22/01/2012 Sunday Politics North West

And in the North West: London's got Boris - now this week it's

Salford's turn to go to the Ballot box to decide whether the city

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1768 seconds

Welcome to the Sunday Politics North West. In this week's show:

London's got Boris - now Salford goes to the Ballot box to to decide

whether the city needs a mayor. With me I have Ben Wallace and

Labour MP for Salford and Eccles, Hazel Blears. Thank you very much

for joining us. We are going to be talking jobs. Hazel, you have been

instrumental of paved in -- paid internships. I have raised several

hundred �1,000 to get people into internships. It if you are living

in London, it is virtually impossible. I want to make sure we

get some different people. Kay, from Salford, is one of the 10

people that has started. She would never have been able to get into

parliament if she hadn't been given help with her housing etc.

north-west as a halt, you have been camping for the job losses at BAA

BAE Systems. I have just come from a meeting with the unions and

management at BAE Systems this week. The management have worked hard to

mitigate the losses. They are not going to be anything like the scale.

They have to retrain those people, either to find jobs or to help

bring new business to the area to ensure the skills argues elsewhere

in Engineering. We have had bad news in the region about jobs.

Employment Minister, Chris Grayling, has told this programme he's become

quite concerned about increasing unemployment in the North West.

Figures out this week showed the region had the second largest

increase in the country. Unemployment now stands at just

below 9%, that's 307,000 people, an increase of 25,000 since the

previous quarter. But is this really so different from the years

before? Our Political Editor Arif This is Sefton at Work, and a

pension if programme run by a Sefton Council, training people in

the skills of a coastal ranger. Those taking part say it is much

tougher for their friends. I would still be at home doing nothing. We

have been applying for more jobs and apprenticeships. It is so hard

to get one. There are always people with more experience and they will

always get the job. Those worries are now shared by the Government.

For I have become concerned about the North West because it is one of

the regions where there has been a steady set of poor figures. That is

why it is right that we press ahead with establishing enterprise in the

north-west. Unemployment stands at 307,000 people. That is 8.9%, a

definite increase in to the coalition Government. If you

project back a further five years of Labour Government, it has been

gradually increasing throughout that period. Labour's employment

spokesman was speaking to the Sefton trainees this week. Youth

unemployment came down to record lows during labour's time in office.

We didn't sit there and say, this is unfortunate as this was due to

the recession. Youth unemployment has now doubled. There is little

optimism that the unemployment figures are about to ease. The

problem is the longer summer is out of work, but hard it is to find

them a job. How serious of these latest

figures? If you look at them over that

period of time, you can see they have been -- they have been

gradually increasing. Of course, a higher they go the more serious it

becomes because they are more and more people out of work. It to

significant if the Minister himself is saying that he is concerned

about it. The question becomes what do you do about it? Canned

Government do anything about it? -- can Government. His is a case of

waiting for a full economic -- recovery?

What is the Government doing to reverse this trend, particularly

given we haven't seen the worst of the job losses yet? We are spending

�1.4 billion on vocational training to ensure young people leaving work

help themselves get them skills of that get them into businesses that

suit them. BAE Systems is one of the biggest apprenticeship schemes

in the country. We have announced an extra 775 million for

apprenticeships to. We take this very seriously. They shouldn't be

any it under illusion. No one wants youth unemployment. We have seen is

rising for many years. We have to do something about it. One of the

things is we have been trying to curtail the benefits side so people

are tempted back into jobs. We are trying to improve vocational

training and tackle the problem of the economy. Unless we get broke --

growth, with words get the jobs to come back on a long-term

sustainable business. Hazel, way you look at the figures and see

unemployment rising throughout the Labour Government as well, do you

look back over that period and say you could have done things

differently? There is a way to redress this more effectively?

figures went up during a recession. None of us wanted to see that

happen. Chris Grayling is right to be concerned. In this region, the

number of people out of work has doubled in the last year. It is

heartbreaking. They are coming into my office, saying they have got

qualifications but can't get a job. You can talk about this scheme is

but the future Jobs Fund that we brought in gave people the chance

for a real job and a proper wage with qualifications. The Government

is offering eight weeks' unpaid work experience. What would be

interesting is if it was a real scheme, they would still be in jobs.

A many of those people, it was about growth in the private sector

and they didn't stay on jobs as they disappeared. Many of those

jobs were in construction. That is not entirely true. She would not

have failed to notice that the property boom fuelled by debt under

her Government has come to an end and there for the construction

business has slowed to a slower pace and that is purely because the

last Government for do this economy through debt and now we are having

to sort out that programme. growth, no jobs. For we are going

to move on to the issue of mayors. Now, could Salford be getting its

own Boris? The idea of having directly-elected Mayors to run

local councils has been around for a while but there are still none in

the North West. That could change though, when Salford holds a

referendum on the issue this week. So, how does it work in practice?

Mansfield in the East Midlands has had an elected Mayor for a decade

now. We sent our reporter Elaine Mansfield in Nottinghamshire is a

town known for its mining, its market and Rebecca Adlington. You

can also add elected Mayor to the list. Tony Eggington has been the

elected Mayor since 2002. This new Business Park has been his baby.

What do you do for the people of Mansfield? Keep them optimistic,

keep them thinking that Mansfield is a bit different. It is

weathering the storm better than other places and we have got

ongoing opportunities. For when Tony was first elected, he was

standing as an independent in a Labour-run council. He decides who

to appoint in his Cabinet. biggest benefit was the decision-

making process was by me. Executive mayors have executive powers.

got rid of the fleet of civic limousines, closed the council

members' bar and brought in free garden but recycling. This site has

been like this for over 10 years. There has been criticism that the

site of the former Mansfield Brewery has been left run down and

the town is suffering. The results for are here to see. For eight

years, all the Mayor has Dennis manage decline. We need proper

regeneration, fresh ideas, that is not happening here. For what would

you like to see? This system of the leader of the council from the

majority group with a Cabinet drawn from that majority group is the

appropriate way of running local Government. Elected mayors are also

known for grabbing headlines. Boris Johnson is in the lead with column

inches. Then there was the man in a monkey suit, the Mayor of

Hartlepool, aka Hangus the monkey. There is no shortage of supporting

celebrities. Perhaps King of budget is padded Dougherty could be a

winner as could Oscar-winner, said Ben Kingsley. -- Paddy Doherty.

have to express your business to the local area, get stuff Denner,

negotiate deals but also compromise. -- get this stuff done. One of the

big questions his day as an elective Mayor represent value for

money? In Mansfield, the mayor's office currently costs �470,000 a

year which is taken from the local Government budget. Who better to

ask than the people of Mansfield. He is everywhere. He is in the

newspapers, he gives us commence each week in the newspaper, he

attends a lot of functions. He is a good man. Elected mayors? I don't

agree with it. You have got one here, why not? I can't see

community and he has done nothing for me at all. Very often when you

have your parties, it is better to have someone in defendant of a

party and the politics. No idea. Didn't know we had an elected Mayor.

Who is he? Mansfield may have been one of the first towns to elect a

Mayor but after 10 years, it seems the debate over whether the town is

heading in the right direction continues.

With me now is Stephen Morris, the North West Chairman of the English

Democrats. You do think it is a good idea.

Would you be standing? That is not decided yet. I wouldn't mind to

because it is my home at City. do you think it is time for Salford

to have a Mayor, particularly at this time when it can ill-afford

it? The costings can be made easily. As we have seen with Leicester, the

Mayor replaces a level of Government committees and added.

the rest threat -- the referendum will cost quite a lot. If you have

the elected Mayor, the ceremonial Mayor and replace the Chief

Executive all Mongo. Replacing the Chief Executive will save �200,000.

-- all in one go. The idea hasn't caught on. Since 2000, we have only

12 elected mayors in the country and a couple of those are reversing.

Stoke and Doncaster are having a referendum to get rid of theirs. It

is not getting the public's attention. If you look at Stoke,

there were a lot of people not happy with the ruling. Why aren't

people taking it up? People aren't happy with politics. They have to

engage people. They have to make sure their vote is counted. With

the directly elected Mayor, every vote counts. Hazel, MP for Salford,

you don't think this is a good idea. I don't. I always believe that if

you are going to have an elected Mayor, you needed for a big

strategic area. That makes it sound like Salford is not an important

place. If you are making big decisions about transport, planning,

the economy, you need to make beers on a regional basis. You have

always been in favour of elected mayors generally. For those big

areas, yes. For places like London, Greater Manchester, where you are

looking at big decisions. cities? It is a matter for they

people to decide in a referendum. When you were Communities Secretary,

you did say he believed that city should have elected mayors. Were

you have a big area, a bee population comic Lee Mead -- you

need to make strategic decisions. This referendum will cost �250,000.

At a time when the council is strapped for cash and the platform

they are standing on it to cut the council tax by 50%. What does that

mean? Cutting services to children with secondary education needs. It

is a wrong thing to do. Are you afraid that it is more about

personalities than Policies? You need somebody who has got

sufficient grasp of had you run a city, the politics and policies to

do a good job. Saying he will assess the council tax by 50% is

unrealistic. It will damage the City at a difficult time. A Ben

Wallace, it is a warm-up to the other referendums in Manchester and

Liverpool in May. We have heard this week that the Lib-Dems are

concerned about the city council that they may bring in the majors

without holding a referendum which they are entitled to do. What is

your feelings on this? I am a believer that if it isn't broke,

don't fix it. If there is a local demand, it should be up to them.

There should be some form of referendum, a would be a good thing.

If from being a Lancashire MP, Manchester is a city that operate

well. It is well run. There is a popular and dynamic MP and a part

of these issues are driven about the public's desire for some form

of character, a fallible person to represent them rather than over

Polish politicians that we see nationally. Maybe we should be

addressing policy it -- political parties and getting local people

with all sorts of characteristics that are probably better leader

than people that try to spin their way out of everything. You are

saying it is X Factor politics? the people decide. Let them have a

Mayor if they want one. I am expressing my view but... You don't

think there should be a referendum? It will cost a lot of money but it

is the decision of local people, be good people of Salford have more

common sense. If you are saying if it is not broken... It is broken.

Crime is above the national average, council tax is the largest in the

area. We are out of time, you will have to carry on later. Well, we'll

find out what the people of Salford think in the early hours of Friday

and we'll be bringing you the results in next week's programme.

Now, with a look at this week's main political stories, here's Gill

Warnings from two of Greater Mancehster's emergency services

unions. The Fire Brigades Union claimed cuts in the number of

engines would cause delays in response times. Meanwhile the

Police Federation, said officers at GMP were being stretched beyond

capacity. We are hearing Det incidents are

being passed over to police officers. -- that. They are asking

which one you want to go to first. In West Cumbria a series of public

meetings has started to discuss the siting of a huge underground

storeage facility for nuclear waste. The site would be up to nine and a

half square miles in size and between 200 and 1000 metres

underground. And Communities Secretary Eric

Pickles' offer of cash for councils to bring back weekly bin

collections appears to have fallen flat in Lancashire. An

investigation by BBC Radio Lancashire has revealed that not

one council is applying for the We have spoken about the elections

but we have elections for the Police Commission coming up in

November. There are rumours that you could stand for Police