03/02/2013 Sunday Politics West Midlands


03/02/2013

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 03/02/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

More on that scathing report by the Commons Transport Select Committee

:01:22.:01:25.

on the botched West Coast Mainline franchise contest.

:01:25.:01:28.

And the Government wants councils to come up with new ways of

:01:28.:01:38.
:01:38.:01:38.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2425 seconds

:01:38.:42:03.

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

:42:03.:42:06.

today both represent the Heart of England, but in very different ways.

:42:06.:42:08.

Caroline Spelman is the Conservative MP for Meriden,

:42:08.:42:12.

reputedly slap bang in the centre of the country. And Michael Cashman

:42:12.:42:15.

is the Labour MEP representing the West Midlands in our entirety, in

:42:15.:42:25.
:42:25.:42:26.

the European Parliament. Let's begin with that scathing

:42:26.:42:28.

report by the Commons Transport Select Committee on the botched

:42:28.:42:31.

West Coast Mainline franchise contest, which is having to be

:42:31.:42:35.

rerun because government officials got their sums wrong. What's more,

:42:35.:42:40.

the committee say ministers and senior officials were lied to. One

:42:40.:42:47.

of our Conservative MPs serves on the committee. The department has

:42:47.:42:52.

already brought in new staff and that is important. It needs... It

:42:52.:42:55.

may need to bring in outside consultants in future but it is

:42:55.:42:58.

important we get this right because there is a lot of money we are

:42:58.:43:01.

talking about. I know that when that contract is going to come up

:43:01.:43:06.

again in just a year's time, it is important that is a seemed to be

:43:06.:43:13.

transparent and fair. On that list of the shambles, it would rank

:43:13.:43:17.

highly. Given the role of civil servants, you've called for civil

:43:17.:43:23.

servants -- ministers to have more they say. You can't choose your

:43:23.:43:27.

private civil servants. As making the case for secretaries of state

:43:27.:43:33.

having a say in them appointment of the most senior civil servants,

:43:33.:43:36.

which at the moment they cannot. you think that is the sort of case

:43:36.:43:40.

you haven't minded terms of rebuilding the trust, confidence

:43:40.:43:43.

after something like this which has shaken public confidence,

:43:43.:43:46.

particularly in this franchise process. I think civil servants are

:43:46.:43:49.

bright Kabul and they do for the most part a good job. I think in

:43:49.:43:53.

this case, obviously there is something unacceptable what

:43:53.:43:57.

happened. Ireland something interesting from Lord Adonis this

:43:57.:44:02.

week, keep people had been removed out of that pot until Transport who

:44:02.:44:06.

had expertise in handling these franchises. I think if necessary,

:44:06.:44:11.

that kind of expertise should be so, did back to make sure that the

:44:11.:44:15.

franchise, when it is rewarded, is done fairly and properly. Is this

:44:15.:44:18.

fair, Michael, that there is a question of confidence, that we

:44:18.:44:25.

need to rebuild trust enfranchising? Yes, but actually it

:44:26.:44:29.

was there before. It was the restructuring of the department

:44:29.:44:33.

which saw a third of its staff go and there was no senior civil

:44:33.:44:37.

servant in charge of rail. It is not surprising that it happened.

:44:37.:44:42.

What I want to see is that this waste of taxpayers' money, �50

:44:42.:44:46.

million, when fares are going up by 9%, I want to see an end of this

:44:47.:44:50.

waste. But we've got to trust the brightest civil servants that we

:44:50.:44:55.

have. They want to work with us but I think the more we award the

:44:55.:44:59.

contract so openly and the franchising is open and transparent,

:44:59.:45:03.

and our external monitoring can say yes, it is fair, the financial

:45:03.:45:07.

projections are at City right, then we are delivering value for money.

:45:07.:45:10.

Either -- otherwise, the cuts we are seeing in departments are

:45:10.:45:19.

counter-productive. �50 million, which we can ill-afford. And he

:45:19.:45:22.

lays the blame to some extent at the door of the government for what

:45:22.:45:24.

you've done to the running of the Civil Service. A couple of things.

