:01:21. > :01:24.People have been on council housing lists for decades and will still
:01:24. > :01:34.waiting, and a pledge to create jobs for young people by the next
:01:34. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :39:38.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2283 seconds
:39:38. > :39:40.Hello, and a warm welcome to Sunday Politics in the East, I'm Etholle
:39:40. > :39:44.George. Coming up later in the programme, the long wait for
:39:44. > :39:53.council houses. We can reveal just how long people like this are stuck
:39:53. > :39:58.on lists, while the prospect of a It is like playing the lottery, are
:39:58. > :40:01.you pay for a ticket and you know you will never win so it does not
:40:01. > :40:05.matter what you do. And a pledge to help those who are
:40:05. > :40:10.young and unemployed by the time of the next election.
:40:10. > :40:16.I started looking for more jobs I would not have considered at first,
:40:16. > :40:19.such as cleaning, but it was just as competitive and even my
:40:19. > :40:22.experience would not help. To discuss all of that and the rest
:40:22. > :40:24.of the week's news, I'm joined by Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for
:40:24. > :40:29.Harlow, and Polly Billington, Labour's parliamentary candidate
:40:29. > :40:31.for Thurrock, in South Essex. Let's start with the landmark speech by
:40:31. > :40:34.David Cameron, promising a referendum on whether the UK stays
:40:34. > :40:41.in the European Union, if the Conservatives win the next General
:40:41. > :40:44.Election. Of course, Europe plays a large part in this region's life.
:40:44. > :40:49.64% of our trade is with the EU, far higher than the national
:40:49. > :40:52.average. We have had �400 million of EU funding in the last five
:40:52. > :41:00.years, and an extra 120,000 people from the accession countries in
:41:00. > :41:03.Europe have come to live here since 2001. If there is one place where
:41:03. > :41:12.Europe is already a big issue, it's Peterborough, where this was the
:41:12. > :41:19.reaction to the news. In Europe, new experiences and a
:41:19. > :41:25.new culture, there are things Stallone. We should be out. It is
:41:25. > :41:28.not doing us any good. We should be in Europe. We should come out.
:41:28. > :41:32.While the city's MP, who resigned his junior post in the government
:41:32. > :41:37.over the issue of a referendum, had this to say. Had this is a good
:41:37. > :41:41.policy because he will try to repatriate key powers from the
:41:41. > :41:46.European Union -- this is. He will put the package to the
:41:46. > :41:52.British people. The question for the other parties s, why are they
:41:52. > :41:54.not prepared to trust the people. - - is. And now Labour is calling for
:41:54. > :41:57.him to be brought back into the government.
:41:57. > :41:58.Is David Cameron's decision in the national interest or your party's
:41:58. > :42:03.interest? His decision is about trusting the
:42:03. > :42:07.people, he will renegotiate our relationship with the EU and put it
:42:07. > :42:12.to a vote straight after the election, provided the
:42:12. > :42:14.Conservatives get a majority. We need to trust the people and let
:42:14. > :42:18.the people decide. Is Labour offering people any kind
:42:18. > :42:23.of say on whether we should stay in the EU, or not, because it seems
:42:23. > :42:27.very unclear? I think we need to be able to
:42:27. > :42:32.change our relationship with Europe and give people a choice to make a
:42:32. > :42:37.decision about what that is. But what we see here is that David
:42:37. > :42:41.Cameron does not have the interests of any constituents at heart,
:42:42. > :42:48.people who are worried about jobs and growth, and they are made more
:42:48. > :42:52.insecure by an offer of further instability for Dr four years. We
:42:52. > :42:59.do not even know which way the Prime Minister would vote. A lot
:42:59. > :43:03.can change in four years. We will introduce draft legislation before
:43:03. > :43:09.election and David Cameron promised legislation after the election. Why
:43:09. > :43:16.is it not right to trust the people? We are saying, let the
:43:16. > :43:19.people decide, they should have a say.
:43:19. > :43:22.Now to the extraordinary figures we have obtained showing just how long
:43:22. > :43:25.some people are waiting for council houses. We have learned that in
:43:25. > :43:29.Essex, there are more than 100,000 people in social housing, but there
:43:29. > :43:32.is a waiting list of half as much again, almost 50,000 people. Nearly
:43:32. > :43:35.8,000 people have waited five years or more for a council home. And one
:43:35. > :43:39.family in Chelmsford has been on a council housing list for an
:43:39. > :43:41.astonishing 52 years. So what is the point of being on a list at
:43:41. > :43:47.all? The provision of low-cost housing for those that wanted it
:43:47. > :43:49.used to be the norm. Now you have to be in extreme need to qualify
:43:49. > :43:57.for council housing, leaving many, many thousands of people with
:43:57. > :44:02.little hope of a home, as James Melley reports.
