:01:34. > :01:37.In the Midlands: Just four days to go until the referendum on a
:01:37. > :01:47.lectern Meyers. Birmingham and Coventry decided they want one. So
:01:47. > :01:47.
:01:47. > :29:39.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1671 seconds
:29:39. > :29:41.how does the business case really Hello again from the Midlands. I'm
:29:41. > :29:44.Patrick Burns, and in this, our final programme before polling day
:29:44. > :29:47.on Thursday, we'll be hearing from all three main parties beginning
:29:47. > :29:57.with Adrian Bailey MP for Labour and Lorely Burt MP for the Liberal
:29:57. > :29:58.
:29:58. > :30:04.Democrats. Adrian, the sound in the air at the
:30:04. > :30:08.moment is the counting of Labour Party chickens, isn't it? You are
:30:08. > :30:14.confident. In some cases you are saying you are mathematically sure
:30:14. > :30:20.of taking over control of councils. We are not over-confident. The mood
:30:20. > :30:25.is good on the ground. Morale is high. The events of the last month
:30:25. > :30:29.have convinced the electorate that the government and Westminster's
:30:29. > :30:34.policies are failing, and when you apply that to the poor performance
:30:34. > :30:38.of Tory and Lib Dem councils in local levels, that makes for a good
:30:38. > :30:48.background for Stott but it is not about a great surge of sentiment to
:30:48. > :30:48.
:30:49. > :30:52.The Tories can't repeat their performance of four years ago. So
:30:52. > :30:56.you're going to benefit from the time-lapse effect.
:30:56. > :31:02.Not at all. On the doorstep, I have met a number of people who have
:31:02. > :31:07.told me that for a variety of reasons, things like child benefit,
:31:07. > :31:11.they are going to vote Labour. Having voted Conservative on the
:31:11. > :31:16.basis of promises made in the last election, then agree this winter
:31:16. > :31:19.Labour. Oh, dear. The Lib Dems are at 11%
:31:19. > :31:28.in the polls. They are fighting to cling on in Cheltenham, the one
:31:28. > :31:33.council you have control of. It looks as though your days are going.
:31:33. > :31:39.We will see. A lot of people take national issues and vote locally on
:31:39. > :31:43.national issues. Why would implore the electorate to look at the work
:31:43. > :31:46.of their hard-working local Lib Dem councillors and activists. We are
:31:46. > :31:50.the only party that keeps in touch all year round and look after
:31:50. > :32:00.people all year round. How would you describe the mood in
:32:00. > :32:02.
:32:03. > :32:07.your party? We were very buoyed up. Adrian is
:32:07. > :32:12.talking about the Budget. In fact, this Budget, Lib Dem policies, we
:32:12. > :32:16.have taken one million people out of tax altogether. 23 million
:32:16. > :32:18.people have had a tax cut. Coming up a little later, business
:32:18. > :32:22.leaders digest their options in Birmingham and Coventry with the
:32:22. > :32:26.referendum on elected mayors just four days away.
:32:26. > :32:29.Our top story this week is 'social cleansing'. That's how a housing
:32:29. > :32:34.association in Stoke dismissed a direct request from a London local
:32:34. > :32:37.authority for them to take up to 500 families off its hands. Newham
:32:37. > :32:41.Council insists it can't afford to put them up because rents are
:32:41. > :32:47.soaring. Ministers say the benefits cap should curb rent increases and
:32:47. > :32:49.bring the welfare budget under control. Kevin Reide reports.
:32:49. > :32:55.Stoke-on-Trent, birthplace of Josiah Wedgwood, Stanley Matthews
:32:55. > :33:00.and Robbie Williams. Newham in East London - 160 miles away and home to
:33:00. > :33:03.the London 2012 Olympics. But now a Potteries housing association has
:33:03. > :33:13.been asked to accept London families because of rising rents in
:33:13. > :33:14.
:33:14. > :33:19.the capital, a request on which they swiftly slammed the door.
