:00:46. > :00:56.Will the coalition agreed to scrap red tape in the Budget to making
:00:56. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :01:26.And in the North East and Cumbria: Do it yourself - from village halls
:01:26. > :01:36.to libraries to swimming pools, the hard-up councils asking local
:01:36. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :31:17.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1780 seconds
:31:17. > :31:22.people to take over their services. Coming up, no quick fix for the
:31:22. > :31:30.North East economy, warns Lord Heseltine. And are you up to you
:31:30. > :31:36.run your own library or a swimming pool? We report on people taking
:31:36. > :31:40.over from hard-up councils. And with me Newcastle MP Chi and Ian
:31:40. > :31:46.Swales. PC Rathband was found dead at this
:31:46. > :31:50.week at his home in live. He was shot and wounded and blinded by
:31:50. > :31:55.Raoul Moat in 2010. This is what the Prime Minister said on Thursday.
:31:55. > :31:58.David was an extraordinarily brave man and after his horrific injuries
:31:58. > :32:06.he did an enormous amount for charities and other injured police
:32:06. > :32:11.officers and for families who had lost members in the line of duty.
:32:11. > :32:16.We have to do everything we can as a country to make sure that those
:32:16. > :32:22.who are wounded or fall in the line of duty, that the families are
:32:22. > :32:26.properly looked after and they are properly commemorated. Chi Onwurah,
:32:26. > :32:29.it is hard for us to know the circumstances behind this but what
:32:29. > :32:34.does this say about the support we have for people like PC Rathband
:32:34. > :32:40.who at the simplest was himself a victim of crime? He was a tragic
:32:40. > :32:44.victim of crime and his death is the responsibility of Raoul Moat
:32:44. > :32:48.and Raoul Moat primarily but we have to see if we can do more to
:32:48. > :32:52.support those who do need such tragic circumstances in the line of
:32:52. > :32:58.duty, and also victims of crime generally, because he had a very
:32:58. > :33:02.dark journey to face. He faced it with tremendous courage. He did so
:33:02. > :33:07.much for others with charity. But in the end it seemed he could not
:33:07. > :33:14.face continuing with his suffering, and that we really need to make
:33:14. > :33:21.sure we can do everything we can for aeons Wales, there has been a
:33:21. > :33:28.suggestion of a memorial, perhaps in a Newcastle, it for PC Rathband.
:33:28. > :33:31.A memorial is an excellent idea. He was an extremely brave man. He has
:33:31. > :33:36.effectively fallen for the community of the North East. Just
:33:36. > :33:42.as we Brits in memorials for others who give their lives in the service
:33:42. > :33:46.of the area, I think we should in I hope that his charity, the Blue
:33:46. > :33:51.Lamp charity, continues and continues to do good work, which is
:33:51. > :33:55.so needed for people who find themselves in those circumstances.
:33:55. > :33:58.This is a tragedy for his family, friends and colleagues.
:33:58. > :34:03.Some businesses in the North East did quite well last year bidding
:34:03. > :34:05.for money for the Government's new Regional Growth Fund, yet ten
:34:05. > :34:09.months on three-quarters of the firms have not got hold of the cash
:34:10. > :34:15.yet. According to Labour, that is holding back the creation of vital
:34:15. > :34:19.new jobs. I spoke to Lord Heseltine, in charge of the fund, and asked
:34:19. > :34:25.him first on his view of the current state of the region's
:34:25. > :34:30.economy. The my own reading, we are beginning to see a rather more
:34:30. > :34:34.optimistic note for the rows, but the important thing is that when
:34:34. > :34:39.the growth comes it comes from the private sector. The Iraqi
:34:39. > :34:43.Government schemes -- and there are Government schemes which will
:34:43. > :34:49.create jobs in the private sector in the North East. We were able to
:34:49. > :34:54.make some very good awards. We have now got another �1 billion and I'm
:34:54. > :35:00.sure we will get good bits from the North East for that that there is
:35:00. > :35:04.not a short fix and it is a complete delusion, and I have seen
:35:04. > :35:08.politicians pretend an opposition politicians always say, we would be
:35:08. > :35:12.doing this or that, but they got us into this mess in the first Test.
:35:12. > :35:20.It would help the North East if those grants had actually been paid
:35:20. > :35:24.out. Around 75 % have not been paid out. This is a complex issue and I
:35:24. > :35:28.am concerned about it. First, the Government money follows in private
:35:28. > :35:33.money, so it the private money gets suspended for a lot of the public
:35:33. > :35:37.money goes in afterwards. So the real test is how many schemes have
:35:37. > :35:42.actually started? Some months ago I came up to Newcastle and saw
:35:42. > :35:45.schemes that were getting under way. But when you make these grants
:35:45. > :35:47.Committee you really sit there and think that ten minutes down the
:35:47. > :35:51.line three-quarters of the businesses you were giving grants
:35:52. > :35:57.to would not yet have got the money? They're very important point,
:35:57. > :36:02.and it was all of us. I spent a lot of time looking at it. The
:36:02. > :36:05.companies themselves are often either hesitant or have not really
:36:05. > :36:09.worked out the detail or just want to delay, or in some cases, have
:36:09. > :36:14.not get permission from their parent companies. So it is taking
:36:14. > :36:21.longer and I am the first to say it. I do not like that, but it does not
:36:21. > :36:27.basic -- alter the basic underlying point that the money will flow and
:36:27. > :36:30.it will improve jobs in the private sector.
:36:30. > :36:33.Paul Woolston is here from the North-Eastern Local Enterprise
:36:33. > :36:37.Partnership. Lord Heseltine suggests some of these delays are
:36:37. > :36:42.down to the businesses themselves. Is that fair? We would all like the
:36:42. > :36:47.money to be flowing quicker. However, when you ran a competition
:36:47. > :36:51.and you have to decide who is going through the next phase, you need to
:36:52. > :36:54.do diligence and for some businesses, they will be having to
:36:54. > :36:58.profile when they spend the money before they can take the grant, so
:36:58. > :37:01.I would like to see it coming through quicker but it is not a
:37:01. > :37:07.straightforward process. Is it holding back the generation of
:37:07. > :37:10.jobs? It will if it continues to have delays, but I think the
:37:10. > :37:15.important thing is back particularly for the North East, we
:37:15. > :37:23.did better than we thought we might, more than our fair share, and we
:37:23. > :37:26.wanted to get it coming through as soon as possible. We were not to
:37:26. > :37:31.involved in Stage 1 and 2 and we would like to be more involved in
:37:31. > :37:35.stage three. A lot of people will not know what the role of the Local
:37:35. > :37:42.Enterprise Partnership is. I would tell you about who we are and what
:37:42. > :37:46.we are trying to achieve. And we are a business-led bought and we
:37:46. > :37:49.are committed to the concept of partnership so that might be
:37:49. > :37:54.business-to-business, but business to public services, to local
:37:54. > :37:56.authorities, on our board we have the leaders of each of the local
:37:56. > :38:00.authorities and the elected local mayor for North Tyneside and they
:38:00. > :38:06.have been fully supported -- supportive of what the board
:38:06. > :38:09.members wanted to achieve. I have to hurry you a little bit, but I
:38:09. > :38:12.suppose one of the accusations against you, even by the DEC
:38:12. > :38:16.picture of this fund, is that Teesside has got ahead of the game
:38:16. > :38:19.and there has actually been quite a bit of squabbling within your Local
:38:19. > :38:24.Enterprise Partnership. I am not sure where he gets the notion of
:38:24. > :38:28.squabbling. I have not seen that. The board has been very United and
:38:28. > :38:34.focused, working exceptionally hard. I do not think it is very helpful
:38:34. > :38:38.to compare ourselves with Tees Valley. I would like in 12 months
:38:38. > :38:42.he to be comparing us to an equivalent in Germany or the United
:38:42. > :38:46.States. Teesside has been helpful to us but I do not think that is a
:38:46. > :38:51.useful comparison. Ian's Wales, returning to the
:38:51. > :38:57.regional growth fund, Lord Heseltine, he expressed concern
:38:57. > :39:00.about some of the delay. There is absolutely no delay in the
:39:00. > :39:10.Government spending the money when the companies are ready to receive
:39:10. > :39:14.