:44:02. > :44:06.This man want to get his own place but fell on hard times a few years
:44:06. > :44:11.ago. His business went under and he lost his house. He thought he would
:44:11. > :44:16.have to live in his car at one stage. Things have improved and he
:44:16. > :44:21.has a job, but he still cannot afford to rent privately. A friend
:44:21. > :44:26.is letting him stay at his flat. He applied for social housing in
:44:26. > :44:31.Harlow two years ago. Present a couple of emails to the council and
:44:31. > :44:38.said, this is my situation and how desperate I am. This is my past
:44:38. > :44:44.history, I need help. I just kept getting knocked back and pushed
:44:44. > :44:47.from pillar to post, no help. According to Harlow Council, he has
:44:48. > :44:54.the second lowest level of need for housing because he is on his own
:44:54. > :45:02.and has a roof over his head. instance, 310 people here have but
:45:02. > :45:07.on this and I came 227th. So why am I begin? The authority says it is
:45:07. > :45:11.reviewing its policy on who gets social housing, but it cannot help
:45:11. > :45:21.everybody. This is believed to be put all this council house in
:45:21. > :45:25.
:45:25. > :45:28.Britain. In its 300 year existence, they have been times
:45:28. > :45:31.in its 300 years, there have been times where -- when almost anyone
:45:31. > :45:34.could get social housing. But this has changed. Now, in most cases,
:45:34. > :45:37.only the most needy will get a property, with many more with lower
:45:37. > :45:41.requirements on housing lists for many years. In one case, a couple
:45:41. > :45:43.in Chelmsford have been on the list for 52 years. At the moment, more
:45:43. > :45:46.than 50,000 people are waiting to get social housing in Essex.
:45:46. > :45:56.Despite this high demand, relatively little social housing is
:45:56. > :46:01.
:46:01. > :46:03.being built in the county. There was a booming council house
:46:03. > :46:08.building up after the war or by the time of the Thatcher government,
:46:08. > :46:13.this had stopped and councils could not use the money from sales of
:46:13. > :46:18.houses to buy more. Councils stopped building. There were a few,
:46:18. > :46:24.like Birmingham, who bought some properties off another 10 years.
:46:24. > :46:30.But it has been a very small. A large building that went on in the
:46:30. > :46:34.1960s and into the 1980s among local authorities just stopped it
:46:34. > :46:38.because of the ridiculous subsidy system. But recently, some
:46:38. > :46:41.authorities have announced plans to build council houses themselves for
:46:42. > :46:46.the first time in a generation because new rules were anarchy the
:46:46. > :46:52.money they raise. In December, for Iraq Council opened these new homes
:46:52. > :46:58.and there will more planned -- off the wreck council. We will build
:46:58. > :47:02.200 a year for the next five years, that will not meet the full need so
:47:02. > :47:12.we need to work with our partners in housing associations and we need
:47:12. > :47:15.to work with developers to get an element of that, either social
:47:15. > :47:19.housing or other forms of affordable housing. But council
:47:19. > :47:24.hopes to turn these carriages into more homes and there are similar
:47:24. > :47:29.plans in Essex -- the council hopes to turn these garages. But with
:47:29. > :47:34.that number wanting house is so high, some are considering taking
:47:34. > :47:41.those with the lowest heat off the list altogether.
:47:41. > :47:43.-- the lowest need. This week, letters have been sent
:47:43. > :47:45.to prospective tenants in Northampton, following major
:47:45. > :47:48.changes in the council's housing policy. Everyone who is not deemed
:47:48. > :47:51.to be in urgent need has been informed that they have been
:47:51. > :47:54.removed from the council housing list and all applications are to be
:47:54. > :47:57.re-assessed. Or -- other councils have told us that they are
:47:57. > :47:59.considering following Northampton's lead. To tell us more is the leader
:47:59. > :48:04.of the council, David Mackintosh. You are effectively throwing people
:48:04. > :48:08.off the housing list, but it doesn't solve their need for a home.
:48:08. > :48:13.I think this is about being up front and honest with people. You
:48:13. > :48:17.show that many people on housing waiting list for a long time and
:48:17. > :48:21.this is to say, you do not have a chance are getting that property,
:48:21. > :48:23.so we need to prioritise for the most -- prioritise that for the
:48:23. > :48:26.most formidable and look at other solutions.
