:01:02. > :01:05.In the South: Some towns have no Christmas lights,
:01:05. > :01:06.others have no Santa. Has the economic gloom driven off the
:01:06. > :01:09.Christmas cheer from our high streets?
:01:09. > :01:19.And we will be hearing about the council that has announced spending
:01:19. > :01:19.
:01:19. > :32:25.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1865 seconds
:32:25. > :32:28.Hello and welcome to the part of the show especially for us here in
:32:28. > :32:31.the South. On today's show, is it "bah humbug" as far as Christmas
:32:31. > :32:34.lights in our towns and cities go? We will be meeting the councillor
:32:34. > :32:36.who dipped into his own pocket to give his community some festive
:32:36. > :32:39.sparkle. For the last nine years on the
:32:39. > :32:42.Politics Show, we have been regularly looking at housing and
:32:42. > :32:44.homelessness. We will be finding out if anything got better in all
:32:44. > :32:47.that time. But first, it's a pretty rare event
:32:47. > :32:50.these days to hear of a council announcing they are spending more
:32:50. > :32:53.on something. But that is exactly what we had this week from West
:32:53. > :32:56.Sussex County Council. �50 million for a whole range of capital
:32:56. > :32:59.investments. Six million for high- speed broadband, 1.5 million for
:32:59. > :33:01.flood prevention, half a million to tart up West Street in Horsham and,
:33:01. > :33:04.rather controversially, 1.5 million for the Chichester Festival Theatre.
:33:04. > :33:06.The leader of West Sussex Council is Louise Goldsmith and she is with
:33:06. > :33:08.me now. Always difficult to get your head
:33:08. > :33:11.around these big-money spends. How far will this money go? We have
:33:11. > :33:14.over 6 million. That will match the figure from a government which was
:33:14. > :33:16.announced earlier in the year. Then we hope we will be able to pull in
:33:16. > :33:18.another 25 million in total to get the super-fast broadband going
:33:18. > :33:21.throughout the county. Absolutely everywhere? Up to 90%. And the
:33:21. > :33:23.return from that in the next few years, are you expecting anything
:33:23. > :33:26.particular from that? We want to encourage businesses to start. We
:33:26. > :33:31.want them to grow and to stay. To do that in a business now, you need
:33:31. > :33:34.super fast business -- super-fast broadband. We have a lot of small
:33:34. > :33:43.businesses that are very successful in other rural communities. The
:33:43. > :33:53.need that. 300,000 went to Worthing for improvements for free wi-fi.
:33:53. > :33:56.
:33:56. > :34:02.Why just them? That was what they asked for. We phoned around the
:34:02. > :34:07.leaders and asked what they wanted for to help community projects.
:34:07. > :34:15.They submitted the schemes that they wanted. You only spoke to do
:34:15. > :34:19.it leader of Conservative borough councils? We consulted all of them.
:34:19. > :34:22.Some are saying they were not properly consulted. What about
:34:22. > :34:26.money for the Chichester Festival Theatre? That money could have been
:34:26. > :34:31.spent on more deserve and causes. You have to look at what that
:34:31. > :34:39.investment will bring. That is a 22 million investment into the
:34:39. > :34:46.infrastructure. It will start in 18 months. It will bring 400 jobs.
:34:46. > :34:56.Last year, the theatre brought in 12 million into the local economy
:34:56. > :34:56.
:34:56. > :35:01.in West Sussex. People come to go to the theatre and then also spend
:35:01. > :35:06.money as part of that trip. It is an investment in the creative art.
:35:06. > :35:10.We have a lot of that industry throughout the county. You're going
:35:10. > :35:15.into Christmas with 480 people who were reliant on adult social care
:35:15. > :35:23.who have had it taken away. Here you are saying this is an
:35:23. > :35:28.investment in cultural things. �50,000 for a website. Can you
:35:28. > :35:38.balance those things? You're talking about different pots of
:35:38. > :35:39.
:35:39. > :35:48.money. We pay out et% of our savings in the income pop. -- 80%.
:35:48. > :35:53.That is the one that we have had to make the big savings from. Just
:35:53. > :35:58.transfer the money. Let me finish. The other port is for capital
:35:58. > :36:04.projects. If you use all of that money to pay off your income, you
:36:04. > :36:07.will run out of that money and want be able to do roads, schools are
:36:07. > :36:12.buildings or anything like that. What will happen is that money will
:36:12. > :36:16.go and also you want be able to talk -- to top up your income. You
:36:16. > :36:22.will be back to square one and still have to make those cuts. That
:36:22. > :36:28.is not the way to run business. are behind with your cuts. You'll
:36:28. > :36:33.never get them done in three years. Where did you get that from?
:36:33. > :36:38.said that. We will get them through in three years. We're halfway
:36:38. > :36:42.through the year and we have met our targets. We are on target to
:36:42. > :36:50.meet those savings through three years for. The money which you are
:36:50. > :36:56.now spending, will it paid dividends in a decent amount of
:36:56. > :37:02.time as well? Absolutely. Nothing is so important in a county as its
:37:02. > :37:11.economy. We have to develop and support that in difficult times.
:37:11. > :37:16.The Government is changing how some of the business rates operate. It
:37:16. > :37:21.is really important we are developing businesses. That income
:37:22. > :37:27.that we get will help for development of highways and other
:37:27. > :37:31.things. It is investment in the future. Thank you very much.
:37:31. > :37:34.So, this is the last show of the year, and it is also the last ever
:37:34. > :37:37.Politics Show. When we thought about all the issues we have dealt
:37:37. > :37:40.with over the last eight years, we realised that the south of
:37:40. > :37:43.England's housing crisis has been a recurring theme. So we have raided
:37:43. > :37:48.the archive to see how much talk there has been and how little
:37:48. > :37:54.action. Welcome to Blenheim Palace. A
:37:54. > :38:01.magnificent backdrop for one of our first programmes. I was joined by a
:38:01. > :38:10.promising young MP. We were all looking a bit fresher in 2003. The
:38:10. > :38:15.following week, we came live from Reading. Among the 5th floor. Up
:38:15. > :38:22.here, one man does not just want his home improve, he needs a bigger
:38:22. > :38:31.family -- a bigger home for his family. Let's meet them. Alex is
:38:31. > :38:37.the father of 13 children. Three are living with you? Correct.
:38:37. > :38:41.me your kitchen. It is microwave meals. Back then, there were just
:38:41. > :38:48.under a third of a million people on the waiting list in the south-
:38:48. > :38:54.east. Now it is well over half a billion. This is an incredibly
:38:54. > :38:59.popular place to be. This is the green and pleasant land. The
:38:59. > :39:08.expected population by 2033 is expected to be over 10 million
:39:08. > :39:14.people. It is a growing problem for us to try and read that to demand.
:39:15. > :39:21.We are still discussing the numbers of homeless in 2006 with Preston
:39:21. > :39:26.who had given his big brother winnings to a night shelter. Five
:39:26. > :39:32.years ago, Will Self saw the dangers ahead. Since the 1980s, one
:39:32. > :39:37.of the economic motors has been the idea of home ownership. The rise in
:39:37. > :39:41.the value of bricks-and-mortar is arguably what has propelled one
:39:41. > :39:46.trillion pounds of consumer borrowing in this country. It is
:39:46. > :39:54.kind of heresy. With your views, you will not get far in government,
:39:54. > :40:00.I can assure you. My choice to keep out of the puddles was a park bench.
:40:00. > :40:05.Three years later, I took to the streets as the continue -- as the
:40:06. > :40:10.problem continued to get worse. have 3,500 households living in
:40:10. > :40:15.temporary accommodation. We don't have the right numbers of homes of
:40:15. > :40:21.the right type in the right place. Why have we -- why have we failed?
:40:21. > :40:26.Politicians have spoken about this. We have built some homes, but not
:40:27. > :40:28.enough in the right places. With me now is Martin Tod, former
:40:29. > :40:38.Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Winchester who now
:40:39. > :40:39.
:40:39. > :40:43.works for Shelter and leads the party's thinking on housing. It is
:40:43. > :40:48.shocking how the waiting list has grown over nine years. Do you think
:40:48. > :40:54.housing prices will have to fall before people can afford homes?
:40:54. > :40:58.Well, certainly the gap between earnings and house price is too
:40:58. > :41:04.wide. Either earnings will have to grow up or house prices will have
:41:04. > :41:09.to fall. We have a general of affordability problem, however. The
:41:09. > :41:15.cost of renting privately as well. There is a general squeeze which
:41:15. > :41:23.largely tracks to lack of enough houses for people to live in.
:41:23. > :41:29.targets did not really work. We tested the top down system to
:41:29. > :41:34.destruction. It did not seem to get the houses built that we needed.
:41:34. > :41:39.The new approach and the more incentive and local led approach is
:41:39. > :41:46.something which I hope will deliver a better result. Let's look at
:41:46. > :41:54.Winchester. They have just approved a 20 years strategy there for
:41:55. > :41:58.11,000 homes, 500 a year. It feels like the same old system.
:41:59. > :42:03.difference now is that that is a local decision and is open to
:42:03. > :42:07.scrutiny. It is not possible for local councils to pretend they want
:42:07. > :42:12.have an increase in population. The population gets older and families
:42:13. > :42:17.split up. You can't have a system where a local authority can decide
:42:17. > :42:20.they will not build houses even though the population increases.
:42:20. > :42:25.There is a requirement that the estimate for the area is well
:42:25. > :42:30.founded and based on an assessment of what the likely need is going to
:42:30. > :42:35.be. Don't developers have land with planning permissions? They just
:42:35. > :42:40.want the big estates. I have heard the planning argument is a bit of a
:42:40. > :42:44.fallacy. Well, I think nimbyism is real. If you have a house with a
:42:44. > :42:48.beautiful view, you want necessarily want a house built
:42:48. > :42:51.right in front of it. You have every right to try to stop that
:42:51. > :43:00.happening. In the past, developments have happened without
:43:00. > :43:10.enough roads being put in and without school places as well. But,
:43:10. > :43:15.
:43:15. > :43:21.it is getting rid of -- should we bring more second homes in to use?
:43:21. > :43:29.The Government has introduced a requirement regarding its second
:43:29. > :43:33.homes... It is very difficult at the moment. All of the economic
:43:33. > :43:38.crisis since the war have been caused by a housing crisis. There
:43:38. > :43:44.is something fairly fundamentally wrong. I think if we move away from
:43:44. > :43:49.the previous systems and we give incentives towards local
:43:49. > :43:53.communities for building, that is a step in the right direction. You
:43:53. > :44:00.can get money for bringing empty homes back into use, which is also
:44:00. > :44:03.good. That way, communities benefit. Although homeowners might be
:44:03. > :44:07.opposed to development in general, if they think the right
:44:07. > :44:11.infrastructure and support for the local area is put in place, they
:44:11. > :44:15.are more likely to support that development. Thank you very much.
:44:15. > :44:18.We will get you back in 10 years' time!
:44:18. > :44:21.This year, it seems the economic gloom is starting to affect our
:44:21. > :44:23.Christmas cheer. Some places in the South have been cancelling local
:44:23. > :44:33.Christmas traditions because of a lack of funds. But despite the
:44:33. > :44:39.
:44:39. > :44:43.cutbacks, there are a few angels MUSIC.
:44:43. > :44:47.Some towns and high streets are pulling out all the stops to get
:44:48. > :44:53.people feeling Christmas Day and spending money. -- feeling like
:44:53. > :44:58.Christmas. Southampton City Centre has been transformed into something
:44:59. > :45:04.of a winter Wonderland, with a German market, ice rink, Carousel
:45:04. > :45:07.and thousands of pounds worth of Christmas lights. But because we're
:45:07. > :45:14.in difficult Financial Times, some places are finding it harder than
:45:14. > :45:20.ever this year to get into the Christmas spirit.
:45:20. > :45:25.All I want for Christmas is you. Places like this near Portsmouth.
:45:25. > :45:30.Here, business owners decided not to pay for the Christmas lights to
:45:30. > :45:37.be erected. They said that after 12 years of bad business, the lights
:45:37. > :45:47.were not worth the money. But one person could not bear to see
:45:47. > :45:53.Christmas go by without them for. is in raised. I have grown up with
:45:53. > :45:59.Christmas lights. I decided that I wanted and put up. This councillor
:45:59. > :46:08.used his own money to put up the Christmas lights. This cost me
:46:08. > :46:14.�3,000. That is a lot of money. think of the pleasure I'll get from
:46:14. > :46:18.seeing people look at the Christmas lights. Nine of the traders would
:46:18. > :46:23.speak on camera about this. But they said that decorating a high
:46:23. > :46:31.street would not do much for business. But it does mean some
:46:31. > :46:41.thing to the local community. it gets dark, that looks quite
:46:41. > :46:46.nights. It lifts everybody's spirits. It has been a rubbish year.
:46:46. > :46:55.Some sparkle to everyone good. one has any money. Christmas is a
:46:55. > :47:00.bit on the dark side this year, I think. In Ringwood, there has been
:47:00. > :47:04.a Father Christmas parade it every year for 20 years. This year, when
:47:04. > :47:12.there was a lack of funds, a local farmer took on the running of it
:47:12. > :47:19.himself. I thought it would be a shame for the children. I went to
:47:20. > :47:24.the local shops and businesses and asked for �50. A lot of them did.
:47:24. > :47:30.Collectively, we now have enough money to run the event and we have
:47:30. > :47:36.some surplus which is going towards worthy children's causes. He says
:47:36. > :47:40.the parade will be even better than before. Christmas is often
:47:40. > :47:46.criticised for commercialism. Some argue our sense of tradition has
:47:46. > :47:49.faded. But when long-held traditions are taken away, it seems
:47:49. > :47:55.it is the nostalgia rather than commercial value that encourages
:47:55. > :48:02.people to Bryn them back. There are enough problems in the world at the
:48:02. > :48:12.moment for everyone to feel a bit glum at every day. One day of the
:48:12. > :48:14.
:48:14. > :48:24.year, at have some excitement. Let's lift ourselves up a bit.
:48:24. > :48:25.
:48:25. > :48:30.Let's take a hard headed economic look at this whole issue. Do people
:48:30. > :48:34.spend more when there are Christmas decorations up? It makes people
:48:34. > :48:44.happier and more relaxed. We have to remember what Christmas is all
:48:44. > :48:51.
:48:51. > :48:58.about. Money is short, however. People like to enjoy spending money.
:48:58. > :49:07.Just think of retail therapy. This is an important cultural time of
:49:07. > :49:14.year, but also for retail. Winchester is advertising on
:49:14. > :49:19.billboards in other towns because they have a Christmas market.
:49:19. > :49:23.of the problems we have is that people are reticent to spend money.
:49:23. > :49:28.There is always a danger that people overspend at Christmas.
:49:28. > :49:36.People always do. But the retail period over Christmas is very
:49:36. > :49:43.important. Many businesses make up to 50% of there profits in the run-
:49:43. > :49:47.up to Christmas. People are comfortable shopping in certain
:49:47. > :49:51.towns where they are used to shopping. But at Christmas and
:49:51. > :49:55.maybe there is a little bit of drift here and there. Maybe the
:49:55. > :50:01.biggest bit of truth is they will say they're not going to go
:50:01. > :50:08.shopping in the town and they will do it all on the internet. There
:50:08. > :50:13.are no Christmas lights online, are there? It is interesting the way
:50:13. > :50:17.people spend money on wine. You are at home, comfortable and the money
:50:17. > :50:21.tends to slip away as you fill up your shopping basket. But there is
:50:21. > :50:25.also the feeling you're getting better value, so you might spend
:50:25. > :50:33.more. And the overheads of many of the online businesses are much
:50:33. > :50:36.lower than high street, so there is a different pattern of profit. Most
:50:36. > :50:43.people do internet shopping in October and November because
:50:43. > :50:51.they're worried about the post. For the internet business -- businesses,
:50:51. > :50:58.a lot of their business has already been done. Remember that on a high
:50:58. > :51:03.street sales were down in November. They are now putting in a effort to
:51:03. > :51:13.pull people in. I think the bah, humbug thing will gradually grind
:51:13. > :51:14.