:39:14. > :39:18.it. The biggest problem, as Lord has There are two and Lord -- large
:39:18. > :39:22.chemical plants and one of them there are holes in the ground and
:39:22. > :39:26.it is now ready to go up and the other one hasn't even started. It
:39:26. > :39:29.is his stage the companies are at in making the investment so I have
:39:29. > :39:34.no doubt that all those schemes that were awarded many will get is
:39:34. > :39:42.as fast as they needed. Chi Onwurah, given that there is not as much
:39:42. > :39:47.money around as before, it is already creating jobs, isn't it?
:39:47. > :39:50.is creating very few jobs, because of the delay. I think it is really
:39:50. > :40:00.wrong to Glenlee companies. These are often small companies who are
:40:00. > :40:03.not in the business of doing due diligence themselves. To blame them,
:40:03. > :40:09.compared to Whitehall, who have a very small number of people working
:40:09. > :40:13.on getting the money out to them is so wrong. You have to be careful
:40:13. > :40:18.how it is spent and do the Czechs slow. You have to have the people
:40:18. > :40:23.to do that and the resources. One of the problems small businesses
:40:23. > :40:27.have in getting funds is that there is so much of his bureaucracy
:40:27. > :40:32.associated with it. Whitehall should be doing much more to speed
:40:32. > :40:37.that flow through. We have had some criticism of the North-Eastern
:40:37. > :40:42.Local Enterprise Partnership, what marks out of ten would you give it?
:40:42. > :40:47.I think Paul has been doing a fantastic job with very very little
:40:47. > :40:52.resources. When the LEP started it did not even have an office. I am
:40:52. > :41:01.not sure if it still does. When you compare that with the two Brits for
:41:02. > :41:05.billion pounds at the RDA North East had -- �2.4 billion., they are
:41:06. > :41:10.doing a good job but they do not have the resources and it will take
:41:10. > :41:14.much more input from businesses as well as the politicians in the area.
:41:14. > :41:18.Ian, there seems to be less criticism of the Tees Valley but
:41:18. > :41:27.these organisations have very little money compared to one of the
:41:27. > :41:30.East. The Tees Valley partnerships made a fantastic start. They were
:41:30. > :41:33.showcasing what they have already done and they were busy leading
:41:33. > :41:39.investors in London to do more and I'm delighted with the progress
:41:39. > :41:44.they have made. The can you put a figure on the number of jobs they
:41:44. > :41:49.have created? What evidence is there? The number of successful
:41:49. > :41:52.bids into the Regional Growth Fund is an obvious one. There are dozens
:41:52. > :41:54.of bits across the South region that have gone through into the
:41:54. > :42:01.Regional Growth Fund and they have been instrumental in making it
:42:01. > :42:04.happen. We also have Enterprise Zones across Teesside and three in
:42:04. > :42:14.my constituency alone, and they have been working really hard to
:42:14. > :42:14.
:42:14. > :42:19.make the case for that. Chi Onwurah, it is in a her -- in Labour's
:42:19. > :42:22.interest to be negative. I know that the North East has the highest
:42:22. > :42:27.level of unemployment across the country. I know that the long term
:42:27. > :42:35.these unemployment went up by 150 % and I know that we have lost
:42:35. > :42:38.800,000 private sector jobs as well as 24,000 public sector jobs in D
:42:38. > :42:44.last 18 months. This Government needs to take action, needs to do
:42:44. > :42:49.it in the Budget... Are there any signs of hope? The Government is
:42:49. > :42:51.taking action and we do not like to talk about good news. For 22 months
:42:51. > :42:54.running out manufacturing employment has increased every
:42:55. > :42:58.month in the North East. The manufacturing economy is getting
:42:58. > :43:03.going again. We have a net trade surplus already and there are lots
:43:03. > :43:08.of good sector stop thank you very much.
:43:08. > :43:12.More than 100 village falls across County Durham could be given to
:43:12. > :43:16.local people are this week. It is the latest attempt to hand services
:43:16. > :43:20.that used to be run by councils, like leisure centres and rivals,
:43:20. > :43:23.over to the people that use them. But the DIY approach could have its
:43:23. > :43:27.limits. Keeping children safe from the
:43:28. > :43:30.traffic. It is certainly an important job, but could the work
:43:30. > :43:34.done by a professional lollipop lady like Helen be done by
:43:34. > :43:38.volunteers instead? That was the money-saving idea considered by the
:43:38. > :43:46.council here in Darlington. One that was eventually dropped because
:43:46. > :43:49.of opposition from the public and parents. I think that the need for
:43:49. > :43:53.professional people like this is clear. I do not believe in
:43:53. > :43:58.volunteers. It is a job that needs to be done for the schoolchildren.
:43:58. > :44:02.You would be worried that they would not turn up if it is an
:44:02. > :44:06.unpaid job. The idea of volunteer crossing patrols might have got the
:44:06. > :44:10.funds down but increasingly, our councils are calling on us to take
:44:10. > :44:17.over local services and facilities. So have we got what it takes to
:44:17. > :44:22.take the DIY challenge? Welcome to the New Town Hall
:44:22. > :44:26.toolkit, complete with people power to have let down spending, and here
:44:26. > :44:32.in the North Yorkshire village of Great Ayton, locals took the do-it-
:44:32. > :44:37.yourself approach when the council threatened to close down the
:44:37. > :44:42.library. Volunteers will take over in May. We have over 70 volunteers.
:44:42. > :44:45.Plenty of people to run the library. What sort of jobs will they do?
:44:45. > :44:49.They will be working providing books service, helping people with
:44:49. > :44:52.computing, doing everything the library did, and hopefully more. We
:44:52. > :44:58.had to do more in the wake of our out-of-hours activities, all sorts
:44:58. > :45:02.of things. But this is not a simple case of residents going it alone.
:45:02. > :45:05.The Community Library will still get his books supplied by the
:45:06. > :45:10.county council, and some funding from the parish council.
:45:10. > :45:16.And money is the big issue at the next stop on my proper job tour are
:45:16. > :45:19.the North. The community centre here is one of scores of buildings
:45:19. > :45:25.the county council wants to transfer to local groups, as part
:45:25. > :45:28.of the cancer's response to funding cuts. Villagers here say the centre
:45:28. > :45:33.must open for activities like his parents toddler group but they
:45:33. > :45:38.worry about the added cost of repairs and maintenance. We are a
:45:38. > :45:42.small population. You have not got the same facilities for fundraising.
:45:42. > :45:46.The council have said they are setting up a team to help people
:45:46. > :45:52.through the transfer and should try to find funding for them and things
:45:52. > :45:57.like that. If that comes off, it will be great. If it does not, then
:45:57. > :46:01.we do not know where we are going. So the uncertainty is one of the
:46:01. > :46:05.big things. The message from this community and others, yes, we will
:46:05. > :46:10.give it a go to save services and facilities. But like all DIY jobs,
:46:10. > :46:16.fixing it will take more than enthusiasm alone. Otherwise it
:46:16. > :46:21.could all come unstuck. Just me, you would never want our
:46:21. > :46:27.reporter to put it low shelves! Doesn't this actually sound like a
:46:27. > :46:30.good solution? Places stay open, council save money. What is
:46:30. > :46:34.certainly good is involving local communities in the delivering of
:46:34. > :46:38.services. Newcastle City Council, for example, is looking at co-
:46:38. > :46:43.operative models to ensure that local people did take part in bat
:46:43. > :46:47.and doing that as much as possible, but also, remember, it should not
:46:47. > :46:51.be an excuse for getting rid of services and getting rid of people.
