BBC - View from the Trent

Moving to a new political home

2011-04-13T12:02:13Z

My new-style page on the BBC News website

They say a change is as good as a rest.

So for regular readers, here's a new address for you. My View from the Trent blog in its current form is ending, and is moving to a much improved home.

It'll be found on a new-look page on the BBC News site.

It will feature all the material and features you've been used to from my blog on the political scene from Westminster and closer to home in the East Midlands.

Here's the link to the new page.

The new photograph is pretty scary, but I hope the features and political background stories will continue to keep you posted.

Eleven candidates to contest Leicester's Mayoral election

2011-04-07T13:08:29Z

At Leicester's Walkers Stadium, the former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson certainly knows his football tactics and the mind games involved in selecting his best eleven players for Leicester City.

But imagine having to chose just ONE out of a team of eleven to put Leicester at the top of a different league table. That's the challenge facing the voters in this city.

Labour's Sir Peter Soulsby is one of eleven candidates wanting to be chosen as Leicester's first ever directly elected mayor. He stood down as one of the city's MPs to enter the mayoral race. But why would an ambitious politician - elected to Parliament - want to return to local town hall politics?

"Leicester will be the largest city outside London to have an elected mayor, and it'll be an even bigger job and challenge than being an MP," he told me.

"That challenge now is to secure the right conditions for the economy to create the jobs and prosperity of the future. And that requires partnership working. The role of the mayor is the key."

So the voters of Leicester will be deciding on the person to run the city council for the next four years and its annual budget of £1bn.

The Conservative Party candidate is city councillor Ross Grant. If he wins, he's to hold a referendum on whether the people of Leicester actually want a mayor. He argues it's a vote Labour denied the city, even if that means he could be booted out of office.

"There's a real problem of one person having so much power and just using it in a way that many people wouldn't agree with. There doesn't seem to be any checks and balances in place," he says.

Mayor Tony Egginton - the only directly elected Mayor left in the Midlands

It was such concerns that led the voters of Stoke-on-Trent to scrap the whole system in a referendum three years ago, despite being the first city in the Midlands to opt for an elected Mayor. Now Mansfield's Tony Egginton, an Independent, is the only directly elected Mayor left in the Midlands. He's seeking a third term in office.

Businessman Rick Moore is standing as a non-party independent in Leicester. A city magistrate and a development consultant, he's an influential business leader.

"As someone who's never been involved in politics, I think a brand new approach is needed in this city. We need to re-engage with business."

The Lib Dem's mayoral candidate Gary Hunt is also highlighting the importance of promoting business. Much of the city's smaller enterprises supply the bigger high street clothing stores and he wants more council contracts awarded to local businesses.

"Most of our contracts with the city council are given out to multi-national companies and we can change that by giving it to local business and that would create jobs," he says.

This mayoral contest is certainly making news. I met a group of Leicester youngsters who produce a newspaper called The Wave. They've got an exclusive... an interview with the youngest mayoral candidate, an 18 year-old A-Level student Mu-Hamid Pathan. He already represents Leicester in the UK Youth Parliament and is also standing an an independent.

"I want to attract the young people in the 18 to 25 age group who don't usually go out to vote. I want them to feel part of the political system. They feel disenfranchised."

What's not clear for the voters is the mayoral salary that goes with the job. It may be around £65,000, which is in line with an MP's annual wage. But that has yet to be decided, and that's likely to become another issue in this fascinating election.

*Listen to BBC Radio Leicester's live mayoral debate next Wednesday - 13 April - from 7pm and on BBC One for the East Midlands, on Thursday after Question Time.

Here's the full list of candidates:

Regine Anderson, UKIP
David Bowley, Independent
Farma Mohinder, United for Peace & Socialism
Geoff Forse, Green Party
Ross Grant, Conservative Party
Gary Hunt, Liberal Democrat
Rick Moore, Independent
Nima Patel, Independent
Mu-Hamid Pathan, Independent
Sir Peter Soulsby, Labour Party
Lee Sowden, Independent

Tying the Notts for Ed Miliband and Justine's big wedding day venue

2011-04-01T10:13:13Z

Labour Leader Ed Miliband with partner Justine Thornton and their second child Samuel Miliband

You don't expect to come across Labour Party canvassers arriving on the doorstep of Langar Hall. This comfortable, rural corner of south Nottinghamshire is Ken Clarke country. Conservative votes tend to be weighed here.

But it'll soon be opening its doors to welcome the Labour leader Ed Miliband with fraternal... and matrimonial greetings in May.

