:01:43. > :01:47.become a high-tech powerhouse of the economy? It's already got the
:01:47. > :01:57.expertise and reputation. Can it happen to the potential billions in
:01:57. > :01:57.
:01:57. > :37:35.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2137 seconds
:37:35. > :37:39.'s show, high-tech industries and space science. The government is
:37:39. > :37:47.putting its money where its mouth is in Oxfordshire with millions of
:37:48. > :37:54.pounds of investment. But this -- but will this bring the jobs that
:37:54. > :37:58.are needed? Roy Perry is the new Conservative leader in Hampshire
:37:58. > :38:06.county council and Simon let's is the new Labour leader of Southampton
:38:06. > :38:13.City Council. You are still a teacher, is that right? Yes, that is
:38:13. > :38:18.right. I am contracted to carry on in my job until the middle of July.
:38:18. > :38:28.Is it not possible to hold a job down and bearded council leader?
:38:28. > :38:29.
:38:29. > :38:36.think it is extremely difficult. We face, Lex Robins. -- we face complex
:38:36. > :38:39.problems. We are trying to encourage inward investment into the city and
:38:39. > :38:46.I need to be available and I don't need any chances that it might slip
:38:47. > :38:51.through my hands. The job of running our local authorities is a pretty
:38:51. > :38:56.responsible one, isn't it? But you hear ministers grumbling that they
:38:56. > :39:03.can't get stuff past their coalition partners. Are you finding
:39:03. > :39:07.resistance? We don't have to worry about coalition partners, I'm
:39:07. > :39:12.delighted to say. We have a good relationship with the chief
:39:12. > :39:17.officers. They perform a very central role but there is a
:39:17. > :39:21.political role that is needed whether have to relate what is being
:39:21. > :39:24.done the residents. It is a partnership role and I'm pleased to
:39:24. > :39:30.say we have a good team in Hampshire. Is there one style of
:39:30. > :39:40.leadership which works best? style! Obviously, every individual
:39:40. > :39:43.
:39:43. > :39:47.will bring their own styles to the role. What are you looking for?
:39:47. > :39:54.of what we do is not party political. It is not what is best
:39:54. > :39:58.for the city. Ringing people on board to make sure they are aware of
:39:58. > :40:02.issues is important and I have set up some cross-party working even
:40:02. > :40:06.though we don't need to do that. It is a port and everybody has
:40:06. > :40:11.confidence in what we are doing. If we have got a large project and
:40:11. > :40:18.there is political control change, we need to be sure that everybody
:40:18. > :40:28.signed up to whatever may be on the table. You have got UKIP, is that a
:40:28. > :40:34.
:40:34. > :40:40.new world? We shall see. The work doesn't have much to do with Britain
:40:40. > :40:47.leaving the European union. Indeed. We have probably all had a closing
:40:47. > :40:50.counter with a pothole. But for local councils responsible for the
:40:50. > :40:54.roads and pavements it can turn out to be very expensive. Figures
:40:54. > :40:57.uncovered this week have shown that councils across the region have been
:40:57. > :41:02.paying out hundreds of thousands of pounds in conversation to people who
:41:02. > :41:06.have suffered more serious slips and trips. The Isle of Wight seems to
:41:06. > :41:11.have got off lightest, player -- paying off just �12,000 over the
:41:11. > :41:18.last two years. Wiltshire paid more than �100,000. Oxfordshire nearly a
:41:18. > :41:25.quarter of �1 million, West Sussex just under 200000 and Hampshire just
:41:26. > :41:33.under 300,000. Southampton takes the winner 's rosette with a whopping
:41:33. > :41:40.�1,122,000 paid out in compensation. Joining me now is a personal injury
:41:40. > :41:43.solicitor from Dorset. Why such diversions between the different
:41:43. > :41:48.councils? The diversions would suggest that some councils are
:41:48. > :41:51.better at managing their budgets for repairs. And also perhaps in the
:41:51. > :41:57.training of their staff and inspection of the roads and
:41:57. > :42:01.pathways. But it could also be a factor of the number of claims that
:42:01. > :42:05.have been brought against them and how they defend them. How certain
:42:05. > :42:10.are you that when you go for compensation that it is deserved by
:42:10. > :42:16.that person? Absolutely certain. I have to risk assess cases and be
:42:16. > :42:20.sure that there is at least a 65% chance of success. I act on cases on
:42:20. > :42:26.a no-win no fee basis so I won't get paid if we don't win. Each
:42:26. > :42:29.individual case is looked at with the particular circumstances.
:42:29. > :42:34.Whether or not they will be successful depends on the type of
:42:34. > :42:38.pothole they have tripped on. There is no right to claim just because
:42:38. > :42:45.you have slipped on a wonky pavement and I think that is something people
:42:45. > :42:50.don't realise. And there are people who... Do they need the money?
:42:50. > :42:54.is not money to buy them a villa in Spain. You can only claim if you
:42:54. > :42:59.have suffered an injury. Often, people don't realise that one person
:42:59. > :43:02.can slip or tripped on a pothole, and one person could suffer a brain
:43:02. > :43:08.injury if they hit their head on pavement and another person could
:43:08. > :43:12.make their arm and are back at work within six weeks, but they have
:43:12. > :43:17.still got a loss of earnings to claim four. But the money you are
:43:17. > :43:21.getting out of these councils, Public money, could be going towards
:43:21. > :43:26.fixing the potholes and stopping this from happening? We have got to
:43:26. > :43:32.remember there is a claim in negligence. The potholes haven't
:43:32. > :43:39.been correctly maintained and we are talking reasonable defects, not just
:43:39. > :43:43.a wonky pavement. So one that has been left for a period of time?
:43:43. > :43:47.Absolutely. We look at the depth of the potholes, the area of where the
:43:47. > :43:53.potholes is, is it on Main Street Road where you would expect more
:43:53. > :43:58.inspections? You say the money could be used for repairs, but these
:43:58. > :44:03.people have suffered loss of earnings, perhaps they can't provide
:44:03. > :44:06.for their family, so they are entitled to compensation. But there
:44:06. > :44:09.are lawyers on the council side and we are having to pay not only the
:44:09. > :44:15.compensation as taxpayers but also the lawyer to defend it from the
:44:15. > :44:18.council 's point of view. Wouldn't you just settle? Well, quite, if we
:44:18. > :44:21.could just settle that would solve the problem. But quite often
:44:21. > :44:24.claimants solicitors will put a claim forward and it is a strong
:44:24. > :44:29.claim. If you are a good solicitor you will have done your research and
:44:29. > :44:39.you have got all your evidence, and often we see a denial of liability.
:44:39. > :44:40.
:44:40. > :44:43.In case we are sure we will be successful with. -- in a case. I
:44:43. > :44:47.realise they don't want to open the floodgates, but when there is quite
:44:47. > :44:50.clearly a claim for compensation that on the evidence is going to be
:44:50. > :44:55.successful, and remember these claims go in front of judges who
:44:55. > :45:02.will listen to both sides of the story, then yes, if you pay out
:45:02. > :45:05.sooner, the legal fees are going to be minimal. It sounds like there is
:45:05. > :45:09.an obvious recipe for local councils. Either repair the potholes
:45:09. > :45:15.or cut down on some of the legal defences. How could councils reduce
:45:15. > :45:22.the amount being spent? Simply keeping the roads in good repair and
:45:22. > :45:24.that is what we try to do. One of the factors to point out that the
:45:24. > :45:26.statistics you just gave, you didn't give a comparison about the numbers
:45:26. > :45:36.of miles of roads that different councils have to maintain. Hampshire
:45:36. > :45:41.
:45:41. > :45:47.county council has over 5,000 miles of roads and a lot of miles of
:45:47. > :45:52.footpaths. If the council has been negligent, rather than face any
:45:52. > :45:55.undue costs, we must recognise that responsibility and pay it. If we
:45:55. > :46:00.think we have not been negligent but this is an accident that we couldn't
:46:00. > :46:06.have prevented, of course we will resist. Is there a sense that some
:46:06. > :46:13.people are trying it on? I can't comment on that, some do and some
:46:13. > :46:23.don't. Southampton has got a big bill here. I don't recognise the
:46:23. > :46:23.
:46:23. > :46:32.numbers you have put forward there. We are looking at claims in the last
:46:32. > :46:37.12 months of about �57,000, rather than the million pounds. It is still
:46:38. > :46:45.a lot more than other councils. have taken action and we're now down
:46:45. > :46:49.to one tenth of what it was. We are focused on getting the potholes
:46:49. > :46:56.fixed as soon as is patently possible. I reported a pothole the
:46:56. > :47:03.other week and it was fixed within 24 hours. Everybody in Southampton
:47:03. > :47:06.will now be trying to get them fixed like you! That is what they do, they
:47:06. > :47:10.get them fixed. It is public money and we need to make sure that we
:47:10. > :47:16.resist the temptation to pay out on legal cases where we think we have
:47:16. > :47:22.got a good case ourselves. By doing that we have got the number down
:47:22. > :47:25.very low, 57,000 was the number I was told for the last financial
:47:25. > :47:29.year. And part of that is resisting claims were necessary, because
:47:29. > :47:37.people are trying it on? We leave that to the lawyer but we instruct
:47:37. > :47:45.our lawyers to defend the public purse as much as possible. We hear
:47:45. > :47:50.these adverts all the time on television. I think the perception
:47:50. > :47:52.is that solicitors are cold calling the business. We are not allowed to
:47:52. > :47:55.do that. The adverts you see that the vision come from claims
:47:55. > :48:01.management companies and they will perhaps try to sell the referrals to
:48:01. > :48:08.solicitors. The solicitors, if they are not going to win the case, they
:48:08. > :48:12.are not going to take it on. They will not run profitable businesses
:48:12. > :48:16.if they take cases on that they will not be successful with. Thank you
:48:16. > :48:19.for coming in. The government sees boosting the
:48:19. > :48:24.knowledge-based economy as key to our recovery. In the south, we are
:48:24. > :48:27.heavily involved already. Last Monday, the satellite was launched
:48:27. > :48:30.from Kazakhstan that had been designed and built in Portsmouth.
:48:30. > :48:34.Oxfordshire has been energetically positioning itself as the UK 's
:48:34. > :48:44.high-tech and space centre. But will it turn out to be the shape of
:48:44. > :49:12.
:49:12. > :49:19.Oxfordshire, the county 's very own space city will stop the European
:49:19. > :49:25.space agency is about to build its first UK is facility here and in
:49:25. > :49:28.2030 it is thought the industry will be worth �40 billion to the country.
:49:28. > :49:31.The space industry used to only be about what went up, but now
:49:31. > :49:36.forecasters believe about 80% of the industry 's Gross is going to come
:49:36. > :49:42.from taking the data that satellites sent down to earth on a daily basis
:49:42. > :49:44.and putting it to commercial users. Here at the satellite applications
:49:45. > :49:54.catapult in Harwell, they are doing some pretty interesting things with
:49:54. > :49:59.it. This company is trying to use satellite data to one copy growers
:49:59. > :50:04.in rural and about pests. There is a certain bugs that lowers the quality
:50:04. > :50:07.of the coffee. There are certain conditions that allow this bug to
:50:07. > :50:14.outbreak in the coffee farms. We can capture this data and give signals
:50:14. > :50:23.to the farmers on when to react and what to do to stop the outbreak.
:50:23. > :50:26.warnings are then sent space to the farmers' mobile phones. This man is
:50:26. > :50:28.hoping to show a prototype to growers by the end of this year. But
:50:28. > :50:31.the key to turning science into money like this has proved more
:50:31. > :50:37.elusive for Oxfordshire than elsewhere. The most accurate
:50:37. > :50:43.comparison for Oxfordshire is Grenoble in France, have twin city.
:50:43. > :50:47.They have a similar concentration of government laboratories and big
:50:47. > :50:53.science. The difference between Grenoble and Oxfordshire is there is
:50:53. > :51:01.a much more concentrated government strategy. Recently, Oxfordshire has
:51:02. > :51:04.been developing that local strategy. The area is already one of the
:51:04. > :51:06.government 's enterprise zones and the name science fail UK.
