:32:40. > :32:44.North West: From bins to burials, parking to pitches, who is being hit
:32:44. > :32:54.hardest by rising council charges? And joining me this week, the
:32:54. > :32:56.
:32:56. > :33:00.Liberal Democrat MP for Southport, John Pugh. Newline Joe Anderson, it
:33:00. > :33:07.has been a year since you took over as the directly elected mayor of the
:33:07. > :33:12.city, what difference has that made? The difference is making sure
:33:12. > :33:19.we deliver my pledges and manifesto commitments. I pledge to build new
:33:19. > :33:26.schools and houses, new school -- a new school opens next September, and
:33:26. > :33:30.we are in the �5,000 pledge we made, or we ought on site with 2500 in the
:33:30. > :33:35.first year so we create more jobs and be the best business friendly
:33:36. > :33:42.city in the UK, so we will meet those manifesto commitments.
:33:42. > :33:47.John, you are a mP to the north, what difference have you noticed?
:33:47. > :33:51.I fail to see how the difference would have been different had he
:33:51. > :33:54.been a councillor with a council behind him, joint cooperation with
:33:54. > :33:58.the police, I fail to see what having a mayor does to change
:33:58. > :34:02.matters, I think Joe would have done just as good a job as a council
:34:02. > :34:09.leader. We asked people outside Liverpool
:34:09. > :34:15.town Hall for their views. I have not got a clue. It is the
:34:15. > :34:22.same as it was a year ago when he came in. All right with the he has
:34:22. > :34:28.got. Icon from the South East and compare it to worry Johnson. He has
:34:28. > :34:31.done all right. Boris Johnson has done a good job and put London on
:34:31. > :34:38.the map so if Joe Anderson can do that, fantastic.
:34:38. > :34:44.Pick and go on what John said, has it may difference being mad and
:34:44. > :34:47.council leader? -- picking up. course, I met with three senior
:34:47. > :34:50.commissioners in Brussels in one afternoon talking about structural
:34:50. > :34:55.funding for Liverpool and talking about transport issues and the
:34:55. > :35:00.cruise liner, I believe I got those three meetings because I was mayor
:35:00. > :35:05.of a modern city. Look across the globe, look at modern cities with
:35:06. > :35:10.former governors were somebody is directly accountable -- formal
:35:10. > :35:14.governors. It is good enough that Europe and America and states and
:35:14. > :35:17.cities and for our capital in London, it is good enough for
:35:17. > :35:20.Liverpool. People will have the chance to say yes or no in three
:35:20. > :35:24.years time if we have been doing a good job but at least I am
:35:24. > :35:30.accountable. It is a mistake to think London is a
:35:30. > :35:33.lesson, London is very different, Boris Johnson has a lot more powers
:35:33. > :35:40.and more resources and he can get more done. We should not pretend
:35:40. > :35:45.regional mayors or anything like the London mayor or anything like the
:35:45. > :35:51.power he has got. -- or anything like. Has the post of mayor enhanced
:35:51. > :35:55.the city's profile? A year is not long to make an impact
:35:55. > :36:01.but it is important to recall one of the used -- one of the reasons we
:36:01. > :36:04.had no referendum was the idea of gaining competitive advantage and
:36:04. > :36:07.other cities will have a referendum that will delay them having the
:36:07. > :36:13.mayor, so the idea was to get in fast and make a difference and there
:36:13. > :36:17.is no evidence that has happened. I have just come back from the
:36:17. > :36:22.United Arab Emirates where we had a successful visit, people have been
:36:22. > :36:27.over this week and coming next week. We have put ourselves on the
:36:27. > :36:29.world stage and we went to a summit of city readers. We have the
:36:29. > :36:39.international festival of business coming here with leaders from across
:36:39. > :36:40.
