:01:22. > :01:25.More on that scathing report by the Commons Transport Select Committee
:01:25. > :01:28.on the botched West Coast Mainline franchise contest.
:01:28. > :01:38.And the Government wants councils to come up with new ways of
:01:38. > :01:38.
:01:38. > :42:03.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2425 seconds
:42:03. > :42:06.Hello once again from the Midlands. I'm Patrick Burns. And our guests
:42:06. > :42:08.today both represent the Heart of England, but in very different ways.
:42:08. > :42:12.Caroline Spelman is the Conservative MP for Meriden,
:42:12. > :42:15.reputedly slap bang in the centre of the country. And Michael Cashman
:42:15. > :42:25.is the Labour MEP representing the West Midlands in our entirety, in
:42:25. > :42:26.
:42:26. > :42:28.the European Parliament. Let's begin with that scathing
:42:28. > :42:31.report by the Commons Transport Select Committee on the botched
:42:31. > :42:35.West Coast Mainline franchise contest, which is having to be
:42:35. > :42:40.rerun because government officials got their sums wrong. What's more,
:42:40. > :42:47.the committee say ministers and senior officials were lied to. One
:42:47. > :42:52.of our Conservative MPs serves on the committee. The department has
:42:52. > :42:55.already brought in new staff and that is important. It needs... It
:42:55. > :42:58.may need to bring in outside consultants in future but it is
:42:58. > :43:01.important we get this right because there is a lot of money we are
:43:01. > :43:06.talking about. I know that when that contract is going to come up
:43:06. > :43:13.again in just a year's time, it is important that is a seemed to be
:43:13. > :43:17.transparent and fair. On that list of the shambles, it would rank
:43:17. > :43:23.highly. Given the role of civil servants, you've called for civil
:43:23. > :43:27.servants -- ministers to have more they say. You can't choose your
:43:27. > :43:33.private civil servants. As making the case for secretaries of state
:43:33. > :43:36.having a say in them appointment of the most senior civil servants,
:43:36. > :43:40.which at the moment they cannot. you think that is the sort of case
:43:40. > :43:43.you haven't minded terms of rebuilding the trust, confidence
:43:43. > :43:46.after something like this which has shaken public confidence,
:43:46. > :43:49.particularly in this franchise process. I think civil servants are
:43:49. > :43:53.bright Kabul and they do for the most part a good job. I think in
:43:53. > :43:57.this case, obviously there is something unacceptable what
:43:57. > :44:02.happened. Ireland something interesting from Lord Adonis this
:44:02. > :44:06.week, keep people had been removed out of that pot until Transport who
:44:06. > :44:11.had expertise in handling these franchises. I think if necessary,
:44:11. > :44:15.that kind of expertise should be so, did back to make sure that the
:44:15. > :44:18.franchise, when it is rewarded, is done fairly and properly. Is this
:44:18. > :44:25.fair, Michael, that there is a question of confidence, that we
:44:26. > :44:29.need to rebuild trust enfranchising? Yes, but actually it
:44:29. > :44:33.was there before. It was the restructuring of the department
:44:33. > :44:37.which saw a third of its staff go and there was no senior civil
:44:37. > :44:42.servant in charge of rail. It is not surprising that it happened.
:44:42. > :44:46.What I want to see is that this waste of taxpayers' money, �50
:44:47. > :44:50.million, when fares are going up by 9%, I want to see an end of this
:44:50. > :44:55.waste. But we've got to trust the brightest civil servants that we
:44:55. > :44:59.have. They want to work with us but I think the more we award the
:44:59. > :45:03.contract so openly and the franchising is open and transparent,
:45:03. > :45:07.and our external monitoring can say yes, it is fair, the financial
:45:07. > :45:10.projections are at City right, then we are delivering value for money.
:45:10. > :45:19.Either -- otherwise, the cuts we are seeing in departments are
:45:19. > :45:22.counter-productive. �50 million, which we can ill-afford. And he
:45:22. > :45:24.lays the blame to some extent at the door of the government for what
:45:24. > :45:28.you've done to the running of the Civil Service. A couple of things.
:45:28. > :45:32.It is unacceptable to make a mistake of this order that such
:45:32. > :45:37.huge expense to the taxpayer. But we've got to look ahead and the
:45:37. > :45:40.most important thing is that the franchise, when it is rewarded, has
:45:40. > :45:45.awarded fairly. In the interim, it is important to underline that
:45:45. > :45:52.Virgin have promised to put them 106 extra carriages. Personally, I
:45:52. > :45:56.hope they will put a few more standard carriages of. What is
:45:56. > :45:59.important is that the public have confidence in their civil service.
:45:59. > :46:06.I think we need to do what we can to support them. We will be back
:46:06. > :46:09.with you it made it minute or two. The -- in a minute or two. Coming
:46:09. > :46:12.up a little later: the Government wants councils to come-up with new
:46:12. > :46:15.ways of making money, to balance their books. We report from the
:46:15. > :46:18.council where they're cooking-up plans to go into business. But are
:46:18. > :46:20.they taking a gamble with vital local services? Find out which of
:46:20. > :46:27.our local authorities is embracing the Enterprise Culture so
:46:27. > :46:29.enthusiastically, in a few minutes. This coming Thursday, business and
:46:29. > :46:32.political leaders from Stoke-on- Trent will meet the Transport
:46:32. > :46:35.Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, to ask him to reconsider the decision
:46:35. > :46:38.not to give North Staffordshire its own station on the new high-speed
:46:38. > :46:41.railway line. Unveiling the preferred route for the line north
:46:41. > :46:43.of Birmingham, Mr McLoughlin said this was the beginning of the
:46:44. > :46:48.conversation, not the end. Here's our Transport Correspondent, Peter
:46:48. > :46:50.Plisner. It might be the fastest journey
:46:50. > :46:54.ever between Birmingham and Manchester, but for staffordshire
:46:54. > :46:59.there's no gain only pain. The latest HS2 route passes through the
:46:59. > :47:02.heart of the county yet there's no station. An ommision that not
:47:02. > :47:09.surprisingly wasn't lost on some of the region's MPs as the project was
:47:09. > :47:13.debated in parliament. This road plunges through rural Britain, it
:47:13. > :47:18.rural Staffordshire, and should use its lasting existing transport
:47:18. > :47:22.corridors. Unless he have a station in the North Staffordshire area,
:47:22. > :47:27.the damage that will be done to our economy is huge. If it is to bring
:47:27. > :47:31.jobs and prosperity to the wider West Midlands region, a stop as
:47:31. > :47:35.required in Staffordshire. There is real and in Stoke-on-Trent that it
:47:36. > :47:40.skims to the west of the Potteries and doesn't stop. And anger from
:47:40. > :47:44.MPs is an -- matched by and on that ground. Hundreds of properties have
:47:44. > :47:49.been blighted. The owners of the Staffordshire cottage are already
:47:49. > :47:57.struggling to sell. We have put it on the market two years ago.
:47:57. > :48:00.had offers. But people are worried and concerned about the train.
:48:00. > :48:04.though the new line will not become reality for at least 20 years, it
:48:04. > :48:11.is still a major problem. It is very difficult. What he do? It's
:48:11. > :48:15.all very well for them to say don't panic but do you do that extension?
:48:15. > :48:19.Do you alter your property? He puts your life on hold. A hybrid bill
:48:19. > :48:22.allowing the line construction to start has yet to pass through
:48:22. > :48:26.Parliament although the process has come -- expected to start later
:48:26. > :48:36.this year. Despite the project gaining cross-party support,
:48:36. > :48:51.
:48:51. > :48:55.getting it onto the statute book By we have been lobbying all the
:48:55. > :49:01.way through. You haven't been very successful. All is still to play
:49:01. > :49:04.for. The government is missing a trick. The current route on the
:49:04. > :49:08.proposed stations, they are looking at the current cities, the current
:49:08. > :49:11.course cities. What it is failing to take account of his emerging
:49:11. > :49:17.cities that will be there in 20 years' time. North Staffordshire,
:49:17. > :49:22.it is planning to grow by 5% of the next 10 years. With that wide
:49:22. > :49:28.accommodation in mind, isn't it important that it is in Crewe you
:49:28. > :49:31.half the hub. I don't think he will get the economic benefits without
:49:31. > :49:34.the spur off at Crewe as you would with a had station in north
:49:34. > :49:40.Staffordshire itself. We are in manufacturing economy. Government
:49:40. > :49:43.is looking to the private sector to create jobs, to export and you have
:49:43. > :49:47.a fantastic Centre in north Staffordshire. We are seeing
:49:47. > :49:51.businesses coming back, production coming back from overseas into
:49:51. > :49:54.North Staffordshire. Businesses are investing. New companies are moving
:49:54. > :50:00.into the area. It's those businesses that government needs to
:50:00. > :50:03.support. It is an obvious point to make but it cannot remain a high-
:50:03. > :50:07.speed line if it has stops between the principal cities for stop let's
:50:07. > :50:12.face it, it is mainly about serving the likes of Birmingham, Manchester
:50:12. > :50:18.and Leeds. I think we've lost it here with the high speed. High
:50:18. > :50:22.speed is important but it is more about capacity in my view. It is
:50:22. > :50:28.capacity, it is linking North Staffordshire and Staffordshire in
:50:28. > :50:31.the growing economies, to London and Europe. Do you think you can
:50:31. > :50:36.make a difference? When you have any kind of hope so realistically
:50:36. > :50:40.of getting Patrick Berger Clinton think again on this? Absolutely. We
:50:40. > :50:44.have a business case and it shows that there are real benefits to the
:50:44. > :50:48.UK. We are going to be presenting its case and we are going to be
:50:49. > :50:53.saying to a government, to join up its thinking on cities, call cities
:50:53. > :50:57.and its transport agenda, and see the real place for North
:50:57. > :51:01.Staffordshire in the future of this. I know you have taken a place -- a
:51:01. > :51:06.personal interest in North Staffordshire yourself. What do you
:51:06. > :51:09.make about the argument for stop there? I do think it it a good
:51:09. > :51:14.chance that has been missed. For decades now, North Staffordshire
:51:14. > :51:20.has been overlooked, despite that we've reinvented ourselves. We have
:51:20. > :51:24.risen like a phoenix. I see us, having the benefits, it is going to
:51:24. > :51:29.Crewe. Much more effectively, it could be fair, closer to the
:51:29. > :51:33.current rail links. Over and above all of that, what we need now is
:51:33. > :51:37.certainty. With got to agree what we need and go full speed ahead to
:51:37. > :51:41.get it. There you what. Beef had them both. A government keeps
:51:41. > :51:44.talking about rebalancing the economy. Putting a stop into Stowe
:51:44. > :51:47.could be the perfect way of doing it. I don't think there is any
:51:48. > :51:51.doubt that if you have a station, you get the pain and the game.
:51:51. > :51:54.Birmingham International would be the first stop from London and the
:51:54. > :52:02.journey time between London and Birmingham International would be
:52:02. > :52:08.31 minutes. That is a Shujah game. But nonetheless, there is a impact.
:52:08. > :52:11.-- that is a huge game. The more stop you put in, the slower it gets.
:52:11. > :52:15.It would be 57 minutes, I understand, from Manchester to
:52:15. > :52:20.London. But we have to look at the connectivity here. Jane told us she
:52:20. > :52:23.got to Birmingham and 30 minutes on a Pendolino. If you had the 31
:52:23. > :52:26.minutes of that take you to go to London, that is one hour and one
:52:26. > :52:30.minute to London for residents in Stoke-on-Trent. Likewise, Berrer --
:52:30. > :52:34.but a connectivity to Manchester. It think it is looking at
:52:34. > :52:39.connections as well as the benefits. They can do in France and Belgium.
:52:39. > :52:46.Every week, I travel on high-speed trains. There is sometimes 20
:52:46. > :52:50.minutes between the Brussels and the Lille. They're both vibrant.
:52:50. > :52:53.The he was putting money into an Italian high-speed train. And we
:52:53. > :52:55.are putting money into this if the government decides it's a high
:52:55. > :53:02.speed leg. The plans are currently going through Parliament as we
:53:02. > :53:10.speak. Thinking about the politics. A lot of York Tory colleagues Orin
:53:10. > :53:16.rebellion on this. -- a lot of your Tory colleagues are rim rebellion
:53:16. > :53:20.on this. There is a sense that the top brass want to press ahead but
:53:20. > :53:24.this is doing nothing to ease the disquiet. The announcement of the
:53:24. > :53:27.route north of Birmingham has brought more of that sense of
:53:27. > :53:31.reality in my own constituency, that this high-speed rail is going
:53:31. > :53:36.to come. The engineers are getting around all the villages, explaining
:53:36. > :53:40.how to mitigate... Many thousands of people feel very badly done by.
:53:40. > :53:50.I do think up the compensation doesn't need to be looked at. I
:53:50. > :53:50.
:53:50. > :53:58.have argued eight case for Moyes, tours. -- argued day-case for more
:53:58. > :54:02.use com tours. I have been prepared to press for that. Jane, he will.
:54:02. > :54:08.We are 20 years away from actually seeing these trains, possibly more.
:54:08. > :54:12.Make a prediction. Do you think you will succeed in this campaign?
:54:12. > :54:17.think we have a very good chance because the minister has said that
:54:17. > :54:22.these are just proposals at the moment. In terms of investment and
:54:22. > :54:25.confidence that business needs, just by the very nature of
:54:25. > :54:28.announcing there will be hard station, we will see the benefits
:54:28. > :54:33.immediately. We will have increasing business confidence,
:54:33. > :54:39.increasing investment. You are convinced it is an economic game
:54:39. > :54:44.changed. It will be. We need the extra capacity in the UK, there is
:54:44. > :54:47.no doubt about that. We need it to support economic regeneration and
:54:47. > :54:57.to remain competitive with Europe and the rest of the world. Thank
:54:57. > :55:04.
:55:04. > :55:06.you all very much. Freeze, freeze, freeze - that's the
:55:06. > :55:08.emphatic warning from the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles,
:55:08. > :55:11.to any local authorities considering putting-up council tax.
:55:11. > :55:14.With yet deeper cuts to their funding for years to come. They're
:55:14. > :55:16.under pressure, not just to save money, but to make it too. And as
:55:16. > :55:25.our Shropshire Political Reporter Liz Roberts explains, they're
:55:25. > :55:27.looking at new ways of generating income.
:55:27. > :55:30.The Medieval market town of Shrewsbury, famous for it's
:55:30. > :55:33.historic buildings, it's flower show and for being the birthplace
:55:33. > :55:35.of Charles Darwin. His book, On the Origin of Species, first
:55:35. > :55:45.established the theory of evolution, and now Shrewsbury is witnessing
:55:45. > :55:50.
:55:50. > :55:53.the emergence of a new breed. Of local council. For the first time
:55:53. > :55:56.in a generation, striving councils now have licence to go full steam
:55:56. > :55:58.ahead and grab a share of the wealth for their local areas and to
:55:58. > :56:08.stand tall and seize the opportunities of enterprise, growth
:56:08. > :56:10.