:48:26. > :48:31.Aren't you washing your hands of these people, who is responsible
:48:31. > :48:36.for them now? No, because nothing has changed, they did not stand a
:48:36. > :48:43.chance. We have 1,200 properties in our housing stock and we had a
:48:43. > :48:47.turnover rate of about 1,000 a year but we had 1,100 on the waiting
:48:47. > :48:54.list so many were still waiting Quinn no chance of us being able to
:48:54. > :49:00.help. -- with no chance. We are prioritising those that need it and
:49:00. > :49:03.the rest, we will work with them to find other solutions, that is about
:49:03. > :49:10.building more affordable housing and working with private sector
:49:10. > :49:13.landlords. Some should say you should be doing more to provide
:49:13. > :49:20.low-cost housing. It is simply sweeping the problem
:49:20. > :49:24.under the carpet. We are working in partnership with developers. But
:49:24. > :49:28.when we have been waiting list of 10,000 people and only handing over
:49:28. > :49:33.keys to a smaller number of families, we cannot meet the need.
:49:33. > :49:37.We are not hiding that fact with a long waiting list, but we are
:49:38. > :49:45.saying, you will not get a council housing property but we will work
:49:45. > :49:48.with you to find another solution. Harlow Council is one of the
:49:48. > :49:51.councils considering cutting its lists in a similar way. Harlow has
:49:51. > :49:54.almost 10,000 council homes, with a waiting list that is half of that,
:49:54. > :49:57.at 5,000, and someone has been waiting 32 years in your
:49:57. > :50:00.constituency, how concerned are you? The man in the film, one of
:50:00. > :50:03.your constituents, living on the goodwill of a friend, 200th on a
:50:03. > :50:08.bid for a flat, is that good enough? That is the number one
:50:08. > :50:11.worry, but to be fair, council house waiting list has gone down by
:50:11. > :50:15.a few thousand but there is a significant problem. There are a
:50:15. > :50:20.limited amount of places when you housings for -- a new housing can
:50:20. > :50:24.be built. Harlow housing is for Harlow people and the government
:50:24. > :50:29.has changed the criteria to make sure local people have a priority,
:50:29. > :50:34.and also, the money raised in Harlow from rent should stay in
:50:34. > :50:38.Harlow. Have previously, �13 billion each year went out of the
:50:38. > :50:41.district into the Treasury to be spent elsewhere, her book that
:50:41. > :50:44.money will now be spent in Harlow. Labour kept the ring-fence around
:50:44. > :50:53.the funds raised by selling council housing, so that it couldn't be
:50:53. > :50:58.used to build more, which has contributed to the problem.
:50:58. > :51:02.You need to remember that if you want to kick-start the economy,
:51:02. > :51:07.because growth figures this week have been bad, the first thing to
:51:07. > :51:13.do is make sure you are building homes. Whatever they do in
:51:13. > :51:18.Northampton and Harlow, we are not building enough homes. There are
:51:18. > :51:23.230 new house holes formed every year and in terms of housing stocks,
:51:24. > :51:28.there is only 90,000 so far -- households. That is nowhere near a
:51:28. > :51:33.number we need. Labour didn't back building council homes when it was
:51:33. > :51:38.in power. We improved the quality of council housing and that is
:51:38. > :51:42.important because they should not be seen as a last resort, but some
:51:42. > :51:47.way you are proud to live. I would decent homes policy was good for
:51:47. > :51:49.that. The first thing we did after the crash was introduced a
:51:49. > :51:54.housebuilding programme which transformed the prospects of people
:51:54. > :52:00.are able to get houses and maintain the construction industry, which is
:52:00. > :52:05.now under threat. That is really important. We need to build homes
:52:05. > :52:10.what we have new growths. The issue is affordable housing and 58,000
:52:10. > :52:13.were built last year, one-third more than happened in any year and
:52:13. > :52:19.have the last government. The government is investing �20 billion
:52:19. > :52:26.to promote affordable housing schemes, a huge amount. They have
:52:26. > :52:31.instituted the right-to-buy, giving people �70,000 discounts. But is
:52:31. > :52:34.that doing enough cost? -- enough? The government's affordable homes
:52:34. > :52:37.programme is expected to deliver 80,000 low cost homes nationally to
:52:37. > :52:41.rent or buy, but with waiting lists in one county, your county, at
:52:41. > :52:45.50,000 that figure is a joke, a drop in the ocean. By 2015, the
:52:45. > :52:50.figure will be more. We are spending �120 million a day to pay
:52:50. > :52:55.off the National Debt, and money does not grow on trees. But the
:52:55. > :52:59.government is investing �29 billion and affordable housing.
