16/06/2013 Sunday Politics West Midlands

every three of us will be head diet because more of us are living

longer. Dementia is the latest age-related health timebomb but who

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2334 seconds

Today, to town hall tightens who together can boast almost 70 years

of public service between them. The Labour leader of Sandwell Council,

one of the tougher jobs and local government, who has been kept as a

local MP. And the former leader of a city council who was doing deals

with the Tories long before that idea caught on. A glimmer of hope at

last for Coventry City football club courtesy of their order. The crisis

told club have been told they can play rent-free at the stadium while

in administration. The question we are asking is whether or not they

will call afforded to really should be in the business of subsidising a

football club and the expense of hard-pressed council taxpayers. --

council tax payers. Budgets are under acute pressure, is this a fair

use of public money? The feelgood factor of West Bromwich in the

Premier league, the interest and potential income that can come to

the local authority for that. I can understand why the city council are

potentially trying to keep the local football team going. It is difficult

because local authorities are experiencing massive cut is. I do

understand where they're coming from. You have experience of this,

you gave Warwickshire County Cricket club alone for their stadium and now

they want alone -- a holiday on the repayments? There was no Deal

option. Edgbaston had to be redeveloped. The alternative was no

test cricket at Edgbaston. That would have been a terrible blow to

the pride of Birmingham. And the push to the city helping

Warwickshire, the impact it has on the local economy we have seen over

the past few weeks. We've had sell-out crowds. Unfortunately I

could not be there last Saturday. It does show the importance of sport

that it has not only on the local economy but on the feelgood factor.

Clubs like yours in the Premier league are awash with money,

shouldn't the feed some of that money further down within the game

to clubs like Coventry rather than dipping into the public purse?

think that's right. The astronomical amounts of public money that are

footing around in the Premier league are quite obscene. We need to do

something about grassroots football. Of course. BBC Coventry is

the place to go for the latest on the sky blues. Now dealing with

dementia is a growing problem and it is getting worse as our population

ages. It will afflict one in every three of us. We'll have more on this

later. The number of unemployed people may be fractionally down

across the country by the Midlands it is up again. Even for those

Midlanders who are in work, the total pay package is shrinking. He

has political correspondence. Four years ago as the ravages of the

recession bit many lost their jobs when this company went into

recession. Some of the employees set up their own engineering business.

When we all worked there we were pretty confident we would continue

and end our careers there. Some are still looking for jobs in a tough

jobs market. 9.4% of the workforce are here. The overall size of the

paper kit is going down. In 2007 wages here in the West Midlands

portal 55 8p but last year it had fallen by 9.7%. We are worried about

the effect economic stagnation is having across the country

particularly in the West Midlands. It is here that there have in

significant drops in the value of people's the packets over the last

five years. There are plans to redevelop this site for a business

park which could see much needed jobs created in what is one of the

country's jobs like spots. We have seen what is going on in the rest of

the country, we are going the other way here. What has gone wrong?

of the problems we have is a skills shortage. There are actually 12,000

vacancies in the backmen media to work. They are skilled jobs. --

Birmingham media. One of the things we need to tackle is the low level

of skills that we have. When I was a boy, when you were a boy,

unemployment was not heard of. You could go from one job to another.

Skills were not an important issue. Now that is. We have to be doing

everything we can to make sure that our children leave school with as

many skills as possible. We need to be investing when people are work to

improve their skills. Thinking of areas of long-term structural

unemployment, isn't it an approach to local authorities, the level of

skills that have come through person they not to the job. The bottom line

here is that we've seen a very heavy focus on young people and employment

towards university, getting people into university. I think that even

the previously poor government missed a trick in terms of those

vocational qualifications. They needed to happen to get our young

people, particularly, back into work. 2.5 million people are

unemployed in this country, almost 1 million of those young people. It is

local authorities that are making the difference in terms of

apprenticeships. There is a big push on apprenticeships, we have seen a

change in numbers over the last five years. That's right. There are

discrepancies within that though. The stat that I saw this morning

show that there are no apprenticeships in one media that

has a very high level of unemployment. There are some real

issues. That is a real worry. There is some disconnect. There are parts

of the region where jobs are taking off, like south-east Staffordshire.

The top-down policy from the Department of work and pensions,

there is no understanding, also this time if you think back to the last

Labour government, employment actually was up there with the rest

of the economy. The key to all of this says, yes, we can pick these

things in place but it ignores and economy remained stagnant we will

not see the jobs created. One of the things we saw was that wages are

shrinking. Are we seeing it is better to have a job even when wages

are squeezed than to not have a job altogether? Absolutely.Now it will

afflict one in every three of us. There will be 20,000 more people

affected in just eight years time, dementia is one of those age-related

timebombs. As more of us live longer the services become increasing

victims of their own success. would go and see her and she would

shouting on the ward. She was never like that. This 89 you dementia.

