:01:36. > :01:41.In the south: It is on your bacon Reading as they roll out their
:01:41. > :01:51.version of London's Boris Bikes scheme. We would be enough to cut
:01:51. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :35:14.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2002 seconds
:35:14. > :35:18.Welcome to Sunday Politics. My name is Peter Henley. And today's
:35:18. > :35:22.programme, it is on your bike in Berkshire as London's cycle hire
:35:22. > :35:30.scheme comes to Reading, matey ease the town's notorious traffic
:35:30. > :35:34.problems. But will it? First, let's meet in two politicians who will be
:35:34. > :35:41.with me. Annette because the Liberal Democrat MP for Dorset and
:35:41. > :35:45.Bull, and we have big Conservative MP for Meon Valley.
:35:45. > :35:52.-- the Conservative MP. Are you looking forward to the
:35:52. > :35:58.party conferences or the police commissioner elections beyond?
:35:58. > :36:00.Annette, is this a turning point for the Liberal Democrats? It is an
:36:00. > :36:05.important conference halfway through the parliament. We have
:36:05. > :36:09.very many difficult positions to make, and it is really important
:36:09. > :36:13.because we have really engaged with our membership at party conference
:36:13. > :36:19.this. And they want you to strike out from your coalition partner us.
:36:20. > :36:22.Some of them do, some of them are there to support us, and I think
:36:22. > :36:27.people learn a lot of the conference, more about the reasons
:36:27. > :36:30.why we have taken certain decisions, which is important. Some of the
:36:31. > :36:34.most important sessions are where ministers address the conference
:36:34. > :36:37.and explain what they have been doing, and I think there is a
:36:38. > :36:42.greater understanding, but it is an exciting pivotal conference because
:36:42. > :36:46.we are looking forward to the next general election where we will have
:36:46. > :36:49.a set of Liberal Democrat policies going into the election, and at
:36:49. > :36:53.this conference, this is not saying that we are at odds with the
:36:53. > :36:59.coalition, but this is what we will be saying in her next manifesto for.
:36:59. > :37:07.Before we get to the general election, the Police Commissioner
:37:07. > :37:13.election. We have the core of the by-election on the same day. --
:37:13. > :37:16.Corby. We need enough people to come out and give it credibility.
:37:16. > :37:21.It is a very important post, and the first chance the public has had
:37:21. > :37:28.to influence policing locally. It is our job to make it appealing to
:37:28. > :37:31.people to go to the ballot box. We have two independent candidates, so
:37:31. > :37:36.there are plenty of interest -- there is plenty of interest from
:37:36. > :37:44.the park is. And plenty for us to talk about. We already knew that
:37:44. > :37:50.this year's university intake would be a hit with higher fees, but they
:37:50. > :37:53.were also hit with tougher low- grade Mark King. Then the
:37:53. > :38:03.government introduced a cap on the number of students with lower
:38:03. > :38:08.
:38:08. > :38:11.grades than a -- than AAB and they could take on. Don Nutbeam, the
:38:11. > :38:15.Chancellor of Southampton University, has been outspoken
:38:16. > :38:18.about that. It was complicated to explain, so it must have been
:38:18. > :38:24.complicated for you to match the applications with the number of
:38:24. > :38:28.people are you could take. Yes, it has been a very disappointing year.
:38:28. > :38:34.A lot of the Russell Group universities, the best universities
:38:34. > :38:37.in the country, have been unable to allow talented students with good
:38:37. > :38:40.A-level results and to the university this year because of a
:38:40. > :38:47.combination of miscalculation in terms of the numbers of students
:38:47. > :38:55.who might get higher A-level grades. Miscalculation by them? By the
:38:55. > :38:59.Higher Education Council for England. And some miscalculation by
:38:59. > :39:03.the Government in terms of their thinking about how the new market
:39:03. > :39:08.would work for universities. The result of this is that universities
:39:08. > :39:11.like mine have had to turn away well-qualified candidates who, last
:39:11. > :39:18.year we would have happily taken, next year we will again be able to
:39:18. > :39:21.take, so it has been a tough year for us. It has been difficult for
:39:21. > :39:25.these 18 year-olds who have had to face larger fees for the first time
:39:26. > :39:30.but have also seen pretty tough A- level marking. Is that part of the
:39:30. > :39:38.way that this seems to have gone wrong? It is very hard to save. I
:39:38. > :39:44.cannot say because the A-level marking is beyond our control. Last
:39:44. > :39:52.year there were 96,000 students who got the recommended grades, and
:39:52. > :39:58.this year there were 79,000 students. Are there fewer students
:39:58. > :40:04.come in through anyway? There were fewer last year, and the people who
:40:04. > :40:09.might have taken a gap year last year decided not to because of the
:40:09. > :40:14.increase in fees. But a duty to university like ours, we had 30,000
:40:15. > :40:18.applications for 5,000 places. So there is still huge interest which
:40:18. > :40:22.cannot be met. How much money have you lost, how many fewer students
:40:22. > :40:27.are you getting man you would have want it? Very difficult to say, it
:40:27. > :40:31.would depend on how many turn up and drop out in the first few weeks.
