:01:27. > :01:31.$:/STARTFEED. We are told an increase in the number of people
:01:31. > :01:41.unable to keep up with their rent could threaten the viability of
:01:41. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :42:40.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2459 seconds
:42:40. > :42:46.Hello and on Sunday Politics Wales: Could rent arrears threaten the
:42:46. > :42:51.viability of housing associations? Are we doing enough to maximise
:42:51. > :42:54.overseas markets? Joining me are two appears of the
:42:54. > :43:00.Ron - Baroness Randerson from the Liberal Democrats and Lord Dafydd
:43:00. > :43:08.Elis-Thomas, the Plaid Cymru assembly member. Let's start with a
:43:08. > :43:10.discussion on the horsemeat scandal. You are the chair of the
:43:10. > :43:16.Environment sustainability committee. We have discussed the
:43:16. > :43:23.food chain. Are you surprised by the headlines? In one sense I am
:43:23. > :43:26.not because the market throughout Europe in food product does not
:43:26. > :43:31.have the kind of traceability that we are used to in the labelling in
:43:32. > :43:38.Wales. The important issue is that people know what they are buying,
:43:38. > :43:43.when they buy a product. I shall have some Welsh lamb for lunch and
:43:43. > :43:48.a couple of hours. We will not keep you that long! By the time the lamb
:43:48. > :43:53.has rested, I am ready to carve it. I know where it comes from and I
:43:53. > :43:59.know the butcher and probably the farmer. There is the red tractor
:43:59. > :44:03.which you can look for. It is important to look for product which
:44:03. > :44:07.you know you can trust and buy your product in a place you can trust.
:44:07. > :44:11.This is about the supermarkets policing as well as the Food
:44:11. > :44:20.Standards Agency. Is there anything your committee can do to
:44:20. > :44:25.investigate this? Food safety is a UK government matter but we are
:44:25. > :44:31.intending to look at the whole question of the food industry and
:44:31. > :44:36.the food chain in Wales. We had the terrible incidents which were
:44:36. > :44:44.investigated a few years ago and as a result of that, food hygiene has
:44:44. > :44:50.been much improved. Recent legislation has been going through
:44:50. > :44:56.the assembly. This is a huge story that people are very much concerned
:44:56. > :45:01.about. What can the government to? You are a Welsh Office minister
:45:01. > :45:04.with the UK government - is there a big job for the government two
:45:04. > :45:09.there is going to be a massive job as the government identifies the
:45:09. > :45:12.scale of the problem. The police will almost certainly be involved
:45:12. > :45:16.internationally. But the thing we need to worry about in Wales is
:45:16. > :45:22.that we rely a great deal for our prosperity on our farm and
:45:22. > :45:27.community. Life is not so easy in the farming community and the food
:45:27. > :45:33.production industry in Wales at the moment. Anything like this which
:45:33. > :45:38.sends a shock through the whole of the food industry is not good for
:45:38. > :45:43.farmers. But I think, as Dafydd says, shoppers need to look for the
:45:44. > :45:49.label. If you see the Welsh label, you have a guarantee of good
:45:49. > :45:53.quality. In six weeks, changes to the
:45:53. > :45:56.benefit system will come into force, affecting thousands of people in
:45:56. > :45:59.Wales and this programme has had the viability of housing
:45:59. > :46:03.associations could be under threat because of people falling behind on
:46:03. > :46:07.their rent. One South Wales charity has told us that the number of
:46:07. > :46:15.people contacting them about rent arrears in the current financial
:46:16. > :46:20.year has more than doubled. On this box it says... To times are
:46:20. > :46:25.hard for Mary Cox and sh he relies on her family collecting pennies to
:46:25. > :46:30.be able to afford to buy flowers for her husband's grave. Affording
:46:30. > :46:34.the rent on her house is a struggle, to. She has been behind with a run
:46:34. > :46:38.before but pay back what she owed. She is concerned that changes to
:46:38. > :46:42.the welfare system could leave her with less money. From April,
:46:42. > :46:45.families in council homes, people renting from a housing associations
:46:45. > :46:48.and working age recipients of housing benefit will be assessed to
:46:48. > :46:53.see how many benefits they need. Those who have too much living
:46:53. > :46:57.space will get less benefit, a change dubbed the bedroom tax by
:46:57. > :47:01.the UK government's political opponents. Although Mary's grandson
:47:01. > :47:06.regularly stays with her, her benefit will be reduced because of
:47:06. > :47:09.the other two bedrooms she has. I have been told that from 1st
:47:09. > :47:12.April dabble have to pay for the two bedrooms that are not being
:47:12. > :47:18.used. They asked me if I would think about a smaller property
:47:18. > :47:22.which I will not because this is my home and it has a lot of memories.