He's to marry Justine Thornton, his long term partner and mother of his young two children. She was brought up in south Nottinghamshire and chose Langar Hall for the wedding. It's not far from Nottingham and the home where she was brought up.

A very modern marriage - Ed Miliband and partner Justine Thornton

But what exactly can they expect? Langar Hall is smart. The 19th Century house was built on the site of a former medieval castle. It specialises in low key weddings. But you can't get much higher profile politically than the nuptials of a new Labour party leader.

The couple will be in good company since former guests have included the movie actress Keira Knightley, the Archbishop of Canterbury and a visiting English cricket team for previous Trent Bridge Test Matches.

Langar's owner Imogen Skirving is delighted the couple have chosen her hideaway.

"When you come down the avenue of lime trees to the hall, you are in a completely other world. This is a little island of tranquillity," she says.

The wedding is likely to be small scale. Langar's manager Pascal Bouyssounouse will have the job of making sure the couple have their special day.

"They want the occasion to be a small family event. So we'll work with their plans for it to be more private and intimate," he said.

There'll be around 50 guests at the wedding... with probably twice as many reporters and photographers outside.

And like the Royal Wedding, finalising that wedding guest list may turn out to be something of a political headache.

PM gets Enterprise Zone off on right tracks in Nottingham

2011-03-24T16:15:05Z

Cameron, Clegg and the council

Is it kiss and make up for David Cameron and Nottingham's Labour leaders?

They've had a running war of words over Coalition-ordered spending cuts and who is really being transparent about budgets. Now it seems to be all smiles... for the moment.

The Prime Minister and the Deputy PM Nick Clegg were in Nottingham to kick-start the first wave of Enterprise Zones, those designated areas to encourage the next generation of Dragons' Den entrepreneurs.

David Cameron's visit coincided with the government's blessing and substantial cash for the extension of the city's much heralded modern tram network.

The Prime Minister said the overall running costs of the two new lines to the south and west of the city will be shared: the government is putting in £35m, with the city council having to find another £14m.

Nottingham's fund raiser is its controversial work place parking levy. It's being introduced in April 2012.

Businesses with more than 10 employees will be charged initially £279 a year for each office parking space. Within three years, the levy will rise to £364. Most firms plan to pass on the cost to their employees who drive to work.

But council staff are losing their free parking perk a year ahead of the new levy and will have to pay for their car spaces within days... and that's causing anger. There's even talk of industrial action.

"We're very irate about it," says Chris Needham of the GMB union.

"Above all, it's the unfairness of low paid workers being used as guinea pigs and having to pay 2.1% of their earnings even before this parking levy becomes official."

But the Labour politician in charge of Nottingham's transport policy, Councillor Jane Urquhart, says don't blame the tram scheme... and points to the impact of the Coalition's spending cuts on local government.

"The reason we are bringing it in a year early is because of the difficult financial circumstances the council's facing. We weighed up the options between making more people redundant or whether this charge could be a better way to avoid cutting jobs," she told me.

Nottingham University is one of the city's largest public sector employers... with 6,500 on its payroll. Its parking levy has been estimated at £3/4m.

Those clever academic brains have come up with a parking levy charge that's based on the size of your pay packet and car engine.

Says the university's Pro Vice-chancellor Alan Dodson: "A member of the staff on the lowest salary driving a 'greener' engine car will pay about £50 a year and someone at the top end driving a gas-guzzler will pay nearly £500 a year. That's seems so much fairer."

Boots, the city's largest private employer, has been implacably opposed to the levy since it was first proposed 10 years ago. A site near its huge factory complex is to be one of the government's new Enterprise Zones.

Boots maintains the levy is a tax on business and won't necessarily encourage the individual car user to use public transport instead.

The Conservatives in Nottingham agree, and with city council elections this May, the Tories are campaigning to scrap the levy.

"We are fighting for every single job out there," says Cllr Andrew Price, the leader of the
Conservative group on Nottingham City Council.

"Our city's got limited amounts of land and new businesses might be tempted to set up just outside the city boundary to avoid paying the parking levy. That will be a loss to the city and a cost to hard pressed council tax payers."

The Chancellor talked of his budget driving the economy ahead. Nottingham's ambitious tram project is seen by Labour as key to that economic revival locally.

The Lib Dems too say the levy is the only practical way of cushioning its cost. The tram network now carries an estimated 10 million passenger journeys each year. The city has been applauded internationally for its integrated transport thinking. But it's the motorists through the work place parking levy who'll have to pay for most it.

Says Jane Urquhart: "The government is willing to invest a very large sum of money in Nottingham, and in Nottingham's future, but we think for our contribution, the levy is the way ahead. It's crucial for the tram."

