13/01/2013 Sunday Politics West Midlands

The councils with money in the tobacco industry. A good investment

for their pension pots, but soon those same councils will be urging

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2530 seconds

Hello once again from the Midlands, I'm Patrick Burns. And our guests

today represent our part of the country at Westminster and in

Brussels. Mike Nattrass is the UK Independence Party MEP for the West

Midlands region. Valerie Vaz is the Labour MP for Walsall South and a

member of the Commons Health Select Committee. Let us begin with

Stafford hospital, as my latest blog Post explains, a report could

well have a bearing on the wider debate on the NHS as a whole until

the next general election. Valerie, you are in a position to have the

inside track on this. Him a Robert Francis has said he will deliver it

to the Secretary of State for Health on January. We are hoping

that will be the case. So, you would hope very soon after that.

There is going to be a major issue of confidence. What will be the UK

Independence Party approach? have always advocated the return of

the matron. It means supervision takes place, and that is what has

happened. One of the major problems is the element of care has

disappeared because matrons have disappeared. There are other

aspects as well. The first calls for a public inquiry came from a

campaign group, told the NHS. Now, as she waits for the report to be

published, she hopes the Government would take its time implementing

the changes. We have been happy with the inquiry so far, and we

have heard criticism of the amount of time there has taken. This is an

examination of the whole of the NHS. This needs to take time. We want it

done properly so this never, ever happens again. She is suggesting

this will be a very wide ranging focus. Issue right? -- is she

right? It is difficult to comment on the report when it has not been

published yet. But I did read your blog, and I agree with you,

although there has been NHS reorganisation, I feel a bit more

optimistic, and I think the report could provide a framework of how we

move forward with the NHS. It at Julie's thinks the Government

should take its time, how long do you think Mr Hunt should sit on it?

I do not think it has anything to do with Mr Hunt. It is a bit like

the Prime Minister did with the bloody Sunday inquiry. I am hoping

it will be sooner rather than later. The issue is what we cannot have a

health service that lurches from one crisis management to another.

Absolutely, and a lot of it has been because of targets. What they

cannot target is the kindness and care you should be getting from

nurses. We should be involving supervision of there, something to

bring back the element of care into nursing and hospitals. There has

been a lot of bullying also in the NHS in order to achieve targets.

That has to stop. We will do a report into nursing and nursing

care, but you need targets to find out what is going on. Maybe we need

different targets. Coming up a little later, we reveal

the investments held by local councils in tobacco companies, but

from April, "Stop Smoking Courses" will be run by those self-same

councils. Some of them tell us they're now re-thinking their

investment strategies. Find out which ones a little later.

Relief at last for hard-pressed rail commuters. That light at the

end of the tunnel may be coming from a shiny new electric train.

After a straight ten years of above-inflation fare rises,

passengers from Stafford to Redditch, Leamington to Rugeley are

finally being promised a �250 million upgrade to the lines they

travel on. And as Cath Mackie explains, they're even planning to

do something about a station that sounds like something out of Thomas

the Tank Engine. The morning commute from Bromsgrove

to Birmingham. Reliability has always been at an issue, especially

in the last six months, the trains are more often let them on time.

When they don't work, you resent having to pay prices. And it's a

frustration shared by the town's political leaders. For eight years,

they've been campaigning for a new station. The trains are absolutely

packed. They are not enough of them. As you can see, it will take a two

carriages on the side, and on the other side, four. That is a

ludicrous! But there are promises from Network Rail that things will

improve. They're increasing services from two trains an hour to

three. And yes, there will be a new station as well. And that's not all.

In the next five years, �550 million will be spent across the

million will be spent across the West Midlands. Half will go on

improvements in the stafford area. Other plans include an upgrade for

Coventry to Nuneaton with a new station at the Ricoh arena,

electrification and new tracks between Coventry and Leamington,

and elecrictficiation between and elecrictficiation between

Network Rail's calling it the biggest investment in our railways

since the Victorian age. Trouble is, it's going to cost a lot more than

two and six. So passengers can expect more above-inflation fare

rises for years to come. But commuters are being reassured they

will be met halfway along the line. We have to be more efficient. But

we have a good building block to start on - over the last number of

control periods, we have delivered efficiency. Passengers will be

hoping the upgrades provide a service which runs on time at a

price they can afford, equipping an analogue railway for the digital

I thought the whole story of his modernisation process is higher

above-inflation fares for as far as the eye can see. That is right, and

that is what the Government can see. But we need to improve the railway

and ensure we have more passengers on the rare way. That is the way

forward. That is why we are talking to government about ensuring we can

specify it and manage the bow wave locally, rather than in Whitehall.

We get a flavour of this, but give us a sense from your point of view

of what it's significant is. can come at it from a different

angle. We have proposed a two government a package of seven

improvements. They have a �1 billion impact Panama annum in the

West Midlands. The package at the moment that the Government are

putting together delivers 2000 jobs, so there is a lot more to go. While

we welcomed the investment that is coming, it is not enough.

strikes me that this presupposes these predictions of growth are

reliable, and some times forecasts turn out to be less than reliable.

I agreed. What we have done in the West Midlands is whilst Network

Rail have been producing forecasts, we have been getting eight and 9%

growth a mile railway. In fact, we are more successful in the West

Midlands them has been the case of their forecasts. Actually, we are

over getting more passengers on a railway as the years go by.

should warn you we are indeed presence of one of the most voluble

opponents of high-speed rail! Network Rail say to make this

system work, it is not a question of if but when. It is, and about

how quickly. What we have got locally is more and more

requirements for more and more local trains. The only way we will

get them in the network is by moving the InterCity trains offer

no work locally, and we do that by preparing an building the new high-

speed railway. �35 billion as a lot of money, and already, commuters

are being charged too much for welfares. We are putting up the

capital cost the whole time. did the Victorians had a lot like

that, we would not have got started! You cannot say the

railways have not improved since Victorian times. I am not a

trainspotter, but the West Coast mainline route will be full. So why

build a slow one? Be if you want to improve capacity, there are

different ways of doing that. There are various ways of doing that.

Also, the East Coast main line is a better route because it is a

plateau, it easier, disturbs plus villages and towns. That was not

commercially viable, so the Government had to take it back. The

feeling from my constituents is they want to be able to travel by

rail, they want an alternative to road transport. Might only plea is

er it should not be those passengers back to pay for it. You

would not expect air travellers to pay for improvements and airports.

I am very pleased with this package. Having heard those opinions, how

would you react? We have looked very hard at all the alternatives

for building more capacity into a railway system. We have a mixed use

railway. We can't get more capacity without building high-speed to. I

know a lot of people do not want to see that built, but it is the only

way we can have a thriving railway. As someone who serves on the

European Parliament's transport committee, you have seen the use of

high-speed trains there. Absolutely. It has just given money to Italy

for a high-speed, so you can't say they are not any policies from

Europe. The Government deny it because they say it is nothing to

do with Europe. The European countries have shown they have a

fantastic infrastructure in the rail service, and that is what we

want. It brings jobs and growth, and high-speed two will create

22,000 jobs and increase the economic activity in the area or by

a �1.5 billion a year. 20 minutes not of the time it did get a London

it is neither here nor there. It means you cannot prepare for a

meeting, you could up got there 20 minutes earlier. Just remember, the

high-speed railway is about getting to Manchester, at Leeds and

Birmingham, right at the heart of the high-speed realm that work. We

are already at the heart of the road network. Everything leads to

This programme's discovered that local authorities right across the

Midlands invest nearly �130 million in tobacco companies. The cash is

held in council workers' pension funds. But from April, those same

authorities become responsible for public health issues, including

help and advice on, yes, stopping smoking. One council's told us it's

now reviewing its investments. With an exclusive report, here's our

Hereford and Worcester political reporter, Tom Turrell.

Last year, smoking killed around 80,000 people in England. And

latest figures show it cost the NHS more than �5 billion treating

related diseases. That's why the NHS are keen to get the message

across to smokers like Jo Spooner once and for all. I tried on my own

first, but I was never successful. Having someone to come and talk to

and encourage you was the better way of doing it. But because of the

way the NHS is being re-organised, come April, it'll be your local

council who'll be responsible for running "stop smoking" services,

encouraging people to kick the habit for good. But I've discovered

through Freedom of Information requests that in the Midlands, our

councils are currently investing almost �130 million in tobacco

companies via their pension pots. It's left some labelling the local

authorities hypocrites. If they are investing in this, and at the same

time trying to persuade people to give up the product, what is the

point? You could argue they are campaigning against their own

interests. They have got to get rid of that conflict of interest.