:45:24.:45:28.

It is unacceptable to make a mistake of this order that such

:45:28.:45:32.

huge expense to the taxpayer. But we've got to look ahead and the

:45:32.:45:37.

most important thing is that the franchise, when it is rewarded, has

:45:37.:45:40.

awarded fairly. In the interim, it is important to underline that

:45:40.:45:45.

Virgin have promised to put them 106 extra carriages. Personally, I

:45:45.:45:52.

hope they will put a few more standard carriages of. What is

:45:52.:45:56.

important is that the public have confidence in their civil service.

:45:56.:45:59.

I think we need to do what we can to support them. We will be back

:45:59.:46:06.

with you it made it minute or two. The -- in a minute or two. Coming

:46:06.:46:09.

up a little later: the Government wants councils to come-up with new

:46:09.:46:12.

ways of making money, to balance their books. We report from the

:46:12.:46:15.

council where they're cooking-up plans to go into business. But are

:46:15.:46:18.

they taking a gamble with vital local services? Find out which of

:46:18.:46:20.

our local authorities is embracing the Enterprise Culture so

:46:20.:46:27.

enthusiastically, in a few minutes. This coming Thursday, business and

:46:27.:46:29.

political leaders from Stoke-on- Trent will meet the Transport

:46:29.:46:32.

Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, to ask him to reconsider the decision

:46:32.:46:35.

not to give North Staffordshire its own station on the new high-speed

:46:35.:46:38.

railway line. Unveiling the preferred route for the line north

:46:38.:46:41.

of Birmingham, Mr McLoughlin said this was the beginning of the

:46:41.:46:43.

conversation, not the end. Here's our Transport Correspondent, Peter

:46:44.:46:48.

Plisner. It might be the fastest journey

:46:48.:46:50.

ever between Birmingham and Manchester, but for staffordshire

:46:50.:46:54.

there's no gain only pain. The latest HS2 route passes through the

:46:54.:46:59.

heart of the county yet there's no station. An ommision that not

:46:59.:47:02.

surprisingly wasn't lost on some of the region's MPs as the project was

:47:02.:47:09.

debated in parliament. This road plunges through rural Britain, it

:47:09.:47:13.

rural Staffordshire, and should use its lasting existing transport

:47:13.:47:18.

corridors. Unless he have a station in the North Staffordshire area,

:47:18.:47:22.

the damage that will be done to our economy is huge. If it is to bring

:47:22.:47:27.

jobs and prosperity to the wider West Midlands region, a stop as

:47:27.:47:31.

required in Staffordshire. There is real and in Stoke-on-Trent that it

:47:31.:47:35.

skims to the west of the Potteries and doesn't stop. And anger from

:47:36.:47:40.

MPs is an -- matched by and on that ground. Hundreds of properties have

:47:40.:47:44.

been blighted. The owners of the Staffordshire cottage are already

:47:44.:47:49.

struggling to sell. We have put it on the market two years ago.

:47:49.:47:57.

had offers. But people are worried and concerned about the train.

:47:57.:48:00.

though the new line will not become reality for at least 20 years, it

:48:00.:48:04.

is still a major problem. It is very difficult. What he do? It's

:48:04.:48:11.

all very well for them to say don't panic but do you do that extension?

:48:11.:48:15.

Do you alter your property? He puts your life on hold. A hybrid bill

:48:15.:48:19.

allowing the line construction to start has yet to pass through

:48:19.:48:22.

Parliament although the process has come -- expected to start later

:48:22.:48:26.

this year. Despite the project gaining cross-party support,

:48:26.:48:36.
:48:36.:48:51.

getting it onto the statute book By we have been lobbying all the

:48:51.:48:55.

way through. You haven't been very successful. All is still to play

:48:55.:49:01.

for. The government is missing a trick. The current route on the

:49:01.:49:04.

proposed stations, they are looking at the current cities, the current

:49:04.:49:08.

course cities. What it is failing to take account of his emerging

:49:08.:49:11.

cities that will be there in 20 years' time. North Staffordshire,

:49:11.:49:17.

it is planning to grow by 5% of the next 10 years. With that wide

:49:17.:49:22.

accommodation in mind, isn't it important that it is in Crewe you

:49:22.:49:28.

half the hub. I don't think he will get the economic benefits without

:49:28.:49:31.

the spur off at Crewe as you would with a had station in north

:49:31.:49:34.