:40:31. > :40:36.But it is hundreds, and that is the same for several other of the
:40:36. > :40:40.country's leading universities. I cannot believe that this is what
:40:40. > :40:44.the coalition had in mind when they put in place the policies they have,
:40:44. > :40:47.that they are not allowed in order enabling students with talent who
:40:47. > :40:52.otherwise would have got into a university, to do so for. There was
:40:52. > :40:56.a letter in last week's papers from your academics saying you need to
:40:56. > :41:06.be clear about what has gone wrong. How clear can you make this?
:41:06. > :41:07.
:41:07. > :41:11.think I am making this very clear, there were miscalculations and as a
:41:11. > :41:17.consequence, the Times Higher aged creation supplement estimated there
:41:17. > :41:20.are probably 50,000 fewer people in English universities. -- the Times
:41:20. > :41:23.Higher Education Supplement. There are massive changes occurring that
:41:24. > :41:30.I do not think were fully anticipated by the Government when
:41:30. > :41:36.it set in places policy. This is a bit of a car crash, isn't it?
:41:36. > :41:41.would concur that you have got two very big changes in one year.
:41:41. > :41:44.we should have done them one at a time? They did go hand in hand, and
:41:44. > :41:48.I think there was a general signing up to the policy. If there has been
:41:48. > :41:52.a miscalculation on the expectation with the A-level grades then that
:41:52. > :41:59.is difficult to build into the picture, but the important thing is
:41:59. > :42:02.that we have not seen the mass turning off of applications to do
:42:02. > :42:06.with the fees, which was my greatest fear. I passionately want
:42:06. > :42:12.to be sure that people from working-class backgrounds get to
:42:12. > :42:18.university, and the early indications are that that group has
:42:18. > :42:22.not been affected. Was the cost any part of this? In terms of student
:42:22. > :42:29.behaviour? Yes, you said some were put off and did not take a gap year,
:42:30. > :42:33.but more the mad? It is difficult to say. We are too soon into the
:42:33. > :42:37.cycle. I would say that a lot of young people that apply to come to
:42:37. > :42:42.university this year had already made a decision to do A-levels and
:42:42. > :42:48.go to university before the government introduced this. Our
:42:48. > :42:58.fear is that we have not yet begun to see the effect of the change in
:42:58. > :42:58.
