:01:33. > :01:36.And in the North West: London's got Boris - now this week it's
:01:36. > :01:46.Salford's turn to go to the Ballot box to decide whether the city
:01:46. > :01:47.
:01:47. > :31:15.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1768 seconds
:31:15. > :31:18.Welcome to the Sunday Politics North West. In this week's show:
:31:18. > :31:28.London's got Boris - now Salford goes to the Ballot box to to decide
:31:28. > :31:40.
:31:40. > :31:46.whether the city needs a mayor. With me I have Ben Wallace and
:31:46. > :31:53.Labour MP for Salford and Eccles, Hazel Blears. Thank you very much
:31:53. > :32:03.for joining us. We are going to be talking jobs. Hazel, you have been
:32:03. > :32:05.
:32:05. > :32:10.instrumental of paved in -- paid internships. I have raised several
:32:10. > :32:15.hundred �1,000 to get people into internships. It if you are living
:32:15. > :32:20.in London, it is virtually impossible. I want to make sure we
:32:20. > :32:26.get some different people. Kay, from Salford, is one of the 10
:32:26. > :32:34.people that has started. She would never have been able to get into
:32:34. > :32:41.parliament if she hadn't been given help with her housing etc.
:32:41. > :32:47.north-west as a halt, you have been camping for the job losses at BAA
:32:47. > :32:52.BAE Systems. I have just come from a meeting with the unions and
:32:52. > :33:00.management at BAE Systems this week. The management have worked hard to
:33:00. > :33:07.mitigate the losses. They are not going to be anything like the scale.
:33:07. > :33:12.They have to retrain those people, either to find jobs or to help
:33:12. > :33:18.bring new business to the area to ensure the skills argues elsewhere
:33:18. > :33:21.in Engineering. We have had bad news in the region about jobs.
:33:21. > :33:23.Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, has told this programme he's become
:33:23. > :33:26.quite concerned about increasing unemployment in the North West.
:33:26. > :33:29.Figures out this week showed the region had the second largest
:33:29. > :33:31.increase in the country. Unemployment now stands at just
:33:31. > :33:38.below 9%, that's 307,000 people, an increase of 25,000 since the
:33:38. > :33:48.previous quarter. But is this really so different from the years
:33:48. > :33:51.
:33:51. > :33:56.before? Our Political Editor Arif This is Sefton at Work, and a
:33:56. > :34:02.pension if programme run by a Sefton Council, training people in
:34:02. > :34:08.the skills of a coastal ranger. Those taking part say it is much
:34:08. > :34:12.tougher for their friends. I would still be at home doing nothing. We
:34:12. > :34:18.have been applying for more jobs and apprenticeships. It is so hard
:34:18. > :34:22.to get one. There are always people with more experience and they will
:34:22. > :34:27.always get the job. Those worries are now shared by the Government.
:34:27. > :34:33.For I have become concerned about the North West because it is one of
:34:33. > :34:38.the regions where there has been a steady set of poor figures. That is
:34:38. > :34:45.why it is right that we press ahead with establishing enterprise in the
:34:45. > :34:51.north-west. Unemployment stands at 307,000 people. That is 8.9%, a
:34:51. > :34:55.definite increase in to the coalition Government. If you
:34:55. > :35:04.project back a further five years of Labour Government, it has been
:35:04. > :35:09.gradually increasing throughout that period. Labour's employment
:35:09. > :35:15.spokesman was speaking to the Sefton trainees this week. Youth
:35:15. > :35:24.unemployment came down to record lows during labour's time in office.
:35:24. > :35:29.We didn't sit there and say, this is unfortunate as this was due to
:35:29. > :35:33.the recession. Youth unemployment has now doubled. There is little
:35:33. > :35:37.optimism that the unemployment figures are about to ease. The
:35:37. > :35:42.problem is the longer summer is out of work, but hard it is to find
:35:42. > :35:47.them a job. How serious of these latest
:35:47. > :35:55.figures? If you look at them over that
:35:55. > :36:00.period of time, you can see they have been -- they have been
:36:00. > :36:06.gradually increasing. Of course, a higher they go the more serious it
:36:06. > :36:09.becomes because they are more and more people out of work. It to
:36:09. > :36:15.significant if the Minister himself is saying that he is concerned
:36:15. > :36:21.about it. The question becomes what do you do about it? Canned
:36:21. > :36:26.Government do anything about it? -- can Government. His is a case of
:36:26. > :36:29.waiting for a full economic -- recovery?