:36:40. > :36:42.the globe. How is Manchester losing out by not having a mayor? I am not
:36:42. > :36:48.particularly interested in Manchester, my interest is
:36:48. > :36:55.Liverpool. Johnson dashed John is saying that Manchester is managing
:36:55. > :37:01.without a mayor. -- John is saying. They have been working for a number
:37:01. > :37:05.of years as a combined authority. Liverpool has a mayor in position
:37:05. > :37:09.that is now accountable across the five constituencies. 60% of the
:37:09. > :37:14.voters voted for me and in three years time, they will have a chance
:37:14. > :37:20.to vote me out. The buck stops with me and they know who represents the
:37:20. > :37:26.city. John, you have got some concerns
:37:26. > :37:31.that having a mayor of Liverpool is taking the focus away from other
:37:31. > :37:36.parts of Merseyside. There is a concern we will move to a regional
:37:36. > :37:42.mayor so we will have people in charge of Saint Helens, Sefton and
:37:42. > :37:47.Knowsley. It would destroy politics on Merseyside because the voice of
:37:47. > :37:53.the areas around Liverpool would be lost and we would be dominated by a
:37:53. > :37:59.Liverpool agenda, not a -- not an agenda for my constituency of
:37:59. > :38:05.Southport for example. They would all be uncomfortable with it.
:38:05. > :38:09.is up for the people of Saint Helens and Sefton and Wigan. I am not
:38:09. > :38:13.denying anybody a say. My job as mayor of Liverpool is to promote
:38:14. > :38:18.Liverpool and to get the best deal and that is what I intend to do. If
:38:18. > :38:28.the other authorities want to look at a regional mayor, that is for
:38:28. > :38:30.
:38:30. > :38:33.them. Moving on. And two months ago,
:38:33. > :38:36.14-year-old Jade Anderson was killed by dogs in a friend's home in
:38:36. > :38:39.Atherton near Bolton. Her death followed that of John Paul Massey in
:38:39. > :38:43.Liverpool four years ago. Well, in the Queen's Speech this week, plans
:38:43. > :38:46.were announced to tighten the law on dogs on private property. But will
:38:46. > :38:48.it help prevent attacks, and will any new law actually see the light
:38:48. > :38:52.of day? Claire Hamilton reports. Staffordshire bull terriers like
:38:52. > :38:54.this have a bad press, the most recent dog attack on a child on
:38:54. > :39:00.Merseyside involved one. Nicky trains dogs with behavioural
:39:00. > :39:05.problems. Every dog is capable of biting and it is up to us as
:39:05. > :39:11.humans, we are their carers, to make sure they are educated as we would
:39:11. > :39:15.our children. The families of macro-1 and John Paul Massey, both
:39:15. > :39:21.killed by dogs on private hoppity, have campaigned for a change in the
:39:21. > :39:27.law -- Jade Anderson. Jade 's MP says what is happening is not
:39:27. > :39:32.enough. There is no timetable and it is something we frightened they
:39:32. > :39:36.could kick into the long grass. It is they are talking about changing
:39:36. > :39:40.legislation to make attacks on private property prosecutable, but
:39:40. > :39:46.we need to prevent the tragedy happening. Jade was one of six fatal
:39:46. > :39:50.dog attacks in homes since 2007. 210,000 people each year are taxed
:39:50. > :39:57.by dogs in England alone, including 4000 postal workers. They welcome
:39:57. > :40:04.the change. The smaller cases or a nip or scratch but serious cases
:40:04. > :40:08.members taking time off work. One member had to retire from the job at
:40:08. > :40:12.32 because the injury was so bad. Experts say the law may change but
:40:12. > :40:18.the cat -- but the key to well-behaved dogs is responsible
:40:18. > :40:23.owners. I would bring in compulsory Basic dog training, minimal stuff to
:40:23. > :40:27.ensure the dog is safe and so is everybody else. The government says
:40:27. > :40:35.there will be no bit action for trespassers like burglars who are
:40:35. > :40:41.attacked by a dog. -- protection. John, is this new legislation going
:40:41. > :40:46.to do anything to prevent attacks? I hope so, there are underdressed
:40:46. > :40:50.problems, the problem of badly behaved dogs on their own land. And
:40:50. > :40:55.there is a problem of trophy dogs and people reading dogs they do not
:40:55. > :40:59.know how to bring up. I will press the government to take action. It is
:40:59. > :41:05.not easy to see the right solution at I am sure we will get a better
:41:05. > :41:10.result and fewer fatalities and accidents. But previous legislation
:41:10. > :41:15.has not worked very well, has it? was a knee-jerk reaction to a couple
:41:15. > :41:21.of issues involving particular reads of dogs and we were going down the
:41:22. > :41:27.wrong road. -- reads. We have learned from that. As mayor, Joel,
:41:27. > :41:33.you are aware there is a real problem and that you get a lot of
:41:33. > :41:38.people who use dogs as a weapon -- Joel Anderson. We are concerned
:41:38. > :41:46.about that. A short while ago, John Paul Massey in Liverpool was killed
:41:46. > :41:49.and I welcome the new laws. But we could have gone a lot further. I
:41:49. > :41:56.would like to have seen for instance microchips of dogs and licensing of
:41:56. > :41:59.dogs, people going out and spending �500 on a dog and we argue it is
:41:59. > :42:06.against the Civil Liberties to force them to have a licence. That is
:42:06. > :42:12.absurd! In Liverpool, we have dog control orders trialling in three
:42:12. > :42:16.wards. We are not allowing dogs to go into parks or into cemeteries
:42:16. > :42:25.where we have had particular problems, and we tell people dogs
:42:25. > :42:30.have to be on reads or with a muzzle if they are often reads. -- leads.
:42:30. > :42:36.Have you got the resources? We have got people who can see where there
:42:36. > :42:42.is abuse and we have got CCTV and things. And it gets reported to us
:42:42. > :42:46.because clearly it is signposted that this is a protected area or a
:42:46. > :42:49.designated area, so people will report that and we will send people
:42:49. > :42:53.along to make sure that is enforced. But I believe the
:42:53. > :43:01.government could have gone further than this and I believe those issues
:43:01. > :43:07.that dog licenses and microchips brings up is important. You wanted
:43:07. > :43:10.microchip Inc, John, didn't you? will have some legislation and
:43:10. > :43:16.members interested in this. We will have amendment and changes. This is
:43:16. > :43:23.not a closed door, it is about a progressive piece of legislation to
:43:23. > :43:27.be improved by Parliament and not to be a party political matters.
:43:27. > :43:29.We mentioned about resources of looking after dogs. From bin
:43:29. > :43:32.collections to burials, local councils across the North West are
:43:32. > :43:34.looking for ways to make up the shortfall in their budget.
:43:34. > :43:38.Manchester City Council is looking at parking charges, and in
:43:38. > :43:40.Blackburn, the cost of funerals has gone up. And in one local authority,
:43:40. > :43:48.there are accusations the ruling party is hitting opposition voters
:43:48. > :43:53.hardest. Elaine Dunkley reports. How to make savings is a
:43:53. > :43:59.multi-million-pound question for councils. In Sefton, proposals to
:43:59. > :44:02.increase the fees for football pitches were met with protests. Now
:44:02. > :44:11.the council is looking at parking charges to raise an extra �350,000 a
:44:11. > :44:15.year. I come into a couple of shops but
:44:15. > :44:18.that is it and if parking charges go up, it is not going to attract
:44:18. > :44:23.people. It is supposed to be a tourist
:44:23. > :44:31.resort, so if you want tourists to come into the town, you should offer
:44:31. > :44:41.them the facilities they need. The Vincent is an award winning
:44:41. > :44:46.restaurant and hotel in Southport. Owner Paul Adams believes the town's
:44:46. > :44:52.economy will suffer if the parking price hike goes ahead.
:44:52. > :44:55.I believe as it is, I have seen an improvement in trade in this area.
:44:55. > :44:59.We are doing well and other businesses are doing well in the
:44:59. > :45:05.town and I think putting up the charges by a couple of pounds will
:45:05. > :45:08.make a difference. People feel Southport is being picked on.
:45:08. > :45:11.council is also looking at charging �46 a year to collect garden waste.
:45:11. > :45:15.Some councillors feel more affluent areas such as Southport are being
:45:15. > :45:20.unfairly targeted to clean up messy budgets.
:45:20. > :45:26.We have got the wheelie bin tax for green waste collection. That will
:45:26. > :45:30.hit Southport disc portion of the hard because people have always had
:45:30. > :45:35.gardens -- dish -- disproportionately. Southport has
:45:35. > :45:40.been singled out. It is an easy hit and there are no members of the
:45:40. > :45:44.ruling party from Southport, it was too easy for them to pile the costs
:45:44. > :45:47.on to us rather than face up to some of the hard decisions they could
:45:48. > :45:51.have taken instead. And it is not just the cost of
:45:51. > :45:55.living that has gone up, so has the cost of dying in Sefton. Cremations
:45:55. > :46:01.and burials have gone up from �600 to �750. The Leader of the Council
:46:01. > :46:04.says tough decisions need to be made.
