Browse content similar to 29/01/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good afternoon and welcome to the Sunday politics. Our top story, his | :00:41. | :00:51. | |
:00:51. | :01:25. | ||
Labour or playing catch up on the Is in the South: Traders protest at | :01:25. | :01:35. | |
:01:35. | :01:35. | ||
Budget hikes to parking permits. And the only council in our region | :01:35. | :01:45. | |
:01:45. | :01:45. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2009 seconds | :01:45. | :35:15. | |
not to three's council tax next Welcome to Sunday Politics South. | :35:15. | :35:22. | |
My name's Peter Henley. On today's show: The growing protests in | :35:22. | :35:25. | |
Brighton and Hove about the Green Party's first ever budget for the | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
city. These were traders complaining about price hikes for | :35:28. | :35:34. | |
parking permits. The council's one of the very few in the country | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
which isn't freezing the council tax next year. We'll have more on | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
that in a few minutes. But first, let me introduce you to our two | :35:42. | :35:45. | |
guests who will be with me for the next 20 minutes. Dave Roberts is a | :35:45. | :35:48. | |
former member of Labour's National Policy Forum and is now working as | :35:48. | :35:51. | |
a political campaigner and consultant and Caroline Dinenage is | :35:51. | :36:01. | |
:36:01. | :36:05. | ||
the Conservative MP for Gosport elected in 2010. This week in | :36:05. | :36:15. | |
Portsmouth there were talks about a review of operations at the docks, | :36:15. | :36:23. | |
this could be disastrous? 15% of people who live at that particular | :36:23. | :36:29. | |
site come from my constituency. It would be an massive impact on, not | :36:29. | :36:37. | |
just the job that the site, but the wider supply chain. They are a | :36:37. | :36:40. | |
private company but it is not helped by the business agreement | :36:40. | :36:46. | |
they signed with the Labour Government at the last General | :36:46. | :36:54. | |
Election. It is very difficult for the Government to interfere. | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
Clearly they have to make commercial decisions but I will be | :36:58. | :37:03. | |
lobbying very hard to make sure that those decisions impact on as | :37:03. | :37:11. | |
few people as possible. The And you have worked with Ed Balls on his | :37:11. | :37:20. | |
leadership campaign, now Ed Miliband seems to be coming along, | :37:20. | :37:28. | |
what you think of him as leader? the last recourse so he has made a | :37:28. | :37:37. | |
very clear statement that the party at this time cannot make promises | :37:37. | :37:42. | |
about what the economy might look like after 2015. It is the sensible | :37:42. | :37:51. | |
thing to do, not to make promises which you might have to break. | :37:52. | :37:57. | |
Caroline criticises some of the deals that were signed, he has | :37:57. | :38:04. | |
still got to address that, hasn't he? There was a huge global | :38:04. | :38:10. | |
downturn, I don't think we can be ashamed about that. He managed that | :38:10. | :38:15. | |
and we said at the last election that we would be making cuts to | :38:15. | :38:23. | |
reduce the deficit. We said we would half the deficit by 2015 but | :38:23. | :38:29. | |
the Conservatives and Lib Dems have gone too far too fast and they are | :38:29. | :38:34. | |
harming the British economy. They are not doing anything | :38:34. | :38:41. | |
inspirational about growing our economy. Every single person who is | :38:41. | :38:46. | |
unemployed is a loss to our society. It is a painful and nasty personal | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
experience. When they talk about cutting jobs and cutting spending, | :38:50. | :38:57. | |
these are people's lives being put at stake. Any job that is lost is a | :38:57. | :39:02. | |
huge tragedy for the family involved but I think the Labour | :39:02. | :39:09. | |
Party have made it clear they would like to say -- C budget cuts but | :39:09. | :39:18. | |
they have not said where they would make them. The Labour Party have | :39:18. | :39:25. | |
always voted against cuts. You would like to see where they would | :39:25. | :39:35. | |
:39:35. | :39:37. | ||
get the money from. Nobody wants to see cuts impact badly on people's | :39:37. | :39:43. | |
lives. I think we have made it clear that when we come to 2015 we | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
