13/11/2011 The Politics Show East Midlands

In the East Midlands: A Tory leader attacks councils for diverting

Government money meant for housing. And the lawyer who's taking the

Government to court over its decision to halve what consumers

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1905 seconds

are paid for selling renewable Welcome to the part of the

Welcome to the part of the programme especially for everyone

here in the East Midlands. And we've got value for money very much

in mind. We report on the growing campaign against the Government's

plans to halve what consumers get for selling renewable energy to the

grid. Mandy Nunn isn't impressed. We can reveal that a Derbyshire

lawyer is preparing to take the Coalition to court over the issue.

Plus: You'd think the Government's new homes bonus was meant to be

spent on housing. But a Tory council leader accuses local

authorities of diverting it into other areas of their budgets.

For councils at a time like this to leave money in the Budget is wrong.

They need to use it in the committee and help people renege

helping. And does the latest news from the European Commission offer

any hope of saving 1,400 jobs at Bombardier?

First, can the Coalition justify halving the amount new customers

get for selling solar energy to the national grid? Not very Green, you

might think. Our political editor, John Hess, reports

The feed-in tariff was introduced by the last Labour's government

Energy and Climate Change Secretary: a certain Ed Miliband.

The scheme's been popular.Infact so popular, some say it's become a

victim of its own success. We did a lot of research, I was a training

again. I invested a lot of money to get into this industry. It has

taken off at the fantastic. Is the winter light starting to be in the

feeding bonanza? The government is about to pass the cash the energy

firms have to pay to feeding tariff consumers. It has caused a row, and

people think ministers have been leant on. I think there is a lot

more behind this that they are not telling us. This couple will not be

affected by the cuts. They beat the deadline. They paid �12,000 to

install 11 solar power would -- panels. I will be getting a hundred

pounds and one hand -- between �100 and �1,000 through the tariff. It

is a good incentive to be a little bit green. His tone is one of 7,000

in the East Midlands to have solar panels installed. He is going green,

with -- and he gets 43 p per kilowatt of -- kilowatt hour up of

energy he creates. The lower the tariff, the wider the money can be

spread. It can only go to a few people otherwise. Another big

tariff, it is basic maths. This man is a Fijian tarragon player. He

persuaded the last government to back the idea. The Politics Show

went with him to Munich, where did in Paris have taken off in a good

weight -- in a big way. You have 700 members of the Solar Club with

25 Solar size they have set up. Of course it is environmentally

sustainable, and there is a real feel-good factor, but it is a money

machine as well. My knee people on the estate in his constituency have

solar panels. They he is angry at the tariff cuts. In this scenario,

if the cuts go ahead, the losers will be half of the 25,000 people

who found jobs in the sector, and whose jobs would full the air --

for off the edge of the cliff in December. The next big losers will

be the 4 million people who are under the level of fuel poverty.

There's now a race against time to install panels on 1,400 homes.

were going to do that over a four week period. We have a big job to

make sure it happens. It is part of a scheme with E.ON. There is

concern over similar schemes in future. It is going to be a bit

difficult to stack up. As one of the worries that we have. For many,

the low income tenants on this estate, they can save �20 a month

on winter fuel bills. They are saving the money. A lot of people

are having them on the estate. I thought I would give it ago. It has

made a lot of difference, and I never had the file on so much.

coalition is also considering a visit -- restricting the scheme to

those that make -- those homes that need new energy targets. His they

are at future for a fee in tariff? It is a threat to the market.

will make me think twice. winners in this would be this six

energy companies to continue to have the lock on prices. The

coalition says it is new -- planning a new green deal. He will

get the winning hand? The consumer or energy companies? So where do we

go from here? Well if Derbyshire lawyer, Edward de la Billiere has

anything to do with it, the Coalition is going to have to

defend its actions in court. He joins me now. How far have you got

with this? We have asked to have to apply for leave in the High Court

against a consultation. The next stage in the process is to be given

leave by the court, and we are waiting for it to be decided.

it is the largest solar installation company in the UK,

called Solar Century Holdings. are particularly affected by this,

because they have a business plan that has been predicated on the 1st

April change, and now it has all changed, in an unexpected and

unfair will wait. Are you going to represent more companies? We are

talking to other companies about possibly joining our application,

and we wait to see how that progresses. He described it as

unfair, but what grounds do have? The government has made it very

clear that any changes to the feeding tariff, but they said there

will be, will not be in debated before the 30th April, 1920 12. --

implemented before the 1st April 2012. They will be backdated to PV

installations to 12th December, and we think that is unfair and

unlawful. There seems to be growing opposition. Even E.ON has told us

that the government has to learn the lessons from policy

mismanagement if we are to deliver community schemes in the future.

Tough talk. They very much so, and it is affecting people throughout

the country from top to bottom. We had been in -- in now today from a

pensioner who has just installed a system. But it will be no longer

work of -- worth a while and she would have lost her investment to

date. The government has failed to realise that PV systems are

generally not installed overnight. There's often a lead-in process

before you install it, as people who are part-way through the

process are affected. government declined to take part in

our discussion, because they said there would be no point waiting

until April if the money is going to run out before then. That is an

economic point but I do not want be drawn on. The point is that the

government has said that they will not retrospectively applied any

cuts, and they are now beginning to do so. How and when will you find

out when it is going? I we expect to hear within a week also whether

we have been granted leave of Appeal, and we would hope that the

hearing would be shortly thereafter. Next: The Conservative Leader in

Leicestershire, David Parsons, has told the Politics Show that he's

disturbed about how councils in our region are spending the

Government's New Homes bonus. Not on housing apparently. This

exclusive report from Eleanor Garnier

The New Homes bonus Normally the clue is in the name. No not a clue.