:47:22. > :47:26.My husband has just died and my grandson sleet see every night
:47:26. > :47:29.because of my illnesses. Rather than feed myself, I would pay the
:47:29. > :47:33.rent because this is my home and I have no intention of giving my home
:47:33. > :47:42.up. Mary is not the only one concerned about falling behind with
:47:42. > :47:48.the red. Figures from the Citizens Advice Bureau show 165% in the
:47:48. > :47:57.number of winter Rea's enquiries. Across Wales, the figure for
:47:57. > :48:01.housing associations is only 12%. We have seen significant increases
:48:01. > :48:04.in the number of people coming to us with rented villas and that is
:48:04. > :48:13.giving us big cause for concern as the welfare reform changes start to
:48:13. > :48:16.impact. The fact that we are already working with the most
:48:16. > :48:19.deprived communities mean that other parts of Wales are going to
:48:19. > :48:24.see the catch-up effect and we are going to see increases across the
:48:24. > :48:28.whole of Wales next year. That increase in people fallen behind
:48:28. > :48:32.with the rent will have implications for the tenants. And
:48:32. > :48:36.also for some of the landlords. Housing Association model has been
:48:36. > :48:40.probably the most successful public private partnership in the whole of
:48:40. > :48:49.Western Europe and these changes we need to threaten the viability of
:48:49. > :48:55.that model. We have leathered a �1.5 million into housing in Wales.
:48:55. > :49:05.-- levered. To meet housing need, we have to make sure that resources
:49:05. > :49:23.
:49:23. > :49:25.are available to service the debt. The spokesman added that money was
:49:25. > :49:31.available from local authorities to help support disabled people and
:49:31. > :49:35.foster carers. For Mary, welfare reform will mean finding more money
:49:35. > :49:41.to pay the rent but or housing association landlords, welfare
:49:41. > :49:47.reform could mean a drop in their income.
:49:47. > :49:51.Jenny, the situation outlined by the Citizens Advice Bureau was a
:49:51. > :49:54.big surprise, seeing a big jump in the people in rent arrears. But
:49:54. > :50:00.they say it is going to get worse from a poor when the changes come
:50:00. > :50:04.in. -- from April. Are you find in these changes are difficult to
:50:04. > :50:09.communicate? Everyone accepts it is not something the government would
:50:09. > :50:17.have wished to have to do. But the truth of the matter is that housing
:50:17. > :50:21.benefit now costs the nation, the UK, �23 billion. If you think that
:50:21. > :50:26.the Welsh government runs Wales fought roughly �15 billion a year,
:50:26. > :50:32.that puts that in perspective. The savings that the UK government is
:50:32. > :50:36.making on that 23 billion is 2 billion. There is still an awful
:50:36. > :50:41.lot of money going out. The vast majority of housing benefit will
:50:41. > :50:46.still be paid in the same way. But savings have to be made because of
:50:46. > :50:51.the financial mess that we inherited. The way in which we are
:50:51. > :50:56.trying to do it is the fairest possible way and we are providing a
:50:56. > :51:00.cushion for those who find themselves in difficulty. There is
:51:00. > :51:05.the discretionary housing payments, which are going to go up. They are
:51:05. > :51:08.being tripled in value so that there is a cushion for people who
:51:08. > :51:14.find themselves in the sort of difficulties that were referred to
:51:14. > :51:21.in that piece. Dafydd Elis-Thomas, there appears to be a knock-on
:51:21. > :51:24.effect. We heard the man from the Housing Association say that the
:51:24. > :51:28.viability of housing associations across Wales could be challenged
:51:28. > :51:31.because their rent might drop and that is a frightening thought
:51:31. > :51:40.because it is not just the house as they provide but the jobs they
:51:40. > :51:50.create. As a third sex to provider of all sorts of activities, not
:51:50. > :51:51.
:51:51. > :51:58.just housing but extra care homes - - third sector, the housing
:51:58. > :52:01.associations are dependent on a higher market in rent. If the
:52:01. > :52:05.support is reduced, that is bound to affect the viability of the
:52:05. > :52:10.organisations. I would say it is essential that we investigate this
:52:10. > :52:19.from the receiving end in Wales. Whenever there are changes in UK
:52:19. > :52:22.government policy on income support that affect our population, it
:52:22. > :52:25.affects us worse because we have a higher proportion of people on
:52:25. > :52:33.benefits. It undermines the activity of world government very
:52:33. > :52:36.often. One of your jobs within the Wales Office is dealing with of the
:52:36. > :52:41.UK government departments and the Welsh government. Are these
:52:41. > :52:45.discussions you have been having with the Welsh government? Wales
:52:45. > :52:49.Office ministers have been discussing the issues and
:52:50. > :52:53.particularly the way in which changes to the benefit, with
:52:53. > :52:59.universal credit, are going to be rolled out. We are very conscious
:52:59. > :53:07.that a higher proportion of people in Wales fan across the UK as a
:53:07. > :53:11.whole rely on benefits. We had Mary says she would rather starve
:53:11. > :53:16.because she did not want to lose her home. That is rather stark.
:53:16. > :53:19.people are very worried about something in advance, or rather
:53:19. > :53:26.more worried about something in advance in many cases than the
:53:26. > :53:31.problem will actually arise. There are those emergency payments that
:53:31. > :53:35.the government is determined it will help the most vulnerable.
:53:35. > :53:40.Nobody wants people to feel like that but there are systems in place
:53:40. > :53:45.to ensure that, in reality, it does not happen. This is something we
:53:45. > :53:49.will keep a watch on after April. This week, the first minister heads
:53:49. > :53:54.off to San Francisco in the latest of a series of trade missions,
:53:54. > :53:58.which has led to various parts of the globe. He has been to Ireland,
:53:58. > :54:02.China and Turkey this year already. One leading Welsh academic police
:54:02. > :54:07.there was government is missing a trick by not focusing enough of the
:54:07. > :54:09.trade opportunities offered in the countries of central Europe. Our
:54:10. > :54:14.political correspondent has been looking at how Wales could benefit
:54:14. > :54:18.from its relationship with Romania. After the troubled past, Romania is
:54:18. > :54:22.now back at the very heart of Europe. It has retained the
:54:22. > :54:28.elegance and sophistication that meant that the capital, Bucharest,
:54:28. > :54:31.was once known as the Paris of the East. In the decades following the
:54:31. > :54:35.second world war, Romania was plunged into the grey sludge of
:54:35. > :54:39.political paternity and the oppressive rule of Nicolae
:54:39. > :54:44.Ceausescu and his cronies. The twilight years of communist rule
:54:44. > :54:50.came to an end in 1989. The revolution here was the bloodiest
:54:50. > :54:54.of all the revolutions that hit eastern Europe. But the country
:54:54. > :55:02.emerged onto the European stage for the first time since the end of the
:55:02. > :55:08.World War II. Romanians joined the European Union in 2007. In Europe,
:55:08. > :55:14.almost all countries need to be better known or to know better
:55:14. > :55:18.other members of the European Union. We are a family now, in the largest
:55:19. > :55:24.sense of the word. But her family, it is quite normal to exchange
:55:24. > :55:29.views, to exchange ideas, to exchange values and against this
:55:29. > :55:33.background, we have to do a lot. One of recent trip to Cardiff, the
:55:33. > :55:39.Romanian ambassador stressed that his government wants to improve
:55:39. > :55:48.ties in Wales. He has met the first minister on three occasions. He has
:55:48. > :55:54.been to Scotland half-a-dozen times. As power shifts towards the former
:55:54. > :55:59.Eastern bloc countries, countryside Romania will play a greater role in
:55:59. > :56:04.economic affairs. The question is whether it Welsh Government's --
:56:04. > :56:09.the Welsh government is playing its part. A one of the interesting
:56:10. > :56:17.aspects when you think about the worst situation is that Wales is in
:56:17. > :56:21.two thirds of structural funds. One of the things the government cannot
:56:21. > :56:27.be accused of, regardless of the outcomes, is having problems with
:56:27. > :56:33.spending European money. There is a trick been lost here in terms of
:56:33. > :56:39.the links that we could set up, established, with the Romanian and
:56:39. > :56:44.Bulgarian governments to see how: Basically, we could support them
:56:44. > :56:50.and help them in addressing the this underspending of European
:56:50. > :56:54.structural funds. The experience of the recent industrial past and
:56:54. > :56:58.Wales is a commodity which something the Romanians would value.
