:01:50. > :01:53.Ben the South West - the plan to save our high streets. And as
:01:53. > :02:03.ministers seek to redefine poverty one mother says she cannot see a
:02:03. > :02:03.
:02:03. > :29:05.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1621 seconds
:29:05. > :29:10.Good afternoon. Here are the headlines: Retail expert Mary
:29:10. > :29:16.Portas has has been sent to save one of the high streets, but will
:29:16. > :29:23.have a plan help other towns. I am joined by Ben Bradshaw and Oliver
:29:23. > :29:26.Colvile. Welcome to the programme. This week we have seen are the
:29:26. > :29:30.prime minister questioned at the Leveson Inquiry. Ben Bradshaw, did
:29:30. > :29:38.you ever come under pressure from news organisations to follow an
:29:38. > :29:48.agenda? I had a meeting with James Murdoch at which we disagreed on a
:29:48. > :29:51.
:29:51. > :30:00.more things. A -- on the most things. The Prime Minister today --
:30:00. > :30:08.this week said he was not aware of the BSkyB aspect. Were you lobbied
:30:08. > :30:18.about that? I was not. The lobbying was held off because they hoped for
:30:18. > :30:20.
:30:20. > :30:30.an easier ride from a Conservative government. Rupert Murdoch is
:30:30. > :30:40.logical business aim was to take full control. Nobody can come into
:30:40. > :30:42.
:30:42. > :30:52.this debate without having some kind of a vested interest. If
:30:52. > :30:54.
:30:54. > :31:00.you're a broadcaster or a newspaper you have a few. -- the EU. This is
:31:00. > :31:07.an issue that does not have too much attraction with those who are
:31:07. > :31:10.seeking to make sure their economies are fine. Did you get a
:31:10. > :31:20.briefing in regarding the protective wall of sound for David
:31:20. > :31:21.
:31:21. > :31:31.Cameron? I did not. We have to cut our arguments across properly. We
:31:31. > :31:31.
:31:31. > :31:36.do not get involved in it the other aspects. One of the questions the
:31:36. > :31:41.Prime Minister faced was whether he was proud of that big rise in the
:31:41. > :31:44.number of people using Plymouth's Food bank. Later in the week a
:31:44. > :31:49.commentator predicted a surge in the number of children living in
:31:49. > :31:53.poverty because of welfare cuts. The government is now talking about
:31:54. > :31:58.changing the way child poverty is measured.
:31:58. > :32:03.Plymouth -- this Plymouth mother says that getting by is a daily
:32:03. > :32:08.struggle for her and her son. She is on benefit and after her rent is
:32:08. > :32:14.paid she has �150 per week. We cannot do things that most people
:32:14. > :32:18.do on a weekly basis. We cannot do anything apart from go to a park
:32:18. > :32:23.which is for me. We can exist, and nothing else.
:32:23. > :32:27.This situation is not unusual. It is estimated one in three children
:32:27. > :32:31.in this area is living in poverty. At the moment this person is
:32:31. > :32:39.defined as living in poverty because of her income. This week
:32:39. > :32:46.the work and pension Secretary said he wanted to change this. We need a
:32:46. > :32:50.measure that looks at people's lives. Taxpayers want to know their
:32:50. > :32:54.money is spent in a process of getting people out of welfare and
:32:54. > :33:00.not just wasted on just trying to hit a target which is moving all
:33:00. > :33:08.the time. This person is being helped to manage a budget by a
:33:08. > :33:16.local charity which says defining poverty is hard. People have an
:33:16. > :33:26.expectation. This person tells me she has not got a lot of hope in
:33:26. > :33:31.where her future lies, but she is surviving. The city has seen a 400
:33:31. > :33:37.% rise in the number of people using its Food bank in one year.
:33:37. > :33:41.The use of food that has gone up to 4,000 in one year. This Plymouth
:33:42. > :33:47.Labour MP this week asked the Prime Minister if he was proud of this
:33:47. > :33:51.fact. We have had to make difficult decisions but we have protected tax
:33:51. > :33:58.credits for the least well-off. We have protected benefits for the
:33:58. > :34:02.least well off. The Government is working to eradicate child poverty
:34:02. > :34:07.by the year 2020. It says the Labour policy was not hitting the
:34:07. > :34:12.targets. A poverty campaigners say the strategy was working. But
:34:12. > :34:17.official figures showed a two % fall last year. We are concerned
:34:17. > :34:21.that this will not continue. The cuts in that the austerity agenda
:34:21. > :34:24.are heavily targeted towards children and families. We have
:34:24. > :34:29.heard predictions from the Institute of Fiscal Studies that
:34:29. > :34:37.child poverty will rise by 100,000 children per year between now and
:34:37. > :34:44.the end of this Parliament. When a city council is now drawing up a
:34:44. > :34:50.child poverty strategy. One Labour Party member says it is not all
:34:50. > :34:59.about targets. We cannot touch issues of welfare. Those issues
:34:59. > :35:05.must be made by a national government. We will be doing what
:35:05. > :35:11.we can locally to mitigate it. Nicola says she wants to stop
:35:11. > :35:16.relying on benefit but feels trapped. There is no way out.
:35:16. > :35:21.stuck until he can go to school and I can get a job. The Government
:35:22. > :35:31.says it wants to help people like Nicola into work. The consultation
:35:32. > :35:33.
:35:33. > :35:41.on how to redefine Child poverty will start in the autumn.
:35:41. > :35:47.Argue redefining poverty to make the figures look better? There was
:35:47. > :35:52.always going to be a tightening taking place. My guess is that the
:35:52. > :36:02.Minister is taking a fresh look at what is happening. The key thing is
:36:02. > :36:07.that communities have the skills. Well redefining poverty help?
:36:07. > :36:14.have to take a long-term view so that children -- so that people
:36:14. > :36:24.have better support. In that report we heard that the policy is likely
:36:24. > :36:31.to put more people into poverty. have to make sure that the get the
:36:31. > :36:35.economy sorted out. We inherited a mess when we took power. We need to
:36:35. > :36:40.make sure we get that right. That is the top priority. You cannot
:36:40. > :36:45.afford to do anything unless you have the economy right. Did you get
:36:45. > :36:49.it wrong? That is a disgraceful sleight of hand by the Government.
:36:49. > :36:54.We got one million children out of poverty. But is now going into
:36:54. > :36:58.reverse. Iain Duncan Smith is saying that you got one million
:36:59. > :37:02.children out of poverty but you pumped �13 billion into the welfare
:37:02. > :37:05.state and that is not including money that was good and the tax
:37:05. > :37:11.credit. They are seeing you cannot continue to throw that amount of
:37:11. > :37:16.money at it. But we had more people in work. We had more single mothers
:37:16. > :37:25.getting back into work. That is all my going into reverse. There are
:37:25. > :37:29.cuts in tax credits. Every country in the world measures Child poverty
:37:30. > :37:37.at the 60 % median in measurement. To change that means you are giving
:37:37. > :37:44.up on any real idea of targeting child poverty. We know that having
:37:44. > :37:51.relative poverty is bad for society. Should poverty be measured in
:37:51. > :37:57.relative terms? The key thing is making sure that people have the
:37:57. > :38:07.skills to get jobs. That is a fundamental issue. When Labour was
:38:07. > :38:09.
:38:09. > :38:17.in power for 13 years this issue went on. We still remain in
:38:17. > :38:21.Plymouth a low skills and low wage economy. Saying that parents have
:38:21. > :38:29.to get the job when a five people are chasing every job - surely that
:38:29. > :38:39.is not answer. 38 % of people who work work in the public sector.
:38:39. > :38:41.
:38:41. > :38:50.That is unsustainable. We need to make sure that the structural
:38:50. > :38:55.budget deficit is sorted out, but we also have to make sure that we
:38:55. > :38:58.can bring more private industry into the city. Maybe you redefining
:38:58. > :39:05.poverty is not going to help all those things that you are
:39:05. > :39:11.suggesting. Ben Bradshaw, the Coalition is saying that you failed.
