:01:33. > :01:37.A big increase in size and a new name for the Territorial Army, but
:01:37. > :01:47.can it really plug the gaps left by a government cuts in the regular
:01:47. > :01:47.
:01:47. > :37:29.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2142 seconds
:37:29. > :37:34.The warmest of welcomes to your local part of the show. Coming up,
:37:34. > :37:37.is the government right to use the expanded Territorial Army to fill
:37:37. > :37:44.gaps left by cuts to the regular armed forces? Joining me to talk
:37:44. > :37:49.about that and the rest of the week's news,... Stephen Hughes,
:37:49. > :37:53.let's talk about the Bishop of Durham becoming the head of the
:37:53. > :37:57.Church of England. What do you make of it? I'm pleased that he's been
:37:57. > :38:02.elevated in that way. It is a pity he wasn't around a bit longer. I
:38:02. > :38:08.was very impressed by his grasp of the problems facing young people in
:38:08. > :38:13.the area. He has got the ability that will allow him to form --
:38:13. > :38:17.perform extremely well at a national level. The new Archbishop
:38:17. > :38:21.of Canterbury, it poses quite a challenge for the Prime Minister.
:38:21. > :38:26.He's been outspoken on poverty -- and the economy. It is wonderful
:38:26. > :38:29.what he has done so far. I have seen him up with the Banking
:38:29. > :38:33.Commission and he said a lot of things I would like to hear more.
:38:33. > :38:38.It is wonderful that we have a genuine theologian going down from
:38:38. > :38:42.the North East the Westminster. is also an opponent of gay marriage.
:38:42. > :38:48.Another potential clash with the Prime Minister. Her we will see
:38:48. > :38:52.what happens when that pans out. Not worried about it? No. OK. Let's
:38:52. > :38:59.move on to another subject and verb government is to expand a
:38:59. > :39:03.Territorial Army. It will be doubled in size. With a cut of
:39:03. > :39:10.20,000 personnel planned in the regular army, can those TA
:39:10. > :39:15.reservists really fill the gap? I want you to look at the board and
:39:15. > :39:21.copied down... He Eton Manor School, Newcastle, and in front of class,
:39:21. > :39:27.Mr Parker. I and the schools inclusion manager, but I have
:39:27. > :39:31.another responsibility which includes managing the dinner duties.
:39:31. > :39:36.I am at the liaison officer as well. But Mr Parker is also known as
:39:36. > :39:41.something else, a major part of. For 90 days a year he serves as a
:39:41. > :39:44.Territorial Army officer. Today he is in charge of the school's own
:39:44. > :39:47.cadet force Remembrance Day parade, but he has served with the
:39:47. > :39:55.Territorial Army all over the world. I've served in Northern Ireland as
:39:55. > :39:59.an infantry soldier and in 2004 I was deployed to Iraq. In 2009 by
:39:59. > :40:03.deployed to Afghanistan. The Territorial Army and the army as a
:40:03. > :40:07.whole, they give you values and standards. If you display those in
:40:07. > :40:11.schools as well, at the pupils respond well. By and large they
:40:11. > :40:15.treat you with the same kind of values. In the future Major
:40:15. > :40:19.Parker's Odette might have more chance of combining a military
:40:19. > :40:22.career with real guns and an outside job. The government wants
:40:23. > :40:28.to double the Territorial Army's size. Employers will be given more
:40:28. > :40:32.idea when staff are needed. At the moment the end of this can be
:40:32. > :40:38.called up -- caught up adjust a fortnight's notice. What it brings
:40:38. > :40:42.to us is not easily replicated by the members of staff. Sometimes we
:40:42. > :40:46.have fat to buy in to replace. We tolerate it and I think we probably
:40:46. > :40:53.wish he did not have to go off sometimes, but that is the nature
:40:53. > :40:56.of the beast. One more Remembrance Day when we
:40:56. > :41:02.paid tribute to the armed forces past, but what will they look like
:41:02. > :41:12.in the future? The expansion of the TA comes at a
:41:12. > :41:13.
:41:14. > :41:18.sensitive time. Cuts to the regular army have angered many people. In
:41:18. > :41:21.this time when money is tight, what is wrong with recruiting more
:41:21. > :41:26.people like Major Parker, giving them extra training and making them
:41:26. > :41:29.a key part of the armed forces? Don't get me wrong, I'm a great
:41:29. > :41:34.supporter of the Territorial Army, I spent many years in the
:41:34. > :41:38.Territorial Army. It is fantastic. However we have to look at the
:41:38. > :41:47.Territorial Army as it is now. Basically, it is in a dire
:41:47. > :41:51.situation. The Territorial Army was piecemeal destroyed in 1999. It has
:41:51. > :41:55.not recovered since. Car aren't the government saying what they are
:41:55. > :42:01.going to do? They will improve the training and make them fit for
:42:01. > :42:07.purpose. Let's look at that. That I will take an example of a local the
:42:07. > :42:14.Territorial Army unit. There establishment is 100 men. Their
:42:14. > :42:20.current strength is 54. They have had five recruits through the door
:42:20. > :42:26.since January this year. Of which two have already departed. The
:42:26. > :42:31.Territorial Army are haemorrhaging personnel. If this plan goes ahead
:42:31. > :42:34.and we start recruiting or relying more heavily on the TA, there's a
:42:35. > :42:39.problem because we will have to make sure there's no overlap
:42:39. > :42:43.between the regular army getting disbanded for the TA taking over.
:42:43. > :42:48.Is it just numbers that concern you or are you worried that reservists
:42:48. > :42:51.will never be able to do the job a regular service -- soldier?
:42:51. > :42:56.Reservists can do the job very well. It they get the numbers right, that
:42:56. > :43:00.will be OK? That is the million dollar question, can they get the
:43:00. > :43:07.numbers? From what I'm hearing, and I speak to territorial officers on
:43:07. > :43:12.a regular basis, that will be at a tall order. Thank you.
:43:12. > :43:17.I suppose the allegation is this an attempt to devise a policy on the
:43:17. > :43:21.cheap. As we changed the way in which we have an army going forward,
:43:21. > :43:28.as we withdraw from Afghanistan, and as this comes in over a number
:43:28. > :43:33.of years, with �1.8 billion that the government will commit to it,
:43:33. > :43:36.you will basically have a territorial reserve, now known as
:43:36. > :43:41.the Army Reserve, who will be better equipped, better funded, but
:43:42. > :43:47.a lead and more effective as a fighting force. It won't mean
:43:47. > :43:52.anything if you can't get the recruits. They have recruited a
:43:52. > :43:57.local man from Northumberland who will lead the campaign to do that
:43:57. > :43:59.recruitment. He commanded the forces in Iraq. This smacks of
:44:00. > :44:04.other government problems. You think of a policy and actually it
:44:05. > :44:08.takes a lot of catch-up to get to the position you are in. We cut the
:44:08. > :44:12.regular forces, but there won't be these reservists in place to
:44:13. > :44:17.replace them. We are not cutting the regular forces now. We are
:44:17. > :44:24.planning for a long time in the future. None of this happens until
:44:24. > :44:28.after 2015. Is this a sensible thing? The kind of thing happening
:44:28. > :44:34.across European countries? It is happening across Europe. It's
:44:34. > :44:39.estimated that between 2007 and 2014, we will see a 30 doesn't cut
:44:39. > :44:44.back in defence spending across the European Union. -- 30% cutback.
:44:44. > :44:50.America is not happy about that. There's another issue. Disbanding
:44:50. > :44:52.the second Fusiliers is a mistake. If we are bothered about recruiting
:44:53. > :44:58.reservists, we should also be bothered about recruiting regular
:44:58. > :45:03.soldiers. The second Fusiliers have been good at that. If they are
:45:03. > :45:07.disbanded and the forces from the second Fusiliers disburse to less
:45:07. > :45:13.able regiments elsewhere, we may have a problem as Turk -- in terms
:45:13. > :45:17.of regular recruits. Have a problem is that you will be expecting
:45:17. > :45:22.employers to rip least people for longer periods. That will hit
:45:22. > :45:26.businesses. You heard the concern about the inconvenience. I accept
:45:26. > :45:31.there's a concern, but the present situation was made very clear in
:45:31. > :45:35.your film. There's a 14 day lean time. You can be called up within
:45:35. > :45:39.14 days. The way we will do it in the future is this will be planned
:45:39. > :45:42.a long time in advance so you will be told of the best part of a year
:45:42. > :45:47.or 18 months in advance. It is still an extra costs for employers,
:45:47. > :45:51.an extra burden. High I don't think it is a burden provided it is well
:45:52. > :45:58.planned and well executed. Shouldn't any responsible employer
:45:58. > :46:02.be welcoming staff been involved in the TA? Are I think so. The vast
:46:02. > :46:07.majority do. That teacher said it creates difficulties, but they are
:46:07. > :46:10.right behind that reservist and that will be generally the case.
