- 13/06/2024
Our reporters hit the streets to talk to the public in our major cities across the UK about the news making the headlines this week. In this episode, we look at fuel prices, worst places to park in the UK and whether schools should finish early on Fridays to help retain teachers?
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome to the Verdict on the Street, the show that listens to its audience.
00:06 We're going to take some of the hottest topics out onto the streets of Britain
00:10 to ask you what you think of them.
00:13 In a world that seems full of experts,
00:15 sometimes it's the opinions of the people on the street that really matter.
00:19 So, Great British Public, it's over to you.
00:22 We send our reporters out into a number of cities across the UK
00:26 armed only with a camera and a microphone to ask simply
00:29 what do you think?
00:31 This week, we ask you.
00:34 This week, we ask you.
00:37 Do we value teachers enough?
00:40 What are the worst places to park in your city?
00:44 And should supermarkets be forced to publish their profit margins for fuel sales?
00:50 The latest official data has revealed that the number of teaching positions
00:54 going unfilled has more than doubled in the last three years.
00:58 As many leave the position for good.
01:01 What do you think? Do we value teachers enough?
01:05 I think someone's teachers are leaving their profession
01:10 because sometimes they've been students themselves.
01:14 Sometimes they can be disrespectful.
01:17 And some teachers do want their students to learn.
01:20 And sometimes they don't show, like, what would I say?
01:26 They don't show any interest in what they want to do.
01:29 And sometimes it's how much they're being paid,
01:32 the workload can be the issue.
01:35 Well, probably pay and workload.
01:41 It's just a classic problem.
01:43 It's teachers don't really get paid enough for what they do.
01:47 I don't think any profession really does in Britain
01:49 just because we've had such bad productivity growth
01:53 over the past 10 years.
01:55 So it's the tricky ones at best,
01:57 because obviously that means more tax.
01:59 But I think in the end, it's got to have to be higher wages.
02:02 I know particularly of one teacher who had a child threatening to kill her.
02:10 This is in a primary school.
02:11 And she called the parents in, and the parents' response was,
02:15 "Well, you shouldn't have wound him up."
02:17 So based on that sort of information,
02:20 I'm not surprised that they are leaving and not wanting to stay.
02:24 And I don't think it's the money particularly.
02:27 I think it's the conditions that they've got to work under.
02:30 Children come to school and they're not toilet trained,
02:33 they can't eat properly.
02:35 I think teachers have got it, just in my opinion,
02:38 in relatively quite-- not easy per se,
02:41 because there are definitely challenging aspects of the job.
02:45 There is no way that I could deal with, like, 30, 40 kids
02:50 if I got across multiple classrooms.
02:52 But when you think about it, they do have October half-terms,
02:58 there's the Easter half-term, obviously there's the six weeks of summer,
03:01 which you don't get in most other professions, really.
03:04 I actually have a couple of friends who are teachers.
03:07 I'm only 22, so quite a few of them are just getting into teaching.
03:11 And they really enjoy it, but they are very stressed out.
03:16 It takes a lot out of them, both emotionally and physically.
03:19 Especially one of them, she's an SEN department head,
03:22 so she's really going through it at the moment.
03:25 One of the things my parents say is, "Oh, they get so many holidays,"
03:28 but at the end of the day, it is such an emotionally draining role.
03:33 So yeah, I think they are valued, but they could always use more appreciation.
03:36 There's a school that they're shutting at 140 on Fridays
03:40 to try and give teachers a bit more time.
03:42 Do you think something like that would be a good idea?
03:45 No.
03:46 Why not?
03:47 Because kids need to be at school until at least five
03:51 so that parents can equally work hard and then pick up their kids.
03:56 That's what I think.
03:58 And then, sorry, just quickly again,
04:00 do you think teachers are valued enough in our society?
04:03 They are not valued enough.
04:05 To give them the right amount of money that they deserve
04:08 and the hours that they work,
04:10 because teachers don't always stop at three o'clock.
04:13 They have to carry on and plan the next day or plan the next week.
04:18 And especially if they're in senior schools,
04:21 it's living up to the curriculum that they put forward.
04:25 Well, to be honest with you, the society is made of children.
04:29 They're all out of hand, there's no discipline.
04:31 They've got a hard job.
04:33 I'm not saying they came back or, you know, this, that and the other.
04:36 Pay them a decent living wage, basically,
04:40 and give them more incentives.
04:43 It pays to be educated, we all know that, right?
04:46 But also, you've got to put a bit of discipline into the kids
04:50 by taking away the things that they want,
04:52 like, you know, their mobile phones in class and this, that and the other.
04:56 Bring your uniforms back.
04:57 Let's not make it Americanised, where everyone's going, like, you know,
05:01 with big eyelashes and earrings and, you know, doing all this sort of things.
05:05 The issue of bad parking on streets and pavements in the UK
05:09 is becoming increasingly problematic,
05:11 prompting various cities to take action.
05:14 It does beg the question,
05:16 what is the most difficult place to park in your part of the world?
05:20 I think parking in Leeds is becoming a nightmare.
05:23 I, today, would come by train or I would come by bus
05:26 with the two-pound singles that are now involved.
05:30 No-go areas, I would say, one thing that has massively changed
05:34 is the entrance in from Bridgewater Place off the M621.
05:37 I think people are so used to coming in from the city centre
05:40 and going under the train station, and you just can't do that anymore,
05:43 so people are getting there and kind of going, "Ah, where do I go?"
05:46 And you've got to end up going round the whole ring road.
05:49 So I think that can be a nightmare.
05:51 But parking, generally, I think it is just harder
05:53 cos a lot of the big flatbed car parks have all gone.
05:56 Some people who are disabled or some people who are heavy or carrying
06:00 should not be able to pass through, you know, to move freely.
06:03 So, I think it's a bit of a no-go.
06:05 But parking, like Burley, Kirkstow, and if you're willing to get a bus,
06:09 which only costs £2, you'll still save you money that way.
06:12 But there are some free parking spots in Sunday, I know that,
06:15 cos some areas of Leeds are free.
06:17 But, yeah, parking in the city centre is a nightmare sometimes.
06:20 There are spaces, it's just a bit expensive.
06:22 Around Chinatown...
06:25 ..because the policing is not as it should be...
06:29 Well, first of all, I'm going to tell you about the road.
06:32 A lot of them really have to go back and take the test.
06:35 First of all, during parking time.
06:38 A lot of them have to go back and take the test
06:40 to find if they can really drive.
06:42 Parking around, by me, has been quite...
06:44 I live in an area called Bearwood, it's quite densely populated.
06:48 So if we're not kind of based on permit parking,
06:51 there's a lot of crowded roads,
06:53 which is not great for kids' safety going to school.
06:56 But I also know now there's an increase in houses
06:59 of multiple occupancy with multiple cars.
07:02 So it is a challenge, kind of,
07:04 being able to park your car in the residential areas,
07:06 but also the challenges of coming into the city centre to park
07:09 and the options and the cost are increasingly encouraging me to,
07:13 yeah, use public transport, think differently,
07:15 but when I've got people that need that assistive way of working,
07:18 it becomes quite a costly affair to park in the city.
07:21 Worst place to park?
07:23 I don't drive, so I don't know, really, but I...
07:27 I have no idea, really.
07:29 When I'm with my daughter, we drive round and round and round
07:32 looking for parking spaces, yes, so it's a nightmare.
07:36 Westbury-on-Trim is my worst one.
07:40 And now it's...
07:44 ..Stoke Lane in...
07:51 ..towards Falkingdale Road is bad.
07:57 Can you tell me why they're bad?
07:59 There's insufficient areas for people to park
08:05 for the number of shops.
08:07 I think it would kill this village.
08:09 I think it would kill the village.
08:11 I think that... I think part of the thing that people have got,
08:14 it's free parking here and they can go and shop and things,
08:18 I think it would kill the village.
08:20 Concerns over rising petrol prices at UK supermarkets
08:25 have intensified, with motorists feeling the financial strain.
08:29 Supermarkets, traditionally known for competitive fuel prices,
08:34 now average around £1.50 per litre for unleaded petrol.
08:39 Should supermarkets be forced to publish their profit margins
08:42 for fuel sales?
08:44 Should supermarkets be forced to publish their profit margins
08:48 for fuel sales? Of course they should.
08:50 Yeah, yeah. I think everyone should, you know, like...
08:53 I don't... I really agree with that.
08:56 I think everyone should reduce what they're making, you know,
09:01 profit-wise, because...
09:03 And they should be able to give something back
09:05 to the customer that's using it every day.
09:08 Especially, like, companies who give people...
09:11 ..fuel cards in order to run their business.
09:16 I think something should come back out of that.
09:19 You've got fuel prices that are...
09:21 Puts the prices of everything else up, doesn't it?
09:24 So, yeah, the lower they can get them,
09:27 the lower the cost of living will be.
09:30 Have you had to change your driving, or, you know, drive less,
09:33 or filling up habits amidst the rising cost of petrol?
09:36 No, me, personally, I don't, no, no.
09:39 When you go from A to B, you know,
09:41 it's not going to go any journeys, really.
09:43 Can I go to B and Q?
09:45 I believe that they should produce their project markets,
09:49 because then it would help people to understand, like,
09:52 why...why the gas is going up so high,
09:56 or what's the reason for the high prices as well.
10:00 People who own cars tend to be...
10:04 There's exceptions, but they tend to be better off
10:06 than people who don't drive.
10:08 To be honest, I don't count myself in the category of, like, you know,
10:11 people who are actually struggling,
10:13 but lots of people who rely on public transport are,
10:16 and they haven't benefited from, like, freezing fuel duty
10:19 in the way that drivers have for a long time.
10:21 There's one where, to be honest, it's not...
10:23 I don't think it's the most important issue
10:26 in terms of transport costs.
10:28 No, not really, because, like,
10:32 not everything that you buy is publicised,
10:34 so I don't think that Asda should oversize their profit margins.
10:37 Like, there are other options other than Asda
10:39 that you can buy from if you don't like how expensive they are,
10:42 so...
10:43 Yes, but not just for fuel sales, for everything.
10:46 You know, we're in a cost-of-living crisis,
10:49 and the supermarkets are making larger profits
10:52 than they've ever done before. That doesn't make sense.
10:54 Why don't you think it makes sense?
10:56 Because we're all paying more,
10:59 and the supermarkets are making more profit
11:02 than they've ever done before.
11:04 That shouldn't be happening.
11:06 Yeah, yeah.
11:07 Shouldn't be any secrecy or anything.
11:11 Can you tell me why?
11:13 Well, um...
11:15 Yeah.
11:16 When things are heading like that,
11:19 we're not living in a proper democracy.
11:21 Have you had to change your driving or filling up habits
11:24 because of the increase in fuel?
11:26 Um...
11:28 Let's say I'm more aware of, um...
11:31 ..of where I'm driving and how much fuel I'm...
11:35 ..how much a tank of fuel is costing.
11:38 I'm doing much less driving than I used to.
11:41 I don't need to go long distances or anything.
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