:01:18. > :01:20.And in the Midlands, could your council tax be going up? We reveal
:01:20. > :01:30.the ten councils considering an increase, even though the
:01:30. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :39:53.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2302 seconds
:39:53. > :39:56.Government say they have a 'moral Hello once again from the Midlands.
:39:56. > :40:02.I'm Patrick Burns. Our guests today tell a story of marginal
:40:02. > :40:05.constituencies, past and present. Birmingham Northfield used to be a
:40:06. > :40:09.Tory marginal. But the Labour MP Richard Burden has made it all his
:40:10. > :40:19.own for more than 20 years. Karen Lumley is the Conservative MP for
:40:20. > :40:20.
:40:20. > :40:25.that perennial weather vain seat, Redditch.
:40:25. > :40:28.First it was Comet. Then dress up - - then Jessops. Next HMV. And now
:40:28. > :40:31.Blockbuster. All four chain stores have gone into administration
:40:31. > :40:34.during the past couple of months, with the loss of more than 10,000
:40:34. > :40:38.jobs. So what's the effect on a town like Burton-on-Trent in
:40:38. > :40:40.Staffordshire? Until recently, it had all of those high street names.
:40:40. > :40:50.Now, business leaders there are left to reflect on radically-
:40:50. > :40:54.changing customer habits. Clearly, the move to buying online is
:40:54. > :40:58.massive, and while people might going to restore to touch and feel
:40:58. > :41:04.the product, they will then searched online and find somewhere
:41:04. > :41:10.they can save 10%. So it is almost like a shop window but the purchase
:41:10. > :41:19.is done somewhere else. In Redditch, you have a shopping centre which
:41:20. > :41:28.has not been immune to this March of online retail. Know, we've lost
:41:28. > :41:33.Blockbuster, Jessops and HMV. your government have done more?
:41:33. > :41:38.Businesses are complaining about really high VAT and business rates.
:41:38. > :41:43.We're trying to help business and to be competitive in the UK and the
:41:43. > :41:53.global economy. But friends are moving towards online shopping. We
:41:53. > :41:56.
:41:56. > :41:59.need to revitalise our high streets. -- trends are moving. Are these
:41:59. > :42:04.businesses paying the price for having failed to update their
:42:04. > :42:08.business models? Well, there is no doubt there is a big change in
:42:08. > :42:16.people's shopping habits. Before Christmas, I went to the sorting
:42:16. > :42:21.office. A few years ago, it would be cards, now it is all parcels.
:42:21. > :42:25.But also, people don't buy if they don't feel confident about their
:42:25. > :42:30.futures, their jobs, if they feel insecure. That is why I think
:42:30. > :42:38.companies should be doing far more to get confidence back. What, for
:42:38. > :42:46.example? Well, a temporary VAT cut could help. They need to be much
:42:46. > :42:56.more active at implementing the Mary Porter's review. The action is
:42:56. > :42:58.
:42:58. > :43:05.an air. -- isn't there. Most of the business is doing OK have a
:43:05. > :43:09.presence on the High Street and online as well. We have to study
:43:09. > :43:19.new scheme in Redditch where police shops are going to be funded partly
:43:19. > :43:20.
:43:20. > :43:23.by the government. I think this is the right way to do it.
:43:23. > :43:26.Coming up a little later: the Government says local authorities
:43:26. > :43:29.have a moral duty not to increase council tax. But more and more
:43:29. > :43:32.Midlands councils are planning to do just that. It is costing them
:43:32. > :43:35.more to grit the roads, for a start. During the first snowfalls of
:43:35. > :43:38.winter, we go behind the scenes with one of the services they
:43:38. > :43:44.couldn't afford to get rid of. A find out which local councils are
:43:44. > :43:50.considering the tax rise later. What is it about our new police and
:43:50. > :43:54.crime commissioners? Every day, another drama. Just two months in,
:43:54. > :43:57.and one of ours has seen off a vote of no confidence. Another is facing
:43:57. > :44:00.flag -- facing criticism over his choice of chief constable, while a
:44:00. > :44:03.third demonstrated a business as usual approach by watching early
:44:03. > :44:13.morning drug rates -- drug raids. Cath Mackie has been following this
:44:13. > :44:15.
:44:15. > :44:19.epic. With me in the studio is the recently elected police and crime
:44:19. > :44:21.commissioners. Side by side and toughing it out.