:42:58. > :43:05.policy, and we will not see it for another couple of years. We do not
:43:05. > :43:09.know yet. And now we have changes to GCSE exams and a tougher marking
:43:09. > :43:17.that is being called for. This is really shaking things up at a time
:43:17. > :43:22.where we need trained graduates. The figures show quite clearly that
:43:22. > :43:26.the actual drop in applications that has occurred is about 1% of
:43:26. > :43:31.the existing population. There are fewer 18-year-old us there -- than
:43:31. > :43:34.there were so there will be less people at university. But those
:43:34. > :43:37.from middle wealthy backgrounds have applied much less than those
:43:37. > :43:40.from the poorer backgrounds, which says to me that there is a
:43:40. > :43:42.calculation going on here. I think the message has gone through to
:43:43. > :43:45.people at the bottom end of the spectrum that there is a lot of
:43:45. > :43:53.help for you if you are somebody who struggles with cash and who's
:43:53. > :43:56.going to struggle to pay off these loans, the graduate tax. The
:43:56. > :43:59.Institute for Fiscal Studies has made it clear that this is a more
:43:59. > :44:02.progressive system than the previous one, it is easier to pay
:44:02. > :44:06.back, you will have less to pay back, and you have to earn more
:44:06. > :44:09.before you pay anything back. It has been very carefully thought
:44:09. > :44:13.through. I do not think we will see the drop-off, I think we will see
:44:13. > :44:16.people being more careful about which university they choose, they
:44:16. > :44:24.will start to look good value for money and the student body will
:44:24. > :44:27.have to have more control over what the universities offer. Can I say,
:44:28. > :44:31.it is really important that universities and everybody gets the
:44:31. > :44:36.message over that students do not have to pay fees up front. That is
:44:36. > :44:41.really important. And the system works, so you get the people into
:44:41. > :44:48.university who need it to. That is the critical point for me. I do
:44:48. > :44:54.agree, we have not yet done a good enough job in communicating what
:44:54. > :44:59.the advantages are of a particular loan system, if we have a system
:44:59. > :45:07.that require students to pay �9,000 fees. Thank you.
:45:07. > :45:09.But the Liberal Democrats kicking of their conference in Brighton, I
:45:09. > :45:13.caught up with the Deputy Prime Minister.
:45:13. > :45:18.When you arrive at the conference, you will be greeted by Sussex
:45:18. > :45:21.Police who are getting rid of 1,000 staff. Nearly half of those police
:45:21. > :45:25.officers. But in your manifesto you promised to increase the number of
:45:25. > :45:28.policemen on the beat. We have asked the police to make some
:45:28. > :45:37.savings, and what we're doing by working with Sussex Police and
:45:37. > :45:45.other police forces is to make sure that whilst they pay their -- play
:45:45. > :45:49.their role in achieving the savings, we do so and a way that does not
:45:49. > :45:53.hit the absolute need for the police to keep us safe. Thankfully,
:45:53. > :45:58.crime rates have been coming down. The performance of the police has
:45:58. > :46:02.remained a strong as a birth. it carry on? I go back to your
:46:02. > :46:05.manifesto which said that you would have 3,000 police on the beat, and
:46:05. > :46:15.you said you would pay for it by getting rid of national identity
:46:15. > :46:22.
:46:22. > :46:26.cards. They have gone. Why do the police not... We needed to find
:46:26. > :46:30.savings. Yes we have asked the police to play a part in this as
:46:30. > :46:36.well. He promised to deliver a more affordable homes. Is the economy to
:46:36. > :46:39.blame their? We are delivering more affordable homes. We have set aside
:46:39. > :46:48.�4 billion which will deliver thousands upon thousands of
:46:48. > :46:54.affordable homes. More than that, we have announced that the we will
:46:54. > :47:01.put up �10 billion worth of guarantees which will -- we will
:47:01. > :47:06.offer to local residents in the South which will help them build
:47:06. > :47:11.more affordable and social homes. No apology on affordable homes or
:47:11. > :47:20.police numbers? But you apologised for her tuition fees. What we
:47:20. > :47:22.didn't tuition fees was different. We said we would fought against a
:47:22. > :47:27.rising tuition fees under any circumstances in the parliament. I
:47:27. > :47:35.have put my hands up, we made a mistake, but that was wrong. But no
:47:35. > :47:41.more apologies for. On affordable housing we have got a good records
:47:41. > :47:49.and we unveiled ambitious policies to boost this. It is great we are
:47:49. > :47:52.finally cracking the problem which Labour ducked for so many years.
:47:52. > :47:56.Many of the things in the manifesto have to depend on what money was
:47:56. > :48:05.available to us. We are very clear about that in the man Avesta.
