:01:21. > :01:25.In the North East and Cumbria... The new police commissioners set
:01:25. > :01:35.out their budgets, but can putting up council tax to pay for the force
:01:35. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :42:34.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2458 seconds
:42:34. > :42:37.really be justified? That is coming Hello and a warm welcome to your
:42:37. > :42:40.local part of the show. Coming up...
:42:40. > :42:42.The new Police Commissioners across the North East and Cumbria set
:42:42. > :42:47.their budgets, but can some of their planned increases in council
:42:47. > :42:51.tax really be justified? My guests this week are two women
:42:51. > :42:53.with their eyes on a seat at Westminster. Conservative Anne
:42:53. > :42:56.Marie Trevelyan, who contested Berwick at the last election, and
:42:56. > :42:59.Anna Turley, who will be fighting Redcar for Labour in 2015.
:42:59. > :43:02.Let us kick off with Middlesbrough mayor Ray Mallon and his latest
:43:02. > :43:12.idea to attract business back into the town centre - offering free
:43:12. > :43:12.
:43:12. > :43:22.parking at two of the council's main city centre car parks. Could
:43:22. > :43:24.
:43:24. > :43:34.free parking catch on? Goodness revived East city-centre as
:43:34. > :43:37.
:43:37. > :43:42.We have seen experiments in certain areas where this has really
:43:42. > :43:50.increase trade. I would support his attempt to see if this can draw
:43:50. > :44:00.trade into Middlesbrough city centre. It is a gamble and a way,
:44:00. > :44:01.
:44:01. > :44:06.because it could cost the city �300,000 in lost revenue. I admire
:44:06. > :44:13.Ray Mallon to try and stimulate the local economy, but we have to look
:44:13. > :44:20.a cross a broader cuts a cross the place and we it up. What is good
:44:20. > :44:24.for Middlesbrough, but it might not be for other people. It could be
:44:24. > :44:30.banned for the likes of Redcar, if it drew people away from there into
:44:30. > :44:35.Middlesbrough? At absolutely. The problem at the moment is that the
:44:35. > :44:40.economy is flat lining and the Government has chosen not to reduce
:44:40. > :44:46.Value Added Tax. These are the sort of things that could tell people
:44:46. > :44:56.and shops. By one of the problems with this is that you could as they
:44:56. > :44:56.
:44:56. > :45:00.have something of a free-for-all. Yes, but you have to listen to the
:45:00. > :45:04.business community and if they say that the lack of free parking is a
:45:04. > :45:07.disincentive then you have to listen to that.
:45:07. > :45:10.Our top story this week is the cost of policing: Three months into the
:45:10. > :45:13.job, the five new Police and Crime Commissioners for Cumbria and the
:45:13. > :45:16.North East have set their budgets. In Northumbria, Vera Baird is
:45:16. > :45:18.putting up the force's slice of council tax by 3.5%, one of the
:45:18. > :45:21.biggest percentage rises in the country.
:45:21. > :45:23.Other forces say they are also increasing the charge, to offset
:45:23. > :45:32.funding cuts. Yet, the government wanted police commissioners to
:45:32. > :45:37.offer a council tax freeze. Bobbies on the beat, it is what we all want,
:45:37. > :45:44.but it is not cheap. We all pay a slice of council tax to make it
:45:44. > :45:49.happen. But Vera Baird is picking up the charge by 3.5%. It is
:45:49. > :45:58.causing some consternation. It is an assured that the Police and
:45:58. > :46:05.Crime Commissioners met at gave Vera Baird a tough time or over the
:46:05. > :46:10.rise of 3.5%. This was after a council tax freeze was promised,
:46:10. > :46:20.but everyone will now pay more because of the extra police charge.
:46:20. > :46:21.
:46:21. > :46:25.Vera Baird was unrepentant. council leader has said -- the
:46:25. > :46:32.police have said they are that breaking point with regard to the
:46:32. > :46:39.cuts. Four fifths of the people we surveyed said they would be
:46:39. > :46:44.entitled to pay 10p per person to increase the number of police
:46:44. > :46:52.people on the beat. But there are different laws apply to different
:46:52. > :47:01.forces from Northumbria. She has two key the rise to less than �5
:47:01. > :47:07.for a Band D property. She is able to charge less than other forces
:47:07. > :47:17.because Northumbria has always had the lowest council charges. In
:47:17. > :47:23.Durham, the Band D property bill will call up by 3.7 -- �3.70.
:47:23. > :47:31.Cleveland's bill will rise by �3.89. Only in North Yorkshire will there
:47:31. > :47:37.be a freeze. But there bill of �205 is already �120 higher than
:47:37. > :47:40.Northumbria. Some believe the rises are unjustifiable. Instead, they
:47:40. > :47:47.say that Police and Crime Commissioners should look for
:47:47. > :47:53.different ways to save money. chief ghost constable came to the
:47:53. > :47:59.City Council and said they would protect the council tax free use.
:47:59. > :48:05.The net figure they should be looking for for savings is �700,000
:48:05. > :48:11.out of the budget of nearly �300 million. The one thing they can
:48:11. > :48:16.agree on is the bonus of having extra officers on the streets. But
:48:16. > :48:18.at the moment, should we really have to pay more to keep them
:48:18. > :48:20.there? Another one of the Police
:48:21. > :48:30.Commissioners increasing council tax is Durham's Ron Hogg and he is
:48:31. > :48:31.
:48:31. > :48:36.with me now. There is a view that there was a moral duty to implement
:48:36. > :48:44.this council tax freeze. Why have you not done that? I do not agree
:48:44. > :48:50.with that. Our main aim is to deliver an efficient police service.
:48:50. > :48:54.The council tax increase by having posed will bring me in less than
:48:54. > :49:00.�500,000 per annum. If you look at the council tax we gather from
:49:00. > :49:08.policing, it is we Gillott the national average for council tax.
:49:08. > :49:16.We get about 25 % of our policing budget from council tax. Therefore,
:49:16. > :49:25.the reductions in our funding a much more acute. We were
:49:25. > :49:34.constrained any amount we could actually increase. What we did, we
:49:34. > :49:42.carried out a survey among the community and over two-thirds
:49:42. > :49:48.agreed with this. We had significant backing from the
:49:48. > :49:52.community over this. Now, people are saying they did not like the
:49:52. > :49:55.idea of Police and Crime Commissioners. Second leg, up one
:49:55. > :50:00.of the first things you do when in office is to say they are going to
:50:00. > :50:10.have to pay more council tax? I can understand that. But what this will
:50:10. > :50:10.
:50:10. > :50:14.do well give us more police officers on the streets. But when
:50:14. > :50:24.4/5 of your budget is eaten up in staff costs, you have to look at
:50:24. > :50:30.other ways to cover the costs. We are creating 60 jobs in a row
:50:30. > :50:34.community. We have the Capitol building projects which will again
:50:34. > :50:44.see work going into the local communities. Money will be going
:50:44. > :50:44.
:50:44. > :50:49.out, but significant money will be coming in. No, we have heard about
:50:49. > :50:56.the wildlife problems which have caused the delay in the building of
:50:56. > :51:01.the headquarters which has cost you something like �250,000. We have to
:51:01. > :51:07.take these matters seriously and into consideration. We want to move
:51:07. > :51:15.out of the current headquarters and if we move into the new ones, we
:51:15. > :51:23.will save �750,000 per annum. That is my commitment to reducing the
:51:23. > :51:29.costs for the local community. In the current climate, is it
:51:29. > :51:34.acceptable for Labour commissioners to put up council tax? I've think
:51:34. > :51:37.it is an incredibly difficult time. I think I'll councils and police
:51:37. > :51:44.commissioners should do everything to keep prices down as much as
:51:44. > :51:49.possible. I you convinced that they are doing that? I had my sympathies.
:51:49. > :51:54.They are being forced into this by the government cuts. They have very
:51:54. > :51:57.little choice as to what they can do. Both Conservative and Labour
:51:57. > :52:02.police commissioners are being forced to implement these cuts, so
:52:02. > :52:10.I do not see it as a party political issue. I am frustrated on
:52:10. > :52:13.their behalf. That is the reality of this, isn't it Anne Marie
:52:13. > :52:23.Trevelyan? This is cuts imposed by the government. You cannot blame
:52:23. > :52:29.him? I agree. I think Ron set out a very clear argument. The reality is
:52:29. > :52:32.the council's but trying to maintain council tax freezes. I was
:52:32. > :52:38.speaking to people in Derry yesterday and there question was,
:52:39. > :52:42.are we going to see more policemen in Berwick? This is not going to be
:52:42. > :52:47.for the rural areas of Northumberland. The rural
:52:47. > :52:52.populations, who are struggling from all sorts of pressures such as
:52:52. > :53:02.the cost of fuel, this is another drawback. They will not see the
:53:02. > :53:09.benefit of this. There are going to be extra officers, and they could
:53:09. > :53:13.be all over the pack should. As Vera Baird says, people are
:53:13. > :53:18.prepared to pay it if they're going to get better policing.
:53:18. > :53:25.certainly, if that was the case, but people in rural Northumberland
:53:25. > :53:28.do not think they're going to see the benefits of this. If they can
:53:28. > :53:38.explain how rural areas will benefit, because we tend to be left
:53:38. > :53:38.