:46:04. > :46:13.When you have Sefton Council with a gap in its budget over a 4-macro
:46:13. > :46:16.year period of a, the consequence is that you are not concentrating money
:46:16. > :46:21.in one area -- a four-year period. You are spreading it across the
:46:21. > :46:25.whole of the council and it is difficult. I do not say we have made
:46:25. > :46:27.all the right choices but we have tried to do it as fairly as we can.
:46:27. > :46:30.Elsewhere, over in Wirral, across the garden hedges, similar arguments
:46:31. > :46:40.are growing. From June, Wirral residents will have to pay for their
:46:41. > :46:41.
:46:41. > :46:45.garden waste bins. It is the thin end of the wedge and
:46:45. > :46:48.if we pay this charge, what is the next extra that is going to come
:46:48. > :46:58.along in addition to the council tax we already pay?
:46:58. > :47:03.They have increased the council tax and transparent about this and let's
:47:03. > :47:12.see what the people of Wirral want. We pay in off in council tax as it
:47:12. > :47:15.is. I pay 1000 pounds a year -- we pay enough.
:47:15. > :47:18.It is against everything the country is about, recycling and green
:47:18. > :47:22.energy. As reluctant residents shoulder the
:47:22. > :47:29.shortfall. The burden of balancing budgets is no doubt a conundrum for
:47:29. > :47:36.many councils. John, you are a former leader of
:47:36. > :47:44.Sefton Council, two councils have any alternative other than putting
:47:44. > :47:49.up charges? I recognise that all local authorities, particularly in
:47:49. > :47:53.the north, have a difficult financial situation. In Sefton, it
:47:53. > :47:58.is like a North Korean authoritarian style readership whereby we are not
:47:58. > :48:03.allowed to look fully at the budgets -- leadership. We have priorities
:48:03. > :48:07.chosen by a closed group and a budget in adequately scrutinised and
:48:07. > :48:13.the public are not satisfied and they fear groups in people -- groups
:48:13. > :48:20.in areas that do not vote Labour are being punished.
:48:20. > :48:25.-- are not being punished. I am sure they would disagree if they were sat
:48:25. > :48:30.here, being compared to a Soviet style dictatorship. The great and
:48:30. > :48:37.about them is they use misleading statistics. You heard the statistics
:48:37. > :48:42.cut from the Sefton budgets, I saw it was about �215 million manage all
:48:42. > :48:52.-- manageable budget, smaller than that. So what he is saying is that
:48:52. > :48:53.
:48:54. > :48:57.Sefton, half the budget is gone that is not true! Everybody comes up with
:48:57. > :49:03.completely different figures. does not help with the argument. It
:49:03. > :49:09.is a fact of life. But under these circumstances, what specifically can
:49:09. > :49:15.you say is being done wrong? Let me put it to Joe Anderson. You are in
:49:15. > :49:16.the thick of this. Have you any alternative other than putting up
:49:16. > :49:22.charges? Every authority is different and
:49:22. > :49:27.will have to do things specifically to meet their budget deficits. Let's
:49:27. > :49:35.be clear. Every council in the North is going to face severe problems.
:49:35. > :49:45.The idea that the leader of Sefton is making up these figures is
:49:45. > :49:48.
:49:48. > :49:52.nonsense. Why would he? The idea that he wants to cut areas of
:49:52. > :49:56.Southport and protect areas... What he wants to do is make his budget
:49:56. > :50:00.work in the same way that Liverpool has. We are asked by central
:50:00. > :50:04.government to do more with less. They are passing on
:50:04. > :50:09.responsibilities. And I noticed with John and the Liberal Democrat leader
:50:09. > :50:13.of Sefton, what they did not come up with was any solutions, what they
:50:13. > :50:19.did was criticised the leader of Sefton. I am happy to sit down with
:50:19. > :50:23.Sefton and look at their budget. They gave up publishing their budget
:50:23. > :50:29.if you years ago and have not resumed, it even though I have
:50:29. > :50:34.asked. -- if you years ago. There are �6 million of social service cut
:50:34. > :50:39.unallocated in Sefton and how they got that through, I do not know.
:50:39. > :50:42.John talked about North Korea, his political spin is as good as
:50:43. > :50:47.there's! Of course he can scrutinise the budget, so can everybody.
