:01:36. > :01:40.In the south-west, the plan to save our feeling high streets.
:01:40. > :01:50.And of the small businessman who says ministers must do more to help
:01:50. > :01:50.
:01:50. > :31:22.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1771 seconds
:31:22. > :31:25.A warm welcome to the Sunday politics South West. Coming up...
:31:25. > :31:29.David Cameron says a vote on a hunting ban will happen before the
:31:29. > :31:33.election, but one hunt master says he thinks the Prime Minister should
:31:34. > :31:39.wait for a Conservative majority. They will not discuss it again, but
:31:39. > :31:45.this is the one chance. And I am joined by the Lib Dem MP
:31:45. > :31:50.Stephen Gilbert and the Labour councillor for Torbay, Simon Cowell.
:31:50. > :31:53.-- Darren Cowell. This week brought a disappointing
:31:53. > :31:56.employment figures for the South West, and in Cornwall the number
:31:56. > :32:02.out of work has risen sharply. Are you worried?
:32:02. > :32:09.Absolutely, there is no doubt it is concerning. We need jobs to support
:32:09. > :32:14.families. It is good news we are under the National average. We need
:32:14. > :32:18.new initiatives to really play on our strengths, our natural
:32:18. > :32:22.environment and beaches, to ensure that people are able to access
:32:22. > :32:28.well-paid jobs. The figures are also particularly disappointing for
:32:28. > :32:34.Torbay, Darren Cowell. How disappointed are you? A hugely
:32:34. > :32:37.disappointed, not just for the area, but for the individuals
:32:37. > :32:41.unemployment devastates. We have one in four households in Torbay
:32:41. > :32:46.where we have no one in work at all. That is having a huge impact on
:32:46. > :32:53.child poverty, where we have 22 % of children living in poverty. It
:32:53. > :32:58.is a major concern for us all. Staying with the economy, MPs have
:32:58. > :33:04.been debating Mary Portas's plan to save Britain's high streets. One
:33:04. > :33:09.small businessman in tour key -- toured he says that ministers
:33:09. > :33:14.should change regulations to help high streets compete with out-of-
:33:14. > :33:21.town stores. Take a look around Paignton and you
:33:21. > :33:24.can see that retail is struggling. A recent Government report into
:33:24. > :33:29.high-speed performance found that a third of Britain's town centres
:33:29. > :33:36.were degenerating were failing. Spending in town centres was going
:33:36. > :33:42.down, while and of town shopping centres and online solid Corp.
:33:42. > :33:47.Torbay's town centres are in that group. -- sock it caught up.
:33:47. > :33:49.John Dougherty believes the High Street is hugely disadvantaged
:33:49. > :33:53.because the business rate and parking provision are hugely skewed
:33:53. > :33:57.in favour of out-of-town stores. If you take small amount of money
:33:57. > :34:01.because of the nature of your business, your costs are the same
:34:01. > :34:04.as the store next door that may be taking an enormous summit of money
:34:04. > :34:10.because their business is slightly different. It does not relate at
:34:10. > :34:14.all. -- an enormous amount of money. Land values and of town are much
:34:14. > :34:19.cheaper and business rates are based on market values. At the end
:34:19. > :34:22.of last year, Mary Portas compiled a report designed to help to a high
:34:23. > :34:27.street back on to its feet. It is being discussed this week in the
:34:27. > :34:33.Commons. It is understanding consumer needs, tapping into the
:34:33. > :34:38.social needs of consumers, not just about retail. It is about creating
:34:38. > :34:43.community driven places. People want to get together and meat. What
:34:43. > :34:48.will enable them to do that? What is the high street of against? In
:34:48. > :34:55.Torquay, there is there Willows, a large stores and lots of free
:34:55. > :34:58.parking. It is an -- it is essential that in
:34:58. > :35:02.the regeneration of our high streets space is given for car-
:35:02. > :35:08.parking, either free or very reasonable or three for a certain
:35:08. > :35:11.period of time. Something else highlighted in the
:35:11. > :35:15.report is business improvement districts. Retailers pay a small
:35:15. > :35:22.percentage extra on business rates but have a collector of a mood of
:35:22. > :35:26.money to spend on enticing people into the high street. -- collector
:35:26. > :35:30.Lee -- collectively have an a mega of money.