:53:38. > :53:42.out of the sort of things. �700,000 worth of savings could have
:53:42. > :53:51.delivered this council tax freeze out of a budget of �300 million.
:53:51. > :53:56.Would have been so difficult to find the saving elsewhere? A thing
:53:56. > :54:04.there real pressures on councils, not just from the policing point of
:54:04. > :54:08.view. There are having to make a look at all their assets and the
:54:08. > :54:17.best management of them to avoid people having to pick their hands
:54:17. > :54:24.in their pockets. But crime is falling a cross the regions, so
:54:24. > :54:28.where is the justification for this rise in police officers? The things
:54:28. > :54:35.are improving and the police are doing a fantastic job, but the
:54:35. > :54:41.issue here is, we are seen less visibility of police officers. We
:54:41. > :54:49.are seeing a loss in police officers and a cut in staff. This
:54:49. > :54:53.is going to have an impact on the community and on victims. You're
:54:53. > :55:03.were talking about people in rural areas who want to see people more
:55:03. > :55:12.visible. But Vera Baird said that to try and make up for the cuts of
:55:12. > :55:16.one 5th they have had, they would have to make cuts a cross the board.
:55:16. > :55:22.I support asking our public services to work as efficiently as
:55:22. > :55:32.they can to use the resources that are available. They have to use
:55:32. > :55:34.
:55:34. > :55:39.them as effectively as possible to provide the services we need. I
:55:39. > :55:42.think Northumbria has done a very good job in streamlining services,
:55:43. > :55:47.but I do not think that Vera Baird is going to make a great
:55:47. > :55:57.improvement in the policing and especially not in the rural
:55:57. > :56:03.policing, as I have said. By key both very much. -- and Frankie both
:56:03. > :56:05.And if you want your say on the police council tax rises, there is
:56:05. > :56:08.more on my blog at bbc.co.uk/richardmoss.
:56:08. > :56:11.The vote over gay marriage may have been overwhelmingly passed in the
:56:11. > :56:14.Commons, but its legacy could be a toxic one for Conservatives in the
:56:14. > :56:17.north. The region's Tory MPs were divided over the issue, while some
:56:17. > :56:20.of their party members believe David Cameron was wrong to raise it
:56:20. > :56:30.in the first place. Here is our Cumbria political reporter Megan
:56:30. > :56:31.
:56:31. > :56:40.Paterson. Marriage means something different to all of us. We want to
:56:40. > :56:46.get married and spent the rest of our lives together. I want to get
:56:46. > :56:52.married and make that solemn vow in front of God. It is important to be
:56:52. > :56:58.with somebody. It is not just a case of living with someone. To be,
:56:58. > :57:05.it is the all come at that side of things. Been married is important.
:57:05. > :57:10.It is important to me. It is no secret that planning any marriage
:57:10. > :57:15.can cause tension and the Bill for equal marriage seems to cause
:57:15. > :57:20.division among Conservative MPs in the North East and Cumbria. John
:57:20. > :57:26.Stephenson is not convinced there is a niche for change. I do not
:57:26. > :57:33.think the issue is necessary for this Parliament. I felt restate his
:57:33. > :57:39.call would have been perfectly fine, sticking with civil partnerships. I
:57:39. > :57:49.do not think there was any need for change. He was one of five MPs from
:57:49. > :57:51.
:57:51. > :58:01.the area who voted against the Bill. Three Conservative MPs voted in
:58:01. > :58:04.
:58:04. > :58:08.favour - William Hague, Rory Stuart and Gary Orr Harman from Hexham.
:58:08. > :58:14.Would anyone feel less married because we have a constituents who
:58:14. > :58:24.are getting married. I am not yet married. I have yet to find the
:58:24. > :58:27.
:58:27. > :58:30.women who would put up with myself! She is out there, I promise you!
:58:31. > :58:38.Your perception of the division is not what I see in the House of
:58:38. > :58:43.Commons. It genuinely is not. This is the three wart. Everybody
:58:43. > :58:49.expresses their conscience. It is not the case, in my it view, that
:58:49. > :58:55.this is about defying anybody. If it was, it would not be a fee of
:58:55. > :59:00.court. There is concern that it will alienate court party members,
:59:01. > :59:06.going against the views of activist and failing to convert non-
:59:06. > :59:09.Conservative voters. I think it will do damage to our core
:59:09. > :59:16.membership. I think the feeling, the feeling of people I have spoken
:59:16. > :59:20.to, feel it was rather unnecessary to have it at this time. I think
:59:20. > :59:29.that some will probably resign their membership. Paul Flynn, not
:59:29. > :59:37.for ever, but I think as a protest. The David Cameron will be hoping
:59:37. > :59:47.that, despite that, they will say Conservative for better or worse.
:59:47. > :59:49.
:59:49. > :59:56.If you do have any proposals for him, write to him, not to me! Where
:59:56. > :00:01.do you stand at this? I think the whole point was what he said about
:00:01. > :00:06.the idea of the fee for it. You've caught with your conscience. But I
:00:06. > :00:15.agree with the Prime Minister, you should have the same legal rights
:00:15. > :00:19.in union as any other. To challenge, out of seemingly nowhere, the
:00:19. > :00:24.concept that marriage which has none between a man and a women and
:00:24. > :00:30.not as the population to come with you and think about it, has cost a
:00:30. > :00:33.lot of distress amongst traditional Conservative voters. I have done
:00:33. > :00:39.more in my e-mail and postbag and this in recent weeks than on any
:00:39. > :00:44.other issue. It is not a fear. It is a lack of understanding about
:00:45. > :00:50.where this has come from, at the speed it has come up and it does
:00:50. > :00:55.not make sense to them. I do not think this bill is coming from the
:00:55. > :00:59.right place. I think we should take the whole thing away from me and
:00:59. > :01:04.religious context and 80 Civil Union the norm a cross the United
:01:04. > :01:08.Kingdom. It is complicated, but I think the Government did not want
:01:08. > :01:13.to wade into anything which brought them into more conflict with the
:01:13. > :01:21.Church of England. But I think this would have been better than this
:01:21. > :01:26.next back we have ended up with. Are you finding members of the
:01:26. > :01:35.party saying they have had enough? In the eye on local area, for
:01:35. > :01:45.people have written to me to say they are resigning their membership.
:01:45. > :01:45.
:01:45. > :01:51.They are really voting on that on it religious basis. Could is a much
:01:52. > :01:59.bigger issue than a party political bases. He wants to bring us into it
:01:59. > :02:07.and ecosystem abroad, but I do not think this provides for that. --
:02:07. > :02:13.and equal system. I think it was the historic piece of legislation.
:02:13. > :02:18.I think it was great to see it come through. I think in 50 years' time,
:02:18. > :02:27.we will look back on this debate and see it that as being rather odd.
:02:27. > :02:33.I think it is the likes of the way that we now look on the Bill to
:02:33. > :02:42.pass the legality of homosexuality. I think it is fantastic that we can
:02:42. > :02:51.find they have legislation which will give it equal rights to gay
:02:51. > :02:55.couples. To you think this could be damaging for David Cameron? A thick
:02:55. > :03:03.there eye a lot of issues where he needs to be dragged kicking and
:03:03. > :03:07.screaming into the 21st century. But if he managed to offend older
:03:07. > :03:13.members of the Conservative Party, is that not going to be a problem
:03:13. > :03:19.for him? By are not so interested in that. If people want to play
:03:19. > :03:26.party games, that is up to them, but I think it is a fantastic piece
:03:26. > :03:31.of legislation. I think David Cameron is genuinely modernising
:03:31. > :03:35.his you and make the something that works. The challenge is whether he
:03:35. > :03:38.brings the party with them and that is where the time element could
:03:38. > :03:41.have been better managed. Now, my lesser-known namesake
:03:41. > :03:43.Richard III was back this week, removed from under a car park in
:03:43. > :03:46.Leicester. We cannot promise you royalty, but
:03:46. > :03:49.our reporter Megan Paterson has spent the week digging around and
:03:49. > :03:59.managed to unearth a few political gems. And all in less time than it
:03:59. > :04:03.
:04:03. > :04:06.takes to pay a quick visit to see your nephews. Money for flood
:04:06. > :04:14.prevention work has been announced by the government, will
:04:14. > :04:22.Northumberland council announced a new flood it prepared prevention
:04:22. > :04:28.scheme. The leader of Northern Rock has been elected as the peer in the
:04:29. > :04:34.House of Lords. The Government was as to be more bold about their
:04:34. > :04:43.reform of the banks will stop why don't we just nationalise the money
:04:43. > :04:50.and good public services? A school near Stockton suffered a setback
:04:50. > :04:58.when the local council refused planning permission. And finally,
:04:58. > :05:02.the new arrivals at Newcastle United. In the European Parliament,
:05:02. > :05:09.he thanked the French President for the influx of players to the club
:05:09. > :05:12.from a cross the Channel. And that is about it from us. There
:05:12. > :05:15.is special reports on the BBC all next week about the government's
:05:15. > :05:18.welfare changes, starting tomorrow with a look at the so-called
:05:18. > :05:20."bedroom tax". That is on Inside Out at 7.30pm tomorrow evening on
:05:20. > :05:22.BBC One. And on the Sunday Politics next
:05:23. > :05:25.weekend, we will be talking about how disabled people will be