:56:58. > :57:04.Knowledge has a very high value. We are not talking about selling tea
:57:04. > :57:10.cups or mugs or teaspoons. We are talking about taking 25 years of
:57:10. > :57:14.hard earned recovery based knowledge to a country that can
:57:14. > :57:19.benefit from that. They have further to recover than we have and
:57:19. > :57:24.we can give them a thought up. That comes at a premium price and one
:57:24. > :57:31.that you have to pay for. Welsh ministers have emphasised they are
:57:31. > :57:37.keen to develop stronger overseas trade links. But what about Romania
:57:37. > :57:47.and other countries in central Europe? In a statement, there was
:57:47. > :57:51.
:57:51. > :57:55.-- of the Welsh at government Between 2007-13, there were 30
:57:55. > :58:00.billion euros of project funding available on agriculture,
:58:00. > :58:05.infrastructure, people development, and all of these are areas in which
:58:05. > :58:09.Wales can provide genuine support. Currently, Romanians and Bulgarians
:58:09. > :58:13.face trade restrictions but they will be lifted next January. This
:58:13. > :58:18.has prompted fears that thousands of eastern Europeans can flood into
:58:18. > :58:27.the UK but is also making people think about what business Wales
:58:28. > :58:32.could do with Romania. Were there some points raised their
:58:32. > :58:35.about markets that could be exploited by the Welsh government?
:58:35. > :58:40.I am very interested in environmental goods and services
:58:41. > :58:46.and the growth of rural as well as urban development by a green jobs.
:58:46. > :58:53.I am sure there is a huge potential we need to look at and the idea
:58:53. > :59:00.that we could do a knowledge transfer in relation to our
:59:00. > :59:07.experience, and the opportunity for Welsh communities to benefit from
:59:07. > :59:10.them as they grow up, is what the EU is all about. There has been
:59:10. > :59:13.talk of putting adverts and papers to stop people from Romania and
:59:13. > :59:22.Bulgaria coming here. This is perhaps a more positive side, isn't
:59:22. > :59:29.it? There are great opportunities and Wales exports 40% of its
:59:29. > :59:34.products that did exports to the EU as an whole. That means there is
:59:34. > :59:38.great potential throughout the EU but also, the important thing we
:59:38. > :59:43.need to bear in mind is that Wales has not been doing as well as it
:59:43. > :59:48.should have done in recent years - not just in terms of exports but in
:59:48. > :59:52.terms of attracting inward investment. Is that there was
:59:52. > :00:00.government's fault? I am not going to attribute blame. Whatever the
:00:00. > :00:07.cause, we need to have a stronger focus on Wales. -- of the Welsh
:00:07. > :00:15.government's fault? The Wales offers is playing its part in that
:00:15. > :00:21.liaison and it is really important that we seize the initiative and
:00:21. > :00:26.that the Welsh government does follow through. Well we are talking
:00:26. > :00:31.about the EU, we cannot not talk about the budget discussions. David
:00:31. > :00:36.Cameron claimed success on cutting the EU's budget. You do not share
:00:36. > :00:40.his delight. I do not. I am concerned about higher education
:00:40. > :00:45.and other research and development budgets. I am deeply concerned
:00:45. > :00:50.about the level of the Common Agricultural Policy because the
:00:50. > :00:53.growth of Welsh agriculture depends a man. And the Rural Development
:00:53. > :00:57.Programme, which the Welsh minister concerned is about to go at a
:00:57. > :01:00.consultation on. But how can we consult on the spending of a
:01:00. > :01:05.programme when we do not know the final figures? The sooner we get
:01:06. > :01:11.the figures, the sooner we can see what damage one part of the