:33:19. > :33:29.Our economy has not taken off. The private sector is weak. We have got
:33:29. > :33:30.
:33:30. > :33:34.rising unemployment. There are not enough jobs for people in Stoke.
:33:34. > :33:36.Our economy hasn't taken off. The row has come to a head just
:33:36. > :33:40.days before polling in the local elections. The government's cap
:33:40. > :33:42.limits housing benefit to a maximum of �400 a week. But Labour says the
:33:42. > :33:44.policy is making the housing crisis even worse.
:33:44. > :33:48.What's wrong is that we penalise families, uprooting them. The idea
:33:48. > :33:51.that you take a mum, a dad and some kids, and you take them from Newham
:33:51. > :33:54.to Stoke, away from their schools their families, their friends,
:33:54. > :33:57.their jobs, in this day and age that cannot be right.
:33:57. > :34:00.Why would you be asking a place 160 miles away when there are houses
:34:00. > :34:03.that you can move them to? These housing benefit changes are
:34:03. > :34:10.absolutely vital, and when Labour complain about them I remind them
:34:10. > :34:12.that they let the housing bill nearly double under their time.
:34:13. > :34:15.3,000 people are already on the housing waiting list in Stoke-on-
:34:16. > :34:23.Trent, leaving the city's Labour council to say its concern was for
:34:23. > :34:26.local families. And now we hear another London
:34:26. > :34:28.local authority, Waltham Forest, has been buying up homes in Walsall.
:34:28. > :34:32.So they wouldn't need anyone's permission to offload their surplus
:34:32. > :34:42.families up the M6. We're also joined here today by
:34:42. > :34:42.
:34:42. > :34:46.James Morris, the Conservative MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis. How
:34:46. > :34:53.do you react to the fact that your government poll by policies are
:34:53. > :34:59.turning your area into an overspill for London as?
:34:59. > :35:03.I don't accept that. The thing we are pursuing is to get the housing
:35:03. > :35:07.benefit bill under control. If not, we are going to spend �25 billion
:35:07. > :35:12.on benefit next year. The thing with London is a political stunt.
:35:12. > :35:17.They don't need to be doing it. They say it is the effects of the
:35:18. > :35:22.cap. That is nonsense. This is the political stunt. They don't have to
:35:22. > :35:27.house people outside London. They have properties within the gambit
:35:27. > :35:30.of Newham where they could put people. We have capped housing
:35:30. > :35:38.benefit to �25,000. Most people would agree that it is not
:35:38. > :35:42.justified. Do you do associate yourself from a
:35:42. > :35:45.Labour colleagues in Newham on this political stunt, as it is
:35:45. > :35:52.described? Let's be clear. This is not just
:35:52. > :35:56.Labour. The Tories are also looking at the same policy. It is a policy
:35:56. > :36:02.that we said would happen during the debate on these measures. These
:36:02. > :36:11.measures were introduced to as we were told a way of driving down
:36:12. > :36:15.rents in London. It has not worked. Just a minute. We have a letter
:36:15. > :36:23.from Eric Pickles, the local government minister, to David
:36:23. > :36:33.Cameron, saying they were not. Do they support a benefits cap at
:36:33. > :36:34.
:36:34. > :36:40.We have said there should be a benefits cap. However, it has to be
:36:40. > :36:45.related to local circumstances and in areas where there is a higher
:36:45. > :36:49.rent, the level of the housing benefit should be determined by an
:36:49. > :36:55.independent, impartial body. Government has set this. They got
:36:55. > :37:00.it wrong. It has resulted in this awful moving of people from their
:37:00. > :37:07.own local area with enormous consequences.
:37:07. > :37:13.You are a coalition partner. Do you or surf -- do you also have
:37:13. > :37:15.experience in the area? What is your experience?
:37:15. > :37:19.Authorities have a legal responsibility to house people.
:37:19. > :37:26.They have to take things into account. That includes local area
:37:26. > :37:32.ties. I have to agree with James. This is all coming out just before
:37:32. > :37:39.the local elections. I don't think there's too much coincidence...
:37:39. > :37:44.The fundamental point is that not enough homes are being provided.
:37:44. > :37:48.We have got some specific policies. We have got a new affordable rent
:37:48. > :37:52.regime which is going to construct 150,000 social houses. We have got
:37:52. > :37:59.a problem with social housing. We are addressing that problem. Let me
:37:59. > :38:03.finish. We are building more houses than under Labour.
:38:03. > :38:07.It has been a problem for a long time. But this government said they
:38:07. > :38:13.were going to address it. What has happened is that in the last six
:38:13. > :38:16.months in London there has been just 59 new social housing units.
:38:16. > :38:20.What is the answer? We have got to build more social
:38:20. > :38:24.housing. We have got to have affordable housing, whether in
:38:24. > :38:29.London or the Black Country. It makes no difference. People need
:38:29. > :38:32.homes, decent homes. We have got a plan to build them.
:38:32. > :38:35.I'm sure this discussion will continue over the months and years
:38:35. > :38:38.ahead. In just four days' time, voters in
:38:38. > :38:42.Birmingham and Coventry will be asked if they want their cities to
:38:42. > :38:45.be run by an elected mayor like a Boris or a Ken in London. With the
:38:45. > :38:49.economy back in recession, our correspondent Peter Plisner has
:38:49. > :38:55.been asking business leaders what they would want from a mayor. Or
:38:55. > :38:57.would they stick with the existing council leader system?
:38:57. > :39:02.When business leaders gather together, discussion is inevitably
:39:02. > :39:05.drawn to the latest issues facing the world of commerce and industry.
:39:05. > :39:09.In the past the recession or changes in government have been hot
:39:09. > :39:12.topics. But this year much of what's being
:39:12. > :39:20.discussed at functions like this is what an elected mayor in either
:39:20. > :39:24.Birmingham or Coventry will do to help business in areas they serve.
:39:24. > :39:27.The current system is not working as well as it needs to be. It is a
:39:28. > :39:32.great opportunity, and one which we should grab with both hands.
:39:33. > :39:37.It is a great idea. It gives focus to the city, to rally us as a
:39:37. > :39:39.prominent city in Europe, actually, not just the UK.
:39:39. > :39:43.There's a sense that we could unlock things if we could get
:39:43. > :39:45.someone he can talk directly to Whitehall.
:39:45. > :39:51.Senior Tories like Michael Heseltine appear to be leading the
:39:51. > :39:54.Yes campaign in places where elected mayors could become reality.
:39:54. > :40:01.Closer to home, so too is the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce,
:40:01. > :40:05.here canvassing support ahead of Thursday's referendum.
:40:05. > :40:09.The mayor will be able to bring forward transport investment.
:40:09. > :40:14.Simple as that. They can get hold of budgets at the moment that are
:40:14. > :40:19.too hard to get. I think we will see a change in the delivery of
:40:19. > :40:23.transport. I also think we will see a change to the way the
:40:23. > :40:25.universities and colleges work. If a mayor is elected in either
:40:25. > :40:28.Birmingham or Coventry, whoever they are, according to experts,
:40:28. > :40:32.they're most likely to be judged on their track record on jobs and
:40:32. > :40:42.growth. And supporting the private sector
:40:42. > :40:43.will be crucial for any new mayor. Between them, Birmingham and
:40:43. > :40:47.Coventry have almost 40,000 businesses which collectively
:40:47. > :40:50.employ around 390,000 people. Some of them work at this metal plating
:40:50. > :40:52.firm in Birmingham's Jewelry Quarter. Here management are
:40:53. > :41:00.broadly supportive of a mayor but that doesn't stop them having
:41:00. > :41:04.concerns. There does not seem to be a clear
:41:04. > :41:09.remit for the job. That is a problem because the electorate do
:41:10. > :41:14.not know what they are voting for. They are not clear on what the
:41:14. > :41:16.costs are going to be. We don't want an elected mayor at any cost.
