Nottinghamshire - one of the most productive coalfields in Europe - had 47 collieries.

Thoresby pit in the heart of Sherwood Forest is all that remains of a once proud industrial tradition. Now Nottinghamshire's last colliery and the jobs of its 700 miners is in doubt.

That's because of a huge underground fire at a similar deep coal mine 60 miles further south.

Daw Mill Colliery in north Warwickshire has been forced to shut. Several hundred miners have been laid off.

It was the biggest mine owned by UK Coal, the country's largest coal producer. Daw Mill was its money-spinner.

UK Coal's chief executive Kevin McCullough is now battling to preserve the business.

"Given it was the most furious blaze in 30 or 40 years of UK mining, we had no option but to close that mine permanently," he told me.

Coal still accounts for generating 40% of the country's electricity needs.

But uncertainty over the future of UK Coal has knock-on effects for Thoresby and at Kellingley in North Yorkshire, the firm's two other big mines.

Any rescue plan will affect the remaining workforce and the pensions of thousands of retired miners who used to work in the East Midlands coalfield.

I met up with Alan Bell, who has worked at Thoresby as a fitter since he left school 40 years ago. He fears losing thousands of pounds from his works pension.

"It's really concerning," he said.

"I've worked out a loss of about £20,000 to £30,000 in my total pension. As far as retirement is concerned, it's a no-no now."

Andrew MacKenzie was fortunate after the blaze at Daw Mill to get a transfer to Thoresby. But he too worries about big reductions to his pension pot.

"Of course, we are angry but if you want a job, you've got to take a cut one way or another haven't you," he told me.

The closure of Daw Mill not only seriously affects the output of UK Coal but also its ability to continue funding its company pension scheme for its 6,800 members.

Industry experts estimate the funding gap could total £360m.

Kevin McCullough is quite clear on his priorities now.

"We are doing our hardest to secure the existing jobs and benefits of our employees.

"Clearly a pension is a big part of that. It's not lost on us. That's why we are working with lots of departments in the government to safeguard that to the fullest extent we can."

Those talks with ministers include the possibility of Daw Mill and the pensions scheme being taken over by the government and the state-run Coal Authority.

If the pension scheme is bailed out by the government, payments to retired miners won't be nearly as generous.

Mick Stevens, the general secretary of the Nottinghamshire Union of Democratic Mineworkers, is pressing coalition ministers for an early decision.

"There's just too much uncertainty over jobs and the pension," he said.

"The government and local MPs can do a lot more to help. We need more communication to get the assistance and not just talk."

In Parliament, Bolsover MP Dennis Skinner has raised his concerns over the very future of coal mining in this country.

He warned it could cost the government up to £500m in pension and redundancy payments if UK Coal is no longer viable.

"It would make a lot of sense for this coalition government to save what's left of the coal industry and nationalise it," he told the House of Commons.

Kevin McCullough says the priority has to be saving existing jobs.

"The most important point is that we safeguard the 2,000 jobs we have and look after our creditors.

"We need to do that so we retain a viable mining business.

"Where that ends up is still not clear, but we are working very hard to get there."

There's been coal mining at Thoresby for 90 years.

One question now: will Nottinghamshire's remaining pit see out its centenary?

Inside County Hall, there was no time to relax. Furniture was being shifted and old policy documents shredded. Political power was switching.

It was a similar scene at Derbyshire's County Hall. Labour has ended four years of Conservative control in both counties and is now taking over the reins of power.

In Nottinghamshire, its new leader Councillor Alan Rhodes has already had an early briefing from the council's chief executive Mick Burrows.

A new squeeze on budgets is looming. Savings of £132m are said to be required to balance the books over the next few years. The authority spends £500m each year on providing local services including libraries, fixing pot holes and social care.

With schools, the total spend increases to £1.4bn.

"So we'll be bringing options and proposals to the new administration," the chief executive explained.

Alan Rhodes has already taken one significant early step. There's to be a freeze on spending and external recruitment.

"That's prior to opening the books and seeing exactly where the financial pressures are for the county council," he told me.

"We need an accurate assessment to know where we are financially."

It's not just council budgets that'll be tight; Labour's overall majority in Nottinghamshire is just one seat.

What's fascinating now is the tone of the language being used by all the region's county council leaders.

I detect very little triumphalism. The political talk is of reaching consensus and finding common ground.

Even Leicestershire's county council leader Nick Rushton, a Conservative, says he wants a collegiate approach.

'Big Tent' politics is back in vogue. He's extended the hand of co-operation to the two new Labour leaders, Alan Rhodes and Derbyshire's Anne Western.

"If they want to do business with me, I want to do business with them," he said.

"Especially on sharing the cost of back-room services, so we can save money and protect front-line services."

That perhaps is a sign of some really tough political decisions that'll have to be made in the months to come. Chancellor George Osborne has already told the councils to find more budget savings. Next month, he's expected to announce a further spending squeeze.

"We've looked very closely at the pressures facing families in these difficult times," said Anne Western.

