Browse content similar to 11/12/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
In the North West: Ditching the dole. We take a look at the | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
Blackpool experiment getting families back to work. And - the | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
cruel sea. Residents in this Cumbrian chalet park tell us why a | 0:01:07 | 0:01:17 | |
0:01:17 | 0:01:17 | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1806 seconds | 0:01:17 | 0:31:24 | |
row over flood defences, has left Welcome to the Politics Show in the | 0:31:24 | 0:31:29 | |
north west. In this week's programme: Ditching the dole - we | 0:31:29 | 0:31:32 | |
take a look at the Blackpool experiment getting families back to | 0:31:32 | 0:31:35 | |
work. And - the cruel sea. Residents in this Cumbrian chalet | 0:31:36 | 0:31:39 | |
park tell us why a row over flood defences, has left them at risk of | 0:31:39 | 0:31:42 | |
losing their homes Welcome to this, our last programme | 0:31:42 | 0:31:44 | |
before Christmas and we're in Blackpool - in fact we're in | 0:31:44 | 0:31:54 | |
0:31:54 | 0:32:03 | ||
Blackpool tower. Now, as you know, unemployment is rising and so is | 0:32:03 | 0:32:08 | |
the country's reliance on benefits. But a new scheme's being piloted in | 0:32:08 | 0:32:11 | |
this town to try and tackle the problem. Out of work families are | 0:32:11 | 0:32:14 | |
being given motivational coaches called "family champions" to help | 0:32:14 | 0:32:17 | |
them get jobs and break the benefit culture. But there is criticism | 0:32:17 | 0:32:27 | |
0:32:27 | 0:32:28 | ||
that it's not enough. Be to go on this job side here. MS Taylor is a | 0:32:28 | 0:32:32 | |
mother of five, and has relied on benefits for years, today she is | 0:32:32 | 0:32:40 | |
working with a family champion to get back to work. I'm trying to | 0:32:40 | 0:32:46 | |
build up my confidence. It is not easy. I have to fit things around | 0:32:46 | 0:32:52 | |
the kids, school, things like that. You need qualifications, and | 0:32:52 | 0:33:00 | |
different are things. It is quite hard. There are seven of family | 0:33:00 | 0:33:03 | |
champions working with 70 a Blackpool's most vulnerable | 0:33:03 | 0:33:12 | |
families. They help with confidence and things like CV writing. This | 0:33:12 | 0:33:16 | |
year the government has spent over �1 billion on social security | 0:33:16 | 0:33:21 | |
benefits, that is just in Blackpool. The scheme is part of a two year | 0:33:21 | 0:33:27 | |
pilot run by Barnardo's. difficult is it for some of these | 0:33:27 | 0:33:30 | |
families to get into work? It is very typical, in the current | 0:33:30 | 0:33:37 | |
climate. -- very difficult. Some of these families have never worked | 0:33:38 | 0:33:42 | |
before. The whole routine, everything changed in, that all | 0:33:42 | 0:33:47 | |
need to be taken into consideration about getting a job. Can you | 0:33:47 | 0:33:52 | |
actually help families who don't want to work? There are families | 0:33:52 | 0:33:57 | |
like that. I'm not going to say that there are not those families | 0:33:57 | 0:34:01 | |
out there. Some of that is about changing perceptions. There are red | 0:34:01 | 0:34:06 | |
lot of families who say they do not like being labelled like that. They | 0:34:06 | 0:34:12 | |
say that if they could get a job, they would. -- do not like being | 0:34:13 | 0:34:16 | |
labelled. Blackpool council say they are | 0:34:16 | 0:34:23 | |
tackling unemployment in the town. I'm highly sceptical that all they | 0:34:24 | 0:34:33 | |
need it is to be giving conference. I'm not sure what jobs there are | 0:34:33 | 0:34:40 | |
plenty inspired. Surely this is a good thing though? We are working | 0:34:40 | 0:34:45 | |
with 78 individuals at the current time, and ten of them are now in | 0:34:45 | 0:34:55 | |
