30/06/2013 Sunday Politics North West

In the North West, this region's reaction to the spending review.

And the next generation going for gold, but is the government playing

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1919 seconds

I'm Arif Ansari. Coming up in the North West: The next generation

going for gold, but is the government playing ball with our

Olympic legacy? These kids at the coalface are not going to be

participating in sport. And joining us this week to discuss

that and the Chancellor's spending review, Rosie Cooper, the Labour MP

for West Lancashire and the Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester

Withington, John Leech. Rosie, what did you make of the spending

review? Very disappointing. Nothing in their tackling the real

disappointing -- the real problems in the economy. Lot more talk, a

lot more promises for the future but no action now. We need to move

on now. I would say, given the state of the current economy, it

was good to see a real focus on infrastructure with a particular

emphasis on housing which is absolutely vital for the north-west.

Let's look at some of the measures affecting the North West in this

week's spending review. Work of a new �600 million Mersey

gateway bridge between Runcorn at Widnes moved a step closer.

Building should start in January after the guarantee of the project

from the government. The budget for the high-speed rail line between

Manchester and London was raised to �42 billion. There was a mixed

reaction to plans to help people in Lancashire and Cheshire benefit

from shale gas extraction. plans provide the framework to

kick-start the industry in a way that protects the environment and

supports local community. All of these concerns to have been

addressing for last year, that all of this would go away if they pay

us? That would divide Community. The region looks like it will take

a big hit intent of the public sector. The Chancellor said 100 --

more public sector jobs will go, and staff will not receive pay

rises. Are there will be a 10% cut in funding of the Department of

communities and local government. What effect will that have here,

where there's a greater dependency on government support? Chris

Rider's been talking to some local government leaders.

It is more bad news for Burnley. Since 2010, we had taken a cut in

funding of 30% of our total budget. Know your face with another 10%.

was expected, there is less money around, we have to do our bit to

get the deficit down. It was not a surprise that the Budget would be

reduced. We have to see what the detail would be. We have got to

look at different ways of working. I wish they would devolve more

spending to local authority, because I think local government

can spend it better than many of the central government departments.

What will the impact be of Burnley? We are not as councillors, we are

from the town, we care passionately Italy. I care about Burnley. Having

to make cuts damaging the fabric of my home town is demoralising.

a challenge, it is not easy. You get up to speed up to be the leader

for 12 months. We are elected to make difficult decisions. It is

disappointing that continually we are being cut by such a large

extent, can think you -- particularly compared to some

authorities in the south. Local government will continue to be

transformed. We cannot keep on working the way we have. A future

for Burnley were lies on about -- government that understands that

these austerity measures are not working. We are all suffering the

pain. We would put our shoulder to the will and accept that if we

could see a light at the end of the tunnel but it is clear we are

slipping further into problems. a local operator, we are having to

become very different organisations have done what we were three or

four years ago. We have to be more forward-looking and efficient. We

have got to be smaller and more focused on what we do. We are

joined in the studio by Professor Colin Talbot, professor of

government at the University of Manchester. Let's start off with in

the structure, or how significant was what the Chancellor had to say

in terms of the north-west? very significant at all. The

amounts the government are proposing to spend on

infrastructure are lower than were spent in last two or three decades.

The government has been boasting that this is the biggest

infrastructure expenditure for years, actually I was crunching the

numbers this morning. If you go back there for decades before 2010,

in the structure spending, that public investment was 2.1% of GDP.

The next decade, it will be 1.7%. It is actually lower than previous

decades. Is it less that work -- that what Labour would have spent

if their plans were put through? Labour initially planned quite a

big reduction in capital spending. All governments do this when they

get into a crisis, they slash capital expenditure. It went down

lower than Leader had planned. It has come back up again, closer to

what they had planned. But both of them have been spending

historically low amounts on infrastructure and public

investment. So how come the government keeps saying that in the

structure is so important, and yet you are not spending on it? Before

the last general election, Alastair Darling, as has been pointed out,

slashed the proposals for capital spending. But you have cut further.

We have actually put some back in. Given the current economics

situation, it is not that surprising that things like

infrastructure projects which we are trying to focus on are still

not going to be funded to the kind of level that we would like to see.

One of the things announced in the comprehensive spending review was

one large and 65,000 extra social homes to be built, -- 165,000. That

will certainly hope the problems we have in the north-west. On the one

hand, you are saying investment in of the structure is important and

on the other hand, you're not begin in the money, putting in less than

Labour was planning. You have to cut your cloth. In the current

situation, we are putting in as much in infrastructure spending as

we possibly can add this Britain can. Rosie Cooper? I would much

rather be spending money on buildings have become a would

rather pay someone to go to work and do something cooler than pay

them unemployment better if -- do something, than pay them

unemployment benefit. Infrastructure is important, we

need to put people to work. We do not once roads full of potholes, we

need to deal with the of the structure problems we have.

government has announced funding for the Mersey gate Weybridge, the

northern hub, rail electrification, and high-speed two. But we have

heard, a massively not enough. that will apply to certain parts of

the not -- north-west. My constituency Warp C virtually their

benefit from that. -- will see virtually no benefit from that.

