:37:52. > :37:57.Neville Southall talks to us. He is On the Sunday politics we will hear
:37:57. > :38:02.from a former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall on the work he is
:38:02. > :38:07.doing to get young people into work. We hear concerns that frontline
:38:07. > :38:15.services are suffering because council workers are tied up with
:38:15. > :38:22.Freedom of Information requests. Good morning to your guests. Let's
:38:22. > :38:27.get a response to some comments from the Labour MP who said this
:38:27. > :38:31.morning health services in Wales are under severe pressure. She said
:38:31. > :38:39.there is enormous pressure on people working in accident and
:38:39. > :38:43.emergency services. A reaction to those comments. That is highly
:38:43. > :38:50.unusual from a Labour MP. I am sure Leslie Griffiths will be
:38:50. > :38:55.disappointed with that. If she writes to the minister about it,
:38:55. > :39:01.she is wasting her time. We have seen a number of casualty
:39:01. > :39:05.departments closing down locally, people have no choice but to go to
:39:05. > :39:09.accident and emergency. No-one is going to sit for hours if something
:39:09. > :39:14.else was available locally. Everyone there probably needs to be
:39:14. > :39:18.there. The Welsh government have put money into accident and
:39:18. > :39:22.emergency services, haven't they? What do you think of these
:39:22. > :39:32.comments? She is reflecting what many Labour politicians in London
:39:32. > :39:33.
:39:33. > :39:37.have been saying about the situation in Wales. I think the
:39:37. > :39:41.problem it is mired in indecisions. There has been report after report
:39:41. > :39:46.about the restructuring of the health service in Wales. It has
:39:46. > :39:50.been difficult to achieve because no-one wants to see local services
:39:50. > :39:56.go. You cannot keep shuffling limited amounts of money between
:39:56. > :40:02.one area and another. Changes have not been made but they have been on
:40:02. > :40:05.the agenda for ten years. There are people waiting on the trollies in
:40:05. > :40:10.accident and emergency units when they should be dealt with properly.
:40:10. > :40:15.There has to be a better way. will be back with you both short
:40:15. > :40:21.leave. As you have heard, we have some Welsh political greats on the
:40:21. > :40:25.programme every week, today we have a sporting great, Neville Southall.
:40:25. > :40:29.He has embarked on a career in further education saying helping
:40:29. > :40:39.young people achieve is better than anything he achieved on the Sir
:40:39. > :40:45.
:40:45. > :40:50.92 caps for Wales, but now it Neville Southall has swapped the
:40:50. > :40:57.nets for it needs. He works with the youngsters are not in education
:40:57. > :41:06.or employment. Wales has the highest proportion of these people
:41:06. > :41:10.in the UK. I met him at the Cardiff City UK -- Cardiff City stadium.
:41:10. > :41:17.They're just people looking for work, at some are good at that and
:41:17. > :41:23.some made a lot of help. Vocationally it is a good root for
:41:23. > :41:28.them. Most of the building work has stopped. They used to going to
:41:28. > :41:32.labouring and use their hands, now, because so many people are out of
:41:32. > :41:39.work may get so far down the list. They come out of school with
:41:39. > :41:46.nothing, a lot of them, they had no experience. Vocational things are
:41:46. > :41:51.great to get the country going. After the war, without people who
:41:51. > :41:56.could build houses and be plumbers, we would not have anything. We have
:41:56. > :42:02.turned the clock right back. We need to be academics because the
:42:02. > :42:07.new world will be academia. There is a massive a void for the kids.
:42:07. > :42:12.If you do not have a laptop, you won't get a job. Houses will still
:42:12. > :42:15.need to be built, roads will still need to be made, there are lots of
:42:16. > :42:20.things they could be doing but we do not give them a chance to be
:42:20. > :42:24.themselves. You feel really passionately about this. You have
:42:24. > :42:29.played in front of 100,000 people, and in your book you have talked
:42:29. > :42:39.about the buzz you get from that. can make people happy on the
:42:39. > :42:42.
:42:42. > :42:48.weekend or a Tuesday night when I play. But seeing someone developed
:42:48. > :42:52.over a period of months, watching them change, that is more
:42:52. > :42:58.satisfying than any football I have ever done in my life. You cannot
:42:58. > :43:05.change them. It is only when they are ready to change that they
:43:05. > :43:11.changed. The majority go, I get it. I know I have to go to work. I have
:43:11. > :43:16.to be responsible. It might take a little bit of times. But over time
:43:16. > :43:21.they get more confident and realise they can achieve. When you see a
:43:21. > :43:28.kid go, I am actually worth something, that is better than all
:43:28. > :43:32.your medals. It is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Education is
:43:32. > :43:42.devolved in Wales, you primarily work in England. Would you like to
:43:42. > :43:43.
:43:43. > :43:48.do some of your work in Wales? are very close to teaming up with a
:43:48. > :43:53.college in Wales. We would like to work with the kids there. We want
:43:53. > :43:59.to go all out into the valleys, go all the way through Wales. But it
:43:59. > :44:03.is a question of a funding. It is proving difficult for different
:44:03. > :44:08.reasons. At some stage we need to sit down and try to iron out where
:44:08. > :44:15.we go and how we get the funding. It is quite difficult at the moment,
:44:15. > :44:19.but I would like to think I could work in Wales being a Welshman.
:44:19. > :44:29.Once things get ironed out it will become easier, it is like
:44:29. > :44:30.
:44:30. > :44:33.everything else, you do get a little bit of friction. I'm hoping
:44:33. > :44:41.the friction will pass and we can do what we need to do to help the
:44:41. > :44:47.kids. Hearing Neville Southall speak there, you could hear the
:44:47. > :44:53.passion and his voice. The situation with youth unemployment
:44:53. > :44:57.is severe. One in five young people are not in education, employment or
:44:57. > :45:02.training. The world's governments say that statistic is falling, but
:45:02. > :45:08.it is still startling. It has been relatively steady for a number of
:45:08. > :45:14.years and that is the real scourge of our society. What is so
:45:14. > :45:19.important is there are so many good opportunities. I can put my hand on
:45:19. > :45:23.half a dozen places where they just know how to deal with this group of
:45:23. > :45:29.people and are making real progress. The real problem is you have got to
:45:29. > :45:33.bring people together. The agencies which deal with it. It is the
:45:33. > :45:37.voluntary sector, local government, the UK Government who have as much
:45:37. > :45:47.as a role as the Welsh government. There are so many levers you can
:45:47. > :46:00.
:46:01. > :46:05.The local voluntary sector is You're on the young person's
:46:05. > :46:11.Assembly, how would you feel about getting Neville Southall before
:46:11. > :46:16.your Assembly? If I think that would be very refreshing. What he
:46:16. > :46:20.could do is inspire young people. He was talking about confidence-
:46:21. > :46:26.building and for people to have dreams. With a lot of these
:46:26. > :46:32.youngsters... It all sounds a little bit woolly. How can that be
:46:32. > :46:37.turned into practical assistance? Ilott of these youngsters have left
:46:37. > :46:41.school without being able to read and write. Building those soft
:46:41. > :46:48.skills and giving them the opportunity to learn other skills
:46:48. > :46:51.is a key for many of them. Some of them do not expect ever to get work.
:46:51. > :46:57.We have accepted low standards in schools and do not demanding a from
:46:57. > :47:02.our colleges. I think young people would be inspired by him. The Welsh
:47:02. > :47:08.Assembly should snap him up as quickly as they can. In Wales, more
:47:08. > :47:12.than half of these young people are not unemployed, they are a
:47:12. > :47:16.economically inactive. They are not even taking up the job
:47:16. > :47:21.opportunities that are available already in the schemes. We have got
:47:21. > :47:27.to try and get at these people earlier. Some of these problems
:47:27. > :47:33.have been there since young people were born. He said it himself, from
:47:33. > :47:37.five years old. The for five years old. We have got to intervene even
:47:37. > :47:42.with early parenting skills, help people in nursery schools, give
:47:42. > :47:48.them ambition right the way through their lives. Sometimes when they
:47:48. > :47:54.get to the age of 14 it is too late. Is this a problem that can be
:47:54. > :48:00.tackled? The focus in Wales is improving the economy, but if we
:48:00. > :48:07.saw this problem it will help the economy. Of course. If we do not,
:48:07. > :48:13.those people are unproductive and that is unacceptable. Pushing for
:48:13. > :48:18.apprentices -- apprenticeships. Looking for more apprentices
:48:18. > :48:24.because that is something the Welsh Government can do. They say they
:48:24. > :48:28.are spending �75 million to introduce more apprenticeships.
:48:28. > :48:33.and there is no reason why we should not have more. They are very
:48:33. > :48:41.popular. But we need capital projects as well. Those people need
:48:41. > :48:47.a job to do. Building houses, laying the roads, but we need those
:48:47. > :48:51.projects as -- to employ people at the end of the apprenticeships.
:48:51. > :48:55.What did you make of the fact the Prime Minister last week in his
:48:55. > :49:01.conference speech said housing benefit for the under 25 to be
:49:01. > :49:06.disappearing? That is not a call Liberal Democrat would respond to.
:49:06. > :49:09.It does not mean it won't happen. The it will not happen in his
:49:10. > :49:14.government. There is certainty from within our party that this is a
:49:14. > :49:18.very important told to help young people find it jobs. If you have
:49:18. > :49:27.got to move to find a job, and that job as low paid but you want to
:49:27. > :49:33.find a job, you do need help with your housing. I think it is a great
:49:33. > :49:38.tool for social mobility and for a job mobility. Just to go back to
:49:38. > :49:42.the earlier point, it is very difficult when we are dealing with
:49:42. > :49:47.unemployment on one side, on the other hand we have got the big
:49:47. > :49:50.majority of people who do not want to have a job and they are lacking
:49:50. > :49:56.ambitions. That is the real challenge we have got to face and
:49:56. > :50:00.starting early is the key to that. In a big increase in the number of
:50:00. > :50:04.Freedom of Information requests are detracting from some line services
:50:04. > :50:08.provided by local authorities. The Welsh Local Government Association
:50:08. > :50:18.is warning some of its members are struggling to cope with the number
:50:18. > :50:25.of inquiries. Requests are -- have more than doubled since 2005.
:50:25. > :50:28.From housing to rubbish collection, schools, libraries, and hospitals.
:50:28. > :50:34.Publicly funded bodies in Wales hold an enormous amount of
:50:34. > :50:38.information about our surroundings and the services we enjoy. It is
:50:38. > :50:42.our legal right to ask for that information under the Freedom of
:50:42. > :50:47.Information Act. Those requests cost public bodies millions of
:50:47. > :50:52.pounds a year. Gary felt his counsel were not spending their
:50:52. > :50:57.money wisely and had to fight for the information he wanted to prove
:50:57. > :51:01.it. He found out they had paid some invoices twice when overspending on
:51:01. > :51:04.a major construction project. Only after making a Freedom of
:51:04. > :51:13.Information request and winning an appeal when it was turned down.
:51:13. > :51:20.Some people use it for a malicious purpose. In real terms, it was a
:51:20. > :51:25.great boost because it stops people like consuls, hospitals, water
:51:25. > :51:30.authorities, hiding information from the council taxpayer. The more
:51:30. > :51:37.open and honest these public bodies are a bit less misuse will be made
:51:37. > :51:43.of this Act. This council received more requests per head of the
:51:43. > :51:53.population than anywhere else in Wales. When I first started working
:51:53. > :51:53.
:51:53. > :52:00.here, you would get about ten requests a month may be less. Now
:52:00. > :52:07.it is a lot more. May be about 60. Working out how much Freedom of
:52:07. > :52:17.Information requests cost to answer is difficult. Some take longer than
:52:17. > :52:19.
:52:19. > :52:24.others. By one estimate, last year that -- this council spent 160,000
:52:24. > :52:28.pines answering these requests. The price of more than 9,000 requests
:52:28. > :52:35.across the country last year could be a negative effect on frontline
:52:35. > :52:39.services. The cuts process over the next few years will be significant
:52:39. > :52:45.and councils will see diminished resources. We do not want to see
:52:45. > :52:52.huge amount of money is being spent on unnecessarily Freedom of
:52:52. > :52:58.Informations. We need to cut back on that. Every pound and every
:52:58. > :53:01.shilling at the moment is required to put into front line services.
:53:01. > :53:07.The weight of the Freedom of Information requests are detracting
:53:07. > :53:12.from front line services. It is public money, these members of
:53:12. > :53:19.council are trustees of public money and have an up -- obligation
:53:19. > :53:22.to the open and honest with us. wealth Government says it has a
:53:22. > :53:29.long-standing commitment to maximising openness. But with less
:53:29. > :53:33.money and more work, other public bodies are not so optimistic.
:53:33. > :53:39.We heard from Steve Thomas from the Welsh local government association
:53:39. > :53:45.it saying fewer Freedom of Information requests should be put
:53:45. > :53:50.in because it is distracting from some line services. I can see the
:53:50. > :53:55.point he is making, but how could you decide which is a good request
:53:56. > :53:59.and a bad one? A I noticed recently the BBC had if Freedom of
:53:59. > :54:03.Information request on the huge rise of clinical negligence that
:54:03. > :54:13.was resulting in payouts. That information should have been
:54:13. > :54:27.
:54:27. > :54:31.available anyway. The key is publish more information? Yes, it
:54:31. > :54:36.is an hour information and we are entitled to it, at the taxpayer or
:54:36. > :54:40.the local resident. I am sure councils like to keep something
:54:40. > :54:47.secret. What I would say is eroding people's rights under the name of
:54:47. > :54:52.these cutbacks, I would be cautious about that. We do need to be
:54:52. > :54:58.careful and not say, we're choosing between teachers are people having
:54:58. > :55:02.the right for information. Journalists would see the Freedom
:55:02. > :55:06.of Information Bill as a force for good. I do not know whether
:55:06. > :55:12.politicians are would agree following the MP expenses scandal.
:55:12. > :55:17.It is very important band it is a matter of principle. It was hard
:55:17. > :55:23.fought for and people need to have the information upon which they can
:55:23. > :55:26.make decisions. It was unbalanced to suggest you can save so many
:55:26. > :55:31.teachers' jobs by not providing the vital information by which people
:55:31. > :55:37.can make a judgement about the quality of their services. There
:55:37. > :55:43.has got to be better information provision service, something easy
:55:43. > :55:52.to access, but at the same time it may be there are some unnecessary
:55:52. > :55:56.requests. There may be a simpler form. What a council may consider
:55:56. > :56:04.vexatious may produce something that could be embarrassing or
:56:04. > :56:09.account -- dangerous to them. is not just local authorities, the
:56:10. > :56:13.difference between that some areas and others is quite stark. They do
:56:13. > :56:18.not believe there is a bigger pressure from people and one area
:56:18. > :56:24.to no more than another. I suspect some people are just not making it
:56:24. > :56:31.easy for people to find the answers. We need to look at the standards of
:56:31. > :56:35.service provided. I think Tony Blair has said he is sorry he ever
:56:35. > :56:40.brought in this freedom of information. I do think taking
:56:40. > :56:45.right away from people, especially under the name of the cuts, I would
:56:45. > :56:51.be cautious. But it is true that the cuts are starting to bite and
:56:51. > :56:56.councils will be looking at every single budget and this is one under
:56:56. > :57:02.scrutiny because I am sure they would rather not have it. Council
:57:02. > :57:12.budgets, I am sure we will touch on them again in this programme.
:57:12. > :57:14.
:57:14. > :57:17.Time for him look at the political The singer Charlotte Church said
:57:17. > :57:26.she had faith and that the Prime Minister would accept
:57:26. > :57:30.recommendations made by the Levenson cry up -- Leveson Enquiry.
:57:30. > :57:33.The legal battle over the first page of legislation passed by the
:57:33. > :57:38.National Assembly under its new law-making powers went before the
:57:38. > :57:44.Supreme Court in London. The Welsh and UK governments disagree over
:57:44. > :57:47.whether the bill which relates to by-laws is lawful or not.
:57:47. > :57:56.Welsh Secretary David Janes said the UK and wealth governments must
:57:56. > :58:00.work together for the sake of the economy. -- David Jones. David
:58:00. > :58:10.Cameron said he wanted the Welsh Conservatives to become the
:58:10. > :58:24.
:58:24. > :58:29.Let's look ahead to events tomorrow in Scotland. The prime minister
:58:29. > :58:35.heading up to see the First Minister of Scotland to thrash out
:58:35. > :58:39.the referendum deal on independence. As a Liberal Democrat, I am sure
:58:39. > :58:45.you were delighted that 16 and 17- year-olds can vote in the election.
:58:45. > :58:50.The key issue is are we going to be better apart altogether. Are we
:58:50. > :58:55.stronger together as a country. These issues matter to Wales and
:58:56. > :59:03.England have well. I think the starting gun has well and truly
:59:03. > :59:09.started to get those arguments talked about. Is there enough of a
:59:10. > :59:14.debate going on in Wales about the knock-on effects of a Yes vote?
:59:14. > :59:20.doubt it. But I would say that being a Plaid Cymru member. I think
:59:20. > :59:26.we ought to be talking about it all the time. People here are not
:59:26. > :59:31.interested, are they? More and more people are in favour of devolution,
:59:31. > :59:36.so they are interested in it but perhaps not the referendum in
:59:36. > :59:42.Scotland. It is great that the referendum is going to happen. The
:59:42. > :59:52.SNP have not had it their own way over this question. A lot of the
:59:52. > :59:56.
:59:56. > :00:03.focus has been on whether a 16 or 17 euros can vote. -- 17 year olds.
:00:03. > :00:11.In David Cameron's speech last week, did he take the wind out of the
:00:11. > :00:15.SNP's sales? Do we in Wales once got them to be partners with us and
:00:15. > :00:20.the United Kingdom? Do the English want to have Scotland as partners?
:00:20. > :00:25.The answer to that is, yes, we're stronger together. But we are being
:00:25. > :00:32.able to address it for the first time. We can get on with that