Browse content similar to 18/09/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Here, a Teesside MP blames councils for failing to support the region's | :00:30. | :00:35. | |
businesses. Should they be forced to buy local? | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
And a network of electricity pylons could soon be running through some | :00:38. | :00:40. | |
of the north's most beautiful landscapes. We report from Cumbria. | :00:40. | :00:50. | |
:00:50. | :00:50. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2131 seconds | :00:50. | :36:21. | |
Hello and welcome to your local part of the show. I hope you | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
enjoyed the summer, what there was of it anyway. Thanks for tuning in | :36:25. | :36:27. | |
again. Coming up: In a week of grim | :36:27. | :36:29. | |
economic news, councils in the North East and Cumbria are accused | :36:29. | :36:36. | |
of giving too much work to businesses outside the region. | :36:36. | :36:39. | |
And I am in Cumbria, where a new network of pylons could be built | :36:39. | :36:43. | |
across some of the county's most beautiful landscape. | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
More from Emily in Cumbria later. And we will also be mulling over | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
what to make of the new political map of the north that has been | :36:50. | :36:53. | |
drawn up by the Boundary Commission with the MPs for Berwick and | :36:53. | :36:54. | |
Hartlepool. First, the TUC has accused the | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
Government of bleeding the life out of the North East economy after the | :36:58. | :37:00. | |
region experienced another big rise in unemployment. Ministers say they | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
are doing their best to help the private sector create new jobs. But | :37:03. | :37:06. | |
what about our councils? Are they doing their bit? Well, the Politics | :37:06. | :37:09. | |
Show has asked all the big local authorities in Cumbria and the | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
North East how many contracts they are awarding to companies based in | :37:12. | :37:20. | |
the region. Here's our political correspondent, Mark Denten. | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
Kevin Brown is a happy man. After a few tough months, his company has | :37:25. | :37:30. | |
just landed some big orders. contracts are potentially worth | :37:30. | :37:38. | |
200,000. We finished in the last two weeks and �50,000 maintenance | :37:38. | :37:42. | |
project. The form got that new business from Hartlepool council. | :37:42. | :37:49. | |
It makes a point of buying local. We have in all our contracts | :37:49. | :37:54. | |
clauses that talk about local employment, apprenticeships from | :37:54. | :37:59. | |
the people from the borough and as a result of that, a lot of her | :37:59. | :38:03. | |
local businesses are being able to compete more. For every pound spent | :38:03. | :38:08. | |
with the local workforce, it comes back threefold. To but the by local | :38:09. | :38:13. | |
message does not seem to have got through to everyone. We have | :38:13. | :38:16. | |
discovered big variations in the amount that there councils spend in | :38:16. | :38:22. | |
the region. In Hartlepool, 62% of contracts are placed with North | :38:22. | :38:28. | |
East firms. In Newcastle, it is 51%. What is more concerning is that | :38:28. | :38:35. | |
some councils have reduced the amount their spending locally. | :38:35. | :38:39. | |
Redcar and Cleveland Council have seen a 17% drop in its North East | :38:39. | :38:46. | |
contracts. Won Redcar seafront, the place is buzzing with building work. | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
But large parts of this work went to companies based outside the | :38:51. | :38:55. | |
North East. The local MP is concerned. Keeping money in the | :38:55. | :39:00. | |
area which stimulates employment and other activity, is part of | :39:00. | :39:04. | |
their value that can be generated through these contracts. I think | :39:04. | :39:08. | |
they should look at this very closely. Clearly, the council | :39:09. | :39:14. | |
taxpayers want a good deal. Did you know what to pay over the lot for | :39:14. | :39:17. | |
services, but at the same time, they want their area to be | :39:17. | :39:22. | |
successful. An hour Adia, we want to restore the North East economy | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
