17/02/2013 Sunday Politics Wales

Later in the programme we can reveal that fewer than 800 people

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2128 seconds

found jobs through a back to work Hello. The latest on the Welsh

Government scheme designed to get people back to work. And the red

trouser wearing mayor of Bristol wants to extend a hand of

friendship across the Severn estuary. Let's begin with some

comments this morning from the chief-executive of the Welsh

supermarket Iceland. He has been commenting on the horsemeat scandal.

He has blamed local authorities for driving down the cost of food. He

says supermarkets should not be blamed. There might be an element

that he would say that but what do you think? I have not seen the

comments until this morning but I think we do need a wider look at

the whole system. It requires a whole scale looked, not just

pointing the finger at one park. is not going away, is it? It is not.

There was some complacency from ministers at first but it is now a

much wider than that. Owen Paterson has had several summits with the

retailers and farming representatives. I think he is

trying to get some control on it but what troubles me more than

anything is the fact that criminal activity has undermined the

confidence in the industry. When we think about the changes that

farmers have had to make for traceability since B S E. If this

criminal activity or or local authorities are allowing criminal

activity to take place it is all displacing the hard work done by

farmers over many years. 800 people find jobs do aback to Work scheme

that looks like being wind up one year early. A new scheme should

help 20,000 people find work or get qualifications. Ollie have that

many took part and formally 800 found work. It has been supported

by public money. Our reporter has more. This woman started in

business thanks to the organisation. She works as a child minder at her

home. I always wanted to work from home and be a child minder. They

gave me funding and have always been at the end of the phone if I

needed any more training courses. It was launched to help people get

into the working world. It was hoped 20,000 people, especially

single parents would be as successful as this woman. Around

3,000 got qualification a bought fewer than 800 found work. Each of

those people cost on average �44,000. Income are they sure they

say that the women we spoke to was not a one-off. What has gone wrong

with the system? They are looking at winding up the scheme in the

June. �23 million of EU funding is being clawed back. This is simply

the tip of a very big iceberg. We know that a lot of arrangements

have been made using funding from the European budget which have not

achieved the sort of outcomes you would have wanted. The you wanted

to improve the economy through schemes such as this one. Another

round of funding starts next year. This man says Wales must get a bang

for its bulk. We will learn from this experience. We are very

anxious to make the most of whatever level of European funding

we get. The deputies Gills minister expects the officials to report

back on the scheme next month. He declined to be interviewed saying

he did not want to prejudice the outcome. He will make an

announcement on whether the Government will close the book on

this scheme. 44,000 to keep one job, the Orly created 800 jobs when they

hoped to create 20,000, at a time when people are looking for jobs?

It is alarming. These inward investment projects were criticised

but this really out scores them all. It has not delivered. If we think I

there are a whole host of problems that the Labour Party have a run.

They had a quango for training. Then New Deal, that was so

expensive in comparison. Now this one. It is really alarming the way

they throw public money at these projects when there are so many

people who need help and support out there. Something like the work

programme would be much more effective. The Welsh Government me

say they are doing something about this. It is not working but do you

think there is enough co-operation between the Government in Cardiff

and in Westminster in terms of job creation? Clearly this is about

disappointing results. There is no getting away from that. The project

is being stopped before it got to its end. I do not think the work

programme can be compared. There is another one brought in which is

seven times more effective. Without question the Work Programme has had

great success. But this one has not. We are hearing the phrase lessons

will be learned but there is a whole host of failures in this

field when money has been thrown at a projects. We could look at

Communities First again. European money is being thrown at projects

in many areas that have not worked out. In my area it has been

successful but in other areas it has not. I would defend the Work

Programme. When it ties in with the universal credit it will be

transformational, getting people into work, getting them Experience,

many do not have the discipline of going to work, all looking forward.

You cannot get away from the fact that �40,000 per job could have

been spent on helping families into work. This is one job-creation

scheme which perhaps has not been very effective. The jobs fund, I

think that is �95 million. It is already ahead of target. I have had

very positive reports about how the scheme works and that people are

now in jobs. Staff have been taken on that would not have been taken

on without this programme. these jobs going to be sustainable?

I hope so. One factor is that many of the participants have received

training and qualifications. One in four have received that. A fraction

of those who received qualifications have been able to

gain employment. That is the important thing about this. Clearly

this project at �40,000 per job has not contributed any way to success.

This scheme has not been able to create jobs at a time when people

want jobs? There have been failings and that is why it is coming to an

end. You cannot see it is coming to an end so where does not matter.

There are lower growth rates all- over come in Germany, everywhere.

Now time for some more devolution talk, not Scottish or Welsh, but

English. The first electric -- elected mayor of Bristol is showing

quite a bit of interest in Wales so we thought we would return the

gesture. Bristol is England's 8th largest city. It has a population

of 80,000 more than Cardiff. Nearly 6 million passengers took to these

guys from Bristol airport last year. In the first half of 2012, 18% of

these passengers were travelling to or from Wales. It is more a than

use the Cardiff airport. The city boasts Britain's biggest deep-sea

port. Business rate discounts, simpler planning rules and super-

fast broadband have been enticing firms in. Bristol market itself has

more highly skilled workers than any comparable English city. This

man became the first directly elected mayor last November.