:48:05. > :48:08.Thank you. -- in the manifesto. The number of families in bed-and-
:48:08. > :48:13.breakfast accommodation is by three-quarters over last year. That
:48:13. > :48:18.cannot be right, can it? No, and we had a decade where the number of
:48:19. > :48:26.social housing units has fallen. 420,000 less. Are things improving
:48:26. > :48:29.your it? The simple fact is that we have announced social housing is
:48:29. > :48:38.that we have taken money out of large commercial housing
:48:38. > :48:41.developments to put land in place. But those sites are not coming
:48:41. > :48:45.forward because of the financial situation, and subsequently we are
:48:45. > :48:51.not building social homes. There is plenty cash available, and there
:48:51. > :48:59.are many schemes allowing banks to be more liberal about who they are
:48:59. > :49:03.funding, which will hopefully make a difference. I looked at the
:49:03. > :49:07.affordability statistics in Sheffield and writing, and the
:49:07. > :49:16.income is about the same, about �19,000 average income, but the
:49:16. > :49:22.cost of the house is twice as much, 278,000, compared to Sheffield. You
:49:22. > :49:26.cannot sort that out quickly, can you? No, you cannot. But there are
:49:26. > :49:30.a lot of measures in place now. They clearly need a much bigger
:49:30. > :49:34.boost, people are right when they say investing in the construction
:49:34. > :49:39.industry, getting that moving, that is good for the whole economy and
:49:39. > :49:42.everybody. At the confidence we will be talking about this, because
:49:42. > :49:48.we have an even bolder policy, but this Government has already taken
:49:48. > :49:51.important steps, for example bringing empty homes and use, over
:49:51. > :49:54.750,000 empty properties across the country and nearly one-quarter of a
:49:54. > :50:01.million and two over six months. The last government did more or
:50:01. > :50:03.less nothing. We have got that moving in some very good schemes.
:50:03. > :50:07.We look forward to that policy announcement.
:50:07. > :50:10.They have taken off a big way and London, and the biggest bike hire
:50:10. > :50:14.scheme outside the capital is going to be coming to the south. It is
:50:14. > :50:18.early days for Reading's version of Boris Bikes, but the hope is that
:50:18. > :50:28.regular commuters and casual cyclists will swap four wheels for
:50:28. > :50:29.
:50:29. > :50:39.two. How does this fit into the Anyone who has been to Reading
:50:39. > :50:41.
:50:41. > :50:46.In just one hour during the morning commute, 40,000 vehicles are
:50:46. > :50:51.competing for space to get into the town. At the same time, some 20,000
:50:51. > :50:55.cyclists are getting on their bikes are breeding.
:50:55. > :50:59.-- every day. Everyone wants to move around the
:50:59. > :51:04.same time every day. Everyone wants to get into work for around 9am,
:51:04. > :51:09.and their leading around 5:00pm in the afternoon. We are all moving
:51:09. > :51:16.around at the same time. That is our daily challenge for. Now, the
:51:16. > :51:19.so-called Boris Bikes scheme is coming to town. It is a modest sum
:51:19. > :51:24.to higher abide by the day, week or year, and cycle anywhere in the
:51:24. > :51:30.capital using 350 docking points. It is sponsored unpopular with 9
:51:31. > :51:36.million trips since its launch two years ago.
:51:36. > :51:39.In Reading, the Labour-run council will use part of �21 million from
:51:39. > :51:42.the Government's Local Sustainable Transport Fund to pay for the
:51:42. > :51:48.scheme. We are looking at a roll-out of
:51:49. > :51:54.about 500 bicycle hire in Reading. Initially 200 will be located at
:51:54. > :51:58.key points, the station, major employers such as the Hospital and
:51:59. > :52:03.University, local business parts, which will be the largest scheme
:52:03. > :52:07.out of London. Reading is seeing major investment in transport. The
:52:07. > :52:11.railway station is undergoing a �78 million redevelopment, and the
:52:11. > :52:15.money will also help pay for a new cycle and pedestrian bridge over
:52:15. > :52:19.the Thames, no third crossing for motorists, though. The biggest
:52:19. > :52:23.issue for cycle campaigners is the lack of decent bike routes through
:52:23. > :52:27.the town. There is more dapper than network at the moment. More people
:52:27. > :52:32.would get on their bikes have there was a decent Cycle Network. That is
:52:32. > :52:36.what we should be privatising, not the cycle hire scheme. If you get
:52:36. > :52:40.on a bike today, and you think how do I get from A to B? You have to
:52:41. > :52:44.fall very small signs which are difficult to pick up, and if you
:52:44. > :52:54.are concentrating to find the signs, you are not concentrating on the
:52:54. > :53:00.
