:00:37. > :00:47.And saving local pubs - ministers consider scrapping the law which
:00:47. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :36:21.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2133 seconds
:36:21. > :36:24.Hello and welcome back to the Politics Show in the South West.
:36:24. > :36:29.Hopes for an 11th-hour reprieve for two key parts of the region's
:36:29. > :36:31.marine safety network were dealt a severe blow this week. On Friday,
:36:31. > :36:35.the Transport Select Committee published the Government's response
:36:35. > :36:38.to its concerns about the proposals. While the government has backed
:36:38. > :36:41.down on some of its plans to reduce coastguard stations and manpower,
:36:41. > :36:45.it's clear minsters are determined to press ahead with cuts to
:36:45. > :36:48.emergency towing vessels and specialist firefighters. In a
:36:48. > :36:51.moment, we'll hear from the chair of the Transport Committee who says
:36:51. > :36:59.the government is making a short- sighted decision which will put
:36:59. > :37:02.lives a risk. But first, Tamsin Melville has this report. It has
:37:02. > :37:07.been described as having the potential for creating a perfect
:37:07. > :37:10.storm off the Cornish coast. Government plans to radically
:37:10. > :37:15.restructure the coastguard service, cut funding for firefighters that
:37:15. > :37:20.see an end to the contract for up emergency towing vessels. While the
:37:20. > :37:30.close card proposal Robin revised, time is fast running out for the
:37:30. > :37:32.
:37:32. > :37:38.others, prompting concerns of their worst case scenario. They could
:37:38. > :37:45.have collisions with a tanker. Why hope we're not here saying, I told
:37:45. > :37:51.you so it after an oil spill. Anglian Princess is a very familiar
:37:51. > :37:56.sight in these waters around Falmouth. She is one of four
:37:56. > :38:00.stations tucked around the UK. But it is not for much longer. The
:38:00. > :38:05.funding which keeps her he is said to be scrapped at the end of the
:38:05. > :38:08.month. These vessels were introduced after the 1993 it oil
:38:08. > :38:13.spill disaster off the Shetland Islands. But the Department for
:38:13. > :38:16.Transport now says it wants private operators to stepping in, telling
:38:16. > :38:26.MPs that responsibility for ensuring operational safety it of
:38:26. > :38:33.
:38:33. > :38:39.chips is a matter for the Contracts will expire at the end of
:38:39. > :38:43.the month, saving �32.5 million over the spending review period.
:38:43. > :38:47.MPs on the transport select committee say the government's
:38:47. > :38:52.hardline is inviting disaster. A view shared by enable Union which
:38:52. > :38:56.is considering action. If you don't provide that service in times of
:38:56. > :39:03.need, it will not be there when you need it. Who wants to gamble with
:39:03. > :39:09.that? Who wants a billion pounds worth of clean-up costs? Who wants
:39:09. > :39:15.to have it on their conscience that communities with devastated fishing
:39:15. > :39:18.industries, tourist industries? bid to save money is also part of
:39:18. > :39:25.the decision to cut funding for specialist firefighters who tackle
:39:25. > :39:30.incidents at sea, again by the end of this month. The incident
:39:30. > :39:34.Response Group is one of 15 around the UK set up in 2006. It has been
:39:34. > :39:40.deployed twice off Cornwall, most recently involving efficient
:39:40. > :39:49.factory vessel in Barmouth in 2010. But ministers say it they have
:39:49. > :39:57.rarely been used on several occasions. It is a short-sighted
:39:57. > :40:00.move for some. To be unkind, it is the bean counters looking at the
:40:00. > :40:06.beans. I have a degree of empathy in the current climate, but let's
:40:06. > :40:10.be serious about this. There is a potential to lose people's lives.
:40:10. > :40:17.Terrorism has not gone away, who will deal with the aftermath of a
:40:18. > :40:20.terrorist incident on the ship? It is not going to go away. It is very
:40:20. > :40:25.short-sighted and nothing we have got to wait to see what the
:40:25. > :40:34.outcomes are. Core will fire and rescue Service say without the
:40:34. > :40:39.central funding, they are left with no choice but to remove the 7th --
:40:39. > :40:46.Cornwall. One local MP whose husband died while at sea still
:40:46. > :40:56.hopes to change Minister's mind. -- ministers' minds. I'm urging them
:40:56. > :40:56.
