25/03/2012 Sunday Politics South


25/03/2012

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In the South: Taking out the trash. The

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government's offering councils extra money to bring back weekly

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bin collections. But will that encourage us to recycle more or

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1827 seconds

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Welcome to Sunday Politics South. My name's Peter Henley. On today's

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show: It may be rubbish to you and me,

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but to councils, it can be a real headache. We've had umpteen schemes

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trying to get us to recycle more and throw away less, and now the

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government's offering extra cash to bring back weekly collections.

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More on that later in the programme. First, let me introduce you to the

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politicians who'll be with me for the next 20 minutes. And in a small

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break with tradition on account of the Budget, we have three this week.

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George Hollingbery is the Conservative MP for Meon Valley,

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Gerald Vernon Jackson is the Lib Dem leader of Portsmouth City

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Council and Richard Williams is the leader of the Labour group on

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Southampton City Council. A senior Conservative told me what

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I thought was quite a good one liner after the Budget. He said,

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the reason that that they are getting rid of the warnings on the

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back of cigarette packets and making it a blank packet, it is not

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a healthy thing, it is so that they have got trim for the new policies

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the accolade -- the Coalition are dreaming up. The freeze on

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pensioners allowances did feel a little bit like that. I think times,

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as we know only too well, are very tough. There was a very complex set

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of release at the top of the tax system for pensioners. After quite

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a number of decades, is there any real reason why a pensioner should

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have a different personal allowance? So, it is revenue rising,

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not simplifying? It is clearly a combination of both. I do not think

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anybody would be wise if they said it was not about raising money.

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they make a mistake by not saying that? They think it might have been

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advisable to put it more on the table, but if you look into it, it

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does seem to me that pensioners have been protected in many ways

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across this budget on the previous few. And to take away a small have

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added that top end does not seem wildly unfair. There is a point in

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that. The baby boomers who are coming to retire now had a relief

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on their mortgages, have their tuition fees paid at university.

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Conveyor for this tax? I think it is completely the wrong choice at a

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time when we have, as a Government, the Government appears to be

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reducing tax for the very richest people in the country. Nothing

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against Wayne Rooney, but does he really needs another 50 of thousand

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pounds in every million pounds that he earns? One pensioners and people

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struggling are going to be hit. We were at the other day and it was

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raised by many people. They went out on Thursday. The amount of

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people who said, that is just the way this Government is. I think it

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is a wrong choice that a wrong time. If Labour is not like that, why

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would the 50 pence rate not go back in the manifesto? I'm sure when I

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speak to him, I will be suggesting that. Even if it raises more money?

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Would you say, no, go back to 50p? It certainly needs to be raised and

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discussed. The Liberal Democrats have been saying, we have got the

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mansion tax. We have got the tycoon tax. They have not. What

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concessions have you got? Are a thing two concessions. The first is

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taking 2 million people out of tax, the people at the very bottom of

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the pile Hoare of learning... Conservatives like that? Absolutely.

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I'm glad we have been able to persuade the Government do that. We

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have also persuaded the Government to reduce taxes for 21 million

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people in are the country. I think that is extremely good. I do not

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like everything in the Budget. what you not like? A I would have

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cut the 50 pence tax rate. If you have done that and maybe offered

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him more to people at the end of the scale? In all these things, you

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have to have a debate. The issue, even though it is important for the

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image of the 50 pence tax rate, so that people realise everybody has

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to pay it, but it actually was not a very effective tax. It did not

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bring in very much money. If we are going to increase the stamp duty on

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homes, very expensive homes, to 7%, that is probably a reasonable thing

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to do. But the image of it is the problem. Is the Coalition and

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stronger after this Budget? I think it is stronger by default in that

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everyone has nailed their colours to the mast. They are part of the

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Government. This is not a difference between, we have got

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this out of the Government. They are part of the Government. Adair

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would say about the 45p tax rate, instinctively, all politicians at

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the moment want to leave it where it does. But I really want to go

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out and talk about people -- talk to people about reducing the top

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rate of tax? No, I do not. But, surely the right thing to do is put

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the tax rate at the point where it raises the most money. That is the

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problem we are facing. Politically, it would have been terribly easy

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for George Osborne to turn round and say, it is not the right time.

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It is raising �500 million. Has he done the brave thing here? I think

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it is the wrong thing to do. The humour of the optimum level for tax,

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I believe that is �48. everybody seems to have a different

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version. I think the �50 level sent a message that if you were more,

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you pay more. That people want to avoid tax, this is what no one has

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talked about, why are you wanting to be part of the United Kingdom?

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If you would be part of the United Kingdom and the won �150,000 a year,

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you have a legal and moral responsibility to pay their tax. If

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you want to have provided, then live abroad. What we need to be

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making sure is that the attack that -- cut down on tax havens. People

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should be paying tax on everything. That has been a real feeling for

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decades, that we have not cracked the issue of tax havens. What about

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regional pay? Do you think that is a good idea that we should be able

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to pay more on the south from we have got shortages? It is a real

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complexity. There are going to be at odds effects throughout the

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country if you put that in place. They have been talking about the

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difficulties we have more depressed areas like a bigger cities against

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wealthier areas and how that most staff around. But the simple fact

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is that in parts of the north-east, the public sector is the but for --

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biggest employer. It depresses private business. They cannot

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compete to get the best people because the public sector pay is

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higher than they can afford. provide flexibility. Would you be

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in favour of it gravlax certainly. But we have to be careful how we

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implemented. It is a very dangerous policy to step on. The hall purpose

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-- the whole purpose is that we try to work together in local

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Government so that for the worry health worker or a social worker in

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Newcastle or Portsmouth or Southampton, you will pay for the

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same job. That is what this is about. Is someone in Newcastle poor

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is looking after vulnerable children worth less than somebody

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looking after vulnerable children in Portsmouth? They are being paid

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more in Newcastle because the cost of living is less. Everybody should

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be treated the same for the same job. There are other factors. There

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are housing differences. There are economic differences. Where do you

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draw the line? Is the wrong thing to do. It is sending the wrong

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message that you what was more in this part of the country than in

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that part of the country. It is the job that they perform which is

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equally important as in Newcastle as anyone else. The practical

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problems with a target when you break things into small units and

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negotiate, the employers tend to be pushed up to pay more.

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Buckinghamshire broke away from the local-government pay deal which all

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councils are normally done, and they have ended up paying more than

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the surrounding areas. I think is good news for people who want to

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push up pay for people in the public sector, it is bad news for

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those who have to run the businesses. If you keep up pay

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rates high in places like the north-east, you make that sector

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much larger and in difficult times like we are facing, the public

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sector has to pay less and spend less and you automatically make

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things more difficult. Do you devalue the work that people do in

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different parts of the country if you give them different pay rates?

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How do you judge house prices? According to Eric Pickles, having

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your bins emptied every week is a basic right. He's so keen on it

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that he's offering �250 million to help councils bring back weekly

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collections. But the department won't say how many have expressed

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an interest. The deadline for that was ten days ago. And anyway, as

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Tiffany Foster reports, there are almost as many different schemes

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for taking out the trash as there It is all rather a mess. A lot of

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people do not know what is going on. The beauty of local Government is

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that each council, and they are locally elected and are able to

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choose which system of collection may think their residents like.

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just wish that we could do it a In the past 20 years, what we throw

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away and how we deal with waste has changed dramatically. Things like

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landfill tax, improved ways to recycle rubbish has meant big

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changes in the way we think about It's exceedingly confusing,

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especially if you live in Berkshire. Here, the unitary authorities act

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independently of each other. Every one has a collection and disposal

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system slightly different to the neighbouring one.

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In Reading, they're sticking to fortnightly collections. So it's

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general rubbish one week and recycling the next. So you get a

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grey bin, a red bin and a green bin, and it's free.

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In West Berkshire, they also collect on alternate weeks. So one

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week it's the black bin for general rubbish, the next it's a green box

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for bottles and glass, card and paper. A green sack for plastics

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and tin, a green bin for food waste and a green bin for garden waste.

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And it's all free. In Wokingham, it's weekly

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collections. So it's black bags, soon to be blue bags, black boxes

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for recycling, green sacks, soon to be brown bins, for garden waste,

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but this will now cost you �60. There's no food waste collection or

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Long-time residents like Peter Teague in Wokingham have embraced

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the changes. But the latest round is a step too far. It is ridiculous.

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I cannot believe that something that was working so well, they

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divided into three separate sections and three different bits

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of organisation. It seems madness. The solution is simple, the council

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insists. Households should just throw away less. We need to reduce

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that down to about 8.8 kilograms per property per week. We have

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introduced our blue Agnes scheme which gives a residents' eight blue

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bags, 6,400 litres a year that they can use throughout the year. That

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is equivalent to more 8240 litre wheelie bin ends at every fortnight.

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-- emptied every fortnight. What a lot of numbers. But do the

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figures really add up? Local opposition group councillors think

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not. The intention is right but I do not understand it how just

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providing people with a tea bags a year for their normal rubbish is

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going to make the rest of the rubbish away. They are predicting a

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20% reduction in the amount of landfill waste, but they are not

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saying how they're going to get people to will throw us away.

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Looming large over all of this is the Secretary of State Eric

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Pickles' promise of cash for councils who bring back weekly

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collections. Since even some Tory councils have rejected this, it

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begs the question, is this all a You are going to tell me that the

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way they collected in Portsmouth is the best way, but, you are, aren't

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you? A I'm going to say it is right for Portsmouth. It might not be

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right for somewhere else. But Sydney is not right for Wokingham.

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Surely all these ideas are always full. But everybody adopted the

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same, it would be more efficient. But Manchester is a rural area.