:56:10. > :56:12.Of course that wasn't Charles Darwin but a modern day exponent of
:56:12. > :56:15.evolutionary theory Secretary of State for Local Government Eric
:56:15. > :56:18.Pickles. His message to local councils, adapt to survive. It's
:56:18. > :56:21.lunchtime at this high school and there are hundreds of hungry mouths
:56:21. > :56:25.to feed. They are so good at cooking school dinners here, they
:56:25. > :56:31.are already selling them to local council areas. We had to come up
:56:31. > :56:34.with a plan how to deal with future cuts. We are planning to create a
:56:34. > :56:37.company and trade to the market place. We do lots of councils will
:56:37. > :56:41.have huge cuts again potentially and they will be looking to make
:56:41. > :56:45.savings have already, a good number of them are asking us what we do
:56:45. > :56:51.and how we can help them. Eventually, Shropshire council
:56:51. > :56:53.hopes to move to majority of its 6000 staff into the company. The
:56:54. > :56:56.Local Government Association says the scale the plans is
:56:56. > :57:04.unprecedented but the idea of making profit from a council
:57:04. > :57:11.service isn't necessarily new. In Stoke-on-Trent, the City Council
:57:11. > :57:14.joined forces with a construction and engineering firm in 2008. Keir
:57:14. > :57:17.Stoke's core business was the maintenance of 19,000 council
:57:17. > :57:22.houses. But it's plan to grow the business and make some money has
:57:22. > :57:25.not been easy. It was almost to the point of dissolving the partnership
:57:25. > :57:30.but we reduced waste, the response time went down, tenants became much
:57:30. > :57:35.happier with the way things were working. Now, it has settled into
:57:35. > :57:40.quite a nice working relationship. It is a cautionary tale. Don't
:57:40. > :57:44.gamble with Kumble -- public money without her large slice of
:57:44. > :57:50.commercial know-how. Enter into this knowing you have an escape
:57:50. > :57:55.route. Where are the opportunities to trade in services? I've already
:57:55. > :58:00.seen the have been one of two councils which have made a huge
:58:00. > :58:05.assumptions. Local authorities are being encouraged to choose their
:58:05. > :58:15.Rome methods of survival. Will the fittest be those prepared to
:58:15. > :58:20.
:58:20. > :58:25.embrace radical change and will the rest face extinction?
:58:25. > :58:31.My latest online post has more honest. There is an example of
:58:31. > :58:40.Shropshire responding creatively to the pressure but Eric Pickles is
:58:40. > :58:44.put him among the. -- putting them under. This is what we do best.
:58:44. > :58:49.When you give them the opportunity to think creatively... It must not
:58:49. > :58:55.be at the expense of losing democratic accountability, good
:58:55. > :58:59.local services. It must not be at the expense -- at the expense of
:58:59. > :59:04.people currently moving from one job to another, who will you lose
:59:04. > :59:07.rights and benefits. We had a chorus of complaints in recent
:59:07. > :59:14.months from predominantly Labour- led authorities about cuts and
:59:14. > :59:20.their revenue grant. Isn't this has a role model? I'm not going to rush
:59:20. > :59:26.to judge. I'm going to support them in this innovation. There are
:59:26. > :59:29.caviats. If it works, why not? I want high-class public services
:59:29. > :59:33.delivered and Yuletide love, if they're going to make money, to see
:59:33. > :59:39.a dividend returned via the community tax to the people who
:59:39. > :59:42.live in the boroughs. Caroline, you shadowed communities while in
:59:42. > :59:46.opposition. There is an issue about local accountability, isn't there?
:59:46. > :59:50.It's very much more difficult to be directly accountable when you've
:59:50. > :59:55.got arms-length companies and things being contacted away.
:59:55. > :59:58.don't think so. The council still has to contract, as you say, has to
:59:58. > :00:03.commission a service. If you and I will not happy with the services
:00:03. > :00:07.that it has contracted, we can still vote politicians in and out.
:00:07. > :00:11.This point about profitability we shouldn't shy away from. I
:00:11. > :00:16.understand that Stoke-on-Trent but only was the relationship good, as
:00:16. > :00:21.they councillor described and they made a profit of �250,000... These
:00:21. > :00:29.can be ploughed back into improving services. Gay but we heard that
:00:29. > :00:34.there are no border guarantees. There are concerns. -- but we could
:00:34. > :00:38.hear it... They have the profits to show for it. The entrepreneurial
:00:39. > :00:46.spirit in Shropshire is being tested. Let's not forget that
:00:46. > :00:51.counsellors can bring in more money such as Sony Hull, -- Solihull...
