11/12/2011 The Politics Show North West


11/12/2011

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In the North West: Ditching the dole. We take a look at the

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Blackpool experiment getting families back to work. And - the

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cruel sea. Residents in this Cumbrian chalet park tell us why a

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1806 seconds

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row over flood defences, has left Welcome to the Politics Show in the

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north west. In this week's programme: Ditching the dole - we

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take a look at the Blackpool experiment getting families back to

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work. And - the cruel sea. Residents in this Cumbrian chalet

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park tell us why a row over flood defences, has left them at risk of

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losing their homes Welcome to this, our last programme

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before Christmas and we're in Blackpool - in fact we're in

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Blackpool tower. Now, as you know, unemployment is rising and so is

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the country's reliance on benefits. But a new scheme's being piloted in

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this town to try and tackle the problem. Out of work families are

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being given motivational coaches called "family champions" to help

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them get jobs and break the benefit culture. But there is criticism

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that it's not enough. Be to go on this job side here. MS Taylor is a

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mother of five, and has relied on benefits for years, today she is

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working with a family champion to get back to work. I'm trying to

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build up my confidence. It is not easy. I have to fit things around

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the kids, school, things like that. You need qualifications, and

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different are things. It is quite hard. There are seven of family

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champions working with 70 a Blackpool's most vulnerable

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families. They help with confidence and things like CV writing. This

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year the government has spent over �1 billion on social security

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benefits, that is just in Blackpool. The scheme is part of a two year

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pilot run by Barnardo's. difficult is it for some of these

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families to get into work? It is very typical, in the current

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climate. -- very difficult. Some of these families have never worked

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before. The whole routine, everything changed in, that all

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need to be taken into consideration about getting a job. Can you

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actually help families who don't want to work? There are families

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like that. I'm not going to say that there are not those families

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out there. Some of that is about changing perceptions. There are red

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lot of families who say they do not like being labelled like that. They

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say that if they could get a job, they would. -- do not like being

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labelled. Blackpool council say they are

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tackling unemployment in the town. I'm highly sceptical that all they

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need it is to be giving conference. I'm not sure what jobs there are

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plenty inspired. Surely this is a good thing though? We are working

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with 78 individuals at the current time, and ten of them are now in

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employment. Half a million pounds to 10 million get ten people into

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jobs. There are those that it has helped, it has been like changing.

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This woman is a 22-year-old mother of two. Both her and her husband

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had been out of work. They both got jobs in the scheme, she now works

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as a carer. It has made a huge difference to their lives. We can

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pay our bills. Weekend treat ourselves, go out for a meal. -- we

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cannot treat ourselves. It is a big thing in our relationship. The

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children are very happy. What skills did Bonar those give you --

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did Barnardo's give you? They encourage me. I had low confidence.

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They brought it right up. A thank you Barnardo's! As for ever, the

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wait for a job continues. Is it important for your children to see

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working? Yes. It is very important. I don't want them thinking that

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that is how they mum was, not working. -- their mum wars. They

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have to get themselves a job. Joining the now are two MPs from

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Blackpool. -- joining any now. This working initiative is a coalition,

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is a different from David Cameron's pledge to get 120,000 families into

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work? It is part of that wider response. There are a number of

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families up and down the country who have not had the chance to be

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in work yet. Sometimes getting into work is quite a simple intervention,

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enabling childcare, or giving them some skills. This is just one part

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of that. Would you say this is a knee-jerk reaction? I would not.

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There are significant questions, the devil is always in the details.

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This particular pilot project was inherited in Blackpool by the

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Labour council last May. It is quite a complex one. It involves

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Barnardo's, volunteers. That is where some of the criticism has

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come in. It is largely reliant on volunteers. I do not have a problem

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with that. It is important that the voluntary sector are involved in

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these projects. The issue is that we make sure the process is not

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over-complex. We do not want it to become a daisy-chain where families

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have passed from pillar to post. It is not like a makeover TV programme

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way you can pilot people in. It is quite a complex process. I thought

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that the idea was that David Cameron wanted to remove red tape.

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certainly if you look at that the expenditure, we are trying to

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simplify that intervention process. We try to make sure that fewer

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agencies are doing more. You talk about a handful of families. The

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council leader in Blackpool has said that only 10 families have so

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far been held, at a cost of half a million pounds. That would be

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inaccurate. We're trying to tackle issues of long-term unemployment.

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We have a family nurse partnership, that does fantastic work with

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younger parents, insuring that they start off as they mean to go on.

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Everything that we are doing is part of a culture of early

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intervention. If you teach the skills early on, you reap the

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benefits in the decades to come. The coalition has remove the money

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from early intervention budgets, hasn't it? We really give more

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power to local government, you give them hard choices that they have to

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make. Sometimes hard choices are evolving blame. The big issue about

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early intervention is also about making sure the structures are

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simple, and easy for people to understand. I know from my casework

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that there are families with complex problems. There are multi-

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agency structures to deal with that. We need to make sure that the do

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not get too complicated, and they don't end up spending a lot of

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money on a relatively small number of people. We need to make sure,

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especially in Blackpool, that these projects fit in with the existing

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people in the existing communities. Those are quite difficult balances.

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There are 330 chalets at Earnse Bay in Walney near Barrow. It's

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supposed to be a place for people to live and enjoy their retirement.