Councils across Herefordshire and Worcestershire are currently

investing �21 million in tobacco firms. They say they've got to get

the best deal possible for their pensioners. Some people would think

there is a conflict here, but I do not think there is. We have an

administrative function here rather than a political one. We

administered the pension fund, it is pensioners' money, to try and

get the best return we can. course, there's method in - what

some are describing as - the council's madness. Over the past

decade, tobacco stocks have done twice as well as the rest of the

market. And they're helping pay for a happy retirement for many workers.

Across Warwickshire, councils hold tobacco shares worth �7.9 million.

Councils in Staffordshire hold �31 million. And the councils of the

Metropolitan West Midlands have almost �60 million. But the pension

fund managers in Staffordshire have told this programme they're now

reviewing that investment as a result of the changes in public

Rod says local authorities have a conflict of interests, but someone

else said there is a separation. doesn't matter. It looks like there

is a conflict of interest because there is a financial commitment,

and if that will drive what they do in terms of health outcomes, there

is a possibility that might be part of the agenda. So it is about

perception? He says he administers it, but it is right for council

taxpayers to know exactly where their investments are. You were a

council worker yourself. You would want your pension to be as well

invested as it should be. And there are many places they could invest

in equally well, the example, a high-speed one. They are invested

by the pension funds of the Canadians. There are very good

organisations that have transformed some Pancras International station.

You are taking the top of Pandora's box their! Ethical investments. You

have got to really look at the pensions, invest in what is legal.

Tobacco companies contribute �15 billion a year to the Exchequer,

and they are illegal. They are trying to diversify any way into

other products. But never mind that what a --. I have absolutely no

sympathy with what you say! Local authorities have been given this

role to look after public health issues, and this is the new

responsibility. They have a role, but the directors of public health

have to produce a report. 80,000 people died a year. What about

beefburgers?! What about obesity? What about oil? You cannot do all

these ethical investments and please everybody because the next

programme will be on about fish and chips or whatever else! 80,000

Now our regular round-up of the political week in the Midlands in

60 seconds. Here's the BBC West Midlands's political reporter,

Prisons in Gloucester and Shrewsbury are to shut. A 2,000-

cell super-prison will be built somewhere else in the country.

Some unemployed people in Birmingham will have to start

paying a slice of council tax for the first time. The local authority

says it can no longer afford to help them out but safeguards will

be in place. We have developed our own council tax benefit scheme,

requiring unemployed people to make a contribution towards council tax.

But we have sought to protect the Most Honourable.

The colour's purple but the problem's red. The Business

Minister was at Cadbury in Bournville to launch a cut on

business red tape. Sales of the Land Rover are up by a

third. Jaguar's doing well, too. But sales of Aston Martins have

dropped. And taking the Potteries to China.

A trade mission's flying East to drum up more business in new

China to China sounds good! Absolutely wonderful! Midlands

exports to China are ahead of those to Germany. Is that right? That is

excellent. Someone in my office has introduced Indian makers of China

to bring them to the Stoke area to have a unpainted and sent back

again because the schools are in Stoke-on-Trent. It is this more

situation, but those sort of things can expand. We have got to keep the

basic trade in the area. Maybe we can bring some industries back.

Some of them are coming back. In my constituency, we have got fantastic

skills and engineering. A lot of companies are coming back to

Britain. Porcelain actually started in China, so it is good we are

shown them how to do it! Quick word on red tape. This Government has

decided to get rid of some of the red tape brought in when your

administration was empower, Valerie. We need some of it. Someone in my

constituency is trying to develop a business that cannot even get a

small loan. It is the blue table of yellow stars I despise, coming out

of Brussels! You should resign, you should not be an MEP if you do not

like Brussels! I think you will stand for the job again in the next

Parliament! Thanks to Valerie Vaz and Mike