0:34:55 | 0:34:58 | ||
employment. Half a million pounds to 10 million get ten people into | 0:34:58 | 0:35:07 | |
jobs. There are those that it has helped, it has been like changing. | 0:35:07 | 0:35:12 | |
This woman is a 22-year-old mother of two. Both her and her husband | 0:35:12 | 0:35:17 | |
had been out of work. They both got jobs in the scheme, she now works | 0:35:17 | 0:35:22 | |
as a carer. It has made a huge difference to their lives. We can | 0:35:22 | 0:35:29 | |
pay our bills. Weekend treat ourselves, go out for a meal. -- we | 0:35:29 | 0:35:35 | |
cannot treat ourselves. It is a big thing in our relationship. The | 0:35:35 | 0:35:41 | |
children are very happy. What skills did Bonar those give you -- | 0:35:42 | 0:35:51 | |
0:35:52 | 0:35:52 | ||
did Barnardo's give you? They encourage me. I had low confidence. | 0:35:52 | 0:36:00 | |
They brought it right up. A thank you Barnardo's! As for ever, the | 0:36:00 | 0:36:04 | |
wait for a job continues. Is it important for your children to see | 0:36:04 | 0:36:10 | |
working? Yes. It is very important. I don't want them thinking that | 0:36:10 | 0:36:18 | |
that is how they mum was, not working. -- their mum wars. They | 0:36:18 | 0:36:27 | |
have to get themselves a job. Joining the now are two MPs from | 0:36:27 | 0:36:37 | |
0:36:37 | 0:36:37 | ||
Blackpool. -- joining any now. This working initiative is a coalition, | 0:36:37 | 0:36:44 | |
is a different from David Cameron's pledge to get 120,000 families into | 0:36:44 | 0:36:52 | |
work? It is part of that wider response. There are a number of | 0:36:52 | 0:36:55 | |
families up and down the country who have not had the chance to be | 0:36:55 | 0:37:01 | |
in work yet. Sometimes getting into work is quite a simple intervention, | 0:37:01 | 0:37:06 | |
enabling childcare, or giving them some skills. This is just one part | 0:37:06 | 0:37:16 | |
0:37:16 | 0:37:16 | ||
of that. Would you say this is a knee-jerk reaction? I would not. | 0:37:16 | 0:37:22 | |
There are significant questions, the devil is always in the details. | 0:37:22 | 0:37:27 | |
This particular pilot project was inherited in Blackpool by the | 0:37:27 | 0:37:36 | |
Labour council last May. It is quite a complex one. It involves | 0:37:36 | 0:37:40 | |
Barnardo's, volunteers. That is where some of the criticism has | 0:37:40 | 0:37:45 | |
come in. It is largely reliant on volunteers. I do not have a problem | 0:37:45 | 0:37:50 | |
with that. It is important that the voluntary sector are involved in | 0:37:50 | 0:37:57 | |
these projects. The issue is that we make sure the process is not | 0:37:57 | 0:38:07 | |
0:38:07 | 0:38:08 | ||
over-complex. We do not want it to become a daisy-chain where families | 0:38:08 | 0:38:12 | |
have passed from pillar to post. It is not like a makeover TV programme | 0:38:12 | 0:38:20 | |
way you can pilot people in. It is quite a complex process. I thought | 0:38:20 | 0:38:30 | |
0:38:30 | 0:38:32 | ||
that the idea was that David Cameron wanted to remove red tape. | 0:38:32 | 0:38:36 | |
certainly if you look at that the expenditure, we are trying to | 0:38:36 | 0:38:40 | |
simplify that intervention process. We try to make sure that fewer | 0:38:40 | 0:38:46 | |
agencies are doing more. You talk about a handful of families. The | 0:38:46 | 0:38:50 | |
council leader in Blackpool has said that only 10 families have so | 0:38:50 | 0:38:55 | |
far been held, at a cost of half a million pounds. That would be | 0:38:55 | 0:39:02 | |
inaccurate. We're trying to tackle issues of long-term unemployment. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:06 | |
We have a family nurse partnership, that does fantastic work with | 0:39:06 | 0:39:11 | |
younger parents, insuring that they start off as they mean to go on. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:18 | |