From June, like a modern Domesday Book, the process starts of finding out where and how many office parking space will require registering with the city council.

Like the tram, the levy's arrival is unlikely to be late.

Voters of Leicester South now facing four elections

2011-03-18T12:12:25Z

Booths and ballots - voters could experience quad vision

Oh, to be in Leicester South this Spring. Not content with one election this May, the constituency's lucky voters are to have four elections on the same day!

That means four separate ballot forms to elect city councillors, a city Mayor, the AV referendum on changing the voting system... and now, there'll be a parliamentary by-election too.

It's a fascinating constituency. Leicester's main sporting venues are in Leicester South. It's also home to the city's two universities. One of De Montfort University's senior political lecturers, Allister Jones, can't believe his luck.

"Four elections in Leicester South, three for the rest of the city. It's unprecedented and really fascinating," he told me.

It's the decision of Labour MP Sir Peter Soulsby to stand down to run as Leicester's Mayor that's given the voters of Leicester South the prospect of four elections on the same day.

It's prompted memories of the Leicester South by-election six years ago and a sensational Lib Dem triumph. City councillor Parmjit Singh Gill took the seat off Labour with an eye-watering 21% swing.

But will the voters - especially the students of Leicester South - back the Lib Dems this time round?

Says Allister Jones: "The students make up 20% of the voting population and they could have a profound influence on the whole outcome."

Ask many students here how they'll vote... and there seems little to cheer for the Lib Dems.

One second year politics student told me: "As a person who voted Liberal Democrat, I am not very happy. I will be voting differently this time and it certainly won't be for the Coalition."

One third of the constituency's population is of Asian background. The Iraq war dominated the last by-election in 2004 with the Lib Dems winning over much of the sizeable Muslim vote. Community leader and author Suleman Nagdi says the issue is now the economy.

"I think employment is the single biggest factor that affects all of us. Health and education are in the background, but people's immediate concerns are losing their jobs."

That's a particular concern in Eyres Monsall and Aylestone, two of the big predominantly white council estates in the south of the constituency.

"There you will soon see the huge impact of the Coalition's spending cuts. People are losing public services and it's these people who'll be hurt the most," adds Allister Jones.

On the other side of the constituency, there are the affluent suburbs of Knighton and Stoneygate.

"For the Lib Dems to do well in Leicester South, they'll need to get their core voters out from these particular wards, but the Tories will be breathing down their necks."

There's another novelty for Leicester South's voters. The Leicester Tigers rugby club is one of the best known landmarks in the constituency and for the first time, it's being used as the count for all four elections.

Inside, overlooking the counting staff and politicians, there'll be the sparking silverware of the Leicester Tigers magnificent trophy cabinet... but which party will get the lion's share of this particular election scrum?

George Osborne says Derby, not Nottingham, leads the way

2011-03-08T11:06:34Z

David Cameron brought the Cabinet out of London to Derby on his visit to the East Midlands

The political images couldn't have been more contrasting: there was David Cameron's Cabinet in the almost hermetically-sealed surroundings of Rolls Royce in Derby and the raw anger of protesters shouting down Labour leaders in Nottingham voting through big budget cuts.

The city's Labour Leader Jon Collins was surrounded by furious demonstrators outside Nottingham's Council House, as he attempted to pin the blame for the spending cuts on the Coalition.

The Cabinet meeting in Derby

The protesters, including students and public sector workers, appeared to want Nottingham to become a beacon of resistance to the government's deficit reduction agenda.

Police were called in to clear the council chamber's public gallery. Constant disruption from noisy demonstrators had made the authority's crucial budget meeting impossible to continue.

There was no such disruption in nearby Derby for the Cabinet's away-day. The only animated crowd awaiting David Cameron and his Cabinet were a handful of political reporters, including myself. No noise, no heckling, no placards... but a reworked political message from the Coalition.

The public had accepted the need for big spending cuts, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne assured me. The priority now was creating a culture of enterprise, jobs and economic recovery.

The Rolls Royce Technology Centre makes a stunning background for Cabinet ministers to play the export-drive card. There are ample photo-opportunity moments for Prime Ministers and their Chancellors to be seen with the aero engines that make Rolls Royce a world beater. Twelve thousand people, almost 10% of workers in this part of the East Midlands, rely on that continuing success.

Derby's productive/manufacturing economy is 31% - twice the national average. Ministers want the magic dust of Rolls Royce to be sprinkled on other less-affluent, struggling manufacturing areas of the country.

"Derby is a great example of what Britain's economy should be in the future," the Chancellor told me. "And a strong endorsement of the importance of manufacturing industry," he added:

"It shows that you don't have to have an economy that is all based on the City of London or the South East. We have to get this country making things again."

