:00:45. > :00:50.In the Midlands, manufacturing Eagles economic recovery. Business
:00:50. > :00:54.warns of a skills crisis. In Shropshire, they are seeing red
:00:54. > :01:04.over green electricity. Powered over green electricity. Powered
:01:04. > :01:04.
:01:04. > :43:01.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2516 seconds
:43:01. > :43:06.Hello again from the Midlands. Teachers walkout on Thursday over
:43:06. > :43:15.pensions, and Unison threatened mass action in October over pay
:43:15. > :43:18.cuts. Where is the economic recovery led by us in the
:43:18. > :43:26.industrial heartlands? Some companies are doing spectacularly
:43:26. > :43:30.well. JCB diggers and Jaguar Land Rover are posting record profits.
:43:30. > :43:36.But chronic structural weaknesses remain, not least what some
:43:36. > :43:44.business leaders are calling a school crisis. It used to be that
:43:44. > :43:52.the skills of the workforce was one of our proudest boasts of -- boasts.
:43:52. > :43:59.So what has happened? We will be asking our guests. That is all
:43:59. > :44:04.coming up later. First of all, the drive to up-skill and re-skill our
:44:04. > :44:12.workforce for new jobs in new industries. I and 26 years old and
:44:12. > :44:19.I am a budding entrepreneur. I and 22, by graduate this year, and I am
:44:19. > :44:23.a fashion designer. I and 32 and I have set up my own fashion business.
:44:23. > :44:29.Three students at Birmingham City University on the verge of starting
:44:29. > :44:38.new businesses. It is not about education, education, education as
:44:38. > :44:46.is his -- as it is skills, skills, skills. When you go back, you are
:44:46. > :44:51.not just an academic, you are also employable. The University has
:44:51. > :44:56.launched an employable universe -- student programme. They have been
:44:56. > :45:02.working with businesses. My job is all about working with students to
:45:02. > :45:08.make sure they are developing satisfying careers. Helping it all
:45:08. > :45:12.is a former Midlands Business woman of the year. We are designing
:45:12. > :45:17.courses to meet their needs. We are getting a good response from the
:45:17. > :45:23.employers, and we are giving our youngsters the best chances of
:45:23. > :45:31.getting jobs. For many, this type of collaboration cannot come soon
:45:31. > :45:35.enough. Philip Oliver started this video-game company in his bedroom.
:45:35. > :45:41.Now it is one of the biggest in the world, employing 200 people in
:45:41. > :45:46.Leamington Spa. Everyone is screaming about the lack of IT
:45:46. > :45:49.qualified people. This is a nationwide problem. He is just back
:45:49. > :45:53.from Reed E3 Video Game Conference in Los Angeles, a showcase for the
:45:53. > :46:00.industry which is worth �250 million to the West Midlands
:46:00. > :46:04.economy. First, we have to inspire children to engage in IT.
:46:04. > :46:08.Technology is changing at such a pace that it is difficult for
:46:08. > :46:16.education to keep up with that. By the time they have written the
:46:16. > :46:21.curriculum, the industry has moved on. The interest -- they have to be
:46:21. > :46:27.more adaptable. Several businesses have taken part in a survey that
:46:27. > :46:32.the chamber of commerce is calling a skills crisis. Many employers
:46:32. > :46:38.said that they found jobs were difficult to fill. Particularly in
:46:38. > :46:42.IT. There are still complaints about standards of Britain and
:46:42. > :46:46.spoken English, and the key demand is for investment in training at
:46:46. > :46:50.all levels. The skills shortages, for many businesses, is a real
:46:50. > :46:55.crisis to them, and what the government should be doing, as it
:46:55. > :47:04.ploughs billions of pounds into the education sector, is to ask the
:47:04. > :47:09.education sector to be more adaptable to the needs of
:47:09. > :47:15.businesses. We need to balance the demand side of the supply-side.
:47:15. > :47:23.is the -- so here is the headline. UK suffers skill shortage. This
:47:23. > :47:33.headline was from 2000. 11 years ago. Politicians are are under
:47:33. > :47:33.
:47:33. > :47:39.renewed pressure to change it. Has the education system be paying up
:47:39. > :47:42.to now? If you look in this area, I am told we have 200,000 people who
:47:42. > :47:47.have no qualifications. Something has gone wrong. The government has
:47:47. > :47:57.talked of a need for a skills revolution. What business is saying
:47:57. > :48:02.
:48:02. > :48:09.is that the time for talking is Applications close this week for
:48:09. > :48:16.the second wave of government enterprise zones after the ones in
:48:16. > :48:24.Blackburn and Birmingham. -- in the Black Country. So to our guests.
:48:24. > :48:29.The Labour MP for Dudley North, in Austin, chairs a new MPs' committee
:48:29. > :48:39.to try and get our region competing effectively in this fast-changing
:48:39. > :48:39.
:48:39. > :48:44.world. So too has Laurie Lee Burke, and Chris Kelly. Ian Austin, you
:48:44. > :48:48.are one of a number of members of this committee who is going to be
:48:48. > :48:53.meeting fines cable tomorrow. What are the sort of arguments are you
:48:53. > :48:58.going to be making? As we saw in the film, we space major challenges
:48:58. > :49:03.in this region. We have seen lots of people doing well, but we face
:49:03. > :49:12.big talent is still. We have more at the end our fest Chef of
:49:12. > :49:16.problems. We need better standards in schools and colleges and
:49:16. > :49:23.universities. We need more apprentices, and we need more
:49:23. > :49:27.investments. The West Midlands has seen a 75 % increase in
:49:27. > :49:33.apprenticeships since the coalition came in. They are getting in where
:49:33. > :49:40.your government failed to go. choose to be 60,000 apprentices.
:49:40. > :49:44.Now we have four times that. We had the best performing apprentices
:49:44. > :49:50.here in the West Midlands. I do not want to strike a party political
:49:51. > :49:56.note. I want to see the new government do it as well. Are you
:49:56. > :50:01.doing it? Yes, absolutely. We smashed our target on
:50:01. > :50:04.apprenticeships. That is going great. What we need, I think, is a
:50:04. > :50:08.closer relationship between business and our educational
:50:08. > :50:12.providers to make sure that they are in tune with providing the
:50:12. > :50:18.skills that we need to enable business to continue on its
:50:18. > :50:23.trajectory. There was a suggestion that there was a disconnect between
:50:23. > :50:28.what is coming out of the education system and what businesses want,
:50:28. > :50:33.which may be seen as a sorry commentary on many years of
:50:33. > :50:37.compulsory schooling to age 16. might be, but we have the local
:50:37. > :50:41.enterprise partnerships working now. Their objective is to represent the
:50:41. > :50:44.interests of business, and they will be consulted on all aspects of
:50:44. > :50:49.educational policy, to make sure that we get the right people in the
:50:49. > :50:55.right jobs. Are the enterprise partnerships working? There was a
:50:55. > :51:00.lot of concern went your government round-up the investment agencies.
:51:00. > :51:09.The Black Country is doing a fantastic job. They hit the ground
:51:09. > :51:14.running. I think it is really working, and having business people
:51:15. > :51:22.on board in a way that it was not achieved before his fallible for
:51:22. > :51:30.the economy. Let me bring in what one of our tumours said. What are
:51:30. > :51:36.the role - for what is the role of the university's? Wolverhampton
:51:36. > :51:41.University in the Black Country has very good links with the programme.
:51:41. > :51:45.They are the universities with other specialist areas. We have
:51:45. > :51:52.technology and innovation centres as well which brings together the
:51:52. > :51:59.technology we need to get the business together with the clever
:51:59. > :52:03.brains of universities. Another duet says that science and
:52:03. > :52:08.engineering departments should be funded to provide mentoring
:52:08. > :52:18.services. We need more businesses coming through than that -- like
:52:18. > :52:18.
:52:18. > :52:25.that can be -- computer games business. This is a serious issue.
:52:25. > :52:30.If you are a struggling small business, you want to bring in
:52:31. > :52:40.graduates. Universities and businesses should form big links,
:52:41. > :52:46.
:52:46. > :52:54.and I am not sure MPs he, with the resources they have... There is
:52:54. > :53:00.further funding coming for the schemes. Every area is well
:53:00. > :53:10.represented and fully resourced. this scale crisis, what a terrible
:53:10. > :53:11.
:53:11. > :53:14.irony it would be, if Jaguar Land Rover was to set a plant in the
:53:14. > :53:20.Black Country. The test would be whether it sucked in people from
:53:20. > :53:30.elsewhere. We should have an ambition for the mess with -- West
:53:30. > :53:36.Midlands. We want to beat the West Midlands to be the biggest increase
:53:36. > :53:46.in skills. In your government, we saw education, education, education.
:53:46. > :53:46.
:53:46. > :53:51.Still we have under skilled people. We made a big improvement in
:53:51. > :53:56.schools standards, but to be doing enough? No. We need to do more.
:53:56. > :54:01.are working as one to make sure whatever policy we come up with is
:54:01. > :54:06.going to be the best for growth in the West Midlands. Are you stack --
:54:06. > :54:16.happy with standards of academia? Some of the employers have been
:54:16. > :54:18.
:54:18. > :54:25.talking about basic English. thing I am most disappointed about
:54:25. > :54:31.is the fundamentals. It is an absolutely vital first step to
:54:31. > :54:37.taking on an apprenticeship. 200,000 people in the West Midlands
:54:37. > :54:42.have no qualifications whatsoever. None at all. How worrying is that?
:54:42. > :54:46.That is shocking. I think it underlines why we should set for
:54:46. > :54:52.our Regent the addition to set the biggest increase in school
:54:52. > :54:55.standards. Some good things are happening now. I have said in the
:54:55. > :54:59.interaction the you are setting aside your party political
:54:59. > :55:04.differences to do this. His is a nicety, of are you genuinely
:55:04. > :55:11.meaningless? Are you really working together? Absolutely. We really do.
:55:11. > :55:21.We have had meetings with pins cable, we really do, all of us, a
:55:21. > :55:30.have our roots and the West Midlands background at the fore.
:55:30. > :55:34.have concerns about some policies. But we have a different government.
:55:34. > :55:39.We are in opposition. There are things that the government are
:55:39. > :55:43.bringing forward, and I have to make sure that I get the best but I
:55:43. > :55:47.can thought he will I represent. the West Midlands, the
:55:47. > :55:51.Conservatives and Liberal Democrats won a majority of seats, so it it
:55:51. > :55:59.is a our programme, but it is right that Labour have worked together
:55:59. > :56:09.with us. Think you're very much indeed. -- thank you. You can join
:56:09. > :56:20.
:56:20. > :56:25.As if delivering the economic recovery wasn't enough, the
:56:25. > :56:29.government are coupling it to their green revolution. Lower carbon
:56:29. > :56:35.emissions and greener energy. Plans for green electricity have made
:56:35. > :56:38.some people in Shropshire see red. If controversial plans to see eight
:56:38. > :56:47.Super will wind farms go ahead in Wales, National Grid would want to
:56:47. > :56:50.connect them to their network via a series of pylons through Shropshire.
:56:50. > :56:55.With our ageing generation of coal- fired power stations nearing the
:56:55. > :57:05.end of their lives, how to reconcile the demand for renewable
:57:05. > :57:09.
:57:09. > :57:14.sources with the desire to protect These are the unspoilt views in
:57:14. > :57:19.Shropshire. Jim Murray has lived here for 25 years. They are now
:57:19. > :57:25.worried that their rural idyll could be ruined for ever. There are
:57:25. > :57:28.plans to build a high-voltage pylons through here. The reason
:57:28. > :57:35.people live here, and big reason why people come to visit is the
:57:35. > :57:40.fact that it is totally and utterly unspoiled, ancient countryside. We
:57:40. > :57:47.have been guardians of this area for many other people. Many people
:57:47. > :57:52.in the West Midlands use this place as their area where they come and
:57:52. > :57:59.regenerate and feel at peace, and if we do not save it, it will not
:57:59. > :58:06.be there for them. National Grid is looking at constructing a, to take
:58:06. > :58:14.energy generated by wind farms in Wales through took their customers
:58:14. > :58:18.in Oswestry and Shrewsbury. There are -- they are building a sub-
:58:18. > :58:23.station in Cefn Coch or Abermule. It could mean miles and miles of 50
:58:23. > :58:26.metre high pylons. Communities in Shropshire are united in their
:58:26. > :58:31.opposition to their plans, but it will not be until late in the year
:58:31. > :58:35.when the battle really gets under way. That is when the National Grid
:58:35. > :58:40.will unveil their preferred sub- station and route through the
:58:40. > :58:43.network. The worst-case scenario would be pylons. They would prefer
:58:43. > :58:52.to see underground cables. National Grid has said that no decision has
:58:52. > :59:02.been made as yet. Our estimates are 1.6 billion -- �1.6 million per,
:59:02. > :59:02.
:59:02. > :59:09.tut. The estimate for -- �1.6 million per kilometre or. It is
:59:09. > :59:15.considerably more with underground cables. Many people questioned
:59:15. > :59:24.those figures. The cost of all this falls on the consumer, which is
:59:24. > :59:27.every one of us. We all use electricity. I don't think that in
:59:27. > :59:31.land wind farms are the solution. We need to take a big breath and
:59:32. > :59:41.look at what is out there, and review the policy, and that is what
:59:41. > :59:45.I hope will come out of this. is anger in Wales too. Now, the
:59:45. > :59:54.Welsh First Minister wants to cap the number of developments would go
:59:54. > :59:59.ahead. If we stick to the limits in Tan 8, it will limit the amount of
:59:59. > :00:06.electricity they will produce. In Shropshire, that will solve a lot
:00:06. > :00:12.of our worries. There's also worries about flooding and so forth.
:00:12. > :00:18.It is a step in the right direction. Some of the county's politicians
:00:18. > :00:28.will be meeting national grid in the next few weeks. But for now,
:00:28. > :00:31.
:00:32. > :00:37.people in England and Wales face an It is ironic, isn't it, but in the
:00:37. > :00:42.name of environmentally friendly electricity, but we do threaten the
:00:42. > :00:47.lovely environment there? speaking -- speaking personally, I
:00:47. > :00:55.think there's a certain beauty to wind farms, but by... Not everyone
:00:55. > :01:00.agrees with you! There has been a chorus of protest. I am more
:01:00. > :01:05.concerned about the pylons. They are ugly, they too stretched across
:01:05. > :01:09.the countryside, and you do see them across our countryside. If
:01:09. > :01:13.there were an alternative way to carry that electricity, I think
:01:13. > :01:18.that would be good. Hearing Keith Barrow there, the Conservative
:01:18. > :01:23.leader of Trott Chick Council, he says he is not can stir --
:01:23. > :01:30.convinced about wind farms. He is crying out for a policy lead from
:01:30. > :01:34.the government. We have been indicated that from our policy bill.
:01:34. > :01:44.That is not a leader from the government. We are in parrying
:01:44. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:50.position -- empowering people to make decisions for themselves.
:01:50. > :01:55.Underground cabling is an expensive process to go through as well. When
:01:55. > :02:02.money is tight, these expensive options may not be always possible.
:02:03. > :02:08.I suppose, thinking back to our early conversation, we might get
:02:08. > :02:17.West Midlands industries making the wind farms! There is a business in
:02:17. > :02:25.our constituency making ball- bearings for the wind turbines. If
:02:25. > :02:30.we get colleges and universities working with us, we can help.
:02:30. > :02:35.will continue this conversation another time. Just a reminder as we