:01:32. > :01:35.In the North East and Cumbria: Steelmaking returns to Teesside and
:01:35. > :01:45.there's more investment at Nissan. Are they pointers to the region's
:01:45. > :01:45.
:01:45. > :30:51.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1745 seconds
:30:51. > :30:58.Will it be a yes or or ran off. We invite the campaigners to make
:30:58. > :31:06.their case. As well as the latest good news for steelmaking, good
:31:06. > :31:14.news for Nissan. My guest Sark Ian Mearns, and Mary Trevelyan and Neil
:31:14. > :31:19.Bradbury. This week, Cumbria County Council
:31:19. > :31:28.closed one care home or while keeping two Coppin. The majority of
:31:28. > :31:34.councils have stopped running care homes.
:31:35. > :31:40.A partial victory for campaigners from west Cumbria. 10,000 people
:31:40. > :31:50.signed petitions to close three care homes. Cumbria County Council
:31:50. > :31:58.changed tack and voted to keep two or pin. She is 96 and deserves that
:31:58. > :32:08.right to live where she chooses. She will be pleased. The news
:32:08. > :32:13.delighted staff at Richmond Park which has also staying open. I am
:32:13. > :32:22.extremely disappointed that would Lyons is closing. It does fantastic
:32:22. > :32:28.work. We are devastated. I am delighted that Richmond Park will
:32:28. > :32:38.stay open. The reprieve goes against a pattern of closing public
:32:38. > :32:38.
:32:38. > :32:48.sector homes. No us has never been about saving money, it is about
:32:48. > :32:54.Updating care for the elderly. have pleased some residents and
:32:54. > :33:04.their families by keeping two homes Open. Have they ducked the
:33:04. > :33:09.important questions? You went through this prop -- process. Has
:33:09. > :33:17.Cumbria abduct a decision? That is the duty of local government. Every
:33:17. > :33:21.council must decide what is right for them. They have made the right
:33:21. > :33:30.decision for them. In Northumberland, we made the right
:33:30. > :33:38.decision on care homes. Then we ticks the decision on day-care. We
:33:39. > :33:46.are moving care provision and to the voluntary sector. We are able
:33:46. > :33:54.to provide more care for more people. It has been a great success.
:33:54. > :34:01.The problem is that you get a lot of flak. It is a traumatic
:34:01. > :34:10.experience potentially far older people. Is a resolution. You do not
:34:10. > :34:19.get awards for making these decisions. It was a hard process.
:34:19. > :34:25.There was a lot of vigorous debate but that is good. Looking back,
:34:25. > :34:30.from my experience, people are happy with the change. There were
:34:30. > :34:37.fears and concerns, understandably, from people who had used the
:34:37. > :34:43.facilities for a long time. It is understandable and easy to support
:34:43. > :34:48.can make -- campaigners. Is that always the right decision? In the
:34:48. > :34:55.case of what has happened in Cumbria, the two homes that have
:34:55. > :35:01.been reprieved are popular. I hope that it is the right decision for
:35:01. > :35:11.those people and for their families. I think that other models need to
:35:11. > :35:17.
:35:17. > :35:27.be explored. The council in Gateshead, the voluntary sector and
:35:27. > :35:28.
:35:28. > :35:31.what we produced was a better example. I think it is worth
:35:32. > :35:38.investigating what else is available. Is there a danger that
:35:38. > :35:46.when councils get out of this sector, it is the private sector
:35:46. > :35:50.that takes over? The there is always a danger. It is the
:35:50. > :35:57.responsibility of the Care Quality Commission to make sure what is
:35:57. > :36:02.there is of good quality. We have seen in the early part of this year
:36:02. > :36:12.problems with capacity because of decisions taken by the Secretary of
:36:12. > :36:17.
:36:17. > :36:27.State. You campaigned and were you not wrong in the end? I think the
:36:27. > :36:29.
:36:29. > :36:37.issue that is difficult is that the people we are talking about who
:36:37. > :36:47.need protection by councils are the very elderly, those with dementia a
:36:47. > :36:49.
:36:49. > :36:53.book is people are living longer. At 70, I hop to be fit and healthy.
:36:53. > :37:03.When I and 85, there will still be a need for people who do not have
:37:03. > :37:06.
:37:06. > :37:11.family. They need to be protected. Keren the warm is fine to a point.
:37:11. > :37:21.For councils to make sure that the people who are most vulnerable are
:37:21. > :37:23.
:37:23. > :37:31.protected. We neglect people latter peril. Can the private sector can
:37:31. > :37:40.be trusted to look after old people? The operators are keeping
:37:40. > :37:47.on top of what is going on. Northumberland has a very good
:37:47. > :37:52.provision in South -- in place. That is something that the part of
:37:52. > :37:59.the Social Care Bill really needs to look at. We pay more are in
:37:59. > :38:06.Northumberland than another places. He it is pointing out -- worth
:38:06. > :38:16.pointing out that almost 600 Care Commission inspections were
:38:16. > :38:17.
:38:17. > :38:24.cancelled. In two weeks time, voters in Newcastle will choose
:38:24. > :38:31.whether they want an elected mayor in the city. Campaigning has been
:38:31. > :38:38.low-key. To hear both sides of the argument, I went on a journey
:38:38. > :38:48.across the city with two campaigners, one each from the Yes
:38:48. > :38:49.
:38:49. > :38:53.and No camp. The corridors of power, this is where Newcastle is governed.
:38:54. > :38:59.Voters will decide next month whether they want an elected mayor.
:38:59. > :39:08.Time for the campaigners to make their cases. Most people are more
:39:08. > :39:18.concerned about their pavements and bins. I wonder whether electing a
:39:18. > :39:19.
:39:19. > :39:25.mayor will make a difference. There will be a focus on whether people
:39:25. > :39:34.are more concerned with bigger issues. 25 % of people can name
:39:34. > :39:41.their council leader. Leaders are picked from smoke-filled rooms. 57
:39:41. > :39:51.% of people who have an elected mayor can mean that Meir. --
:39:51. > :39:52.
:39:52. > :39:57.elected mayor. One difference could an elected mayor make? Could an
:39:57. > :40:03.elected mayor be the answer? having elected mayor in place,
:40:03. > :40:10.there will be the power to take for word he regeneration areas which
:40:10. > :40:18.will be important to our economic future. The problem is that it is
:40:18. > :40:28.in private ownership. If that -- if elected mayor has millions in his
:40:28. > :40:28.
:40:28. > :40:34.back pocket, he can pit that into the city. We need more private
:40:34. > :40:39.money in place for more regeneration. This area struggles
:40:40. > :40:47.to get regeneration off the ground. I question the record of elected
:40:47. > :40:54.mayors making a difference. Next stop, the bus station. London's
:40:54. > :41:02.make a -- elected mayor has a great power over travel. I cannot imagine
:41:02. > :41:12.how an elected mayor would make the buses run on time. If we got told
:41:12. > :41:13.
:41:13. > :41:17.Bruce on the time, that would be bad. Greater powers over charging
:41:17. > :41:27.policies to reduce charges on public transport in order to get
:41:27. > :41:32.more people on them. At the moment, I cannot see how an elected mayor
:41:32. > :41:37.in Newcastle could help. We need greater levels of public
:41:37. > :41:47.transportation. That voice is not being heard because there is no
:41:47. > :41:54.
:41:54. > :41:58.voice. The quayside next. Many of's juice diction will stop here. A if
:41:58. > :42:03.we missed the autonomous, if people decide not to bought foreign
:42:03. > :42:10.elected mayor, we will have no civic voice making a big argument
:42:10. > :42:20.to government. In terms of politics, there is parochialism and I wonder
:42:20. > :42:30.whether there will be support. is clear our campaigners will never
:42:30. > :42:30.
:42:30. > :42:36.agree. Voters need to decide what a think by May 3rd.
:42:36. > :42:43.Ian Mearns, which we would you vote? I would be against the idea
:42:43. > :42:48.of having an elected mayor. When the Cabinet system came into power,
:42:48. > :42:53.there was a lot of discussion about the transparency of the decision
:42:53. > :43:01.making process. How do you make it transpired when one person is
:43:01. > :43:10.deliberating on their own. Frankly, the power in London can supply to
:43:10. > :43:16.places like Newcastle. There is a better model. I would vote Yes in
:43:16. > :43:26.favour of unelected mayor. If you want to speak to the City, who do
:43:26. > :43:33.
