15/01/2012 Sunday Politics West Midlands

In the Midlands... We will investigate the scourge of metal

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1687 seconds

theft and our report reveals the Welcome to Sunday Politics in the

Midlands with me, Patrick Burns. Coming up. We reveal the results of

a Sunday Politics investigation into metal thefts across our region

and ask what's to be done about them. With me here today are James

Morris, Conservative MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis. And

Valerie Vaz, the Labour MP for Walsall South. This is the first

programme at the start of a challenging New Year for the West

Midlands. Job figures coming out this week. But more arguments from

the opposition that government policies do not work. That has to

be the focus for this year for the Government, to focus on growth in

the West Midlands. We have challenges but we need to do all

that we can to generate new jobs and support manufacturing, to make

sure young people get the skills they need to take opportunities.

There are big challenges and lots of evidence that we are making

progress and we need to make more progress. Where is that evidence?

18 months ago, we were elected to get the finances back on a stable

footing, we're are investing in manufacturing, in schools and

apprenticeships to improve the skills in the economy. How do you

see the prospects for this year? Are you convinced? It will be very

difficult and we are seeing some difficulties. I have 4000 people on

Jobseeker's Allowance and we have the stage now our 8 million women

are unemployed. We're now seeing bills being clogged up in

Westminster with much work to do, all the bills run the House of

Lords and on the welfare bill, the House of Lords has voted against

some of the Government's proposals, and that is worrying. And also

their health will his stock in the House of Lords. No doubt about the

top story. -- the Health Bill is stock. Our top story this week has

to be high speed rail. 14 years from now, you could be travelling

from Birmingham to London in 45 minutes. The line will cost �17

billion, your ticket, maybe not quite that much. The Transport

Secretary, Justine Greening, celebrated with a visit to the

Midlands on Wednesday. But opposition remains undaunted. Peter

Plisner reports. So, in the opening round of the battle over HS2, it's

those in favour one, those against nil. But with a scheme that's still

potentially 14 years away, there's still lots to play for. Although

most had predicted the shape of last week's announcement for some,

including those who could lose their homes, it was still clearly

upsetting. We have lived here for 27 years. A Enter the Transport

Secretary, Justine Greening, with the promise of a new package of

compensation. There are statutory laws and place for the situation

and we will go above that and we will consult on this -- in the

spring on final proposals. While protestors were disappointed that

the controversial scheme got the ahead, the business community was

overjoyed, although some supporters clearly wanted more. Can I ask if

the discussions about extending the route to Scotland have included

looking at bringing faster trains through Birmingham and into the

black country? Although that seems unlikely, the announcement was also

good news for Birmingham's run down Eastside. This is the proposed site

for the high-speed railway station. The city centre is closed by, next

to the main line and the sight is ripe for development. So there's a

lot at stake when it comes to HS2, and still many years of legal and

planning wrangles to go through before the line can become a

reality. One thing is clear. It's not going to be easy. The battle

lines have been John for many years. Peter Plisner reporting. Councillor

Bob Stevens is with us. I heard suggestions that some colleagues

and local government around the country, particularly those on this

line, feel betrayed by Westminster? I don't think so, the local MPs

have been very supportive, bearing in mind that the council and the

districts voted unanimously against this scheme. And we have rigorous

support from Conservative MPs. I am disappointed with Justine Greening

in that she proposed the Heathrow airport, saying that local opinion

should be listened to. There was talk of a legal challenge by local-

authority is. What is going on? There is a group which covers the

London boroughs, the shire counties along the line and the district

councils, the Borough Council, and Coventry and Leicester, they can

also see disadvantages. We will meet at the end of the month to

decide. Are you convinced that Warwickshire would be at a

disadvantage? The county isn't an island and it could benefit from

any regeneration that does take place in Birmingham? A lot of

people make their money in the City? The benefit to Warwickshire

is very minimal, it goes from London to Birmingham, stopping

nowhere. People realise that. Even the former transport minister said

that there would be no gains for Warwickshire but a lot of pain.

What is your concern about the business case? I think the business

case is flawed from the word go. It has extremes in what it as soon as.