:44:21. > :44:24.West Mercia's police and crime commissioner and the election agent
:44:24. > :44:26.he made his deputy. In the Radio Shropshire hot seat, answering
:44:26. > :44:34.listeners questions, and fiercely proud of their political
:44:34. > :44:38.independence. I will fight and they won't be me. I'm an honest person,
:44:38. > :44:43.I'm straight and honest. I don't like some of the things I've seen
:44:43. > :44:48.over the years go on in politics. There are some good people in
:44:48. > :44:52.politics, don't get me wrong, but there are some people that will
:44:52. > :44:55.stop at nothing to achieve what they want. So is this just a clash
:44:55. > :44:57.of cultures? The role of a police commissioner was created by a
:44:57. > :45:03.government frustrated at public services run by obscure committees
:45:04. > :45:06.operating behind closed doors. The government also want to elected
:45:06. > :45:11.police commissioners to be high profile, but these surely aren't
:45:11. > :45:13.the sort of headlines ministers had in mind so soon after the elections.
:45:13. > :45:16.Police and crime commissioners set the force's budget and decide
:45:16. > :45:18.crime-fighting strategies. But they don't decide day-to-day operations.
:45:18. > :45:28.However, that didn't stop the commissioner for Staffordshire
:45:28. > :45:34.seeing some early morning drug raids for himself. One of the
:45:34. > :45:38.fascinating things in my role, in six weeks, I think, now, is the
:45:38. > :45:42.incredible opportunities there are to get much better outcomes for
:45:42. > :45:45.communities if we just start working together. And they also get
:45:45. > :45:47.to hire and fire chief constables. But that isn't going smoothly in
:45:47. > :45:49.Gloucestershire, where the county's new chief, Suzette Davenport, is
:45:49. > :45:57.the subject of an independent investigation into a Staffordshire
:45:57. > :46:00.murder inquiry seven years ago. But she's not letting that distract her.
:46:00. > :46:06.Clearly, we've got a new governance with the commissioner. I'm excited
:46:06. > :46:09.to work with them to get the best levels of protection for the public.
:46:09. > :46:12.You might have been hard pressed to name your commissioner during the
:46:12. > :46:15.election campaign - after all, in some places just one in ten
:46:15. > :46:22.bothered to vote. But two months on, one way or another, they're
:46:22. > :46:27.certainly starting to make an impression. Now, Karen, you've got
:46:27. > :46:31.a meeting coming up with your commissioner in the next few weeks.
:46:31. > :46:35.He accuses party politicians of sour grapes, is there an element of
:46:35. > :46:42.that? Are you resent all of the independent Police Commissioner
:46:42. > :46:46.coming in? No, he won an election, I'm happy to work with them. When I
:46:46. > :46:56.became a Member of Parliament, did I. My friend to be my deputy? No, I
:46:56. > :46:56.
:46:57. > :47:04.didn't. That is one question I will be asking him. -- did I appoint my
:47:04. > :47:11.friend? He should have appointed the best person from the top.
:47:11. > :47:16.you have confidence in him? electorate elected him as they
:47:16. > :47:20.elected me. I will be making sure that his priorities are right for
:47:20. > :47:24.Redditch. There is talk of closing police stations in West messier. I
:47:24. > :47:34.want to make sure that Redditch is not one of the police stations he
:47:34. > :47:36.
:47:36. > :47:40.will be looking at closing. -- West Mercia. At least, Richard, the
:47:40. > :47:43.government can say they have created this high-profile job,
:47:43. > :47:49.cutting out the worst of committee government, if I can put it that
:47:49. > :47:53.way, and raising the profile. think it is trying to ask a
:47:53. > :47:58.question nobody is raising. People want police on the streets, they
:47:58. > :48:03.want crime coming down, and they want to feel safe. Now they have
:48:03. > :48:06.someone they can see to hold to account for exactly those things.
:48:06. > :48:11.Well, I have to say, the Commissioner for the West Midlands
:48:11. > :48:15.is doing a great job. But you don't really want to start by creating
:48:15. > :48:20.new positions and this kind of thing. Much better to do something
:48:20. > :48:26.about the cuts that are being made, which is taking 2000 out from the
:48:26. > :48:30.West Midlands. So a credit to those who were doing a good job, but we
:48:30. > :48:38.have to say to the government that they need to get their priorities
:48:38. > :48:41.right. And, Karen, they are coming in at a really tough time. The
:48:41. > :48:48.police cuts cannot entirely be blamed on these figures on the
:48:48. > :48:51.ground. No, it was in our manifesto that we would have commissioners.
:48:51. > :48:56.Boris Johnson is doing a great job, things are going well for him. I
:48:56. > :49:00.think we have to give these people time to settle into the job.
:49:00. > :49:04.Everyone is struggling and we have to make some difficult choices.
:49:04. > :49:14.They are there to look after our interests and they are elected to
:49:14. > :49:15.
:49:15. > :49:18.run a police surfers. -- service. Do you support the commission has
:49:18. > :49:23.out and about on the drug raids? There is supposed to be a
:49:24. > :49:28.distinction between operational demand. I think that is a grey area
:49:28. > :49:31.about where that division is. This is where this system may come
:49:31. > :49:36.unstuck. But if the commissioners are there, it is right they should
:49:36. > :49:39.be out there. I was impressed the other day - I was speaking at
:49:39. > :49:45.something in the centre of Birmingham, and Bob Jones just
:49:45. > :49:49.turned up, just to see what was going on in the community. Karen,
:49:49. > :49:52.politically controversial, but I suppose these are political figures
:49:52. > :49:56.and it kinda goes with the territory, doesn't it? Well, I go
:49:56. > :50:02.out with my police officers on a Friday night. It is important that
:50:02. > :50:05.we are seen to be out there listening. Thank you.
:50:05. > :50:08.The number of Midlands councils considering putting a council tax
:50:08. > :50:11.is set to hit double figures. They say the cash they are offered from
:50:11. > :50:14.the Government if they keep the tax frozen doesn't meet the rising
:50:14. > :50:17.costs of providing services. So we're better, at a time like this,
:50:17. > :50:27.for our Coventry and Warwickshire political reporter to spend a day
:50:27. > :50:29.
:50:30. > :50:32.than at a council gritting depot? - It's been one of those weeks when
:50:32. > :50:35.you realise that fewer council services could be more important
:50:35. > :50:38.than gritting. And while staff help keep traffic on the move, behind
:50:38. > :50:41.the scenes it's also the time of year for counsellors across the
:50:42. > :50:44.region to look at the books and get their finances in order. Last year,
:50:44. > :50:47.three councils in the Midlands rejected the cash handout from the
:50:47. > :50:52.government and decided to raise council tax, but this time around
:50:52. > :50:57.it could be as many as 10. North Warwickshire is one of those
:50:57. > :51:00.looking at a rise. Birmingham has asked residents to consider a rise
:51:00. > :51:03.of 1.64%. While Lichfield is looking at putting tax up by 2%.
:51:03. > :51:06.It's one of four Tory-led authorities prepared to defy the
:51:06. > :51:10.government. In Dudley there's even talk of a referendum to raise the
:51:10. > :51:13.tax further still. So why is the cash handout from Whitehall not
:51:14. > :51:23.enough to prevent attacks -- to prevent tax going up in so many of
:51:23. > :51:27.our council areas? Decision-makers in Coventry tell me they have no
:51:28. > :51:32.choice. Basically, we can no longer afford to take grants which are
:51:33. > :51:37.only guaranteed for a year or two. What it means is we have to make
:51:37. > :51:42.cuts further down the line. Eric Pickles says you have a moral
:51:42. > :51:46.obligation to hard-working families. I find that rich coming from any of
:51:46. > :51:51.the government ministers who talk about moral obligations when they
:51:51. > :51:57.are hitting the poorest in society and when they are hitting
:51:57. > :52:04.disproportionately places like Coventry. So what about these hard
:52:04. > :52:08.working families that the secretary of state is talking about? It just
:52:08. > :52:12.seems to be take, take, take. A higher earners don't seem to be
:52:12. > :52:17.paying any price. I think that's quite reasonable in the current
:52:17. > :52:22.climate. The council has a lot of money to find. If it's something
:52:22. > :52:26.that is shared between everyone who lives here, I don't see a problem.
:52:26. > :52:30.I think they could have frozen it and kept at the same for now.
:52:30. > :52:35.Because everything is so expensive that the minute. Adding more to
:52:35. > :52:38.that is going to make it hard for households. Nearly 100 miles away
:52:38. > :52:40.from the City of Coventry is the village of Westminster. The
:52:40. > :52:47.government insists councils should take Whitehall cash, freeze the tax,
:52:47. > :52:51.and help family budgets. There is a lot of scope for councils to be
:52:51. > :52:55.reducing the jobs. Nobody is saying it isn't easy time for local
:52:55. > :52:59.priorities at the moment, but they should be prioritising reducing
:52:59. > :53:08.council tax, looking at how they can provide services at a lower
:53:08. > :53:18.cost a higher value. Back at the gritting the pot, the work never
:53:18. > :53:21.
:53:21. > :53:24.stops. And there's more about this on my
:53:24. > :53:26.latest block post. And as if to underline the pressures on local
:53:26. > :53:30.authorities, Worcestershire County Council have announced the loss of
:53:30. > :53:33.a further 650 jobs, bringing the number to go over the next five
:53:33. > :53:43.years to 1,500. Also joining us now, Mick Temple, professor of politics
:53:43. > :53:43.
:53:43. > :53:47.at Staffordshire University. Mick, help us to make some sense of this.
:53:47. > :53:53.On the one hand, we had the government saying councillors have
:53:53. > :53:56.a moral duty to keep the tax frozen. On the other, local authorities
:53:56. > :54:03.have an equal opportunity to put them up to defend important
:54:03. > :54:07.services. The it is the eternal conundrum of party politics. Give
:54:07. > :54:12.two opposing parties different set of circumstances, and their one
:54:12. > :54:17.will always have the moral high ground. Eric Pickles is using this
:54:17. > :54:21.been, the rhetoric. Hard-working families, more obligation. It is an
:54:21. > :54:24.attempt to claim that moral high ground. It overlooks the fact that
:54:24. > :54:28.those hard-working families may also have children who need after-
:54:28. > :54:36.school care and elderly parents. That is an attempt to spin the
:54:36. > :54:40.blame. Eric Pickles also says there is some way to go yet in terms of
:54:40. > :54:45.council waste and smarter work. He wants them to raise their game
:54:45. > :54:50.rather than complain to the government. There is no doubt that
:54:50. > :54:55.it is easy for accusations to be thrown at local authorities. Where
:54:55. > :54:59.I live, Stoke-on-Trent, a 20-year- old council building is being
:54:59. > :55:05.demolished in order to move to in other new council building. Clearly,
:55:05. > :55:09.residents can see examples of council waste all the time. But at
:55:09. > :55:16.the same time, it is disingenuous, it overlooks the fact that we live
:55:16. > :55:22.in a highly centralised system, and government grants are being cut.
:55:22. > :55:26.What is the politically savvy thing for them to do? Should they try to
:55:26. > :55:31.do what the government is asking? Well, most of them decided last
:55:32. > :55:36.time to take the freeze. This time at most of them well as well, but
:55:36. > :55:40.they are in trouble if they do and in trouble if they don't. Because
:55:40. > :55:45.it is short-term and they will still have to make cuts. 1% seems
:55:45. > :55:51.to be the going rate for people on benefits and in public services.
:55:51. > :56:01.Should and local authorities play the same again? I think the big
:56:01. > :56:06.picture is the money being taken out of the local authority's budget.
:56:06. > :56:10.Local councils have got a real problem here. I have to say, I
:56:10. > :56:14.think Eric Pickles is behaving a bit like a white wall and shot,
:56:14. > :56:18.offering a pay-day known to local authorities. He is saying, have
:56:18. > :56:22.some money now, to freeze the tax, but I'll take the money away in a
:56:22. > :56:27.couple of years and you will be less even worse off. It is
:56:27. > :56:30.disgraceful. In effect, Labour authorities fear that if they don't
:56:30. > :56:36.take this money and face the consequences, they will end up
:56:36. > :56:40.bankrupt. What we are saying to local authorities is, we will give
:56:40. > :56:46.you a grant to freeze your council tax. That is your choice, when not
:56:46. > :56:49.saying you have to take it. If you take that Grant, then we will try
:56:50. > :56:56.to but hard-working families - times are tough here, I understand
:56:56. > :57:01.that - but we're in a difficult financial situation. You see
:57:01. > :57:07.Redditch council spending thousands of money doing up a bandstand - is
:57:07. > :57:13.that a good use of money? People in Birmingham as saying that the cuts
:57:13. > :57:17.of urban authorities like Birmingham and Coventry are twice
:57:17. > :57:21.as heavy per head of population. And it is a population that relies
:57:21. > :57:27.more heavily on those services compared with more rural, affluent
:57:27. > :57:34.areas. Worcestershire County Council is the third worst council
:57:34. > :57:37.but the third best authority in the country. How does that work?
:57:37. > :57:42.Birmingham is one of the most deprived areas in the country and
:57:42. > :57:48.it is being cut to the tune of �149 fare every single Birmingham
:57:48. > :57:52.resident. If it was cut by the average across the country it would
:57:52. > :57:54.be �79. There is something wrong with the way the government is
:57:54. > :57:57.looking at this and I just don't think they're looking at the
:57:57. > :58:02.reality of what goes on in communities.