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But there's a big problem - the sea is eroding the coastline and

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getting closer and closer to the homes. A flood barrier could keep

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the tide away for twenty years or so. But so far nobody is prepared

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to pay for it. They've got a problem neighbour at

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West Shore Park. A daily visitor gradually stealing bits of the

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coastline. John Fletcher and his wife Jeanette moved here about

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seven years ago. John enjoyed watching the tide until it started

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to get closer. At the beginning it was beautiful. Everything was

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perfect. All of a sudden we had a couple of storms and it was just

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disappearing before our eyes. It is getting frightening. Do you think

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you made a mistake by in this place? At the moment, yes. Over the

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last 6-7 years it has been eroded all the way back here. The owners

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fear they are running out of time to save the chalets. Actually the

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danger's not just coastal erosion but flooding. It could take out the

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site's sewerage and electricity. That's why people here are

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desperate for a flood barrier. Everybody knows that it needs doing,

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it is getting someone to pay for it. Who do want to pay for it? We don't

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really mind! As long as someone does. Could you guys favourite?

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cannot really afford it. Our life savings are in our homes. And those

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homes are in real danger. So they've sent a petition to their MP.

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And he's now trying to arrange a meeting to find a compromise.

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think it is clear that everyone is going to have to contribute. We

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need to get all sides around the table, and make a contribution to

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be a more permanent solution. that solution would be costly.

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Local people believe �150,000, Barrow council says �680,000. The

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Environment Agency doesn't sound keen, in a statement it told us:

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"When allocating funding we must make sure that we get the est value

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for money for every pound we spend. -- best value. We are aware of the

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issue and we are working with Barrow Borough Council to find out

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what can be done to further protect the area." And Barrow Council says

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it has to balance its priorities. We have responsibilities there. It

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does not mean we have to act in every circumstance. Coastal defence

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work is an extremely defensive process. You're not going to do

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anything about it? It is a business. They own the land, and I think the

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prime responsibility lies with them. So that leaves Embra, the company

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which owns the site. If they were bricks-and-mortar properties they

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would be already protected. It is not just a business, it is a public

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access road. That is for emergency services, the airport, and local

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residents. Barrow council says even a full coastal defence would only

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last about 20 years. It's left the people here with the very worst

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kind of cliffhangar - a real life one.

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We have picked the right day to witness how ferocious EC can be. --

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the ocean can be. You're absolutely right. I have been two houses what

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-- I have been to places where coastal erosion has been a problem.

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We are spent �100 million here. It has been a major project. Not just

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in terms of preventing flooding, but he gave us money to help we

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develop the land, and partially fund some of the improvements.

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suppose the problem is, the money would not be available now?

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government moved to a system of flood risk management. It means

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that some time DC's going to come in -- some time the water is going

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to come in. We have massive floods back in 2007. We are trying to

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focus the funding it on areas of deprivation, where people might not

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have the insurance to protect themselves. We are trying to make

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sure the money goes where could make the most difference. One of

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the areas that do not meet the criteria or. They were still get

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some money, the idea is to part fund some of the projects. That

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will mean the benefits will be spread more widely. Do you agree

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with this? Should be sometimes let nature do its thing? -- should we

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sometimes let nature do its thing? We are going to face difficult

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decisions. It is an issue local authority is as well. It is about

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striking the right balance, and clearly here in Blackpool, our

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tourism is so important, it was the right thing to do. The most

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important thing is that people have a say in that process, and that

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comes up from the bottom, not just a question of bureaucrats saying

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things. If people do not have a say in that process, they will be less

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inclined to accept the results. We'll have to stop you there. Now,

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a roundup of this week's events. Manchester City Council has had a

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mention in parliament this week for stopping some school crossing

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patrols. Communities Minister Andrew Stunnell told the Commons

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the move was "wholly disproportionate". The council say

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they will stay outside of schools where there is a high risk of

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accidents. The deputy Prime Minister was Widnes in this week to

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confirm that the Government will invest �9m in the stobart group's

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distribution hub there. The money will help the firm expand its

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operation on the Mersey, hopefully creating thousands of jobs in the

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process. We have one clear overriding criteria, it is jobs,

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jobs, jobs. The great thing about these kind of projects is that all

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being well, they are jobs that will last for years. Less cheerful news

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for the public sector. Its been announced that another 400 jobs are

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to go at Oldham council to save �24.5m. That's on top of 340 job

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losses announced in the last round of cuts. The government has set the

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date on which mayoral referendums will take place in 11 city councils,

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including Liverpool and Manchester. It'll be 3rd May.

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Now, just before we go, it turns out we're not the only ones in town

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making films about politics. Four sixth formers from Cheadle Hulme

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School near Stockport have walked away with the top prize in a

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national competition. The Political Studies Association asked them to

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talk about "Why Politics Matters". Here's a flavour of what they said.

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Young people are a force for change in history. They can change society.

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The basic political questions lead us to an understanding about

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society, and principles which will shape our future.

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Congratulations to those sixth- formers. Maybe not representative?

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I was at a local school here, and they were just as engaged here in

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politics, and what the Prime Minister could, or could not do. It

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is good to see the UN getting involved. Do you think I'm being

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unfair? I think they are interested in politics, from their perspective,

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maybe not the perspective of the national media. When I go around my

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schools in Blackpool, I get lots of issues, green issues, practical

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things. You have to involve young people. We have a fantastic Schools

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Council here. We have to give them some power, and we do, they get to

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decide on some bits of the Budget. Then they will last summer the

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bigger questions, like what we think about the euro?

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Thank you very much for joining us. Well that's it for this week and

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this is our last programme before Christmas. From January we become

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the Sunday Politics, broadcasting from our new Salford base at Media

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City. You'll see a few changes in the programme, but rest assured,

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we'll still be bringing you the best political stories from around

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