:01:17. > :01:20.In the North East and Cumbria - full coverage of yesterday's Durham
:01:20. > :01:30.Gala. Plus how many children are really benefitting from the
:01:30. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :31:28.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1798 seconds
:31:28. > :31:32.Government's "pupil premium"? Hello, and welcome to the Sunday
:31:32. > :31:35.Politics in the North East and Cumbria. Coming up. What difference
:31:36. > :31:39.has the pupil premium made to children at schools in our region?
:31:39. > :31:43.We've got an end-of-term report from Teesside. My guests for this -
:31:43. > :31:47.our final programme of the series - are Durham North West MP, Pat Glass,
:31:47. > :31:49.and Newcastle Liberal Democrat councillor Nick Cott. And we start
:31:49. > :31:54.with the Durham Gala - a celebration of the North East's
:31:54. > :31:56.mining heritage. But there was a time when it was also a key event
:31:56. > :31:59.in the political calendar, attended by Prime Ministers such as Clement
:32:00. > :32:02.Attlee and Harold Wilson. In more recent years, Labour leaders have
:32:02. > :32:06.stayed away - perhaps embarrassed by the Gala's connections with more
:32:06. > :32:16.left-wing unions. That's was until yesterday - when Ed Miliband
:32:16. > :32:17.
:32:17. > :32:23.addressed the crowds in Durham. Our reporter Fergus Hewison was there.
:32:23. > :32:31.A babe in arms, a smile and a wave. After a 23-year absence, the miners
:32:31. > :32:34.gala welcomed back a relaxed looking Labour leader. Ed
:32:34. > :32:36.Miliband's appearance is seen by some as an attempt to reconnect
:32:36. > :32:39.with core Labour supporters, but, of course, it risks handing out
:32:39. > :32:48.ammunition to opponents who accuse him of being too close to the
:32:48. > :32:51.unions. When he took to the stage to speak, Mr Miliband paid tribute
:32:51. > :32:54.to those very people who put him where he is today, the trade union
:32:54. > :32:58.members who voted for him and helped him gain the leadership
:32:58. > :33:03.ahead of his brother, David. trade unions founded the Labour
:33:03. > :33:06.Party. Our party is stronger because of the 3 million nurses,
:33:06. > :33:13.engineers, shop workers and all of the trade union levy payers who are
:33:13. > :33:16.part of that movement. Previous Labour leaders stayed away from the
:33:16. > :33:21.gala, afraid perhaps of aligning themselves too closely with the
:33:21. > :33:31.trade union movement. So has Mr Miliband damaged the brand by
:33:31. > :33:31.
:33:31. > :33:35.agreeing to speak? The unions have their job to do, we will disagree
:33:35. > :33:39.from time to time, as we have done over the last 18 months or so. But
:33:39. > :33:43.the link we have to trade unions and to ordinary people in this
:33:44. > :33:48.country is a really important link. Today is not just about politics,
:33:48. > :33:51.it is about celebration of community. Anyone who watched the
:33:51. > :34:01.marching of the banners, the idea that some of this is a bunch of
:34:01. > :34:03.
:34:03. > :34:09.militants. Frankly that is nonsense. Almost all of the great and good of
:34:09. > :34:14.the Labour Party and trade union movement in the region were at the
:34:14. > :34:18.gala. Most were relieved to see a Labour leader at the Big Meeting
:34:18. > :34:22.surrounded by minders. He is certainly not in the pocket of the
:34:22. > :34:29.trade unions, as any Labour leader has not been in recent years, but
:34:29. > :34:35.he does listen to the trade unions, of course he does. But it is a
:34:35. > :34:39.healthy relationship. I find the reasons that Labour leaders have
:34:39. > :34:44.not been here for that period frankly inexplicable. Frankly, why
:34:44. > :34:47.would you not come? The speech were short and did not offer much in the
:34:47. > :34:52.way of policies but discern the left Labour supporters with smiles
:34:52. > :34:55.on their faces simply by turning up. Fergus Hewison reporting on
:34:55. > :34:59.yesterday's Durham Gala. Now to our local councils, which again are
:34:59. > :35:02.making cut-backs. This week Durham reduced opening hours at 38 of its
:35:02. > :35:06.libraries as part of its efforts to save nearly �190 million. But can
:35:06. > :35:09.such cuts be made in a way that's both fair to local residents and to
:35:09. > :35:12.the most vulnerable? It's a big challenge and one council - Labour-
:35:12. > :35:15.run Newcastle - has set up its own independent "Fairness Commission"
:35:15. > :35:22.to try and help. Its report is due out tomorrow. But the opposition
:35:22. > :35:26.Liberal Democrats have already dismissed it as a political gimmick.
