:01:26. > :01:30.Here in the east, the community Secretary hits out at out councils
:01:30. > :01:40.for refusing to keep to a council tax freeze. How long can needy
:01:40. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :27:55.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1574 seconds
:27:55. > :28:04.Would you like Rupert Murdoch to depart the shores? A I would like
:28:04. > :28:09.him to stand up for clean You have a view on most things
:28:09. > :28:14.Rupert Murdoch does. I just want him to take responsibility for his
:28:14. > :28:22.company. So far, many people lower down the food chain have carried
:28:22. > :28:30.the can. He needs to take his share of responsibility. Given the arrest,
:28:31. > :28:40.his report Murdoch be fit and proper person? Know. I don't think
:28:41. > :28:41.
:28:41. > :30:04.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1574 seconds
:30:04. > :30:10.We have Baroness Angela Smith, a former MP for Basildon, and Brandon
:30:10. > :30:16.lowest, MP for Great Yarmouth. We have the committee secretary
:30:16. > :30:21.throwing down the gauntlet over authorities refusing to stick to a
:30:21. > :30:25.council tax freeze. More later. Let us have a quick word about the
:30:25. > :30:31.health reforms, suffering defeats in the House of Lords. The question
:30:31. > :30:35.mark hanging over the Health and Social Care Bill. Brandon, a
:30:35. > :30:42.Conservative website now says three Cabinet ministers want the Bill
:30:42. > :30:50.scrapped. Do you? No, I don't. I think we need the bill working for
:30:50. > :30:56.the customer. Why do about Andrew Lansley, should he go? No, we have
:30:57. > :31:04.good reforms. GPs in our area, with the pathfinder Group, are keen to
:31:04. > :31:12.go ahead. Do you think Angela Smith's -- Andrew Lansley should go,
:31:12. > :31:19.Angela? I don't think patients are customers. The Bill is deeply
:31:19. > :31:20.flawed. It is hugely expensive, taking money out the NHS. The
:31:20. > :31:24.taking money out the NHS. The taking money out the NHS. The
:31:24. > :31:33.Government should publish the risk a register, about where the dangers
:31:33. > :31:38.are in this Bill. The mostly government can hope for of the Bill
:31:38. > :31:42.is that it continues its passage through Parliament. They are trying
:31:42. > :31:47.to sweeten the pill for council tax payers. We can reveal that councils
:31:47. > :31:51.in the east are having to save a quarter of a billion pounds. Most
:31:51. > :31:56.are freezing council tax, but Eric Pickles has attacked the
:31:56. > :32:03.authorities who are not. Saying they should have the guts to take
:32:03. > :32:09.the issue to the electorate. Where Harlow council Leeds, they believe
:32:09. > :32:12.others will follow. Pets corner, run by the council, is one of
:32:12. > :32:17.several services which will be handed over to voluntary services
:32:17. > :32:26.to save money. The this can be an example to other councils, Harlow
:32:26. > :32:31.is keeping them open with in it are the solutions. -- innovative for.
:32:31. > :32:36.After a tribute for the Jubilee, Essex County Council fine-tuned its
:32:36. > :32:42.budget for the following year. The Conservative-run council says it is
:32:42. > :32:47.on course to make savings of over �300 million by 20th March 13. But
:32:47. > :32:51.they will no longer share the chief executive with Brentwood council,
:32:51. > :32:55.as the partnership between the county and borough comes to an end.
:32:55. > :33:00.county and borough comes to an end. county and borough comes to an end.
:33:00. > :33:08.We need our TV executive to work full-time, we have a huge amount of
:33:08. > :33:12.work to do. Where it was introduced it seemed to be one of the new
:33:12. > :33:19.ideas, with a chief executive of all of the district councils. We
:33:19. > :33:27.never thought it was possible. Council has across the East are all
:33:27. > :33:32.having to make savings, up to 123 million in Essex. Across the region
:33:32. > :33:36.councils are having to save in total more than a quarter of a
:33:36. > :33:41.billion pounds. The government does not what -- want council tax to go
:33:41. > :33:45.up so they are offering them a big increase. Council has are
:33:45. > :33:49.effectively being put on a diet. Being told to lose weight or spend
:33:49. > :33:53.less. Year after year the government is handing out smaller
:33:53. > :33:58.and smaller portions of cash, but this year the government is
:33:58. > :34:03.basically saying, we can see you are hungry, if you don't put up
:34:03. > :34:07.council tax we will give you something extra. But it is for one
:34:07. > :34:12.year only. And councils are worried when that gets taken away and the
:34:12. > :34:17.portions are smaller again, it will just leave them feeling hungry
:34:17. > :34:21.again. Chelmsford Borough Council is planning to reject the offer.
:34:21. > :34:27.They believe it would be the right decision for residents in the
:34:27. > :34:32.longer term despite pressure from the government. What they are doing
:34:32. > :34:38.is comparing house with another council that perhaps is not as far
:34:38. > :34:42.forward in making efficiency savings as we are. In many councils
:34:42. > :34:50.it would be of benefit, but because we have done the efficiency stuff,
:34:50. > :34:57.you cannot keep doing that. We felt we had to make a decision and
:34:57. > :35:03.protect our residents medium to long term. They are not alone, four
:35:03. > :35:07.councils in Cambridgeshire are looking to put up council tax, they
:35:07. > :35:14.are all Conservative-run. I find it astonishing that the necessity to
:35:14. > :35:19.increase council tax, just under the level to raise a referendum, is
:35:19. > :35:27.the right amount. The overwhelming majority of councils are taking the
:35:27. > :35:34.freeze. We are very grateful for that. It it is not so much about
:35:34. > :35:37.Conservative councils as those needing their own control.
:35:37. > :35:43.backbench councillor in Eric Pickles's own yard is putting
:35:43. > :35:47.forward the idea of a lottery. have a situation where the coffers
:35:47. > :35:52.are strained. We need to have different projects that we could
:35:52. > :35:59.not do without the extra income. Councillors will look at details
:35:59. > :36:04.like prizes later this month before deciding if, in times of austerity,
:36:04. > :36:08.the only way is a lottery. Joining us his Royal Whitehead, the leader
:36:08. > :36:13.of Chelmsford Borough Council. Eric Pickles is clearly angry with you
:36:13. > :36:19.for not keeping to the freeze but also not taking this to the
:36:19. > :36:24.electorate. We are in a situation where we had an election last year.
:36:24. > :36:29.We, as Conservatives got a huge majority in comparison with our
:36:29. > :36:33.previous majority. One of our pledges at this time was to keep
:36:34. > :36:37.council tax rises low. We have done that. We are grateful to Eric
:36:37. > :36:45.Pickles for his offer, but we believe he could use it better
:36:45. > :36:51.elsewhere, whilst we put our council tax up by �4.10 per year,
:36:51. > :36:56.8p per week. I don't think it will break the residents of Chelmsford.
:36:56. > :37:01.Eric Pickles is blaming councils like cures of bad leadership. You
:37:01. > :37:06.have overspent in the past. What do you say to that? As my colleague
:37:06. > :37:13.was heard to say earlier on, we started making reductions from the
:37:13. > :37:21.moment we took over in 2003. From that time, we have made regular
:37:21. > :37:25.reductions in our overheads and increased our work for services. We
:37:25. > :37:32.brought back from fortnightly collections, weekly collections.
:37:32. > :37:38.One of Eric Pickles favourite topics. Are you not being disloyal?
:37:38. > :37:44.No, I don't think is -- that is the case. We predicted this would
:37:44. > :37:48.happen. We are only getting a one- year subsidy, we are in a situation
:37:48. > :37:52.with Greece, in the European Union, where they are trying to bail out
:37:52. > :37:57.Greece, but it will make more mistakes the following year because
:37:57. > :38:02.it has not balance its budget. we seeing a sea change in the way
:38:02. > :38:07.that services are delivered by councils, this is a time of huge
:38:07. > :38:13.transformation isn't it? It is. We reduced our back office staff when
:38:13. > :38:18.I took over, we had 21 heads of service. I mentioned earlier, at
:38:18. > :38:22.Essex County Council, we have a chief executive who works three and
:38:22. > :38:28.a half days a week. We have reduced the head count even further at the
:38:28. > :38:33.top. We are keeping people on the job, on the streets. Cleaning
:38:33. > :38:37.streets, cleaning rubbish. In the snow we were dead on time
:38:37. > :38:43.collecting things we have to do. From that point of view, the
:38:43. > :38:47.residents are appreciative of rail services. A I want to bring the
:38:47. > :38:52.guests in. Brandon, don't you think it is disloyal for other
:38:52. > :38:56.Conservative councils to not be freezing council tax? I don't think
:38:57. > :39:00.it is disloyal. They must do what they think is right, but it is
:39:00. > :39:06.unfortunate that they cannot look at more shared services and other
:39:06. > :39:12.ideas, and not keep it at zero. I am pleased my council is doing that.
