Browse content similar to 26/06/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the South West, chair of the Transport Select Committee tells us | :00:49. | :00:54. | |
some white plans to cut cost card cover are seriously flawed. | :00:54. | :01:04. | |
:01:04. | :01:04. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2512 seconds | :01:04. | :42:57. | |
And the remorseless spread of Welcome to the politics short in | :42:57. | :43:03. | |
the South West. -- the Politics Show. The Government plans to | :43:03. | :43:08. | |
revamp the coastguard service received a major blow this week | :43:08. | :43:10. | |
will stop the transport select committee concluded changes would | :43:10. | :43:16. | |
put lives at risk. They were not confident the coastguard service | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
would be as good as it is no, let alone more effective, as the | :43:20. | :43:27. | |
Government claims. -- as it is now. Last December, here in Westminster, | :43:27. | :43:32. | |
the Government organised radical plans to change it the coastguard | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
service. Under the plans, the number of coastguard stations would | :43:35. | :43:40. | |
be reduced by half and the number of staff by almost as much. And the | :43:40. | :43:45. | |
South West, that would mean the closure of two stations. The | :43:45. | :43:49. | |
ministers insist these cuts along with the deployment of modern | :43:49. | :43:56. | |
technology would provide a better, more resilient servers, but that | :43:57. | :44:03. | |
has been hotly contested. -- more resilient service. The Transport | :44:03. | :44:06. | |
Select Committee was in Falmouth last month collecting evidence for | :44:06. | :44:10. | |
its own inquiry into the Government's plans. Ministers say | :44:10. | :44:15. | |
they are prepared to amend them, but Wally up to a point. We will | :44:15. | :44:25. | |
:44:25. | :44:25. | ||
not deviate from the objective. -- but only up to a point back. | :44:25. | :44:29. | |
We will try to work effectively with coastguards to deliver an | :44:29. | :44:35. | |
effective 24-hour coastguard service, and I am sure the | :44:35. | :44:39. | |
proposals we come forward with with the result of this consultation | :44:39. | :44:44. | |
will fit with the 21st century. A meanwhile, Conservative | :44:44. | :44:47. | |
backbenchers are fighting individual closures in their | :44:47. | :44:51. | |
constituencies. This one has gone much further in demanding the | :44:51. | :44:57. | |
Government abandoned it -- its plans altogether. I hope the | :44:57. | :45:04. | |
Minister will take this message and realise this is his worst moment. | :45:04. | :45:13. | |
The public, the users of the sea, the small vote sailors, the | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
commercial fishermen, the people who bought in the front line, the | :45:17. | :45:21. | |
coastguards and lifeboat men, and some Royal Naval Personnel, even up | :45:21. | :45:27. | |
to the rank of Vice-Admiral, have all said to me that this | :45:27. | :45:32. | |
consultation is wrong. With the consultation closed and | :45:32. | :45:35. | |
Parliament's summer recess and beckoning, a decision is expected | :45:35. | :45:40. | |
soon. In the meantime, the Transport Select Committee has | :45:40. | :45:45. | |
given ministers plenty to think about. The committee says that no | :45:45. | :45:49. | |
station should operate without night cover, and that is just for | :45:49. | :45:56. | |
starters. It risks lives. It is a drastic reduction in the number of | :45:56. | :46:02. | |
coastguard stations reducing 18 to just three, and it risks losing | :46:02. | :46:07. | |
local knowledge and expertise come affecting the volunteer coastguard | :46:07. | :46:12. | |
rescuers as well as the centres themselves. There are question | :46:12. | :46:15. | |
marks about the new technology the Government is talking about and | :46:15. | :46:20. | |
these proposals should be withdrawn. The Government argues that the new | :46:20. | :46:23. | |
technology is crucial in making things more effective, but it also | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
claims that, at the moment, some centres are under-used, and others | :46:29. | :46:34. | |
are overworked, which suggests something needs to be changed. | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
There is a case for change, and there is a need for new technology, | :46:38. | :46:43. | |
but these proposals are drastic. They will not bring the right kind | :46:43. | :46:48. | |
of change. The committee is also concerned about a related issue - | :46:48. | :46:54. | |
the Government's decision to remove funding from emergency tug votes. | :46:54. | :47:01. | |
We are concerned about plans to withdraw funding from these. They | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
are important to stop major pollution incidents, and we are | :47:05. | :47:08. | |
concerned the Government wants to withdraw funding before finding an | :47:08. | :47:14. | |
alternative. The Government has also decided to remove funding from | :47:14. | :47:23. | |
the national body which co- ordinates rescues. Our concern is | :47:23. | :47:26. | |
that the Government wants to withdraw funding from coastguard | :47:26. | :47:31. | |
centres, withdraw funding from the tugboats, and from the Specialist | :47:31. | :47:37. | |
Fire Service. Combined with all of that, it will put lives at risk, | :47:37. | :47:40. | |
and increase the likelihood of major pollution events. | :47:41. | :47:45. | |
