11/03/2012 Sunday Politics South

In the south: we remember the servicemen and women injured

overseas but do we forget their families? One charity says

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1806 seconds

Welcome to Sunday Politics South. On today's show: the creative

industries earn billions for the country but the number of places to

train as an art teacher are going down, while maths and physics are

going up. First let me introduce might guesss,

Mike Hancock is the Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth and David Willetts is

the Conservative MP and minister for universities and science. This

week there has been talking Portsmouth about the worry of the

warships that have been built there and perhaps they should not be

concentrating on Scotland with the Scotland trying to get more

independence. That is not the issue. The issue is whether or not we keep

shipbuilding in Portsmouth and that is what we are all fighting for and

that is what the council and workforce and the majority of

people in South Hampshire, they want to retain the capability of

building ships for the Royal Navy in the port in Portsmouth.

people talk about the nuclear submarines which provide a huge

amount of employment in Scotland, would they still stay with

independence? They are built in Barrow and maintained in Scotland.

The nuclear submarines are a different issue because of the

nature of the project. Navy warships should be built in the UK.

I am appalled that we have led the contract go off to be bowled in

Korea, it is a disaster for the country. Not worried about the

Scots? There is an issue. It cannot be in one location. He is being

very statesmanlike but the fact is the Lib Dem leader of Portsmouth

council said because they are having a referendum the Scots

should not be able to carry on with the level of building. That is

dangerous to approach the referendum. We don't want English

Verses Scots., a you see this problem because you are the

Minister for English universities and not Scottish ones and those

Scottish universities have a different policy. I am the Minister

for teaching in universities in England and the fees regime but I

am the Minister for Research and science. We look to invest in the

places where science is best. I think we are stronger... Is it

getting messy all of this stuff or can you cope with it? We can make

it work. In areas like defence and science and research where we are a

United Kingdom where we work together as a union and we don't

stop playing of England versus Scotland.

Four we had a sad reminder this week of the human costs of our

military interventions with the death of six soldiers in

Afghanistan. Those costss are borne by the families of killed and

injured service personnel. Joining me is someone who knows what those

costs can be. Julia Moloney is the mother of a serviceman wounded in

Afghanistan and she has set up a support group to help other

families in the same situation. It is called the report pond. Why is

that? One that was when Anthony was injured, it felt like it was the

stone into the pond and the reports buried in sizes depending on the

closeness of asked to Anthony. Conversely now I want to make this

go in the other way, so that I meet someone who comes from sate East

Grinstead or Tunbridge Wells and they then set up their own little

group there and they meet someone in Kent. I am in Brighton at the

moment. I had a mother in all 10, if someone else from Chichester,

they might think they can set up they might think they can set up

their own support group. They need is just for spouses, mothers and

fathers, brothers and sisters? Absolutely. Grandparents. Or the

closely related family members. Perhaps the: -- only when I would

not include would be children of the injured person. For a child to

witness its mother, on-call or something, expressing that may not

be helpful for the child. But any family member is welcome. The six

deaths just highlight for the country and it was so quiet in the

House of Commons when people were paying tribute. Just highlight the

dangers faced by people going out there. It, the whole time your

child is a way, your husband or wife, it is just eight continual

high level of tension and perhaps for the people on the patches they

have the support of the patch. For the mothers, brothers, sisters, be

extended family not on the patch, it can be very lonely during that

time. I can walk down the road and nobody will know that my son was

there or is about to be fair. just need that person you can talk

to. Absolutely. We heard -- we hear that news of the casualty and as a

mother I hope I would here before the press, but I note that my son,

his wife won here before the press does and hopefully she will tell me.

Your heart goes out to those six families now. And the others, those

going out facing those dangers. Julia was involved in this pre-

deployment briefing power that so that service families could have a

point of contact. Is there more the government could be doing? There is

always more and certainly we need to support initiatives like Julia's

but if you look at what we do now by way of support for people in

these circumstances, it has got a lot better and the Ministry of

Defence does try to be compassionate and understanding in

these difficult circumstances in which families find themselves.

have come a long way in the last 10 years. The situation today is

dramatically different to what it was. But there are still a need and

Julia's point about the family being involved prior to the

department is very important, so they understand what is expected of

their sons and daughters who are going and they can read for

themselves the issues their children will face. I am delighted

at the setting up of this and I am sure there is a continuous need for

it. To many, for the six who died there will be 60 seriously injured

and they will be living with that and so will their families. Many of

these soldiers coming back are in medical treatment for several years

and that is a huge burden that has to be shared amongst the family.

Anything that can give the family the support they need, the better.

Politicians are not in uniform but you are in the chain of command.

His was something you take seriously? It is one of the most

important decisions that anybody takes in politics and certainly the

discussions we had about Libya before the decision we should

provide air cover, the Prime Minister, we had everything from

the Attorney-General giving legal advice and we could all sense this

was not like a normal cabinet, there were serious decisions being

taken. Julia, two politicians here, how do you feel that your corner is

being defended? The families are being supported? I know that the

MoD and all the service charities do everything they can for the

families and I had absolutely 100 % faith in that. What I think is

needed now and maybe it is already there, but the welfare office in

Birmingham if they could produce something similar to a pre-

deployment pack that is handed to all family members who come to

visit their injured lock one, with a list of all those weary head of

services that are waiting to help you, the Data Protection Act

prevents them. We are stymied by that and there is a way around it.

Thank you for coming in and telling us about it.