"But money for local councils is not fairly distributed in this country. The government shifted money away from the Midlands and the north to the south. That's an argument that all of us council leaders will be taking to government."

Remember one thing - regardless of the political changes in the county council elections - local government still faces a 30% cut in its spending power.

That means more belt-tightening. It may also encourage new thinking and co-operation between our councils to share the load.

Labour's victory in Nottinghamshire wasn't in the bag until the last handful of seats were declared just before teatime.

They proved to be in those crucial marginal swing seats in the greater Nottingham suburbs, where Labour and Tory went head-to-head.

That was the moment when Labour supporters could finally breathe a sigh of relief and congratulate each other and for the new leader Alan Rhodes to consider the responsibilities of County Hall power.

For the new Labour leadership, its first tough decision will be over budgets and how to find savings of £132m.

There'll be no political honeymoon here.

John Major claims his decision to ditch the glitzy PR approach to campaigning in favour of a soap box, helped him win in 1992.

And Ed Miliband opted for the soap box while rallying party supporters in Nottinghamshire for the county council elections.

There was a modest crowd in West Bridgford's Central Avenue to see him. In a few months time - just up the road - bigger crowds will gather. And it won't be a soap box catching the eye, but a huge digital screen.

When cricket fans pack into Trent Bridge to watch the Ashes Test match this summer, they'll see the outcome of a controversial political decision and one that's become an election issue.

The new digital scoreboard was possible with £1m part funding from Nottinghamshire County Council.

The Tory leadership that runs County Hall batted off Labour criticism that the cash grant couldn't be justified at a time of big spending cuts.

It's economic development, said the Conservative leader Councillor Kay Cutts.

But Labour feel this issue gives them an opportunity to score well at the Tories' expense.

In the last county elections four years ago, the Labour vote in Nottinghamshire collapsed. Gordon Brown's government was struggling to cope with the banking crisis. David Cameron's stock was rising.

The Conservatives took 35 seats, with Labour reduced to 13, the Lib Dems on 9 and independents on 10.

After 28 years out in the political cold, Nottinghamshire's Tories swept into power. And Kay Cutts immediately stamped her no-nonsense style of leadership, especially when it came to squeezing budgets.

Her council has shed 2,500 jobs over the past three years. That's been hugely controversial. Council tax was frozen and will remain so, if the Tories retain control.

But for whoever wins this election, new budget pressures will mean finding an additional £132m of savings. That's because of rising costs, mainly adult social care and child protection services.

"I think we are best placed people to do that," Kay Cutts told me.

"I can't honesty ask families to pay more money for the same number of services, so we are going to find new ways of doing it differently. And there are ways."

She also took the decision to put up £20m of council money into widening the A453, the main road that links the M1, near East Midlands Airport, and the south of Nottingham's conurbation.

Work on a new dual-carriageway is now under way.

Economic development has become a theme in this election campaign.

"We want to turn Nottinghamshire into a business county," said Labour's leader Councillor Alan Rhodes.

"Jobs and skills will be our priority. We want to make people ready for work."

The Liberal Democrats may feel the political heat this time from Labour and also UKIP, It's fielding more candidates than ever before and hopes to add to the one seat it won in Ashfield four years ago.

Liberal Democrat leader Jason Zadrozny believes what sets his party apart from its rivals, is an alternative offer for the people of Nottinghamshire .

"They'll see roads and pavements improved," he said.

"Libraries and Sure Start will be protected. It'll be a different way of doing things. And that will be quite refreshing in Nottinghamshire."

Nottinghamshire will be the barometer council to watch, and if Labour do well, the soap box may take the credit.

But why does she remain such a hugely divisive figure, 23 years after she left Downing Street?

I felt it outside St Paul's Cathedral as the funeral procession made its way from Fleet Street.

While I was interviewing some of the guests invited to attend the funeral service, protesters were shouting anti-Thatcher slogans. That, in turn, provoked Thatcher admirers in the crowd to cheer and applaud her.

If you want to know why Margaret Thatcher still polarises opinions, you need to start in the East Midlands.

There's the Grantham upbringing that shaped her political mindset. Also the East Midlands coalfield and the year-long Miners' Strike of 1984.

Saviour of a nation... or wrecker of communities?

Her admirers will tell you she saved the country from union militancy.

"Her government did make a difference when the issues were really big ones," Rushcliffe MP Ken Clarke told me. He served in her cabinet.

"Historically, the Thatcher era was very important."

It may be 28 years since the end of the Miners' Strike, but Margaret Thatcher is still reviled in many coalfield areas for shutting pits and destroying communities.

"The effect of what she did is still with us," said former Nottinghamshire NUM miner Brian Walker.

"We're determined not to forget what she and her government did. Our communities have never recovered."

The East Midlands coalfield was divided over whether to support the NUM strike without a pithead ballot.

In many Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire mining communities, there was an atmosphere of civil war, as I recall from my time reporting on the strike.

Many of the NUM miners and their families have never forgiven Margaret Thatcher for describing them as "the enemy within".

Britain is a very different country now to the one she started to govern in 1979.

Council house sales, financial deregulation, privatisation and recapturing the Falklands: They epitomise what we now call Thatcherism.

"She was the last prime minister to repel foreign invaders on British territory. For that, she deserves the nation's thanks," said Nicky Morgan, the MP for Loughborough, and another VIP waiting in the queue outside St Paul's.

Also waiting was a Conservative Party insider who knew her well. Graham Smith is now the party's organiser for Nottingham. But during Margaret Thatcher's election winning heyday, he helped plan her campaign tactics and constituency visits.

"My memory is of a really great women," Mr Smith told me.

"I had the pleasure of working with her and to appreciate and understand what she wanted to achieve."

So what will historians make of the Thatcher era? Journalists are said to write the first draft of history.

But maybe Grantham's current MP Nick Boles has pointed the historians in one direction.

He told me: "Margaret Thatcher is - whatever your views about her - one of the three or four most significant women in Britain's history."

So that's Boadicea, Elizabeth 1, Emmeline Pankhurst and Margaret Thatcher... what do you think?

I saw a small group of protesters attacking the £10m cost of the ceremony.

As the funeral procession reached St Paul's any protests were drowned out by many of the 12-deep crowd who applauded and cheered her memory.

The Derby-based aero-engine works is something of a manufacturing comfort blanket for coalition politicians.

Two years ago, David Cameron took his entire cabinet to Rolls Royce. It was a symbolic move: manufacturing was back in political fashion.

Chancellor George Osborne talked about "The March of the Makers" - with expanded, revitalised private businesses creating the job opportunities lost in the public sector.

For the prime minister, it was about "rebalancing the economy".

Since then, coalition ministers have beaten a path to the UK's manufacturing Mecca in Derby.

Two years on, Mr Cameron's return to Rolls Royce was a good opportunity to judge whether rebalancing an economy is like spinning plates. Some fly off, some wobble and others crash and smash into pieces.

"Here in the East Midlands, some 48,000 new private sector jobs have been created this year," the prime minister told me.

"This is good progress," he added .

But as Derby North's Labour MP Chris Williamson tweeted to me: "How many of those new jobs are part-time and low paid?"

At Rolls Royce, the prime minister need have no worries about the quality of the job opportunities.

The government's already committed £1bn to the so-called aerospace growth partnership over the next seven years. That is opening up gold-plated apprenticeships at Rolls Royce.

"The funding will help industries like Rolls Royce re-balance the economy. That's what we need," he added.

"Would I like to see it go faster? Do I want to see more manufacturing? Do I want to see more export success. Of course, I do."

According to the Office of National Statistics, UK manufacturing grew by 0.8 % in February. That's pretty sluggish. At least, it's better than the previous month when manufacturing output fell back by 1.9%.

But such high profile visits cannot be divorced from any political dividend, especially with weeks to go to the county council elections.

Four years ago, the Conservatives chalked up sensational results. The party snatched County Hall control from Labour in both Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

It was the first time the Tories were in power since the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981.

The East Midlands swung heavily for David Cameron, and the region's voters delivered for him again in the General Election the following year. If the rest of England had followed suit, Cameron would be leading a majority Conservative government.

But recession, a sluggish economy and the deficit reduction measures may have damaged the Tories' prospects this May. Labour has high hopes of retaking Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

So would the prime minister be disappointed to lose such key counties.

"We will fight for every seat and for every vote," he told me.

"We have a very strong message. We are on the side of hard-working families. We are keeping your council tax down and we are keeping your petrol tax down.

"We are also taking two million people out of tax altogether. Someone working in Derby on the minimum wage for a full working week, will have seen their income tax bill cut in half under this government."

If the county elections backfire for the Conservatives, the prime minister may be back in Derby looking for that comfort blanket.

And not just this spring, but for many more springs to come.

Even the government accepts that.

"Global gas price hikes are squeezing households," admitted Ed Davey, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary of State. He's one of the influential Liberal Democrats in the coalition.

"They are beyond any government's control and, by all serious predictions, are likely to continue rising."

So what's the answer? Ed Davey claims our domestic fuel bills are already an average of £64 less because of a raft of energy and climate change measures already introduced. Think solar panels. Think wind farms. Think the government's so-called Green Deal.

But one leading figure in the energy industry has issued a warning to the government. She's Angela Knight, appointed last year as chief executive of the industry's trade body Energy UK.

She questions the government's decision to close UK coal-fired power stations when renewable energy - especially wind power - has yet to plug the energy gap.

"If we are shutting down so many and haven't got a timetable to rebuild, we are heading for a very difficult pinch point," she said.

"That's why I want the Cameron government to focus on this problem.

"We can't shut down without opening up. If the lights go out, that would be a complete disaster."

Those comments will be welcomed by the country's coal industry and by the operators of the UK's coal-fired generators.

As a former Treasury minister in John Major's government, Angela Knight understands how public policy is shaped. She was also the MP for the Derbyshire marginal seat of Erewash and appreciates the historic and cultural links with coal in the East Midlands.

"Are energy prices going up and will they going to continue to go up? Yes. Why? