says it has now reached

agreement on improving communications between the police

and ambulance services. My thanks again to my studio guests,

Margaret Beckett and Jason Zadrozny. Next week, our studio guests