:39:12. > :39:18.What is the Labour view? I think they have got themselves in a
:39:18. > :39:23.pickle. Reducing costs but putting up a marginal increase for services,
:39:23. > :39:29.I understand that because they are losing so much money from
:39:30. > :39:37.government year on year. The phrase, that is just a gimmick. The
:39:37. > :39:42.council's need certainty. Why does it say about local democracy?
:39:42. > :39:47.government set a limit, it is a bit rich of Eric Pickles now to say
:39:47. > :39:52.have a referendum. But local people need a decision at the next ballot
:39:52. > :39:56.box. It is very difficult for councils at the moment to try and
:39:56. > :40:02.find ways to make so many cuts, these cuts are front loaded. They
:40:02. > :40:07.never said we cannot make savings, just give us the time to do it in.
:40:07. > :40:11.You are agreeing with a Conservative-led council? They are
:40:12. > :40:15.trying to do what they can with an appalling relationship between the
:40:15. > :40:20.government and themselves. We always had good relationships with
:40:20. > :40:24.local councils. Eric Pickles's Commons seem to be to attack
:40:24. > :40:29.councils. They may not be doing what he wants them to do but they
:40:29. > :40:35.are doing their best. You lead an experiment to amalgamate roles, it
:40:35. > :40:39.has been proven that that has not worked. In Essex it stopped working.
:40:39. > :40:43.Quite the opposite. The reason things have moved on in Essex is
:40:43. > :40:50.that it did work. We did the deal to get a particular set of
:40:50. > :40:58.circumstances. The role has been done. Brentwood now does not need a
:40:58. > :41:02.chief executive. That is another saving. The idea that there was a
:41:02. > :41:09.day of central government not interfering is not the case. That
:41:09. > :41:16.is not what I said. One of the services councils still seem to be
:41:16. > :41:22.committed to our start centres, despite the ring-fencing being
:41:22. > :41:26.removed in 2010. Started in 1999 by Labour, they were supposed to play
:41:26. > :41:31.a crucial role for needy families. How are they faring in these
:41:32. > :41:39.difficult times? Essex has lost �3 million from its Sure Start budget,
:41:39. > :41:45.Suffolk losing 1.5 million, Peterborough 1 million.
:41:45. > :41:51.Northamptonshire �500,000, and Luton �400,000. In total, �7.8
:41:51. > :41:56.million. Although no centres have been closed yet, services are going
:41:56. > :42:06.out to tender in places like Norfolk. We visited one of the
:42:06. > :42:06.
:42:06. > :42:11.Lots of our families don't have qualifications. They have never
:42:11. > :42:18.really had the opportunities or encouragement to stay on at school.
:42:18. > :42:23.People are living on benefits for generations. At the Priory Centre
:42:23. > :42:29.they talk about Great Yarmouth's hidden deprivation. It is not
:42:29. > :42:33.always obvious, but it is there. Spending �850,000 a year at the
:42:33. > :42:39.centre on a wide range of children's services. We have to do
:42:39. > :42:49.it for the children, for the future. What kind of a society is that if
:42:49. > :42:50.
:42:50. > :42:56.we don't? The under-fives need the best but we can give them. Jade and
:42:56. > :43:01.is one of the Trojan the centre helps. He is autistic. He cannot
:43:01. > :43:07.talk, he struggles to communicate and often has tantrums. According
:43:07. > :43:14.to his mother, these music therapy sessions have helped a lot. It took
:43:14. > :43:22.a while, but he can express himself. He he can feel and touch things, he
:43:22. > :43:26.plays the drums, he is a happy little boy. When it comes to levels
:43:26. > :43:31.of child poverty, some areas of great charm are far more than twice
:43:31. > :43:38.the national average. Alex, Jordan, and their son have had help from
:43:38. > :43:42.the Priory Centre. The visits from a support worker, counselling and
:43:42. > :43:48.parenting classes. Alex and Jordan are both unemployed and live life
:43:48. > :43:53.on benefits, but they don't want it that way. We want to get money in
:43:53. > :43:59.for the family, feel better about the family. It is very depressing
:43:59. > :44:08.for me and the family. It does put strain on at times financially.