It has been said that this is literally inviting disaster. | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
Withdrawing funding from those emergency towing vessels is | :47:49. | :47:58. | |
inviting disaster. There is no evidence this can be done. | :47:58. | :48:03. | |
expressed concern during the inquiry that the Minister prevented | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
coastguards from giving evidence to the committee. The Minister said, | :48:07. | :48:11. | |
the rules stop civil servants giving this kind of evidence, they | :48:11. | :48:18. | |
are civil servants. The rule about civil servants is normally invoked | :48:18. | :48:24. | |
for senior civil servants, and the Minister assured Parliament that | :48:24. | :48:27. | |
serving coastguards could give evidence to the select committee, p | :48:28. | :48:30. | |
yet when we wanted to call them in front of the committee they were | :48:30. | :48:35. | |
told they could not come. We did find a way of talking to coastguard | :48:35. | :48:40. | |
officers, some came to us and their union capacity and where -- we were | :48:40. | :48:44. | |
able to visit coastguard centres. We were very upset because the | :48:44. | :48:49. | |
Minister changed his mind. The Secretary of State has made it | :48:49. | :48:54. | |
clear he will come back with different proposals, he will listen | :48:54. | :49:00. | |
to alternative ideas and to amend his original proposals, but you | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
seem to be suggesting he should tear up the original plan | :49:04. | :49:11. | |
altogether for. We wanted to concentrate on saving lives. We | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
agree that nationalisation can take place, but not the plans put | :49:15. | :49:18. | |
forward at present. The Minister has told us consistently he is | :49:19. | :49:22. | |
listing, and if he is listening properly he will withdraw those | :49:22. | :49:30. | |
proposals. Thank you very much. | :49:30. | :49:33. | |
Supermarkets have been spreading their tentacles far and wide | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
throughout the region over recent years, bringing tempers to the boil | :49:37. | :49:42. | |
in some places. One of Devon's MPs has lent his support to campaigners | :49:42. | :49:47. | |
in Ashburton on the edge of Dartmoor, who are fighting plans to | :49:47. | :49:55. | |
build a large Co-op. MP Mel Stride is backing those who think the shop | :49:55. | :50:01. | |
will damage the town's town centre. There are those who think there is | :50:01. | :50:08. | |
room for big shops to exist happily alongside small trainers. Our | :50:08. | :50:14. | |
correspondent reports on the South West's latest supermarket row. | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
The tone of Ashburton on the edge of Dartmoor has built up a | :50:19. | :50:22. | |
reputation for its thriving independent sector, but some fear | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
what would happen if and out of town supermarket is given the go- | :50:26. | :50:36. | |
:50:36. | :50:36. | ||
ahead. Like the owner of this shop. I am devastated. This town has been | :50:36. | :50:43. | |
founded by a group of individuals like myself who have put everything | :50:43. | :50:47. | |
they have worked for into creating this bespoke little place full of | :50:47. | :50:51. | |
individual shops. The owner of the off-licence is not | :50:51. | :50:57. | |
happy, either. People will head there to do their groceries, and I | :50:57. | :51:00. | |
cannot see them making a second trip to come down into town when | :51:01. | :51:07. | |
they can get everything under one roof. The Co-op already has a store | :51:07. | :51:10. | |
in that Ashburton town centre, but it wants to open an additional one | :51:10. | :51:16. | |
here, near the A38 Linhay Exit. The Co-op says this will create jobs | :51:16. | :51:21. | |
and will not impact of the traders in the town centre. It will be | :51:21. | :51:25. | |
around the size of a football pitch and have around 20 football -- | :51:25. | :51:33. | |
parking spaces. The call puts it -- the co-operative group is the | :51:33. | :51:36. | |
fifth-largest food retailer in the country. It is looking to expand | :51:36. | :51:42. | |
its business in the a rare -- in the area. | :51:42. | :51:45. | |
Our store is top-up shopping for people who have forgotten a few | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
items when they are cooking dinner. We do not compete with the stores | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
in the town, and I do not Frank that people come to visit Ashburton | :51:54. | :52:01. | |
because there is a quarter in the middle. -- There is at Co-op in the | :52:01. | :52:09. | |
middle. People come to visit because of the shops. Some shoppers | :52:09. | :52:16. | |
have mixed views. The would you use the Co-op? No. | :52:16. | :52:21. | |
all choppier, we all that, and I think it will spoil the town. -- we | :52:21. | :52:26. | |
all shop here. I steered clear of the big supermarkets and do all my | :52:26. | :52:30. | |
shopping locally. Supermarket growth is spreading in | :52:30. | :52:33. | |
the South West. Tesco has the strongest presence in the region | :52:33. | :52:40. | |
out of the big four. Recent figures show retailers have their it -- the | :52:40. | :52:44. | |
biggest retailer has made twice the number of planning applications | :52:44. | :52:50. | |
than Sainsbury's, and nearly five times more than Morrison's. The big | :52:50. | :52:54. | |