:46:51. > :46:56.They are professionals delivering these services, often, for the
:46:56. > :47:02.right reasons. But a community centre, it would be best for local
:47:02. > :47:06.people to run it? If they have the time, but many communities,
:47:06. > :47:11.certainly in Newcastle, in my constituency, do the people have
:47:11. > :47:16.the time to give enough time there to be a co-ordinated and well run
:47:16. > :47:21.rate -- managed community service? There should be involvement and
:47:21. > :47:24.that is what community delivery is about and co-operative do from but
:47:24. > :47:30.there needs to be the money and management there to make sure there
:47:30. > :47:33.is consistency and professionalism. Ian, we saw people in quite a well-
:47:33. > :47:38.to-do area running a library but can you imagine that happening in
:47:38. > :47:42.poorer areas of your constituency? I agree that there is an issue that
:47:42. > :47:45.certain communities might not have been build community leadership
:47:46. > :47:51.needed to win things and I do think councils need to redeem auction at
:47:51. > :47:54.very carefully but I also believe that we often do not give people a
:47:54. > :48:01.chance and French can is a good example. The neighbourhood centre
:48:01. > :48:04.there is largely run by the community. -- Grangetown. Is this
:48:04. > :48:08.thought-out process about him his best to run the services or is it
:48:08. > :48:12.an act of desperation by some councils? Bake one to hand them
:48:12. > :48:16.over to the community because they do not have the money to run them.
:48:16. > :48:19.Money is tight and you can see what councils are going down this road
:48:19. > :48:24.but as one or two of the examples showed, it is not always bad news.
:48:24. > :48:27.I have been on a committee that is owned by the council and the amount
:48:27. > :48:32.of activity that goes on is fantastic and it is all run by
:48:32. > :48:38.volunteers. There are no council staff involved at all. It can work.
:48:38. > :48:43.Isn't this test for communities, if they want to take it over it will
:48:43. > :48:48.survive and if there is no real interest, it will go to the wall.
:48:48. > :48:55.Communities in Newcastle and the cost -- coast of the North East
:48:55. > :48:59.have been supporting the services. What I find insulting is that this
:48:59. > :49:02.Government with the Big Society have invented volunteering.
:49:02. > :49:09.Tomorrow I will have three constituency surgeries across
:49:09. > :49:11.Newcastle, and I want to make sure that those libraries where they
:49:12. > :49:18.take place are professionally staffed, because it is so important
:49:18. > :49:23.to get people into libraries. have run out of time. Let's take a
:49:23. > :49:28.look at the rest of the week's Newsnight. We thought about giving
:49:28. > :49:36.him just half a minute to see how he would cope, austerity and all
:49:36. > :49:41.that, but that seemed to mean. So he is the week in 60 seconds.
:49:41. > :49:45.The consultation over the future of this aluminium smelter in line Rice
:49:45. > :49:50.has ended. No arrests come forward and it is expected to close with
:49:50. > :49:55.the loss of 500 jobs. The mayor of horrible has six -- sacked all six
:49:55. > :49:58.Labour councillors for failing to support his Budget.
:49:58. > :50:05.The Redcar MP has urged the Prime Minister to ensure wind farms do
:50:05. > :50:09.not get built. There are plans for 120 metres high wind turbines
:50:09. > :50:13.between two beautiful villages which are less than a mile apart.
:50:13. > :50:17.Does the Prime Minister agree that such giant turbines should not be
:50:17. > :50:21.built so close to residential areas? Northumberland council has
:50:21. > :50:25.backed a �100 million loan to North Cumbria Healthcare Trust. It will
:50:25. > :50:30.allow the trust to expand its complex.
:50:30. > :50:37.Land next to a nature reserve will not be built and after all.
:50:37. > :50:47.Newcastle cancer has revised its plans for reducing building in
:50:47. > :50:47.
:50:47. > :50:53.That is all for now. Next Sunday we will be live at the Liberal
:50:53. > :50:57.Democrats Conference. If in the meantime, keep an eye on my blog.
:50:57. > :51:01.There is more on their about the difficulties facing elected mayors