17/06/2012 Sunday Politics West Midlands

In the Midlands: why farmers want to eat even more Eastern Europeans

to work on the land. Will the Government allow more migrants in

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1617 seconds

to do the jobs Brits can't do or do Hello. After a week in which

relations between the coalition partners appear to have reached a

new low, we are joined by a Conservative government whip and by

the chair of the Liberal Democrat MPs. Let's begin with your party's

decision to break ranks with your coalition partners in that both

last week on Jeremy Hunt. John Whittingdale says there will be

repercussions from this, so you may live to regret that. I do not think

so. 99 % of the time we work very well and very professionally with

together. This was a attempt to make mischief on the Labour Party's

behalf. But you abstained so you encouraged them Mr F. They are the

ones who put this motion forward, but I want to emphasise, we are a

coalition government so sometimes we have to break for things that

are not necessarily our favourite thing and sometimes the Tories do

that for us. Philip, this that fall within the bounds of a fair play?

This was an opportunistic attempt by Labour to cause trouble and I do

not think it will cause as much as they might have hoped. It was

disappointing the Lib Dems decided to abstain but I do not think it

will have lasting ramifications. About John Whittingdale talking

about Tory unhappiness on Lords reform, is there a sense of what

goes around comes around? I think in any coalition there is give and

take, but on individual issues. As we get closer to the end of this

Parliament, it is likely the party members will want to differentiate

their positions on more things. thought for both of you on that. Is

this in a way the Lib Dems putting a marker down with potential Labour

partners with a view to the next election? Not at all. I just think

that was a point of principle with us. It was not in the coalition

agreement and that is why on this occasion we decided to abstain. He

did not affect the result but it was a point that we wish to make.

Do you think there is a concerning Tory party circles that the Lib

Dems could be preparing something with Labour? I do not think so. We

are working well together within the coalition. Coming up: the

Worcestershire farmer he wants the government to allow more eastern

European to come here to earn their corn. By the coachload, Romanian

and Bulgarian pickers are but where are the Brits? Just too picky

perhaps? First David Cameron's flagship localism agenda took a

direct hit this week. From a parish council. There in the real world

while MPs inhabit that parallel universe called Westminster, they

say. The localism Act aims to make politics more open but one Parish

Clerk says his refusal to sign up to new accountability rules could

make him a criminal. For 40 years, they have been the

guardians of community life from public footpath to village greens,

the heartbeat of many communities but today life on a parish council

is no better -- bed of roses. One grip this new codes of conduct are

a step too far and could result in resignations, but what is there to

hide? These are voluntary people who are doing good for the

community. They are not in it for an ego trip or two and lots of

money. The new legislation is designed to make local government

more open giving power back to the people. But here they are comparing

request to publish details of councillors financial affairs were

something out of Germany's Third Reich. To opponents, all this seems

like a contradiction of the Prime Minister's vision of a Big Society.

Instead of encouraging communities, the fear here is a government

wolves will result in fewer people wanting to have a say in potteries

politics. A lot of people would be worried about standing in the first

place and there is the possibility that people would consider

resigning. In a statement, the Department for communities and

local government told us the reforms were part of a drive to

give the public greater openness about government at all levels. Not

convinced, members of Whitbourne Parish Council have written to

their Conservative MP for help saying they would rather go to

prison than take part in bureaucratic games. Bureaucracy

they say will deter others from getting involved and they question

if the Government's new localism is more top-down and bottom up.