four supermarkets have given a our local authorities more than �5 | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
billion in the last few years to put towards community projects and | :52:58. | :53:03. | |
infrastructure. East and the Devon received around �2.5 million each, | :53:03. | :53:13. | |
and Torridge received around �250,000 for schemes in the area. | :53:13. | :53:16. | |
Residents wrote this letter opposing plans for a Tesco store. | :53:16. | :53:21. | |
And it, they warned it would severely undermine the vitality of | :53:21. | :53:27. | |
the High Street, where most food shops used locally sourced food. I | :53:27. | :53:32. | |
have come to find out what they think the impact has been. It is | :53:32. | :53:36. | |
more vibrant than it has been for the decade I have been here. | :53:36. | :53:42. | |
Dmitri runs a business from the high street and to six on the chair | :53:42. | :53:49. | |
of the Chamber of Commerce. -- and sits on the chair. I do not think | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
it is vibrant because Tesco has opened up. For some shopkeepers, it | :53:53. | :53:57. | |
has been a big negative on their trading, but for others they have | :53:57. | :54:05. | |
thrived for other reasons. Just this week, plans for a Tesco and | :54:05. | :54:08. | |
Dawlish were rejected. Councillors have already given the go-ahead to | :54:08. | :54:12. | |
a Sainsbury's, which will open later in the summer, and they felt | :54:12. | :54:16. | |
another big store would be too much. Earlier this year, councillors in | :54:16. | :54:19. | |
Cornwall throughout applications from Morrisons and Sainsbury's who | :54:19. | :54:24. | |
wanted to build stores in Weybridge. They felt the stores would have an | :54:24. | :54:29. | |
unacceptable impact on the town. Dartmoor National Park authorities | :54:30. | :54:34. | |
say they will make a decision on the Co-op proposals in August. | :54:34. | :54:43. | |
I asked Mel Stride earlier why he was sore against the plans for a | :54:43. | :54:48. | |
supermarket in Ashburton. -- why he was so why against fulls of a | :54:48. | :54:52. | |
Ashburton is a vibrant town in Dartmoor, and part of that success | :54:52. | :54:57. | |
has been built upon the strength of its local retailers on the high | :54:57. | :54:59. | |
street. There are a whole variety of shops | :54:59. | :55:04. | |
there, specialist bakers, fishmongers, butchers, and the fear | :55:04. | :55:09. | |
it is that, with a large supermarket appealing on the | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
outskirts of Ashburton, that will take trade away and some of those | :55:12. | :55:17. | |
traders will suffer. We may see a situation in the to -- in the | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
future where the 10 said it was into decline, as I am determined to | :55:20. | :55:24. | |
fight against that. It is true that it would offer more | :55:24. | :55:29. | |
choice to people, with perhaps a cheaper selection of food. If you | :55:29. | :55:33. | |
are a family in these times on a budget, it would be very useful. | :55:33. | :55:42. | |
They are very important points, and I do not see any increase in choice. | :55:42. | :55:47. | |
Independent retailers already provide a very high-quality service. | :55:47. | :55:51. | |
Putting them out of business would not increase choice. The second | :55:51. | :55:59. | |
point go you raise, there are supermarkets not far away, and | :55:59. | :56:03. | |
there is free transport to take people from Ashburton to those | :56:03. | :56:09. | |
shops. I do not feel that either of those points are pertinent. | :56:09. | :56:12. | |
Back in April, Labour put forward an amendment to the Localism Bill | :56:12. | :56:16. | |
which would require local planning authorities to adopt retail | :56:16. | :56:22. | |
diversity schemes, they say, that would protect local shops and | :56:22. | :56:27. | |
provide diversity. You voted against that. Was that a mistake, | :56:27. | :56:32. | |
with hindsight? Not at all. The Labour Government abolished the | :56:32. | :56:36. | |
means test, which the Conservative Government brought in, which placed | :56:36. | :56:41. | |
a strong test for planning authorities to apply to to make | :56:41. | :56:45. | |
sure these supermarkets do not damage traders in this situation. | :56:45. | :56:50. | |
This Government has said they will look at that again, and I will | :56:50. | :56:55. | |
support reintroducing that. The second thing is, the major push | :56:55. | :57:02. | |
here in the localism agenda through Parliament, which will empower | :57:02. | :57:07. | |
local communities... What about jobs, will? | :57:07. | :57:09. | |
This supermarket will provide 15 jobs. | :57:09. | :57:15. | |
A There is a big supermarket in Exeter, Sainsbury's, that is 450 | :57:15. | :57:20. | |
jobs, supermarkets bring jobs and people need jobs. In the case of | :57:20. | :57:25. | |
Ashburton, the planet state and put forward by the Co-op has suggested | :57:25. | :57:29. | |
there will be 15 jobs created. My question would become a 15 jobs | :57:29. | :57:33. | |
would be good and welcome, but what about the jobs that will be lost in | :57:33. | :57:38. | |
the middle of town? In that piece, we saw that Crediton | :57:38. | :57:45. | |
has a supermarket and jobs have not been lost, shops have thrived. It | :57:45. | :57:54. | |
does not mean that the two cannot co-exist, does it? A not at all. | :57:54. | :57:58. | |
As a Conservative, my very being feels that competition is important, | :57:58. | :58:05. | |
but not unrestrained where it has these social consequences. You | :58:05. | :58:10. | |