:50:47. > :50:51.Liberal Democrat colleagues in Merseyside should tell the
:50:51. > :50:55.government how unfair cuts to the north and they should demand more
:50:55. > :51:03.support, rather than trying to attack us. I am very happy to do
:51:04. > :51:11.that. I never hear it. You hostile to the Wirral plans we saw? Are they
:51:11. > :51:15.wrong? -- you hostile. I believe the North is getting a bad deal and
:51:15. > :51:18.Metropolitan boroughs also, there is a spending round coming up, I am
:51:18. > :51:24.happy to talk to the government about this and to indicate we need a
:51:24. > :51:29.far better deal. I am not happy about the public getting misleading
:51:30. > :51:35.statistics and given Labour priorities. I am sure Peter would be
:51:35. > :51:43.happy for you to scrutinise the figures, as I am. Eric pickles can
:51:43. > :51:52.scrutinise Liverpool's figures! -- pickles. I do not believe anybody is
:51:52. > :51:56.trying to cut services. It is a lovely invitation on Peter's behalf.
:51:56. > :51:59.And, Joe, it is still a tense time in some of our town halls. We had
:51:59. > :52:02.the news this week that Marie Rimmer, who has been the leader of
:52:02. > :52:08.Street Helens Council on and off since the 1980s, has been ousted and
:52:08. > :52:16.replaced by Barrie Grunewald. It sounds like a pretty divisive power
:52:16. > :52:21.struggle. You know Marie well. Do you welcome the new arrival? She was
:52:22. > :52:25.doing a fantastic job and it is none of my business what et al and the
:52:25. > :52:34.Labour group do to elect their leaders, and I would not expect them
:52:34. > :52:39.to interfere with Sefton all Liverpool. -- what they do. I am
:52:39. > :52:43.sure she will do a good job in the future. A competent politician, I
:52:43. > :52:47.have worked with her. Time for a round-up of the rest of
:52:47. > :52:50.the week's news now. Here is 60 Seconds. Stop speeding - an Isle of
:52:50. > :52:56.Man coroner says the absence of a national speed limit is putting
:52:56. > :52:59.lives at risk. His comments followed the death of motorcyclist there. --
:52:59. > :53:02.a motorcyclist. Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans is
:53:02. > :53:04.temporarily standing down as Deputy Speaker of the Commons, after his
:53:04. > :53:07.arrest for rape and sexual assault. He denies wrongdoing.
:53:07. > :53:10.Betrayed by the system. Now campaigners are calling for a
:53:10. > :53:18.government apology for what they say was a post-war policy of forced
:53:18. > :53:23.adoption for unmarried mothers. It is something you would expect
:53:23. > :53:26.from maybe even the Middle Ages, it is Draconian! No, it's not just me,
:53:26. > :53:29.our mayors actually are getting younger.
:53:29. > :53:32.21-year-old councillor George Hayes took the reins at Congleton Town
:53:32. > :53:38.Council this week. And Manchester MP John Leech tabled
:53:38. > :53:42.a parliamentary motion praising United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. The
:53:42. > :53:52.City season ticket holder called Fergie's 27 years at Old Trafford an
:53:52. > :53:52.
:53:52. > :54:00."outstanding contribution to I am not sure we have heard enough
:54:00. > :54:04.about Sir Alex Ferguson this week! David Moyes, he has been running it
:54:04. > :54:12.Everton for 11 years, will he be a big loss to Liverpool? -- running
:54:12. > :54:17.Everton? It is great for Liverpool's economy for all clubs are doing well
:54:17. > :54:22.and it is a big boost for the sector in terms of hotels and trades and
:54:22. > :54:30.bars and restaurants. David Moyes has done a great job for Everton, I
:54:30. > :54:37.believe. And you are a fan of the club! From my point of view, it is
:54:37. > :54:43.the pinnacle of a manager's career to be in that kind of position.
:54:43. > :54:47.Would you want anything more than that? I would not stand in his way.
:54:47. > :54:50.No manager is bigger than Everton football club and I am sure the club
:54:50. > :54:55.will go from strength to strength. What about sending Alex Ferguson to
:54:55. > :55:01.the Lords? If he did not get the vote right, he would act -- he would
:55:01. > :55:06.ask for extra time. Is it a good idea? He has something to contribute
:55:06. > :55:12.but I do not think it would be to his liking, that environment,
:55:12. > :55:16.because he is more consultative and less directive. I would like to see
:55:16. > :55:20.some members of the Lords get the hairdryer treatment to wake them up!