George Osborne at Rolls Royce in Derby

But the Chancellor couldn't resist an opportunity to settle a few political scores with the Labour leaders of Nottingham. They've irritated the Prime Minister by their high profile opposition to the big cuts in local government budgets and in protest, their refusal to publish the council's spending online, as requested by the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles.

"Nottingham is quite frankly not telling the whole truth to its local population. It's a Labour council and they are not telling the local people what they are spending their money on," George Osborne told me.

Back outside a rowdy Nottingham Council House, the Labour leader Jon Collins struggled to get his message across.

"I didn't come into local politics to carry out these huge cuts.

"In effect, the Coalition has told us to cut £60m from our budget next year. That'll have a serious impact on many of the services we provide to some of the most vulnerable people in this city. Someone has to stand up for Nottingham. That's all we all trying to do," he said.

With the Chancellor's Budget later this month and important council elections in May, Coalition ministers will want the wider political debate to move on from the cuts to focus on economic revival.

Labour cities like Nottingham will have a very different political narrative for the country.

Hilary Benn becomes Labour's champion for the East Midlands

2011-02-28T13:44:08Z

Hilary Benn

An illustration of the task facing a Labour revival in the East Midlands comes with the party's choice of its "regional champion". It's Hilary Benn, a Yorkshire MP with not too much connection with the East Midlands. It was a point acknowledged by Hilary Benn, on a visit to Derby to meet party workers.

"Ed Miliband wants there to be a direct link between the regions and the shadow cabinet. There isn't an East Midlands MP in the shadow cabinet at the moment, so I'll be taking that on," he told me.

The era when the East Midlands had three MPs (Margaret Beckett, Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt) at a Labour cabinet table are long over. Labour's Minister for the East Midlands Phil Hope lost his seat in the General Election, as did his predecessor Gillian Merron.

So is Hilary Benn's appointment a sign of desperation? Not so, he says.

"It's really about supporting our East Midland MPs, councillors and candidates in these very important elections that are coming up in May."

The Conservatives in opposition also appointed "shadow ministers" to boost Tory morale in regions where the Labour party was then dominant. Alan Duncan was given Newcastle and Tyneside, where you couldn't find a bigger contrast with his Melton and Rutland constituency. And the current Health Secretary Andrew Lansley was given the brief for greater Nottingham.

Hilary Benn is the current Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, but expect to see him around the East Midlands over the next few months in particular. Local council elections are upon us.

"We will be fighting very hard to win in key places like Erewash, Ashfield, Chesterfield and Gedling.

"As people come face-to-face with the consequences of the cuts, people are looking at the Coalition and are asking themselves: 'Does this lot really know what they are doing'," he added.

But he may have some political firefighting on his hands sooner than he thought. Labour leaders in Nottingham have resisted government requests to put online all council spending over £500.

There's been a war of words between the Communities & Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles and the Labour council over the issue, as I've reported in earlier blogs.

Nottingham says it would cost £100,000, and Labour leaders say that can't be justified when budgets are being squeezed. Labour's new East Midlands champion agrees.

"Transparency's a good thing. But Nottingham says that's going to cost money and when times are tight and tough, it's a question of priorities. If it's a choice of that or cutting something else that really has an impact on the people you represent, I can understand why the council has taken the decision it has."

Labour's new East Midlands champion may find Eric Pickles breathing down his neck.

Culture minister's unexpected TV appearance is no shoe-in!

2011-02-21T17:05:48Z

The giant-sized lost trainers

Coalition ministers probably feel the need to be pretty nimble-footed with the media, especially on getting any positive message across about the government.

But full marks go to Ed Vaizey, the Culture Minister, and his completely unexpected appearance on an edition of BBC TV's East Midlands Today. It was during one of those quirky "and finally" stories.

This had nothing to do with the latest Coalition initiative or government policy shoe shuffle, but was in a report about a lost pair of super-sized trainers.

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey made an unexpected TV appearance

A pair of size 21 sports shoes - that really is BIG - had been handed into the lost property office of Derbyshire Police.

They were appealing for the owner to come forward. As is obligatory in such "and finally" tales beloved by regional TV, there was a vox pop sequence of street interviews with ordinary passers-by.

A handful of Derby citizens offered their amazed reactions to such an enormous pair.

"Surely, the owner must be a giant! It can't be right," said one bemused shopper. And there in the middle of the vox pop reactions, the Culture Minister too gave his considered - if brief - views on the super sized shoes.

"I've never met anyone who would wear such big shoes, but he or she should be easy to find," he told viewers. That was it!

The TV report made no reference to the Culture Minister or why he happened to be in Derby. He wasn't even named. But we can sleep easier in our beds at night. We now know the official government line on lost 21 sized trainers!

He was actually in Derby for the annual conference of British orchestras. Sadly, that just wasn't newsworthy enough, but an ambitious politician and a TV news camera crew are never parted for too long.

Perhaps when the shoes and their original owner are reunited, there'll be a photo op organised by Derbyshire police.

I look forward to a reappearance by the Culture Minister... and some neat footwork.

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Government U-turn concerns remain for school sports

2011-02-17T14:22:12Z

The latest government U-turn on selling off forestry land has brought some wry smiles from the sports world. They're still trying to work out the repercussions of one of the Coalition's early policy reversals.

It was the Education Secretary Michael Gove who last December sounded the retreat on big cuts to the funding of sport in schools.

He argued that the Sport School Partnerships (SSP) were too bureaucratic and a classic example of Labour top-down government. That caused a row and a quick ministerial about-turn. But three months on, schools and sports administrators are still unclear what funding they are likely to get in future.

Three SSPs in the East Midlands - North East Derbyshire, Rutland and Hinckley & Bosworth - are facing funding cuts of 80% or more. In Lincolnshire, the SSP team of three will lose their jobs next month. The North East Derbyshire Labour MP Natascha Engel has already raised the funding uncertainty with the Education Secretary.

"The government has said it'll find the funding from other departments, but the money is nowhere to be seen," she says.

The SSPs run sporting activities for children both at school and reach out into the community. The delay on any decision on future funding is causing renewed anger.

"It is particularly frustrating," says Karen Shopland, who runs the School Sport Partnership in North East Derbyshire.

"We are only a year away from the London Olympics. We should be ensuring that the funding is there to give children the opportunities to take up sport."

Once again, it may need the intervention of Debbie Foote, a 17-year-old, A-level schoolgirl from Lincolnshire. Her online petition kick started a wave of protest against the original SSP cuts last October. She led a delegation to Downing Street.

Informal talks with the government resulted in a change of heart. Debbie attends Baroness Thatcher's old school, but there's no sign of any Grantham-style hand bagging in her dealings with ministers.

This head girl from Kesteven and Grantham Girls School wants to maintain a channel of communication with the Coalition.

"When the funding was cut back in October, we were in a very dark place," she told me.

"But there's been a huge transformation from then. We do have some funding back and I think that is extremely positive. Young people will still be supported by some form of sports structure."

In fact, the Department for Education says the SSP funding will continue until this summer. Then £65m will be available so that every secondary school can release a PE teacher one day a week to co-ordinate wider sports activities.

Says Debbie: "There will be something in place. It won't be the School Sport Partnership but fingers crossed that we can still keep working together to make sport as positive at it can be for young people."

Just like the forests sell-off, the row over SSP illustrates the tough politics involved in the Coalition's attempts to cut the deficit.

It might not get any easier if there's little to celebrate over future sports funding.

PM says Big Society talk is not a meaningless slogan

2011-02-09T11:11:00Z

David Cameron extols the virtues of the Big Society.

It wasn't quite the Glasgow Empire, but his audience were that seen-it-all, heard -it-all type. Political journalists can be a pretty tough crowd to please, especially when they are en-masse waiting for the top billing. The venue was one of the magnificent long rooms inside 10 Downing Street.

David Cameron had one of those open-house get-togethers to get to know the neighbours better. On this occasion, it was for the political journalists from the regional press and broadcasting who cover the Westminster beat. I was among them.

Before the Prime Minister arrived, we speculated on the timing of the reception; why on a cold winter's night and not in the Number 10 garden on a balmy summer's evening, as in past years? Were we to get a collective rap on the knuckles for our stories? Could it be that our coverage of the cuts failed to put the government's reasoning in context?

After circulating through the crowd - itself a fleeting tour of the regions - the Prime Minister took to the microphone. Behind him, a full length portrait of the first Queen Elizabeth in all her Tudor radiance defending her realm... and in another painting, a less than triumphant Prince James Stuart, the Old Pretender, who lost a throne. As the Prime Minister made references to both paintings, we wondered what sort of speech we were in for.

First, there was his early lesson learnt in being a Prime Minister after nine months in the job. So was this to be the big message on cuts and deficit reduction?

No, not right away. David Cameron gave us few tips on what to do when the official invitations arrive at Downing Street. If it's from the Queen, just say yes; if it's from Silvio Berlusconi, forget the diplomatic niceties, say NO. Absolutely not.

It was a good warm up gag before he moved onto his theme. The Prime Minister flatters and praises his captive audience... and then comes the big message of the night: his vision of the Big Society.

All Prime Ministers hope to leave their mark with a catch-phrase or quote that sums up their premiership. David Cameron told us that his Big Society thinking is not just a meaningless slogan.

He says it's about people deciding and shaping their own decisions for their communities, in their localities, without the heavy hand of central government telling them what to do. Without telling journalists what to write, the Prime Minister told us we were uniquely placed to tell that "Big Society" story. Message over.

He accepts that the cuts agenda - and its impact on local services - is likely to dominate the news agenda for the rest of this parliament. The Big Society is going to be the big narrative for this Prime Minister. I expect it's a message he'll be fine-tuning at Downing Street receptions to come and to the wider country.

It got a round of applause from the journalists, but how will it go down at the Glasgow Empire?

Ministers step up criticism of Labour's Nottingham fortress

2011-02-04T09:16:04Z

The war of words between Coalition ministers and Nottingham City Council shows no sign of calming down.

The latest battleground is over transparency. The Communities Secretary Eric Pickles fired a salvo over the Labour-council's reluctance to publish all spending over £500. The council's Leader Jon Collins refused, insisting it was a waste of time and money.

"We are having to deal with some £60m worth of cuts in funding from the government. That's our priority," Councillor Collins told me.

Then the Housing Minister Grant Shapps weighed in, accusing Nottingham of wasting taxpayers' cash and accusing the Labour leadership of acting in a "shameful way".

"People in Nottingham will want to know how much is being spent by their council. Why shouldn't they go online and decide for themselves whether the council is offering value for money," he says.

Jon Collins then upped the anti, calling Grant Shapps "a fool" and Eric Pickles "a buffoon".

"There's no question of picking a fight for the sake of it or some kind of ideological basis for this. We are just standing up for Nottingham," he added.

Ministers have already rattled off a list of examples of wasteful spending by Nottingham Labour.

For starters, Grant Shapps singles out the £250,000 spent on lamp post banners, which promote the council's ambitions for the city. There was criticism over sending six officers to Cannes for a Europe-wide property fair.

"It's actually quite arrogant of the city's leadership to say that it's their business and that the people shouldn't know. Perhaps they have something to hide," says the minister.

Collins is dismissive of the attacks, saying the minister has just got his facts wrong. He's responded by showing me examples of the type of spending just over £500 Ministers Pickles and Shapps have in mind.

* Trading Standards photocopying maintenance £547
* Aids and appliances for the Deaf Team £528
* Youth Offending Team postage costs £500
* Cleaning materials Sandfield Centre £592

"We'll publish this type of information if the law demands it. But at the moment, it's hardly a priority. In terms of staffing needed, it's a waste of time and money," says Councillor Collins.

"The kind of thing they've been saying is a misrepresentation of the truth."

Then there's Loxley House, the new smart headquarters of Nottingham City Council. In turn, it's also been the target of critics accusing the council of lavish spending. Two thousand staff from seven buildings scattered across the city are now under one roof.

I've been inside and seen the palm trees that adorn this open-plan, hot desking model of workplace efficiency.

Geoff Hibbert, the council's property director, says the new HQ is already saving £1m a year.

So is that the type of thinking that could take the heat out of the close combat between Nottingham's Labour leadership and Coalition ministers?

Says Jon Collins: "We worked very hard to provide value for money and over the last two years, we've saved £37m in efficiencies."

But Grant Shapps is reserving judgement.

"We are in a different era in which people expect to be able to find out the costs of their council. I've never met Jon Collins, but it sounds as if he's from a past decade."

Liverpool City Council - also wrestling with big spending cuts - has pulled out of co-operation with David Cameron's Big Society initiative. Nottingham may be the next city council in the mood to defy ministers.

Is Sherwood Forest targetted for DEFRA sell-off?

2011-01-28T15:36:38Z

Sherwood Forest - something is lurking in the undergrowth this spring

As the green shoots of an early spring make an appearance among the pines of Sherwood Forest, so is an issue some hoped had disappeared in the undergrowth.

The Department for Rural Affairs, DEFRA, has now confirmed it is to launch a 12 week consultation on proposals to sell off part of the woodland owned by the Forestry Commission. And that's raised doubts over historic woodland in the heart of Nottinghamshire, once the legendary home of Robin Hood no less.

The prospect of the government offloading this woodland and its 3,300 acres to new owners worries some, including Paddy Tipping, a former Sherwood MP and now Vice-President of the Ramblers Association.

"I think the big players will come in, buy the forest and destroy it. My fear is that we'll lose a really valuable asset, " he told me.