:35:26. > :35:30.It is a little bit about public relations, a little bit of
:35:30. > :35:34.politicking. Nobody is good be against extending bareness, but it
:35:34. > :35:38.would be more convincing if this council and the other hand full of
:35:38. > :35:43.Labour councils had set up there fairness commission when there was
:35:43. > :35:46.a Labour government. It seems to me to be a device that they have
:35:46. > :35:49.created two not the coalition government for the tough decisions
:35:49. > :35:53.that it is home to take in the light of the difficult inheritance
:35:53. > :36:01.that it had. So is that fair? Well the deputy leader of Newcastle
:36:01. > :36:05.Council, Joyce McCarthy, joins me now. Is this about political
:36:05. > :36:12.posturing and coalition bashing? clip the not. I refute everything
:36:12. > :36:15.that David said in that statement. We believe that it is wrong that
:36:16. > :36:21.about one in three children in Newcastle would in poverty. We
:36:21. > :36:28.believe that it is wrong that people will lose 10 or 12 years of
:36:28. > :36:32.birdlife. Hour Fairness Commission, which, as you said, is independent,
:36:32. > :36:37.is in partnership with Newcastle University and the city council and
:36:37. > :36:41.the partners on not just from politics but from the Church, from
:36:41. > :36:45.education, from higher education and from the community and
:36:45. > :36:51.voluntary sector. We invited them to have a look at these issues and
:36:51. > :36:54.help us to find a way through wit. All those things you said about
:36:54. > :37:00.life expectancy but true under a Labour government. Were you
:37:00. > :37:02.shouting just as loud about it then? Absolutely, but under a
:37:02. > :37:07.Labour government the Government understood the difficult to which
:37:07. > :37:12.we were having. But they were still the same problems. It did reduce
:37:12. > :37:17.National League Child poverty, perhaps not far enough. What we are
:37:17. > :37:22.trying to do in Newcastle is insure that with our partners we have a
:37:22. > :37:26.clear direction. The Fairness Commission does not tell us what to
:37:26. > :37:32.do, it gives us some principles to work to an suggest that every
:37:32. > :37:37.decision should be considered with affair in this perspective.
:37:37. > :37:42.decides what those principles are? What is fair to some is not fair to
:37:42. > :37:49.others. Kenny, with the set of rules that says this is fair?
:37:49. > :37:52.have looked at ways in which we might look at burners. The sectors
:37:53. > :37:58.have set up about 10 principles in a report and we would use those to
:37:58. > :38:06.guide us through the difficult decisions in the future. Amateurs
:38:06. > :38:11.this commission costing? Not very much. The only actual cost is a few
:38:11. > :38:15.1000 pounds that has been spent on research evidence that helps us
:38:15. > :38:19.identify the evidence that backs up the decisions or we will make. If
:38:19. > :38:26.we are looking at fairness, it is unfair that bankers can walk away
:38:26. > :38:31.with millions of Pounds and we are making cuts in services.
:38:31. > :38:36.Nick Cott, these are the biggest cuts councils have ever had to make
:38:36. > :38:39.so was it not right to take a step back to look at how you can do it
:38:39. > :38:44.as fairly as possible? It is a laudable aim for any public body to
:38:44. > :38:54.be looking at issues of fairness. I have no objection in principle to
:38:54. > :38:54.
:38:54. > :38:58.the eye deer of 810 Fred. What I am concerned about is the necessity of
:38:58. > :39:02.having a commission to actually investigate these issues. I think
:39:03. > :39:07.there is plenty of research that has been done in relation to
:39:07. > :39:11.fairness, and it can mean different things to different people. We have
:39:11. > :39:16.to be very careful about how we present fairness and what
:39:16. > :39:21.expectations are could be raised. It is unreal issue that the Labour-
:39:21. > :39:26.run authority has a particular view about fairness that relates to
:39:26. > :39:31.geographical locations over and the Bath tackling disadvantage where
:39:31. > :39:35.disadvantaged manifests itself, which I think is hidden behind this
:39:35. > :39:40.smokescreen of the Fairness Commission. Pat Glass, is it ever
:39:40. > :39:43.possible to make the cut but are having to be made fairly? One of
:39:43. > :39:48.the things we never hear in Parliament noun is that we are all
:39:48. > :39:51.in this together. The ship has sailed on but one. If the
:39:52. > :39:55.government wanted to be fair it would not be giving tax cuts to
:39:55. > :40:01.millionaires error it would be making Bankers and companies pay
:40:01. > :40:06.their taxes. I do not want to commit a Newcastle City Council,
:40:06. > :40:11.because I am at Durham MP. What I do not think is fair is that every
:40:11. > :40:13.man, woman and child in Durham county has had cuts of more than
:40:13. > :40:21.simply paints and yet people in Surrey and Devon have got increases
:40:21. > :40:25.of � two each. What ever councils do, there is a perception that
:40:25. > :40:30.there is an unfairness in the source of these cuts from the
:40:30. > :40:36.Treasury. The amount of money through government grant that comes
:40:36. > :40:41.to Newcastle is five times more than it is per person, per head of
:40:41. > :40:48.population, than it is in a number of Surrey councils, which often
:40:48. > :40:54.used as comparison. Win or austerity comes, when cuts need to
:40:54. > :40:56.be made, that will unfortunately have an impact on people. What
:40:56. > :41:00.local authorities and national government and other public bodies
:41:00. > :41:06.need to do is to work out how they will protect those who are most
:41:06. > :41:09.vulnerable and those most in need. It is unfair to castigate the
:41:09. > :41:19.government has eight government which is basically bashing people
:41:19. > :41:20.
:41:20. > :41:25.in need rather than bankers. Councils also biding despite these
:41:25. > :41:30.cuts and the perception is that there was that stick at. But think
:41:30. > :41:34.it is amazing that Nick is depending people in Surrey. I'm
:41:34. > :41:42.sure there are 100 times more millionaires in Surrey and there
:41:42. > :41:47.are in Newcastle, said those kind of comparisons... I find it amazing
:41:47. > :41:53.that you are defending Surrey in comparison to Newcastle. I was
:41:53. > :41:56.talking recently, we meet regularly the MPs in Durham and the leaders
:41:56. > :42:00.of Durham County Council, and they are telling us that we have more
:42:00. > :42:05.cuts to come. There are business rate cuts which will mean in Durham
:42:05. > :42:09.County an extra �80 million taken out of the local economy. The
:42:09. > :42:14.government is talking at regional benefits and breach will pay which
:42:14. > :42:20.will take massive amounts out of the local economy. The council in
:42:20. > :42:23.Durham are telling me that in years to come they will struggle to even
:42:23. > :42:29.deliver their statutory functions. Whatever might have happened in the
:42:29. > :42:31.past, we are facing a real crisis in the region.