Last year it reached the point where her daughter felt she would be

better looked after he had at this care home. I know she is not going

to get any better than she has a cheese energy of a good race and she

is really well look after. -- not going to get any better than she has

but she is in a really good race. -- good place. The government will not

pay for her cheer on her twilight years. She on her own property so it

will not come cheap. This is a breakdown of her costs. To cover the

costs, the family home had to be sold. On its own, that money will on

last for just over four years. It is estimated there are just over 8000

people suffering from dementia in our region but by 2021 that number

is tipped to rise to 11,000. Across the West Midlands it's not there

will be a rise of more than one quarter. -- it is thought there will

be arise. The huge challenge is the lack of funding that we are facing

for the help and social care and home were going to be meeting those

increased care needs. Practising the quick step at this Danks class,

these pensioners are all in good health but the chances are that one

in three of them will develop dementia at some point in the

future. Who do they think should pay for their care? We scrimped and

skate to buying our own house, why should we have two sell it? I think

the state should pay. Medical and nutritional advances mean we are

living longer the question now is who should pay for it. We are joined

today from Nottingham by the head of the Admiral nursing service

supported by dementia UK. Just as Macmillan nurses look after cancer

sufferers your nurses specialise in the care of dementia patients. Isn't

dementia seen as a Cinderella condition compared with cancer.

is very much the poor relative in terms of funding for research,

access to services. You mentioned Macmillan nurses, there is almost an

expect Titian now that if you get a diagnosis of cancer you will have

access to a Macmillan nurse but that is far from reality for equal with

dementia. The point of the report was very much who pays but is it

just tough for people like the lady featured who had to sell her house

and have her savings eroded will stop it has been suggested that

�75,000 should be the maximum that people are required to pay, where do

you stand on that? I think that these people have paid into the

National Health Service, the National health system, national

insurance contributions, they have worked hard and paid their taxes.

And the time when the deed care and services the most they cannot get

them. Most people only require such help and care towards the end of

their life. Dave probably enjoyed good health this far so really happy

had any just rewards from their contributions? -- they have bubbly

enjoyed good health this far. difficulty is the burden has to be

spread including to the people themselves. I agree that finances

are not infinite but it just seems very subjective that people with

dementia and older people should actually be the people who suffer

under such cuts. You are on the Birmingham community care NHS trusts

all you can see how it is cumulative that everybody is working hard to

make people live longer but it adds to the squeeze even on ring fenced

health budgets never mind local authority wise. People are living

longer. It affect three times more women as it does men, prime hourly

because men do not live so long. If it is a medical lead case it's like

after by the NHS. If it is social care it is for local government.

Local government cannot intervene if somebody has assets over 22 thousand

pounds. That means it falls on the individual or their family to pay.

You have speeds of this as a mental health nurse but also as someone

curbing the local authority expenditure. I have worked with

people in these charities for a number of years and it is appalling

that people who need care have two or their family through the trauma

of potentially selling their home. I understand the government have

raised the threshold of what people can keep in the pockets but the lady

in the film referred to the fact that she and her husband had worked

all their lives to buy their home. They've contributed to the system.

What we need is a real debate about how we be for social care. I've got

to take another �20 million out of my social care budget over the next

three years because of the cuts were facing in local government. It is a

disgrace and needs addressing. I know money is tight but it has to be

indicative of a society where we want to support and look after all

people. It is such a hot potato that really nobody wants to grasp it but

we do have to grasp the problem because it is a growing issue as fat

as the population is concerned. -- as far as the population is

concerned. Thinking of those patients who suffer dementia but

also develop physical conditions which require treatment in hospital,

there are real issues to make sure they get suitable cave in hospital,

isn't that right? People with the men share use all services. Many of

them have home or better conditions. -- people with dementia. Some

studies show admissions into acute hospitals, people with dementia had

up to seven Cornwall or conditions in some cases. -- home or bit

conditions. -- co-morbid. We worked in a holistic way and many of our

nurses have additional training and develop their knowledge and skills

then end of life care for example. One of the things the government are

doing, David Cameron is calling for guidance on dementia. Changes will

come in by 2013, do you think it will make a difference? We are

ensuring not only have we got trained staff at what we must

remember is that a great deal of their takes place in people's

corms, not just in hospitals. -- the homes of people. I am seeing nurses

being made redundant in this country and in my time in the NHS that has

never happened before. Time now for our regular 62nd round up in the

Midlands. -- 60 second round up wildflower meadows are being treated

because you cannot cut the budget and the gas. Ricky Tomlinson was one

of the Shrewsbury 24 jailed over a strike in the 70s. He wants the

government to hand over the keys files. There has been an embargo on

them that they will not look at these is now until 2021. Deaths at

Stafford Hospital are being investigated, they are suggestions

of criminal neglect. Network rail says the West Coast mainline is too

busy and law-abiding threats have nothing to fear from GCHQ says

William Hague in the row over the US spying programme. Nothing to fear?

Do you have nothing to fear from the CIA rooting through your e-mails?

be fair there needs to be a balance. We are under threat from terrorism

and other issues. The assurances we are getting at the moment are not

really good. Now you are liberal, your party stood against slippers

charter at Westminster. -- snoopers charter absolutely. We are called

this has stopped several dozen terrorist incidents. I know as fun

as the court case that caught everybody's imagination in

Birmingham with ordered last week anything that has input forward

would not have stopped it. I am not seeing I am against what William

Hague is seeing. But what has been said at the moment by the government

does not seem to be reassuring people. People are worried that

there personal details and bank accounts can be got into. Thank you