16/12/2012 Sunday Politics South West


16/12/2012

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Mixed news for the region's jobseekers.

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And the new twist in the tale of one town's campaign against a major

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2152 seconds

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Hello, coming upon the Sunday Politics in the South West...

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Remember the row about whether one South Devon town really needed

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another coffee shop? In new campaign group says it represents

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the silent majority who actually wanted a Costa in Totnes.

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And I'm joined by Lord Whitty and Sheryll Murray. Welcome, both of

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you. Let's begin with the encouraging news for the region's

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jobseekers. On Wednesday, the MoD announced that 300 jobs at

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Devonport dockyard would be secured to refit HMS Ocean. An informant

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figures show the first sign of a long-term fall in the number of

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people claiming jobseeker's allowance across the region. One

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analyst said this could be the beginning of private sector

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recovery in the south-west. Sheryll Murray was keen to make sure the

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Prime Minister noticed a good news. Will my Right Honourable Friend

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join me in congratulating my two young entrepreneurs who have taken

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the initiative to take -- start HGVs company -- start HGVs company

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in my constituency? Does the Prime Minister agree this is just the

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sort of business initiative we need to see?

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Lord Whitty, is this evidence that the Government is in fact putting

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things back on track? That is premature. I am glad to see there

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are new enterprises being set up. I must say, that the view I get back

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must say, that the view I get back from small businesses in the south-

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west and elsewhere is that they are still having problems getting

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credit from the banks and cuts in public expenditure are hitting them.

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We are not yet in a position to say there is serious revival.

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Unemployment 8% down year-on-year in the south-west? There is

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something going on there. It is not clear if the figures are consistent.

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We should wait and see before we start charging from the rooftops.

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The Autumn Statement growth figures had to be reduced, and yet we have

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got these unemployment figures which seemed to be screaming, yes,

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the private sector is growing. How would you balance that? When you

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look at it, a lot of people, like my constituents who have taken the

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initiative, and realised the country could not go one way if a

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public sector growing and being subsidised. People are taking the

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initiative to start businesses and help themselves. The government's

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message and the Conservative message is getting out there. If it

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continues, then hopefully we will see the economy grow in the way

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that we want. You mention public sector jobs. You have not seen

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public sector cuts and a bike that is going to cost. -- and the bike.

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Do you think growth in the private sector will offset future public-

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sector cuts? I have met people in my constituency, one particular

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lady in Gunnislake, who has left the public sector and started her

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own business, because she recognises that we cannot maximise

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credit cards to subsidise jobs, which we have seen over the last 12

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months. People are realising may need to help themselves and are

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taking the initiative. Is it enough to realise that we need to take the

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initiative, do you see that happening on the ground? Certainly

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people need to take initiative but the problem people have got is that

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the private sector will not revise -- revive unless there is a growth

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in demand in the economy. That demand a different economic

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perspective from the government in relation to timing their cots and

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so on. There is a problem with this being sustained. Hopefully, those

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companies will get off the ground but unless there is a total

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increase in demand and growth in the economy, that will not be

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sustainable. If you work for one of the region's

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councils you might well be worried about the prospect of joining the

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dole queue. Local authority leaders are faced with tough decisions

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about whether to cut staff to meet dramatic savings required by

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government and some fear the next funding settlement, due in the

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coming weeks, will put more pressure on their budgets.

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It is a turbulent time in local government. It is two months since

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Iraq over controversial privatisation proposals led to the

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ousting of Alec Robertson. motion has been carried... West

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Somerset council is teetering on the brink of becoming a skeleton

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body commissioning services from other authorities. West Somerset

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council does not have enough finance to fund what it is doing at

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present. There have to be savings. Things are not likely to get easier

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any time soon. Councils are biting -- battling with cuts from

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Whitehall amounting to more than 30% and they are predicting another

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20% in next spending round, from 2015. With the government making it

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clear that a local authorities are going to have to make do with less,

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councils across the south-west are grappling with how to keep their

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heads above water. This week, councillors in Cornwall voted

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through a much slimmed-down version of a partnership with BT and the

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NHS. Things like IT systems and technology monitoring people's

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health in their homes will stay but supporters of the original deal say

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the compromise puts more jobs at risk. It is a smaller scheme and

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the potential is not as great. What I believe it means is that those

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services within the council are going to have to make significant

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servings -- savings in the coming years and it will be a challenge.

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Councillor Double says the council was to get new ways of working. The

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man who now leads the council thinks days like this are too risky

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in the current financial climate. There has been a survey of

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authorities in England and they say that this year, 12% of authorities

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will really struggle to balance their books and next year, 25% of

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authorities will be in the same position. The government really

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must come to the conclusion that there is a limit to what local

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government can expect to do. Local Government Association echoes

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this morning. This is the so called graph of doom illustrating a

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funding gap by 2020. No more is this squeeze being felt more than

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by England's smallest council facing budget cuts of 1.5 million

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over three years. Crisis meetings have been held this week but the

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government minister sent to help is not reaching for the chequebook.

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they can get the right structure in place, it is not a matter of

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financial handouts. That is not what West Somerset have been asking

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for. They are looking for a sustainable solution.

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possibility of a big hike in council tax in West Somerset is

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still on the table. The rise is not been ruled out in Cornwall either

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and the outlook is bleak. Councils are braced for the details of their

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next financial settlement before Christmas and there is not much

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We are joined by the vice chair of the Local Government Association.

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Not much hope of festive cheer. We have a council that has run out of

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money, a council having to privatise core services, what does

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it mean? Councils are going to be under huge pressure. There has been

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a 30% cut in councils' funding over the last few years. We have to look

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at the most vulnerable people in society, children care, the elderly,

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people with disabilities, so on all our services will get cut deeply

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over the next three years. Something like at a 90% cut for

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planning, transport, community wardens and safety, all of those

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things will be cut to the bone and beyond. We did speak to the

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Department for communities and local government. Given that cancer

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has account for one quarter of government spending it is vital

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they contribute. -- given that councils. The country cannot live

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outside its means. You cannot keep borrowing and borrowing. Consuls

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are probably the most efficient part of the government's service

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and yet, we're having the biggest cuts. I do not think we government

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understands how vital some of the services are that councils up and

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down the country provide two really vulnerable people and the services

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that people need every single day of the week. We're going to put bat

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to one of our guests. Has the government gone too far west these

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cuts and it is too much too fast? For 10 years before I got elected I

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was a local councillor. I sat on Cornwall County Council and

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Carriden District Council. Councils assumed they were going to get the

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same increase your round year when they looked at their future

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planning. -- year on year. They took that into account. We have got

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to a stage when the country cannot afford to give councils this

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increase in funding. At the end of the day, what the Government is

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doing is giving local councillors the opportunity to control their

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own budgets. The what we are hearing here, and from the Audit

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Commission as well, they say that next year, 25% of councils will be

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in the same boat as the two we have mentioned. One is facing bankruptcy

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and the other has lost its leader over privatisation measures because

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they believe these services should be protected. One of the things we

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have had for 12 years his local councillors being told how to spend

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their money and what to do. They have forgotten how to manage

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budgets. What the government is now saying is, they know best how to

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deliver local services on the ground, but they do have to manage

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those budgets and stick to them. the past, local councils have had

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too much money and it is time to cut back and tighten your belt?

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nation clearly does have to tighten its belt and councils have to play

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their part, absolutely, but the Government has targeted cancels

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much more than central government departments and is allowing much

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more waste in central government. Even central government says

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councils are the most efficient part of the public service, so why

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not let us do more? The real problem here is we have to look

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after the most vulnerable people and the cuts have gone too deep.

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The West Somerset cards or has a proposal to put up council tax by

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49%, �50 per has sold. What we do say? -- �50 per household. But

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government has taken decision- making power away from councils and

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we are not allowed to think about things like that, because central

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government makes decisions were cancelled. Lord Whitty, what do you

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think? Is there fat to be cut and what about the increase proposal in

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West Somerset? I agree with Gerald that councils ought to make their

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own decisions in what ever budgets they have got. We are of one mind

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on that. Behind that, the government have embarked on a

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course of cutting public expenditure which we can argue

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about the totality of, but in this context they have put aged him out

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of the burden on the public authority up -- they have put a

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huge amount of the burden on the public authorities. Local budgets

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have been cut more than three times. That is not the right sense of

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priorities. What ever there is at the macro level, that is wrong.

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Cornwall and West Somerset are some of the poorest authorities in land.

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-- in Milan. If they are having to make decisions which affect their

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people it is because the Treasury have decided local authorities will

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bear the brunt. With this rise in council tax, if West Somerset

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council wanted to increase council tax for specific purposes, of

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course they can do it. They just have to ask their council tax

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payers by way of a referendum if they wanted. They can put it up for

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specific purposes according to the Localism Act. They have to axe --

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asked the tax payers if they wish them to do this. Will the same

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applied to George Osborne? In October, Costa Coffee was

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apparent -- forced to abandon plans to open up in Totnes after a

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protest campaign. The move was held up as an example of big business

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listening to the people but it has emerged not everyone in the town

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was happily about it decision. -- happy about the decision. There are

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questions about how democratic the campaign really was.

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Totnes, one of the region's most flourishing market towns, famed for

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its beauty and independent spirit, held up by government ministers as

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a pioneer of localism. What Totnes does today the rest of the country

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will do tomorrow. We are taking the spirit of Totnes around the country.

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A few months ago, Totnes was deemed to be leading the way once again.

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Campaigners in Totnes are claiming victory after they forced a

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multinational coffee giant to scrap plans to set up a shop in the town.

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It followed a protest petition. An MP got involved. Along with

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representatives from the town, she met the company in October.

