10/07/2011 The Politics Show West

As the last ever edition of the In the South West, calls for a

crackdown on second homes. We ask, is it time to end discounts for

second-home owners. And the skipper has to fear at

their lively mood it is going to get sung by new fishing policy. --

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2364 seconds

Welcome to the Politics Show in the South West. The subject of second

homes is an emotive one in rural areas. Now the government is being

asked to end the cancelled discount on second homes. Calls come from

Cornwall, a county with one of the largest numbers of second homes in

the country. They ate... He helped to set up his

housing development of three years ago. The funding came from central

government. Now he says the funding is drying up. That is why on

Tuesday, to a soul Cornwall council, he proposed to abolish the 10 %

council discount to second-home owners, and use that new revenue to

provide homes for local people. is one of our main priorities, the

delivery of affordable homes in Cornwall. There is a high level of

deprivation, and the second home situation has exacerbated the

prices of homes in Cornwall. And we need to do something about it. With

government cuts, it is essential that we find another revenue source

to provide these homes for local people. The law states councils

must offer as second homes discount between 50 and 10 %, as no one

lives there on a permanent basis. Local authorities have discretion

to set the level. Most councils in the South West have chosen the

minimum. Cornwall Council voted unanimously that second term

discounts should be removed, and they have christened the Eric

Pickles calling for change. If it gets the go ahead, owning a second

property could cost the owner roughly another 100 to �300 per

year in council tax. Probably the lack of affordable housing for

people who have grown up in the area, I do not see why people who

are lucky enough to be able to afford a second home should have

the advantage of a subsidy. Local people cannot afford them, it is

difficult. I am all for it. People who live locally do not have a

chance to get at home. They should -- should they pay poll council tax

if they are not here all the time? I do not know. There are currently

nearly 14.002nd homes in Cornwall, this hamlet in the South West of

the county has just over per -- 50 % of its houses owned a second

homes. If they are also lead as holiday accommodation. It will also

be difficult for us, but we support local people. I know it is

difficult for them to get housing in the area. And I am sympathetic

to that. I think there could be some reassurance that it would go

to a pot that was for local people, if that was there I would have no

problem. Are I would like to reassure second homeowners this is

not about grabbing money, it is about using a potential source of

revenue to provide a facility that we really need so badly here in

Cornwall. I tried to find more second home owners, but it seems

that most were away at their first home. At one resident he used to

holiday in the area and has now retired and moved to her favourite

spot for thinks more should be done to help the local community.

think people should contribute more to helping the true local people,

he cannot afford a housing because there are so many second owners and

that has raised the prices. I would say may be over the odds, more than

the normal council tax, would not come amiss, especially in an area

like this that is struggling financially. In Devon, the

suggestion that of a higher charges is not higher -- enough for some

councillors. I would like to take more steps, raised it to 200 %,

raised in the region of �8 million. With that, you can invest in rural

public transport, buses, local hospitals, and also in affordable

housing for young, working families. Removing the discount is

complicated. Without it, councils risk losing second home owners. It

could also cause them to claim business rates instead. Off all

council has sent a strong message to the government this week, but it

may take a lot more than that to persuade Parliament to change the

law. At Westminster, I caught up with

Alison Seabeck and Oliver Cole bill. Asked Alison Seabeck about the

labour's changes to the log. I wanted to know why it had not given

the power to scrap it altogether. Do labour government pitched up

their council tax from 50 % to 90 %. The 10 % was there as an incentive,

because frankly, the 100 %, you would find people coming up with

all kinds of dodgers. It was Amin's and a mechanism of ensuring as many

people as possible were actually almost about the fact that they

owned a second home. And if you raised it to 100 % there is a

gemConcern -- genuine concern, people are adamant that 10 % oz

make a difference to the fact that people owned up and to pay. We

pitched it up by 40 %. But we needed the 10 % to encourage people

to own up. That seems persuasive of. I think local authorities are under

a huge amount of pressure financially, and I think they will

be looking to make ends meet however they can. I suspect there

will be some pressure on them doing it, and I think we should be

allowing them to decide what they want to do themselves. That is all

part of the local authority agenda, the more powers we can give them

which are discretionary, the better decisions they can make. Ultimately,

it is up to the local people when they vote to save what they have --

whether they are happy with what they have ended up with or not. I

do not think it is a very big problem. What I think local

authorities should be doing is trying to make sure they develop a

more coherent and bigger business days. There are measures coming up

where they will be able to keep some of that money. So they should

be able to get rid of the discount? Yes, if it is what they want to do.

But I think there will be a case where the local up what -- the ball

may not be happy with that. Even if it makes it difficult to identify

second homes? It should not be difficult to do so. That is the way

in which we should allow local authorities to make up their own

minds. Another way of identifying second homes would be to increase

their council tax. Some Liberal Democrats are calling for that.

increase it to 100 %? To double it? We are into localism, aren't we.

Local authorities will have to make decisions about the things they

want to do. However, the government has been clear that they do not

expect council tax to rise. So local authorities are damned if

they do and damned if they do not! Is issued is a lot more about the

housing crisis than second home owners. You are government has

abandoned house building targets, it has cut the social housing

budget. But you still have ambitions? We are using the carrot

rather than the stick approach. Central government under the labour

Party set targets that local authorities had to try to achieve.

That did not work. The problem therefore is how we get the local

authorities to bring forward housing development. And by

allowing them to retain more of their council tax taking from the

new homes, I hope that that is going to work well, and people will

be encouraged to do so. In Plymouth, my constituency, there has been a

large amount of campaigning to make sure they develop more housing in

this city. I very much hope local authorities will take the incentive

to meet some of the expenditure they need to make. It is a big

ideological issues. Did you a stick approach fail, where their cat --

carrot approach can work? We did not fail, we got a lot of housing

development, it was going in the right direction. It has now dropped

completely, partly because of the recession but partly because of

measures this government have taking. They have continued to

decline, Eric Pickles -- Eric Pickles's own letter showed quite

clearly he did not expect to build the number of homes they had

anticipated. I think that is damning. It is not just labour,

other people are concerned that you will not get these houses built.

got elected on a promise that we would allow local authorities to

make much more decisions. And we were clear as to how we would do

that, I very much hope it will work and we just need to make sure that

it does happen. We will have to leave it there. Thank you very much

for your time. Fisher men from around the South

West are warning that plans to reform the inshore fishing fleet

could force them out of business. Owners of small boats are worried

about the introduction of a new quota system which they say could

see them lose out to bigger vessels. They pride themselves on their

traditional way or fishing. Using small boats, they catch fish within

a small distance of the shore. The size of their vessels mean that

today, they are unable to go out to sea. They were freed from

government restrictions, but planned reforms will mean quit his

which they say could finish them. We believe that the way fishing is

carried out here secures long-term future is, it is highly sustainable,

and we see no reason for quotas to impinge on small boat Fischer's

like this. Overfishing is not in question. What is in question is a

way of life for a community, and all that that means to people here

and in similar places around the coast. Under the plans, the

government wants small vessels to have a new quotas. The idea is that

the Community quotas are set up and decided on at a local level, the

aim being to enable local businesses do manage their overall

quotas flexibly, and to provide opportunities to swap and purchase

them. But the basis for deciding the quota will be the individual

track records of what each boat caught between 2007 and 2010. As

system which smaller Fisher men at the same is not fair, because it

will restrict them to match. day, we might be for three or four

different species. For some of those do not come under the quota

system at the moment, and some do. What we are concerned about is that

the reference period which is being taken, some of us will not have

enough of the species which come under the quota do actually make a

sustainable living when they come in. This Fisher men feel

politicians in Westminster do not understand the way they work. But

the Fisheries Minister says they will try to come up with a solution.

Fisher men were encouraged to diversify away from the pressures

stocks, those which are under pressure. As many of them did. We

want to make sure that they are not penalised under this system,

because they are now going into fishing for shellfish or other

stocks that are not so environmentally under pressure. So

we have a very difficult calculation to make. But if we get

it right, we believe that at the smaller fleet will be able to

access more fishing opportunity. Bass is really important. St Ives

MP Andrew George is worried about the changes. He has met with Fisher

men from around his constituency, and is hoping to take a delegation

to see this fishing minister. He is keen to highlight the differences

between the bigger and smaller boats. You have the problem of what

are known as a rule beaters, the very powerful bodes that I just

within the length, and those needs to be taken out of the system as

treated quite differently. That is on the basis of their power and

their size. Then you have to ensure that there is reasonable

flexibility, so that the insurer industry can operate in a manner

which is actually able to catch the fish that passed by their front

door, as it were. But the minister insists reform is needed to give

the inshore fleet a fairer deal. the moment, we have a situation

where the inshore fleet fish out of a pool of quota of. So effectively,

they get the scraps from the system. We want to treat them like every

other fish are Man by giving them the opportunity to hold a quarter

in their own right, and still exploit more opportunities to fish.

And this requires accurately assessing what they have done in

recent years, and apportioning it in a fairway. Hopefully, if we get

this right, they will be able to catch more fish. His department is

evaluating responses to a recent consultation, with a view to

bringing in changes next year. Ben Bradshaw challenge the MP --

the Prime Minister it is weak over the takeover of BSkyB. He

questioned assurances that the Government was following the

correct legal process at a time when News International says

allegations of phone hacking. simply not the case that the

government has followed the normal process in relation to the News

Corporation takeover of BSkyB. Wider as the believe the assurances

that News Corporation executives have given are any more credible

than the assurances they gave over phone hacking? The point is that we

have followed the correct legal processes, and if you do not follow

them he will be judicially reviewed, and all the decisions you would

like to make from a political point of view will be struck down in the

courts. You look pretty for one day but useless for a week. Adrian

Sanders added his voice to those questioning the ability of the

Press Complaints Commission to regulate the newspaper industry. It

was part of a wider concern over the way that a hacking scandal has

been handled. At 2007 inquiry elicited a response from News

International that they had carried out a full inquiry themselves and

were satisfied that the case was isolated. This was patently untrue.

Our second inquiry came across more obstacles. They refused to present

evidence. What was more worrying was the attitude to all Scotland

World -- yard. I come back to the point I made today, but we cannot

have confidence in the Metropolitan Police investigating this. We can

only have confidence in a full judicial inquiry was adjudged he

can take promises under oath, as questions under oath, and seek

papers and witnesses. We desperately need that inquiry.

The plight of Plymouth Argyle Football Club was also raised in

the Commons. The club has a new owner, but MPs want to prevent

other clubs falling into administration and not being able

to pay their staff. Plymouth Argyle are hoping to get

back to normal with their new owner and new players. But MPs want

lessons to be learned. I do not want to see another club go through

this. And I'm sure there best-known supporter, Michael's that, will be

turning in his grave. In deed, I am pleased he is not here to see what

has happened as the misery that has been heaped on loyal staff and

supporters. Their employees should never have been put in a position.

The directors behaved in an irresponsible manner. They thought

they could use their club to make money for themselves through a

property deal. Staff and players have not been paid since the club

got into financial difficulty. One proposal local MPs would like to

see taken on is an insurance policy, paid into by the clubs. It would

pay wages when a club hits a financial crisis. I do find it

astonishing that, given the amount of money which circulates at the

top of that ball, clubs which in some cases use the lower division

clubs as a nursery, that some contribution could not come from

them to support the ground staff when this kind of circumstance

arises. The Minister felt it was for the football authorities to see

whether rules should be titled. -- tightened. Clubs have to take

greater responsibility, and supporters should not have to bail

out the club because of bad financial management by owners and

directors. So, the stark reality is that, for any company or

organisation, not least a Football Club, emerging successfully from

administration will be both painful and difficult. The focused must be

on doing all it is possible to avoid clubs getting into that kind

of problem in the first place. The hope and expectation is that, as

part of the wider process of the inquiries and recommendations, the

football authorities will take steps to deal with such challengers

themselves. MPs say they will be watching closely to make sure that

happens. Some parliamentary news from

Brussels, where Giles Chichester has been elected a vice-president

of the European Parliament. As well as chairing debates, he will have

special responsibilities in several areas. He says he thinks he will

take on many of the same roles his predecessor held. That is all from