:51:06. > :51:10.Westminster is putting the science and knowledge economy at the centre
:51:10. > :51:14.of its plans for growth and Oxfordshire 's local authorities are
:51:14. > :51:23.using the programme to get new powers and control over public money
:51:23. > :51:27.to grab a bigger share of the spoils. The county council is
:51:27. > :51:29.working with the local enterprise partnership to support the
:51:29. > :51:34.infrastructure for the science industry in Oxfordshire. We're
:51:34. > :51:44.talking about broadband so who -- so we have got broadband across
:51:44. > :51:50.Oxfordshire by 2015, which is vital to make sure this is Mrs flourish.
:51:50. > :51:52.This is a driverless electric vehicle. It is not all about space.
:51:52. > :52:02.This company is trying to revolutionise how we get around much
:52:02. > :52:02.
:52:02. > :52:05.closer to Earth -- to make sure these businesses flourish. How much
:52:05. > :52:09.would better infrastructure have smoothed the way? In my opinion,
:52:09. > :52:12.this maybe controversial, but those are side issues. The crucial
:52:12. > :52:22.question is defining the product that you are seeking to develop. How
:52:22. > :52:23.
:52:23. > :52:29.do you develop it with the necessary resources? The people resources are
:52:29. > :52:35.far more important than broadband and infrastructure. The name Oxford
:52:35. > :52:45.does have a cachet worldwide. What I can say is that Oxford, being the
:52:45. > :52:46.
:52:46. > :52:52.cachet it is, does attract some really good, highly skilled people
:52:52. > :52:55.from across Europe. But there is a push to develop the skills of local
:52:55. > :52:57.people, particularly the younger generation. It is so they can take
:52:58. > :53:02.advantage of the 16,000 jobs science fail is supposed to create the next
:53:02. > :53:04.15 years. You have got to be ambitious in these bids because it
:53:04. > :53:07.is really about launching Oxfordshire so it is driving the
:53:07. > :53:17.economy of the whole country. political will is certainly there,
:53:17. > :53:17.
:53:17. > :53:21.but will that be enough to win this particular space race? Boldly going
:53:21. > :53:28.where we probably all ought to be going. Quite an opportunity for the
:53:28. > :53:35.country. In Hampshire, Farnborough is a big aerospace area? Yes,
:53:35. > :53:40.Portsmouth is also a big area for space and high-tech industries. We
:53:40. > :53:43.are very supportive. Above all, what we mustn't do is get in the way of
:53:43. > :53:48.companies that want to expand and develop. What do you mean?There are
:53:48. > :53:55.all sorts of restrictions that councils can impose and I don't want
:53:55. > :53:59.us to be doing that. I want us to be supportive and not obstructive of
:53:59. > :54:05.what the companies are doing. Labour point of view, we would
:54:05. > :54:14.probably like to see more investment? Absolutely. I share what
:54:14. > :54:21.a 's point about red tape getting in the way and one of our big thing is
:54:21. > :54:27.to look at detail about that and try to get it out of people much faster
:54:27. > :54:35.so they get a clear end result. From Southampton 's perspective, we are
:54:35. > :54:42.fortunate in that we have two quality universities. We need to
:54:42. > :54:46.work as a council with both of those to look at opportunities to generate
:54:46. > :54:49.new job opportunities and keep the talent that comes out of those
:54:49. > :54:57.universities on a yearly basis of a city, working in our local colony
:54:57. > :55:02.rather than being trained here and earning elsewhere -- local economy.
:55:03. > :55:09.Are you getting the backing from the government you want to see? We have
:55:09. > :55:19.a Labour council in Southampton and a Liberal Democrat council in
:55:19. > :55:22.Portsmouth. With all the support, this is not a party political issue,
:55:22. > :55:24.this is an issue for the region and we will work together and put the
:55:24. > :55:30.case for the Soviet region to get the best deal from the government
:55:30. > :55:33.that we can negotiate. We heard that people are more important than
:55:33. > :55:41.infrastructure on the film. There is some public money going into this
:55:41. > :55:44.area, but training and education, as well? I think it is very important.