and reduce unemployment. If but the council says that European | :39:26. | :39:31. | |
competition rules mean that it cannot just by local. With �17 | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
million of council cuts around here, they say that Porter's expect the | :39:35. | :39:40. | |
best deal. I think people expect value for money, but the expect a | :39:40. | :39:45. | |
good job as well. There is no point in doing it cheaper if it is not | :39:45. | :39:51. | |
fit for purpose. It all comes for the tax system and the council | :39:51. | :39:58. | |
taxpayer pay for this. But some say the council could do much more. | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
This business used to supply for councils and the North East, but | :40:02. | :40:07. | |
all that business went to a firm in France. At the moment, what they | :40:07. | :40:12. | |
are doing now is having one supplier supplying the product. | :40:12. | :40:15. | |
Taking that out of the local economy creates a difficult | :40:15. | :40:23. | |
situation. The worst-case scenario is that it puts a lead on the | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
growth prospects of companies in the North East. They might still | :40:27. | :40:31. | |
have opportunities to work as sub- contractors, but it will put a | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
ceiling on how far they are able to grow. That will have an impact on | :40:36. | :40:41. | |
the amount of wealthy can create and the jobs they can create. | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
The Chamber of Trade ending Mark's report. Well, with me in the studio | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
to discuss that are the Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick, Sir Alan | :40:48. | :40:50. | |
Beith and the Labour MP for Hartlepool, Iain Wright. Ian Wright, | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
your local council did well to us, but should the pressure to be the | :40:53. | :40:58. | |
lowest price or supporting local firms? I think councils can be big | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
economic players in the local region. I think they have to think | :41:02. | :41:09. | |
about the value for money. There is a balance to be struck, because it | :41:09. | :41:15. | |
is important to bleed -- breathed life into the local economy. We | :41:15. | :41:19. | |
have had to work hard with contracts to make sure that their | :41:19. | :41:23. | |
local jobs and apprenticeship opportunities as well. Would you | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
say that other councils are not making the same effort? I think | :41:27. | :41:32. | |
that there can be big players in the local economy. Would you | :41:32. | :41:39. | |
criticise a country that did not reach that 62% level? In difficult | :41:39. | :41:45. | |
times, at a time when central government is slashing budgets for | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
local government, that will have an impact. Equally, in order to make | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
sure that we can maintain skills and have a good economy in their | :41:54. | :42:02. | |
region, councils can play a leading role there. Sir Alan Beith, is it | :42:02. | :42:07. | |
ever justifiable to pay a bit more to insure a contract stays local? | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
That is worth paying more to make sure that the job is done properly. | :42:11. | :42:18. | |
Quite often a local contractor can do that. One of your items in the | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
film demonstrated where the problems start from. It is these | :42:22. | :42:26. | |
big contracts that bundle up everything so that a whole range of | :42:26. | :42:31. | |
suppliers have to come through the one company. That is a get someone | :42:31. | :42:35. | |
to -- someone coming to change a light bulb from the other end of | :42:35. | :42:43. | |
the country. We're all under that pressure, but that is what drives | :42:43. | :42:49. | |
out local businesses. One of the things that there tumbrel and do -- | :42:49. | :42:56. | |
that in Northumberland are doing is contract to the small local firms | :42:56. | :43:00. | |
to do the work. There is a lot more scope for a smaller business if we | :43:00. | :43:06. | |
do not have such a huge bundle up contracts. Every penny extra that | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
the spend on these contracts, even it is laudable to look at other, | :43:11. | :43:18. | |