:00:51. > :01:01.They've built a lot of new houses. But Trott trip is a unitary
:01:01. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:05.authority. Does it make it easier to do it? -- Shropshire. The last
:01:05. > :01:09.thing people want is another shake- up of local government. Let's make
:01:09. > :01:19.sure it delivers. University of Birmingham has done Bryne to work
:01:19. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:25.on this. Yes, there are some who were getting it right. The contract
:01:25. > :01:28.may go on. The other thing that came out was the importance of
:01:28. > :01:32.commercial nice when you go into these relationships with the
:01:32. > :01:35.private sector. As I have said about civil service reform,
:01:35. > :01:42.experience for civil servants outside, in the private sector,
:01:42. > :01:45.brought back into the public sector can only be a good thing.
:01:45. > :01:49.Now our regular round-up of the political week in the Midlands in
:01:49. > :01:51.60 seconds. Here's BBC WM's political reporter Elizabeth Glinka.
:01:51. > :01:57.More than 100 jobs have been secured at the Coventry-based black
:01:57. > :02:00.cab maker Manganese Bronze. The company, which makes the world-
:02:00. > :02:04.famous London black cabs, has been bought by the Chinese automotive
:02:05. > :02:07.firm Geeley for �11 million. A �50 million boost to beat the
:02:07. > :02:15.region's jams. Cash will be spent on improving junctions and free
:02:15. > :02:24.buses for jobseekers to get to interviews.
:02:24. > :02:27.To help people get to bed into use by bus. The Six more local TV
:02:27. > :02:29.stations are being planned. In addition to City TV in Birmingham
:02:29. > :02:31.there could be similar channels in Malvern, Hereford, Stoke,
:02:31. > :02:36.Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Stratford.
:02:36. > :02:39.What makes a good Brummie? Brummie Ambassadors are being considered to
:02:39. > :02:41.help white working class and Eastern European migrants feel more
:02:41. > :02:43.at home. And a new training centre has
:02:44. > :02:46.opened in Birmingham for the construction workers of the future.
:02:46. > :02:56.Apprentices at the Wilmott Dixon Academy will work on the
:02:56. > :02:58.
:02:58. > :03:01.maintenance of 60,000 council AA will needed boost for the
:03:01. > :03:05.construction industry with those of apprenticeships. Given that the
:03:05. > :03:09.industry is predicted to contract for two years, the wonder what
:03:09. > :03:17.those apprentices are signing up to. This construction skills can be
:03:17. > :03:21.used on the new high-speed rail line, phase one. The new super-
:03:21. > :03:27.casino which is being built at the NEC for example also. That's on top
:03:27. > :03:33.of all the housing which is planned. These are good skills to invest in.
:03:33. > :03:37.We need those skills, did we? What an irony that in region like ours
:03:37. > :03:41.has a skills shortage. A City. I was pleased to see that because it
:03:41. > :03:45.was something I dealt with in the northern part of the region, when
:03:45. > :03:49.we saw huge numbers of people being made redundant. We got money from
:03:49. > :03:54.the European Union to retrain and Rhys Gill. That is what the biggest
:03:54. > :03:57.problems a region faces, getting investment in which is the low
:03:57. > :04:05.skills base. The report from the London School of Economics says it
:04:05. > :04:08.is about innovation, infrastructure and people. Will it work? It is
:04:08. > :04:14.always important to invest in skills and investing in young
:04:14. > :04:17.people. We need in our area. think we can say all of us, we
:04:17. > :04:24.agree with that. My thanks to Caroline Spelman and Michael
:04:24. > :04:28.Cashman. Next week, we expect the Francis
:04:28. > :04:35.Report on Stafford Hospital to be published on Wednesday. Midlands
:04:35. > :04:38.Today, BBC Radio Stoke and BBC WM will have the details. And among
:04:38. > :04:40.our guests next Sunday will be arguably the most powerful person