:01:21. > :01:24.Britain Here in the East: The candidates of Corby declare their
:01:24. > :01:34.colours. And the spare rooms that mean tenants will lose hundreds of
:01:34. > :01:34.
:01:34. > :35:57.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2063 seconds
:35:57. > :36:02.pounds a year under new Government Hello and welcome to Sunday
:36:02. > :36:07.Politics East. Later in the programme, more bedrooms than they
:36:07. > :36:12.need. The dilemma for social housing tenants facing cuts to
:36:12. > :36:18.their benefits. In the long term the likelihood is that I would fall
:36:18. > :36:24.into areas. If that happens I could be evicted and I would end up
:36:24. > :36:34.homeless. And our bobbies on the beat really the best way to fight
:36:34. > :36:39.crime? Our commissioner candidates have their say. The Labour MP for
:36:39. > :36:44.Newton north and the Conservative MP for North West Norfolk. Let's
:36:45. > :36:50.kick-off with our soundbite of the week, the Conservative MP for
:36:50. > :36:56.Peterborough. He says we need to limit the number of migrant workers
:36:56. > :36:59.coming into our region. 34 % of children in our primary schools do
:36:59. > :37:05.not speak English as a first language and that is having an
:37:05. > :37:10.impact. The Government needs to pick up from the mess left by the
:37:10. > :37:18.last Labour Government. Do we need to take control back of our borders
:37:18. > :37:23.as Stewart Jackson is suggesting? I'm agree with him. We do have a
:37:23. > :37:30.fairly strict border controls but I do not see why EU citizens should
:37:30. > :37:34.be treated differently from Commonwealth citizens. In your
:37:34. > :37:38.constituency they do a great deal of the agricultural work, limit
:37:38. > :37:47.their numbers and some of those businesses would fold, would they
:37:47. > :37:50.not? That is correct but a balance must be struck between the needs of
:37:50. > :38:00.business, food processing and agriculture in need access to
:38:00. > :38:05.Labour. We have 1.4 million EU citizens working in this country of
:38:05. > :38:10.those 400,000 are unemployed or economically inactive. We must make
:38:10. > :38:14.sure that those are out there able to work or if they are not and they
:38:14. > :38:18.finished their work they go back to their own country. I think we can
:38:18. > :38:26.tighten up the rules under the existing framework and we should do
:38:26. > :38:33.that. And now on to social housing. Tenants are due to lose hundreds of
:38:33. > :38:40.pounds every year if they have a spare bedroom. Those benefits are
:38:40. > :38:44.due to go even if they need the extra room for at carer. There are
:38:44. > :38:51.nowhere near enough smaller homes for the affected people are to move
:38:51. > :38:57.into. That lack of choice is a particular problem for the region's
:38:57. > :39:05.remote area is. This grandad used to be a builder but his chronic
:39:05. > :39:10.arthritis put paid to that. He has been registered disabled since 1992.
:39:10. > :39:16.I worry what will happen to my family. The reason he is losing
:39:16. > :39:22.sleep is because his home has three bedrooms. Now his doctors have
:39:22. > :39:28.grown up, two of them are ready. From April, people on housing
:39:28. > :39:34.benefit will lose 14 % for the first empty room and 25 % for the
:39:34. > :39:38.second. For this man that will mean losing more than �20 per week.
:39:38. > :39:44.is compounded in a rural area is where there will not be
:39:44. > :39:53.neighbouring smaller properties. We have just one social housing home
:39:53. > :39:58.left for individuals to use in one particular area. There are 1,400
:39:58. > :40:03.homes in West Northolt that have only one bedroom. When the housing
:40:03. > :40:09.benefit changes come into force and people need to downsize their is
:40:09. > :40:14.expected to be a shortfall. That could mean that another 800 single
:40:14. > :40:18.bedroom properties are needed here. At the moment we do have a
:40:18. > :40:25.shortfall of single bedroom properties. We are looking towards
:40:25. > :40:30.the future and we have a plan to build 700 new houses over the next
:40:30. > :40:36.three years. There will be a mixture of housing to tried to
:40:36. > :40:45.address some of these problems. changes will also affect people
:40:45. > :40:48.like this woman who has already moved to a two-bedroom home. She
:40:48. > :40:57.suffers from M E but will be penalised for keeping a room for
:40:57. > :41:04.appear. It will be a reduction of 14 % in my benefits. By cutting the
:41:04. > :41:09.amount of money I get it will be impossible to manage. This could be
:41:09. > :41:14.the last crop here. The Government says it is right that tenants
:41:14. > :41:24.living in homes larger than their needs make a contribution to their
:41:24. > :41:25.
:41:25. > :41:31.rent or move. Many people could be affected. The cuts to welfare are
:41:31. > :41:37.opposed by Labour. This week we spoke to Lord David Freud asking
:41:37. > :41:42.him to explain the Government's position. And Baroness Hollis has
:41:42. > :41:48.been campaigning in the Lords to make disabled people exempt from
:41:48. > :41:54.the changes. The overall cost of housing benefit has been soaring.
:41:54. > :41:59.It is up from 12 billion at the beginning of the decade it is at 23
:41:59. > :42:05.billion now and will go on to 25 billion if we do not do anything.
:42:05. > :42:10.The cost of carrying these extra bedrooms costs as half a billion
:42:10. > :42:18.pounds each year. At a time of financial crisis we cannot go on
:42:18. > :42:23.avoiding that. Savings come because people do not move. They will not
:42:23. > :42:28.be able to move because housing associations do not have smaller
:42:28. > :42:33.accommodation available so as a result people will be staying in
:42:33. > :42:39.the homes they have but finding the need to take 10 or �15 per week out
:42:39. > :42:45.of their benefit payments and as a result of that they could get into
:42:45. > :42:51.arrears and lose their home. People to do a number of things, were some
:42:51. > :42:56.more and pay the extra money. It is less than three hours worked per
:42:56. > :43:02.week to pay for the extra bedroom. They could take in a lodger which
:43:02. > :43:08.is something that a lot of people are looking at closely. They could
:43:08. > :43:13.also look to downsize. People with children might think twice about
:43:13. > :43:21.taking a lodger. They would work extra hours if they could find
:43:21. > :43:26.extra jobs. Most people on benefits are disabled and not in work.
:43:26. > :43:32.are a million unused bedrooms in the sector and 250,000 people are
:43:32. > :43:37.living in overcrowded accommodation. We are hoping that to some extent
:43:37. > :43:41.we will alleviate some of the overcrowding by getting people to
:43:41. > :43:47.downsize to live in the size of property that suits their
:43:47. > :43:51.circumstances. I know that in Norfolk alone we are going to find
:43:51. > :43:57.something like �4 million taken out of the pockets of some of the
:43:57. > :44:05.poorest and most vulnerable people who cannot pay their rent or move
:44:05. > :44:09.somewhere else. Now let us pick up on that last point. It is clear
:44:09. > :44:14.that in your constituency people will seek a cut in their benefit
:44:14. > :44:22.with no real prospect of them being able to move to a smaller social
:44:22. > :44:26.home, is that fair? Let us get this into context. The Government
:44:26. > :44:34.inherited a massive national debt of nearly one trillion pounds. We
:44:34. > :44:40.are paying for 2 billion per year in interest, 130 million per day.
:44:40. > :44:45.One quarter of our expenditure goes on benefits. Benefits spent on
:44:45. > :44:50.people of working age come up to 90 billion. 20 billion of that is
:44:50. > :44:58.being spent on housing benefit. I do believe some changes have to be
:44:58. > :45:03.made. Is it Althea way of doing it? In principle it is but I think more
:45:03. > :45:08.flexibility has to be built into the system. Those people who have
:45:08. > :45:12.nowhere to move to, people who are disabled, people who are foster
:45:12. > :45:18.carers, we need to look at the housing Discretionary Fund to make
:45:18. > :45:23.sure that councils have more flexibility. You obviously think it
:45:23. > :45:27.is not fair but to look at the scenario, if you are renting
:45:27. > :45:31.privately you are probably not going to be able to afford a house
:45:31. > :45:37.for a single person with lots of different bedroom soul isn't it
:45:37. > :45:40.fair that people in social housing should have the same tough choices?
:45:40. > :45:45.It is their home and many have lived in it all their life and they
:45:45. > :45:51.should not have to downsize. We are squeezing incomes from the poorest
:45:51. > :46:00.in the land and many of our disabled. We are reducing taxes on
:46:00. > :46:05.people with incomes of more than �150,000 per year, and failing to
:46:05. > :46:10.collect taxes from corporations and the wealthy of billions of pounds
:46:10. > :46:15.per year. The mention the discretionary payment but is that
:46:15. > :46:21.going to go anywhere? By my figures it works out about �100 per person
:46:21. > :46:26.which is a drop in the ocean. going to be 30 million any way
:46:26. > :46:31.which will cover 40,000 people. I think that should be increased. I
:46:31. > :46:38.think one size does not fit all. It is 30 million for England and
:46:38. > :46:43.Wales, is it not? That is right. What I am suggesting is that one
:46:43. > :46:49.size does not fit all. In some councils like King's Lynn you have
:46:49. > :46:54.a community with a shortage of single bedroom housing. You have a
:46:54. > :47:00.shortage of social housing generally. The point made was that
:47:00. > :47:05.there are 250,000 people living in overcrowded accommodation with 500
:47:05. > :47:10.million people on the waiting list and around the same number of spare
:47:10. > :47:15.beds available. Putting some flexibility into the system, making
:47:15. > :47:19.sure that people in family-sized houses have the incentive to move
:47:19. > :47:28.to smaller houses if they are available, that makes sense.
:47:28. > :47:34.have got nearly one third of working age social housing people
:47:34. > :47:37.in benefits paid homes that are bigger than the need. At it is
:47:37. > :47:43.their home. They should have the right to say they have security of
:47:43. > :47:47.tenure. Many people will want to move but the real problem is that
:47:48. > :47:54.we have 5 million people on the waiting list and successive
:47:54. > :47:59.governments have restricted local councils from building council
:47:59. > :48:07.houses. Or what about taking a lodger, isn't that a possibility?
:48:07. > :48:11.Some people want privacy. Forcing people into that is wrong. If they
:48:11. > :48:17.want to choose to do that that is fine but forcing them by twisting
:48:17. > :48:24.their arm of financially I think is grossly unfair. They are going to
:48:24. > :48:31.use housing benefit if they take a lodger actually, are they not?
:48:31. > :48:41.needs looking at very carefully. You do not know? Downsizing and
:48:41. > :48:46.taking a lodger is just an option. I do believe that one option does
:48:46. > :48:51.not fit all and we need more flexibility in the system. We will
:48:51. > :48:57.leave it there and look at the candidates for police and crime
:48:57. > :49:04.commissioners. This week we hear from Hertfordshire and Essex but we
:49:04. > :49:12.begin with Cambridgeshire. In Cambridgeshire, savings of �70
:49:13. > :49:18.million are needed by 2015. -- �17 million. There are seven candidates
:49:19. > :49:25.standing here. Whoever is elected faces a difficult job. I have been
:49:25. > :49:35.a member of this party and feel I have the best credentials of all
:49:35. > :49:36.
:49:36. > :49:40.the candidates. I have got a lifetime of experience in public
:49:40. > :49:45.service and I am certain this job involves talking to the public. I
:49:46. > :49:51.want to do that right down to grass roots, at parish level, to find out
:49:51. > :49:57.what people are thinking so I can represent them. I know the problems
:49:57. > :50:03.we have with crime, policing and law and order. I want to see more
:50:03. > :50:08.officers on the beat and a tough stance taken at a with crime.
:50:08. > :50:14.need a professional politician, someone who can bring people
:50:14. > :50:18.together to bring about a more safe community. I will bring a strong
:50:18. > :50:23.business focus to the police and made sure we have more constables
:50:23. > :50:30.on the beat. I want to make sure the police and so are there for a
:50:30. > :50:38.cols quicker. The current response is an acceptable on emergency calls.
:50:39. > :50:43.I am an experienced candidate. I served on the Regional crime Squad
:50:44. > :50:51.and the National crime Squad. If elected, I and the candidate for
:50:51. > :50:57.the privatisation plans. People should vote for me because I will
:50:57. > :51:03.deal with proper offender management and intervention.
:51:03. > :51:11.Essex, savings of �42 million are needed over four years. The police
:51:11. > :51:16.will need to shed 1,000 posts to balance the books. When we have to
:51:16. > :51:20.look nationally, there are things which people perhaps are not
:51:20. > :51:27.interested in but the Commissioner has to be as part of the Budget.
:51:27. > :51:31.Sees issues like counter-terrorism or serious organised crime, the
:51:31. > :51:38.protection of children. Crime generally, we feel affirm line has
:51:38. > :51:44.to be taken. We are not sympathetic to offenders. We think the victims
:51:44. > :51:49.are not treated very well in many occasions. I think we should build
:51:49. > :51:54.more prisons. The model of scrutiny for the Auld police the authority
:51:54. > :52:02.was not good enough. I think there is a need for sharper scrutiny
:52:02. > :52:07.which is about blowing fresh beer through the police. We want to see
:52:07. > :52:11.police out on the streets. They want to see that the police are
:52:11. > :52:18.doing a job and when they phoned the police they want them to turn
:52:18. > :52:23.up and do the job professionally to solve their particular problem.
:52:23. > :52:29.There are 2,400 families with complex needs to produce something
:52:29. > :52:33.like 80% of the anti-social behaviour and 70% of burglaries.
:52:33. > :52:37.The police ought to be cracking down on that kind of behaviour.
:52:37. > :52:42.is one of the things I am very passionate about, managing domestic
:52:43. > :52:47.violence and sexual crime which is on the increase. We really do need
:52:47. > :52:53.to stop that and support the victims and we really need to see
:52:53. > :53:01.how we can break the chain. Let us take a look at Hertfordshire where
:53:01. > :53:11.the force needs to save �46 million over four years. It expects to cut
:53:11. > :53:11.
:53:11. > :53:15.122 officers and 597 staff jobs by 2015. The police and crime
:53:15. > :53:20.commissioners needs to be somebody who is in touch with the community
:53:20. > :53:25.and listening to their views. That is something I have done most of my
:53:25. > :53:30.life. In my spare time I am a borough councillor so I have had a
:53:30. > :53:34.lot of experience also dealing with the police and getting the right
:53:34. > :53:38.results for local residents. believe it is a really important
:53:38. > :53:45.role. The victims of crime should be at the front of what we are
:53:46. > :53:52.doing and that is a job that I am up for it. Safety on the streets is
:53:52. > :53:59.what I feel I could do a fairly adequate job of, a good job
:53:59. > :54:04.actually! How democratic is all of that? We are expecting deep turn
:54:04. > :54:10.out to be fairly low. The board will be split between several
:54:10. > :54:15.different candidates so is it a democratic process? We want to make
:54:15. > :54:22.sure we get Labour candidates are elected. Derbyshire is a marginal
:54:22. > :54:26.seat that we feel we can win. We are fighting on our policies and to
:54:27. > :54:32.be accountable for or pausing police cuts and opposing
:54:32. > :54:37.privatisation of the police force. The other parties will be on
:54:37. > :54:42.policies for Government cuts. powers these commissioners have
:54:42. > :54:47.will be huge, how strong do you think their mandate actually is?
:54:47. > :54:53.do not think we should talk down the elections but what I am
:54:53. > :54:59.noticing in King's Lynn and West Norfolk is an awful lot of interest.
:54:59. > :55:03.I think we have to look at what Boris Johnson has done in London to
:55:03. > :55:08.see what happens when you have someone directly elected who
:55:08. > :55:12.actually accounts to the public. I think it is an exciting change and
:55:12. > :55:17.will be good for policing and crime. We have another big election coming
:55:17. > :55:22.up in the region taking place in one fortnight. The date for the
:55:22. > :55:27.Corby by-election has been pecked. 14 candidates are contesting the
:55:27. > :55:33.seat, it here they all are. The election will be held on Thursday
:55:33. > :55:39.15th November. The former MP resigned in the summer for what she
:55:39. > :55:44.said was family reasons, but were they? That seems to be a subject of
:55:44. > :55:54.dispute in her household. Let's take a look at the round-up in 60
:55:54. > :55:58.seconds. The row has broken out over why she left her job as MP for
:55:58. > :56:05.Corby after her husband and rock star or manager said she quit
:56:05. > :56:10.because she would not win next time. She nips off when it suits her
:56:10. > :56:16.convenience to do so. A departure is never helpful however it takes
:56:16. > :56:24.place. Are you cross with her? will look to the future. I never
:56:24. > :56:28.made it up, -- he never made it up, he just got it wrong! Can we
:56:28. > :56:33.protect services at the General Hospital? It is about jobs and how
:56:33. > :56:36.we can get jobs for our young people. The future of Kettering
:56:36. > :56:40.hospital has dominated this campaign and some say there is
:56:40. > :56:45.nothing wrong with change provided it leaves patients with better
:56:45. > :56:50.services. Of course we should debate about evolving services,
:56:50. > :57:00.things do change will be time. We need to make sure patients are best
:57:00. > :57:00.
:57:00. > :57:04.served but absolutely not by spearing them. -- frightening them.
:57:05. > :57:08.That spat between the married couple will not help the cause very
:57:08. > :57:14.much but there is a lot riding on this election, it could potentially
:57:15. > :57:19.be very damaging for David Cameron. We have a first-class candidate,
:57:19. > :57:26.every Tory MP is going up to the constituency. A number of people
:57:26. > :57:32.have said to me that Corby itself is a very difficult Town. In deep
:57:32. > :57:38.rural area as the conservative vote is very strong. Having said that it
:57:38. > :57:43.will be a tough election. Of course when MPs stand down people will
:57:43. > :57:50.question their motives. Of course in this case she did it genuinely
:57:50. > :57:56.because of custody of her children. The hospital, Labour is just
:57:56. > :58:01.scaremongering over that issue? That is not true. We have a
:58:01. > :58:05.passionate belief in the NHS and local hospitals. If they were
:58:05. > :58:09.threatening my local hospital I would be very angry indeed. You are
:58:09. > :58:14.going to be campaigning for everything to be kept at Luton and
:58:14. > :58:20.Dunstable. When we have these reviews should they not be kept
:58:20. > :58:24.separate from the politicians? Closing hospitals is a political
:58:24. > :58:29.issue and of course people are going to campaign about it.
:58:29. > :58:35.Tomorrow I shall hear more detail of the campaign and I look forward
:58:35. > :58:39.to that and a Labour victory. will hear more on that and what