BBC transcripts
13:17 Monday 16th July 2012
World At One
BBC Radio Four
MARTHA KEARNEY: What is the future of the Government? The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said this morning that the Coalition is, and I quote, “doomed to succeed”. Interesting phrase that. Stewart Jackson is the Conservative MP for Peterborough. He was one of those who voted against the Government on Lords Reform. Do you see a way through that thorny issue? Continue reading “Stewart Jackson on the Prospects for the Coalition Agreement”
17:40 Friday 13th July 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
CHRIS MANN: The Government is coming under increasing pressure to make a decision on the future of the next generation of mobile technology, 4G. It’s been claimed that it’s introduction could create 125,000 jobs, stimulate the economy by over £5.5 billion, and contribute half a per cent to national GDP by the end of the decade. But still, 10% of the Uk population doesn’t even receive any type of fast broadband at all, many of them, of course, in rural Cambridgeshire. Well earlier, Uk tech. journalist Michael Brook joined me to explain more. Continue reading “Ofcom Delay on 4G Decision”
08:08 Friday 13th July 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: One story has dominated the Peterborough Breakfast Show this week, and the news agenda right across the city. And the team here behind the Show have really brought this to the fore this week. It’s the decision by the Council to consult on whether to close two of its care homes, which has caused a massive reaction from you, from staff, from residents, and everybody involved really. Even the Cabinet member on Peterborough City Council had his say on the Show. The City Council says Welland and Greenwood House are not fit for purpose so should be closed. But the families of the residents and their carers are worried about the impact of moving elderly people, who could be deteriorating later in life. Yesterday, Terry Rich, the Director of Adult Social Care at the Council, the man who came up with the report, the man behind the proposals, says elderly people are not in danger. (TAPE)
TERRY RICH: many years ago there were stories of poorly managed closures, where there was evidence that that was the case. There has been a huge amount of work around how is the best way to manage these very sensitive change processes. And I’ve known of many instances where people have thrived when they’ve moved on. .. People suffering from dementia often need good quality environment. They need space where they can wander freely in safety. They need a design of buildings which minimises the anxiety. Now staff in our homes are doing the very best that they can in the circumstances. But in my professional view, there is a much better environment that could be provided for people with dementia. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well just over an hour ago, we heard from Yvonne Hossack, who’s a solicitor who’s represented vulnerable people and elderly people for the last fifteen years. She researched the effects of moving patients from care homes, and started by telling us what she discovered and experienced first hand. (TAPE)
YVONNE HOSSACK: In the first care home closure case I did, which was in 1997, people were a lot less frail than they are nowadays. 37% of them died in the year following the closure. That’s 15 out of 41. And I compared that to the usual death rate in homes in Northamponshire over a four year period, which was just over 18%. So twice as many died. .. More recently in 2009 and 2010, I did outcome mortality data from three care home closures, Wolverhampton, Hull and Southampton, and 26 out of 54 of the residents died within months of hearing bad news or months of moving. Continue reading “Care Home Closure – Avoiding Fatal Outcomes”
08:14 Thursday 12th July 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: Let’s speak to Terry Rich, who’s Director of Adult Social Care at Peterborough City Council. Remind us just why the Council is consulting on whether these care homes should close. Continue reading “Council Interim Director and Care Home Closure Expert”
10:20 Wednesday 11th July 2012
Andy Harper Show
BBC Radio Cambridge
ANDY HARPER: You’ve obviously heard the debate on Radio Cambridgeshire, but obviously are party to it anyway. What are your thoughts?
ED MURPHY: My views are that the councillors in Peterborough and the north of Cambridgeshire should see sense, and they should support these essential social services. And tonight at the Full Council they should change the recommendation to look at the future of care homes in Peterborough, not the closure. People have already moved from Peverils into Welland House in Peterborough. They don’t need another move within a few months. And we need to look at the staff who provide a quality service as well. I’m afraid we’ve got one or two councillors on Peterborough City Council who are just obsessed with the private sector option. There’s room for both the private and the public sector, and in many cases the public sector provides the best service possible.
ANDY HARPER: So are these particular homes fit for purpose? Because that’s what the debate is all about, whether people have seen it or not.
ED MURPHY: The chap who hasn’t seen it has been saying that they’re not fit for purpose. I live round the corner from Greenwood House. It is fit for purpose. The quality of care there is brilliant. If in the future we need to improve the facilities, and we need to build a new residential care home, there’s loads of land. It’s right beside Vawser Lodge, which the Council have closed down that’s lying empty, and it’s right beside the former Peterborough Hospital site, which is publicly owned anyway. So I think we should be looking at improving on what we’ve got. It’s just been refurbished, and they’ve not opened the refurbished area of that residential home. And if it’s not big enough, and we need more homes in Peterborough, let’s not go down the risky private route, like Southern Cross who went bust etcetera. Let’s go down the less risky safer public route.
ANDY HARPER: And can the Council afford it?
ED MURPHY: Oh yes they can. They’ve got millions of pounds in the capital programme just for this. And at the meeting yesterday the workers pointed out that rather than spend £3.7 million on their redundancy payments, put some of that into improving the current homes.
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08:12 Wednesday 11th July 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: When you went round and had a look at these rooms, what did you find?
WAYNE FITZGERALD: Well you know very well that I haven’t visited either home as yet. It’s planned that we will visit, both the Director and I, before any decision is made.
PAUL STAINTON: So you’ve not been round the homes, yet you’re making these massive decisions that affect the most vulnerable in society. Continue reading “Care Home Closure – Wayne Fitzgerald”
17:18 Monday 9th July 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
STEWART JACKSON: Well I am a reformer, and I do think that the present House of Lords is not entirely satisfactory. It’s got too many members, too many people that don’t attend. And certainly if we were starting with a blank sheet of paper, we wouldn’t have designed the upper chamber of the sixth biggest economy in the world in quite the way that it has been designed. But it’s an historical establishment. It’s full of people who have expertise, who’ve come from diverse backgrounds, who actually make a real contribution to refining and improving Bills. And these present proposals in my opinion are solely driven by the self-interest of Liberal Democrats. They don’t take into account the fact that different governments of all persuasions have tried for over a hundred years to reform the House of Lords. And most importantly there is not a consensus on this very radical constitutional reform.
CHRIS MANN: So are you prepared to vote against your own government on this? Continue reading “Stewart Jackson on Lords Reform”
08:18 Monday 9th July 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
PAUL STAINTON: Many of you contacted us about the Peterborough Festival, the Finale of which fell victim to the bad weather this weekend. Thousands of you expecting to see Hard Fi playing in Central Park. But disappointment after torrential downpours, when Vivacity decided to put a stop to the festivities. A small scale street theatre performance was held yesterday on Bridge Street. It was an unfortunate way to end what would have been a great event. Wonderful stuff booked in. And it looked like it was only going to get better on Saturday. Criticism of how Council officials communicated with each other and the public, the way Vivacity and Enterprise perhaps worked together with the Council in the run up to the Festival. We saw a bit of confusion all round, and we spoke to Cllr Yvonne Lowndes earlier, who said the show should have gone on, should have carried on.
YVONNE LOWNDES: They could have cordoned off the areas with a lot of the mud, and everything could have gone ahead. In hindsight, yesterday it was quite dry, and we could have had continued the Festival. And there are lots and lots of disappointed people. And I was talking to them. Some people yesterday came all the way from Lincoln, thinking they were going to see the orchestra last night. And of course they were very disappointed.
PAUL STAINTON: Well Deputy Leader of the Peterborough City Council Matthew Lee is here now. Morning Matthew.
MATTHEW LEE: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Before I get into the weekend, can I take you back to the planning of this, last week, and the fact that .. this is how I read it last week .. there was an application to increase the capacity of Central Park to 15,000 at the last minute, which seemed like some sort of panic act by Enterprise. You, according to Cllr John Peach, knew nothing about this. And then at the last minute you slapped it down and said 5,000 would be enough. Have I read it right? Continue reading “Hard Fi Festival Fiasco – Massive Inquiry Planned”