:00:50. > :00:54.In the East... With a year to go, the countdown to elections for
:00:54. > :00:58.police and Crown Commissioners begins. The posters are open to all,
:00:58. > :01:08.including your favourite stars. And farmers will have to leave more of
:01:08. > :01:08.
:01:08. > :40:14.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2346 seconds
:40:14. > :40:19.Welcome to the part of the Farmers are facing an uncertain
:40:19. > :40:24.future. Europe is telling them to cut food production and believes
:40:24. > :40:29.they should be greener. This is just a fact of life for us. In the
:40:29. > :40:35.past few years, if the substances - - if we did not have subsidies, we
:40:35. > :40:39.would not still be in business. But first, in one year, you will be
:40:39. > :40:45.asked to elect a police commissioner. But do you know
:40:45. > :40:49.enough about them? Did you no one could be a television star as
:40:49. > :40:53.anyone can stand? One survey says three-quarters of people do not
:40:53. > :40:58.even know they are on their way. Commissioners will be able to set
:40:58. > :41:03.budgets, decide policing priorities and have the power to sack Chief
:41:03. > :41:11.Constable its. Many candidates are likely to be backed by a political
:41:11. > :41:15.party. It is feared the role could politicise policing.
:41:15. > :41:19.In the cities Robert Chambers. He resigned nine months ago saying he
:41:20. > :41:24.was considering standing as a police and Crown Commissioner. The
:41:24. > :41:29.man who had a seat in appointing a chief constable for Essex did much
:41:29. > :41:35.to swell police numbers. You are going to have 200 extra police
:41:35. > :41:40.officers on the streets in Essex. It MS recently that his expenses
:41:40. > :41:44.claims were under investigation by police. -- it emerged recently. The
:41:44. > :41:48.Crown Prosecution Service decided there was and six sufficient
:41:48. > :41:55.evidence has secured a conviction. -- insufficient evidence. I spoke
:41:55. > :41:59.to him after he resigned as spoke with him, not least because we make
:41:59. > :42:03.appointments to the police authority. Mr Chambers has now
:42:03. > :42:07.repaid over 1,500 pounds and mileage claims he received from
:42:07. > :42:12.Essex Police Authority. It took journalists weeks to establish he
:42:12. > :42:16.was at the centre of a criminal investigation, because Essex Police
:42:16. > :42:20.authority would neither confirm or deny it. Mr Chambers now says he
:42:20. > :42:25.would like to consider standing as the police and Crown Commissioner.
:42:25. > :42:29.The police investigation into his expenses claims was dropped. But
:42:29. > :42:33.his interest in standing comes amid growing questions as to the
:42:33. > :42:40.accountability and transparency of the role of Commissioner. Jessica
:42:40. > :42:44.the Grazia is a former prosecutor in the United States. She says much
:42:44. > :42:49.wrong in introducing these commissioners to England and Wales.
:42:49. > :42:54.The checks and balances you find in America are not here. The downfall
:42:54. > :43:02.of this law will be that the wrong people are put forward as
:43:02. > :43:08.candidates. That the will abuse their powers. That injustice
:43:08. > :43:13.results. Scandal results. And the law will be discredited. And then,
:43:13. > :43:16.through the process of time, there will be amendments to the law or
:43:16. > :43:21.changes to the law and we will have a different system of police
:43:21. > :43:26.governance. It is up to the public to decide who is elected. That is
:43:26. > :43:31.what happens in a democracy. Political party select candidates,
:43:31. > :43:35.go through a process of scrutiny, but independence can stand and the
:43:35. > :43:40.people will choose. There will be transparency and there will be a
:43:40. > :43:43.free press that will examine pts. That is all to the good. My chief
:43:43. > :43:47.constables are against commissioners, but will not speak
:43:47. > :43:52.publicly. The former Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire says
:43:52. > :43:55.her biggest fear is that a new commissioner would move to replace
:43:55. > :43:58.the Chief Constable with some of their own choice. She says a good
:43:58. > :44:02.commissioner will have an open mind and understanding and willingness
:44:02. > :44:06.to understand the complexities of policing. But the authors of a
:44:06. > :44:12.report on the new commissioners say candidates may need to have their
:44:12. > :44:16.hand held. A number of candidates will be new to policing and
:44:16. > :44:21.policing organisations are large and complex. Authorities and forces
:44:21. > :44:26.need to think about how people are inducted, such that they can be
:44:26. > :44:30.effective elite in their turn. Chief constables say there are also
:44:30. > :44:34.concerns that police and Crown Commissioners could attempt to
:44:34. > :44:38.interfere with operational independence, or objecting to
:44:38. > :44:42.police forces helping other police forces or attempting to implement
