:01:14. > :01:24.flagship government policy which was supposed to solve our housing
:01:24. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :32:49.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1884 seconds
:32:49. > :32:54.crisis. One of Devon's new says localism as a myth.
:32:54. > :33:01.I am joined by the newly elected Labour councillor Candy Atherton,
:33:01. > :33:04.congratulations to you, and the Lib Dem MP Adrian Sanders. Let us start
:33:04. > :33:11.with something which wasn't in the Queens speech.
:33:11. > :33:16.Minimum alcohol pricing. Opponents warned that by dropping it, they
:33:16. > :33:22.risk sending out the wrong message about public health. This goes
:33:22. > :33:28.towards what this is doing to our communities. We note that there are
:33:28. > :33:33.studied hundred 5000 children in this country living with a dependent
:33:33. > :33:41.strength. Not just a hazardous or harmful drinker but someone who is
:33:41. > :33:45.dependent on alcohol. Why was minimum pricing of alcohol dropped
:33:45. > :33:53.from the Queen's Speech? Is it anything to do with the threat from
:33:53. > :33:57.UKIP and needs to bring in new emigration measures? It is to do
:33:57. > :34:06.with the evidence not being there and there are better ways to tackle
:34:06. > :34:12.problems. The problem is irresponsible deals offered by
:34:12. > :34:18.clubs, pubs and supermarkets. are happy to see minimum pricing
:34:18. > :34:23.getting dropped from the agenda? think minimum pricing as a red
:34:23. > :34:33.herring. It is not in the interests of any government to increase the
:34:33. > :34:37.
:34:37. > :34:47.cost of something that most people use quite responsibly. David Davis
:34:47. > :34:57.says we need to get away from a perception of the government all
:34:57. > :35:00.
:35:00. > :35:05.being its audience. I think there are better ways of tackling the
:35:05. > :35:12.problem of alcohol abuse and putting up the price for everyone. Has the
:35:12. > :35:19.government done the right thing? Absolutely not. They caved in to the
:35:19. > :35:27.lobbying from the alcohol industry. Our pubs are struggling cause the
:35:27. > :35:29.competing with supermarkets. Do rerelease want to see all of our
:35:29. > :35:35.pubs closed down because supermarkets cynically puts out
:35:35. > :35:45.cheap alcohol which will take out the pubs. The tax would put the
:35:45. > :35:46.
:35:46. > :35:51.price up for alcohol and pubs as well. You caved in! Do you think
:35:51. > :35:58.there has been a reaction to UKIP and the need to be seen to be
:35:58. > :36:02.pushing emigration measures? That might be but there is far more.
:36:02. > :36:07.There was lobbying to make sure that the government didn't put this
:36:08. > :36:12.through. Lots of money spent by the big companies.
:36:13. > :36:16.We have to move on. Localism is one of the government's flagship
:36:16. > :36:22.policies and we were told it would provide answers to how many houses
:36:22. > :36:29.to build and where to build them. But one newly elected councillor
:36:29. > :36:34.feels that localism as a myth. She thinks the disillusionment on the
:36:34. > :36:38.doorstep goes some way to explaining her thumping majority.
:36:38. > :36:43.Localism is meant to bring power back to communities but here in East
:36:43. > :36:49.Devon there is a sense of disillusionment with the Prime
:36:49. > :36:55.Minister 's flagship policy. I think localism is a myth and when the
:36:55. > :36:59.Conservatives started talking about it, I was as excited as anybody and
:36:59. > :37:04.thought how wonderful and how sensible. It seemed like a whole new
:37:04. > :37:09.era but it seems like things have changed grammatically. Development
:37:09. > :37:14.is a big issue around here. On the doorstep people were talking about
:37:14. > :37:21.that because they were saying, whatever we object to, it will
:37:21. > :37:27.happen anyway. One-man mould his lawn in support of an independent
:37:27. > :37:34.candidate. There's been no development at all people do not get
:37:34. > :37:39.listened to. Claire Wright took the Ottery St Mary seat with a massive
:37:39. > :37:44.74% share. But then any other council in the Devon County
:37:44. > :37:50.elections. I've knocked on hundreds of doors and I've got a good
:37:50. > :37:56.response from most people so I hope to be elected but I was completely
:37:56. > :38:03.staggered by the results. Claire has been fighting plans to build 130
:38:03. > :38:10.homes on the site. Planning application was submitted over a
:38:10. > :38:15.year ago and the council rejected it. Everyone agreed that the best
:38:15. > :38:22.site for housing was on the West, where the links to the A30 were
:38:22. > :38:30.better. The scheme was approved on appeal because the council couldn't
:38:30. > :38:35.prove that it had a five-year housing supply. This is a classic
:38:35. > :38:44.example of supply not working. People have said they want
:38:44. > :38:48.development on the other side of Ottery St Mary. We are currently
:38:48. > :38:57.looking at a 40% increase in the size of the village which is
:38:57. > :39:07.completely unsustainable. Susie Bond is the newly dead work -- newly
:39:07. > :39:08.