And it is based over 60 years. Who knows, in 60 years, plus 20 years

to build, what were the situation they? We have seen the real upset

on the line of this route. What do you say? Bob has argued very

cogently about his objections? understand his view but the

Government had to make a decision about the long-term future of

Britain's railways and we have problems with capacity from London

to Birmingham and that line will be full by 2020 and money to invest in

long-term infrastructure. Warwickshire gets nothing out of

that? In the end, we need to invest in the future of the West Midlands

economy and high speed rail will make a massive contribution to that

by improving links to the north- west, it will help in the project

of rebalancing the UK economy so it is a good decision, it is difficult

but governments sometimes have to make those decisions in a long-term

interests. Alaric, we do see this political alliance at Westminster

with the three parties in support, probably? There was cross-party

support but we are different with the Government in that when the

hybrid Bill goes through, they should include a wider parts, going

up to Yorkshire and Manchester. Just tinkering suggests there could

be progress on that? I would just say to people in Warwickshire, this

is about something much broader than local issues. We have to think

about the good of the country and there is cross-party consensus on

what is happening. But for the people of Warwickshire, they can

actually get to Paris, people in West Midlands can get to Paris in

three hours. This is like buying a new sports car. I would like to

have it but we cannot afford it and we would do much better with the

money if we spent it on improving the infrastructure and the end this

railway is going from the middle of London to one mile outside

Birmingham, this is a new station and that is it. It will not even

benefit your own constituencies? Some local businesses can move

goods quicker. I have businesses in my constituency that take work back

from places like China. The central point is you can make a decision to

patch up the railways in order to improve capacity for a good, long-

term decision in the interests of the country at to improve capacity

by investing in the most appropriate technology and HS2 is

that. You both our MPs in the back country. Not everybody is jubilant

about this? We are looking at connectivity. I think the black

country will benefit from the improvements to the line. It will

take capacity out of the existing network and make sure that we can

develop better infrastructure in the Black Country and there will be

long-term benefits. Bob, the final word, are you in danger of putting

your local parochial interests in front of the bigger picture? I do

not think so. There will be more freight on the other lines, less

trains on the other lines because they but get passengers on to the

HS2. You talk about the cost of rail fares, �158, return from

Birmingham to London. Allowing for inflation, that will be nearly �300.

To Steen Tinning says that she wants a value-for-money and it must

be accessible to large amounts of people? If you read the report, it

says it will only be low value for money. That sums it up. To be

continued... Next up... An investigation by this programme has

revealed �35 million of metal has been stolen across the Midlands

over the past four years. Victims have told us the time has come for

the law to get tough and MPs will be debating it this coming week.

Susana Mendonca has this exclusive report. Metal - crushed in the

Black Country and destined for places like China. And there are

huge amounts of money to be made. A ton of copper, for example, would

sell for almost �5,000 on the metals market. Steel would go for a

lot less - �340 a ton. And a ton of lead would rake in just under

�1,300. No wonder, then, that thieves took the lead off the roof

of this Birmingham school while no one was in. It's been replaced with

a substitute material but staff want to know why scrap yards aren't

asking more questions. They seem to be able to strip down and building,

turn up at the scrapyard and presented as something they have

got legally. Without too many questions. Figures released to this

programme under the Freedom of Information Act show that there

have been almost 30,000 metal thefts across the region since 2008.

The vast bulk of them dealt with by West Midlands Police. West Mercia

saw metal thefts rise by 95%. And the largest theft Staffordshire

Police reported was to the tune of �100,000. MPs behind a private

member's bill before Parliament this week say the answer is a ban

on cash sales. The key point is the system, it is the only industry

that basically has an exemption to deal almost exclusively in cash and

that is wrong and most of the industry also thinks this is wrong.

It is just a few rogue traders laundering stolen at netball for

cash and that needs to be investigated. -- stolen at metal.

But the association representing scrap dealers, like this one in

Smethwick, favours photo ID. That will produce the answer is that we

want, the trail and the traceability. Every try to band

cash, this will just drive the business underground, into illegal

operations. And potentially will encourage the growth of organised

crime. The stakes are high. After all, this is an industry that

generates around �6 billion nationally, around �1 billion of

that right here in the West Midlands. The sheer scale of the

problem it revealed by Susannah. And following our investigation,

the Home Office tell us that, for the first time, police forces will

be told to log metal thefts as part of national crime-counting data

from this April. Alaric, as a former district judge, will that

help to produce at targeted response? We have seen public

broadcasting at its best, we have found these figures and have

shown... The sheer scale of this? It is outstanding. We have seen

barbara's sculpture being stolen, 10 thefts every day from churches

and the insurance going up by 70%. The key is enforcement and I agree

with some of my colleagues, who actually have called for no cash in

the system. It is surprising, given the amount of money passing through,

that there is this exemption that allows this cashless environment

with no questions? And no trail to establish what is legitimate?

is a legitimate argument for some licensing regime, including

cashless payments, for scrap metal. We also need to be careful that

that does not drive this further underground. I would agree that we

need to look further at your systems because the problem has got

out of control and my own constituency, there was a church

that was stripped and some schools had been affected so we need to

take action. We also need to make sure that the police are using the

existing powers and will also get new powers to solve this problem.

Isn't enough being done with what we have already? Do we need to get

tough? I have a fantastic example in Walsall, we had Operation Steel,

with multi- disciplined partnerships going together and

targeting certain areas and it seems to be in the North. And

basically, we had the Housing Group and the police and the council, all

getting together and targeting people and we need people on the

ground and that is the main concern. Looking to the future, it is

important to license the 33 scrapyards in this area so that we

know what is going in and out. This is a huge problem for companies,

various things like smart water, where we can spray people and you

can see and pinpoint what is happening to each piece of metal.

It is a sign of the times? The value of metal, especially in the

Far East, his height. I was told by somebody who would know, the number

one most lucrative export to China isn't Jaguar cars or Landrovers or

JCB trucks, it to scrap metal. have quite a thriving business and

scrap metal. There are legitimate businesses, so there is an argument

that we need greater licensing but we also need to make sure that were

there is legitimate business, they can go about their legitimate

business. Car and we get to the bottom of this? There is consensus

across the parties and across organisations and even companies

that we can do something about this and the scrap metal act, which the

Government is thinking about Updating, will help. Next up... Now

for the first in what will be a regular roundup of the political

week in the Midlands in just 60 seconds! Have we spotted two

examples of the Big Society at work? Here's Katie Rowlett. In

Warwickshire, 16 libraries due to shut because of council budget cuts

will now be run by volunteers. This one in Kineton will open two days a

week. It's the case of the cardboard cutout in Shropshire. An

end to cardboard recycling by the council led to a charity stepping

in to help give fresh life to all those boxes left over from

Christmas. This isn't about green issues and hippies, it is about

ordinary people who are used to recycling and wanted us something

about it. Problems in the Eurozone have been blamed for a profits

warning at the Coventry-based makers of black cabs. London Taxis

says customers are stuggling to get bank loans. The Attorney General

will look at the decision to sell off Stoke-on-Trent's Wedgwood

collection. The High Court had ruled the �18 million treasures can

be sold to plug a pensions black hole. And Sandwell Hospital, which

was failing in patient care, has finally passed watchdog inspections

at the third time of asking. There we are. Cardboard isn't just for

Christmas. And on the evidence of what is going on with the cardboard

story in Shropshire, those volunteers and Warwickshire, David

Cameron was right all along! Big Society is ready and waiting.

volunteers, the trouble is that we have people who might not have the

time in the future. But it is important that we focus on what is

happening in the House of Lords and the Claudy knot of the bills and

for me, I it will be going to Torbay to model to look at joined-

up thinking on health and social care. The other former Chief

Executive of this localism agenda, you must be celebrating Big Society,

but it is driven by desperation? accept that local government is

under pressure but we can see were there Israel civic action making a

big difference, it isn't little authorities having a monopoly on

the delivery of services. It is important that we create the space

for Voluntary organisations to pack up and drive forward community

activities. Are they doing their jobs as well as voluntary? How do

they do they? The Big Society route -- exists and we have to galvanise

this. People are busy working I'm looking after their families.

they had the passion, we should give them this opportunity. And the

problems with the taxi company in Coventry, are we not seeing the

chilling effects of the eurozone crisis? A that is right and the big

challenge that we have is continuing to support manufacturing

and will a difficult situation but it isn't all doom and gloom across

the area, there is good manufacturing exports and we need

to build upon that. Gloom and doom? It is, economically, but people are

so economic -- optimistic, that we will see everybody pulling together

this year. We shall see. Thank you but very much for being with us. --