:44:43. > :44:46.the outcome of an investigation. have safeguards, there is a police
:44:47. > :44:52.and crime panel, there are also formal complaint proceedings,
:44:52. > :44:56.should there be wrong doing. If someone oversteps the mark, commits
:44:56. > :45:04.a serious criminal offence, there are rules that relate to his
:45:04. > :45:07.suspension and instant removal from office. The police panel has a
:45:07. > :45:11.scrutiny role over the conduct and activities of the Police
:45:11. > :45:18.Commissioner. How that works in practice in detail, I do not know
:45:18. > :45:21.and I do not think anyone else does. Operational issues will need to be
:45:21. > :45:27.resolved as we go through the process of setting the panel up in
:45:27. > :45:31.the New Year. And critics of the plan are concerned that politically
:45:31. > :45:35.appointed candidates with police and Crown panels largely made up of
:45:35. > :45:39.members of the same party will potentially lead to a threat to
:45:39. > :45:42.transparency and good conduct. With just one year to go before the
:45:42. > :45:45.election of police and Crown Commissioners, it is clear the
:45:45. > :45:50.Government has a great deal of work to do, much of the detailed yet to
:45:50. > :45:54.be worked out. Senior police officers have boys can -- have
:45:54. > :46:03.voiced deep concerns. And the public have yet to be won over, if
:46:03. > :46:08.recent polls are to be believed. I am joined by Ben Gummer and Peter
:46:08. > :46:14.Neyroud. His achievements include being a member of the sentencing
:46:14. > :46:18.guidelines Council, Parole Board, National Policing Board, and the
:46:18. > :46:21.counter-terrorism board. He is now researching crime Hull Cambridge
:46:21. > :46:28.University. Are there are questions about the suitability of
:46:28. > :46:33.candidates? We are one year to goal, and we have no idea of the
:46:33. > :46:37.candidate range. And we have no experience of the people that might
:46:37. > :46:41.come forward or will come forward. There is a big burden on the
:46:41. > :46:47.parties to come up with good people and groom them for the process.
:46:47. > :46:52.What about checks and balances and accountability? That is the role of
:46:52. > :46:56.the police authority at the moment. How will that work? That is
:46:56. > :47:02.reasonably clear run the bill up and the final shape of the
:47:03. > :47:08.legislation. But it relies heavily on the policing and crying panel,
:47:08. > :47:14.which will be elected councillors for the area. If those are all the
:47:14. > :47:17.same party, as you he said, it could create worries. There do seem
:47:17. > :47:23.to beat areas with the Government does not have information. Do we
:47:23. > :47:28.know if there is a way of removing a police commissioner? Yes, but we
:47:28. > :47:34.have one here to goal and this is a new position, which I think is very
:47:34. > :47:40.exciting. -- we have won the year to goal. I was surprised by the
:47:40. > :47:46.policy announcement. Why were you surprised? It is a new idea and
:47:46. > :47:48.ought to have a new democratic opposition. As I understand it as a
:47:48. > :47:54.Member of Parliament, I can see a real place for someone representing
:47:54. > :47:57.the public's concerns to the police. My own forces fantastic. One thing
:47:57. > :48:01.they cannot do is communicate with the public in the way a politician
:48:01. > :48:06.can. I hope this will remove one impediment to the police showing
:48:06. > :48:11.how good they are. What about the levels of wages, salaries up to
:48:11. > :48:15.�100,000? It has to be appropriate so someone will give up their time.
:48:15. > :48:20.But we have to do it within the constraints of public spending.
:48:20. > :48:23.Peter Neyroud, let us talk about dynamics and the relationship
:48:23. > :48:28.between the chief constable and the crime at Commissioner. That will be
:48:28. > :48:33.key. I think it is absolutely key, not just personally, but actually
:48:33. > :48:37.house some of the detail of the Act works out. I re-read it again this
:48:37. > :48:43.morning. If I were the chief, I would feel I was being relegated to
:48:43. > :48:47.the sort of cheap operating officer. That is a different role. Are you
:48:47. > :48:52.saying, in the battle between at chief constable and the Crown
:48:52. > :48:59.Commissioner, crime commissioner would when? Every time. -- would
:48:59. > :49:04.win? What about where the chief constable would goal if the an
:49:04. > :49:09.unhappy about their treatment? there are some mediators, one of
:49:09. > :49:13.which is the policing and crime panel. Another is a national
:49:13. > :49:17.inspectorate. Like all new things, it will have to play out. What
:49:17. > :49:22.about this whole new idea that there could be a lot of celebrity
:49:22. > :49:27.candidates? No doubt it will happen somewhere. I am convinced the
:49:27. > :49:30.public will take to this. It has not yet been publicised properly.