local companies, they have to look at council tax bills. The council - | :43:18. | :43:20. | |
- their tax payer expects local councils to be conscious of value | :43:20. | :43:27. | |
for money. In the end, I think we would all suffer if we did not have | :43:27. | :43:30. | |
proper competition and if we allowed companies to name their | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
price because they were the nearest company to the council headquarters. | :43:35. | :43:40. | |
We cannot run it like that. But we can organise it so that local | :43:40. | :43:46. | |
companies can bed successfully for contracts. What did he make of | :43:46. | :43:50. | |
councils like Gateshead or Cumbria that say they do not hold this | :43:50. | :43:56. | |
information? I think it is important that you have | :43:56. | :44:01. | |
transparency, so a local electorate can see what they council is | :44:01. | :44:05. | |
spending money on. In these difficult times, every penny that | :44:05. | :44:10. | |
every council spends is important. I would say for every penny or | :44:10. | :44:15. | |
pound that is spent by Hartlepool council, three or �4 can be pumped | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
back into the local economy. It can do a real job in regenerating the | :44:19. | :44:26. | |
town's economy. Let us talk about local economy. Sir Alan Beith, the | :44:26. | :44:32. | |
focus is on the desperate need for more jobs. You have the highest | :44:32. | :44:36. | |
unemployment rate in the contract. The North East is not doing well | :44:36. | :44:41. | |
out of this coalition. The way it has to the Ford is to increase | :44:41. | :44:51. | |
:44:51. | :44:53. | ||
private sector jobs. -- the way it has to move forward. These figures | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
show that the coalition's policy of encouraging private sector | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
employment is not doing enough. Private sector employment is | :45:01. | :45:10. | |
increasing across the country. not enough. Nobody thinks that it | :45:10. | :45:20. | |
:45:20. | :45:26. | ||
will be at the speeds that is consistent. Ian Wright, some would | :45:26. | :45:33. | |
say that this is a Labour's legacy. The last government made their | :45:33. | :45:38. | |
council to dependent on spending. Prior to the last election, on | :45:38. | :45:44. | |
employment was coming down. It was all about pumping lot of | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
unsustainable government money into the region. It is more complex than | :45:48. | :45:52. | |
simply having private sector and public sector jobs over here. You | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
can see it councils can be enablers and facilitators of their local | :45:56. | :46:04. | |
government policy. This is feeling the whole country, but especially | :46:04. | :46:09. | |
the north east. But the solution is not for the government just to | :46:09. | :46:19. | |
:46:19. | :46:22. | ||
spend more money, isn't it? want things like the jailing of the | :46:22. | :46:32. | |
:46:32. | :46:35. | ||
-- dualling of the A1. One a focus on investment in infrastructure is | :46:35. | :46:44. | |
the right way to goal. -- go. government in power at the moment | :46:45. | :46:50. | |
will be subject to severe financial restraints. How long can be a keep | :46:50. | :46:53. | |
on going seeing those significant rising in employment in the North | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
East, before the strategy has to change? But you cannot go back to | :46:58. | :47:08. | |
:47:08. | :47:12. | ||
policy on -- of the borrowing in order to pay the current bills. | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
Nick Clegg was talking this week about making sure that public | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
sector contracts do not fall behind, so that we get the work in the | :47:20. | :47:25. | |
timescale that we need it. But the money is not there unless the go on | :47:25. | :47:33. | |
doing what we were doing before, which was borrowing money to pay | :47:33. | :47:40. | |
the bills. -- unless we stop doing what we were doing before. | :47:40. | :47:43. | |
And if you go to my blog you can find out how your council spends | :47:44. | :47:45. | |
with businesses in the local area. That's bbc.co.uk/richardmoss. | :47:46. | :47:49. | |
Now, we have heard a lot from the Government about the need for new | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
nuclear power stations and wind farms to help generate energy in | :47:52. | :47:54. | |
the future. Sometimes they are not welcomed whole-heartedly by local | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
communities. But the controversy does not end there. In Cumbria, the | :47:58. | :48:01. | |
energy generated from new reactors and wind farms will have to be | :48:01. | :48:04. | |
transferred to the national grid. As Emily Unia reports, that could | :48:04. | :48:08. | |
lead to a string of new giant pylons across one of Britain's most | :48:08. | :48:16. | |
beautiful landscapes. De is like this draw thousands of | :48:17. | :48:21. | |
visitors every year, so at any threat to their landscape is met | :48:21. | :48:26. | |
with a ferocious opposition. But there is another side to Cumbria, | :48:26. | :48:31. | |
the energy coast. Plans for a new nuclear power station, mean I knew | :48:31. | :48:36. | |
grid connection, transferring energy across the country. But | :48:36. | :48:39. | |
balancing development with protecting the environment is going | :48:39. | :48:45. | |
to be a challenge. Cumbria sees itself as a place where no -- non- | :48:45. | :48:51. | |
carbon energy can be focused in the future. We're looking very | :48:51. | :48:55. | |
seriously at renewables, both onshore and offshore. All that | :48:55. | :49:01. | |
means a much more powerful grid connection. What we have to see is | :49:01. | :49:04. | |
an acceptable extension to the National Grid. In the heart of the | :49:04. | :49:07. | |
National Park, there is a feeling that the countryside is under | :49:07. | :49:12. | |
threat. I have no problem with them putting a connection in, my problem | :49:12. | :49:17. | |
is how they are going to do it, underground or overground. If you | :49:17. | :49:21. | |
look at it now, we have a few of the Lake District at its best today. | :49:21. | :49:27. | |
If that will be covered with pylons, up to 60 feet high, you can just | :49:27. | :49:33. | |
imagine what that will look like. It sickens me, to be honest. It is | :49:33. | :49:39. | |
something that cannot happen. I am in the North Pennines, an area of | :49:39. | :49:47. | |
outstanding national beauty. -- natural beauty. Once the work has | :49:47. | :49:56. | |
been completed here in the putting connections underground. It will be | :49:56. | :50:00. | |
difficult to tell that there will be any cables here. But these | :50:00. | :50:04. | |
cables are very different are the ones that will be for the new | :50:04. | :50:09. | |
connection. Buddying them will be a much more expensive proposition. It | :50:09. | :50:14. | |
will likely effect energy prices. The National Grid does not have an | :50:14. | :50:18. | |
inherent preference for any technology. What is important to us | :50:18. | :50:22. | |
was that we get the right balance for the nation, that balances the | :50:22. | :50:27. | |
local impact with the cost to the consumer. Underground cables are | :50:27. | :50:33. | |
significantly more expensive. We know that underground cables | :50:33. | :50:40. | |
removed the visual impact. They are one of their technologies that we | :50:40. | :50:45. | |
will consider. As battle-lines are drawn offer the prospect of more | :50:45. | :50:49. | |
and bigger pylons, their calls for a realistic conversation about the | :50:50. | :50:55. | |
options. How much is the public prepared to pay in order to save | :50:55. | :50:59. | |
the landscape, protect national parks and not live under national | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
pylons? At think the answer will have to be compromised. You can | :51:03. | :51:09. | |
bury some of it, but not all that. Some may areas are going to have to | :51:09. | :51:14. | |
except the fact, because it is just not affordable for everything to be | :51:14. | :51:21. | |
buried. It does not go to public consultation next year, but behind | :51:21. | :51:24. | |
the scenes, councils and campaigners are pushing for a | :51:24. | :51:29. | |
compromise. Meanwhile, become -- the government is running a | :51:29. | :51:33. | |
competition to design a new kind of pylon, in the hope that we will all | :51:33. | :51:35. | |
grow to love them. Emily Unia reporting. Well, all | :51:35. | :51:38. | |
week, MPs like Penrith's Rory Stewart have been poring over the | :51:38. | :51:41. | |
details of their new constituency boundaries. Cumbria will lose one | :51:41. | :51:44. | |
seat, while the North East will lose three as part of David | :51:44. | :51:47. | |
Cameron's plan to reduce the number of MPs at the next general election. | :51:47. | :51:50. | |