Big Society or more like Big Brother? Philip, this is surely no

way to encourage people to get involved in local government? You

will put more people off. That report was using intemperate

language to describe the localism Act proposals as something akin to

what happened in Germany. I am afraid they miss understand what is

happening. The standards, what we are dealing is changing at the

requirements for local councillors to sign up to register their

interest. We are reducing the scale of what they have to sign up to,

making it less onus, making it easier for people to participate in

local government. It is true we will give them the opportunity to

have more responsibility, so we will look to encourage more people

to get involved in local government but the idea that people are being

subject to greater bureaucratic constraint for this proposal is

wrong. Nevertheless, it does feel like an extra layer of red tape is

being brought in to an area which has been rather informal and of the

community. Maybe but people who represent people in a local area do

have a responsibility to be transparent. There may be conflicts

of interest, all we are seeking to do is make sure that there is that

transparency there, that nobody can go forward and make decisions which

could be a conflict with their own interests. Those comments were

outrageous acts Mac we have talked to a parish councillor who says the

consultation has been inadequate and there is a lot of confusion.

think it may be the case that there has been a short interval between

the regulations being published and coming into effect. But what is

happening is under the old regime, it was a lot more subjective, the

Test. One of the things you would have to declare is something which

a member of the public might regard as giving rise to a conflict of

interest. It is much -- becoming much more tightly defined. There is

no great evidence of rampant corruption in parish councils, what

is the need for this? The evidence may not be there but the perception

may be there. I think it is very important that people in a local

area can trust those people who represent them.

Let's move on to our main talking point. A warning of possible

through shortages if we do not allow more eastern European workers

into a region which grows most of Britain's asparagus and a third of

its blackcurrants, but with unemployment here at 9%, should it

be British workers for British jobs?

Hard-working, reliable and flexible. Just some of the qualities the

owner of this farm the tributes to his army of Bulgarian and Romanian

workers. Along with 21,000 others across the UK, these labourers are

able to work up to six months in low-skilled farming jobs thanks to

the seasonal agricultural worker scheme. It is a quota system

designed to control the flow of immigrants from countries joining

the EU while at the same time giving farmers access to winning

the Labour. The money I make here in one week, I make in a month back

home. In an hour, I learn what will take all day in Bulgaria. Out of

140 workers here, only seven are British. The question is why?

benefits system here does not encourage people to go out and work,

whereas there is not such a benefit system in Romania and Bulgaria.

Many of these individuals are highly qualified. It is not seen as

a poor job to come and harvest crops in the fields because they

are earning good money. It is a similar picture the miles up the

road in this nursery where they harvest 150 million tomatoes every

year. Hard-working they may be but there are 11,000 people in

Worcestershire unemployed and 170,000 across the West Midlands.

It has led one MP to call for these jobs are to be given to British

workers. There are far more young people looking for work that we

would like to see and I think these are solid jobs, a pal why -- what

they pay well and I would like to see that staying in the UK. Why do

farmers have to rely on foreigners? We went to a JobCentre to find out.

Why should the likes of me work for a minimum wage when I am a skilled

man? To many if moan about getting -- not getting a job. You apply for

a job and it is so hard to get. 18 months' time, the government is

lifting employment restrictions on the Romanian and Bulgarians,

meaning they are free to apply for any job they wish. Leading

employers like these less able to cherry-pick the best employees from

Europe. We are also joined by a lecturer in

industrial relations at the University of Birmingham. She is

conducting a research project into fruit pickers in the Vale of

Evesham. In your opinion, a wide is it, what is the explanation for so

few British workers out on the fields? In part it is because they

do not have the skills. You're having very talented people

returning year after year to the farms and this is the other problem,

that you are looking for a short period to employ period. The

employment conditions are very good for workers but it is the Eastern

European workers who are keener to come here. I have also heard it is

the benefits system here which does not encourage people to go off

benefits in order to take a temporary post. You do have this

problem that it is seasonal, but you have the Peaks and the need to

pick those fruits on time for the supply chain in terms of matching

the supply needs of supermarkets who are very exacting. You have the

peaks and troughs in terms of demand so it is going to be casual,

temporary and you cannot come off benefits for short periods of time.