:52:59. > :53:04.government made a decision to cut 60% of the house building budget
:53:05. > :53:09.when they came end and they have a target of building 170,000 homes by
:53:09. > :53:12.2015, they are nowhere near that. It is ridiculous to have a
:53:13. > :53:17.situation where he says there is not enough money around when we
:53:17. > :53:21.could be using money from the bank has bonus tax to make sure we
:53:21. > :53:30.Arkansas -- to make sure we are kick-starting the construction
:53:30. > :53:33.industry -- the bankers' bonus tax. Now, this week has seen the latest
:53:33. > :53:35.employment figures in the region. Unemployment has risen by another
:53:35. > :53:38.1,000, to 207,000, bucking the national train. -- national trend.
:53:39. > :53:42.Well, one MP has decided to take matters into her own hands and
:53:42. > :53:45.launch a scheme to get young people a job. Norwich MP Chloe Smith is
:53:45. > :53:48.pledging to reduce the number of young people out of work in the
:53:48. > :53:51.city by 1,000 before the next election. She has persuaded local
:53:52. > :53:54.businesses to sign up to a scheme which will try to give priority to
:53:54. > :53:57.local young people, people like 21- year-old Posy Cuthbertson. She
:53:57. > :53:59.graduated from university last year and says she has applied for
:53:59. > :54:06.hundreds of jobs. It has been full time, trying to
:54:06. > :54:10.find work. I had hoped my degree would help me to find the job I
:54:10. > :54:17.wanted, but it is such a competitive market that I am having
:54:17. > :54:21.to look through jobs I do not particularly want. If a had a bit
:54:21. > :54:28.of experience in cleaning and so you have had applications for
:54:28. > :54:33.cleaning jobs, but that has not worked -- you have had.
:54:33. > :54:40.So many people are looking to apply for the same job.
:54:40. > :54:44.The Conservative MP joins us now, can you explain how this will work?
:54:44. > :54:49.I have launched this scheme because I am so passionate about the young
:54:49. > :54:53.people of Norwich. And also passionate about local business
:54:53. > :54:58.finding its next generation of talent. This scheme is to bring
:54:58. > :55:02.some of these things together. We are planning to look a monthly at
:55:02. > :55:07.the employment figures as they relate to the Norwich area, that is
:55:07. > :55:14.around 2,000 people, we think that is 2,000 young people to many and
:55:14. > :55:18.we want to half that. In two years. We want to encourage at Norwich
:55:18. > :55:24.employers and businesses to consider what opportunities they
:55:24. > :55:28.can give to young people, to connect people to those, and to
:55:28. > :55:32.focus the community on a simple and common goal. We know it is
:55:32. > :55:37.ambitious, have but we think we can achieve that and the launch showed
:55:37. > :55:44.that. But there is no money backing the scheme and no new agency is to
:55:44. > :55:48.be set up, it is just a talking shot, is it going to work?
:55:48. > :55:53.everything is about money. Business confidence is what is important, we
:55:53. > :55:58.are bringing the city together. There is no point doing nothing
:55:58. > :56:03.about this, this is a problem, at youth unemployment, so I am doing
:56:03. > :56:08.something about it and bringing people together to do something. A
:56:08. > :56:13.we are making sure the information about what does exist is out there
:56:13. > :56:17.if -- we are making sure. That is answering your questions. There are
:56:17. > :56:22.lots of government schemes that do brink money end and people need to
:56:22. > :56:29.know about those. You are putting your reputation on the line by
:56:29. > :56:32.making this pledge, that is a bold step. I am not afraid of being
:56:32. > :56:37.ambitious. City of unemployment is a problem and I think Dinorwic we
:56:37. > :56:43.can do something about it and we should.
:56:43. > :56:52.You must be welcoming this, they moved to ease unemployment? That is
:56:52. > :56:59.nothing it exclusive to her or her party. The local authority where we
:56:59. > :57:04.art is -- where we are, we are expecting the first people to get
:57:04. > :57:08.an opportunity to know about jobs will be a long term unemployed. In
:57:08. > :57:14.a sense, this is a scheme that works well for those furthest from
:57:14. > :57:19.the market, the jobs market, Rowan we have lots of jobs. That is not
:57:19. > :57:23.the situation. -- when we have. We have seen from job figures this
:57:23. > :57:29.week in the east of England, unemployment is up and employment
:57:29. > :57:33.falling, so we have a problem. We have long-term youth unemployment
:57:33. > :57:39.and we need to spend money to make sure they're a real dog's. I would
:57:39. > :57:43.be interested to see how she does. -- and there are real jobs. It is
:57:43. > :57:47.right people know about jobs available, but if you are talking
:57:47. > :57:51.about transforming the prospects of young people, you need to create
:57:51. > :57:58.jobs and this Government is not prepared to do this. Which you make
:57:58. > :58:03.this pledge, Robert? -- would you like to make this pledge, Robert?