mentioned Crediton, and speeding two traders there, there are many | :58:10. | :58:16. | |
traders who believe it has had an effect on their business. | :58:16. | :58:20. | |
The Government is calling for mortgage lenders to back a self- | :58:20. | :58:23. | |
build revolution by lending more to people who want to build their own | :58:23. | :58:30. | |
homes. The Government's community right to build proposal is part of | :58:30. | :58:36. | |
the Localism Bill, but will it have a solid financial foundation? Our | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
correspondent has been visiting one success story in Cornwall. | :58:39. | :58:45. | |
I looked out the window the other day come at the average price now | :58:45. | :58:51. | |
is 900,000. That is three times your income. This, as you know, | :58:51. | :58:59. | |
will save me. It is a nice little place to start. 25-year-old David | :58:59. | :59:07. | |
has lived in Rock all his life, he is a carpenter by his -- by trade | :59:07. | :59:13. | |
and is building his own home. He is taking advantage of a community | :59:13. | :59:19. | |
scheme which enables people to build a home for around �95,000. | :59:19. | :59:24. | |
It is as -- it is a self build. I think if you were building them -- | :59:24. | :59:28. | |
if they were built and you were buying them, I think they would be | :59:28. | :59:32. | |
fine. But they did not know what was going to go on, when getting a | :59:32. | :59:35. | |
mortgage. This is the second House to be | :59:35. | :59:42. | |
built by the St Minver Community Land Trust. 12 Houses were built in | :59:42. | :59:51. | |
-- since 2008. The value of builders' Labour was taken on, but | :59:52. | :59:55. | |
now it is no longer valued by mortgage providers. | :59:55. | :59:58. | |
There is only two companies that have been providing that, one is | :59:58. | :00:08. | |
:00:08. | :00:08. | ||
the Halifax and the other is Ecology. There is very little on | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
self-build. With conventional mortgages, a lump sum is | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
transferred by the lender at the point of sale. With most self build | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
mortgages, the lender transfers to to the borrower in blocks as | :00:20. | :00:24. | |
different stages of the buildings are completed, providing they are | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
happy with an inspection. Some lenders may be put off by the | :00:28. | :00:33. | |
planning restrictions associated with affordable homes. For instance, | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
the Houses at St Minver can only be sold to buyers with a certain | :00:36. | :00:41. | |
criteria. For others not involved in community projects, there are | :00:41. | :00:50. | |
options out there. Many plots tied builders into two hears so they are | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
unable to switch to a cheaper rate which building is complete. | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
I think the Government could be doing more, and lenders could be | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
doing more come up to come up with the forms of mortgage that will | :01:03. | :01:08. | |
make sure we create a flourishing sector across the country, in the | :01:08. | :01:15. | |
way the scheme in Rock has done for that community. This is all about | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
sustaining village life, maintaining the numbers in school | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
and keeping local organisations going. That is what is so important. | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
One of the first to move into the new estate was Charlie. He believes | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
other could -- others could benefit from similar schemes. | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
This works. It is a blueprint for other projects to happen. It is all | :01:37. | :01:41. | |
very well to come up with different ideas, we could do this, we could | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
do that, you do not need to. This works, it can get people into | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
Houses now. But, if the self build revolution | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
is to start here, some say greater investment is needed to get | :01:54. | :02:01. | |
projects like this off the ground. What we need is a couple of million | :02:01. | :02:03. | |
pounds floating around the county for two schemes to be running in | :02:04. | :02:07. | |
parallel and in the 12 months the money gets paid back, then it can | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
move onto the next parish that wants to build a dozen Houses. I | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
honestly think we would get of the Houses we needed. If it worked in | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
this country, I cannot see why it would not worked in every county in | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
England. The price of land is still a major | :02:23. | :02:28. | |
barrier to many self builds. If the farmer had not sold his land at a | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
knock-down price, then crops would be flourishing, instead of a local | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
community. That is all we have time for today, | :02:36. | :02:41. |