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wanted cost up to visit Totnes and show them the impact this would

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have and that we did not want a clone high street. One of the

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reasons people were coming to Totnes was because there was a

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different offer. Her intervention came after the local authority

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approved plants backing the cafe. Six district councillors voted

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against the plan, 17 voted in favour. Costa Coffee's last-minute

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decision not to set up shop left some stunned and wishing they had

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voiced support. Hindsight is a lovely thing. A lot of people

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didn't really do anything because they thought it inevitable. They

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got their planning permission, we thought it was going to happen. We

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didn't think because it was such a small number of people protesting

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that it would have any effect. Then suddenly, it did. In fact, the

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campaign had collected over 5,000 signatures, but there have been

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questions raised about how representative it was of the local

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population. A counter group has been set up by Matt, which he says

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has more than 400 supporters. of people I spoke to did not feel

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they were represented had -- represented. A lot of people didn't

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really mind and they did not feel represented. It was only be people

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who had protested against it who had been covered in the media and

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eight were perceived to represent the views of the majority. What has

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happened in Totnes has been seen as a victory for people power but has

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also led to questions about which people had the power and what it

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all means for those not on the winning side.

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It was unusual to see an MP getting so involved in a planning

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application for a shock. If it was in your constituency, which you

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have done the same thing? Bear in mind that I have been a local

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councillor so I have been involved in the planning process. I know

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that an MP does not have any power when it comes to planning decisions.

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Westminster have in the past been very dominant, and that is why we

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have changed the planning law so that local people and local

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councillors take those decisions. That is wary -- where they should

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be taken. But it was the pressure group with the most say, but 17

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councillors had voted in favour of the application, against six.

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I would have done under those circumstances is every

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representation of that concern with regard to a planning application

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into my office, I plus they wanted the local planning department.

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you would not have got involved? Probably not in this instance.

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you think she had a lot of sway? am not sure what sort of power a

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member of parliament has and we have to remember that we all deal

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with things in a different way. I personally would have made sure

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that I had accounted for the silent minority in this instance, and I

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think it is my position in my constituency as the Member of

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Parliament to take a passive role as often as I can. What does this

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tell us about localism, local pressure groups having so much

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power? And yet another local groups saying, we did not want you to have

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that say. At the end of the day it needs to be the decision of the

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council. It is quite frequently that those who shout loudest are

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not representative of the total number. At the end of the day the

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council should take the decision. At least Costa Coffee pay their

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taxes! When they came to my little town in Dorset, they actually

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transformed. We now have more independent cafes. This is not all

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one-way. Were you interested to see a Tory MP standing up against Free

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Enterprise? It is an unusual take. There may have been some pressure

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from the independent traders. I think this is a planning issue and

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the council and other people should have taken the decision. You are

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not worried that local pressure groups are getting too much power?

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If they are not representative then they are. The council needs to make

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that judgment. It is time for the round-up of the

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:57:18.:57:18.

political week. Train passengers were told fares

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will rise above inflation next year. The First Great Western boss said

:57:23.:57:29.

it was for ministers to explain why, not him. We think we provide value

:57:29.:57:32.

for money. Coastguard cuts means important

:57:32.:57:34.

local knowledge will be lost according to a report from the

:57:34.:57:39.

Transport Select Committee. South West dairy farmers are

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unhappy about the price they get for their milk were told they could

:57:42.:57:46.

get money from the taxpayer. The government will help them negotiate

:57:46.:57:52.

with processors and supermarkets. There is a much brighter future for

:57:52.:57:55.

milk production than there has been for a very long time.

:57:55.:57:59.

Oliver Colvile asked the Prime Minister why that city of Plymouth

:57:59.:58:03.

had missed out on super-fast broadband. I am sure he will be

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glad to know that Devon and Somerset has been allocated �33

:58:07.:58:10.

million to deliver super-fast broadband.

:58:10.:58:13.

Cornish nationalists were encouraged by census figures

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showing the number of people who call themselves Cornish has more

:58:16.:58:24.

than doubled. Do you call yourself Cornish?

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I do. I do not speak Cornish, and neither did my grandmother or

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mother. I recognise, as someone who travelled across the border into

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Plymouth to work for a number of my early years, but there is an

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economic benefit from our neighbours in Devon. Whilst I think

:58:42.:58:48.

our heritage is very important, we have to be realistic with regard to

:58:48.:58:53.

the economic situation but Cornwall finds itself in. I want to ask you

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about the Coastguard issued, as someone with in the fishing

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community. What is your reaction to the select committee report which

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says that it is talking of low morale amongst Coastguard, a loss

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of skilled workers and skilled knowledge with these cuts? I have

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always maintained we must not lose their local knowledge. I was

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heartened when I heard the Minister confirm that the new National

:59:18.:59:28.
:59:28.:59:29.

Centre would not close any local centres, on Nairn -- unless there

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was absolute sureness that the National Centre could cope. I need

:59:38.:59:41.

to see the evidence. The new national co-ordination Centre has

:59:41.:59:47.

only just got up and running. The jury is out. Let's wait and see.

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Brixham has not closed yet. We have not got long left. What is your

:59:54.:59:59.

take on this? I think the government may be right that some

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rationalisation is sensible. If you get rid of the local offices, you

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