:35:30. > :35:35.A we are encouraging more independent retailers back in two
:35:35. > :35:41.towns. Rental values are falling at the moment, and most landlords are
:35:41. > :35:45.always willing to do a deal with someone to keep the shop occupied.
:35:45. > :35:53.We will not go back to a nation of small shopkeepers, but we will be
:35:53. > :35:56.having that flavour in the town centres. That is where we are going.
:35:56. > :36:01.Torbay is hoping a new relief road into the borough will help drive
:36:01. > :36:08.growth. Local minister Grant Shapps will give his response to the
:36:08. > :36:13.review in the spring. Darren Cowell, that is your account.
:36:13. > :36:16.What could you make of the cafe owner saying he is at a competitive
:36:16. > :36:21.disadvantage took out of-town supermarkets because his business
:36:21. > :36:27.rates per square foot are more? I think it is the way in which
:36:27. > :36:32.business rates are calculated. It is driven by the fact that you have
:36:32. > :36:38.good shop frontage on a high street, compared to a large store out of
:36:38. > :36:42.time. Yes, there is opportunity within the system currently for
:36:42. > :36:47.businesses to apply for business rate relief, but if you do that you
:36:47. > :36:51.are going to have good bridge that gap by cutting services in of an
:36:51. > :36:54.areas. Stephen Gilbert, you are part of
:36:54. > :36:58.the Government commission that has commissioned Mary Portas. Do you
:36:58. > :37:02.think she can save a high-speed, or is this just a bit of celebrity
:37:02. > :37:06.gloss? I think the Mary Portas review has
:37:06. > :37:10.come up with two interesting ideas that I think can make a real
:37:10. > :37:14.difference to some of our high streets. The first thing is that
:37:14. > :37:18.people want high streets to be destinations. There has to be more
:37:18. > :37:23.on offer than you can get online. People want somewhere they can come
:37:23. > :37:27.and socialise, and I bank that is a bike using town centre managers to
:37:28. > :37:32.put on events people want to come in for. The second is the issue of
:37:32. > :37:37.car-parking. Businesses in the town centre tell me all the time they
:37:38. > :37:42.think car-parking charges are too expensive. My thought is that we
:37:42. > :37:49.can perhaps look again at summertime charges in look of a
:37:49. > :37:53.reduction in the winter. -- to do with a reduction in the winter.
:37:53. > :37:56.Surely the money has to come from somewhere, if it does not come from
:37:56. > :38:01.car parking? We have just taken an extensive
:38:01. > :38:04.review of car parking in Torbay, and it yields around �5 million,
:38:04. > :38:09.which is significant to pay for some of the services people demand.
:38:09. > :38:13.But you have got to offset back against the loss of trade in town
:38:13. > :38:17.centres. One of the things the Government should group is a
:38:17. > :38:20.temporary reduction in VAT, which would help stimulate the economy
:38:20. > :38:26.and safeguard jobs. Do you agree, Steven?
:38:26. > :38:30.I think it is about getting a balance. If you look at the balance
:38:31. > :38:35.between winter charges, where we want to get more people in our town
:38:35. > :38:37.centres, particularly in regions like the South West that do quite
:38:37. > :38:42.well in the summer months, perhaps that balance can be struck in a
:38:42. > :38:47.different place. Also, being imaginative about events being held
:38:47. > :38:52.in town centres so that people want to make journeys away from laptops
:38:52. > :38:55.into the Sant -- town centre. Last Sunday the Prime Minister
:38:55. > :38:59.promised a free vote on the hunting ban before the next election. The
:38:59. > :39:03.debate had been mentioned in the coalition agreement, but David
:39:03. > :39:07.Cameron's renewed commitment has shocked some people who want to see
:39:07. > :39:12.the ban overturned. They are worried a vote with the current set
:39:12. > :39:21.of MPs would be lost and they want the premiers have to wait for a
:39:21. > :39:28.Conservative majority. -- the Prime Minister at to wait for a
:39:28. > :39:32.Conservative majority. The Cury Hunt in west Cornwall.
