Browse content similar to 23/09/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the North East and Cumbria, we talk to Liberal Democrat leader | :01:36. | :01:38. | |
Nick Clegg. Also, can bus routes be saved from | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
the axe by giving councils in Tyne and Wear more control over the | :01:41. | :01:51. | |
:01:51. | :01:51. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2005 seconds | :01:51. | :35:17. | |
Hello, and welcome to your local part of the show. We are back every | :35:17. | :35:20. | |
Sunday with all the latest political news and views from right | :35:20. | :35:25. | |
across the North East and Cumbria. Coming up, as dozens of routes | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
across the region face the axe, there is a battle for control of | :35:28. | :35:31. | |
the buses. Would putting councils in the driving seat deliver a | :35:31. | :35:36. | |
better deal for passengers? My guests here at the start of the | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
party conference season are the North's longest-serving MP, Sir | :35:39. | :35:42. | |
Alan Beith, and one of the rising stars on the Labour benches, | :35:42. | :35:45. | |
Catherine McKinnell. Sir Alan, you are a former deputy leader of the | :35:45. | :35:48. | |
Liberal Democrats. Has Nick Clegg done the right thing with his very | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
public apology this week? Good morning. There has to be a first | :35:52. | :35:58. | |
time, politician apologising. I think it was the right thing to do. | :35:59. | :36:03. | |
The issue of the pledge was clouding out what we should do | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
about higher education. The policy we have now got is better than what | :36:07. | :36:13. | |
we had before. There are no upfront fees and part-time students benefit | :36:13. | :36:19. | |
as well. That was all consumed by the fact that we made a promise and | :36:19. | :36:26. | |
that promise was not kept. A lot of people would say that Labour have a | :36:26. | :36:30. | |
lot to apologise for. Sue politicians apologise if they get | :36:30. | :36:35. | |
things wrong? There are occasions when an apology is due and should | :36:35. | :36:43. | |
be given, but it is hard to take seriously an apology from someone | :36:43. | :36:49. | |
who promised us no VAT, just before the election, and then they | :36:49. | :36:53. | |
delivered it in government. They pledged not to raise tuition fees | :36:53. | :37:02. | |
and then Dave -- and then they did in government. I think this apology | :37:02. | :37:05. | |
was a cynical ploy. Nick Clegg may be in apologetic | :37:05. | :37:09. | |
mood but he still has a lot to do to win back disillusioned | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
supporters in the North who have deserted his party since the | :37:11. | :37:14. | |
general election. With the highest unemployment in | :37:14. | :37:18. | |
the UK and further public spending cuts to come, the coalition has | :37:18. | :37:23. | |
been accused by Durham's council leader of picking up where Mrs | :37:23. | :37:28. | |
Thatcher left off. Nick Clegg trumpeted the National Growth Fund | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
as part of the solution, but a recent report called it a | :37:32. | :37:37. | |
scandalous failure. Then there is the idea of regional pay for public | :37:37. | :37:44. | |
sector workers. Liberal-Democrat MP Tim Farron described it as an | :37:44. | :37:47. | |
insult to workers in the north. Our correspondent met up with the | :37:47. | :37:51. | |
Deputy Prime Minister this week and asked him to what extent he he | :37:51. | :37:54. | |
agreed with the Cumbrian MP's comments. I certainly agree with | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
the view that if what people have in mind by regional pay is | :37:58. | :38:03. | |
something that will widen the North-South divide, I will flatly | :38:03. | :38:11. | |
reject that, blocking it. Not least as a Sheffield MP with many people | :38:11. | :38:15. | |
in the public service in my constituency. You say you will stop | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
it, does that mean it is a red line, because we understand that George | :38:20. | :38:27. | |
Osborne is very keen on it? Yes. We have asked independent pay review | :38:27. | :38:32. | |
bodies to look at this issue. It is worth bearing in mind that the | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
Labour government introduced at form of local market pay in the | :38:36. | :38:41. | |
courts service. If they come up with conclusions which in my | :38:41. | :38:46. | |
judgment would make the North-says divide worse, I will not support it. | :38:46. | :38:52. | |
Let's speak about the regional growth fund. You are in an | :38:52. | :38:57. | |
apologising mood at the moment. Will you apologised for the delays | :38:57. | :39:05. | |
in getting money from that fund? is very important for people to | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