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Portsmouth is different. We are a city. We have got terraced streets,

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block of flats. They have got to work out a system. In Portsmouth,

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we have cut the weekly rubbish collection. I take the point about

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the city and the country, but that man said it is wasteful, ridiculous,

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badness. Difficult for people to get their heads around. I do not

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think it does. People manage to make it work reasonably well. In

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each local area, we can work out what is right. While it is a Eric

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Pickles spending all this money, so determined to get the weekly

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collection? Is it one of those promises he made that has come to

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regret? I agree this is a local matter. It is entirely down to

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local councils tooth of the issue of the way they see fit. That is

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what local Government is for. While this does -- Willey's different

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schemes? It is down to local councils to resource and spend the

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money the way babies it -- they said, the way they see fit. If Eric

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Pickles wants to make money available to help them make choices,

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let them make their choices. But what I have to say, when I was a

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councillor, it was put in by a weekly collections. One is

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recycling and won his domestic refuge. There were a few teething

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problems, but on the hall, everybody thinks it is fine.

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know how much people care about their rubbish. During the strike,

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it piled up. People in Southampton would like the council to collect

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the waist. They have not done that. The Tory administration has been

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rubbish about it. They have caused so much anger and dissatisfaction.

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I think it was the strike. He will -- we will decide whether your

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wallet to the strike or not. There are some leaflets around

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Southampton. They are not made by us, they are made by the Tories.

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They are pointing out that people were very unhappy about the strike

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when the pins were not collected. They quite rightly want their bins

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emptied. This council cannot guarantee to do that. But the

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Labour take control, we will take the bins when there should be taken.

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Are they being properly corrected? What you think about weekly

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collections? In Southampton, there are more ready weekly collections.

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We are excluded from that process already. But as a bit of a non-

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issue. We bid to get some money out of it on the basis that we went to

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keep the weekly collections. dear. Competition.

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Now our regular roundup of the political week in the South in 60

:48:28.:48:38.
:48:38.:48:42.

Well to police brought in night- vision goggles this week to crack

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down on the spate of midnight vegetable threat -- fest. The

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parish council paid for the far- sighted solution. Winchester City

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Council had to apologise after a 1000 people were sent someone

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else's personal information along with council tax bills. And

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Wiltshire and Dorset buses are struggling with a fuel bill of

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nearly �1 million. Fares will rise substantially. The three Armed

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forces combine to sign a covenant on Wednesday for better treatment

:49:11.:49:16.

from Portsmouth council. It can be about getting on to the local GP

:49:16.:49:20.

waiting list of getting to see a dentist. And sometimes, that can be

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more difficult for servicemen and women and their families.

:49:24.:49:30.

Dorset MP for got his military training. He was late on parade.

:49:30.:49:33.

But the Speaker called in for a question about rescue helicopter

:49:33.:49:43.
:49:43.:49:45.

When you have got a complaint to the boss on his big day on budget

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day, it is best to be in the right place. A indeed. I was sitting

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right next to him. Slightly awkward moment. He was a bit embarrassed.

:49:54.:49:59.

The military Government. The roll- out was plain that. It was not the

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case at all. Surely, if you are signing an agreement with these

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people, what you're doing is saying, we will give you some extra

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treatment. A no, it is saying we will work hard with the military

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and military families to try and make sure that they get the

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services. They are different from other people. But we need to be in

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tune with that and work with them. A whole series of things we can do.

:50:20.:50:24.

We can try to make sure all schools across the country recognise that

:50:24.:50:27.

same this families and children need different things. Put a line

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in the Ofsted report on every school things, how what we working

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with service families? You are not doing that with other groups of

:50:34.:50:37.

people. He won not saying you will find a special way of dealing with

:50:38.:50:42.

them. We have lots of different groups and we work for them in

:50:42.:50:45.

different ways. Council house tenants are a different group. We

:50:45.:50:48.

would be them differently. The elderly get a different service. It

:50:48.:50:51.

is Trent Bridge sure we do not provide exactly the same for

:50:51.:50:54.

everybody because that does not work. Service families have

:50:54.:50:58.

particularly needs that we'd be recognised. There was extra money

:50:58.:51:02.

for the military in the Budget. Indeed. There was money for

:51:02.:51:06.

refurbishing service accommodation and dealing with Council Tax what's

:51:06.:51:09.

the men are a way fighting. There is a clear recognition from the

:51:09.:51:13.

Government that more needs to be done. He managed to get a good play

:51:13.:51:23.

again for the Labour campaign and the local election in a Southampton.

:51:23.:51:27.

His the effect going to make a difference? Obviously. A very

:51:27.:51:32.

tragic situation. All credit to everybody involved in overpowering

:51:32.:51:36.

what was obviously a very deranged individual. All credit for people

:51:36.:51:41.

involved. Just thinking about this local elections which are coming,

:51:41.:51:46.

is it going to be difficult? They are never easy. You have good days

:51:46.:51:52.

and you have not so good days. Thank you very much for being are

:51:52.:51:55.

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