:39:32. > :39:36.This hunt has been gathering for around 150 years, with traditions
:39:36. > :39:42.passed down through generations. For the past seven years, things
:39:42. > :39:45.have been very different. Instead of chasing a fox, the hounds follow
:39:45. > :39:50.a specially laid trail. Now the hunters are sensing a possible
:39:50. > :39:57.opportunity of a return to the old ways, sooner rather than later.
:39:57. > :40:04.The coalition agreement mentions a free vote on repealing the 2,000 --
:40:04. > :40:08.2004 hunting act. It is an issue that will come
:40:08. > :40:13.forward, and the House of Commons will decide. My own view is that
:40:13. > :40:16.the hunting ban does not work and is ineffective. Are you afraid you
:40:16. > :40:20.will lose? It is a matter for the House of Commons, I want to bring
:40:20. > :40:26.this forward. The Prime Minister is clear it will
:40:26. > :40:33.be before the next election. problem has always been it was
:40:33. > :40:36.taking criminal law into an area where it did not belong. It is for
:40:36. > :40:40.the House of Commons to decide and the Government to act on that after
:40:40. > :40:44.that. Will it happen in this Parliament? We have said it will
:40:44. > :40:49.happen in this Parliament. David Cameron might be feeling more
:40:49. > :40:53.confident, but those on the ground are not so sure. If we had a
:40:53. > :40:57.majority Government, I think call with it, but with a coalition, it
:40:57. > :41:04.possibly won't go through. The trouble is, you only have one shot
:41:04. > :41:09.at it. They are not going to discuss it again. This is the one
:41:09. > :41:13.chance. Could the Prime Minister have an eye on a new West Lothian
:41:13. > :41:18.Commission, looking at the rate of all UK MPs to vote on purely
:41:18. > :41:23.English matters? The 2004 Act only applies to England and Wales, with
:41:23. > :41:29.the majority of Scotland's 59 MPs likely to be anti-hunting. If they
:41:29. > :41:34.are taking out of the equation, -- taken out of the equation, the hope
:41:34. > :41:38.of hundreds across the South West could be realised.
:41:38. > :41:43.If the West Lothian question was resolved, but it will not be, by
:41:43. > :41:49.the way, we would still have a majority of about half that vote,
:41:49. > :41:51.about 30, in favour of keeping the hunting act. Even if that was the
:41:51. > :41:55.case, we would still have a majority.
:41:55. > :42:01.Back with the Cury Hunt, it is agreed David Cameron camera --
:42:01. > :42:06.cannot look as if -- risk looking as if he has his priorities wrong
:42:06. > :42:10.as the country faces recession. If joining us down we have the
:42:10. > :42:14.director of the Countryside Alliance. Alison, you would like to
:42:14. > :42:19.see the law overturned, but is there any part of you that agrees
:42:20. > :42:28.with the hunt master who says that in the current climate this thought
:42:28. > :42:33.is unwinnable. -- this vote is unwinnable? To we are delighted
:42:33. > :42:38.that the Prime Minister has chosen to have a vote.
:42:38. > :42:42.It is a coalition we are working with. We are optimistic the Prime
:42:42. > :42:48.Minister will called the vote when he thinks it is right. We have
:42:48. > :42:53.every opportunity of winning that thought -- that are thought and
:42:53. > :42:59.we're working hard to make sure we He why do you think this lot needs
:42:59. > :43:05.overcoming? It is actually quite a popular law and you have record
:43:05. > :43:08.numbers supporting the hunts, at the moment. He it is but a popular
:43:08. > :43:13.law within the countryside. We have a piece of legislation that
:43:13. > :43:17.has been on the statute books for seven years and there have only
:43:17. > :43:23.been five convictions for funds under this law. Every day our hunks
:43:23. > :43:28.go out, they are trying hard to operate within the law, and people
:43:28. > :43:32.within the countryside who support hunting want to see us revert back
:43:32. > :43:36.to the way we were before. We will continue to press very hard for
:43:36. > :43:40.that. We have promised the Countryside Alliance that we will
:43:40. > :43:43.continue to campaign on their behalf.
:43:43. > :43:48.Is there any chance this ban could be overturned?
:43:48. > :43:53.I think people who support hunting have every right to support this as
:43:53. > :43:57.a campaigning issue. I personally would never repealed a hunting act.
:43:57. > :44:00.Frankly, when we are facing the kind of economic crisis we talked
:44:00. > :44:05.about earlier, I think this is a distraction and I think Parliament
:44:05. > :44:08.should be focusing on fixing the economy, bringing back growth, and
:44:08. > :44:12.when we have overcome those severe difficulties then might be the
:44:12. > :44:15.right time to look again at this position.
:44:16. > :44:20.Alison is saying it could perhaps be winnable? Do you think that is
:44:20. > :44:23.likely? I am sure Alison is right.
:44:23. > :44:27.Personally I would never vote for repealing the hunting act, and I
:44:27. > :44:34.would much rather talk about bringing jobs into Cornwall,
:44:34. > :44:39.driving the economy forward. Darren Cowell, what is your cake?
:44:39. > :44:44.Do you think that David Cameron has reached the point of it being blown
:44:44. > :44:48.out of proportion now? You have to bear in mind there was
:44:48. > :44:53.a lot of criticism levelled at the Labour Government because we did
:44:53. > :44:57.not introduce legislation until late into our term. We wanted to
:44:57. > :45:03.focus on the priorities facing the country. I believe if there was a
:45:03. > :45:07.vote in the Commons now, the Act would be retained. I don't think
:45:07. > :45:14.they would be a majority, and there are fortunately some forward-
:45:14. > :45:18.thinking, modern Conservative MPs who would vote along with anti-hunt
:45:18. > :45:27.MPs. What makes you think it is winnable,
:45:27. > :45:32.Alison? It is a very close call. If the
:45:32. > :45:35.Lead were confident it could be one, they would push for a vote man. I
:45:35. > :45:40.agree that there are far more important things the Government
:45:40. > :45:45.needs to do at the moment, and no one within hunting expects it to
:45:45. > :45:49.happen imminently when the economy is in the mess it is in.
:45:49. > :45:52.Why do you think David Cameron made those comments to Country File?
:45:52. > :45:58.I think he was asked the question and give a straightforward, honest
:45:58. > :46:05.answer to the question he was asked. Do you think there is any reason
:46:05. > :46:09.for this tactical change? I think it is very easy to read a
:46:09. > :46:13.conspiracy theory into these things. I think Alison is right, the Prime
:46:13. > :46:17.Minister was asked a straightforward question and gave,
:46:17. > :46:22.in his style, a straightforward answer. I don't think Parliament
:46:22. > :46:27.will spend time on this now, and it is unlikely I would support
:46:27. > :46:32.repealing the Act. There is more analysis on David
:46:32. > :46:42.Cameron's recent comments on that Martin's blog.
:46:42. > :46:44.
:46:44. > :46:48.Now it is time for our round-up of Cornish councillor Alex Foulkes was
:46:48. > :46:51.in trouble for not paying his council tax. The Lib Dem group
:46:51. > :46:55.leader defended his deputy, saying that councillors are not paid
:46:55. > :47:01.enough. A councillor is page �12,000 per
:47:01. > :47:07.year. It is not a lot, and if he is doing that job full-time, it is not
:47:07. > :47:11.surprising they may find themselves in the situation where they have
:47:11. > :47:15.financial difficulty. That is why councillors in Devon have a board -
:47:15. > :47:18.- awarded themselves a pay rise of 23 %.
:47:18. > :47:24.West Somerset has been named as one of two locations for badger culling
:47:24. > :47:28.trials. The police say they are prepared for possible unrest.
:47:28. > :47:32.People have a right to protest peacefully, but I hope they realise
:47:32. > :47:35.the sole purpose of these trials is to establish whether we are right
:47:35. > :47:41.or they are right. And the Sherryl Murray continued
:47:41. > :47:44.her efforts to ban pet monkeys. I am putting this forward to the
:47:44. > :47:54.House today in order to speak on behalf of those who cannot speak
:47:54. > :48:01.That was our week in 60 seconds. Darren Cowell, let's look at the
:48:01. > :48:07.issue of Councillors' pay. His �12,000 enough to live on? I know
:48:07. > :48:12.that you have another job. I do have another job, and �12,000
:48:12. > :48:17.is a very high allowance. As a backbench councillor, my allowance
:48:17. > :48:23.is �7,500. As for any authority awarding a 23 % increase, normally
:48:23. > :48:28.these things are put through an independent review panel. The
:48:28. > :48:31.Stephen, have you any sympathy with this? I think no one will have any
:48:31. > :48:35.sympathy with people not paying council tax. It is right that
:48:35. > :48:41.people pay their council tax, particularly those who have a
:48:41. > :48:45.public duty towards council tax payers. There is an issue about
:48:45. > :48:48.people who want to come forward as councillors and making sure we get
:48:48. > :48:55.the balance right between all the people who may be retired and those
:48:55. > :49:00.who are working and on the younger side. I have to agree with Darren
:49:00. > :49:04.that that sounds a pretty reasonable allowance to me.
:49:04. > :49:08.Is there a case for having fewer, better paid councillors to attract
:49:08. > :49:14.the best candidate, as you would in a private company?
:49:14. > :49:17.My view when Cornwall came -- became an authority is to perhaps
:49:17. > :49:22.have slightly better allowances for fewer councillors to attract good
:49:22. > :49:24.quality people to do the job. We're talking about a potential with
:49:25. > :49:28.billions of pounds worth of spending. We need to make sure it
:49:28. > :49:31.is accountable, but we need quality councillors, too.
:49:31. > :49:37.If you are effectively paying someone a full-time allowance,
:49:37. > :49:39.there is no better focus for that individual and to ensure they are
:49:39. > :49:45.serving their constituents, because they don't want to be made
:49:45. > :49:49.redundant in four years' time. Now to the badger cull. We spoke to
:49:49. > :49:52.a Labour MP that people who were protesting could get themselves in
:49:52. > :49:55.the line of fire. Do you think there is enough provision in place
:49:55. > :49:59.to make sure this does not happened?
:49:59. > :50:07.This is a very emotive issue. It will play at over the next few
:50:07. > :50:16.months as B C the first batch recalls taking place. -- as we see
:50:16. > :50:21.the first batch of Kohl's taking place. -- badger culls.
:50:21. > :50:26.I am very disappointed these are going ahead in the first place.
:50:26. > :50:28.Previous evidence suggests there is no link. I am pretty confident that
:50:28. > :50:33.the police and security arrangements will be rigid enough
:50:33. > :50:37.to ensure public safety. Briefly, Sherryl Murray is getting
:50:37. > :50:42.attention this week for her attempts to ban pet monkeys. Are
:50:42. > :50:45.these issues worth raising? I think they are important, the our
:50:45. > :50:50.animal welfare issues and the public cares deeply about how we
:50:50. > :51:00.treat animals who cannot speak up for themselves. I have added my
:51:00. > :51:00.