Staffordshire itself. We are in manufacturing economy. Government

:49:34.:49:40.

is looking to the private sector to create jobs, to export and you have

:49:40.:49:43.

a fantastic Centre in north Staffordshire. We are seeing

:49:43.:49:47.

businesses coming back, production coming back from overseas into

:49:47.:49:51.

North Staffordshire. Businesses are investing. New companies are moving

:49:51.:49:54.

into the area. It's those businesses that government needs to

:49:54.:50:00.

support. It is an obvious point to make but it cannot remain a high-

:50:00.:50:03.

speed line if it has stops between the principal cities for stop let's

:50:03.:50:07.

face it, it is mainly about serving the likes of Birmingham, Manchester

:50:07.:50:12.

and Leeds. I think we've lost it here with the high speed. High

:50:12.:50:18.

speed is important but it is more about capacity in my view. It is

:50:18.:50:22.

capacity, it is linking North Staffordshire and Staffordshire in

:50:22.:50:28.

the growing economies, to London and Europe. Do you think you can

:50:28.:50:31.

make a difference? When you have any kind of hope so realistically

:50:31.:50:36.

of getting Patrick Berger Clinton think again on this? Absolutely. We

:50:36.:50:40.

have a business case and it shows that there are real benefits to the

:50:40.:50:44.

UK. We are going to be presenting its case and we are going to be

:50:44.:50:48.

saying to a government, to join up its thinking on cities, call cities

:50:49.:50:53.

and its transport agenda, and see the real place for North

:50:53.:50:57.

Staffordshire in the future of this. I know you have taken a place -- a

:50:57.:51:01.

personal interest in North Staffordshire yourself. What do you

:51:01.:51:06.

make about the argument for stop there? I do think it it a good

:51:06.:51:09.

chance that has been missed. For decades now, North Staffordshire

:51:09.:51:14.

has been overlooked, despite that we've reinvented ourselves. We have

:51:14.:51:20.

risen like a phoenix. I see us, having the benefits, it is going to

:51:20.:51:24.

Crewe. Much more effectively, it could be fair, closer to the

:51:24.:51:29.

current rail links. Over and above all of that, what we need now is

:51:29.:51:33.

certainty. With got to agree what we need and go full speed ahead to

:51:33.:51:37.

get it. There you what. Beef had them both. A government keeps

:51:37.:51:41.

talking about rebalancing the economy. Putting a stop into Stowe

:51:41.:51:44.

could be the perfect way of doing it. I don't think there is any

:51:44.:51:47.

doubt that if you have a station, you get the pain and the game.

:51:48.:51:51.

Birmingham International would be the first stop from London and the

:51:51.:51:54.

journey time between London and Birmingham International would be

:51:54.:52:02.

31 minutes. That is a Shujah game. But nonetheless, there is a impact.

:52:02.:52:08.

-- that is a huge game. The more stop you put in, the slower it gets.

:52:08.:52:11.

It would be 57 minutes, I understand, from Manchester to

:52:11.:52:15.

London. But we have to look at the connectivity here. Jane told us she

:52:15.:52:20.

got to Birmingham and 30 minutes on a Pendolino. If you had the 31

:52:20.:52:23.

minutes of that take you to go to London, that is one hour and one

:52:23.:52:26.

minute to London for residents in Stoke-on-Trent. Likewise, Berrer --

:52:26.:52:30.

but a connectivity to Manchester. It think it is looking at

:52:30.:52:34.

connections as well as the benefits. They can do in France and Belgium.

:52:34.:52:39.