There is no railway station in one of my towns, there Connectivity two

cities. -- there is no Connectivity. We need to that. You missed out in

education, there is a lot of electrification work going on in

the north-west. May I just say? One of the issues is the government

nationally is making its -- find it difficult to deliver these project,

for a simple reason. In 2010, they more than half the public sector

investment. At the same time government departments got rid of

staff. They got rid of people who were capable of managing the

investment project. Now they are finding they are underspending on

investment because they cannot get project at the door. A lot of the

products which were shot already in 2010 are not any more, -- they were

ready to go into the 10th are not any more, they have got to start

again. In terms of public sector worker cuts, if you like, we are

going to see a lot more of that. What will the squeeze be like on

local government in the region? estimated in a project we did for

the BBC a couple of years ago that the cuts in the 20 tense spending

review were going to take about �10 million out of the Greater

Manchester economy, and that has gone up as a result of subsequent

cuts. We are talking about massive impact on the local economy. And

can of course, local government in particular has been one of the

hardest-hit sectors of public spending. There is only one or two

other areas that have been hit worse. But is having a big effect

on local employment. The figure that I saw that the beginning of

the squeeze to the end, but the product of communities which

basically means local councils, will have seen 60% of its budget

disappeared. You cannot be happy about that. It is certainly the

case that local government has been hit hard. But when spending is

being protected in the health service and on schools, and

spending is being increased on international development which I

absolutely support, there are other budgets which are going to take a

big hit. Local government has been one of those. It is important that

it whether local councils are not getting the kind of revenue that

they are getting before, that they use their reserves. Hang on, John,

you cannot get away with some of those things. You have talked about

protecting the health service. The Treasury snaffled back �2 billion

last year. You have wasted �3 billion on pointless

reorganisations. And now you are taking 3 billion actually out of

the health service and putting it into local government. Putting it

into social care to save money in the health service. To cover the

cuts to have made in local government. To have more trying

DUP... I would like to interrupt you. Very simply, they are hiding,

papering over the cracks in local government and social care. This

breaks the coalition agreement. Let me say to you, in my view, a

further 10% cut in local authority budgets is eye-watering. This will

have a dramatic effect on the north-west of the structure, on the

fabric of our society. Rosie, why are you criticising the

government's plans went Labour says it would stick to the St dead --

spending plans itself? The same spending limits? Let's see when we

are -- where really have to make those decisions. Are you saying you

are being misled by the Labour Party? I am saying the Labour Party

will make their decisions when they get there. They have already made

the decision, they have told us they will stick to the Stent --

spending limit. That will be when they look at what is going on. The

truth is, our choices will be very different to the choice is the

coverage -- coalition government are making. They are actually

putting workers and families on the front line. Let me interrupt,

awards to show you what's Jo Anderson the Mayor of Liverpool

He is pretty angry. That is a his position, I do not accept that.

believe that what the coalition are doing today, they are not dealing

with growth, they are not putting anything into the economy. But his

what he thinks, but he is not happy Another Labour leader in the north-

west that says that your party is on the wrong track. I am not a

front Bencher, and I am saying to you that we need to stand up to the

Lib Dem coalition, Tory-led government, and we can and we will.

I genuinely think that they are used Ink fair this as an excuse.

They are saying that the -- they are using feathers as an excuse.

They are saying the top 5%, the top 5th of people are being affected,

there in pip -- in cubs are affected worst. The truth is that

what we now that is the bottom 5th are being affected by the same

amount. They are the people who use the services that they are cutting.

Cologne, what is the future for the north-west economy as a result of a

all this? To be fair for the Labour Party, one of the things they have

said it is they would potentially borrowed more money for investment.

Not for current spending, but for investment. It is perfectly

feasible at the moment. At the moment the Bank of England is

buying back government debt and it owns 300 to be �5 billion of

government debt. On which the government pays interest, and the

Bank of England gives it back to the Treasury. We are literally

boring money for nothing. And that can be used for investment purposes.

-- borrowing money for nothing. Now, this time last year, the

Olympic Torch had passed through the North West and local athletes

were preparing for glory. But 12 months on there's concern that

councils are cutting leisure budgets and there's not enough PE

in schools. Stuart Pollitt's been asking, what's the real Olympic

legacy? Victoria Pendleton has done it!

is the Olympic sprint champion! He wins the Gold Medal! Gold medals

were won on this track were created on this track. This national

cycling centre is home to elite riders but it is also the home to

people who peddle a to moan -- more sedate pace. Social cycling has

soared over last year's, with more and more people like Victoria

getting on their bikes. Before the Olympics, I do not think anyone had

seen a bike track like this. It is something new and Britain --

different, and Great Britain are the best of it. It was like, I want

at the base of that. The Velodrome got 20 calls a day before the

Olympics, after that, it was 200 calls a day. It was a massive

uplift in interest in cycling. how much did me into her!

