:01:28. > :01:32.And in the South East: Compensation culture vultures or the victims'
:01:32. > :01:42.last hope? We ask if plans to change legal aid for medical cases
:01:42. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :35:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2041 seconds
:35:44. > :35:50.Good afternoon. Coming up, working against women, how the coalition
:35:50. > :35:55.government's cuts in public spending have hit the the male
:35:55. > :36:02.employees hardest. Joining me is the leader of the Labour group on
:36:02. > :36:06.Brighton and Hove Albion city council -- Brighton City Council.
:36:06. > :36:11.Interestingly, you joined forces with the Conservatives to oppose
:36:11. > :36:17.the green plans to put attacks on council tax -- an increase in
:36:17. > :36:22.council tax. We are not partners with the Conservatives, but we felt
:36:22. > :36:31.freezing council tax for next year was a good thing to do. We were
:36:31. > :36:36.very pleased that the greens saw sense and act our amendments. We
:36:36. > :36:40.were pleased that the Conservatives also supported us. A lot of Labour
:36:40. > :36:45.supporters feel you should have supported the Green Party. We have
:36:45. > :36:50.some issues with the ways the Green Party are running the council, they
:36:50. > :36:54.had inherited a �3 million underspend, have not fulfilled
:36:54. > :37:01.promises, one of which was to freeze council tax, but also
:37:01. > :37:08.restructuring, which has not happened. These are unlikely
:37:08. > :37:12.political alliances. The people of Brighton have been served well by
:37:12. > :37:16.parties working together, and the idea that there was going to be a
:37:16. > :37:21.10 % increase in council tax in the next three years was an
:37:21. > :37:28.extraordinary policy, so I am sure most of the council tax payers will
:37:28. > :37:32.be pleased with the result. amount of money paid out in
:37:32. > :37:37.compensation to victims of NHS negligence in the South East has
:37:37. > :37:41.shot up dramatically over the past few years. Figures show the Kent
:37:41. > :37:47.and East Sussex authorities forked out �37 million between them over
:37:47. > :37:54.the last financial year. The government says a growing
:37:54. > :38:03.compensation culture is partly to blame. What would this mean for the
:38:03. > :38:13.victims? Jill Phillips died at 68, leaving behind her husband and
:38:13. > :38:13.
:38:13. > :38:19.children. she had colon cancer, and the surgeon took away one small
:38:19. > :38:24.growth, causing the cancer to spread. At a recent inquest, the
:38:24. > :38:30.coroner ruled that her death was due to a series of medical failures
:38:30. > :38:38.amounting to neglect. The no win, no mack fee element was important,
:38:38. > :38:45.because as you can imagine as an ordinary family we would not have
:38:45. > :38:50.access to the funds necessary to investigate. That meant we had
:38:50. > :38:55.access to justice, which we would not otherwise have. Medical
:38:55. > :39:02.negligence payouts by the NHS have increased by 10 % nationally. In
:39:02. > :39:09.East Sussex that has gone up by 33 %. In Kent, the increase is less,
:39:09. > :39:15.but the total payout is �21.6 million. For many people, it is not
:39:15. > :39:18.about the money. We should not forget, Our Father may have
:39:18. > :39:28.received some compensation but nothing will ever compensate for
:39:28. > :39:32.
:39:32. > :39:35.the loss of his wife. As he said, it is a life sentence. It is a life
:39:35. > :39:38.sentence for all of us and no amount of money will ever
:39:38. > :39:43.compensate for that. It has never been about money but finding out
:39:43. > :39:49.the truth. Jill Phillips's family were fortunate a solicitor took
:39:49. > :39:57.their case, confident they stood a chance of winning. She says this is
:39:57. > :40:01.not always the case. I do 10 people know what to make a claim, I will
:40:01. > :40:08.tell nine of them I am sorry but there is no way they are entitled
:40:08. > :40:18.to compensation. They have the alternative option of legal-aid,
:40:18. > :40:21.
:40:21. > :40:30.but that will change as part of government in forms. Reliance will
:40:30. > :40:33.inevitably be pushed up on these lawyers. This is the most
:40:33. > :40:40.controversial of the proposals. It is not as people who support
:40:40. > :40:48.patients who are against the move, but the NHS is also pleading with
:40:48. > :40:54.the Government not to take this step. The NHS can see that legal-
:40:54. > :41:00.aid is by far the most cost- effective. It is far better than
:41:00. > :41:07.these other arrangements. reforms may increase negligence
:41:07. > :41:13.payments further. This will mean more lawyers will have to represent
:41:13. > :41:18.clients under these schemes. They are more expensive for the NHS, so
:41:18. > :41:27.in a sense, reducing legal aid will not reduce access to the lock,
:41:27. > :41:30.because that is well recognised. -- to the law. Patients can still take
:41:31. > :41:35.action but they will do it under these arrangements. It will be more
:41:35. > :41:39.expensive. The Prime Minister wants to tackle the country's
:41:39. > :41:47.compensation culture, which he says has partly led to the increase in
:41:47. > :41:50.pay out. Others say this is not true. It is a common myth. As a
:41:50. > :41:54.charity that deals with people and supports them when they have been
:41:54. > :42:02.affected by things going wrong, we can tell you the vast majority of
:42:02. > :42:09.people do not want to see the NHS, -- do not want to sue the NHS.
:42:09. > :42:15.Clearly this is crucial, to ensure the same as mistakes are not
:42:15. > :42:21.repeated. This could leave other families with fewer options and the
:42:22. > :42:27.NHS with a bigger bill. Joining me is the Conservative MP
:42:27. > :42:30.Mark Reckless. On the last point that Helen made, the NHS is opposed
:42:30. > :42:36.in the government changes because they believe it will cost more in
:42:36. > :42:40.the long run. Is that a possibility? I do not think that is
:42:40. > :42:48.likely. The reason we are bringing in these changes is to reduce the
:42:48. > :42:58.amount of taxpayers' money spent on legal aid. Also we are seeing the
:42:58. > :43:00.
:43:00. > :43:05.taxpayer soon the tax payer. -- suing. We want to see this money
:43:05. > :43:14.spent on patients. Are you sure this will mean there is still an
:43:14. > :43:21.avenue of justice? I think there is. The difference is that solicitors
:43:21. > :43:24.will take on what appeared to be good, clear cases, the changes will
:43:25. > :43:31.mean some cases that are less strong will not go to court in the
:43:31. > :43:38.way they do at the moment. Also, as he said on you clap, most people
:43:38. > :43:42.are not looking for a payout, they want to understand what happened,
:43:42. > :43:48.to know that lessons had been learned. That can be done much
:43:48. > :43:53.better through a proper complaints process than by going to court.
:43:53. > :43:56.said it will save money, but as we heard, many of the solicitors will
:43:56. > :44:02.only take on a case they think is going to win, at clear cut case,
:44:02. > :44:05.but also those cases cost more. They take longer in court. When
:44:05. > :44:12.they settle and are successful lawyer takes a greater amount of
:44:13. > :44:18.money from the NHS. There were two different lines, both cannot be
:44:18. > :44:23.true, one was that these will stop people taking cases the other was
:44:23. > :44:28.that they will make no difference. What do you think? I think it will
:44:28. > :44:32.reduce the number of cases. These Lions will only take strong cases,
:44:32. > :44:40.and the more marginal cases probably will not go to court. What
:44:40. > :44:46.I would like to say is people should have a complaints system
:44:46. > :44:53.that works. Are you not concerned about those people who have no
:44:53. > :45:02.avenue now? I am concerned but the priority for NHS money has to be on
:45:02. > :45:06.treating patients. The amount of money spent on litigation cannot be
:45:06. > :45:13.in anyone's interests. If we can reduce that and improve the
:45:13. > :45:18.complaints procedure, so it is less defensive, the NHS less worried
:45:18. > :45:23.about things, that should allow the NHS to learn lessons easier when
:45:23. > :45:27.things have gone wrong. It will give better satisfaction to the
:45:27. > :45:37.many people know what to understand what happened, and know the NHS is
:45:37. > :45:37.
:45:38. > :45:43.learning the right lessons. Are you concerned an increase in these
:45:43. > :45:46.cases will encourage compensation culture? I do not think so, and I
:45:46. > :45:53.think there is something interesting about the legal aid
:45:53. > :46:02.aspect, it is only really used in about 18 % of cases, so it is quite
:46:02. > :46:09.a small number of cases that refer to be delayed. What we have got
:46:09. > :46:16.here his lawyer's doubling their receipts of fees over the last 10
:46:16. > :46:20.years, which asked to be wrong. It is absolutely crucial we make
:46:20. > :46:26.public services respond much more effectively to those people they
:46:26. > :46:33.serve. Let's bring in Gill Mitchell, is it possible that the problem
:46:33. > :46:37.here is the standard of care in hospitals? Obviously patience if
:46:38. > :46:43.the Hasted come first, but we what -- what we seem to have here is an
:46:43. > :46:49.inequitable system, tragic cases of people with no choice but to go
:46:49. > :46:56.into these lawyers. I would urge the government to think again about
:46:56. > :47:00.the funding removal. Nobody seems to be listening to the NHS at the
:47:00. > :47:04.moment, not least the government. They know what they're talking
:47:04. > :47:14.about. I have heard a statistic that are claims are amongst the
:47:14. > :47:14.
:47:14. > :47:19.highest in the world. Mark Reckless, what you make of that? We want to
:47:19. > :47:23.reform the NHS because we want to make it better. That is the reason.
:47:23. > :47:31.We cannot allow it to just sit still with expanding life
:47:31. > :47:41.expectancy, we need to put the family doctors in charge. We need
:47:41. > :47:42.
:47:42. > :47:51.to stop this money going on legal claims. We're stopping referral
:47:51. > :48:00.fees for selectors there is, which is another area. Mr Reckless, thank
:48:00. > :48:07.you for joining us. The number of women out of work in and south-east
:48:07. > :48:13.is at its highest, whilst on a planet for men has gone down. --
:48:13. > :48:19.unemployment for men. That increase is almost twice the national
:48:19. > :48:26.average. Unions say it is because of government cuts in that public
:48:26. > :48:34.sector. Are going into the GMB union, women have suffered almost
:48:34. > :48:39.all the recent job losses. That is worrying. It is always worrying.
:48:39. > :48:43.Female unemployment started under the Labour government, we had 24 %
:48:43. > :48:47.reduction in women being implied. What is crucial is that we change
:48:47. > :48:53.the environment in which women have a much better chance, one of those
:48:53. > :48:57.things is getting nursery care, we want to introduce that much earlier,
:48:57. > :49:00.and also supporting the Low Pay Commission, that is actually
:49:00. > :49:08.putting in an increase in minimum wage. We have to make sure women
:49:09. > :49:14.have an equal position in the workforce, as they do with men.
:49:14. > :49:19.Those statistics are shocking. They will get worse as a result of
:49:19. > :49:25.public cuts. We are also rebalancing it. Across the country
:49:25. > :49:28.there are more women in work, as well. So there is a counterbalance.
:49:28. > :49:38.What we have a problem with is that women are often given part-time
:49:38. > :49:39.
:49:39. > :49:45.work, often the first jobs to go. We need to ensure we get, within
:49:45. > :49:50.the realignment, good quality full- time jobs. Gill Mitchell, as a
:49:50. > :49:58.public sector female employee, do you recognise this picture? Yes I
:49:58. > :50:07.do. The amount of unemployment amongst Women is the highest for 17
:50:07. > :50:12.years for two main reasons. It is because of a lack of access to
:50:12. > :50:16.affordable childcare. The government is supposed to be tried
:50:16. > :50:21.to increase it, but with the squeeze on local authority budgets,
:50:21. > :50:26.we are seeing children's centres closed, private sector nurseries
:50:26. > :50:31.raising their fees, grants to the voluntary sector nurseries drying
:50:31. > :50:35.up. All this is not helping women who want to work and want to have
:50:35. > :50:41.self sustainable family is. totally agree, this country has the
:50:41. > :50:46.highest cost of childcare any country in Europe. That has been
:50:46. > :50:52.the case for many years because of the regulation, the compliance
:50:52. > :50:57.issues for a chat year, we need to reduce that, make sure...
:50:57. > :51:02.trouble is that the private sector has a lot of business is standing
:51:03. > :51:08.up well, the public sector is taking the head. How do we make
:51:08. > :51:11.sure they imply women? One of the things for women is because we
:51:11. > :51:17.increased the personal allowances, 400,000 women and I no longer
:51:17. > :51:22.paying tax, so it is becoming much better for women to take jobs, and
:51:22. > :51:26.we try to increase flexibility in the market. We need those private
:51:27. > :51:31.companies and small businesses and entrepreneurs to come forward and
:51:31. > :51:35.start employing people. This get back to that -- this get back to
:51:35. > :51:39.the growth agenda. The economy is not growing. It is slipping back.
:51:39. > :51:46.The government has got to start investing in the private sector to
:51:46. > :51:49.generate growth. It has got to have another look at its Cup, -- the
:51:50. > :51:56.cuts in the public sector, because we will pay for the social
:51:56. > :52:00.breakdown. Lots of women are dependent on these jobs. It is
:52:00. > :52:04.extremely important and I totally agree. This is one of the biggest
:52:04. > :52:09.crisis facing the country. There is nothing you are offering to stop
:52:09. > :52:12.his head on women in the public sector. In East Kent we have
:52:12. > :52:16.attracted �40 million additional growth money to go to the private
:52:17. > :52:26.sector for them to employ people. This is going to be an important
:52:26. > :52:30.thing. Any woman facing her job loss, do not worry, you will help
:52:30. > :52:37.them by incentive lies in the private sector? We will do
:52:37. > :52:47.everything we can. We need more critical mass. We will have to
:52:47. > :52:50.
:52:50. > :52:56.leave it there. Time for a round-up of the week's events. The
:52:56. > :53:02.government admitted 500,000 Eurostar passengers were allowed
:53:02. > :53:07.into Kent without proper security checks. Theresa May insisted it was
:53:07. > :53:12.not her fault. The suspensions were completely unauthorised and that is
:53:12. > :53:16.simply not acceptable. Nick Griffin might not be the most
:53:16. > :53:24.PC of politicians, but he confirmed his party will field a candidate in
:53:24. > :53:34.the election to be the Sussex Police Commissioner. Plans to scrap
:53:34. > :53:34.
:53:34. > :53:42.child benefit were attacked by Mark Reckless. He says he is standing up
:53:42. > :53:48.for the squeeze the middle. Hats off to Treacy cried, officially
:53:48. > :53:58.Westminster's most proficient tosser, winning the pancake race.
:53:58. > :53:59.
:53:59. > :54:07.Before we get on to the subject of tossing, interesting position taken
:54:07. > :54:13.by Mark Reckless. What is your view on child benefit? I come from a
:54:13. > :54:18.different constituency, where the average wage is �17,000 per year.
:54:18. > :54:26.From my perspective I feel people at a higher rents should not have
:54:26. > :54:36.to -- should not get the compensation of tell benefit. --
:54:36. > :54:38.
:54:38. > :54:41.It is not lack of sympathy, but another aspect. Nick Griffin
:54:41. > :54:47.talking about the police commissioner, will that make things
:54:47. > :54:52.more interesting? I do not think contribution is the right word.
:54:52. > :54:55.That party have no contribution to make to British politics, it is
:54:55. > :55:01.another attention-seeking gambit, and they must not be allowed to