Every week, I travel on high-speed trains. There is sometimes 20

:52:39.:52:46.

minutes between the Brussels and the Lille. They're both vibrant.

:52:46.:52:50.

The he was putting money into an Italian high-speed train. And we

:52:50.:52:53.

are putting money into this if the government decides it's a high

:52:53.:52:55.

speed leg. The plans are currently going through Parliament as we

:52:55.:53:02.

speak. Thinking about the politics. A lot of York Tory colleagues Orin

:53:02.:53:10.

rebellion on this. -- a lot of your Tory colleagues are rim rebellion

:53:10.:53:16.

on this. There is a sense that the top brass want to press ahead but

:53:16.:53:20.

this is doing nothing to ease the disquiet. The announcement of the

:53:20.:53:24.

route north of Birmingham has brought more of that sense of

:53:24.:53:27.

reality in my own constituency, that this high-speed rail is going

:53:27.:53:31.

to come. The engineers are getting around all the villages, explaining

:53:31.:53:36.

how to mitigate... Many thousands of people feel very badly done by.

:53:36.:53:40.

I do think up the compensation doesn't need to be looked at. I

:53:40.:53:50.
:53:50.:53:50.

have argued eight case for Moyes, tours. -- argued day-case for more

:53:50.:53:58.

use com tours. I have been prepared to press for that. Jane, he will.

:53:58.:54:02.

We are 20 years away from actually seeing these trains, possibly more.

:54:02.:54:08.

Make a prediction. Do you think you will succeed in this campaign?

:54:08.:54:12.

think we have a very good chance because the minister has said that

:54:12.:54:17.

these are just proposals at the moment. In terms of investment and

:54:17.:54:22.

confidence that business needs, just by the very nature of

:54:22.:54:25.

announcing there will be hard station, we will see the benefits

:54:25.:54:28.

immediately. We will have increasing business confidence,

:54:28.:54:33.

increasing investment. You are convinced it is an economic game

:54:33.:54:39.

changed. It will be. We need the extra capacity in the UK, there is

:54:39.:54:44.

no doubt about that. We need it to support economic regeneration and

:54:44.:54:47.

to remain competitive with Europe and the rest of the world. Thank

:54:47.:54:57.
:54:57.:55:04.

you all very much. Freeze, freeze, freeze - that's the

:55:04.:55:06.

emphatic warning from the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles,

:55:06.:55:08.

to any local authorities considering putting-up council tax.

:55:08.:55:11.

With yet deeper cuts to their funding for years to come. They're

:55:11.:55:14.

under pressure, not just to save money, but to make it too. And as

:55:14.:55:16.

our Shropshire Political Reporter Liz Roberts explains, they're

:55:16.:55:25.

looking at new ways of generating income.

:55:25.:55:27.

The Medieval market town of Shrewsbury, famous for it's

:55:27.:55:30.

historic buildings, it's flower show and for being the birthplace

:55:30.:55:33.

of Charles Darwin. His book, On the Origin of Species, first

:55:33.:55:35.

established the theory of evolution, and now Shrewsbury is witnessing

:55:35.:55:45.
:55:45.:55:50.

the emergence of a new breed. Of local council. For the first time

:55:50.:55:53.

in a generation, striving councils now have licence to go full steam

:55:53.:55:56.

ahead and grab a share of the wealth for their local areas and to

:55:56.:55:58.

stand tall and seize the opportunities of enterprise, growth

:55:58.:56:08.
:56:08.:56:10.

Of course that wasn't Charles Darwin but a modern day exponent of

:56:10.:56:12.

evolutionary theory Secretary of State for Local Government Eric

:56:12.:56:15.

Pickles. His message to local councils, adapt to survive. It's

:56:15.:56:18.

lunchtime at this high school and there are hundreds of hungry mouths

:56:18.:56:21.

to feed. They are so good at cooking school dinners here, they

:56:21.:56:25.

are already selling them to local council areas. We had to come up

:56:25.:56:31.

with a plan how to deal with future cuts. We are planning to create a

:56:31.:56:34.

company and trade to the market place. We do lots of councils will

:56:34.:56:37.

have huge cuts again potentially and they will be looking to make

:56:37.:56:41.

savings have already, a good number of them are asking us what we do

:56:41.:56:45.

and how we can help them. Eventually, Shropshire council

:56:45.:56:51.

hopes to move to majority of its 6000 staff into the company. The

:56:51.:56:53.

Local Government Association says the scale the plans is

:56:54.:56:56.

unprecedented but the idea of making profit from a council

:56:56.:57:04.

service isn't necessarily new. In Stoke-on-Trent, the City Council

:57:04.:57:11.

joined forces with a construction and engineering firm in 2008. Keir

:57:11.:57:14.

Stoke's core business was the maintenance of 19,000 council

:57:14.:57:17.

houses. But it's plan to grow the business and make some money has

:57:17.:57:22.

not been easy. It was almost to the point of dissolving the partnership

:57:22.:57:25.

but we reduced waste, the response time went down, tenants became much

:57:25.:57:30.

happier with the way things were working. Now, it has settled into

:57:30.:57:35.

quite a nice working relationship. It is a cautionary tale. Don't

:57:35.:57:40.

gamble with Kumble -- public money without her large slice of

:57:40.:57:44.

commercial know-how. Enter into this knowing you have an escape

:57:44.:57:50.

route. Where are the opportunities to trade in services? I've already

:57:50.:57:55.

seen the have been one of two councils which have made a huge

:57:55.:58:00.

assumptions. Local authorities are being encouraged to choose their

:58:00.:58:05.

Rome methods of survival. Will the fittest be those prepared to

:58:05.:58:15.
:58:15.:58:20.

embrace radical change and will the rest face extinction?

:58:20.:58:25.

My latest online post has more honest. There is an example of

:58:25.:58:31.

Shropshire responding creatively to the pressure but Eric Pickles is

:58:31.:58:40.

put him among the. -- putting them under. This is what we do best.

:58:40.:58:44.

When you give them the opportunity to think creatively... It must not

:58:44.:58:49.

be at the expense of losing democratic accountability, good

:58:49.:58:55.

local services. It must not be at the expense -- at the expense of

:58:55.:58:59.

people currently moving from one job to another, who will you lose

:58:59.:59:04.

rights and benefits. We had a chorus of complaints in recent

:59:04.:59:07.

months from predominantly Labour- led authorities about cuts and

:59:07.:59:14.

their revenue grant. Isn't this has a role model? I'm not going to rush

:59:14.:59:20.

to judge. I'm going to support them in this innovation. There are

:59:20.:59:26.

caviats. If it works, why not? I want high-class public services

:59:26.:59:29.

delivered and Yuletide love, if they're going to make money, to see

:59:29.:59:33.

a dividend returned via the community tax to the people who

:59:33.:59:39.

live in the boroughs. Caroline, you shadowed communities while in

:59:39.:59:42.

opposition. There is an issue about local accountability, isn't there?

:59:42.:59:46.

It's very much more difficult to be directly accountable when you've

:59:46.:59:50.

got arms-length companies and things being contacted away.

:59:50.:59:55.

don't think so. The council still has to contract, as you say, has to

:59:55.:59:58.

commission a service. If you and I will not happy with the services

:59:58.:00:03.

that it has contracted, we can still vote politicians in and out.

:00:03.:00:07.

This point about profitability we shouldn't shy away from. I

:00:07.:00:11.

understand that Stoke-on-Trent but only was the relationship good, as

:00:11.:00:16.

they councillor described and they made a profit of �250,000... These

:00:16.:00:21.

can be ploughed back into improving services. Gay but we heard that

:00:21.:00:29.

there are no border guarantees. There are concerns. -- but we could

:00:29.:00:34.

hear it... They have the profits to show for it. The entrepreneurial

:00:34.:00:38.

spirit in Shropshire is being tested. Let's not forget that

:00:39.:00:46.

counsellors can bring in more money such as Sony Hull, -- Solihull...