:39:08. > :39:18.elected independent councillor here. I admit that it looks a bit over the
:39:18. > :39:18.
:39:18. > :39:22.top, saying things like if I can't get you planning then nobody will.
:39:22. > :39:32.The police investigations into his actions are ongoing. More than half
:39:32. > :39:33.
:39:33. > :39:39.the village turned out. I don't think it was as much to do but
:39:39. > :39:49.conservatives as the fact that he ran a planning consultancy. Whether
:39:49. > :39:57.the two are linked, we are yet to find out. The row over how many
:39:57. > :40:03.homes should be built in this area is far from being settled.
:40:03. > :40:10.We are joined by the Conservative leader of East Devonshire Council.
:40:10. > :40:14.We have some strong comments there. One man said people don't get
:40:14. > :40:18.listened to. They don't believe that local people are being allowed to
:40:18. > :40:28.make planning permission is at a local level. What do you say to
:40:28. > :40:32.
:40:32. > :40:39.that? Localism isn't dead as such. Both those ladies are to be
:40:39. > :40:48.congratulated on doing so well in the elections. The planning
:40:48. > :40:58.Inspectorate turned our decision down. It went to appeal and was
:40:58. > :41:00.
:41:00. > :41:08.taken on. It Mac that is the point then that localism didn't work.
:41:08. > :41:15.Where does that leave localism, the big flagship Tory policy if these
:41:15. > :41:21.local decisions and being listened to? I think it is a Westminster
:41:21. > :41:24.issue rather than one we have done here. We like to work with our local
:41:24. > :41:34.communities. I have enormous sympathy with the people of then
:41:34. > :41:39.
:41:39. > :41:48.attend. -- Feniton. This kind of road is not limited to East Devon.
:41:48. > :41:56.Where do you believe this leaves East Devon. We have top-down housing
:41:56. > :42:00.targets being brought in by the back door. We haven't got localism yet
:42:00. > :42:08.and the planning applications you referred to were before the bill
:42:08. > :42:11.came in. We have local councils putting together their plans...
:42:11. > :42:18.plans were supposed to be in by March and this has been turned down
:42:18. > :42:25.postmarks. That is a problem for the council. Can I just ask the
:42:25. > :42:31.council... They would have been able to turn them down and that is the
:42:31. > :42:34.point of localism. If you had got your plans on, the planning
:42:34. > :42:40.Inspectorate wouldn't have been able to turn them down. Why didn't you
:42:40. > :42:45.get them in by March? We went through a year-long consultation
:42:45. > :42:50.process and wanted to make sure that it would reflect the wishes of
:42:51. > :42:58.people. Are you just fighting it? You don't want to be responsible for
:42:58. > :43:02.building an unpopular areas? There was a considerable amount of
:43:02. > :43:11.consultation in order to get the best possible reflection of local
:43:11. > :43:16.interests. Other areas are using it properly by getting the consultation
:43:16. > :43:24.done in the proper time. There is double protection against the
:43:24. > :43:28.planning inspector getting involved. What you make of this whole row?
:43:28. > :43:36.don't want to get involved in the Devon Road because I am representing
:43:36. > :43:44.Cornwall. You now have the opportunity to make decisions at the
:43:44. > :43:49.local level, do you believe that? think there are people that feel
:43:49. > :43:53.that there is a lot of housing going on in that they had not been
:43:53. > :44:01.involved in the planning of. I would say to the government that this is
:44:01. > :44:06.not the time to stall all housing. We are now building the same amount
:44:07. > :44:13.that we did in the 1920s. It has been a cliff face fall of housing.