:39:11. > :39:16.What do you say to that? We had the best record of any recent
:39:16. > :39:20.government. The economy was growing when we left office. We are now
:39:20. > :39:25.back in a double-dip recession. Of course we need growth in the
:39:25. > :39:29.economy. We have not got growth. We have not got jobs. To try and get
:39:29. > :39:33.rid of child poverty by changing the way you measure it is a scandal.
:39:33. > :39:39.It is condemning those children and their families to a life of poverty
:39:39. > :39:42.with no hope for the future. Could be continued just putting money
:39:42. > :39:47.into the welfare state? A you can always review the welfare state
:39:47. > :39:50.system. That is what we did. At us now gone into reverse. I have
:39:50. > :39:55.constituents who are leaving jobs because it no longer pays for them
:39:55. > :40:00.to go to work because of the cost of childcare. But is a madly of
:40:00. > :40:05.getting people out of poverty and into work. We need to make sure
:40:06. > :40:09.that be rebalance our economy. We can go around with statistics until
:40:09. > :40:14.the cows come home, but we need to make sure we have a vibrant economy
:40:14. > :40:20.in the city. Shopkeepers in want south-west town
:40:20. > :40:26.are waiting for the arrival of retail guru Mary Portas. Liskeard
:40:26. > :40:30.is taking part in a Government pilot. While residents welcome the
:40:30. > :40:39.scheme they say that if ministers are serious they must reform
:40:39. > :40:49.business rates. In its video bid to become part of
:40:49. > :40:50.
:40:50. > :40:54.this pilot Exmouth used at science fiction theme. It did not win.
:40:54. > :41:02.Liskeard promised to inject fun back into the town centre and it
:41:02. > :41:08.did when. Now they have to turn those ambitious plans into reality.
:41:09. > :41:13.It is a roller-coaster. It can be overwhelming at times. There is a
:41:13. > :41:18.lot of fun. We have a strong arts and crafts scene. This is a
:41:18. > :41:24.fantastic backdrop for a lot of very creative and diverse people.
:41:24. > :41:30.We emphasise that in the bed. terms of the hard cash this is not
:41:30. > :41:34.like winning the lottery. It will mean �100,000 for the town to spend.
:41:34. > :41:39.But it does mean be able have a special contact in Government to
:41:39. > :41:44.offer advice to smooth any bureaucratic problems.
:41:44. > :41:48.There will be plenty of advice from a Mary Portas and her team when the
:41:48. > :41:53.cameras arrive. But retail groups believe that issues such as
:41:53. > :42:03.reforming business rates are much more important. That strikes a
:42:03. > :42:03.
:42:03. > :42:09.chord here. Once Maryport has is over it will be gone. The Mary
:42:09. > :42:15.Portas project is a short-term project. We need to bounce on from
:42:15. > :42:19.there. Business rates is something that will always be there.
:42:19. > :42:24.In the North Devon there was disappointment when their pilot but
:42:24. > :42:28.was not chosen. But the town's champions believe that schemes such
:42:28. > :42:37.as the regeneration of this scheme -- that to regeneration of this
:42:37. > :42:41.square means they can succeed. are worn out with their constant
:42:42. > :42:49.battling to get a customer through their door to spend a pound. It is
:42:49. > :42:52.incredibly hard. �370 applied for the pilot. There can only be 12
:42:52. > :42:56.winners in that initial selection. Ministers say they were so
:42:56. > :43:02.impressed by the quality of the birds they found some more money
:43:02. > :43:08.and announced a second round of the competition. This time there will
:43:08. > :43:12.be 15 pilots up for grabs. It will be a catapult. We are on the
:43:12. > :43:19.starting blocks ready to go. We need somebody to say goal and we
:43:19. > :43:27.will do it. It is a huge thing. I believe we have got something to
:43:27. > :43:34.offer here. I hope people will buy into it. It the deadline for the
:43:34. > :43:41.second round of the Mary Portas pilot bed is the end of June. --
:43:41. > :43:45.bid. If there is a serious problem with
:43:45. > :43:49.our high streets why is this money being offered up as part of a
:43:49. > :43:58.competition with Mary Portas? Why is she spearheading it? It is a
:43:58. > :44:02.gimmick is it not? It is not. We need to make sure that there is a
:44:02. > :44:05.retail offer that will attract people to come into our town
:44:05. > :44:09.centres. There is not an enormous amount of money going into it. A
:44:09. > :44:14.lot of local authorities could make some of the decisions for
:44:14. > :44:18.themselves. Is it right to do it as a competition? You have got a
:44:18. > :44:22.winner and a loser. What will happen to the losing time? There
:44:22. > :44:30.are thousands of people to live in those losing pounds. It is not such
:44:30. > :44:34.a fun thing for them is it? Towns can do a lot of things that Mary
:44:34. > :44:44.Portas has suggested. There are things that can be done in
:44:44. > :44:45.