will assess the situation and come to the British people with an | :39:47. | :39:53. | |
offering of what we would do given the circumstances at that time. We | :39:53. | :39:59. | |
cannot predict what that is going to be. At the moment we are heading | :39:59. | :40:09. | |
:40:09. | :40:09. | ||
in the wrong direction. The economy is shrinking rather than growing. | :40:09. | :40:12. | |
We are urging the Government to think again and start listening to | :40:12. | :40:19. | |
what people are seeing. We must make sure people are employed and | :40:19. | :40:25. | |
not unemployed. It is that time again when councils start | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
announcing what their budgets will be for the next financial year. The | :40:29. | :40:34. | |
Government is offering extra funding to authorities which freeze | :40:34. | :40:39. | |
their council tax but Brighton and Hove have decided to raise theirs | :40:39. | :40:49. | |
:40:49. | :41:00. | ||
by 3.5 %. That has encountered some opposition. This has upset everyone | :41:00. | :41:08. | |
from musicians to book clubbers, motorists to musicians. I spent the | :41:08. | :41:11. | |
morning with Anne and who runs a small plumbing and maintenance | :41:11. | :41:20. | |
company. He was incensed when the green's budget included a raised in | :41:20. | :41:27. | |
parking permits which are essential for his work. These proposals are | :41:27. | :41:31. | |
not business friendly. They do not seem to understand the pressures of | :41:31. | :41:39. | |
the local economy at the moment. formed a protest group and got | :41:39. | :41:44. | |
thousands of businesses to lobby Council. This has prompted a | :41:44. | :41:49. | |
reduction in the proposed increase. The Greens say this means traders | :41:49. | :41:58. | |
will pay less than �1 per day extra. This man says it is not that simple. | :41:58. | :42:04. | |
With a business such as his with several vehicles it would cost an | :42:04. | :42:14. | |
extra �2,500 per year. He only has a 10% profit margin so to earn that | :42:14. | :42:24. | |
extra money he would need an extra �25,000 per year of work. If they | :42:24. | :42:27. | |
believe strongly in not putting their prices up people would put | :42:27. | :42:32. | |
more free time into their businesses which would put a burden | :42:32. | :42:38. | |
on themselves. Eventually they will give up or move away from Brighton | :42:38. | :42:46. | |
to look at the areas where they can operate profitably. Other groups | :42:46. | :42:54. | |
have also been making themselves heard. There were plans to cut the | :42:54. | :43:04. | |
:43:04. | :43:04. | ||
children's music services but these later the greens announced that | :43:04. | :43:14. | |
:43:14. | :43:16. | ||
those cuts would be spared. There when also plans to close toilets in | :43:16. | :43:23. | |
public parks which were revised. People in Brighton and Hove will | :43:23. | :43:30. | |
have to pay more because the of authority is one of very that you | :43:30. | :43:36. | |
Nationwide to raise the council tax. They say a three's would mean even | :43:36. | :43:46. | |
:43:46. | :43:50. | ||
deeper cuts. Do people mind paying more? -- freeze. You do not get | :43:50. | :43:57. | |
anything more or for it. It just goes up and up each year. I do not | :43:57. | :44:06. | |
mind if we get better services but I am probably in the minority. | :44:06. | :44:12. | |
Tories busy public opinion has turned against the greens. | :44:12. | :44:17. | |
expected to gain in a by-election and the came third. One of the | :44:17. | :44:22. | |
points on the doorstep was the fact that the public did not agreed with | :44:22. | :44:32. | |
a council tax increase. -- agree. It seemed unreasonable. It seems | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
there could be a further wave of protests before the council budget | :44:37. | :44:47. | |
:44:47. | :44:48. | ||
is finally set on 23rd February. Joining me now is the cabinet | :44:48. | :44:54. | |
member responsible for the Budget. This first historic Green Budget | :44:54. | :44:59. | |
from the green controlled council. How did you come up with the figure | :44:59. | :45:08. | |
of 3.5 %? We look at the reduction in our core funding from the | :45:08. | :45:14. | |
Government and the services that people in our area it neat and it | :45:14. | :45:18. | |
came clear that we had a very narrow window which we could look | :45:18. | :45:27. | |
at. We did not have a choice and any talk of referendum is uncertain | :45:27. | :45:31. | |
because the electoral commission say proper regulations are not in | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
place. We have looked at securing his services for the vulnerable, | :45:36. | :45:46. | |
:45:46. | :45:47. | ||
the elderly and children in this city. Labour who support except in | :45:47. | :45:54. | |
no change would need to tell people how they would pay for it. It is a | :45:54. | :46:01. | |
one-off piece of money which Eric Pickles admitted is to reduce the | :46:01. | :46:06. | |
tax base for councils. There are now 17 local authorities who have | :46:06. | :46:15. | |
followed our lead in rejecting this grant which is a gimmick. The grant | :46:15. | :46:21. | |
is only worth �3 million and over two years we would be �5.4 million | :46:21. | :46:27. | |
worse off if we took it. You said you had a public consultation and | :46:27. | :46:33. | |
yet you are trying to avoid the referendum. A referendum is not an | :46:33. | :46:39. | |
option at the moment because the electoral commission would not | :46:39. | :46:49. | |
:46:49. | :46:51. | ||
allow it. The costs involved in running it might be an option in | :46:51. | :46:56. | |
the coming years but at the moment our funding is being reduced. | :46:56. | :47:01. | |
Budgets are being squeezed all over the place and it is very well for | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
the opposition to see do not do this and do not do that but they | :47:05. | :47:11. | |
cannot explain how they would pay for it. It is the people who are | :47:11. | :47:15. | |
shouting loudest whose issues are being addressed whereas to business | :47:15. | :47:22. | |
you have just said sorry, you have to pay more for your parking. | :47:22. | :47:26. | |
have had a dialogue. You have rolled over to those who have | :47:26. | :47:32. | |
shouted loudest. I would not say that is the case. We have been able | :47:32. | :47:38. | |
to make some changes to ballot concerns. There were a central | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
funding cuts to music and arts and we have been able to protect them | :47:43. | :47:51. | |
by modifying proposals. If you look at the parking charges, everyone on | :47:51. | :47:56. | |
the waiting list currently has to pay and display or queue for a | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
daily permit which is costing more than �4 per day. By our proposals | :48:01. | :48:05. | |
we have eliminated that waiting list so all of those traders will | :48:05. | :48:10. | |
be able to park for less than two pints per day. The traders I have | :48:10. | :48:14. | |
spoken to are delighted that the waiting list is being eliminated | :48:14. | :48:20. | |
and they can work in the city. are speaking to traders who are | :48:20. | :48:24. | |
being delighted but the man we spoke to said you have written off | :48:24. | :48:33. | |
more than you can chew. -- bitten off more than you can chew. What | :48:33. | :48:38. | |
you have done here by trying to three's council tax as well as | :48:38. | :48:43. | |
cutting the central Government grant is really a double whammy for | :48:43. | :48:48. | |
councils, it is very tough for them? This is a situation that | :48:48. | :48:52. | |
every family in the country is facing, they have to tighten their | :48:52. | :48:58. | |
belts. Every council is facing a situation where they have to do | :48:58. | :49:03. | |
things in the most economically sensible way possible. The Green | :49:03. | :49:06. | |
Party have wanted for years to be able to do this and now that they | :49:06. | :49:11. | |
have to put their money where their mouth is are now having to make | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
difficult decisions. There was someone in the report saying she | :49:15. | :49:20. | |
would like to pay for better services, why should she not be | :49:20. | :49:26. | |
allowed do? I think Brighton are trying to save money at the expense | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
of the people who should be growing the way out of the recession, the | :49:31. | :49:35. | |
traders, those who generate money for the economy, those are not | :49:35. | :49:41. | |
people who should be penalised and this time. The traders are | :49:41. | :49:47. | |
benefiting from this because those on the waiting list will now pay | :49:47. | :49:54. | |
less for their parking. We are also allowing people to pay quarterly | :49:54. | :49:57. | |
which improves their cashflow situation. The grant that is being | :49:57. | :50:05. | |
offered is not free money. It would undermine our tax base. People | :50:05. | :50:10. | |
depend on our services for social care, education, that is what we | :50:10. | :50:16. | |
are trying to protect. These are massive cuts over many years until | :50:16. | :50:20. | |
20 team we are now hearing from George Osborne. There will be | :50:20. | :50:28. | |
yearly reductions in power funding. You are shaking your head but | :50:28. | :50:32. | |
wouldn't you secretly like to be standing up and saying this is | :50:32. | :50:38. | |
wrong, we want to spend money on services? People do want to spend | :50:38. | :50:44. | |
money on services and as we saw in the club people will pay money for | :50:44. | :50:48. | |
improved services. I see no evidence that paying more council | :50:48. | :50:54. | |
tax, paying more to park your car and more for you or allotment | :50:54. | :50:57. | |
coming from a Green Party in power is going to deliver improved | :50:57. | :51:04. | |
services. They are actually reducing some of their kerbside | :51:04. | :51:11. | |
recycling. Can you respond on be recycling and the trial of food | :51:11. | :51:18. | |
waste collection? We have not selected the location for the trial | :51:18. | :51:23. | |
yet. We will be selecting the location later on but we will be | :51:23. | :51:29. | |
trial in communal recycling, food waste collection. At a cost of half | :51:29. | :51:34. | |
a million pounds? That was an early estimate but we will be revising | :51:34. | :51:40. | |
that based on funding from the EU and the been fund. What about the | :51:40. | :51:44. | |
price of allotments? We are trying to protect those, at the moment we | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
have a subsidy but given the cuts we will not be able to maintain | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
that so we are trying to make allotments self sufficient in the | :51:54. | :52:00. | |
long term. We are actually saving �35 million in this to your budget | :52:00. | :52:04. | |
from the council. We are trying to find efficiencies. We have done | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
very well given the underspend in the current year. The other parties | :52:09. | :52:16. | |
can criticise all they want but how would the balance the budget? | :52:16. | :52:19. | |
our regular round-up of the political week in the South | :52:19. | :52:29. | |
:52:29. | :52:32. | ||
compressed into just 60 seconds. David Willetts started the week | :52:32. | :52:38. | |
rummaging in the undergrowth. He was checking out by technology at | :52:38. | :52:43. | |
Reading University. Super plants to feed the Third World. This will be | :52:43. | :52:48. | |
the next green revolution. It was all about the environment as the | :52:48. | :52:53. | |
courts ruled cuts in solar power subsidy were unlawful. And there | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
was plenty of wind power in Weymouth Bay as Richard Bennion | :52:59. | :53:06. | |
opened the first section of coastal path taking forward plans for | :53:06. | :53:12. | |
public ownership. It should be a great view for an Olympic sailing | :53:12. | :53:19. | |
but just along the coast guest houses are complaining that regular | :53:19. | :53:27. | |
customers are being put off the king. People may perhaps want to | :53:27. | :53:34. | |
come for up to three nights, perhaps it is a different market. | :53:34. | :53:41. | |
We packed a lot in. Dave Roberts is a secret show jumper, not a lot of | :53:41. | :53:47. | |
people know that. But not quite Olympic standard? Not quite Olympic | :53:48. | :53:57. | |
:53:58. | :54:00. | ||
standard. And Caroline, your sport is football, Portsmouth is in real | :54:00. | :54:08. | |
trouble, isn't it? It's not good. Do you think a community buy-out is | :54:08. | :54:12. | |
the answer? A at the moment the situation is so sensitive that we | :54:12. | :54:22. | |
do not how it will -- know how it will pan out. We do know the way it | :54:22. | :54:26. | |
can list an entire city when we go through promotion to the | :54:26. | :54:32. | |
Premiership. It lifts the general City spinet. To be in this | :54:32. | :54:40. | |
situation again is not a nice place to be. I think it is a great | :54:40. | :54:45. | |
sadness when football clubs find themselves in these situations. It | :54:45. | :54:49. | |
does seem to be rich men playing games with people's sporting | :54:49. | :54:53. | |
allegiances. It all gets horribly messy and I hope this is not going | :54:53. | :55:01. |