It's a review that's thrown up some slightly quirky outcomes. Consett | :51:50. | :51:53. | |
and Barnard Castle, two towns with very little in common up to now, | :51:53. | :51:55. | |
find themselves in the same parliamentary seat. While, in | :51:55. | :51:57. | |
contrast, neighbouring Whitley Bay and Tynemouth will be represented | :51:57. | :52:02. | |
by two different MPs. So what are we to make of it all? And which | :52:02. | :52:11. | |
party stands to gain most from the changes? The region can manage with | :52:11. | :52:18. | |
for fewer MPs quite easily. I think those principles are correct. We | :52:18. | :52:25. | |
should try and cost the -- cut down on the cost of politics. Your party | :52:25. | :52:29. | |
was our duty to keep these MPs. think to cut down the cost of | :52:29. | :52:35. | |
politics is the right approach. Let's be honest, this is | :52:35. | :52:38. | |
gerrymandering by the Tories and order to make sure that they are | :52:38. | :52:45. | |
locked in a majority. Whole legislative framework has been | :52:45. | :52:51. | |
trying to push an in-built Tory majority in England in perpetuity. | :52:51. | :53:01. | |
:53:01. | :53:03. | ||
I think it is all it and I think deceit that you highlighted is a | :53:03. | :53:08. | |
good example. On one hand, the MP would be representing Hadrian's | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
Wall or at the top and the Yorkshire Dales at the bottom. I do | :53:12. | :53:15. | |
not think the Boundary Commission have taken into account as much as | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
they should have done. There are some huge constituencies that have | :53:19. | :53:25. | |
been created. 2,500 square kilometres for Hexham. That will | :53:25. | :53:30. | |
not help MPs serve their constituencies better. Mine is the | :53:30. | :53:40. | |
:53:40. | :53:42. | ||
third biggest in England at the moment. It can be done. Boundary | :53:42. | :53:50. | |
changes always create problems. I think it is quite wrong to suggest | :53:50. | :53:56. | |
that it is gerrymandering. This is nothing to do with the politicians. | :53:56. | :54:01. | |
It is just a coincidence that it advantages the Conservatives? | :54:01. | :54:04. | |
reason it advantages they Conservatives is because the | :54:04. | :54:12. | |
current system has been a bad the during labour. -- giving an | :54:12. | :54:18. | |
advantage to Labour. The Boundary Commission has set rules by the | :54:18. | :54:27. | |
Government. What I think they could do little more of us looking at | :54:27. | :54:32. | |
places where they might be splitting up a local communities | :54:32. | :54:37. | |
and see if they can, within the rules, match communities better. | :54:37. | :54:42. | |
Labour did very little about this, because it knew that it suited them. | :54:42. | :54:47. | |
It lost in seats and are Canadians, where people voted Labour. Those | :54:47. | :54:51. | |
principles, or tried to cut the cost of politics and equalise the | :54:51. | :54:59. | |
number of voters. You say that and then see it is gerrymandering. It | :54:59. | :55:09. | |
:55:09. | :55:09. | ||
is political point-scoring. It is not. I think the point is that at | :55:09. | :55:13. | |
the moment, the first draft of what the Boundary Commission has done | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
this week froze up a number of interesting and somewhat odd | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
connotations and they think people will be working to see if they can | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
improve that sense of community cohesion which should be part of | :55:25. | :55:29. | |
the parliamentary constituency. you think bet public opera about | :55:29. | :55:39. | |
this? -- do you think that the public will care about this? It and | :55:39. | :55:43. | |
there will be some committee concerned, but generally people | :55:43. | :55:48. | |
want to see their MPs doing the job properly and well and they think we | :55:48. | :55:55. | |
spend enough on politics as it is. Thank you very much. | :55:55. | :55:58. | |
And if you go to my blog you can find more on the new-look | :55:58. | :56:01. | |
constituencies. Why not post a comment and let us know what you | :56:01. | :56:04. | |
think about them? We're back next Sunday quite a bit | :56:04. | :56:07. | |
earlier, at 11am, when we will be asking what impact the Government's | :56:07. | :56:10. | |
changes to planning policy will have on the North East. In the | :56:10. | :56:13. |