:44:13. > :44:17.We are desperate for houses that we can afford. What would you say to
:44:17. > :44:22.that point, that we shouldn't have abandoned national housing targets?
:44:22. > :44:32.I think the point is that people cannot afford to buy cause wages are
:44:32. > :44:35.low. We are certainly trying to get the housing market moving again but
:44:35. > :44:42.were candy is right and I have been on this programme many times before
:44:42. > :44:49.and said, is that we should be building for local needs, not for
:44:49. > :44:55.local developers in order to market outside the area. So why in the
:44:55. > :45:03.budget at the core Lycian put forward a ban on to people who want
:45:04. > :45:08.to buy a second home? It is nonsense. It is not for people but
:45:08. > :45:18.wants to buy a second home. It is so that all of us who want to own our
:45:18. > :45:18.
:45:18. > :45:27.own home get help. The minister said he would not want to see this
:45:27. > :45:34.happen. Have you any examples of people using money that smacked
:45:34. > :45:38.using the scheme to buy a second home? You have made a decision in
:45:38. > :45:48.Cornwall that 45,000 homes will be built in the next few years. Well
:45:48. > :45:57.that's all the housing crisis? Not necessarily. If we're going to have
:45:57. > :46:03.executive -style homes rather than homes that may be smaller to reflect
:46:03. > :46:10.the changing lifestyles were saying, then it won't be. It has got to be a
:46:10. > :46:16.mixture. I'll go back to Paul briefly. Rather than see 130 homes
:46:17. > :46:22.to be slapped on the edge of Exeter, got even more local, 20
:46:22. > :46:30.homes in a very small locality where people agree where to put them.
:46:30. > :46:38.terms of the local plan, people don't want to see any development
:46:38. > :46:44.beyond five. There are one or two exceptions to that. We haven't quite
:46:44. > :46:48.got time to go any further but thank you very much for joining us.
:46:48. > :46:54.It is more than one week since the local elections but we still do not
:46:55. > :46:58.know all which party or parties will run Cornwall. There is talk of the
:46:58. > :47:03.rainbow alliance between all the political groups but the recent
:47:03. > :47:10.massive row about whether to put up council tax or cut services is fresh
:47:10. > :47:20.in many peoples minds and awkward compromises seem on the cards.
:47:20. > :47:34.
:47:34. > :47:38.There were shocks, surprises... insured. And celebrations. Last
:47:38. > :47:41.weeks local elections in Cornwall delivered them all. But as the dust
:47:41. > :47:51.settles, it is time to get down to business. The biggest players in
:47:51. > :47:52.
:47:52. > :47:56.County Hall or no the Lib Dems with 36 seats. This means that the
:47:56. > :48:00.council is under no overall control and that means that the deal needs
:48:00. > :48:05.to be done. Earlier this week, the leader of the Lib Dem group
:48:05. > :48:11.announced they were seeking an alliance made up of all the parties.
:48:11. > :48:16.I think it is a case of us having to find a way to work together and I am
:48:16. > :48:21.pretty optimistic about it. We have had constructive conversations.
:48:21. > :48:29.would have thought that the established parties might have ended
:48:29. > :48:39.up courting UKIP? There have been some informal approaches. We are all
:48:39. > :48:44.
:48:44. > :48:49.here for the same reason so it won't heart well it, a bit of Corporation.
:48:49. > :48:56.She seems to be hedging her bets when she spoke to me. It may need to
:48:56. > :49:01.be done but we will be looking at what is the best thing we can do for
:49:01. > :49:09.Cornwall. Independents say that they have collectively agreed to derail
:49:09. > :49:13.bore alliance. The main parties have yet to decide their position so we
:49:13. > :49:17.have been speaking to the groups and finding out how they feel. But it
:49:17. > :49:27.wasn't so long ago that there were deep divisions between the groups.
:49:27. > :49:28.
:49:28. > :49:38.Most of the independents refused to back the budget measures. It sort
:49:38. > :49:39.
:49:39. > :49:44.big cuts to adult and children's services. It is an insult.The horse
:49:44. > :49:52.trading at County Hall should be over by the 1st of May. That is when
:49:52. > :49:57.a new leader will be elected. We are now joined by former Cornwall
:49:57. > :50:01.Council member who left the Conservatives because of what he
:50:01. > :50:06.called the cynical party politics in the budget. He lost his seat in the
:50:06. > :50:16.recent election. Welcome to the programme. A rainbow alliance sounds
:50:16. > :50:18.
:50:18. > :50:22.like quite a good solution, doesn't it? It is an excellent idea. It was
:50:22. > :50:32.first proposed in 2009 and was rejected by the Liberal Democrats.
:50:32. > :50:36.
:50:36. > :50:43.We come back to talking about integrity in party politics.
:50:43. > :50:46.likely is it that the coalition will be formed? I think if no coalition
:50:46. > :50:54.is formed then we might as well have another election because the council
:50:54. > :50:58.will be unmanageable. There would be no guaranteed policy. There is a lot
:50:58. > :51:05.of antagonism within the different groups so could it even work?
:51:05. > :51:12.is a lot of history, not just for this particular council but for
:51:12. > :51:22.previous councils. But I would call on any political party to put the
:51:22. > :51:22.
:51:22. > :51:25.candidates -- the people first. would rather the money was spent on
:51:25. > :51:34.adult social care than on an election. Had he been approached to
:51:34. > :51:39.take part in the alliance? We all had an e-mail which looked like
:51:39. > :51:44.something that was written on the back of an envelope. It was
:51:44. > :51:48.regrettable. This is about Cornwall Council is coming up with a
:51:48. > :51:54.solution. Having been told by the electorate that they didn't want any
:51:54. > :52:02.particular party. We did well by going from zero to eight right
:52:02. > :52:08.across the country -- Co. Decisions have been made and the budget has
:52:08. > :52:15.been cut so will you now see cuts to services? There have already been
:52:15. > :52:24.cuts. Which services makes no supper? Adult care will be cut and a
:52:24. > :52:29.number of areas. Background staff will be cut. I am a new counsellor
:52:29. > :52:35.so I need to go through everything with a fine tooth comb. What about
:52:35. > :52:42.scrutiny? If all members are taking part in a rainbow alliance, there
:52:42. > :52:46.will be no opposition, will there? Who will scrutinise from within?
:52:46. > :52:53.have no doubt that anyone who is not any position executive power will
:52:53. > :53:02.scrutinise those who are. Local government is fixed term and if you
:53:02. > :53:06.don't agree then things will go on for ever. The danger is handing
:53:06. > :53:13.council control to the officers. will probably come back to that any
:53:13. > :53:23.different programme. It is time for our round-up of the
:53:23. > :53:23.
:53:23. > :53:29.political week. Protesters gathered at Cornwall
:53:29. > :53:34.Council angry at the re-elections of Colin Brewer, the councillor who
:53:34. > :53:44.said that disabled children should be put down. I think Colin Brewer's
:53:44. > :53:49.
:53:49. > :53:55.column names -- comments were disgusting and he's now trying to
:53:55. > :53:58.make a joke out of it. New figures show a big rise in the number of
:53:58. > :54:05.children in care since the Baby P scandal.
:54:05. > :54:09.And Dorset it is up by almost 500%. The National Union of Teachers spoke
:54:09. > :54:14.out against the rising number of academies in the region. They are
:54:14. > :54:19.still unproven. Our finding an increasing number of areas are still
:54:19. > :54:24.having difficulties. When they go into those that are called these,
:54:24. > :54:29.they don't have the structure that local authorities have to help them
:54:29. > :54:32.get out of it. I want to ask you briefly about the
:54:32. > :54:37.re-election of Colin Brewer, the councillor who made headlines by
:54:37. > :54:47.saying that disabled children should be put down. People voted him back
:54:47. > :54:51.
:54:51. > :54:54.in, that's the Democratic process, should the witchhunt continue?
:54:54. > :55:04.think it would be very difficult for him to continue as a counsellor but
:55:04. > :55:09.I do not agree with our witchhunt. Why did he get back in? It is not
:55:09. > :55:13.the products you can take back to the shop. Whoever is elected is
:55:14. > :55:18.there for their term of office and it is better to find out more about