:44:45. > :44:51.regarding car parking. If I go wide of town I do not have to pay for my
:44:51. > :44:56.car parking. A lot of shopkeepers said they would like business rates
:44:56. > :44:59.to be reduced. That would help them they say. If all the shops closed
:44:59. > :45:04.down they will be no business rate anyway. Anything is better than
:45:04. > :45:08.nothing. I have a lot of sympathy for what they are seeing, but it is
:45:08. > :45:13.not just about business rates. It is about the offer that is made to
:45:13. > :45:22.people to do their shopping in town centres. What do you make of this
:45:22. > :45:25.idea, Ben Bradshaw? We have a more fundamental problem. We have a
:45:25. > :45:32.vibrant city centre in Exeter, but it does not like that in many
:45:32. > :45:41.places. The bottom has for me to the economy. People do not a
:45:41. > :45:51.confident. -- do not have confidence. This government has
:45:51. > :45:52.
:45:52. > :45:57.abandoned their labour policy on town-centre development. We want
:45:57. > :46:01.the development of shops to come back into the city centre. Would
:46:01. > :46:06.you reduce is the straight? But has to be a judgment for the local a
:46:06. > :46:10.authorities. It is madness for a local authority took charge such
:46:10. > :46:20.high rates that they are driving businesses out of their town
:46:20. > :46:23.
:46:23. > :46:28.centres. Now for our round-up of the political week.
:46:28. > :46:32.The number of and pre-teens who use the internet to buy alcohol
:46:32. > :46:37.illegally is going up according to researchers at Plymouth University.
:46:37. > :46:42.An MP asked for a government investigation. I'd like to see
:46:42. > :46:46.changed so that you can only use a card that is available to a person
:46:46. > :46:51.over 18. The Transport Secretary went to Dorset to check on
:46:51. > :46:59.preparations for the Olympics. Grand parents to care for their
:46:59. > :47:03.grandchildren ask ministers for more money.
:47:03. > :47:07.This Exeter-based grand parent says she gave up work to look after her
:47:07. > :47:11.grandson. He has been failed by the whole
:47:11. > :47:21.system. The fishing minister says the
:47:21. > :47:23.
:47:23. > :47:32.European Union decision to end cards was a bad move. There will be
:47:32. > :47:36.a benefit. That was our round-up of the Week in 60 seconds.
:47:36. > :47:39.Grandparents that give up work to look after their grand children,
:47:39. > :47:47.often stop them being taken into care, why is there no financial
:47:47. > :47:51.support for them? Why ever not entitled to paid leave? I suspect
:47:51. > :47:54.the reason is whether there is a formal adoption. If the arrangement
:47:54. > :47:59.is informal it is difficult for the state to judge whether it is
:47:59. > :48:03.permanent, whether the child may eventually go back to their parents.
:48:03. > :48:06.But those who take formal adoption and formal guardianship of the
:48:06. > :48:16.children should have the same rights as those who adopt or foster
:48:16. > :48:19.
:48:19. > :48:26.or have children at birth. Is this an anomaly? Yes and the degree. --
:48:26. > :48:31.yes I agree. Grand parents are helping in a big