Despite the cross-border rivalry he told me he was keen to work with

Wales. We are in effect a single region. Maybe that is a difficult

argument to make from England to Wales. If you compare us with our

region shared between Copenhagen and southern Sweden, there is a

region that works really well together, connected by Abridge, I

see a lot of similarities. That is an incredibly successful region in

northern Europe. I would like us to share a lot of our common

challenges and see whether we can prosper together. Have you had any

discussions with the Welsh Government? I am certainly looking

to do that. Within three months. I have been having lots of

consultation and meetings with Government ministers in London but

I am hoping to extend those conversations. There is some common

ground, some differing views might come when we discuss the barrage,

you are not a fan of that, are you? It is a regional issue. I think it

is in the interests of the whole region that we have a really

successful port in the Severn. A report is as successful port. It is

close to Wales. I think if the trade at that port is damaged it

damages us all. No barrage across the Severn as fun as you are

concerned? No, I think there are much better ways of using the tidal

power of the Severn estuary. There are much better ways in terms of

the technology. We could develop technology within the Severn

Estuary that we can export to the rest of the world. We cannot export

are badges, they are a pretty basic technology. If we develop lagoons,

other forms of tidal and wave and other ways of extracting be energy

from the water and wind, then we have got a great potential export.

The private owners at Bristol airport are not keen on the

Government buying Cardiff airport. I am all for competition. I do not

have a complaint about competition but we like to feel it is

competition on an even playing field. The danger is that Wales

gets special deals on taxation in which case it would not be on a

level playing field. I think that is the fear of Bristol Airport.

Nevertheless, we have got two was slightly unsatisfactory airports. I

think it would be great if we combine forces. The problem is we

have one in private ownership and one that is going to be in public

ownership, that would make that more difficult. I am keen on

finding more environmental ways of travelling. We should invest in

real trouble. That is the obvious choice for domestic travel. Flying

between cities in the UK would become a rather silly option. You

are given more hassle of travel and the fact it does not take you into

the heart of our cities. Rail is ideal, even as a link to Europe.

Now let's talk about something that affects both your constituencies,

the barrage, what do you think of the view of the Mayor that he does

not think a barrage across the estuary is a way to go? I have

stated my opinion publicly already. There are a lot of serious

unanswered questions about the bad Ryeish, in terms of the Engineering

and impact on ports. It would affect Cardiff port as well. I

think those things have to be answered before we can move on any

further in that debate. It would affect your constituency as well?

It would. There would be a huge sub-station cited in Barry. That is

a major issue that has to be overcome. We do not know if the

money is available yet. We do not know anything about the timescale.

Let us not dismiss it out of hand but I think there are some pretty

big hurdles in the way of development. It is natural Bristol

would oppose it because it would close it off to the three access it

has at the moment. The mayor does raise some interesting discussions

about partnership. PCs the area as one big region. -- he sees the area.

Sometimes it becomes an obsession to do things differently in Wales

simply because we could. There is a example of devolution in England. I

would hope there could be a warm relationship between Wales and

Bristol. Some people have more in common with him than they have with

different parts of Wales. I had a debate on cancer care and the

differences between Wales and England and one MP from the south-

west called for more co-operation between South Wales and south-west

for treatment. That can deliver better outcomes both for people in

Wales and in England. He has appoint. Absolutely. I am very

happy to be Bristol at football as we did yesterday! But we have got

facilities end Cardiff and in Bristol, people commute between the

two. We have the potential to build this region up for creative

industries. Your welcome what he was saying? I certainly do. We have

to discuss the possibilities. underlines the need for better

communication links between Wales and the south-west. That damages

west Wales, south-west Wales as well as East Wales. There has to be

a better opportunity for her creating better transportation.

is something I think we would all be in agreement about. The airport

is one area where I think the competition will remain. Hopefully

we can bring people from Bristol for a certain journeys. You might

disagree on that part. Now we have time for a quick look back to some

of the political stories of the week. A conservative rural affairs

spokesperson wants councils to test all meat entering the public sector

food chain. It follows the horsemeat scandal. The Welsh

Secretary David Jones has been criticised for suggesting same-sex

partners cannot provide a safe environment for bringing up

children. He says his comments had been taken out of context and he

was fully supportive of same-sex relationships. The possibility of a

so-called super prison. It emerged the most borrowed book from be a

House of Commons library is how to be an MP. Mr Flynn's guide was

This man tells me he has actually bought the book! Now the Welsh

Secretary has clarified his position from the comment seat made

on gay marriage. Labour wanted a public apology from him. He has not

had a great week really. He was accused of driving 100 yards across

the road to Downing Street. He has made inappropriate comments about

safety of children in same-sex partnerships. I hang glad he has

made a clarification but there should have been serious questions

over him making such comments in the first place. I respect those

who oppose the same-sex marriage built but they should not be --

politician should not be telling people that it is not safe and

secure. We have got to be careful. These are very serious issues. When

comments are taken out of context, this was recorded on Tuesday, it

was not reported until Thursday. If it was such a valid story it would

have hit the media immediately at the time. There has been a specific

angle taken on this by the Labour Party because they want to cause

damage. That is part of their role. Independent journalists would have

picked up on this if it was the sort of story They are trying to

portray it at. We need to take it in context of what he intended to