John Peck is the type of residents' leader that DEFRA wants to interest in running the forest. One idea is to transfer the ownership to a community co-operative or social enterprise. He's a member of the parish council in the nearby village of Edwinstowe and remains unconvinced by DEFRA's plans.

"I honesty think that's a non starter. I can't think there'll be a queue of people who've got the time or capacity to take on what is a considerable enterprise. Forest management isn't our line."

Major Oak, Robin Hood's legendary hideaway, isn't in the government's sights. Its woodland is privately owned by the Thoresby Estate and leased to Nottinghamshire county council as a visitor attraction. The target is woodland run by the Forestry Commission.

Sherwood's current MP, Mark Spencer, is a Conservative and hugely supportive of DEFRA's thinking.

"I would like to see organisations like the National Trust and the Woodland Trust to be able to run the forest because I trust them far more than any government or a local authority," he says.

"I think this is a massive opportunity. Opponents are playing mischief. In Britain, 82% of woodland is in private hands and yet look at all the public footpaths. They are on private land. Public ascess is no problem."

If there's something unexpected stirring in Sherwood Forest this spring, it's likely to be government's consultation... and the reverberations of its plans for the Forestry Commission.

Is GM controversy back on the political radar?

2011-01-14T14:05:17Z

It's been off the political radar for a few years now. But the contentious issue of allowing our farmers to grow genetically modified crops is about to resurface.

On a cold January morning, cereal farmer John Charles-Jones is preparing for the warmer Spring days ahead Soon the heavy soils in the fields around his farm in the Woodborough Valley north of Nottingham, will start to yield oil seed rape and wheat.

Over recent years, he has been won over by the GM argument.

"What farmers need is the choice to be able to use the technology. Farmers rely on science completely from the seed we put in the ground to the fertilisers and the sprays we use to protect the crops. Everything is science-led. It just seems a natural extension to use another tool in the armoury," he told me.

A GM protestor in 2000

During the Labour years, there were 415 separate trials growing GM crops on selected British farms. Some trial areas were raided by protesters and GM crops destroyed.

But by last year only two crop trials - growing potatoes - were still continuing. While the USA, China and Brazil allow the use of GM crops, there are still tight restrictions in the European Union.

Now the Conservative MP Mark Spencer -a farmer himself - wants the Coalition to ditch those GM curbs.

"Tell me how about people have from died from eating GM food in the States? None. More people have died from peanut allergies, but no-one suggests we ban peanuts."

The Sherwood MP from Nottinghamshire secured a parliamentary debate on the issue to find out the latest government thinking. The response from the DEFRA minister James Paice was revealing.

"The government is close to finalising our overall policy on GM. It is a sensitive area and obviously there are many views," he said.

"Because of climate change it could become far more relevant in this country."

If the government's clearing the way to allow GM crops, it can expect rigorous opposition.

"I don't think you can say it's intrinsically safe," says Richard Mallender, a Green Party councillor in Rushcliffe, near Nottingham.

"These big agri concerns are killing the soil... and they're making the soil less sustainable in the longer term."

The UN has warned that climate change and a rising global population will result in much higher food prices.

In China, Brazil and the USA, the use of GM crops is now standard practice. Here - as in the rest of the European Union - there remains strict limitations on GM.

"The fact is that 14 million farmers around the world are now growing GM crops.That tells its own story," said Mark Spencer.

Back at Woodborough Park Farm, John Charles-Jones is putting his trust in the scientists.

"There's emotion, science and politics all wrapped up in this debate. I would be the first to say the science has to be right. But if the scientists are happy, then I am happy."

But when this controversial issue graps the headlines again, that will be a sign that not every is happy. Far from it.

2011 - the year of economic revival for the East Midlands?

2010-12-27T11:37:49Z

Could the East Midlands' economy be on track for a revival following the recession?

So what could 2011 have in store for the economic and political prospects for the East Midlands? I've detected some very contrasting moods.

Cuts to public sector funding - and their impact on jobs and services - will rarely be out of the headlines in the New Year. But the latest business survey from the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce offers some surprising early optimism for 2011.

"It's tough out there. But growth in employment is still there," says John Dowson, the Chamber's head of policy.

"We are looking at about 20% of businesses wanting to increase their workforce while only 10% - and that includes some of the public sector - are looking at reduce their workforce," he told me.

That offers some hope for the many public sector workers, like Caroline Diss, who face losing their jobs in 2011.

Council workers fear for their jobs

Caroline is a single mother of two from Gedling in the Nottingham suburbs. For 21 years, she's worked at the city's office of Connexions - a public sector organisation that gives careers advice to young people. Connexions faces big funding cuts and Caroline's job is now on the line.