:46:10. > :46:14.Look at the low ball -- local representatives. Councillors are
:46:14. > :46:23.released from their jobs. This happens in a number of areas of
:46:23. > :46:28.life. I want to know whether you are reassured by what you're
:46:28. > :46:32.hearing. Not in the slightest. To get the Territorial Army back to
:46:32. > :46:39.where it was in 1999 will probably take over 10 years. This time
:46:39. > :46:42.period goes out of the window. With a corner, it is all very well
:46:42. > :46:47.saying they will have a year before they are called up, but what
:46:47. > :46:51.happens if we are faced with a situation such as Iran that could
:46:51. > :46:57.block any moment and we needed deploy troops very, very rapidly?
:46:57. > :47:01.We will not be able to do that in future. He is knocking down some of
:47:01. > :47:06.your argument. I don't accept that we are going to be fighting ten-
:47:06. > :47:10.year wars in places like Afghanistan and Iraq in the future.
:47:10. > :47:13.There's no appetite in this country at the present time or going for it
:47:14. > :47:17.for long ground wars as has been fought in the past. You look at the
:47:17. > :47:23.example of Libya, not a single British soldier was on the ground
:47:23. > :47:27.in Libya. Thank you. He could with the police commissioner elections
:47:27. > :47:30.days away, there's been plenty of debate about how best to tackle
:47:30. > :47:33.crime and one obvious way is to stop those break the law from doing
:47:33. > :47:38.it again. It is not that easy. In Cumbria
:47:38. > :47:41.almost half of the people who go to prison for short sentences reoffend
:47:41. > :47:51.within 12 months. That is a higher figure than in big cities like
:47:51. > :47:57.There's quite a good selection. years ago Stephen was sent to
:47:57. > :48:00.Durham prison for stealing alcohol weeks after being policed. He went
:48:00. > :48:04.on to refer the end again. His story is not unusual. Almost half
:48:04. > :48:08.the people in Cumbria given short prison sentences go on to break the
:48:08. > :48:12.law again. They gave us a train ticket to get me back home to
:48:12. > :48:17.Carlisle. I had �40 in my pocket and that was it. Get out and get on
:48:17. > :48:24.with it. Very little support. I could not find work. I got
:48:24. > :48:29.depressed about it and I slipped back into my old ways. Stephen now
:48:29. > :48:32.gets that support from a small charity in Carlisle. It works with
:48:32. > :48:37.addicts who often haven't had help to beat their addictions during
:48:37. > :48:43.that short time in prison. They come back to their old friends and
:48:43. > :48:49.their old associations. If they've had drug or alcohol problems in the
:48:49. > :48:53.past, to move on from that, you need support. Her Cumbria might be
:48:53. > :48:57.the most sparsely populated area in the country, but when it comes to
:48:57. > :49:02.reoffending rates in the north-west, it is top of the list. The latest
:49:02. > :49:08.figures show just over 46% of Cumbrians given short sentences
:49:08. > :49:14.went on to reoffend within a year of release. That is compared to 38%
:49:14. > :49:18.in Merseyside and just over 36% in Greater Manchester. Unlike its more
:49:18. > :49:25.urban neighbours, Cumbria lacks support services to bridge the gap
:49:25. > :49:31.between prison and life back on civvy street. The population is so
:49:31. > :49:36.desperately connected. We also need to get some additional results.