:49:30. > :49:35.But as candidates come forward and people know the election will
:49:35. > :49:39.happen, I think it will be enormously successful. People care
:49:39. > :49:43.passionately about crime and anti- social behaviour. This is one way
:49:43. > :49:49.to get them to reconnect with the police and the process of making
:49:49. > :49:52.communities safer. At the moment, that does not really exist. Briefly,
:49:52. > :49:57.do you believe the public and onside or can they be brought
:49:57. > :50:01.onside? I would be happier if we were not trying to run a November
:50:01. > :50:08.election. That does concern me. shall leave it there. Thank you
:50:08. > :50:12.both very much. Now to Europe, where plans were
:50:12. > :50:16.announced to reform the Common Agricultural Policy again. Let us
:50:16. > :50:24.take you back to 1962 when it was introduced to create a stable
:50:24. > :50:29.market and reduce Europe's reliance on imported food. Now agriculture
:50:29. > :50:38.generates over 1.5% of GDP and employs only 5% of the population.
:50:38. > :50:42.But last year, it cost 50 billion euros, 47% of the whole budget. The
:50:42. > :50:47.new rules will freeze the level of funding until 2020. It also wants
:50:47. > :50:52.to change the emphasis to move away from subsidising food production
:50:52. > :50:57.and link payments to environmental improvements, which farmers and
:50:57. > :51:03.there has regency could result in higher food prices. -- farmers in
:51:03. > :51:10.this region say could result. Andrew Watts has been a farmer for
:51:10. > :51:15.more than 30 years. He manages 2,300 hectares. He runs a mixed
:51:15. > :51:20.farm, growing a variety of CD or crops for some livestock. Like many
:51:20. > :51:25.farmers, he receives subsidies from the Common Agricultural Policy
:51:25. > :51:30.budget. Subsidies are a fact of life. In the past, if this system
:51:30. > :51:36.was not in place, we would not still be in business. As well is
:51:36. > :51:40.using the land for crops and cattle, 4.5% to set aside for wildlife and
:51:40. > :51:46.environmental projects. We have a wild bird feeding strap with a
:51:46. > :51:51.variety of crops. He is paid �30 per hectare for the strip, which
:51:51. > :51:56.encourages insects and the summer and provides food for birds during
:51:56. > :51:59.the winter. Subsidies are important too many farmers, but changes are
:51:59. > :52:04.on the horizon. The European Commission wants to reduce its
:52:04. > :52:09.overall budget. It is planning on introducing new proposals to link
:52:09. > :52:14.payments, not to food production, but environmental schemes. It
:52:14. > :52:18.involves crop rotation to promote biodiversity and more set aside to
:52:18. > :52:23.encourage wildlife. Crop rotation would see farmers having to grow at
:52:23. > :52:29.least three crops but the largest taking up no more than 70% of the
:52:29. > :52:34.land and the smallest no less than 5%. Farmers are also asked to take
:52:34. > :52:37.7% of agricultural land out of production as part of a new scheme.
:52:37. > :52:41.The most important thing is to allow farmers the freedom to grow
:52:41. > :52:46.and produce what their land is best that. When you tell them what they
:52:46. > :52:53.have to grow and do not have to, their land may not be suitable for
:52:53. > :52:58.biodiversity crops, whatever it might be. Let us grope what we are
:52:58. > :53:04.good at growing. Conservationists white Simon Tonkin of the RSPB are
:53:04. > :53:08.also worried. These measures do work when deployed right. But what
:53:08. > :53:12.we're seeing is a cut to that budget. We must ensure farmers who
:53:12. > :53:17.have already stepped up and doing their bit and not penalised by
:53:17. > :53:21.those sorts of proposals. pressure to feed a growing world
:53:21. > :53:25.population without depleting or damaging its natural resources is
:53:25. > :53:29.huge. One or agriculture can withstand these challenges with
:53:29. > :53:33.reduced financial support is another matter up. -- whether
:53:33. > :53:37.agriculture. Lobbying is now underway with new roles expected to
:53:37. > :53:43.come into force on the 1st January 1920 14.
:53:43. > :53:46.Earlier this week, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
:53:46. > :53:51.Rural Affairs attended an EU meeting in Brussels. We asked
:53:51. > :53:55.Caroline Spelman what she made of the plans for the reform.
:53:55. > :54:02.I am disappointed with what the commission are proposing. I do not
:54:02. > :54:06.think that what they are proposing faces up to the challenges. Those
:54:06. > :54:11.were quite rightly identified with the problems of food security and
:54:11. > :54:15.rising prices. And we have the impact of climate change. I do not
:54:15. > :54:20.think what is proposed matches up to the challenge. One of the things
:54:20. > :54:25.discussed is the idea of crop rotation, leading one field by law.
