:01:38. > :01:48.The into what became of our former Development Agency's land. Is it
:01:48. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :39:24.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2255 seconds
:39:24. > :39:28.What became of our development agency's land? That coming up in
:39:28. > :39:31.the Midlands. Hello once again from the Midlands. I'm Patrick Burns.
:39:31. > :39:33.And we are joined by two of our region's distinguished elder
:39:34. > :39:37.statesman today, with more than 60 years of parliamentary experience
:39:37. > :39:39.between them. Bill Cash is the Conservative MP for Stone in
:39:39. > :39:44.Staffordshire, famously combative Euro-sceptic of course, and
:39:44. > :39:50.Geoffrey Robinson is the Labour MP for Coventry North West. In a
:39:50. > :39:53.former life, he was Jaguar's chief executive. This after a week in
:39:53. > :40:03.which Coventry City Council warned it would have to shed 800 more jobs,
:40:03. > :40:07.
:40:07. > :40:12.on top of the 800 already announced, to balance its books next year.
:40:12. > :40:21.Jeffrey, you and the council's Labour leaders blame the council
:40:21. > :40:25.for making more cuts than originally thought. We know what is
:40:25. > :40:30.going to be in the Autumn Statement, a complete collapse of the
:40:30. > :40:36.Government economic policies and more cuts will certainly follow. It
:40:36. > :40:40.is a great tragedy that we are seeing deep cutting out of haul
:40:40. > :40:48.services now. It is true the end of local Government as we have known
:40:48. > :40:53.it, it is a tragedy. There you are. Didn't we have a great proud
:40:53. > :40:59.history of local Government in this country? I do not run inn with that.
:40:59. > :41:04.There was a great deal of austerity throughout the country as a halt.
:41:04. > :41:10.The real question is talking about the positive side like generating
:41:10. > :41:17.enterprise and growth. It is small and medium-sized businesses which
:41:17. > :41:26.pay for the amount of money that will go to the public sector.
:41:26. > :41:32.us remind ourselves what Coventry's leader had to say about this.
:41:32. > :41:39.will be using our fundamental services review programme. Yes,
:41:39. > :41:45.there will be some services that will be going. It is inevitable. We
:41:45. > :41:50.just cannot maintain the services at the level that we are.
:41:50. > :41:56.worrying thing is that it is the most vulnerable people in society
:41:56. > :42:01.that are relying on the sort of services that are being cut. It is
:42:01. > :42:06.by reducing the amount of taxation on the small and medium-sized
:42:07. > :42:12.businesses by cutting the red tape that you give them the oxygen to be
:42:12. > :42:19.able to prosper and pay for the public sector that we went to see
:42:19. > :42:29.survive. Small businesses are still not getting the money they need to
:42:29. > :42:30.
:42:30. > :42:36.expand. The fact is that the Government's economic programme has
:42:36. > :42:41.failed. We will learn that on 5th December when the autumn statement
:42:41. > :42:46.is announced and they have to announce they are abandoning the
:42:46. > :42:51.programme. Local authorities need to work smarter and more
:42:51. > :42:58.efficiently, what about that? sure they can, I am sure that is
:42:58. > :43:04.the only thing that can follow the Autumn Statement. If Universal
:43:04. > :43:08.Credit does come in next April we will see the real cuts. To be
:43:08. > :43:11.continued. For the moment, thank you. Coming up, amid all these
:43:11. > :43:14.worrying developments on jobs, whatever became of that vision of
:43:14. > :43:15.our regional development agency, set up under new Labour, to promote
:43:15. > :43:18.economic regeneration here? Advantage West Midlands owned
:43:18. > :43:21.property worth many millions of pounds when it was scrapped by the
:43:21. > :43:29.coalition. The asset trail shows tax payers even bought one plot of
:43:29. > :43:31.land twice. And the loss of over 500 jobs with the closure of the
:43:31. > :43:36.Hovis bakery at Garrets Green in Birmingham does nothing to relieve
:43:36. > :43:39.the gloom. It's been a major employer there for half a century.
:43:39. > :43:42.But the parent company, Premier Foods, say the loss of a contract
:43:42. > :43:52.to supply Co-op supermarkets is the killer blow, as our political
:43:52. > :43:56.
:43:56. > :43:59.reporter explains. This is where corporate decision-making just
:43:59. > :44:02.doesn't wash. The firm say they are building value in their bread
:44:02. > :44:05.business. Tell that to Michaela. She lost her job at another local
:44:05. > :44:13.firm one year ago. So she sells goods from home, but for much less
:44:13. > :44:18.money. Now her husband's losing his job at Hovis. It has been on my
:44:18. > :44:24.mind all morning. I have not thought about anything else. I have
:44:24. > :44:30.got two children and two grandchildren. You have to just
:44:30. > :44:38.live each day as it comes and cope as best as you can. The companies
:44:38. > :44:46.say they had no option. -- But the company say they had no option. The
:44:46. > :44:56.local MP he isn't prepared to see it go without a fight. The reality
:44:56. > :44:58.
:44:58. > :45:01.is that people will still be eating bread, they can still make bread.
:45:01. > :45:03.It's just the latest in a grim roll-call of recent job losses. The
:45:03. > :45:06.closure of Tarmac's Wolverhampton headquarters puts 500 jobs at risk.
:45:06. > :45:09.Shutting Royal Mail sorting offices in Gloucester and Shrewsbury will
:45:09. > :45:18.affect 700 jobs. And at the Coventry taxi maker LTI, now in
:45:18. > :45:23.administration, there have been 156 redundancies. Now with Hovis set to
:45:23. > :45:30.pass nostalgically into our cultural history there needs to be
:45:30. > :45:36.some autumn cheer in the autumn statement in a few weeks' time a
:45:36. > :45:42.law here it feels more like a bleak midwinter. I suppose that goes some
:45:42. > :45:50.way to explain how or hour region's unemployment figures remain UN
:45:50. > :45:54.changed despite the creation of new jobs. The Government majors on job
:45:54. > :46:00.creation in the private sector but we keep seeing hits of jobs lost
:46:00. > :46:04.here or under threat the year. Indeed, I have seen the situation
:46:04. > :46:11.regarding Hovis very similar to the situation we have just had with
:46:11. > :46:17.Cadbury's as well. 900 jobs going is a serious problem. The key to
:46:17. > :46:22.the answer of this question lies in the regeneration of private
:46:22. > :46:27.enterprise. That is the key we have to follow through, the means by
:46:27. > :46:32.which we can restore the prosperity that the region requires. There is
:46:32. > :46:39.increasing evidence that we are selling much better into South East
:46:39. > :46:47.Asia and countries of that time. Our local economy is starting to
:46:47. > :46:52.look out from local markets. Even though it is painful, our region
:46:52. > :46:58.has a great rise in exports to China for example? Compared to what
:46:59. > :47:02.the Government put out in its original plan, exports are down,
:47:02. > :47:07.investment is down, and without growth in the private sector of
:47:07. > :47:11.which we are not getting at the rate we meet, we are going to have
:47:11. > :47:19.more unemployment. The small businesses to which bill refers are
:47:19. > :47:23.not going to feel the benefit. would you do about it? From money
:47:23. > :47:29.at the problem? No one wants to throw money at the problem, that is
:47:29. > :47:35.the whole thing. We should be getting the bank lending under way.
:47:35. > :47:40.We have to take RBS and make it a national bank that could lend. Do
:47:40. > :47:46.what the Germans do, take a long- term view and invest for the long
:47:46. > :47:52.term. I think the answer does turn on the fact of our strategy in the
:47:52. > :47:57.European Union. We are running a trade deficit with the other 26
:47:57. > :48:02.member states of over 30 billion per year. We actually have a
:48:02. > :48:08.massive surplus in relation to other parts of the world, including
:48:09. > :48:13.South East Asia and the Americans. We need to refocus our enterprise.
:48:13. > :48:22.I have people I have been talking to in and around my constituency
:48:22. > :48:27.who have been to China 47 times, India 43 times, their profit is up
:48:27. > :48:32.by 46%. That is where we get movement and profits. We will see
:48:32. > :48:35.what happens but for the moment, thank you. Now for that special BBC
:48:35. > :48:37.Midlands investigation, by this programme and Inside Out, into what
:48:37. > :48:40.became of the vast property portfolio, acquired with public
:48:40. > :48:43.money, to turnaround the Midlands economy. It belonged to the former
:48:43. > :48:46.development agency, Advantage West Midlands. Now, having scrapped AWM,
:48:46. > :48:53.the Coalition Government appears to have clawed back many of its assets
:48:53. > :49:00.as well. It's a story that's taken us months to uncover, and yet, as
:49:00. > :49:04.Giles Latcham explains, much of it remains unclear. Meet Jaswinder.
:49:04. > :49:13.Jaswinder lives in Birmingham. But in a couple of weeks time she'll be
:49:13. > :49:20.moved out of her home so the developers can bulldoze it. We have
:49:20. > :49:23.got a lovely house here, we are living happily here. Jaswinder
:49:23. > :49:31.lives on a site earmarked for a supermarket and hotel. Yet there's
:49:31. > :49:36.no timescale for when building work will start. What price can they
:49:36. > :49:41.give for my memories here in this house. I met my husband here for
:49:41. > :49:43.the first time. This is my children's first home. It's land
:49:43. > :49:46.that was once identified for regeneration by the Regional
:49:46. > :49:48.Development Agency Advantage West Midlands. For 13 years AWM existed
:49:48. > :49:50.to secure investment and create jobs. Taxpayer funded, it spent
:49:50. > :49:52.millions buying landmark sites. They were bought to establish
:49:52. > :50:01.technology corridors, science parks, business gateways, creating 10,000
:50:01. > :50:04.jobs and bringing in an estimated �328 million a year. When it shut
:50:04. > :50:11.in March, AWM owned 38 properties outright and had a stake in over a
:50:11. > :50:14.100 more. A flash-sale of some land made �26 million. Money that went
:50:14. > :50:19.straight to the Treasury. Incredibly, the Government is
:50:19. > :50:23.unable to give us complete records of the sales. So in most cases we
:50:23. > :50:26.don't know who bought the land. And there's more. We've discovered
:50:26. > :50:32.Advantage West Midlands owned a second much bigger portfolio of
:50:32. > :50:39.property that wasn't sold. Instead it was seized by Whitehall for
:50:39. > :50:47.control by central government. And the value of that holding, �64
:50:47. > :50:50.million. I'd have liked to have seen it stay local and stay under
:50:50. > :50:53.local control where there are local authorities so that they can
:50:53. > :50:58.actually develop that in our interest and help them kick start
:50:58. > :51:01.the economy rather than going back to London. So what's the government
:51:01. > :51:04.doing with this land? We've been given a document which shows for
:51:04. > :51:06.the first time exactly what's happening. And it revealed
:51:06. > :51:12.something else. We've brought you to this patch of land particularly
:51:12. > :51:15.because of plot A as it's referred to Bilston urban village. What that
:51:15. > :51:17.is saying is that originally this land was bought by the regional
:51:17. > :51:20.development agency, paid for by local taxpayers, it was transferred
:51:20. > :51:24.back to London and now it's been bought again by Wolverhampton city
:51:24. > :51:29.council so local taxpayers have actually paid for this twice.
:51:29. > :51:32.cost second time around, half a million pounds. We met the
:51:32. > :51:38.government agency now responsible for managing former AWM land at a
:51:38. > :51:40.site in Birmingham. When the land is sold, the money goes into a
:51:40. > :51:45.national pot and that money is then redistributed out into regeneration
:51:45. > :51:48.of sites across the country depending on where a need is.
:51:48. > :51:54.Bilston village it looks rather like the tax payers of
:51:54. > :52:04.wolverhampton have had to pay twice for that patch of land. Well I
:52:04. > :52:07.
:52:07. > :52:10.certainly don't know about them paying twice. Certainly, when you
:52:10. > :52:13.look at the whole of the plans for Bilston urban village, actually the
:52:13. > :52:18.benefit for Wolverhampton tax payers will be at least five times
:52:18. > :52:21.more than the cost of that land. The government now has other ways
:52:21. > :52:23.to channel regeneration cash. But while trying to establish how many
:52:24. > :52:29.millions this region's lost, we uncovered a path shrouded in
:52:29. > :52:32.confusion. As a result, we've had to rely on newspaper cuttings and
:52:32. > :52:35.old parliamentary reports for limited facts. But based on our
:52:35. > :52:38.research our best guess is that the West Midlands handed over �107
:52:38. > :52:41.million of land and property, the most of all the regions bar one -
:52:41. > :52:45.the south east. We've lost the money paid to develop these sites.
:52:45. > :52:55.We've lost the money to be made from selling them. How much of it
:52:55. > :53:06.
:53:06. > :53:14.we'll ever see again we may never know. We asked D records department
:53:14. > :53:20.why so few of deep records of sales were available. They said they were
:53:20. > :53:25.responsible for their own assets. We are also joined today by the
:53:25. > :53:32.regional secretary of the Unite union and he served on the board of
:53:32. > :53:38.Advantage West Midlands and tell the winding up process in 2011. --
:53:38. > :53:47.until. Give us a sense of how you interpret the events we saw in that
:53:47. > :53:52.report. It is a disgrace that blame is being put back on the regional
:53:52. > :54:00.development agencies. We legitimately documented of the land
:54:00. > :54:03.sales. That was forwarded on to the overseeing department. We were
:54:03. > :54:08.praised by the National Audit Office for the way we conducted
:54:08. > :54:14.that closure. You are seeing that what you handed over to central
:54:14. > :54:21.Government was in order but perhaps it was just the sheer volume? --
:54:21. > :54:28.saying. That is right, there was a huge amount of detailed documented
:54:28. > :54:33.but the response of the Government was shambolic at the time. Almost
:54:33. > :54:37.as shambolic as the replacement for Regional Growth Fund. This was
:54:37. > :54:47.public money that was intended to promote regional regeneration in
:54:47. > :54:48.
:54:48. > :54:53.our part of the country. Did you complain about it being clawed back
:54:53. > :55:00.into Whitehall? Absolutely. We said the assets should remain in the
:55:00. > :55:03.West Midlands, it was brought together for the benefit of people
:55:03. > :55:08.in the West Midlands but central Government was of the view that
:55:08. > :55:14.they should be used for funding, regeneration and deficit reduction.
:55:14. > :55:19.I think it is actually the latter that this has gone too. Doesn't it
:55:19. > :55:24.indicate as well that there was just too much money sloshing around
:55:24. > :55:30.in the Government agency? Absolutely not. For every pound of
:55:30. > :55:36.public money spent, �8 was generated in the economy. It was
:55:36. > :55:40.handled very, very well. It is difficult to arrive at a judgment
:55:40. > :55:46.if we do not know in the final analysis what the calculation
:55:46. > :55:50.really is. What is the answer as fun as you can see? What should the
:55:50. > :55:56.Government do now? Firstly, I do not disagreed there is a very
:55:56. > :56:00.strong case for managing money in the West Midlands. What does amaze
:56:00. > :56:10.me is that it is all smoke and mirrors about where this money
:56:10. > :56:11.
:56:11. > :56:16.seems to have gone. I am left really in a State of complete
:56:16. > :56:20.uncertainty as to exactly how it all worked out. The report you have
:56:20. > :56:25.produced suggests there is something amiss. Indeed, and is
:56:25. > :56:34.there anything you think can be done? We need to have an
:56:34. > :56:39.investigation. If records had been handed over in such a shambles the
:56:39. > :56:44.organisation would have been pulled before the national records office.
:56:44. > :56:50.The shambles was greeted by your Government. There was no
:56:50. > :56:56.preparation for planning. It was Government at its worst. I do not
:56:56. > :57:01.agree with that. I am quite sure there is quite as strong case for
:57:01. > :57:05.reopening this issue to make sure we can find out through the Public
:57:05. > :57:12.Accounts Committee exactly what has happened. A lot of this money
:57:12. > :57:19.appears to have come from regional funds. You would seek no fear that
:57:19. > :57:23.anyone in your organisation has done anything wrong? Absolutely.
:57:23. > :57:27.The progress that was made in making sure the information was
:57:27. > :57:32.documented was absolutely spot on but I would say it is right that
:57:32. > :57:37.this money should return to the West Midlands. In terms of the
:57:37. > :57:43.documentation process, that is being hidden behind to stop the
:57:43. > :57:53.money returning here. The money was taken from the West Midlands and
:57:53. > :57:55.
:57:55. > :58:01.not invested here while it was designated for it here. An example
:58:01. > :58:06.is the big Wolverhampton engine plant for a Jaguar. That land was
:58:06. > :58:11.prepared for that specific project, it was taken over by Jaguar and is
:58:11. > :58:17.now being used, it would not have got there in time if it had not
:58:17. > :58:22.been for Advantage West Midlands. think there is a case for having a
:58:22. > :58:27.very close look at this, to look again and made sure the money has
:58:27. > :58:33.been properly accounted for. We must make sure there is some way of
:58:33. > :58:39.restoring the money back to the West Midlands. At the moment it
:58:39. > :58:46.appears that there are the powers of investigation available, I will
:58:46. > :58:52.ask for it to be looked at. What do you think the verdict will be in
:58:52. > :58:58.the end? I think the verdict will be very strong in terms of the
:58:58. > :59:03.Development Fund. In terms of getting investment sides ready and
:59:03. > :59:09.investing in the station, the list goes on and on. My concern is that
:59:09. > :59:17.the regional growth fund only has eight projects in funding after 18
:59:17. > :59:27.months, it is at disgrace. Thank you very much. Now our political
:59:27. > :59:30.
:59:30. > :59:33.round-up of the Midlands in 60 seconds. Day one of the new era. It
:59:33. > :59:35.may have been smiles and handshakes at West Midlands HQ but the new
:59:35. > :59:40.Police Comissioner, Labour's Bob Jones, delivered a knock-out blow
:59:40. > :59:43.to plans to bring in a private company to help deliver services.
:59:43. > :59:46.38 years to the day and relatives of those killed and injured in the
:59:46. > :59:56.1974 Birmingham pub bombings want West Midlands police to re-open the
:59:56. > :59:58.
:59:58. > :00:04.case. A vigil was held outside the city's cathedral. There is a
:00:04. > :00:07.massive hole in our hearts where my sister should be and she is not.
:00:07. > :00:09.public inquiry's heard families' concerns about plans for 12 mile
:00:09. > :00:17.power lines from north Wales to Oswestry in Shropshire. Scottish
:00:17. > :00:20.Power say the work is vital. Monarch Airlines plan to build a
:00:20. > :00:22.giant hangar at Birmingham Airport creating up to 300 jobs. It'll be
:00:22. > :00:29.used to repair and maintain aircraft. And the luxury car maker
:00:29. > :00:38.Jaguar Land Rover is to start making vehicles in China. It's part
:00:38. > :00:43.of a �1 billion deal. And with that promise comes also the promise of a
:00:43. > :00:47.new vehicle specifically for the Chinese market. There is a worry
:00:47. > :00:53.that this could threaten the home market if they can produce them
:00:53. > :01:01.more cheaply and efficiently the air. It is designed for that market.
:01:01. > :01:06.If you want to sell in volume there it has to be a joint venture with a
:01:06. > :01:11.company over there. I think it is a sign of the strength of Jaguar. It
:01:11. > :01:17.is only one model. I think it is a sign of their strength at the
:01:17. > :01:27.moment they are able to do it. Mercedes and BMW have been at it
:01:27. > :01:27.
:01:27. > :01:34.for you. -- E years. You do have to look to south-east Asia in order to
:01:34. > :01:39.do a great amount of growth and all sorts South America. We cannot
:01:39. > :01:47.simply rely on the European Union, it is like dealing with a bankrupt
:01:47. > :01:51.company! I would not go that far but as far as making Europe the
:01:51. > :01:58.obsession for our exports is wrong, the rest of the world is a huge
:01:58. > :02:05.markets. 17 billion of our deficit in Europe is in fact with Germany
:02:05. > :02:10.itself. My thanks. I will leave you with a reminder that you can see