It is something that I should know about? Is it about the property

ladder? It sounds like a home- buying scheme. The New Homes Bonus

is a government grant. It rewards councils for increasing housing in

their area, by giving authorities tax incentives and cash handouts.

This is how the Government would like the money to be spent.

Leicestershire County Council has been given a grant of �530,000 for

building homes like these and for bringing empty properties back into

use. The Conservative Leader of Leicestershire County Council David

Parsons says instead of spending Homes Bonus on housing, many

councils are using it for other things or putting the money

straight into their reserves. think that is disturbing. For

councils to leave money in their bank accounts is wrong, and they

should go out and be proactive in the community, and help people who

need a helping. I think the Government's needs that. That is my

view as well. We are in consultation spread developers.

Fellow Tory, Philip Hickson, who's leader of Derby City Council is one

of those David Parsons has in his sights. His authority has put more

than one million pounds of New Homes Bonus into its overall

revenue budget. It is up to local councils, and local politicians, to

decide how they should be applying money in their local areas. I think

the government is moving away from central diktat about how money

should be spent. If he was to spend it differently, that's a matter for

his counsel. It's the same story in Leicester where the Labour-

controlled Council received just under one and a half million pounds

of New Homes Bonus. It put all the money into its general budget and

as a result wasn't able to tell us what it had been spent on. There is

no way that budgets can be reinvested. Inevitably, we are

going to have to make difficult choices about our budgets. If the

government is genuinely committed to regenerating our cities, it

should look at what it is doing. And our inquiries reveal a similar

picture across the East Midlands: In Derbyshire - Amber Valley

Borough Council told us they're using their two hundred thousand

pounds of Homes Bonus to meet other pounds of Homes Bonus to meet other

spending priorities. North East Derbyshire District Council are

using their Bonus of over one hundred and sixty thousand pounds

on efficiency savings. Harborough District Council have put over half

a million pounds of Homes Bonus into their general budget. And in

Nottinghamshire Bassetlaw District Council is using its two hundred

thousand pounds to offset I am not happy. They need to be

proactive in society. They need to build houses incorporation with one

another, if you like, to enable people to be able to stay in the

villages that they had been brought up all the towns they have been

brought up, and afford decent housing. You cannot blame local

authorities at times like this, with the budgets being -- budget

cuts been so severe. In a choice between social care and key

services on the ground and more social housing, you can see what

choice local councils are going to make. If the Government wanted the

new homes bonus for social housing, it needed to ring-fence it for that

purpose. In the East Midlands, it is a vital that we invest in new

homes. It is a real mismatch. one thing everyone is agreed on -

house building has reached historic lows. The question - will the

government's New Homes Bonus help to reverse that trend?

With me now, Derby Conservative leader, Philip Hickson, one of

those criticised by David Parsons in our report. It is all very well

that is saying that it is up to politicians to spend his money. But

it is called a new homes bonus. The close in the name? It is. If I

thought that no own building activity was going on, I would be

alarmed. It is a government fund. It is not ring-fenced. Are you

spending some of it on housing? Indeed. It is not just building new

houses. We have to look at site and infrastructure. You need to bring

empty and abandoned homes back into use. If that was not being fed in,

some of that activity would cease, and that would worsen the position

further. When house building is at an all-time low, you are spending

it on other areas too. How can you justify that? With the government

wanted to ring-fence it and apply for a specific purpose, then they

would do so. We get lots of grants from government. They going to our

revenue, and we set our priorities. There is activity going on in terms

of bringing disused homes back into beneficial use. We are also

preparing site and encouraging and stimulating housebuilding. It is

all part of that. A are you saying that the any way the government can

trust you to get spend the money how they wanted to is to get it

ring-fenced? The government has to trust locals politicians to make

the decisions for their area. I heard David Parsons criticise me

then, but we have to move on. They should leave these choices to local

politicians. You say that, but isn't this exactly the sort of

thing that brings politics into disrepute? The government announces

with great triumph, this bonus, and councils are spending at how they

want. The criticism is in the title of the grant. It is called a new

homes by Oasis, and to the man and woman in the street, -- new homes

bonus. It is bringing abandon homes into use. It is providing

infrastructure for new homes and things like lighting, and all the

things that go with building. It is not just new homes. Thank you for

explaining that. Let's turn to the threat to bombard year. Fourteen

hundred jobs are at risk because Siemens was awarded the Thameslink

contract. The European Commission has told Labour Member of the

European Parliament, Glenis Willmott, that the Government CAN

take the social impact into account - something the Coalition has

always denied. Is this good news for Bombardier and its workers?

think it's got to be good news. It is the stars are we have always

taken in the city. There is no reason why they can't look at an

economic assessment, and we have been told but that can't be done,

because EU law present -- prevents it. Now the European Commission is

saying they could go back. I accept the Government's position they

going back would cause a delay copper diving that is a price worth

paying, and I think the public would accept that we should go back,

tender it again and see what happens. And risk legal action?

think the have take these things in context. I'll be seen as the saying

that Siemens is going to take legal action against the government when

they want to bid for future contracts? There is a lot to play

for here. Bombarded it is the last remaining train maker in the

country. Bombardier. Tomorrow, we have got the minister coming to

Derby, and we will be discussing this new information. We will also

be meeting tomorrow at the new number two at the company, and we

will be talking to him, because we want him to make his plans very

clear. We need to put this new information that has come from the

European Commission to the minister and see whether that changes the

position. I sincerely hope it does, because there is a prize worth

gaining here, and that is saving our last remaining train maker. It

also saves the jobs in Derby from being lost. Are you saying that the

government could really do something to say people's jobs in

Derby? I have always believed that is the case, and if this was a

little -- local contract decision, I would be causing -- are be

calling my chief executive and telling them to change it. The

Prime Minister, could still change things with a stroke of a pen, and