:49:36. > :49:42.That will not be easy. It is also fair to say that we need to try to
:49:42. > :49:46.create a better voluntary ethos, to get more volunteers involved to
:49:46. > :49:50.help a real social problem. Ministry of Justice says it is
:49:50. > :49:54.tackling the shamefully high reoffending rates by introducing a
:49:54. > :49:58.rehabilitation revolution, but not everyone is convinced that
:49:58. > :50:04.rehabilitation is the key to tackling reoffending. The public
:50:04. > :50:09.perception is that prison just is not a deterrent. If we are going to
:50:09. > :50:14.get offenders turning their lives around and being open to
:50:14. > :50:19.rehabilitation, the stick has to be a punishment in prison. Not all
:50:19. > :50:23.offenders are given prison sentences. Some are given community
:50:23. > :50:27.sentences and those have a much lower rate of reoffending. But
:50:27. > :50:33.still, more than a third go on to commit further crimes. As well as
:50:33. > :50:36.people serving community sentences, Cumbria probation Trust plays a
:50:36. > :50:40.central role in rehabilitating Cumbria's serious prolific
:50:40. > :50:44.offenders, but it has no mandate of money to support people who have
:50:44. > :50:49.been in prison for 12 months or less. So statutory agencies are not
:50:49. > :50:53.funded to address that part of the population. Until something changes
:50:53. > :50:59.around that, there's going to be difficulties in having resources
:50:59. > :51:02.available to deal with those offenders. It is well known that
:51:02. > :51:07.that -- that short sentences are not working and people need some
:51:07. > :51:11.level of intervention. He the government is reviewing probation
:51:11. > :51:17.services but it remain so to be seen whether it will help clear-up
:51:17. > :51:21.Cumbria's reoffending challenges. The position is no better in the
:51:21. > :51:25.North East. In Durham and Tees Valley, 47 out of every 100 people
:51:25. > :51:28.sent to prison for less than a year end up reoffending within 12 months
:51:28. > :51:34.of getting out. You've written a book about the changes you would
:51:34. > :51:38.like to see in the prison system. What can we do to lower this
:51:38. > :51:45.depressing rate of reoffending? Prison does work. It is a very good
:51:45. > :51:51.punishment. But what I would like to see focus upon is what you do
:51:51. > :51:55.with the prisoner inside. For far too long, incarceration involved 23
:51:55. > :52:00.hours in a cell doing nothing. 50% of all prisoners can't read or
:52:00. > :52:06.write. 50% of all prisoners were excluded as children. These people
:52:06. > :52:11.are struggling, when they come out of prison, to get a job. Your
:52:11. > :52:15.ability to change the way they behave have to be changed in the
:52:15. > :52:20.prison itself. If you change that, you changed everything. At the
:52:20. > :52:25.moment we have 70% reoffending. That is there were four statistic.
:52:25. > :52:30.You need to have literacy, drug treatment and skills. If you get
:52:30. > :52:35.those, you will change people. we got the balance wrong between
:52:35. > :52:39.punishment and rehabilitation? don't think we have. If you look at
:52:39. > :52:43.the example on the continent, particularly the Nordic countries
:52:43. > :52:48.within the EU, the number of prisoners by 100,000 of the
:52:48. > :52:53.population is half what it is here. In their prisons, for the emphasis
:52:53. > :52:57.is not upon retribution, it is upon rehabilitation. It is on family
:52:57. > :53:05.visits, training, education, anger management courses, outreach
:53:06. > :53:09.courses to employers. These are the sorts of things... Usually half the
:53:09. > :53:13.prison officers in male prisons in countries like Denmark are women.
:53:13. > :53:18.The emphasis is on normalisation, trying to create a normal
:53:18. > :53:23.environment for the prisoners. problem with the arguments you've
:53:23. > :53:28.put his that you get that argument from the Police Federation, but the
:53:28. > :53:33.public see military courses helping prisoners get qualifications as a
:53:33. > :53:36.bit of a pampered life and not as a punishment. I don't have any
:53:36. > :53:40.problem with sending people to prison. Both of us would agree that
:53:40. > :53:45.if you have committed an offence, present is the right place for you.
:53:45. > :53:49.Everybody agrees with that, but it is what you do with them in prison.
:53:49. > :53:52.Either you have them locked up and doing nothing so they will not
:53:52. > :53:56.change their behaviour. If they can't read or write, they will not
:53:56. > :54:00.be able to get a job. If they are drug-addicted, of course they will
:54:00. > :54:05.come out and commit offences. If they have no skills, how can you
:54:05. > :54:08.ask them to get a job? Per that sounds great, but the reality
:54:08. > :54:13.appears to be that some of the funding for these rehabilitation
:54:13. > :54:18.programmes is being cut. Not in the slightest. Doncaster present is a
:54:18. > :54:22.very successful payment by results present set up under that previous
:54:22. > :54:26.government and expanded by this government. You have people turning
:54:26. > :54:30.people around. The payment that the individual prison receives is
:54:30. > :54:34.increased if they turn the person around and they don't reoffend.
:54:34. > :54:38.government is looking to pay by results and cut reoffending and
:54:38. > :54:44.bringing private companies in. Sensible? I've got no fundamental
:54:44. > :54:48.objection to that. I am concerned about the regime's in the prisons.
:54:48. > :54:54.Is the emphasis on rehabilitation, normalisation? If it is only about
:54:54. > :54:58.punishment and retribution, it will not work. For the Nordic example...
:54:58. > :55:02.The fact is that in those countries, the reoffending rate is half what
:55:02. > :55:09.it is here. I talked about the caring approach inside prisons and
:55:09. > :55:17.I think that works. I've read some of your ideas... I'm glad you've
:55:17. > :55:20.read it! Literacy classes, drug programmes. They will cost money up
:55:20. > :55:24.front and your Justice Secretary says he wants to see the money
:55:24. > :55:27.spent go down. How we get the prison system cheaper and better is
:55:28. > :55:34.you have less people going to prison. That will benefit the
:55:34. > :55:39.public. It has to go in up front. A there's some consideration now, but
:55:39. > :55:43.the way forward, Uni proper mentoring. Yi need people being
:55:43. > :55:49.turned around. Are you convinced the government is prepared to spend
:55:49. > :55:53.money? In the old days, five or 10 years ago, there were 47 key
:55:53. > :55:58.performance indicators for a prison. All of them were security based.
:55:58. > :56:03.Now the fundamental change is it is all about rehabilitation. Thank you.
:56:03. > :56:07.When times get tough, one option is to sell off the family silver. That
:56:07. > :56:17.is what Newcastle council has decided to do by flocking one of
:56:17. > :56:23.
:56:23. > :56:26.A unique piece of Newcastle's Heritage is to be sold to hop luck
:56:26. > :56:31.and �90 million funding gap. The Lord Mayor's official coach Dyldin
:56:31. > :56:34.7090 it is up for sale. David Cameron paid a flying visit to
:56:34. > :56:37.Carlisle on Friday end of next week's Police Commissioner
:56:37. > :56:42.elections. Ministers say they are helping more people off benefit and
:56:42. > :56:46.into work. That is not the view of Stephen Hedman. This government are
:56:46. > :56:50.forcing sick people who have got cancer, who have got brain damage
:56:50. > :56:54.and who are dying back into work. It is a disgrace. When will this
:56:54. > :57:01.barbarity end? Her for Middlesbrough by-election will be
:57:01. > :57:04.held on 29th November. The Conservatives will select in the
:57:04. > :57:09.next few days. The government has called off the privatisation of
:57:09. > :57:14.Durham jail, by three companies are still bidding to run Northumberland
:57:14. > :57:24.prison. Ash dieback disease has been identified and clears from
:57:24. > :57:26.
:57:26. > :57:31.County Durham and tie inside. -- I haven't persuaded my boss to get
:57:31. > :57:35.me a car yet! Let's talk about ashtrays. This is not what we want
:57:36. > :57:39.from Europe. What is your view on how this has been handled? Be it
:57:39. > :57:46.has been spreading since the early 1990s, starting in Poland, Baltic
:57:46. > :57:49.states, Germany, Sweden, Finland. At European level we have a plant
:57:49. > :57:52.health regime that is being reviewed and has been for the last
:57:52. > :57:57.two years and that should be finished in the next few months. It
:57:57. > :58:02.will include a strengthening of early warning systems.
:58:02. > :58:06.Unfortunately these things cost money. It is worth bearing in mind
:58:06. > :58:10.that we need these mechanisms in place at European level. Or was it
:58:10. > :58:15.inevitable that it would spread to the UK? Has their government done
:58:15. > :58:20.anything wrong? I don't think so. I think for spores that they have
:58:20. > :58:24.this disease can be weaned born and were probably wind born into the
:58:24. > :58:33.areas affected in Norfolk and have probably spread further in any case.
:58:33. > :58:37.There have been other pests we have managed to either a rest of control.
:58:37. > :58:43.The Asian longhorn beetle, fire blight, these things have been far
:58:43. > :58:47.more limited. In this case, the national identity cone reporting of
:58:48. > :58:53.his problem was lacking across the continent. How worried should we
:58:53. > :58:57.be? It has been found close to your consistency -- constituency. It was
:58:57. > :59:01.found most recently in well there. It was found in a very mature tree
:59:01. > :59:06.just outside the National Park. There's containment taking place.
:59:06. > :59:10.It is going to be a problem and everyone should report any worrying
:59:10. > :59:16.signs of deterioration to the Forestry Commission, who are doing
:59:16. > :59:20.a fantastic job. Is there any danger that we could see parts of
:59:20. > :59:24.the countryside shut down? I do think that is a real problem.
:59:24. > :59:28.is an airborne disease. The there's nothing you can do about it
:59:28. > :59:32.travelling. You just have to be very, very watchful. The Forestry
:59:32. > :59:37.Commission have to watch our four Where does pop up. And also we have
:59:37. > :59:43.to stop imports. Labour have criticised the government for
:59:43. > :59:48.inaction. They would do that, wouldn't they? The first ever
:59:48. > :59:53.discovery of this was in February. So in February to October, they
:59:53. > :59:57.visited over 1,000 sites and have chopped down 100,000 trees. Thank
:59:57. > :00:04.you. That's about it from us. You can keep up-to-date by following
:00:04. > :00:07.the on Twitter. There's more on ideas on how to reform our prisons.