:42:31. > :42:34.Now, ask any Liberal Democrat what difference they've made in
:42:34. > :42:37.government and it's a fair bet the words "pupil premium" will soon be
:42:37. > :42:40.on their lips. It's their flagship policy for schools - designed to
:42:40. > :42:42.raise the educational achievements of the poorest children by
:42:42. > :42:46.directing extra money to every pupil who receives free school
:42:46. > :42:50.meals. North East schools received some �38 million this year - with
:42:50. > :42:56.another �4r million going to Cumbria. But is it the best way to
:42:56. > :43:02.deliver improvements in our schools?
:43:02. > :43:06.A two-storey time at South Bank Primary in Middlesbrough. The
:43:06. > :43:11.school is in a deprived area but these children are making great
:43:11. > :43:17.strides because as well as meeting in groups they often you want to
:43:17. > :43:21.want help. This very personal approach is only possible because
:43:21. > :43:26.of the �60,000 the school got the sheer from the pupil premium.
:43:26. > :43:32.pupil premium has afforded me that flexibility to respond to the needs
:43:32. > :43:36.of my children where they need the additional support. Without it, I
:43:36. > :43:41.am not sure my results would be at the level they are at, and without
:43:41. > :43:46.it by children would not feel motivated, feel confident, and be
:43:46. > :43:50.able to challenge themselves to raise the aspirations to reach
:43:50. > :43:53.their potential. With more than half of its children getting free
:43:53. > :44:03.school meals, it is hardly surprising that some Debbie Clinton
:44:03. > :44:16.
:44:16. > :44:21.does well out of the pupil premium. A few miles away, Nunthorpe School
:44:21. > :44:26.is one of those that has had to cut its budget. Only around one in 10
:44:26. > :44:32.of its people's war on free school meals. It is also one of the most
:44:32. > :44:38.successful academically in the country. The issue is that the
:44:38. > :44:44.child is a child and all children have a equal legal entitlement to
:44:44. > :44:49.equality of opportunity within the education system. While we,
:44:49. > :44:53.inevitably with a small number of both families defined as deprived,
:44:53. > :44:57.have every so sympathy with those families with large numbers of
:44:57. > :45:03.children from families defined as deprived, we feel that the ball
:45:03. > :45:08.park is not a fair one and has not been for quite some time. How much
:45:08. > :45:11.difference will money make any way? And recent research by Durham
:45:11. > :45:17.University raised doubt on whether the way in which the money is being
:45:17. > :45:22.spent will raise standards. Over the past 10 or 15 years, the spend
:45:22. > :45:26.in education has increased cutely already. And we have not seen
:45:26. > :45:31.dramatic increases, it may be no increases at all entertainment
:45:31. > :45:36.across the board. The research on spending and its relationship with
:45:36. > :45:39.genuine improvement in learning is very mixed. Sometimes it can have
:45:39. > :45:45.the benefit, but it is not necessarily so, and it depends of
:45:46. > :45:50.the money is spent on. Like any story, the pupil premium is bound
:45:50. > :45:54.to have its ups and downs, winners and losers, but it is far from
:45:54. > :45:58.clear that this is heading for a happy ending.
:45:58. > :46:02.If this was a Labour policy, you would be ignored him, and yet
:46:03. > :46:08.you're criticising it. There are couple of things that need be said
:46:08. > :46:12.about the pupil premium. In principle, it is a great policy. On
:46:12. > :46:16.the face of it, money following children who while the poorest
:46:16. > :46:20.children. The first thing is, it is not new money, it is a
:46:20. > :46:24.redistribution of what was called additional educational needs
:46:24. > :46:29.funding. As you can see in Middlesbrough, there has been some
:46:29. > :46:34.redistribution between secondary and primary, so it is not new money.
:46:34. > :46:38.The other important issue is that the latest research has shown very
:46:38. > :46:47.clearly that money is going from those areas where there were large
:46:47. > :46:52.concentrations of children on free school meals, it took areas where
:46:52. > :46:57.there are fewer concentrations. So the same amount of money is being
:46:57. > :47:02.spread out more widely. One of it for teas that is losing ate his
:47:02. > :47:12.Middlesbrough, also South Tyneside and Liverpool. The authorities that
:47:12. > :47:13.
:47:13. > :47:19.are gaining, not surprisingly, are Rutland and Surrey! Surrey again!
:47:19. > :47:25.It is the intricacies of the funding system that means that this
:47:25. > :47:32.is not working. This is just recycled money. I think it is
:47:32. > :47:38.highly debatable whether it is new money or not. When a new government
:47:38. > :47:42.comes into power by a range priorities differently. There were
:47:42. > :47:46.changes made to the education budget, to council budgets, all
:47:46. > :47:51.public services had changes to their budget. This is additional
:47:51. > :47:58.cash which is being used for targeting disadvantage, for ball
:47:58. > :48:02.rubble people in particular. It follows the child, so there will be
:48:02. > :48:10.children in Surrey that will benefit from the people premium,
:48:10. > :48:17.but there will also be peoples in Newcastle that will benefit. Is the
:48:17. > :48:23.North East disadvantaged in this, do you think? I would not say that.
:48:23. > :48:26.By 2014, they will be �2.5 billion spent on this initiative across the
:48:26. > :48:31.country. It means that it goes straight to those schools where
:48:31. > :48:38.there are children and young people who of disadvantage, he or in need,
:48:38. > :48:42.who need additional assistance. Labour port record amounts of money
:48:42. > :48:48.into education and the owners is not there that it achieved anything.
:48:48. > :48:52.I would disagree with that. Over the years that we were in power,
:48:52. > :48:56.all children improved. I'm not surprised by the evidence that was
:48:56. > :49:01.found. I know, after career in education, that the things that
:49:01. > :49:06.make a difference a good teaching and learning and good leadership
:49:06. > :49:09.and management. No matter how much money put in, if the teaching and
:49:09. > :49:12.learning and the leadership and management is not right, you were
:49:12. > :49:17.not get the changes. If you get that right and put additional money
:49:17. > :49:22.in then you will get results. bother than about whether many
:49:22. > :49:27.peers, it is about the quality of the teaching? Honesty, I do not
:49:27. > :49:31.want money taken out of this region, and it does make a difference, if
:49:31. > :49:35.you have the right teaching and learning and management going on.
:49:35. > :49:39.We can get good quality teachers and get the best people in our
:49:39. > :49:42.schools and we have that money to pay them with.
:49:42. > :49:46.Now, it's nearly the end of this series of the Sunday Politics. And
:49:46. > :49:48.we can't go without bidding a fond farewell to the part of the
:49:48. > :49:52.programme that's become legendary. No Mark Denten this week - the
:49:52. > :49:54.strain for speed has been so great he just couldn't last the distance.
:49:54. > :50:04.But peaking perfectly for the finale, here's Fergus with the
:50:04. > :50:05.
:50:05. > :50:11.week's political stories - in 60 The north-east has seen a big fall
:50:11. > :50:18.in university applications, down 11.7 %. Sunderland and Teesside saw
:50:18. > :50:22.the biggest drop though Durham but the trend. Royal Bank of Scotland
:50:22. > :50:29.Group should be broken up, according to an MP who wants the
:50:29. > :50:34.network of new community banks. North Tyneside MP criticised the
:50:34. > :50:43.decision to cut Remploy factories this week. What impact of cutbacks
:50:43. > :50:45.having on Teesside? MPs were not convinced. In some areas, big or
:50:45. > :50:51.him to make three separate complaints of anti-social behaviour
:50:51. > :50:58.before getting a response. Isn't this a symptom of police levels
:50:58. > :51:05.being cut back to 1974 levels? unlikely rebels were among 91
:51:05. > :51:10.Tories who defied the boss to vote against Lords reform.
:51:10. > :51:16.That is about it from us for this week. We will be back in September.