:00:44. > :00:48.Investec, an Englishman's home is his castle, at least until
:00:48. > :00:53.squatters moved in. Now there are moves to make squatting a criminal
:00:53. > :01:03.offence. And well the �113 million announced this week from the
:01:03. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :38:03.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2219 seconds
:38:03. > :38:05.Regional Growth Fund deliver badly- Hello and welcome to the part of
:38:05. > :38:14.the show especially for us here in the South. My name's Peter Henley.
:38:14. > :38:17.On today's show: Are MPs really getting younger?
:38:17. > :38:21.Daniel Clark, member for the Isle of Wight. They are not, that was
:38:21. > :38:24.the Youth Parliament debating in the House of Commons this week.
:38:24. > :38:28.Also coming up, will the money the Government handed out from the
:38:28. > :38:32.Regional Growth Fund this week really do what it says on the tin
:38:32. > :38:36.and stimulate growth? First, occupations have been in the
:38:36. > :38:41.news, whether it is the tent city outside St Paul's or the of shoes
:38:41. > :38:45.that have been set up in Brighton and Bournemouth. -- the offshoots.
:38:45. > :38:49.And squatting looks set to be made a criminal offence. I will be
:38:49. > :38:53.talking to Mike Weatherley, who has campaigned for that change, and
:38:53. > :38:57.former Labour candidate Sarah Evans, who also happens to be a former
:38:57. > :39:02.squatter. But what about current squatters? Earlier in the week, I
:39:02. > :39:05.went to meet some in Britain. In Brighton, it has become part of
:39:05. > :39:09.the protest lifestyle. Squatting gets you somewhere cheap to live
:39:09. > :39:14.and it is also a statement about a society that allows properties like
:39:14. > :39:20.this to stand empty. 27-year-old Annie lived here until they were
:39:20. > :39:24.forcibly evicted. Look at it now, it is just ridiculous. It would
:39:24. > :39:29.house adequately the amount of rough sleepers I know personally.
:39:29. > :39:36.It moved to a derelict bed-and- breakfast and claims the neighbours
:39:36. > :39:42.were pleased to see them taken over. You can see the dilapidation on the
:39:42. > :39:46.frames here that we cannot reach. But we made what we had of it. The
:39:46. > :39:49.same applies to inside the building. The new Bill would only make
:39:49. > :39:53.squatting a criminal offence in domestic properties. There are
:39:53. > :39:56.fears commercial ones like this could come under even more pressure.
:39:56. > :40:02.But this group said they were more concerned about the principles of
:40:02. > :40:08.criminalisation. You have a lot of people sharing rooms. Are you
:40:08. > :40:12.worried there might be more people trying to squat? Buildings that
:40:12. > :40:17.have been left empty that no one wants, no one is doing anything
:40:17. > :40:21.about, they have no planning on them, we stay in them and we live
:40:21. > :40:25.in them because they would just be going to waste. But someone does
:40:25. > :40:32.own this. And you living in it is preventing it being turned into
:40:32. > :40:36.something else. They do not necessarily own this building. The
:40:36. > :40:41.owner of this building has actually passed away, so no one actually
:40:41. > :40:45.knows who owns it. And the general public might not know that much
:40:45. > :40:48.about squatters and when they hear you could go on holiday, come back
:40:48. > :40:52.and your house is squatted, it is a scary thought. Have you ever come
:40:52. > :41:00.across that? It has never happened in our circles, we would never
:41:00. > :41:04.squat someone's home. It is illegal already. We do not want to put
:41:04. > :41:07.people out of their homes. We believe housing should be a right,
:41:07. > :41:12.not a privilege. Forcing people out of their homes is against what we
:41:12. > :41:16.believe in. Let us take that point up with Mike
:41:16. > :41:20.Weatherley. Already, there are powers to stop people going into
:41:20. > :41:27.various places and that can be used by the police, who say they don't
:41:27. > :41:30.need this new one. No, the police told me they'd do needed. I was
:41:30. > :41:34.speaking to an inspector in Brighton and Hove, and they never
:41:34. > :41:38.prosecuted anyone to do the squatting in 18 years. It is
:41:38. > :41:43.illegal to enter a building but it is not a criminal offence. They get
:41:43. > :41:46.moved on, because damaged, they just move into another property.
:41:46. > :41:54.This is going to force a lot of vulnerable people out onto the
:41:54. > :41:57.streets? Squatters and homeless people are two separate things. I
:41:57. > :41:59.was for the homeless charity today and they are in favour of the
:41:59. > :42:04.squatting laws, because it is giving the homeless people a rough
:42:04. > :42:08.deal. Squatters are lifestyle squatters, by and large, they are
:42:08. > :42:12.trying to get something for nothing. That is certainly what we saw in
:42:12. > :42:16.that film, they were making a point about a principle and getting cheap
:42:16. > :42:19.accommodation. If someone steals your car, they get punished. If the
:42:19. > :42:24.still your house, at the moment, they do not. If everyone has the
:42:24. > :42:32.right to have a roof over their head. The Metropolitan -- the
:42:32. > :42:35.Metropolitan Police, the Law Society, they have all said,
:42:35. > :42:41.squatting in someone's house or a house that someone wants to move
:42:41. > :42:46.back into is a criminal offence, and the Met have said the laws are
:42:46. > :42:49.broadly all right. And if they are used properly, and I think this is
:42:50. > :42:53.where the problem arises, if they are used properly, it is easy to
:42:53. > :42:59.get people that a squat in someone's home out. But perhaps it
:42:59. > :43:05.is more a case of actually having enough resources for the police to
:43:05. > :43:08.actually action the law. Right. Mike Weatherley, we have had, the
:43:08. > :43:13.fact that people on the property and it is not a criminal offence
:43:13. > :43:17.for many hundreds of years, why change it now? It is on their
:43:17. > :43:20.criminal offence if when you get back home, you ask the squatters to
:43:20. > :43:23.leave and they do not. But they should not be in that property to
:43:24. > :43:29.start with. This whole reason why you have squatters rights comes
:43:29. > :43:32.about because we had some rogue landlords. But the landlord could
:43:32. > :43:38.not break the door down to throw people out when they had a right to
:43:38. > :43:42.be there. But squatters do not have a legitimate right to be there,
:43:42. > :43:48.they our lifestyle squatters, making a statement. I have to
:43:48. > :43:55.totally disagree. Shelter carried out an independent piece of
:43:55. > :43:58.research, and 78% of homeless people who had spotted at actually
:43:58. > :44:01.sought to get a roof over their head in a different way, they had
:44:01. > :44:07.approached the council, they had approached hostels, and had been
:44:07. > :44:12.turned away. Because we have a dire shortage of council housing. We
:44:12. > :44:17.have 5 million people on council waiting lists. We have 40,000
:44:17. > :44:22.homeless people, probably more, because there is a whole load of so
:44:22. > :44:27.faster for us that do not even register on the statistics. -- sofa
:44:27. > :44:30.surfers. We should put the empty properties back into use, we have
:44:30. > :44:39.incentives for bad landlords who are just holding on to it for the
:44:39. > :44:43.wrong reasons. But just because our enemy's enemy, shouldn't make it a
:44:43. > :44:46.friend to squatters. It is these lifestyle squatters we need to stop.
:44:46. > :44:50.We need to put the empty properties back into life, we need more
:44:50. > :44:53.homeless hostels, and I speak to a lot of charities that would support
:44:53. > :44:57.the moves about the squatters criminalisation, providing there is
:44:57. > :45:00.extra measures for the homeless, which the Government has announced.
:45:00. > :45:04.But most of the squatters are not the homeless people we are talking
:45:04. > :45:08.about. Sarah Evans, surely you would like to see some of these
:45:08. > :45:13.empty properties, some of the second homes, being used to house
:45:13. > :45:17.people. I think so. What we need to have in place is the ability for
:45:17. > :45:22.councils to compulsory purchase empty properties. My experience of
:45:22. > :45:27.squatting was living in a house, two rows of derelict houses, that
:45:27. > :45:31.is what happens. These houses are derelict in the majority of cases.
:45:31. > :45:38.And I had water running through the ceiling, holes in the walls and
:45:38. > :45:43.floor, no glass in the windows. Mice jumping out everywhere.
:45:43. > :45:49.you don't improve its? But I have no choice at the time. I managed to
:45:49. > :45:54.borrow some money in getting to a privately rented house. But then,
:45:54. > :45:58.that got repossessed. Once again, I had to move back again. At the time,
:45:58. > :46:02.I had just come out of college and had a huge debt, but the majority
:46:02. > :46:06.of people that are forced into squatty have mental health issues,
:46:06. > :46:15.drug and alcohol issues, they might have come out of an abusive
:46:15. > :46:18.relationship. Mike, this is what the independent study has shown.
:46:18. > :46:23.Even the Law Society and the Metropolitan Police have agreed
:46:23. > :46:27.that there is no evidence to support the need for Clause 26. And
:46:27. > :46:32.you are criminalising people, you are criminalising very vulnerable
:46:32. > :46:35.people. I find it unacceptable we should be saying that people should
:46:35. > :46:39.squat in these derelict buildings. They are dangerous, they should not
:46:39. > :46:42.be squatting there. Even if there was a link between on this is an
:46:42. > :46:46.squatting, we should not allow people to squat in those type of
:46:46. > :46:49.buildings. The second point you make about improving the properties,
:46:49. > :46:53.I have thrown the gone there down to all the sporting organisations
:46:53. > :47:00.in the country to show me one property they have been in -- they
:47:00. > :47:04.have improved and not one has been forthcoming. Sarah Evans, Mike
:47:04. > :47:09.Weatherley, thank you very much. More on this on Inside Out tomorrow
:47:09. > :47:14.night which follows the story of join decade, he had to go to court
:47:14. > :47:19.to evict a group of squatters from her mother's home in Berkshire. --
:47:19. > :47:22.joined the caber, who had to go to court.
:47:22. > :47:25.With at 100 members of the Youth Parliament were taking out --
:47:25. > :47:28.taking part in their annual debate in the House of Commons. Who knows
:47:28. > :47:31.what future Chancellor or Prime Minister might have been sizing up
:47:31. > :47:40.the green benches. Because politicians really do seem to be
:47:40. > :47:47.getting younger. We will create, the home on a democracy in which we
:47:47. > :47:52.believe. That welfare state is being ripped apart by a vicious and
:47:52. > :47:58.right-wing Tory lead Government. William Hague is a perfect example
:47:58. > :48:02.of teenagers with strong opinions on political matters, prepared to
:48:02. > :48:06.stand up and be heard. The Youth Parliament was designed to
:48:06. > :48:15.encourage 11-18-year-olds to do exactly that when it was
:48:15. > :48:18.established 12 years ago. Over 600 representatives are elected each
:48:18. > :48:23.year to campaign and influence decision-makers on issues which
:48:23. > :48:29.matter most to young people. On both regional and national levels.
:48:29. > :48:36.Why are you so interested in politics? Because I feel,
:48:36. > :48:41.especially locally, my MPs do not actually engage very well with the
:48:41. > :48:48.young people. When I talk to people in my area, they say, are they
:48:48. > :48:51.actually doing anything for us? When you are involved in the UK
:48:51. > :48:57.Youth Parliament, you have a real opportunity to change things, meet
:48:57. > :49:05.with decision-makers and try and influence the world and actual
:49:05. > :49:08.society we live in. I'd like to think you can come from somewhere
:49:08. > :49:17.small and effect something that is really big, affect the whole of the
:49:17. > :49:23.UK. -- affect. The average age of a councillor or a young MP is 40, or
:49:23. > :49:26.50s and 60s, so it does not seem to connect with the younger generation.
:49:26. > :49:32.Just because you are not old enough to vote doesn't mean you cannot
:49:32. > :49:35.make a difference. Members meet regularly with MPs and local
:49:35. > :49:39.councillors, organising events to make speeches and run campaigns.
:49:39. > :49:43.Public transport is an issue in my constituency. Over the summer, I
:49:44. > :49:47.have met with various different transport providers, managers, and
:49:47. > :49:52.discuss the issue. I am actually trying to compose at Transport
:49:52. > :49:56.report which looks and identifies the problems in my constituency and
:49:57. > :50:04.trying to think of practical solutions. I would like to create
:50:04. > :50:10.discounts for young people, you have the NUS card when you are 16-
:50:10. > :50:13.18, but you do not have any sort of card for a discount when you are
:50:13. > :50:20.under 16. And yet, you are not allowed to work until you have an
:50:20. > :50:24.even harder economic time. Over 60,000 people aged 11 to 18 took
:50:24. > :50:27.part in this year's ballot at the Youth Parliament. That is ten times
:50:27. > :50:32.the number who participated year before. But is the Government
:50:32. > :50:38.listening? If David Cameron was sitting here, what would you like
:50:38. > :50:45.to say? I would like him to talk to the young people more. I feel that
:50:45. > :50:50.young people are ignored in this country. Under previous governments
:50:50. > :50:55.as well. There is high youth unemployment, there is very little
:50:55. > :50:59.jobs around for people. And so, they need some sort of support to
:50:59. > :51:04.give them a helping hand in life. He needs to realise that making
:51:04. > :51:09.cuts is not going to help the economic growth. It is going to
:51:09. > :51:14.dampen it and make it worse. Make it even harder for people to boost
:51:14. > :51:18.the economy. In a society, you should look to increase social
:51:18. > :51:21.mobility and inspire young people, who are in their teens, so they
:51:21. > :51:26.want to achieve something in life and in education. With the removal
:51:26. > :51:32.of the cap on university fees, it is completely discouraging a lot of
:51:32. > :51:36.people who wanted to go to university. Order, order! The UK
:51:36. > :51:40.Parliament will consider the first motion of the day. So for one day a
:51:40. > :51:43.year, the Youth Parliament takes over and it is serious business. To
:51:43. > :51:48.debate and decide on which issued they should concentrate their
:51:48. > :51:54.campaigning on for the coming year. I think that public transport is a
:51:54. > :52:01.way of becoming more green and also, getting young people off the dole,
:52:01. > :52:07.especially people in rural areas. Especially as we have a 20 year
:52:07. > :52:12.high for youth unemployment. They live very at home there. We have a
:52:12. > :52:16.real MP in the studio. This year the Government announced the lucky
:52:16. > :52:20.winners in the second round of bids for the Regional Growth Fund. It is
:52:20. > :52:25.designed to safeguard or create jobs. In the first round in April,
:52:25. > :52:31.we got just one bid accepted. This time, we have got nine for the
:52:31. > :52:40.south-east. We have been promised �113 million of the �1.4 billion
:52:40. > :52:42.fund. To put that into context, the North East had 50 bids accepted. So,
:52:42. > :52:45.is our �130 million and nearly 1,000 jobs the Government said they
:52:46. > :52:50.will support a reasonable allocation? Willett really
:52:50. > :53:00.encourage the sort of growth the economy needs? -- will it really
:53:00. > :53:01.
:53:01. > :53:07.encourage. We have got George Hollingbury, the Conservative MP.
:53:07. > :53:14.This particular fund allocation, are we getting very well organised?
:53:14. > :53:17.I like to think we the Goody area in the South East. But you would
:53:18. > :53:23.expect me to say that! But it does seem to be about this this
:53:23. > :53:26.involvement, is that helping? are an elected board, we have eight
:53:26. > :53:29.business leaders and some very influential this this is on that
:53:29. > :53:33.board. We have five from local authorities and one from higher
:53:33. > :53:38.education. We have a good board working solidly, all singing from
:53:38. > :53:43.the same hymn sheet. We submitted six Dave's and we were successful
:53:43. > :53:47.with almost two-thirds of them. -- six bids. Surely, Regional Growth
:53:47. > :53:51.Fund rebalancing the economy is not giving more money in grants to the
:53:51. > :53:54.south, however much Duggan would like to have it? There are parts of
:53:54. > :53:58.the South that are also suffering from a reduction in Government
:53:58. > :54:02.spending and are slightly less able to generate growth. It is quite
:54:02. > :54:05.right that some of the growth should come down here. I think the
:54:05. > :54:10.Solent Local Enterprise Partnership has done a fantastic job. They know
:54:10. > :54:14.exactly where the money needs to go, supported by local authorities who
:54:14. > :54:18.have been working to push the Partnership for South Hampshire.
:54:18. > :54:23.They knew exactly what they wanted and the top business to drive it.
:54:23. > :54:25.It has been very successful. It is the replacement for the retail
:54:25. > :54:34.development agency, which used to look at the whole of the South East
:54:34. > :54:39.on a broad level. -- of regional development agency. Those who shout
:54:39. > :54:43.loudest are going to get the most money. If you stop and think for a
:54:43. > :54:49.moment, we had bureaucrats sitting there in an unelected position,
:54:49. > :54:52.pushing things around on a board. What we have now is real, viable
:54:52. > :54:57.projects, pushed by people who are actually going to run them and make
:54:57. > :55:01.a difference local. It is not just a matter of pursue money towards
:55:01. > :55:05.something, we have people driving them to do things with. What about
:55:05. > :55:09.the Isle of Wight? Dipper to no good for tourism, and did not get
:55:09. > :55:15.the money, presumably because they were not part of such a forward-
:55:15. > :55:21.thinking l e p as yours. For a start, the Isle of Wight is very
:55:21. > :55:26.much part of the Solent LEP. We need to look at that, as to why
:55:26. > :55:31.they were unsuccessful. We submitted six days. Surely, the
:55:31. > :55:36.Isle of Wight is as deserving if not more so than -- as other parts
:55:36. > :55:40.of the South East? Well, I would disagree about Southampton and
:55:40. > :55:45.Portsmouth booming, there are lots of areas of deprivation in both
:55:45. > :55:49.places. We have to congratulate ourselves on the facts we were
:55:49. > :55:54.fortunate to get some of these bid is agreed. I am disappointed we did
:55:54. > :55:57.not get the ones for the Isle of Wight. And the headquarters for
:55:57. > :56:02.your organisation is in Portsmouth city council offices. There is
:56:02. > :56:07.surely a Portsmouth by us there. Not really, the biggest funding is
:56:07. > :56:14.coming to Southampton. Good answer! What about the people who are not
:56:14. > :56:23.part of an MEP? What about Thames Valley, Berkshire, Oxford City? --
:56:23. > :56:25.l e p. There is a confluence here are genuine deprivation. There are
:56:25. > :56:28.parts of Portsmouth and Southampton that are generally deprived and we
:56:28. > :56:33.need to bring some money in. Coupled with a fantastic structure
:56:33. > :56:37.that has been in place for a long time. It has worked particularly
:56:37. > :56:41.well on this occasion. I would say to you, I suspect there is more
:56:41. > :56:44.reason to have the spending down here on the south coast and South
:56:44. > :56:48.Central and there is in some of the other areas. It is not about
:56:48. > :56:54.deserving cases like the Isle of Wight, say, it is about getting
:56:54. > :56:58.growth, isn't it? If it means companies are already doing well,
:56:58. > :57:03.that is where the money should go. We need to be careful what we say.
:57:03. > :57:10.We had deprivation in Southampton and Portsmouth, severe deprivation
:57:10. > :57:13.in some quarters. Some real problems. Not withstanding all of
:57:13. > :57:18.that, we must understand the South East is the engine of the UK
:57:18. > :57:22.economy. I don't think it is good enough for Government to say, there
:57:22. > :57:28.is a North-South divide. We are delighted to have been so
:57:28. > :57:32.successful. The very last thing, the original purpose of this fund
:57:32. > :57:39.was to, say those areas that were particularly hit by a reduction in
:57:39. > :57:44.Government spending. That element has to be considered. It is
:57:44. > :57:49.investing in success, that is the idea. Thank you very much.