remember about the regional growth fund that while I was the person | :39:10. | :39:16. | |
who created this fund in a sense, I want to see money out of the door | :39:16. | :39:23. | |
as rapidly as possible. I am frustrated at the delays, but it is | :39:23. | :39:26. | |
important to remember that the projects themselves start before | :39:26. | :39:36. | |
:39:36. | :39:43. | ||
the checked his -- before the cash checked his received from Whitehall. | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
People do not need to wait for permission to start their projects. | :39:48. | :39:52. | |
Private businesses need an assurance that the money is on its | :39:52. | :39:58. | |
way. That is the reason why 50 % of the project have actually started. | :39:58. | :40:08. | |
:40:08. | :40:09. | ||
50 % is not a very good figure? am saying it is a lot more at -- | :40:09. | :40:19. | |
:40:19. | :40:25. | ||
the projects that have got the regional growth fund money. I am | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
afraid it is one of those things were we have set up a brand new | :40:29. | :40:33. | |
growth fund that will create hundreds of jobs around the country. | :40:33. | :40:39. | |
It is precisely designed to help regions like the North East that | :40:39. | :40:42. | |
have been over-reliant on public sector employment. It is working | :40:42. | :40:49. | |
and it will get faster and faster as time goes on. Enterprise zones, | :40:49. | :40:53. | |
and other initiatives from the government, we have got them in the | :40:53. | :40:59. | |
North East, but not in Cumbria. How soon until we get them in Cumbria? | :40:59. | :41:06. | |
We need good proposals around the country. We have given money it to | :41:06. | :41:10. | |
various proposals where it is obvious that they would help with | :41:10. | :41:16. | |
growth. So they would not help Cumbria? Each place will have to | :41:16. | :41:25. | |
justify why our regional enterprise zone it is good for that area. | :41:25. | :41:29. | |
Remember what each zone is? There will be tax breaks, exemptions from | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
planning rules, preferential treatment for businesses in those | :41:33. | :41:40. | |
areas. He it is right for us in government to set the bar high. | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
will not grant this status to everybody. The case has got to be | :41:44. | :41:51. | |
proven. More bad news this week, 300 workers' jobs going at | :41:51. | :41:55. | |
caterpillar in County Durham. What message do you send to people like | :41:55. | :42:03. | |
that? There is a great deal of anxiety about the future in that | :42:03. | :42:07. | |
situation. It is a personal tragedy and we will have to work to counter | :42:07. | :42:14. | |
it. Sir Alan Beith, is it not obvious that paying regional pay, | :42:14. | :42:21. | |
at teachers in the north last, it is going to damage the economy? Why | :42:21. | :42:26. | |
does Nick Clegg not just say, we're not going to let this happen? | :42:26. | :42:32. | |
is effectively the message we are delivering. We have got to listen | :42:32. | :42:37. | |
to what the pay review body says. It is a reality that if you want to | :42:37. | :42:43. | |
get some people in some occupations in London, you have to pay more. | :42:43. | :42:48. | |
Any move to systematically pay teachers less in the North, we | :42:48. | :42:54. | |
simply would not accept. Is there any harm in investigating this | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
regional pay our idea? There are academics that say this would help | :42:58. | :43:06. | |
people compete for Labour? And create more jobs? I am reassured by | :43:06. | :43:10. | |
what Sir Alan is saying, but the worry is that a Liberal Democrat | :43:10. | :43:16. | |
promise is not worth the paper it is written on. It is not true to | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
suggest that with trying more money from the public sector in the North | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
East will create private sector jobs. How do you know that? There | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
is less money in the economy being spent by local people in local | :43:29. | :43:35. | |
businesses. It is not just the Labour Party which is against this, | :43:35. | :43:40. | |
but local businesses as well. I hope that what the Liberal- | :43:40. | :43:43. | |
Democrats are saying, that they will block this in government, I | :43:43. | :43:53. | |
:43:53. | :43:54. | ||
hope they will deliver that. There is no sign of the serious economic | :43:54. | :44:00. | |
revival. Does the Government have anything else? There is no sign of | :44:00. | :44:05. | |
a serious economic revival across the world. Changing the world is | :44:05. | :44:13. | |
difficult. But there are things you can do? Yes, and I want you to | :44:13. | :44:18. | |
recognise that that is a key factor in the present situation but the | :44:18. | :44:20. | |
North East manufacturing industry is doing well compared to other | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