:36:29. > :36:35.What is the Government doing to reverse this trend, particularly
:36:35. > :36:39.given we haven't seen the worst of the job losses yet? We are spending
:36:39. > :36:44.�1.4 billion on vocational training to ensure young people leaving work
:36:44. > :36:48.help themselves get them skills of that get them into businesses that
:36:48. > :36:54.suit them. BAE Systems is one of the biggest apprenticeship schemes
:36:54. > :36:59.in the country. We have announced an extra 775 million for
:36:59. > :37:04.apprenticeships to. We take this very seriously. They shouldn't be
:37:04. > :37:09.any it under illusion. No one wants youth unemployment. We have seen is
:37:09. > :37:14.rising for many years. We have to do something about it. One of the
:37:14. > :37:20.things is we have been trying to curtail the benefits side so people
:37:20. > :37:24.are tempted back into jobs. We are trying to improve vocational
:37:24. > :37:28.training and tackle the problem of the economy. Unless we get broke --
:37:28. > :37:33.growth, with words get the jobs to come back on a long-term
:37:33. > :37:37.sustainable business. Hazel, way you look at the figures and see
:37:37. > :37:40.unemployment rising throughout the Labour Government as well, do you
:37:40. > :37:45.look back over that period and say you could have done things
:37:45. > :37:51.differently? There is a way to redress this more effectively?
:37:51. > :37:56.figures went up during a recession. None of us wanted to see that
:37:56. > :38:01.happen. Chris Grayling is right to be concerned. In this region, the
:38:01. > :38:06.number of people out of work has doubled in the last year. It is
:38:06. > :38:11.heartbreaking. They are coming into my office, saying they have got
:38:11. > :38:14.qualifications but can't get a job. You can talk about this scheme is
:38:14. > :38:18.but the future Jobs Fund that we brought in gave people the chance
:38:18. > :38:25.for a real job and a proper wage with qualifications. The Government
:38:25. > :38:29.is offering eight weeks' unpaid work experience. What would be
:38:29. > :38:35.interesting is if it was a real scheme, they would still be in jobs.
:38:35. > :38:42.A many of those people, it was about growth in the private sector
:38:42. > :38:50.and they didn't stay on jobs as they disappeared. Many of those
:38:50. > :38:54.jobs were in construction. That is not entirely true. She would not
:38:54. > :38:57.have failed to notice that the property boom fuelled by debt under
:38:57. > :39:01.her Government has come to an end and there for the construction
:39:01. > :39:05.business has slowed to a slower pace and that is purely because the
:39:05. > :39:12.last Government for do this economy through debt and now we are having
:39:12. > :39:15.to sort out that programme. growth, no jobs. For we are going
:39:15. > :39:18.to move on to the issue of mayors. Now, could Salford be getting its
:39:18. > :39:21.own Boris? The idea of having directly-elected Mayors to run
:39:21. > :39:24.local councils has been around for a while but there are still none in
:39:24. > :39:28.the North West. That could change though, when Salford holds a
:39:28. > :39:31.referendum on the issue this week. So, how does it work in practice?
:39:31. > :39:41.Mansfield in the East Midlands has had an elected Mayor for a decade
:39:41. > :39:48.
:39:48. > :39:53.now. We sent our reporter Elaine Mansfield in Nottinghamshire is a
:39:53. > :40:01.town known for its mining, its market and Rebecca Adlington. You
:40:01. > :40:06.can also add elected Mayor to the list. Tony Eggington has been the
:40:06. > :40:11.elected Mayor since 2002. This new Business Park has been his baby.
:40:11. > :40:17.What do you do for the people of Mansfield? Keep them optimistic,
:40:17. > :40:21.keep them thinking that Mansfield is a bit different. It is
:40:21. > :40:26.weathering the storm better than other places and we have got
:40:26. > :40:29.ongoing opportunities. For when Tony was first elected, he was
:40:29. > :40:34.standing as an independent in a Labour-run council. He decides who
:40:34. > :40:41.to appoint in his Cabinet. biggest benefit was the decision-
:40:41. > :40:46.making process was by me. Executive mayors have executive powers.