Handball men nothing to these children a year ago. They had never

heard of let alone played the sport until the Olympics. Now they are

the best school site in Manchester. It made you want to be there and

play it. We have no clue before, we did not know how to play. Two Leeds

later, we were champions. playtime, you see them playing, we

have got football that and basketball nets, but they only

choose to play handball. At this school, pupils are plenty

of time to play sport but that is not the big to every level stop it

is less than the air since the Now we have got 60% of each

school's saying that fewer people are playing sport. There are few

Prada Sport in towns in the region than we give. These boards on an

epic heroes. -- that we him. But for local authorities in towns like

this, it is becoming increasingly difficult to help champions of the

future. Children are struggling to pay the fees and get it. These kids

at the coalface are not going to be participating in sport. The council

says it is Barratt risings bald and blame central government for

There are cutbacks, but we have tried to keep things going. Even

football, or watched by millions each week at the top level, has

seen participation trapped by 11%. I can see the reasons why it there

has been a drop, there are so many other opportunities as well as

football. The amount of activities my children do is unbelievable

compared to the opportunities that I had, so we need to keep people

involved in sport. A year ago, sporting success was measured in

medals. But while politicians debate have to measure the game's

legacy, will our future medallists have the call -- tools and legacy

to achieve their goals? Some sports are proving popular, other less so,

what is the problem? It is in places like West

Lancashire where the Olympic torch passed through, Ormskirk, it passed

through and it was extinguished one month after the Olympics finished

when the council demolished the sports centre in Skelmersdale, with

no replacement envisaged. It was quite old, it would have cost money

to keep it going. Absolut Lee, but was it a surprise that it needed

work doing to it? I don't think so. That is not an Olympic legacy. West

Lancashire has a reputation for badly drained sports field, we are

finally going to rescue one lot, with the help of local people and

the Football Association. Those football pitches are not used by

local children, they are having to go and visit other areas. It is

ridiculous from a cow will have got tens of millions in the bank. Would

you prefer that we did not have the a Olympics?

No, but we wanted to keep our Olympic promise. We said that we

would inspire a generation through sport and we are not doing it. John,

most people clearly enjoyed the Olympics. It is fair to say that

London benefited most. Have we benefited enough? Participation is

up in Manchester, where as it is down across the country. This is

the first Olympics weather has been an Olympic legacy. There -- that is

testament -- testimony to the previous and current Govan for

carrying on the legacy. Rosie is saying there has not been enough.

At parties of the nation has gone down as budgets were attacked.

There has been a legacy. We have got to protect our local leisure

centres. When you got local councils of different political

colours, threatening to close certain services, that is when

people think, I am not going to continue to go there, I will go

somewhere else. If they can.Some people can afford it, some cannot.

We have got to maintain our local services, our football pitches, and

keep our centres open. What about schools and P? I remember when the

government came in, it's scrapped the schools publish it, was that a

mistake? That was accepted that it was a mistake, but the money was

put in. It was weird to break something and then a couple of

years later to fix it. I think Michael Gove has some interesting

ideas on education, I rarely agree with him. He recognised that was a

mistake and that is why the money was put back him. Two years was

wasted, the Olympic legacy was wasted. It is very is sad that we

could have built on that. The whole country was behind the Olympics.

The amount of people who got behind that, talked -- porches that ran

through cities across the Sat -- country and the north-west, and

then the government took money out, and then put money back, and wanted

credit? I don't think so. Do not sit there and say that of a thing

is OK. These cuts are having a dramatic effect on families,

children and children across the north-west.

Time for the rest of the week's news now. Here's a roundup in 60

Seconds. Cumbria police will investigate

whether staff at the Care Quality Commission broke the law when they

allegedly covered up the content of an internal report into Morecambe

Bay NHS Trust. They deny wrongdoing. Teachers abandoned their classrooms

to join a regional one day strike over pay, pensions and conditions.

National action could follow. The Conservative leader of Cheshire

East Council attacked UKIP for welcoming this man, Brian Silvester,

as a councillor. Mr Silvester quit the Tories after being fined for

safety breaches as a landlord. Meanwhile, Liverpool's youngest

councillor quit Labour following his row with local MP Luciana

Berger. Jake Morrison now plans to stand against her. I have got real

socialist values which are the think the Labour Party have not got

at the moment. And back of the net, Liverpool City

Council and football club revealed plans for a �260 million revamp of

Anfield. The scheme includes a new hotel and better houses.

Since we have been talking about sport, you have got a meeting this

week with the FA to talk about homophobic chanting? The FA are

coming in to talk about what they are doing to tackle the issue of

homophobic chants in which as a major problem in football grounds,

particularly for fans of Brighton, so they are coming in to talk about

what is being done and what extra things can be done to tackle the

problem. Is that a priority? It or bigger it to see the FA doing