:58:02. > :58:10.But do you not accept that there is a way to go for some authorities in
:58:10. > :58:15.terms of smarter working? Of course there are things that they can do.
:58:15. > :58:18.Some are already being done, they could do more. But it is really
:58:18. > :58:22.living with your head in the clouds if you think that somehow sharing
:58:22. > :58:28.back offices will put right the financial gap that is opening up.
:58:28. > :58:32.It is threatening the services people near. -- that people need.
:58:32. > :58:35.We'd been in government for two and a half years and we are facing
:58:35. > :58:39.tough choices. I find it really quite rich that we had 13 years
:58:39. > :58:49.before that of a Labour government that has done nothing to address
:58:49. > :58:51.
:58:51. > :58:55.these balances. We are trying our best to get ourselves back on track.
:58:55. > :59:00.How do you see this whole thing playing out with the electorate,
:59:00. > :59:05.both in local elections and the general election in 2015? Well, it
:59:05. > :59:09.is clear that local people do not understand the council taxes. They
:59:09. > :59:14.don't know who is to blame the cuts in services, they tend to blame
:59:14. > :59:17.local government. But when they vote in 2015, they will not be
:59:17. > :59:22.voting on the record of local government, they will be voting on
:59:22. > :59:30.the record of the coalition. That is the sad truth about local
:59:30. > :59:38.democracy in this country. How all the debate itself play out? I think
:59:38. > :59:43.the Labour Party appeared -- probably has a higher ground on
:59:43. > :59:46.some of these policies now. Now our regular round-up of the
:59:46. > :59:53.political week in the Midlands in 60 seconds. Here's our Shropshire
:59:53. > :59:59.Another week, another boom at Jaguar Land Rover. This time, 800
:59:59. > :00:02.more jobs for the Solihull factory after record global sales.
:00:02. > :00:06.A split in the Labour ranks was revealed in a debate about Midlands
:00:06. > :00:16.manufacturing. Three Black Country MPs rigged each other over where
:00:16. > :00:16.
:00:16. > :00:24.the industrial revolution was born. He needs a history lesson on this.
:00:24. > :00:26.The revolution was triggered by the production of iron in sufficient
:00:26. > :00:29.quantities which happened first in my constituency.
:00:29. > :00:31.Embarrassing. That's the admission from the boss of London Midland
:00:31. > :00:35.after 1,000 trains were cancelled because of a driver shortage.
:00:35. > :00:38.Financially bust and clinically unsustainable. The latest verdict
:00:38. > :00:41.on Stafford and cannot hospitals after a watchdog report.
:00:41. > :00:51.And help for people over 50 to set up their own business. It's thanks
:00:51. > :00:57.
:00:57. > :01:01.to a new scheme in Birmingham run Lots of very capable people out
:01:01. > :01:06.there in the fifties, on their? But do you think there they have they
:01:06. > :01:10.get up and go that is required to set up a business on their own?
:01:10. > :01:15.someone over the edge it -- over the age of 50, this is a bit close
:01:15. > :01:20.to home. But there are 25,000 people over 50 unemployed in this
:01:20. > :01:25.area. They have a lot to offer. That is why we are saying they
:01:25. > :01:29.should be paid jobs guarantee for the long-term unemployed. It may be
:01:29. > :01:34.a challenge for people. At this age, do they really have the skills
:01:34. > :01:37.required? That is why you need to have the wraparound support. Do you
:01:37. > :01:47.think that the government should do more to help people who may feel
:01:47. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:55.the alternative is the scrappy? Well, I set out my own business. --
:01:55. > :02:00.the scrapheap? I urge anyone who wants to run their own small
:02:00. > :02:04.business to get out there and go for it. Is there evidence that
:02:04. > :02:10.people can do that? But of course. I see people coming to me all the
:02:10. > :02:13.time wanting to set up their businesses. We must leave it there.
:02:13. > :02:16.Thanks to my guests of the day, Richard Burden and Karen Lumley.
:02:16. > :02:19.And for the latest on what's happening in the Birmingham and
:02:19. > :02:22.Black Country areas, including the snowfall - and here's the latest
:02:22. > :02:25.live shot outside our building - I suggest you lock on to our brand-
:02:25. > :02:35.new BBC local page. It has news, sport, travel and, of course, that
:02:35. > :02:38.all-important weather information, updated throughout the day. And