"I'm facing a degree of uncertainty I've never experienced. Some of my colleagues feel the same way. It's unprecedented," she says.

Caroline is furious that services and public sector jobs are being cut. The Coalition government constantly reminds us that the context to the cuts is the need to combat the national deficit and revive the economy.

"Who actually got us into this situation and the mess in the first place? I feel very strongly about this. It's not about people having overspent, it's about the huge debt and loans that were encouraged by the banks. They are to blame."

One of our senior Conservatives points the finger elsewhere. David Parsons is the leader of Leicestershire County Council. His council is looking at losing 1,000 jobs over the next four years.

"My hope for the New Year is that we get out of the dreadful economic mess we were left by the previous Labour government, and preserve as many of the services we can."

"I don't want to make any person compulsorily redundant but that may well happen. We are working very hard to retrain people.

"We have been handed down targets by national government and that's the problem. We have to face that. It's the economic reality," he adds.

Councillor Parsons is one of the most influential figures in local government. Some of his ideas to share backroom services with other councils are being pioneered by Leicestershire with Labour-run Nottingham City.

"Our staff are our number one asset and we are working very, very hard with staff and the trade unions to minimise the impact."

So will that be welcomed by the public sector unions? Peter Savage of UNISON in the East Midlands wants some fresh thinking to avoid massive job cuts.

"There is an alternative. We want councils to go back and look at their figures. They could dip into their cash reserves, spread the cuts over a longer term and look at more imaginative ways of delivering services," he told me.

"We have to remember that for every public sector job that goes, there's the equivalent job losses in the private sector."

UNISON is bracing itself for East Midland councils to start announcing a new wave of job losses early in 2011. Up to 5,000 redundancies are on the cards.

So can a reviving private sector help to cushion the blow? John Dowson of the Chamber of Commerce suggests where the future jobs will come from.

"The growth is going to be in carbon deduction technology, bio-science, green innovation but also in business services as well," he told me.

"The future will be about your transferable skills and what retraining potential you're got to meet the demands of the new economy."

"It's about your skills, attitude and whether you can retrain and adapt to new environments and think differently," he adds.

Fresh thinking and the ability to adapt always make for good New Year's resolutions.

Spending cuts force top cops to quit, says Labour

2010-12-16T15:47:52Z

Ed Balls is back on the beat. The Shadow Home Secretary has been in Nottinghamshire to highlight police budget cuts. If he looked slightly lost, no one should blame him because all the talk has been about the A19.

This is fast becoming the political direction of travel for some chief constables and the politicians running the county police authorities of England. The A19 is not to be confused with the dual-carriage just north of Doncaster, but a little known pension regulation that allows police officers to retire after 30 years service... if that's what they want. Many prefer and are often encouraged to stay on.

It's now being used to cut staff. Nottinghamshire is one of those constabularies that's on the road to A19 job losses. Next year, up to 86 of the most experienced officers will have no option but to retire. Over the next three to four years, the Nottinghamshire Police Authority now estimates that almost 350 staff will be forced to go on completing 30 years service.

The A19 pension regulation has become a handy alternative to compulsory redundancy, says the Nottinghamshire Police Federation. It represents many of the force's 1,800 officers.

"It is absolutely ludicrous," says Mick Taylor, the Federation's county chairman.

"This means some of our most experienced and specialist officers will have to leave. It doesn't make sense. Many officers are furious."

These measures have been forced on police authorities because of the government's budget squeeze; 5.1% cuts next year, followed by a 6.7 cut in 2012/13. Nottinghamshire estimates that'll mean finding savings of £36m.

Its Chief Constable Julia Hodgson says: "These are hugely significant decisions for everyone connected with Nottinghamshire Police and I recognise the impact they will have."

Neighbouring Leicestershire is looking at savings totalling £35m but has so far resisted driving down the A19 route. Derbyshire is also resisting the A19 option.

Ed Balls believes the real level of cuts will be much higher because of the impact of inflation and other rising costs.

"People should be in no doubt that these deep cuts will mean thousands fewer police officers and it'll hit the front line," he says.

And his colleague, the Gedling MP Vernon Coaker, says the situation in Nottinghamshire highlights the need for a government rethink.

"Some of our most experienced police officers will have to go... detectives, fraud officers... and not because it's in the interests of the police but because of a budget cut."

Mr Coaker, a police minister in the last Labour government, has this message for the current Home Secretary Theresa May: call in the police budgets and renegotiate a new deal with the Treasury.

There's little chance of that happening. There's a better chance of finding gold at the end of the A19.