:44:08. > :44:15.don't want to be on benefits? not at all. I hate it. The centre
:44:15. > :44:18.it has put all services out to tender. The council says the �14.8
:44:18. > :44:22.million budget will be unchanged, but the Priory is facing an eight
:44:22. > :44:27.per cent cut. With changes in the benefits system, services will be
:44:28. > :44:32.under more pressure. I think families will struggle more and we
:44:32. > :44:37.are likely to see an increase in child protection issues. There is
:44:37. > :44:41.the possibility that there will be more family breakdown as a result.
:44:41. > :44:47.Families will struggle, significantly more, over the next
:44:47. > :44:54.few years. The work which began with a sure start goes on, some of
:44:54. > :45:04.the most vulnerable in our society needs the most help they need. Less
:45:04. > :45:09.money and more demand means things If you are proud of the Priory how
:45:09. > :45:15.do you feel about it facing a cut of the eight per cent? They have
:45:15. > :45:20.got a fantastic team, superb. It goes Biondi sure Start centre. They
:45:20. > :45:27.will survive and be fine and move forward in a positive way. We are
:45:27. > :45:32.in a tough economic time, we have got to fix the economy. I think
:45:32. > :45:36.they will be fine. Are you surprised it has been backed by the
:45:36. > :45:41.coalition government? David Cameron made a pledge to back it and
:45:41. > :45:45.improve it. He accused the Labour Party of scaremongering. It has
:45:46. > :45:50.illustrated the kind of cuts they are facing now. The government
:45:50. > :45:55.tells the public we have given councils money for Sure Start, then
:45:55. > :46:01.tells councils you have got 20 per cent less money. Money for an early
:46:01. > :46:05.intervention, but it is something you can spend. On what you want.
:46:05. > :46:11.The centres are doing tremendous work, as Brendan said. But they
:46:11. > :46:17.will lose out. We mentioned earlier about a sea change and what the
:46:17. > :46:23.services can deliver. What is happening is real localism. Central
:46:23. > :46:28.government is not telling councils how to do it. It is letting
:46:28. > :46:34.councils make decisions on what they need in their area. We are
:46:34. > :46:39.increasing spending generates. have seen cuts across the country,
:46:39. > :46:46.the thing about Sure Start, it was not just for children with problems,
:46:46. > :46:51.it was for any child and their parents. For every criteria it has
:46:51. > :46:56.been issued success. It worries me that if it fails and we see this
:46:56. > :47:01.constant chip away, the community as a whole loses out. Is this small
:47:01. > :47:06.government by the fault and not by people's choosing? It is because of
:47:06. > :47:10.the economic inheritance, but this is about localism. Local
:47:10. > :47:16.authorities making decisions for their residents. A the economy is
:47:16. > :47:20.getting worse now, that is the problem. Now, time for our round-up
:47:20. > :47:30.of political highlight over the last seven days. What a sparkling
:47:30. > :47:35.
:47:35. > :47:43.This week the Queen was honoured by children in north up on her diamond
:47:43. > :47:47.jubilee. It is a little-known fact that the household member is a go-
:47:47. > :47:54.between for the Queen and Parliament. Mr Speaker, a message
:47:54. > :47:57.from her Majesty the Queen. leader of UKIP revealed a secret on
:47:58. > :48:04.his visit to Great Yarmouth where he made a admission that he once
:48:04. > :48:09.voted Green. Peter Bone made no secret of his disapproval at a
:48:09. > :48:13.children's minister, who failed to support the government. On occasion
:48:13. > :48:20.I have spoken against the government, but I am not a
:48:20. > :48:24.government minister. Why is she still a government minister? Royal
:48:24. > :48:29.favourite horse racing was a subject of a new Bill, following a
:48:29. > :48:39.change in the gambling laws. A man who can demonstrate his credentials
:48:39. > :48:40.
:48:40. > :48:45.A quick word on the diamond jubilee. Lifting people's spirits at a
:48:45. > :48:49.difficult time.. It did it shows off what we are brilliant at.
:48:49. > :48:55.Something really exciting for everybody this summer. I think
:48:55. > :49:02.people will enjoy it. I think most MPs and peers will be there. It is
:49:02. > :49:06.something children will remember. When they are four or five, now,
:49:06. > :49:14.they will remember this in 20 years' time. The Olympics coming to
:49:14. > :49:19.your doorstep? I have to confess I am not that sporty, I don't know if
:49:19. > :49:22.I will be there. But people will want to be there. I have always
:49:22. > :49:28.thought the Olympics were a fantastic opportunity to show off
:49:28. > :49:33.this country, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I hope to get there
:49:33. > :49:39.and I think it is a great thing for our country. Thank you both. That