:55:44. > :55:49.Hampshire faces a skills shortage and companies that want to come
:55:49. > :55:56.here, because it is an attractive place to be, are that the people
:55:56. > :56:06.with the skills -- are there the people with the skills? It is very
:56:06. > :56:10.important that we give the support we can to ensure that skills base.
:56:10. > :56:16.There are four universities in Hampshire and we need to make sure
:56:16. > :56:20.the existing works force keeps its skills at the forefront --
:56:20. > :56:30.workforce. We are aiming to be as supportive as we can on that skills
:56:30. > :56:36.
:56:36. > :56:40.base. Now our regular round-up of All 16 sure start centres stay open
:56:40. > :56:44.imports must but the councils cut �1 million from their budget and staff
:56:44. > :56:49.will go. MP Mike Hancock was part of that decision. He remains a Lib Dem
:56:49. > :56:54.councillor though he has resigned the whip at Westminster to fight
:56:54. > :56:58.claims of sexual assault from a woman who is now suing him. He has
:56:58. > :57:02.overstepped the mark because he and Elizabeth just -- because he is in a
:57:02. > :57:06.position of trust. A campaign to get motorists to switch to two wheels
:57:07. > :57:10.has failed to convince people in Bicester.
:57:10. > :57:16.The idea of free fuel, however, does seem to have caught people 's
:57:16. > :57:21.imagination. This committee programme and Oxfordshire aims to
:57:21. > :57:24.reduce fuel miles. If we can help copies some Hazelwood then we are
:57:24. > :57:29.helping the landowner but the by-product is we get some wood out
:57:29. > :57:39.of it. But we parking in Southampton will come to an end despite some
:57:39. > :57:42.
:57:42. > :57:50.businesses claiming the �1 charge is That late-night free parking after
:57:50. > :57:55.6pm in Southampton, you wish you had kept that, don't you? Places like
:57:55. > :58:01.that, you're trying to build up the whole economy... It is about
:58:01. > :58:05.fairness in many ways. We need to balance out how we do it. We had
:58:05. > :58:09.some additional charges of which this is one, some small tax rises
:58:09. > :58:13.and then some service reductions as well as a significant number of
:58:13. > :58:18.deficiencies in working with our private sector partner to drive down
:58:18. > :58:22.costs. Under the specific issue of the car parking, I don't get is
:58:22. > :58:25.unreasonable to charge �1. You pay significant money to have a ticket
:58:25. > :58:30.to go to the theatre, maybe two or three people coming in the same
:58:30. > :58:34.vehicle, an extra pound on top of that is a reasonably small charge. I
:58:34. > :58:40.would say that visitors do have a cost on the local authority, there
:58:40. > :58:47.is a cost to the night-time economy. The council has to pick up
:58:47. > :58:52.that cost. In Oxfordshire, the parking is free all day in whip me
:58:52. > :59:02.because it gets people into the shops. Isn't that a good idea? -- in
:59:02. > :59:05.Witney. At 4pm, the parking becomes free. It means that people are
:59:05. > :59:15.prepared to go into town at that time if they find that. Councils
:59:15. > :59:21.need to be more imaginative. Our district centres in the city are
:59:21. > :59:24.similar to small town centres and we have kept parking free there because
:59:24. > :59:30.we need to keep those small district centres open and stimulate the local
:59:30. > :59:34.economy there. But Southampton is a regional retail centre which has got
:59:34. > :59:39.significant costs to the city with all the traffic on the roads and
:59:39. > :59:42.therefore it is not unreasonable to make parking charges. Historically,
:59:42. > :59:46.we have always charged the daytime car parking. This is a small
:59:46. > :59:51.additional sum to what we have charged in the past. And I guess
:59:51. > :59:57.people would start competing with each other as well. In the end,
:59:57. > :00:01.public transport, as well, is the other thing. That is another large
:00:01. > :00:03.infrastructure which would be a lot more expensive. Thank you so much