:43:33. > :43:41.you fawned? My casting notice for know. We have gridlock between the
:43:41. > :43:50.Conservatives elected mayor under cover -- a Labour elected council.
:43:50. > :43:57.-- Labour council. Without a lot more powers, I am not convinced of
:43:58. > :44:07.this argument. Another part of the North East, I would vote to know.
:44:08. > :44:09.
:44:09. > :44:16.It means nothing. Newcastle has the final vote.
:44:16. > :44:26.David Cameron's visit to Nissan in Japan gave us a good present. This
:44:26. > :44:31.
:44:31. > :44:41.week, up more at a news. SSI on Teesside.
:44:41. > :44:47.
:44:47. > :44:52.The region's David Cameron was that the Japanese headquarters to hear a
:44:52. > :44:56.hatchback will be built at its North East factory. The news that
:44:56. > :45:04.Nissan will be making a new hatchback and Sunderland will
:45:04. > :45:09.create thousands of jobs. We can encourage investment in Britain.
:45:09. > :45:15.But first I run for conversion into steel is due to be produced by the
:45:15. > :45:22.Redcar blast furnace of next week. SSI was described by local MP as
:45:22. > :45:32.the birth of a new industrial you This former Sunderland MP has died
:45:32. > :45:39.
:45:39. > :45:49.at the age of 87. Ian Mearns, we are overwhelmed with
:45:49. > :45:49.
:45:49. > :45:59.good economic news. I wish you were right. The news is very good, but
:45:59. > :46:00.
:46:00. > :46:09.it does not offset the significant job losses we have had. In the last
:46:09. > :46:15.two years, we have lost 60,000 public sector at jobs. Really?
:46:15. > :46:21.is really the figure. We have seen significant job losses in the
:46:21. > :46:31.private sector as well. The local economy is having money sucked out
:46:31. > :46:41.of it. We are delighted about the other things. Hasn't the Government
:46:41. > :46:41.
:46:41. > :46:51.putting its money where its mouth is? The gate fund money to SSI. --
:46:51. > :46:52.
:46:52. > :46:59.gave. Any money of that nature is welcome, but it is nowhere near
:46:59. > :47:06.what was available from the development agencies. The transport
:47:06. > :47:12.infrastructure development is still needed. No one wants to be churlish.
:47:12. > :47:22.We talked that anyone in the office Cook -- everyone in the office
:47:22. > :47:27.
:47:27. > :47:35.could end up working for Nissan. is a valid point. I do not think
:47:35. > :47:43.that is the case. There is huge growth on Teesside. There is
:47:43. > :47:48.enormous development. What if it is not enough? We can always ask for
:47:48. > :47:55.more. We need to continue lobbying for money to help invest in our
:47:55. > :48:00.small and growing companies. Let us be honest, the package that George
:48:00. > :48:09.Osborne is bringing together is to make sure corporation tax rates are
:48:09. > :48:19.the lowest they have ever been. We're still �4... One don't want to
:48:19. > :48:19.
:48:19. > :48:29.get into that today. We're seeing investment and it isn't --
:48:29. > :48:39.fantastic. Is there a danger some parts will be left behind? We do
:48:39. > :48:40.
:48:40. > :48:48.not want to fool ourselves that it is all good news. There is bad news.
:48:48. > :48:54.I am convinced that with Alcan, the Government did all it could. It
:48:54. > :49:04.wasn't to be. That is the case sometimes. I am encouraged that we
:49:04. > :49:06.
:49:06. > :49:16.have seen from the regional growth fund, job-creating industries.
:49:16. > :49:17.
:49:17. > :49:25.Mearns, what does the reopening of the blast furnace mean? It is
:49:26. > :49:30.recognition that we have a ready made steel workforce. There is a
:49:30. > :49:34.problem with investment. I am afraid to say that the British
:49:34. > :49:43.economy has a lack of confidence. The private sector in Britain today
:49:43. > :49:50.are sitting on three-quarters of the training that it used to have.
:49:50. > :50:00.I think we see that again. The Government is trying to draw that
:50:00. > :50:03.
:50:03. > :50:13.investment. In housing, there is a lot of change in policy. Thank you..