:01:12. > :01:16.coalition has done to Wales's prospects. As Dafydd raised the
:01:16. > :01:21.point, one part of the coalition he says, I assume you are referring to
:01:21. > :01:27.the Conservatives - this is not something the Lib Dems supported,
:01:27. > :01:33.is it? The Liberal Democrats accept the fact that the EU has to spend
:01:34. > :01:39.its money very wisely at this particular time. However, as
:01:39. > :01:45.enthusiastic Europeans, we accept also that there are two sides to
:01:45. > :01:50.the story. Wales is a net recipient of EU funds and is therefore in an
:01:50. > :01:57.unusual position within the UK. You do have to accept that not just the
:01:57. > :02:01.UK government but several other EU governments - a majority, otherwise
:02:01. > :02:07.it would not have got through - wanted to bring their spending
:02:07. > :02:12.under control. Wales, I hope, will one day very soon not be in a
:02:12. > :02:16.position of relying on EU funds in the way it has done in the past.
:02:16. > :02:26.Time now for a look back at some other political stories of the Week
:02:26. > :02:28.
:02:28. > :02:32.Opposition parties accused the Welsh Government of backtracking on
:02:32. > :02:36.an election promise to introduce GP led health checks for the over-
:02:36. > :02:46.fifties. Ministers want online checks instead.
:02:46. > :02:46.
:02:46. > :02:49.The Prime Minister asked a Welsh Minister to review NHS practices so.
:02:49. > :02:52.But by Health Minister of Leslie Griffiths said the government would
:02:52. > :02:57.look at the report on the mid- Staffordshire NHS Trust to see of
:02:57. > :03:01.this as could be learned here. All Wells Conservative MPs voted
:03:01. > :03:05.against gay marriage. David Cameron describes the bill as a step
:03:05. > :03:09.forward. More than half of Conservative MPs and two Wells
:03:09. > :03:12.Labour MPs opposed the legislation. The Welsh education minister
:03:12. > :03:16.Leighton Andrews welcomed the decision not to scrap GCSEs in
:03:16. > :03:20.England. The original proposals from the way education minister
:03:20. > :03:30.Michael Gove would have a ladder to growing difficulties -- differences
:03:30. > :03:35.
:03:35. > :03:39.Baroness Randerson, Leighton Andrews describes Michael Gove as a
:03:39. > :03:41.repentant sinner. Part of your role, with your response before education,
:03:41. > :03:46.is managing the relationship between the Welsh government and
:03:46. > :03:53.the UK government. I am sure that has been quite difficult over the
:03:53. > :04:00.GCSE row. It is not the easiest situation but I think the important
:04:00. > :04:05.thing is that we now need to focus our minds on how GCSEs in Wales are
:04:05. > :04:13.going to mean something different, possibly, from GCSEs in England.
:04:13. > :04:17.That is a problem, overwhelmingly, four Welsh young people. There I'm
:04:17. > :04:22.awful lot more of the English people than there are Welsh people.
:04:23. > :04:29.-- there are an awful lot. People assume the majority situation will
:04:29. > :04:37.apply in Wales. Both of the ministers concerned are keen to
:04:37. > :04:44.keep the name of GCSE. Leighton Andrews I suppose feels he has been
:04:44. > :04:52.vindicated by the U-turn. What do you think of the debate? Not a lot.
:04:52. > :04:56.But alas, we have got a system in Wales... But I agree with Jenny.
:04:56. > :04:59.There has to be a proper marketing of the meaning of the Welsh system.
:04:59. > :05:04.I have experience over the years that although employers say what
:05:04. > :05:08.they want from a qualification, in reality they very often do not.
:05:08. > :05:13.They have to be educated in what systems ought to be produced.
:05:13. > :05:16.aware of what a GCSE means in Wales, rather than England. Being aware of