:53:00. > :53:04.It is about making it easy for cyclists. This is what the cycling
:53:05. > :53:08.campaigners are talking about, the official cycle route goes to my
:53:08. > :53:11.left and through three underpasses. But rather than do that, cyclists
:53:12. > :53:16.choose to go up the slope and alongside the Reading relief road
:53:16. > :53:19.here, rather than go under the underpasses. They say that there
:53:19. > :53:25.needs to be proper planning for cycle routes if more people are to
:53:26. > :53:31.get on to two wheels. How can the council expect people to change the
:53:31. > :53:35.habits without a joined-up network. --? We're working with local
:53:35. > :53:40.campaigners to improve the network, but inevitably there will be gaps,
:53:40. > :53:45.and we will see the roll-out of the scheme as a catalyst to further
:53:45. > :53:48.improving the provision for cyclists. It is both. Talk is cheap.
:53:49. > :53:55.But his action accounts. I would like to see the council coming out
:53:55. > :53:59.with some real concrete action about this. I have not seen a press
:53:59. > :54:04.release on anything concrete about what they are going to be doing to
:54:04. > :54:10.improve the Cycle Network In re did. Reading's bike hire scheme has got
:54:10. > :54:16.the headlines,... Will they be called Page's Pedallers hear and
:54:16. > :54:22.read English to mark I will leave that for others to decide -- will
:54:22. > :54:31.they be called Page's Pedallers here in Reading? I will leave that
:54:31. > :54:38.Oxford could also see these bikes at the park and ride at Thornhill.
:54:38. > :54:42.That will be a trial. And there are also talking about Bournemouth, so
:54:42. > :54:47.people are getting on their bikes, and I am sure everyone enjoys a bit
:54:47. > :54:57.of extra exercise. Now, the regular round-up in 62nd
:54:57. > :54:58.
:54:58. > :55:02.XI. - 60 Seconds. The air was a warm welcome for a
:55:02. > :55:07.Chinese business delegation visiting Bracknell. -- there was a
:55:07. > :55:13.warm welcome. Not such a good reception at the
:55:13. > :55:18.House of Commons for the new Culture Secretary. You do not use
:55:18. > :55:22.topical statements to make -- you do not use topical questions to
:55:22. > :55:26.make a statement. But a more sympathetic reading for
:55:26. > :55:30.the house when asking about the new assessments for the blue badge
:55:30. > :55:34.disabled parking. This 87-year-old had has withdrawn.
:55:34. > :55:38.I can understand they want to crack down on the people using them and
:55:38. > :55:43.should not be, but they should not be cracking down on the people who
:55:43. > :55:46.do need them. Finally, there remained the clock
:55:46. > :55:53.tower of Parliament the Queen Elizabeth tower. A well-received
:55:53. > :56:03.idea, first thought of by Bournemouth MP to buy a Sellwood. -
:56:03. > :56:03.
:56:03. > :56:08.- Tobias Sellwood. But surely most people will still Colin Big Ben.
:56:08. > :56:18.-- call it. The the Chinese looking to invest
:56:18. > :56:24.
:56:24. > :56:26.-- where would you. Dymond to investing? I would like to push
:56:26. > :56:31.them into their design and engineering firms in my
:56:31. > :56:38.constituency. I would like them to buy some of the expertise. It is
:56:38. > :56:41.welcome, this money, but your constituencies area at all. Yes,
:56:42. > :56:51.but I have a fantastic brewery in the back garden of a street in my
:56:52. > :56:52.
:56:52. > :56:58.area. He has some fantastic product. You should be getting shares in
:56:59. > :57:02.that! It is a good time for the Chinese
:57:02. > :57:06.to come up with investment at the moment, but for the economy
:57:06. > :57:10.generally, do you think the employment figures are a sign of an
:57:10. > :57:13.improvement? It is extraordinary that we see the statistics. There's
:57:13. > :57:19.a great conundrum, we see the statistics about the shrinking
:57:19. > :57:29.economy, at the same time as one million private sector jobs being
:57:29. > :57:34.
:57:34. > :57:40.created. I think there is some ground for optimism. Not just a
:57:40. > :57:44.bounce back. Obviously very patchy across the country, but my
:57:44. > :57:46.constituency seems very resilient. Having a good mix of activities is
:57:46. > :57:51.the key, and the private sector grow in.