:40:46. > :40:50.got rid of the fleet of civic limousines, closed the council
:40:50. > :40:55.members' bar and brought in free garden but recycling. This site has
:40:55. > :40:58.been like this for over 10 years. There has been criticism that the
:40:58. > :41:04.site of the former Mansfield Brewery has been left run down and
:41:04. > :41:10.the town is suffering. The results for are here to see. For eight
:41:10. > :41:15.years, all the Mayor has Dennis manage decline. We need proper
:41:15. > :41:21.regeneration, fresh ideas, that is not happening here. For what would
:41:21. > :41:26.you like to see? This system of the leader of the council from the
:41:26. > :41:30.majority group with a Cabinet drawn from that majority group is the
:41:30. > :41:34.appropriate way of running local Government. Elected mayors are also
:41:34. > :41:39.known for grabbing headlines. Boris Johnson is in the lead with column
:41:39. > :41:46.inches. Then there was the man in a monkey suit, the Mayor of
:41:46. > :41:53.Hartlepool, aka Hangus the monkey. There is no shortage of supporting
:41:53. > :42:01.celebrities. Perhaps King of budget is padded Dougherty could be a
:42:01. > :42:06.winner as could Oscar-winner, said Ben Kingsley. -- Paddy Doherty.
:42:06. > :42:13.have to express your business to the local area, get stuff Denner,
:42:13. > :42:16.negotiate deals but also compromise. -- get this stuff done. One of the
:42:16. > :42:22.big questions his day as an elective Mayor represent value for
:42:22. > :42:25.money? In Mansfield, the mayor's office currently costs �470,000 a
:42:25. > :42:32.year which is taken from the local Government budget. Who better to
:42:32. > :42:37.ask than the people of Mansfield. He is everywhere. He is in the
:42:37. > :42:47.newspapers, he gives us commence each week in the newspaper, he
:42:47. > :42:47.
:42:47. > :42:56.attends a lot of functions. He is a good man. Elected mayors? I don't
:42:56. > :43:00.agree with it. You have got one here, why not? I can't see
:43:00. > :43:10.community and he has done nothing for me at all. Very often when you
:43:10. > :43:16.have your parties, it is better to have someone in defendant of a
:43:16. > :43:21.party and the politics. No idea. Didn't know we had an elected Mayor.
:43:21. > :43:24.Who is he? Mansfield may have been one of the first towns to elect a
:43:24. > :43:29.Mayor but after 10 years, it seems the debate over whether the town is
:43:29. > :43:32.heading in the right direction continues.
:43:32. > :43:39.With me now is Stephen Morris, the North West Chairman of the English
:43:39. > :43:47.Democrats. You do think it is a good idea.
:43:47. > :43:53.Would you be standing? That is not decided yet. I wouldn't mind to
:43:53. > :43:57.because it is my home at City. do you think it is time for Salford
:43:57. > :44:07.to have a Mayor, particularly at this time when it can ill-afford
:44:07. > :44:07.
:44:07. > :44:11.it? The costings can be made easily. As we have seen with Leicester, the
:44:11. > :44:18.Mayor replaces a level of Government committees and added.
:44:18. > :44:22.the rest threat -- the referendum will cost quite a lot. If you have
:44:22. > :44:29.the elected Mayor, the ceremonial Mayor and replace the Chief
:44:29. > :44:38.Executive all Mongo. Replacing the Chief Executive will save �200,000.
:44:38. > :44:44.-- all in one go. The idea hasn't caught on. Since 2000, we have only
:44:44. > :44:48.12 elected mayors in the country and a couple of those are reversing.
:44:48. > :44:53.Stoke and Doncaster are having a referendum to get rid of theirs. It
:44:53. > :44:59.is not getting the public's attention. If you look at Stoke,
:44:59. > :45:05.there were a lot of people not happy with the ruling. Why aren't
:45:05. > :45:09.people taking it up? People aren't happy with politics. They have to
:45:09. > :45:14.engage people. They have to make sure their vote is counted. With
:45:14. > :45:20.the directly elected Mayor, every vote counts. Hazel, MP for Salford,
:45:20. > :45:24.you don't think this is a good idea. I don't. I always believe that if
:45:24. > :45:29.you are going to have an elected Mayor, you needed for a big
:45:29. > :45:34.strategic area. That makes it sound like Salford is not an important
:45:34. > :45:39.place. If you are making big decisions about transport, planning,
:45:39. > :45:45.the economy, you need to make beers on a regional basis. You have
:45:45. > :45:51.always been in favour of elected mayors generally. For those big
:45:51. > :45:57.areas, yes. For places like London, Greater Manchester, where you are
:45:57. > :46:02.looking at big decisions. cities? It is a matter for they
:46:02. > :46:06.people to decide in a referendum. When you were Communities Secretary,
:46:06. > :46:11.you did say he believed that city should have elected mayors. Were
:46:11. > :46:18.you have a big area, a bee population comic Lee Mead -- you
:46:18. > :46:22.need to make strategic decisions. This referendum will cost �250,000.
:46:22. > :46:27.At a time when the council is strapped for cash and the platform
:46:27. > :46:34.they are standing on it to cut the council tax by 50%. What does that
:46:34. > :46:39.mean? Cutting services to children with secondary education needs. It
:46:39. > :46:46.is a wrong thing to do. Are you afraid that it is more about
:46:46. > :46:50.personalities than Policies? You need somebody who has got
:46:50. > :46:56.sufficient grasp of had you run a city, the politics and policies to
:46:56. > :47:00.do a good job. Saying he will assess the council tax by 50% is
:47:00. > :47:06.unrealistic. It will damage the City at a difficult time. A Ben
:47:06. > :47:10.Wallace, it is a warm-up to the other referendums in Manchester and
:47:10. > :47:15.Liverpool in May. We have heard this week that the Lib-Dems are
:47:15. > :47:19.concerned about the city council that they may bring in the majors
:47:19. > :47:24.without holding a referendum which they are entitled to do. What is
:47:24. > :47:32.your feelings on this? I am a believer that if it isn't broke,
:47:32. > :47:40.don't fix it. If there is a local demand, it should be up to them.
:47:40. > :47:46.There should be some form of referendum, a would be a good thing.
:47:46. > :47:56.If from being a Lancashire MP, Manchester is a city that operate
:47:56. > :47:56.
:47:56. > :48:00.well. It is well run. There is a popular and dynamic MP and a part
:48:00. > :48:07.of these issues are driven about the public's desire for some form
:48:07. > :48:13.of character, a fallible person to represent them rather than over
:48:13. > :48:17.Polish politicians that we see nationally. Maybe we should be
:48:17. > :48:21.addressing policy it -- political parties and getting local people
:48:21. > :48:26.with all sorts of characteristics that are probably better leader
:48:26. > :48:32.than people that try to spin their way out of everything. You are
:48:32. > :48:39.saying it is X Factor politics? the people decide. Let them have a
:48:39. > :48:43.Mayor if they want one. I am expressing my view but... You don't
:48:43. > :48:47.think there should be a referendum? It will cost a lot of money but it
:48:47. > :48:57.is the decision of local people, be good people of Salford have more
:48:57. > :48:58.
:48:58. > :49:03.common sense. If you are saying if it is not broken... It is broken.
:49:03. > :49:09.Crime is above the national average, council tax is the largest in the
:49:09. > :49:13.area. We are out of time, you will have to carry on later. Well, we'll
:49:13. > :49:15.find out what the people of Salford think in the early hours of Friday
:49:15. > :49:18.and we'll be bringing you the results in next week's programme.
:49:18. > :49:25.Now, with a look at this week's main political stories, here's Gill
:49:26. > :49:30.Warnings from two of Greater Mancehster's emergency services
:49:30. > :49:33.unions. The Fire Brigades Union claimed cuts in the number of
:49:33. > :49:36.engines would cause delays in response times. Meanwhile the
:49:36. > :49:44.Police Federation, said officers at GMP were being stretched beyond
:49:44. > :49:52.capacity. We are hearing Det incidents are
:49:52. > :49:56.being passed over to police officers. -- that. They are asking
:49:56. > :49:59.which one you want to go to first. In West Cumbria a series of public
:49:59. > :50:03.meetings has started to discuss the siting of a huge underground
:50:03. > :50:06.storeage facility for nuclear waste. The site would be up to nine and a
:50:06. > :50:09.half square miles in size and between 200 and 1000 metres
:50:09. > :50:12.underground. And Communities Secretary Eric
:50:12. > :50:16.Pickles' offer of cash for councils to bring back weekly bin
:50:16. > :50:18.collections appears to have fallen flat in Lancashire. An
:50:18. > :50:28.investigation by BBC Radio Lancashire has revealed that not
:50:28. > :50:34.
:50:34. > :50:38.one council is applying for the We have spoken about the elections
:50:39. > :50:42.but we have elections for the Police Commission coming up in
:50:42. > :50:48.November. There are rumours that you could stand for Police