parts of the country, and the Government wants to encourage that | :44:24. | :44:30. | |
with things like the development of offshore wind technology. It takes | :44:30. | :44:34. | |
time to get some of this money through, but I think Nick Clegg is | :44:34. | :44:39. | |
right, we should not be paying out money without being sure that it is | :44:39. | :44:44. | |
delivering the jobs and expansion that we want. Properly targeted | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
money to help things like infrastructure could help. | :44:48. | :44:53. | |
money is not being spent on infrastructure? They are is a | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
completely different set of measures to spend money on | :44:56. | :45:02. | |
infrastructure. It is making improvements in this county. There | :45:02. | :45:08. | |
are also apprenticeships. Catherine McKinnell, with the recent falls of | :45:08. | :45:11. | |
unemployment in the North East, perhaps the Government's strategy | :45:11. | :45:16. | |
is working in the North East? think these figures are worrying | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
and we should not misinterpret what is being said. Long-term | :45:21. | :45:26. | |
unemployment is rising and youth unemployment is rising and we are | :45:26. | :45:31. | |
stockpiling a massive problem for the future. I worry for young | :45:31. | :45:38. | |
people coming into the job market today. The EU see any signs of the | :45:38. | :45:43. | |
Government's strategy working? of the improvements in the North | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
East are because of the work the previous government did. The | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
regional growth fund was put in place and the previous scheme was | :45:50. | :45:57. | |
abolished. 37,000 jobs were promised, but only 5,000 have been | :45:57. | :46:02. | |
delivered. That is a massive worry for the people who are being made | :46:02. | :46:08. | |
an implied and two are looking to join the workforce. Your party has | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
continued to lose councillors in the North East and Cumbria. Will | :46:13. | :46:17. | |
you have to console the people at the Liberal Democrat conference? | :46:17. | :46:23. | |
Some places have done very good indeed. A Newcastle, we did | :46:23. | :46:30. | |
significantly better than the one before. It will take us time to | :46:30. | :46:34. | |
rebuild now we are party of government. When you are in | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
government, people will take a dislike to the things that happen | :46:38. | :46:43. | |
and they get frustrated. But you will get back to the point were | :46:43. | :46:46. | |
people realise that what he did was the right thing and they will | :46:46. | :46:55. | |
support you. -- that what you did. More than 1,500 people have signed | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
a petition set up by a Wearside MP demanding a change to the the way | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
our buses are run. They are supporting a London-style service | :47:02. | :47:05. | |
called a quality contract. It would pass control of routes and | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
timetables from the bus operators to councillors from the five local | :47:08. | :47:11. | |
authorities in Tyne and Wear. The idea has been fiercely opposed by | :47:11. | :47:14. | |
the local bus companies. But would it do anything to keep unprofitable | :47:14. | :47:16. | |
routes open or cut fares? Fergus Hewison visited North Tyneside to | :47:17. | :47:21. | |
find out. Buses, you wait for one, and then | :47:21. | :47:26. | |
they cancel the service. This is where people who live in this | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
village could once get the service straight to Newcastle. But the | :47:31. | :47:35. | |
service was re-routed. The bus company say that the rate was | :47:35. | :47:39. | |
under-used. We have got to go to a different village to get in | :47:39. | :47:49. | |
Newcastle. It is the walk down to the village in the rain and the | :47:49. | :47:56. | |
snow and the wind. You are probably are out of the house for an hour | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
longer because it takes longer to get home. I have to go to the | :48:01. | :48:04. | |
Freeman Hospital to get treatment and I do not know how I will get | :48:04. | :48:14. | |
:48:14. | :48:15. | ||
there. I will have to get a taxi. My wife cannot walk. It is tempting | :48:15. | :48:19. | |
for bus companies to reduce services where there are no | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
passengers, but this is a scheme that could see those routes stay | :48:22. | :48:29. | |
open. It is called a quality contract. Companies would be | :48:29. | :48:33. | |
awarded contracts to run buses on certain routes and be paid money to | :48:33. | :48:39. | |
do so. The local authority would make up any shortfall between the | :48:39. | :48:48. | |
fares from the passengers and the amount of money required. A similar | :48:48. | :48:53. | |
system operates in London. We need a system that is more comprehensive, | :48:53. | :48:59. | |
that is easier to use and understand. We need a comprehensive | :48:59. | :49:05. | |
network, not just as series of individual measures. We need is to | :49:05. | :49:10. | |
deliver value for money for taxpayers. Bus companies dismiss | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
comparisons with London and most want a partnership agreement | :49:13. | :49:18. | |
between them and the councils instead. The bus companies also | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
believe that this could leave a big hole in the public finances. | :49:23. | :49:27. | |
Quality contracts are very expensive and they rely on | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
passenger growth. The ratepayer will have to subsidise the | :49:31. | :49:36. | |
difference. Such is the anger, legal action may be looming from | :49:36. | :49:42. | |
the bus operators. The business would be at risk, and we cannot | :49:42. | :49:47. | |
afford to lose another business in the North of England. This fighting | :49:47. | :49:51. | |
cock has alarmed some people, among them one councillor who belongs to | :49:51. | :49:57. | |
the region's transporter authority. This will lead to a war between the | :49:57. | :50:02. | |
transport authorities and the bus companies. It will end up hurting | :50:02. | :50:10. | |
the passengers in terms of the taxpayers and the cost. I cannot | :50:10. | :50:14. | |
see the bus companies taking this lightly. The Transport Select | :50:14. | :50:18. | |
Committee accused bus companies in the North East of running a non- | :50:18. | :50:23. | |
aggression pact, not competing with each other in some places. It is | :50:23. | :50:29. | |
something that they deny. The bus companies receive almost half of | :50:29. | :50:35. | |
their income from the taxpayer already. That will not change, but | :50:35. | :50:39. | |
the system will deliver greater transparency about how the money is | :50:39. | :50:45. | |
being spent. The passengers have to wait for the outcome of this war on | :50:45. | :50:50. | |
the buses. Catherine McKinnell, with cuts as they are, whoever runs | :50:50. | :50:57. | |
this, the councils are the bus service, there will be cuts. What | :50:57. | :51:02. | |
difference will this make? It is dead are stating for the people who | :51:02. | :51:07. | |
are affected by their routes being cut. I have had this problem in my | :51:07. | :51:13. | |
own constituency. They are being cut back because they are not | :51:13. | :51:17. | |
profitable for the bus companies. You can take an overall view of the | :51:17. | :51:22. | |
requirements of the people within the vicinity and how can the bus | :51:22. | :51:27. | |
routes the best directed to those people. These are some of the most | :51:28. | :51:33. | |
vulnerable people that are losing their routes. Elderly people. The | :51:33. | :51:37. | |
routes are being pulled overnight and it is very difficult for | :51:37. | :51:42. | |
vulnerable people to accept. Alan Beith, it is not affecting | :51:42. | :51:49. | |
your area, but should it do? does, because in rural areas the | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
bus services are subsidised. Local authorities are deciding what | :51:54. | :51:57. | |
routes there should be and subsidising the bus companies to | :51:57. | :52:03. | |
provide them. But they are not always the routes that people want. | :52:03. | :52:07. | |
I have had the same experience as Catherine McKinnell, routes been | :52:07. | :52:12. | |
cancelled. People get very angry and upset when they lose access to | :52:12. | :52:18. | |
buses. Is this not part of the problem caused by cuts introduced | :52:18. | :52:24. | |
by your government? Part of the problem is money. There is not | :52:24. | :52:29. | |
limitless money available. It seems mad to cut services that help the | :52:29. | :52:35. | |
environment and people? That is why there is a significant bus subsidy. | :52:35. | :52:39. | |
Local authorities do have a role to play. There is scope for some kind | :52:39. | :52:44. | |
of partnership. I would be appalled if the bus companies went to court | :52:44. | :52:50. | |
and the local authorities spent lots of money on legal fees. | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
Effective partnership between local councils and bus companies would be | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
worthwhile. If this leads to a battle in the courts, that will not | :53:00. | :53:05. | |
help passengers? Nobody wants that, the cost, the time wasted on | :53:05. | :53:15. | |
battling this out. I think Bridget Phillipson summed it up well. This | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
gives a stronger voice to the taxpayers who are subsidising the | :53:19. | :53:25. | |
services, and local people who really rely on these services. | :53:25. | :53:29. | |
you get politicians involved in this, do they not take their | :53:29. | :53:34. | |
favourites? They will look at who is working and Wear, and they will | :53:34. | :53:43. | |
decide that is the bus rate they will bother about? No, they will | :53:43. | :53:51. | |
focus on the needs of people. It is mostly elderly people in my | :53:51. | :53:54. | |
constituency that need to stay connected with their local | :53:54. | :54:00. | |
community, to get to the doctor. It is unrealistic to put that burden | :54:00. | :54:05. | |
on people at the moment. The quality contract provides a good | :54:05. | :54:09. | |
opportunity to rationalise the services. For a | :54:09. | :54:17. | |
What an amazing summer it was with the Jubilee and the London Olympics. | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
-- what an amazing summer. But I guess you may have been left | :54:21. | :54:25. | |
feeling a little flat once it all finished. But do not worry because | :54:25. | :54:28. | |
there is something to cheer us all up to as the nights draw in. 60 | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
Seconds is back and so is our very own champion sprinter, Mark Denten. | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
On your marks, get set, go. The West Coast rail line through | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
Cumbria should be renationalise the according to the union that | :54:40. | :54:46. | |
describes the franchising process as costly and shambolic. More than | :54:46. | :54:49. | |
1,200 residents in Sedgefield have signed a petition opposing cuts to | :54:49. | :54:54. | |
the opening hours of their library. Mothers to be in Northumberland are | :54:54. | :54:58. | |
facing a gruelling journey to give birth after the suspension of | :54:58. | :55:03. | |
services at Berwick maternity unit. This announcement caused great | :55:03. | :55:09. | |
distress to much-respected midwives locally. It caused fury in the | :55:09. | :55:14. | |
local community where we have had a large rally, and habitation, with | :55:14. | :55:20. | |
names being added to it minute by minute. In Newcastle, City Deal to | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
speed up regeneration was approved, followed swiftly by �6 million of | :55:25. | :55:30. | |
government money for faster broadband. After a three-year | :55:30. | :55:35. | |
campaign, county councillors voted down a plan to set up a brand new | :55:35. | :55:44. | |
council in Durham. The maternity unit in Berwick, | :55:44. | :55:48. | |
there have been protests and you had the debate in the House of | :55:48. | :55:53. | |
Commons. What happens next because the maternity unit remains closed? | :55:53. | :55:57. | |
There is a review taking place and it needs to come up with plans to | :55:57. | :56:02. | |
enable the majority of mothers to have their babies in Berwick. They | :56:03. | :56:07. | |
will have the back-up and the safety that they need. That can be | :56:07. | :56:11. | |
achieved by giving midwives wrote opportunities to serve in busier | :56:11. | :56:17. | |
units. There will always be some birds that have to take place at a | :56:17. | :56:27. | |
:56:27. | :56:29. | ||
bigger centre because there are risks involved. -- births. Do we | :56:29. | :56:33. | |
not have to accept in a world where money is short, and where this is | :56:33. | :56:38. | |
about medical expertise, that you have to concentrate some services | :56:38. | :56:43. | |
in bigger hospitals? Yes, and we have seen that occur with the | :56:43. | :56:46. | |
children's heart unit recently, where they were rationalising those | :56:46. | :56:51. | |
services, but what is deeply worrying is where it is an | :56:51. | :56:56. | |
economically driven change, where the cuts are purely driven by money. | :56:56. | :57:01. | |
Before the election, David Cameron promised 3,000 brand-new midwives | :57:01. | :57:06. | |
and none of those have been delivered. It is worrying that | :57:06. | :57:09. | |
midwives services and the importance start in life for a | :57:09. | :57:13. | |
newborn baby could be undermined or they could be put in danger by | :57:13. | :57:21. | |
these cuts. No MP it ever wants to support the reduction in services, | :57:22. | :57:27. | |
but does some of this not go back to the previous government? It is a | :57:27. | :57:35. | |
difficult issue. Sometimes MPs are not clear enough. Where safety | :57:35. | :57:39. | |
requires services to provided elsewhere, in a centre with more | :57:39. | :57:45. | |
back-up, but you cannot carry that to the extreme, childbirth and out | :57:45. | :57:55. | |
:57:55. | :57:58. | ||
with 50 miles. -- childbirth outwith a 50 mile region. | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
And that is about it from us. Do join us again next week at our new | :58:02. | :58:05. | |
regular time of 11 o'clock when MPs for Hartlepool and Stockton will be | :58:05. | :58:08. | |
among my guests. We will also be hearing from Labour leader Ed | :58:08. | :58:11. | |
Miliband in the second of our party leader interviews. There is more | :58:11. | :58:13. |