Everything that we are doing is part of a culture of early | 0:39:18 | 0:39:22 | |
intervention. If you teach the skills early on, you reap the | 0:39:22 | 0:39:27 | |
benefits in the decades to come. The coalition has remove the money | 0:39:27 | 0:39:35 | |
from early intervention budgets, hasn't it? We really give more | 0:39:35 | 0:39:39 | |
power to local government, you give them hard choices that they have to | 0:39:39 | 0:39:47 | |
make. Sometimes hard choices are evolving blame. The big issue about | 0:39:47 | 0:39:52 | |
early intervention is also about making sure the structures are | 0:39:52 | 0:39:59 | |
simple, and easy for people to understand. I know from my casework | 0:39:59 | 0:40:07 | |
that there are families with complex problems. There are multi- | 0:40:07 | 0:40:11 | |
agency structures to deal with that. We need to make sure that the do | 0:40:11 | 0:40:15 | |
not get too complicated, and they don't end up spending a lot of | 0:40:15 | 0:40:20 | |
money on a relatively small number of people. We need to make sure, | 0:40:20 | 0:40:24 | |
especially in Blackpool, that these projects fit in with the existing | 0:40:24 | 0:40:32 | |
people in the existing communities. Those are quite difficult balances. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:35 | |
There are 330 chalets at Earnse Bay in Walney near Barrow. It's | 0:40:35 | 0:40:40 | |
supposed to be a place for people to live and enjoy their retirement. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:43 | |
But there's a big problem - the sea is eroding the coastline and | 0:40:43 | 0:40:47 | |
getting closer and closer to the homes. A flood barrier could keep | 0:40:48 | 0:40:53 | |
the tide away for twenty years or so. But so far nobody is prepared | 0:40:53 | 0:40:58 | |
to pay for it. They've got a problem neighbour at | 0:40:58 | 0:41:01 | |
West Shore Park. A daily visitor gradually stealing bits of the | 0:41:01 | 0:41:07 | |
coastline. John Fletcher and his wife Jeanette moved here about | 0:41:07 | 0:41:11 | |
seven years ago. John enjoyed watching the tide until it started | 0:41:11 | 0:41:21 | |
0:41:21 | 0:41:21 | ||
to get closer. At the beginning it was beautiful. Everything was | 0:41:21 | 0:41:31 | |
0:41:31 | 0:41:31 | ||
perfect. All of a sudden we had a couple of storms and it was just | 0:41:32 | 0:41:36 | |
disappearing before our eyes. It is getting frightening. Do you think | 0:41:36 | 0:41:46 | |
0:41:46 | 0:41:47 | ||
you made a mistake by in this place? At the moment, yes. Over the | 0:41:47 | 0:41:55 | |
last 6-7 years it has been eroded all the way back here. The owners | 0:41:55 | 0:42:00 | |
fear they are running out of time to save the chalets. Actually the | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
danger's not just coastal erosion but flooding. It could take out the | 0:42:03 | 0:42:06 | |
site's sewerage and electricity. That's why people here are | 0:42:06 | 0:42:13 | |
desperate for a flood barrier. Everybody knows that it needs doing, | 0:42:13 | 0:42:19 | |
it is getting someone to pay for it. Who do want to pay for it? We don't | 0:42:19 | 0:42:25 | |
really mind! As long as someone does. Could you guys favourite? | 0:42:25 | 0:42:30 | |
cannot really afford it. Our life savings are in our homes. And those | 0:42:30 | 0:42:34 | |
homes are in real danger. So they've sent a petition to their MP. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:40 | |
And he's now trying to arrange a meeting to find a compromise. | 0:42:40 | 0:42:44 | |
think it is clear that everyone is going to have to contribute. We | 0:42:44 | 0:42:49 | |
need to get all sides around the table, and make a contribution to | 0:42:50 | 0:42:53 | |
be a more permanent solution. that solution would be costly. | 0:42:53 | 0:42:58 | |
Local people believe �150,000, Barrow council says �680,000. The | 0:42:58 | 0:43:02 | |
Environment Agency doesn't sound keen, in a statement it told us: | 0:43:02 | 0:43:06 | |
"When allocating funding we must make sure that we get the est value | 0:43:06 | 0:43:16 | |
0:43:16 | 0:43:18 | ||
for money for every pound we spend. -- best value. We are aware of the | 0:43:18 | 0:43:21 | |
issue and we are working with Barrow Borough Council to find out | 0:43:21 | 0:43:24 | |
what can be done to further protect the area." And Barrow Council says | 0:43:24 | 0:43:31 | |
it has to balance its priorities. We have responsibilities there. It | 0:43:31 | 0:43:36 | |
does not mean we have to act in every circumstance. Coastal defence | 0:43:36 | 0:43:43 | |
work is an extremely defensive process. You're not going to do | 0:43:43 | 0:43:52 | |
anything about it? It is a business. They own the land, and I think the | 0:43:52 | 0:43:57 | |
prime responsibility lies with them. So that leaves Embra, the company | 0:43:57 | 0:44:03 | |
which owns the site. If they were bricks-and-mortar properties they | 0:44:03 | 0:44:13 | |
0:44:13 | 0:44:15 | ||
would be already protected. It is not just a business, it is a public | 0:44:15 | 0:44:21 | |
access road. That is for emergency services, the airport, and local | 0:44:21 | 0:44:25 | |
residents. Barrow council says even a full coastal defence would only | 0:44:25 | 0:44:28 | |
last about 20 years. It's left the people here with the very worst | 0:44:28 | 0:44:35 | |
kind of cliffhangar - a real life one. | 0:44:35 | 0:44:45 | |
0:44:45 | 0:44:49 | ||
We have picked the right day to witness how ferocious EC can be. -- | 0:44:50 | 0:44:59 | |
0:45:00 | 0:45:06 | ||
the ocean can be. You're absolutely right. I have been two houses what | 0:45:06 | 0:45:13 | |
-- I have been to places where coastal erosion has been a problem. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:21 | |
We are spent �100 million here. It has been a major project. Not just | 0:45:21 | 0:45:27 | |
in terms of preventing flooding, but he gave us money to help we | 0:45:27 | 0:45:35 | |
develop the land, and partially fund some of the improvements. | 0:45:35 | 0:45:41 | |
suppose the problem is, the money would not be available now? | 0:45:41 | 0:45:50 | |
government moved to a system of flood risk management. It means | 0:45:50 | 0:45:59 | |
that some time DC's going to come in -- some time the water is going | 0:45:59 | 0:46:09 | |
0:46:09 | 0:46:10 | ||
to come in. We have massive floods back in 2007. We are trying to | 0:46:10 | 0:46:15 | |
focus the funding it on areas of deprivation, where people might not | 0:46:15 | 0:46:18 | |
have the insurance to protect themselves. We are trying to make | 0:46:18 | 0:46:22 | |
sure the money goes where could make the most difference. One of | 0:46:22 | 0:46:29 | |
the areas that do not meet the criteria or. They were still get | 0:46:29 | 0:46:34 | |
some money, the idea is to part fund some of the projects. That | 0:46:34 | 0:46:38 | |
will mean the benefits will be spread more widely. Do you agree | 0:46:38 | 0:46:44 | |
with this? Should be sometimes let nature do its thing? -- should we | 0:46:44 | 0:46:50 | |
sometimes let nature do its thing? We are going to face difficult | 0:46:50 | 0:46:59 | |
decisions. It is an issue local authority is as well. It is about | 0:46:59 | 0:47:03 | |
striking the right balance, and clearly here in Blackpool, our | 0:47:03 | 0:47:10 | |
tourism is so important, it was the right thing to do. The most | 0:47:10 | 0:47:14 | |
important thing is that people have a say in that process, and that | 0:47:14 | 0:47:19 | |
comes up from the bottom, not just a question of bureaucrats saying | 0:47:19 | 0:47:23 | |
things. If people do not have a say in that process, they will be less | 0:47:24 | 0:47:32 | |
inclined to accept the results. We'll have to stop you there. Now, | 0:47:32 | 0:47:35 | |
a roundup of this week's events. Manchester City Council has had a | 0:47:35 | 0:47:38 | |
mention in parliament this week for stopping some school crossing | 0:47:38 | 0:47:40 | |
patrols. Communities Minister Andrew Stunnell told the Commons | 0:47:40 | 0:47:44 | |
the move was "wholly disproportionate". The council say | 0:47:44 | 0:47:47 | |
they will stay outside of schools where there is a high risk of | 0:47:47 | 0:47:50 | |
accidents. The deputy Prime Minister was Widnes in this week to | 0:47:50 | 0:47:53 | |
confirm that the Government will invest �9m in the stobart group's | 0:47:53 | 0:47:58 | |
distribution hub there. The money will help the firm expand its | 0:47:58 | 0:48:01 | |
operation on the Mersey, hopefully creating thousands of jobs in the | 0:48:01 | 0:48:11 | |
0:48:11 | 0:48:13 | ||
process. We have one clear overriding criteria, it is jobs, | 0:48:13 | 0:48:19 | |
jobs, jobs. The great thing about these kind of projects is that all | 0:48:19 | 0:48:24 | |
being well, they are jobs that will last for years. Less cheerful news | 0:48:24 | 0:48:27 | |
for the public sector. Its been announced that another 400 jobs are | 0:48:27 | 0:48:32 | |
to go at Oldham council to save �24.5m. That's on top of 340 job | 0:48:32 | 0:48:35 | |
losses announced in the last round of cuts. The government has set the | 0:48:35 | 0:48:38 | |
date on which mayoral referendums will take place in 11 city councils, | 0:48:38 | 0:48:45 | |
including Liverpool and Manchester. It'll be 3rd May. | 0:48:45 | 0:48:49 | |
Now, just before we go, it turns out we're not the only ones in town | 0:48:49 | 0:48:52 | |
making films about politics. Four sixth formers from Cheadle Hulme | 0:48:52 | 0:48:55 | |
School near Stockport have walked away with the top prize in a | 0:48:55 | 0:48:58 | |
national competition. The Political Studies Association asked them to | 0:48:59 | 0:49:08 | |
0:49:09 | 0:49:11 | ||
talk about "Why Politics Matters". Here's a flavour of what they said. | 0:49:11 | 0:49:21 | |
0:49:21 | 0:49:24 | ||
Young people are a force for change in history. They can change society. | 0:49:24 | 0:49:28 | |
The basic political questions lead us to an understanding about | 0:49:28 | 0:49:37 | |
society, and principles which will shape our future. | 0:49:37 | 0:49:46 | |
Congratulations to those sixth- formers. Maybe not representative? | 0:49:46 | 0:49:50 | |
I was at a local school here, and they were just as engaged here in | 0:49:50 | 0:49:56 | |
politics, and what the Prime Minister could, or could not do. It | 0:49:56 | 0:50:00 | |
is good to see the UN getting involved. Do you think I'm being | 0:50:00 | 0:50:10 | |
unfair? I think they are interested in politics, from their perspective, | 0:50:10 | 0:50:16 | |
maybe not the perspective of the national media. When I go around my | 0:50:16 | 0:50:21 | |
schools in Blackpool, I get lots of issues, green issues, practical | 0:50:21 | 0:50:26 | |
things. You have to involve young people. We have a fantastic Schools | 0:50:26 | 0:50:33 | |
Council here. We have to give them some power, and we do, they get to | 0:50:33 | 0:50:37 | |
decide on some bits of the Budget. Then they will last summer the | 0:50:37 | 0:50:46 | |
bigger questions, like what we think about the euro? | 0:50:46 | 0:50:50 | |
Thank you very much for joining us. Well that's it for this week and | 0:50:50 | 0:50:56 | |
this is our last programme before Christmas. From January we become | 0:50:56 | 0:50:59 | |
the Sunday Politics, broadcasting from our new Salford base at Media | 0:50:59 | 0:51:03 | |
City. You'll see a few changes in the programme, but rest assured, | 0:51:03 | 0:51:06 | |
we'll still be bringing you the best political stories from around | 0:51:06 | 0:51:10 |