22/04/2012 Sunday Politics Wales

In the age of austerity mounting criticism over the budget, we here

from the Welsh Conservatives as they prepare to fight the local

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1747 seconds

Can the Welsh Conservatives hold their ground in Wales? And we have

to Assembly members with us. In in use today -- in the news today a

leading Conservative Member of Parliament saying they should be a

referendum over plans to place the House of Lords with elected members,

that is also the Labour Party line. I assume you are as one with clean

Davies. It is a long-held position. I think there should be a reformed

Chamber and it should be elected and they should be a clearly

defined role as an advising Chamber and nothing else. They Iraq other

constitutional changes taking place at the moment. -- there are. There

hasn't been a referendum on some changes to fiscal powers in

Scotland. Why should there be a referendum in this case? I wouldn't

say there needs to be a referendum about the House of Lords for should

be the this day and a what about the Lords who are currently doing a

very good job, people referred to as Working Peers who might not be

inclined to stand? If they are not inclined to stand then obviously

they did have a place within it. The reason why there needs to be a

referendum is there needs to be a mandate which is binding, carrying

forward on the type of reform the laws themselves cannot block,

because time and time again as we saw in the last government attempts

to reform the laws were blocked by the Lords themselves because that

is the powers they have. Unless there was a clear mandate from a

referendum it enables the House of Commons to press on with that

change. I think it is ridiculous, that an elected Chamber can say

they have to democratic reform. 11 days Wales goes to the polls in

the local elections. We have been working away through the four main

political parties vying for our votes. This week it is the term of

the Welsh Conservatives who advances last time around, in a few

minutes we will hear from the shadow local government minister

but first Adrian Brown reports from the edge of a county that is to

have reliever Cardiff as the Conservatives' safest thing Wales,

one that Shire? -- Marmot shire. Monmouthshire. Welsh Conservatives

are calling for UK government policies affecting Gloucestershire

and other counties across England to be implemented across the border

in Wales by the Welsh government. In particular they would where

local authorities to be given extra money to freeze council tax. --

they want watched local authorities. To get a sense of what can be done

differently, Public Policy Wyse and the policies of the last government

are fundamentally affect what goes on at local level for so we are

only starting to see the roll-out of that and if you talk about

councillors like Monmouth and the Vale of Glamorgan which the

Conservatives hold, people will be looking at those areas to see what

have they done differently up until now, what would they do differently

if they retain control? Four years ago Labour took a battering. It had

its worst election result in Wales since the second world war. If

Conservatives were easily able to defend my Mitheshire and the

Conservatives will need to do a lot more defending. This is a defence

to fight him those areas where they slug it out with Labour, at Newport,

Cardiff, and they have got a chance of offsetting. Some of those

inevitable losses. That is by winning seats. But also by taking

seats in areas where the independents are traditionally

dominated. You could see the Conservatives gained in places like

Pembrokeshire, Powys. When the votes are counted local elections

have a habit of throwing up one or two surprises. In Wales there is an

extra element of uncertainty,. There have been government of

different colours in Westminster and Cardiff Bay. Traditionally

local elections are used to publish the Westminster government but will

there be an element in these local elections where people are trying

to publish -- punish the Cardiff Bay government. The simple answer

is nobody knows because it has never happened before. 13 years

after devolution began the process with Wales doing things a bit

differently to England, conservative and other candidates

standing on May 3rd could find there is another twist in the

election trail for them. We have the shadow local government

minister joining us. Good afternoon. I thought devolution was about

doing things do friendly here in Wales and not implemented for

blanket politics which are a mirror image of England.

That is not what we are about. We are about putting local democracy

back in hands of our local community and local people.

You are in favour of a council tax freeze as you are in England, even

though the Westminster government which is led by the Conservatives

is giving the Welsh government less money. How do you expect them to

implement such a policy? As a result of the Barnett

consequential the 39 million did, over to Wales, and as you have

mentioned, England, it has been frozen for two years and in

Scotland their 5th successive year of freezing council tax. At the end

of the day this is local people's money and it should be used by them

for hard-pressed families to spread the money as they see best.

Isn't the call for a council tax freeze a gimmick when you bear in

mind average bills in Wales are already lower than England?

With respect, council tax since Labour came into power has gone up

by 140%. People's incomes have not gone anywhere near those kind of

levels. As we are knocking doors, people are very angry about the

fact the Welsh Labour government chose to not hand over this money

to our local residents. We have got a budget which is being

slated almost every day, less money coming from the Conservative-led

government in Westminster to the Welsh government, welfare reforms

hitting tens of thousands of people in Wales, House of beer a backlash

are you awaiting on May 3rd? -- House of the Earth. The welfare

reforms you refer to are about making sure those who cannot work,

those who were the most vulnerable in society, those who really do

need welfare support, receive welfare support, and it has been a

brave move of Iain Duncan Smith and the Welsh Conservatives and the

Conservative Party across the United Kingdom. In 2008 when Labour

introduced or abolished the 10 p tax rate they face a kicking at the

local elections. They lost seats because they were deemed to be

unpopular policies. At the end of the day this is about making sure

welfare support and welfare reform actually delivers for those who

really needed. In 2000 to make the Welsh Conservatives did have a good

night -- 2008. What can we expect this time around, bearing in mind

the tough decisions which the Westminster government are taking?

We have a record number of candidates, councillor standing for

the Welsh Conservatives. 571 candidates and counsellors standing

for us across Wales, and our message is clear. If you really

want to put local democracy back, if you want to have his say in how

you can spend your money, if you want a say in how the council

implement policies, if you really want local democracy and to have a

say, we really are the only party offering this as a clear

alternative. When you launched your local election campaign 10 days ago

it you said you wanted positive policies. Some of which were

cleaning up litter and dog mess, and road repairs. It is hardly what

exercising the minds of people in Wales at the moment. You try

telling that to anybody who has fallen as a result of the damage to

our pavements. There are millions of pounds. A you saying that is top

of the agenda? -- are you saying. You have just said about money not

coming in the pay packet. 39 million came across from the United

Kingdom government to put up money back into our ratepayers pocket and

that has been denied by the Welsh Labour government. Thank you for

joining us. One thing the Conservatives to have a view is

this appealing message of the council tax freeze. -- have over

you. It does mean something that has been raised in the houses which

I have not on the doors of. They are raising concerns about what the

EC as the incompetence of the UK level of what is happening with the

economy. Also in terms of protecting public services. There

is a very generic response coming on the door stop and that is my

experience. I don't think the difference between whether those

councils have got to freeze is having any great attraction around,

certainly not where I have been canvassing. In the 2000 and a late

dash in the 2008 local elections -- in the 2008 local elections, what

is the less important thing, is it popular mass support, -- most

important thing? What people want is a local champion. Those people

who are sitting councillors, if they serve their wards well and

take up issues on behalf of the restaurants and they have been a

champion for the local area, they will get support of people,

sometimes people will put aside party politics if they have got a

good local champion. The Tories will always get a certain level of

support, and they just don't always win seats. It is not enough to win

seats. They don't get a chance to beat their local champion. They

will find it almost impossible to be winning seats from people who

have set their communities well. The shadow Welsh Secretary has said

the local election should be a referendum on the UK government. I

fail to see what that has got to do with winning councils in Wales?

is proper be emphasising what is inevitable. Do they vote on the way

they'd feel the country as a whole... It is partly the wrong way

to go about it. It is about having people who will work hard in the

local community and work hard to protect local services and so on.

Local councils are probably the most complex because there is a UK

factor, Assembly factor, and a local factor. Quite often a strong

local candidate to is seen to be good, irrespective of the party,

can win the day. He suffered because of the 10 p tax rate back

into 1008. The Gordon Brown government which was very popular

at the time. -- in 2008. feedback we are getting is very

strong. There is considerable unhappiness on the doorstep. I have

had people who said they are not voting. What is of concern to me is

the number of people who say they will not bother voting even though

they are quite upset. There is a talent for all parties to show what

a difference is to what local councils can do. Do you fear this

perceived Labour resurgence? 2008 was a relatively good night for

them, but would they win them back? There will not win about on the

message of sending David Cameron the message by voting Labour, that

appeal I did a thing that does appeal to voters, it is an easy

thing to say. Haitink think -- I don't think that will sit well. If

you have served your community will Avenue stand a good chance. A you

talk about responsibility, how much responsibility will the and take if

it is a good night? She has been in post a couple of months. This will

be the first local elections as Carwyn Jones became leader, since

RTE Davies became leader, but the focus appears to be on how is the

new leader going to shape up? I don't think it will make a radical

difference, it depends on hard work people have done over the last four

years. Voting Labour in council elections is the last chance to

stop these budget elections says Peter Hain. I fail to see how the

two are linked. A lot of people, what is happening at UK level is a

factor in how they vote. It is not the only factor, it is not the most

important factor. It is dishonest to pretend how you vote in these

elections will make any difference. We have to move on. Assembly

members were having a week of last week but plenty has happened over

the past seven days. Here is our More than 100 MPs backed Peter Hain

who is facing court proceedings after criticising a judge in his

book. He is also supported by Ed Miliband and David Cameron. He's a

politician should be free to criticise the judiciary. The top

European officials as he is short deprived areas of West Wales would

qualify for another round of European funding. But they should

be fewer projects receiving aid money in future. They will have to

be quantifiable results. The Environment Minister gave used on

which area of Welsh Water should be given protected status. He set up

10 potential sites for consideration as Marine

Conservation Centre. The Conservative MP Glyn Davies said

there should be a referendum on any plans to make the House of Lords

are mainly elected upper Chamber, and some council election

candidates have already won their seats before voting day on May 3rd.

More than 90 face no opposition and You can find out more information

on the local elections including how the seats currently stacked up

on your council by going to the Looking back at the week which has

been, at the Commons about the deprived areas of West Wales and

the valleys probably in line for more funding, is that something we

should be rejoicing about war is that another worrying sign up Wales

is lagging behind? I don't think we should rejoice that we needed, but

we should recognise that it is there and there is potential to add

to use it. What is more interesting is the talk about major structural

project, and particularly the way it may be used for post

electrification, the development of the South Wales Metro, which could

open up the valleys economically. There are real opportunities. We

have to focus on a few very high Impact project. There is a greater

push for there to be greater accountability for us to people to

measure how the money is being spent in Wales and what the result

will be, is that an indication the money has been misspent?

finance committee are doing a review on the effectiveness of the

spent a mum whispered to the European Commission what they

pointed a was this was a problem right across Europe, the most

benefit hasn't been caught, but you have to imagine how bad things

would be if things hadn't been spent in the past, and we'll all be

saying that the session. I to a Greek in the future we will be

looking at bigger, major infrastructure projects and the

smaller projects where they are trying to spread the money. We have

had a Labour government in Wales since devolution in one form or

another. Should the government be taking responsibility for the way

the money is spent? I think it is. We were doing is reviewing how the

money is spent, how it is worked, where it is what? We have to

recognise with a lot of things, you are on a learning curve when it

comes to trying to regenerate communities. You cannot work on the

basis of seeing everything has got to be 100% successful because along

the way there will be projects which do not succeed and that is

part of learning. It depends how you measure things. Measuring

permanent jobs is something that is a hard line thing to measure,

whereas getting people ready for work might be a hard thing to do.