:40:56. > :41:00.to have those coastguards put in place. They have unique knowledge
:41:00. > :41:07.of both the changes in the sea conditions, when the weather
:41:07. > :41:14.changes so quickly, and also to be able to use the other local
:41:14. > :41:22.emergency services in the area when we have an emergency. I'm yet to be
:41:22. > :41:30.condensed that a station based at Dover or Falmouth would be able to
:41:30. > :41:37.pick up the slack left. It is looking almost certain the
:41:37. > :41:40.capability will be gone and just a few weeks. -- in just a few weeks.
:41:40. > :41:42.Tamsin Melville reporting. Well, we did request an interview with the
:41:42. > :41:45.Shipping Minister, Mike Penning. He wasn't available, but earlier I
:41:45. > :41:49.spoke to the chair of the Transport Select Committee, the Labour MP
:41:49. > :41:51.Louise Ellman. I asked her if she was at least happy with the
:41:51. > :41:54.Government's revised plans for the Coastguard service, which include
:41:54. > :41:56.fewer station closures and a guarantee of 24-hour cover in those
:41:56. > :42:00.that remain. I am pleased that there will be fewer closures and
:42:00. > :42:04.that the government has dropped its plan for daylight early stations.
:42:04. > :42:07.But there are still concerns about the closures that by going ahead.
:42:07. > :42:11.There is a new consultation and I hope that the Government listens
:42:11. > :42:21.carefully to the responses. If the government accepts the importance
:42:21. > :42:22.
:42:22. > :42:25.of local knowledge, it is -- it must show how it can do this.
:42:25. > :42:29.Emergency towing vessels, the government has not given any ground
:42:29. > :42:32.on this at all. You said in your report they should be continued to
:42:32. > :42:36.be provided by the state, but not to do so it is quite literally
:42:36. > :42:39.inviting disaster and we were not convinced there was a commercial
:42:39. > :42:42.alternative. The government is saying that they think the
:42:42. > :42:50.commercial shipping industry should pay for this kind of thing, not the
:42:50. > :42:56.taxpayer. The emergency towing vehicles are there to prevent major
:42:56. > :43:00.pollution incidents which cost the taxpayer millions of pounds. They
:43:00. > :43:03.decided to rid -- withdraw funding from his Brussels without any kind
:43:03. > :43:07.of risk assessment and without any consultation. We saw no evidence at
:43:07. > :43:13.all that the private sector was ready to step in and I hope the
:43:13. > :43:17.government even at this hour revises its plans. Another area of
:43:17. > :43:21.be concerned few if they government's decision to remove
:43:21. > :43:27.funding from the Maritime incident Response Group. You said this is
:43:27. > :43:30.very important and that they must go away and come back with a more
:43:30. > :43:33.cost-effective way of running it. The government said they have
:43:33. > :43:39.looked at this now and it is not possible to provide the level of
:43:39. > :43:44.service needed for less money? thought there was a case for
:43:44. > :43:47.reducing the cost of the specialist fire-fighting force and the
:43:47. > :43:50.maritime incident Response Group. I'm very disappointed that the
:43:50. > :43:57.government have not looked said it in that way and are withdrawing
:43:57. > :44:02.their funding. -- looked at it. you don't accept it is not possible
:44:02. > :44:05.to provide the level of service required for less resourcing?
:44:05. > :44:10.accept that there is a need to reduce funding, but I don't accept
:44:10. > :44:15.it is impossible to produce a good service for less money. To turn to
:44:15. > :44:19.another issue, you were very concerned at during the process of
:44:19. > :44:23.your inquiry into this that coastguards were prevented from
:44:23. > :44:26.giving oral evidence to the committee. The government in its
:44:26. > :44:32.response has stuck to its insistence that postcards are
:44:32. > :44:40.junior civil servants and it would be inappropriate to give oral
:44:40. > :44:42.evidence -- postcards. The minister did give us an assurance that the
:44:43. > :44:47.coastguards would be able to talk directly to the committee and that
:44:47. > :44:51.that was subsequently changed. I'm not convinced by the government's
:44:51. > :44:54.response. We did find a way of talking to the coastguard officers
:44:55. > :44:59.by going to the stations, but that would have been better if they had
:44:59. > :45:04.been able to give us evidence directly at our committee. There is,
:45:04. > :45:09.as you say, a further consultation, but it is pretty limited, it isn't
:45:09. > :45:15.it? In particular, these issues are of huge consent to, the emergency
:45:15. > :45:20.towing vessels, they are not within the town so that consultation. For
:45:20. > :45:25.a lot of your concerns, is this the end of the story? The consultation
:45:25. > :45:28.is limited but I hope the Government listens to the responses.
:45:28. > :45:32.The government seems to be determined on its decision to
:45:32. > :45:35.withdraw funding for the emergency towing vessels and for the
:45:35. > :45:40.emergency fire-fighting service. There is not any more consultation
:45:40. > :45:44.on that. These are very serious issues and a head the government is
:45:44. > :45:48.still considering the position. you think that is likely's it
:45:48. > :45:51.doesn't look likely, but I hope that they are.
:45:51. > :45:54.In Prime Minister Questions on Wednesday, a Devon MP said David
:45:54. > :45:57.Cameron needed to take tougher action against the sale of cheap
:45:57. > :46:01.alcohol. The government's promised to ban shops and bars from selling
:46:01. > :46:05.drinks for less than the tax paid on them. But the Conservative MP
:46:05. > :46:13.for Totnes, Sarah Wollaston, who of course used to be a GP, says that's
:46:13. > :46:20.not enough. I know they have Prime Minister is serious about tackling
:46:20. > :46:24.violent crime and anti-social behaviour. Would he make of me to
:46:24. > :46:27.discuss the evidence that we need to go further on minimum pricing,
:46:27. > :46:31.availability and particularly the marketing of alcohol to young
:46:31. > :46:38.people? David Cameron praised her work on the issue of alcohol abuse
:46:38. > :46:41.but said he disagreed on this particular point. I'm very happy to
:46:41. > :46:47.meet with the honourable lady who has written a lot of articles about
:46:47. > :46:52.this issue, and I think she's right in many ways, that actually, there
:46:52. > :46:57.is a problem of binge drinking are now country. A lot is related to
:46:57. > :47:00.very low cost alcohol, particularly in supermarkets. I want see an end
:47:00. > :47:03.to that deep discounting of a rather than the way forward that
:47:03. > :47:08.she suggests. But I'm very important to discuss this vital
:47:08. > :47:11.issue. Over the summer, the Government announced a review of
:47:11. > :47:14.the legislation governing the sale of failing pubs. Ministers say
:47:14. > :47:17.they're looking for ways to help communities who want to buy their
:47:17. > :47:20.local and keep it open. At the moment, if you're selling a pub you
:47:20. > :47:23.can impose a covenant which stops the building being re-opened as a
:47:23. > :47:31.public house. Campaigners say the market should be left to decide
:47:31. > :47:35.whether a pub is viable or not. Emma Ruminski reports.
:47:35. > :47:40.committee of Stoke Canon no longer have to walk miles for a pint.
:47:40. > :47:44.Beginning to said they had lost a valuable social resource and so
:47:44. > :47:47.banded together to reopen it. The Stoke Canon in was bought by its
:47:47. > :47:57.private landlord and the community it all bought shares to rent it
:47:57. > :47:58.
:47:58. > :48:03.back off him. It is now a free house run by volunteers. It was
:48:03. > :48:13.like Kevin Costner's Field of dreams. People started pouring out
:48:13. > :48:19.
:48:19. > :48:29.of every alleyway. It was wonderful talking to people. We got through
:48:29. > :48:33.
:48:33. > :48:39.it very quickly. We got together in about March and reopened in June.
:48:40. > :48:44.had never done any work like this before. It is a chance to meet more
:48:44. > :48:49.people, rekindle some friendships. The villagers claim rent in the pub
:48:49. > :48:53.has put the heart back in the community. -- renting the pub. Most
:48:53. > :49:03.of the drinkers have a �50 at stake in the scheme say it has made the
:49:03. > :49:06.
:49:06. > :49:13.pub by a bull. It has only been open to month. -- two months.
:49:13. > :49:22.couldn't bear to think of it not been a pub anymore. Redecorated,
:49:22. > :49:26.painted, cleaned and opened it. The community spirit was fantastic.
:49:26. > :49:31.not for committees are as fortunate as the Stoke Canon. This pub closed
:49:31. > :49:36.last year and will be -- will be demolished. The Campaign for Real
:49:36. > :49:42.Ale fate many pubs have Covenant on them. Buyers have to enter into an
:49:42. > :49:50.agreement, promising not to reopen them as a pub. Claims have been
:49:50. > :49:57.made it has been used by larger companies to limit competition.
:49:57. > :50:03.have been licking to doing away with restrictive covenants --
:50:03. > :50:08.looking at doing away. Over the summer, the government announced it
:50:08. > :50:18.was reviewing legislation to help communities that want to try and
:50:18. > :50:23.
:50:23. > :50:26.revive his closing cubs. -- closing pubs. We have got these ageing by-
:50:26. > :50:32.laws were a proper has got to be proven to be trading at a loss
:50:32. > :50:39.before it can go and how many pubs are they in the village except her,
:50:40. > :50:45.let it go and let people make the pub the centre of the community
:50:45. > :50:55.again. But the British beer and pub Association says there are bigger
:50:55. > :50:56.
:50:56. > :51:00.issues facing pubs, where restrictive covenants are not
:51:00. > :51:04.regularly applied. It is still early days for the Stoke Canon in,
:51:04. > :51:11.but they have big plans. They are now looking for a chef to provide
:51:11. > :51:16.food here on a franchise basis. The aim here is to keep the proper live
:51:16. > :51:19.for the community to socialise and support each other. Earlier, I
:51:19. > :51:28.spoke to the East Devon MP Hugo Swire who's backing the review. I
:51:28. > :51:34.asked him how much of a problem restrictive covenants are. Between
:51:34. > :51:39.2004 and 2009, five under and 70 pubs were lost to their communities
:51:39. > :51:49.because of restrictive covenants -- a 570. The pub companies have told
:51:49. > :51:50.
:51:50. > :51:53.us that they don't intend to impose many of the covenant for any more.
:51:53. > :51:59.There were five in Lancashire, somebody who had a petrol station
:51:59. > :52:07.and a shop and he sold it and put a covenant so that he could open up a
:52:07. > :52:13.pub round the corner. That is a thriving organisation. I think it
:52:13. > :52:18.is important that people actually do look at it on line and make
:52:18. > :52:23.their views known to the department. So your mind is not entirely made
:52:24. > :52:28.up? When slightly prejudiced. Bearing in mind what icy around the
:52:28. > :52:36.place, I believe the part that is central to the local community --
:52:36. > :52:43.what I see. From my own experience, I go to my local pub when I see
:52:44. > :52:48.that are fewer people are there. It would be a great loss to the
:52:48. > :52:51.communities. Beer is very expensive at the moment. That must be one of
:52:51. > :52:57.the reasons why people just don't go to the pub. The pub companies
:52:57. > :53:02.have said, and indeed your neighbour in south Dorset, the
:53:02. > :53:10.Conservative MP, seems to agree, that the government puts up duty
:53:10. > :53:14.all the time, which is a big problem. It is incumbent on us to
:53:14. > :53:20.try and rebalance the economy to stop it going in the same direction
:53:20. > :53:25.of many other countries within Europe. Unfortunately, people have
:53:25. > :53:28.to be taxed. There are other factors involved, like the low
:53:28. > :53:37.price of alcohol in supermarkets and the offers they come up with.
:53:37. > :53:44.That is also effective. But if you look at tax, 10 pence on a pint
:53:44. > :53:54.this year, it is a lot of money very quickly. It is a lot of money,
:53:54. > :54:02.
:54:02. > :54:09.but there are also other factors, not least in certain parts.A better
:54:09. > :54:16.position if you're in a free pub, but at a worse position if you're
:54:16. > :54:22.in a local community with no pub at all. The Conservative government in
:54:22. > :54:24.the 1980s tried to break the monopoly which the big breweries
:54:24. > :54:29.had. People like David Cameron would say that clever businessman
:54:29. > :54:39.got round that a run-out in a situation where if you pick pub
:54:39. > :54:41.
:54:41. > :54:51.companies have a large number of pubs. Could do nothing fundamental
:54:51. > :54:55.
:54:55. > :54:59.be done? Things are shifting, behaviour is changing. Some people
:54:59. > :55:03.are saying they would radically we do all the pubs owned by a certain
:55:03. > :55:08.groups and make them more American to reflect people's changing habits.
:55:08. > :55:18.I don't think we are saying anything should be an aspect. Some
:55:18. > :55:21.
:55:21. > :55:29.of the pops, -- at some of the pubs, people come together and buy their
:55:29. > :55:34.pubs. They have got a pub, internet access. That is the kind of new
:55:34. > :55:38.thinking we need. When you go to remote villages, there is also a
:55:38. > :55:43.post office and a shop, it becomes the thriving centre of overall
:55:43. > :55:46.community. I would like to see more of that.
:55:46. > :55:49.The prospect of a fuel duty reduction on the Isles of Scilly
:55:49. > :55:52.took a step forward this week. The European Commission approved the
:55:52. > :55:55.five pence per litre cut in principle. But before the UK
:55:55. > :56:05.Treasury can confirm the discount it must now seek approval from
:56:05. > :56:05.
:56:05. > :56:08.member states. Of course, if it is successful, there is the