You are saying the stereotype is unfair which suggests British

workers have lost the ability to get up in the morning? I do not

think it is bare but when you may only have worked for two days a

week and if the supermarket puts on probation, there is no flexibility

in the system for workers in that regard. Philip, you are a farmer

yourself. Tell us about your experience of employing workers

from Eastern Europe. Our farm has a potato enterprise but we have a 6-8

week picking season in the autumn and it is the case that we seek to

recruit local people and normally we have succeeded in recruiting

about half of the team in the UK. But we have had teams from the

Czech Republic come back repeatedly to ensure we have the capacity for

this very limited season. difficulty which that Pharma is

worrying about in the report is we could have a food shortage if we do

not have a new scheme, or changes to the benefits system to free up

this system. It from not be Macedonia because Croatia is the

next country in succession but when the current scheme comes to the and,

Romania and Bulgaria will be more freely accessible to come and work

here to do whatever jobs they like. These are good points and what we

are dealing as a government is bringing in a system where work

will pay. It will never be cheaper or better to be sitting at home on

benefits. It is called Universal credit, it is coming in surely, I

am very excited about it and I am sure it or motivate a lot of

British workers to take these kinds of jobs. They are hard work but

people are willing to give it a go. On that, a couple of comments from

my blog. One says, I do not understand what is up with young

people. I worked on farms 20 years ago. It is a fair day's pay.

Another says, he has been applying for work for over a year. There are

people who want to work. Stop bashing British unemployed and help

them get into these jobs. I am very positive about the apprenticeship

schemes introduced. This is a great opportunity if you can have the

opportunity to train. It is not an unskilled occupation working on

farms. Some of the standards, planting and halve this, their

skills to be learned. The queue are flexible and you have an apprentice

scheme you can learn to develop in that industry. Is there a

suggestion that maybe there is an exploitative relationship so far as

the farmers and these eastern European workers are concerned?

see no evidence of that. That does not apply to the long-standing

relationships that most farmers have with the organisations that

bring in workers from overseas. I think it does come down to the

short duration of the role and the challenge for individuals coming

off benefits and going into a short job. The introduction of universal

credits should make it easier for British people to take these jobs.

But Pharma Watkins once a new seasonal working scheme, will he

get one? I do not know. He says we will pay a price with food

shortages. Romania is the 7th, will be the 7th largest fully-fledged EU

member in terms of population, so at the moment we are restricted to

some 20,000 Romanian and Bulgarian succumbing to this country. One

cities Open, it will be an opportunity for more to come here

and do that work. Where do you see this going, Pamela? Certainly the

pharmacy in this bail to depend on them and need them. What I would

like to see from the research is that there needs to be better

training, flexibility and bring in the local workforce and that will

be really important. Now for our round-up of this political week in

the Midlands in just 60 seconds. 10,000 people have now signed a

petition to keep a landmark roundabout in Leek. It is due to go

as part of changes to town-centre traffic plans but despite protests,

the county council insists the roundabout is no place for a U-turn.

Job prospects on the up according to the latest survey. Confidence

has been boosted largely thanks to our growing car industry. Over the

next few months we are looking to recruit even more, somewhere in the

region of 20 % extra. Worcestershire looked set to lose

one of its accident and emergency departments. Bosses be to save �50

million. Work has begun on a new tram system

for Birmingham city centre. The transport minister to control of

the �127 million project. And some street lies in Shropshire

are going off in the middle of the night to save money. 10 Midlands

councils are living -- looking at similar measures or looking at

cheaper technology to put their finances as well as their roads in

the black. Welcome to the age of austerity.

The lights are going out in Shropshire, Philip. Is this a new

dark Ages? We have had a pilot in my constituency since last October

and the evidence has been that crime has come down. The lights go

off from midnight until 5:30am. There are not that many people out

at that time. This is a wise and sensible move. It is being done in

conjunction with the police and it is being rolled out across

Shropshire from this month onwards. You are going over in Solihull to

these new low-energy lighting systems. I am delighted we are

doing that. It is good for tax payers and good for the planet as

well. In the long term, you do not see the end of the wedge here

getting darker all the time? why should it? We have a lot of

ability in this country to use the energy we have got in a more

effective way. Thank you both for being with us today. My thanks to