Students due to start their postgraduate Certificate in

Education course in Art at Oxford Brookes University are being told

the court has been dropped. The university says it has had to

cancel it because of government cuts. It is a pattern mirrored

across the country as the government ships more places up

towards academic subjects. -- shifts. There is a kaleidoscope

of creativity in the studios as Oxford Brookes Universities final

year degree students prepare for their end-of-term show. For 3 years

they have been sculpting, sketching and studying their way towards a

qualification in fine art. On a course at Oxford Brookes, one of

the best but what happens when they finish? Rebecca Herreros was

planning to stay on at Oxford Brookes and had been interviewed

for a place on the university's art PGCE. The one-year training course

that would allow her to become a teacher. And told she was told it

had been cancelled. Very disappointed especially because my

second, third and 4th choices had failed so I cannot apply for

another PGCE until next year. I ever feeling disappointed and lost

as to what to do when I graduate. The University blamed government

cuts. I came into my degree in with this as my and gold. I had a son

and I wanted to become a teacher. I think it is really important that

children are taught art in the curriculum. They made me feel quite

down and even with our contribution of �9,000 for our fees, it is not

viable for teaching to go ahead. They gave me the idea that it would

not be reinstated next year or in the future. But why Rebecca's hopes

of teaching are put on hold, that is not the case for everyone. In

fact, Oxford Brookes University has been given funding by the

government to offer more students places on PGCE courses across the

board next year and art as a subject nationally is seeing an

increase in the number of PGCE places available. Why our courses

still being cut? Over the past three years the government's

Training and Development Agency has gradually been reducing the number

of courses it allows in the arts, preferring instead to put money in

other subjects and indeed at Brookes they are hopping --

offering more places in physics and maths. The university declined our

requests for the interview but said continuing to one of its art course

would be unworkable. It is a sign of the tougher environment the art

has become. Jobs have diminished as students are where they will have

to be increasingly business-minded. It is not good enough to just be an

artist. It is naive if you can't have a business background to

succeed but there are people who would prefer it just come to them,

they presume they should be getting that rather than working twice as

hard in this economic climate. Rebecca and her colleagues are

about to graduate in a different climate to the one in which they

began. Nevertheless they want the government to recognise the

importance of art. The Creative Industry within the UK brings in a

huge amount of revenue. We are world leaders in creative arts, so

I think it is short-sighted to write of the art as something that

is a luxury. Oxford Brookes say everything is

controlled by the teacher and Development Agency. The allocation

fell from 14 to five. They will be working with local schools to

achieve qualified teaching status. That is not the gold standard that

you would expect from somewhere like Oxford Brookes. We tried to

get a statement from the Department the business they said it was a

matter for the Department of Education. They referred us to the

T D A. Are you happy with this? don't know about the exact position

this university took but the background is two crucial Trent --

trends. There is a decline in those in secondary school age taking the

subject and when it comes to the choices of those students, there

has been a surge in applications for some of those applications like

-- subject like physics and chemistry. They therefore have to

plan the teacher Training for the patterns of demand for the students.

If you have a decline for students applying to do the science and

technology to -- supporters, you have to train your teachers. It is

a clear pattern of what the students are choosing. My wife is

an artist and I am completely probe the arts but people planning the

teacher training have to take the decisions of individual students

into account. Creative arts, surely that is the winner for the economy?

Of course it is. It helps to build the real cocktail of life

experiences we all want to share and these young artists will

produce things we will all appreciate or dislike but they

bring a difference to the quality of life that we all expect. And we

need good art teachers? Absolutely. To give kids at school the real

inspiration they need somebody who has been through that sort of

background, who comes to the subject with a real thirst for it

not somebody who has been told, next year you will be the art teach

as well without having the qualifications. I think this is a

clear example of where we will regret some of the issues that have

come up and the diminishing of the offer of creative arts is a real

chance for people to enjoy a university careers with a thought

for future ahead, which offers something to communities as a whole.

Will be Brian Cox effect swing too far? We have to see what students

choose. Nobody is talking about taking a teacher who is trained in

maths and saying, you are going to be the art teacher. We have a lot

of our teachers and then we look at the pattern of A-levels people are

choosing, we have to make sure the same goes for the physics teacher,

that when you are choosing to do your physics A-level, you have

someone with the background. We are wasting talents it seems. I do

agree with Mike on the importance of art, but we have to take into

account what the students are choosing. It will be very hard to

rebuild a course like this. Once it goes it is lost for ever. Now our

round-up of the political week in the south. We have a theme to do

with travel and holidays. Four in 60 seconds.

-- or in 60 seconds. Bournemouth has beaten Italy and Portugal to be

voted one of Europe's favourite beaches. MP to buyers Ellwood said

the trip it buys a survey of was a tremendous honour. If you're

thinking of jetting off abroad, Gatwick unions are worried about

how much time the flight crews are getting. It criticises European

have plans for 14 our duty periods. The current changes being proposed

do not follow the science or listening to what the pilots are

telling us. A force to stop work, people in Remploy factories. Maria

Miller explained the closures. These are difficult decisions. The

current system is not working for disabled people. West Sussex is

making it easier to work from home with 90 % of the county being

covered by super-fast broadband. And schools minister Nick Gibbs

saved himself a trip to Venezuela by checking out a South American

teaching system in Surrey. That music system is fantastic.

Everybody has got to do it. It is compulsory. You have heard about

this. I have seen the benefits in schools. I think giving people the

opportunity to hold an instrument, play an instrument, appreciate

music is one of the best tips they could ever received at school.

you can't do everything? The curriculum has to be whole. What

you can do is defined the subjects that are essential for ensuring you

have very good options for university but have these baits for

the art, drama, photography, for all the extras. It is very

important we allow that in the curriculum and the government