:54:25. > :54:30.That means for farmers they have less land available. -- leading one
:54:30. > :54:35.field fallow. Do you agree with that? This is what we do in this
:54:35. > :54:39.country as good practice, happening since the Middle Ages. It is not
:54:39. > :54:44.new. That measure is directed at European member states that have a
:54:44. > :54:48.monoculture, would be a growing this same crop on the same piece of
:54:48. > :54:54.land year after year. Once again, it is an example of something that
:54:54. > :54:57.does not work very well for the UK. But farmers will be required to do
:54:57. > :55:04.three things to receive direct payment. Leave pasture permanent,
:55:04. > :55:09.which we do, ripped hook -- rotate crops, which we do, but also to set
:55:09. > :55:14.aside 7% of land. One of the points I have made is that farmers in the
:55:14. > :55:18.UK already take some of their land out of production for the
:55:18. > :55:22.Protection of the environment. We have won an early concession from
:55:22. > :55:27.the Commissioner that we will not be asked to set aside another 7% on
:55:27. > :55:30.top. A lot of farmers in the East are quite large farms, benefiting
:55:30. > :55:37.from economies of scale. Are you not worried that those could
:55:37. > :55:40.suffer? I am and I will put up a very tough fight on their behalf.
:55:40. > :55:46.There is a plant to cap the size of farms that could receive these
:55:46. > :55:51.payments. It is set at a level that more closely reflects the small
:55:51. > :55:54.farms of the Continent and makes no sense in that far as you would
:55:54. > :55:58.simply be broken up to qualify. That would make them less
:55:58. > :56:05.competitive and less productive and less efficient. That would
:56:05. > :56:08.ultimately lead to increasing the price of food. Is this cap on the
:56:08. > :56:12.Common Agricultural Policy funding going to stay? I am pretty
:56:12. > :56:18.confident we will get the cap on the cut lifted, because we are in
:56:18. > :56:23.an alliance of member states. This cap on the size of farm receiving
:56:23. > :56:27.payments simply will not work. Or it will have adverse a corn -- at
:56:27. > :56:33.this consequences and there will be many affected by that that we can
:56:33. > :56:40.block it will stop Ben Gummer is joined by William Martin, a local
:56:40. > :56:42.farmer. Ben Gummer, you must welcome these
:56:42. > :56:47.measures as they will cut the bill for the Common Agricultural Policy.
:56:47. > :56:50.That is the one good thing. But we have a commission again with a
:56:50. > :56:57.ludicrous proposal we have to fight. Good luck to the Minister for doing
:56:57. > :57:01.so. Each of the ministers out -- each of the measures outlined we
:57:01. > :57:06.are already doing or they will damage farmers. The owner Martin,
:57:06. > :57:10.the UK have some of the most efficient farmers in Europe, so why
:57:11. > :57:15.are you not welcoming what appears to be a move to ease the reliance
:57:15. > :57:19.on subsidies? -- William Martin. is not the subsidy element that is
:57:19. > :57:27.worrying us to stop it is the unintended consequences of some of
:57:27. > :57:34.the specific measures. On my own farm, I already goal four mac crops,
:57:34. > :57:40.but I grow old two or three of those at quite small amounts. -- I
:57:40. > :57:45.already go role four crops. But I am said that I must abandon some of
:57:45. > :57:49.those crops to get my third crop up to the 5% threshold. It is going
:57:49. > :57:54.against what we want to do, producing the kind of food I am
:57:54. > :58:00.good at producing and the market wants. That is a blunt instrument
:58:00. > :58:05.not achieving the end. What about the idea of 7% Lang fallow? Is it
:58:05. > :58:11.important to encourage diverse wildlife or feeding the population?
:58:11. > :58:15.But we are already doing that, and what this does is impose a state is
:58:15. > :58:20.Stalinist view from Brussels that that you can decide how the whole
:58:20. > :58:24.European farming landscape will look. It is not the right way ahead.
:58:24. > :58:30.This proposal fails three friends, not looking at the real challenges
:58:30. > :58:38.in the future feeding the world population, not looking at America,
:58:38. > :58:42.where American farmers are subsidised higher, and thirdly, the
:58:42. > :58:48.tax payers need good value and they are not getting this. What about
:58:48. > :58:53.the idea that larger farms could end up being broken up as a result?
:58:53. > :58:58.Will that happen in this area? think it will inevitably happen. If
:58:58. > :59:07.you have a system that says, if you have a farmer in his eyes, you will
:59:07. > :59:12.get more money if you divide it by 50%, what you think will happen.
:59:12. > :59:17.How are you going to police things? I am personally not affected, but
:59:17. > :59:23.what if you had to divide a business? I do not think it will
:59:23. > :59:27.reduce the amount of money coming out. Some could go to professional
:59:27. > :59:32.advisers advising people how to get themselves into a structure to meet
:59:32. > :59:37.the criteria up. It would just create work and bureaucracy. What
:59:37. > :59:43.can the Government do? We have to get those parts out of the proposal
:59:43. > :59:46.like the cap, which is ludicrous. We need to be able to understand
:59:46. > :59:51.what British farmers like William are already doing to help the