Our Economy will broadcast on BBC One at 2305 on Monday 19 March 2012.

At a time when our audience is hungry to understand how the economy will affect their lives, the week of the budget is an ideal moment to put local economic developments under the spotlight and hold those in charge to account.

In September 2010, in the lead up to the Comprehensive Spending Review, BBC regional television debated exclusive research into the economic resilience of areas across England.

This year, with growth a key topic for debate, we have commissioned research which gives us some surprising insights into where the biggest potential for growth is across England. The findings of the research, conducted by Experian, will be available from Monday 19th March.

The research helps inform the debate around how healthy our economies are, nationally and locally. The data is worked out at local authority level so can provide very localised, regionalised data, and provides the audience with great local knowledge about an area's economic experience.

Of course, underneath the data are real stories about how the economic facts impact on real people. So, from the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, to the factory floor of Bradford's biggest employer, to Bristol's Cathedral School, we'll be hearing from those people most affected, and holding politicians and business leaders to account. MPs, Dragon's Den winners, Apprentice candidates, bankers, public sector workers, and dozens of other interested and informed guests will join in twelve debates across England.

In each area, of course, the issues under discussion will be very different. How reliant is the area on public sector employment? What type of industry/employment prospects are there in the area? What's the jobless picture? How quickly and where can growth be found?

The picture varies wherever you live and a crack team of presenters will be making sure those questions are put to the people who make the key decisions. The Today Programme's Evan Davis, Panorama's Richard Bilton and Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire are amongst the presenters keeping everyone on their toes.

You put together the local stories and a national picture emerges, and we're delighted that our colleagues from network news will be joining us on Monday 19th in reporting the story of growth across the UK. Chief Economics Correspondent Hugh Pym will be leading the coverage on the main national news bulletins, with Breakfast News and the News Channel live throughout the country, bringing local stories to a national audience.

Local radio, BBC news online and our local websites will also be highlighting and exploring the issues throughout the day.

So, do join us for 'Our Economy: The Debates' on BBC One, Monday March 19 at 2305, and on the BBC iplayer from the following day.

The programmes from across the English regions are as follows.

London
Our Economy: The BBC London Debate
Presented by: Evan Davis
From: Museum of London
Guests include: Nicola Horlick, Financier

West
Our Economy: The Points West Debate
Presented by: David Garmston
From: Bristol Cathedral School
Guests include: Sir David McMurty; Trunki's Rob Law

South West
Our Economy: The Spotlight Debate
Presented by: Justin Leigh
From: Plymouth
Guests include: Mark Jenkins

North West
Our Economy: The North West Tonight Debate
Presented by: Ranvir Singh
From: The Museum of Science & Industry, Manchester
Guests include: Kirsty Henshaw (Dragons Den winner), Hazel Blears MP

East Midlands
Our Economy: The East Midlands Today Debate
Presented by: Marie Ashby
From: Vision West Notts College
Guests include: Prof Martin Binks from the University of Nottingham Business School, George Cowcher Chief Executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chambers of Commerce, Asha Khemka the college principal, Andy Belfield, Unison, East Midlands

West Midlands
Our Economy: The Midlands Today Debate
Presented by: Mary Rhodes
Guests include: Lord Digby Jones; Shadow Work & Pensions Secretary, Liam Byrne MP, Kate Walsh (finalist BBC One's The Apprentice Series 5) Location: University of Birmingham

Yorkshire
Our Economy: The Look North Debate
Presented by: Panorama's Richard Bilton
From: The factory floor of one of Bradford's biggest employers - BorgWarner
Guests include: Caroline Flint MP, Julian Smith MP, Martyn Kendrick (Lloyds TSB).

North East and Cumbria
Our Economy: The BBC Look North Debate
Presented by Victoria Derbyshire

South East
Our Economy: The South East Today Debate
Presented by: Natalie Graham
From: Brighton's Jubilee Library
Guests include: Caroline Lucas MP; Michael Fallon MP; Ex-Apprentice star Katie Hopkins; multi-millionaire businessman Mike Holland

East Our Economy: The Look East Debate Presented by: Amelia Reynolds

East Yorks and Lincs
Our Economy - The Look North Debate
Presented by Tim Iredale
From University of Lincoln Business and Law Faculty

South
Our Economy: The South Today Debate
Presented by: Sally Taylor
From Basingstoke at the UK HQ of Linde

Today we launch the results of a substantial research project analysing information supplied by more than 260 local authorities across England about how their spending plans will impact on public services in their areas, following the Government's Spending Review process.

We have undertaken this survey because we know that people care passionately about their public services - and because the BBC has a duty to explain what is happening, what the choices are for local authorities and how they have made them. Only the BBC can do this kind of work because only we have a network of local reporters serving radio, TV and online, spread across England whose job it is to explain what is happening in their localities and to hold locally elected councillors to account for the decisions they make.

But with that unique position comes responsibility. We have to make our explanations clear and readily understandable for our viewers, listeners and online users. We need to make sure that we present the information in a way that not only tells a compelling story, but that the story we tell is accurate, fair and above all, impartial.

So in launching our survey today we have worked with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) to map the effect of the new spending round on public services, using data that the councils themselves have verified. The survey was based on CIPFA's SeRCOP* service expenditure breakdown which is used by a variety of organisations, including the Government, to assess what local authorities spend. Every local authority in England was surveyed between 9th February and 28th April 2011 -

Some people talk of cuts, others of savings but the reduction in local budgets has been a regular narrative through 2011. This survey provides audiences with a snapshot of how each local authority intends to implement its savings using a direct comparison with last year. Our local radio teams, alongside regional and network TV colleagues will be assessing the story and context behind those figures to see how each council is coping in this new financial climate.

Whether the resulting stories are about library closures, reductions in Chief Executives pay, a slimming down of administration costs, outsourcing of services, or closure of some services, we'll be telling the stories that matter to communities.

Our audience research tells us that the BBC's independence is a foundation stone of public trust and it is one we will not jeopardise. Fundamental to that independence is political impartiality and with our survey today we strive to present a true picture of public services in England - as they are and without the gloss of political varnish.

It might ruffle a few feathers, it might spark some lively debate, but above all I hope it will help inform you of the choices your council is making about how your money should be spent.

* The CIPFA Service Reporting Code of Practice (SeRCOP) replaces the previous Best Value Accounting Code of Practice (BVACOP) from 2011/12.

David Holdsworth is Controller, English Regions

• Information about the Government's Spending Review on HM Treasury's website
• BBC News England
• The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy

I’ve been in regular contact with our teams across England this week, hearing about their snow coverage; the issues they are facing getting around communities and the amazing responses we’ve had from members of the public letting us know their stories; hearing about how they are looking after their neighbours and sending us their photos and other critical information.

Local services are a lifeline to many communities in times of severe weather. Nowhere more so than in the North of England whose residents have had more than their fair share of critical weather during the past year.

Local radio is the natural place for people to find out how the big stories impact locally.  Our teams work long hours to give the best, most up to date service possible. Many stations have departed from their normal schedules to go live and local throughout evenings and weekends.

Our radio cars, reporters and cameramen have been out from dawn to dusk to cover snow stories and give eyewitness accounts of the conditions.  So we've been local whenever and wherever the audience needed us and we’re carrying on while the information is required.

Yesterday, according to our overnight figures, 8.1m people tuned into their 6.30 regional news programme. This is the highest reach for the evening regional news in England since the 'big freeze' in January this year. This was particularly high in the North and North East, where the snowfalls are biggest and whose figures were up by more than 10%.

Our online sites also attract a great many visitors during bad weather. On Monday for school closures alone - BBC Newcastle’s special web page had 85,000 unique users and more than 160,000 page impressions! 

I’ve been impressed by some of the work that has been done using  crowd sourcing – for example the Cornwall map which takes our data and adds others to it.

School closures and transport available to schools which are open are always high on people’s lists of ‘things I need to know’ and we make a point of ensuring that this information is on our local websites whenever relevant. This is how we do it in Shropshire. 

BBC Newcastle tweets the list of school closures daily and keeps re-tweeting throughout the morning.  Our Twitter feed, on Monday alone, had more than 600 clicks, potentially reaching new audiences and moving school closures into the social networking world.

We’ve got an incredibly important role to play in providing both information and companionship to our audiences – often we’re a lifeline in every sense of the word. As I've written this blog I've seen a note from our radio Editor in Lincolnshire describing today's conditions as unprecedented in the station's history, so it looks like we will be doing this for some time yet . I am proud of our teams and what they can achieve for our audiences.

David Holdsworth is the Controller of English Regions

 
Check the forecast for your area at BBC Weather

Get the latest Travel News for your area