:58:04. > :58:07.We had a job fair recently he and hundreds of people came along and I
:58:07. > :58:13.am glad youth unemployment in Harlow and generally is lower than
:58:13. > :58:18.it was at the general election. Even in the boom years on the
:58:18. > :58:23.Labour, youth unemployment reached 1 million. There are serious things
:58:23. > :58:28.we need to do. We need to improve schools on literacy and numeracy.
:58:28. > :58:34.We have to deal with skills and so that the government has invested in
:58:34. > :58:39.apprenticeships and we have 78% -- a 78% increase last year in those
:58:39. > :58:43.in Harlow. And we need to make sure there are incentives for young
:58:43. > :58:48.people so they get more money going into work than staying at home.
:58:48. > :58:52.Isn't this an admission that government policy isn't working?
:58:52. > :58:57.Youth unemployment has been going down over the past year. We had a
:58:57. > :59:01.bad time at Christmas, but year on year, the figures have been going
:59:01. > :59:05.down. I have been campaigning in Parliament to restore the 10 ends
:59:05. > :59:10.income rate so young people do not pay a lot in tax and that will give
:59:10. > :59:19.them an incentive to go into work are.
:59:19. > :59:22.-- to work. Now, we might be getting to the end of this spell of
:59:22. > :59:24.wintry weather, but it has caused hundreds of school closures across
:59:25. > :59:27.the region, much to the consternation of one of our MPs,
:59:27. > :59:31.who called it pathetic. Here is Deborah McGurran with the details,
:59:31. > :59:33.and the rest of our political round-up of the week, in 60 seconds.
:59:33. > :59:40.Heavy snow caused almost 2,000 schools to close this week,
:59:40. > :59:44.something that has changed since Sir Bob Russell's day. In my
:59:44. > :59:49.generation, the snow in 1963 was far worse than it is this week, and
:59:49. > :59:51.I do not recall any schools are shutting! But it wasn't simply the
:59:51. > :59:54.winter weather causing problems for East Midlands ambulances, whose
:59:54. > :59:59.response times were described as unacceptable this week.
:59:59. > :00:03.I am really concerned about the regionalisation, everything gets
:00:03. > :00:09.sucked into the centre, leaving us on the periphery and snot well
:00:09. > :00:12.served. -- and not. While the Harlow MP doesn't think
:00:13. > :00:15.that people on lower incomes are well served by tax rates and is
:00:15. > :00:18.campaigning to restore the starter rate of income tax at 10p.
:00:18. > :00:23.I believe that restoring for 10 ends rate would help the coalition
:00:23. > :00:28.to counter the war-cry of its political opponents that it is only
:00:28. > :00:31.interested in cutting taxes for millionaires.
:00:31. > :00:36.And the government defended its decision not to include the chalk
:00:36. > :00:39.reef of the coast of Norfolk in a list of specially protected areas.
:00:39. > :00:43.Do you think the Chancellor is going to welcome your call to
:00:43. > :00:45.restore the starter rate of income tax at 10p? That is a tax cut, your
:00:45. > :00:48.government needs every penny it can get, doesn't it?
:00:48. > :00:54.The government says it will get extra revenues from having cut the
:00:54. > :00:59.tax rate for rich people from 50p to 45p and we lost �7 billion in
:00:59. > :01:03.revenues when it went up to 50p, so it that extra revenue the Treasury
:01:03. > :01:07.will raise should go towards restoring the text -- towards
:01:07. > :01:09.restoring the 10 ends tax rate. That would help create the living
:01:09. > :01:12.wage. What about these school closures?
:01:12. > :01:14.The government says it is up to head teachers to decide, but are
:01:14. > :01:17.heads too worried about health and safety?
:01:17. > :01:23.I think they are right to be worried because the worst thing
:01:23. > :01:28.that can happen is to have hundreds of children and accidents happen
:01:28. > :01:33.and somebody is in a difficult situation. People can be risk-
:01:33. > :01:40.averse when we have a culture where everybody is working out if they
:01:40. > :01:45.can see people. But it is important for everybody to get to work and
:01:45. > :01:48.for their children to be saved during the days. -- safe during the
:01:48. > :01:53.day. Is it a dereliction of duty for
:01:53. > :02:00.schools to close? Pas when it has closed during the snow we are in
:02:00. > :02:05.the past, it so politicians have to be careful -- Parliament. I do not
:02:05. > :02:11.think it is something government should get involved and. Could we
:02:11. > :02:21.do better? If people feel they can make sensible decisions and will
:02:21. > :02:23.