:41:17. > :41:19.In London most seem to agree that charismatic figureheads like the
:41:19. > :41:22.current mayor, Boris Johnson, have been good for business. But with
:41:22. > :41:28.the UK economy now back in recession, there are no guarantees
:41:28. > :41:30.that the same will happen here. And James Morris is still with us
:41:30. > :41:33.because in his previous incarnation before entering Parliament he was
:41:33. > :41:43.the chief executive of the Localis think tank, which influenced the
:41:43. > :41:45.
:41:45. > :41:49.Government's agenda on localism. You are foisting this referendum on
:41:49. > :41:54.Coventry and Birmingham. There's no great clamour for it.
:41:54. > :41:57.We are not foisting it. The people have got a choice on Thursday as to
:41:57. > :42:03.whether they want an elected mayor. I happen to think it would be a
:42:03. > :42:08.good idea. The evidence from evident -- London is that if you
:42:08. > :42:11.have a very elected leader, they are more likely to drive the city
:42:11. > :42:16.forward, get business investment in. I think that would be good for the
:42:16. > :42:20.region. Let's think about what was said in
:42:20. > :42:26.the report, about the confusion about what the powers and remit are.
:42:26. > :42:31.He is concern about the cost. The I think it is important that the
:42:31. > :42:38.directly-elected mayor has powers over transport and influence over
:42:38. > :42:42.policing, like in London. They are important powers. Cities
:42:42. > :42:45.around the world have shown that if you have directly elected
:42:45. > :42:49.accountability, you get better results.
:42:49. > :42:54.It is a devolution from Westminster. You have got to welcome this,
:42:54. > :42:58.haven't you? I am not in favour. The reason is
:42:58. > :43:06.that you may end up with a charismatic person, but the only
:43:06. > :43:14.people who will be able to fight if we D have a meal election will be
:43:14. > :43:18.those who have political backing. - - if we have an election for a
:43:18. > :43:24.mayor. We hear a lot of names of
:43:24. > :43:31.independent people. There's been a record in the past of independence
:43:31. > :43:38.featuring. I honestly think that it is going to be either a Labour
:43:38. > :43:43.mayor... It is going to be a Labour mayor. Says the Lib Dem!
:43:43. > :43:46.Who has got the money to get their person there?
:43:46. > :43:52.I have been told that you are slightly cynical about this idea in
:43:52. > :43:57.the past. What it amounts to it but I believe
:43:57. > :44:01.that good government is about leadership, not structure. In
:44:01. > :44:04.Greater Manchester you have a strong Labour leadership with a
:44:05. > :44:08.strong chief executive that has gone well. In Stoke, you had an
:44:08. > :44:12.elected mayor, and the electorate decided they did not want it any
:44:12. > :44:19.more. But they had a strange system. This
:44:19. > :44:23.is more conventional. What we have seen in London with
:44:23. > :44:26.Ken and Boris, whatever you think about them, they have been
:44:26. > :44:31.independent. They are somewhat removed from their parties. It does
:44:31. > :44:36.encourage more independence, so that people stand-up of the city.
:44:36. > :44:39.Let me raise a comment from the internet. Michael Winston says this
:44:39. > :44:44.must be the first potential election where neither the voters
:44:44. > :44:50.not candidates know what the remit of a mayor would be. This would
:44:50. > :44:55.take place in a horse trading session in November. What arrogant
:44:55. > :44:58.disregard for the democratic process.
:44:58. > :45:03.I think it is clear that the directly elected mayor will need to
:45:03. > :45:09.have power over economic development, transport and policing.
:45:09. > :45:12.Even though that is not an exact fit for the region?
:45:12. > :45:16.But there does need to be a relation between the mayor and the
:45:16. > :45:21.boroughs of the Black Country, for example.
:45:21. > :45:23.Will they work together? Can I say, the fact that the
:45:24. > :45:30.business community in Birmingham feel that they need to have a
:45:30. > :45:34.directly elected mayor when they have had a Tory and Lib Dem
:45:34. > :45:41.coalition in Birmingham and in government in Westminster is really
:45:41. > :45:46.an indictment. Oh, it is our fault! That his great!
:45:46. > :45:49.If they have got the quality of leadership, they would not need an
:45:49. > :45:52.elected mayor. I would not take away the right of local people in
:45:52. > :46:02.Birmingham to actually decide on what sort of structure they think
:46:02. > :46:05.
:46:05. > :46:09.would deliver on the things they It is hard to get any recognition
:46:09. > :46:16.among people on the streets. Let people they let people who have
:46:16. > :46:21.got that leadership, then. We have got a mayor of Birmingham, a mayor
:46:21. > :46:25.of Solihull. They are figureheads for the area. That, to me, is
:46:25. > :46:29.people who are elected on the ground for a start thank you very
:46:29. > :46:33.much. -- on the ground.
:46:33. > :46:35.Thank you very much. Now our regular round-up of the
:46:35. > :46:38.political week in the Midlands in 60 seconds. Here's BBC WM's
:46:38. > :46:43.Drivetime presenter, Paul Franks. The week began with a bang as
:46:43. > :46:46.fireworks lit up Birmingham's night sky. Passengers to the city's
:46:46. > :46:48.airport can now see the Olympic rings as their plane comes in to
:46:48. > :46:51.land. Help for heroes' families - the
:46:51. > :46:53.first sod's been cut at an 18-bed Fisher House for families of
:46:53. > :47:01.soldiers being treated at Birmingham's main hospital. It's
:47:01. > :47:07.inspired by an American idea. We have stood shoulder to shoulder
:47:07. > :47:10.in two world wars. There's a bond. Nuneaton's George Eliot hospital
:47:10. > :47:12.still has the highest death rates in the country. That's according to
:47:12. > :47:19.new government figures. Only two Midlands hospitals are doing better
:47:19. > :47:23.than average. Elsewhere in the NHS, better news for Stafford hospital.
:47:23. > :47:25.It's A&E department will reopen in June, subject to conditions.
:47:25. > :47:29.And the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire's resigning in
:47:29. > :47:32.protest at the introduction of elected police commissioners. Tony
:47:32. > :47:42.Melville's only been in post two years but says he has grave
:47:42. > :47:48.
:47:48. > :47:51.Quite a shock from the Chief Constable. Isn't there a concern
:47:51. > :47:55.that this Commissioner role could politicise the police service?
:47:55. > :47:59.Indeed. That is why I personally would not back it. James was saying
:47:59. > :48:03.the elected mayor would be responsible for the police. We
:48:03. > :48:06.would have an elected mayor, a police commissioner, and a port
:48:06. > :48:12.chief constable who has got to do all the work.
:48:12. > :48:21.The idea is to connect the police to the public.
:48:21. > :48:25.Crime was falling under Labour. This is just window-dressing.
:48:25. > :48:32.still falling! At a time when budget cuts of
:48:32. > :48:39.forcing a authorities to make cuts in farm and services throughout the
:48:39. > :48:46.country, this is needless money for commissioners. -- cuts in front
:48:46. > :48:56.This will take away resources to fight crime.
:48:56. > :49:00.Better news from Stafford hospital on that overnight thing. What is
:49:00. > :49:05.your review on that? It is to be welcomed. People who
:49:05. > :49:11.work in the health service day-in day-out, it has been terrible for
:49:11. > :49:14.them for a start I would like to continue but this is where I have
:49:14. > :49:17.to leak it. My thanks to Adrian Bailey and
:49:17. > :49:19.Lorely Burt. We'll have the latest from our key Midlands election and
:49:19. > :49:22.referendum battlegrounds during Vote 2012 from 11:35pm on Thursday