:00:46.:00:51.

They've built a lot of new houses. But Trott trip is a unitary

:00:51.:01:01.
:01:01.:01:01.

authority. Does it make it easier to do it? -- Shropshire. The last

:01:01.:01:05.

thing people want is another shake- up of local government. Let's make

:01:05.:01:09.

sure it delivers. University of Birmingham has done Bryne to work

:01:09.:01:19.
:01:19.:01:21.

on this. Yes, there are some who were getting it right. The contract

:01:21.:01:25.

may go on. The other thing that came out was the importance of

:01:25.:01:28.

commercial nice when you go into these relationships with the

:01:28.:01:32.

private sector. As I have said about civil service reform,

:01:32.:01:35.

experience for civil servants outside, in the private sector,

:01:35.:01:42.

brought back into the public sector can only be a good thing.

:01:42.:01:45.

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

:01:45.:01:49.

60 seconds. Here's BBC WM's political reporter Elizabeth Glinka.

:01:49.:01:51.

More than 100 jobs have been secured at the Coventry-based black

:01:51.:01:57.

cab maker Manganese Bronze. The company, which makes the world-

:01:57.:02:00.

famous London black cabs, has been bought by the Chinese automotive

:02:00.:02:04.

firm Geeley for �11 million. A �50 million boost to beat the

:02:05.:02:07.

region's jams. Cash will be spent on improving junctions and free

:02:07.:02:15.

buses for jobseekers to get to interviews.

:02:15.:02:24.

To help people get to bed into use by bus. The Six more local TV

:02:24.:02:27.

stations are being planned. In addition to City TV in Birmingham

:02:27.:02:29.

there could be similar channels in Malvern, Hereford, Stoke,

:02:29.:02:31.

Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Stratford.

:02:31.:02:36.

What makes a good Brummie? Brummie Ambassadors are being considered to

:02:36.:02:39.

help white working class and Eastern European migrants feel more

:02:39.:02:41.

at home. And a new training centre has

:02:41.:02:43.

opened in Birmingham for the construction workers of the future.

:02:44.:02:46.

Apprentices at the Wilmott Dixon Academy will work on the

:02:46.:02:56.
:02:56.:02:58.

maintenance of 60,000 council AA will needed boost for the

:02:58.:03:01.

construction industry with those of apprenticeships. Given that the

:03:01.:03:05.

industry is predicted to contract for two years, the wonder what

:03:05.:03:09.

those apprentices are signing up to. This construction skills can be

:03:09.:03:17.

used on the new high-speed rail line, phase one. The new super-

:03:17.:03:21.

casino which is being built at the NEC for example also. That's on top

:03:21.:03:27.

of all the housing which is planned. These are good skills to invest in.

:03:27.:03:33.

We need those skills, did we? What an irony that in region like ours

:03:33.:03:37.

has a skills shortage. A City. I was pleased to see that because it

:03:37.:03:41.

was something I dealt with in the northern part of the region, when

:03:41.:03:45.

we saw huge numbers of people being made redundant. We got money from

:03:45.:03:49.

the European Union to retrain and Rhys Gill. That is what the biggest

:03:49.:03:54.

problems a region faces, getting investment in which is the low

:03:54.:03:57.

skills base. The report from the London School of Economics says it

:03:57.:04:05.

is about innovation, infrastructure and people. Will it work? It is

:04:05.:04:08.

always important to invest in skills and investing in young

:04:08.:04:14.

people. We need in our area. think we can say all of us, we

:04:14.:04:17.

agree with that. My thanks to Caroline Spelman and Michael

:04:17.:04:24.

Cashman. Next week, we expect the Francis

:04:24.:04:28.

Report on Stafford Hospital to be published on Wednesday. Midlands

:04:28.:04:35.

Today, BBC Radio Stoke and BBC WM will have the details. And among

:04:35.:04:38.

our guests next Sunday will be arguably the most powerful person

:04:38.:04:40.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS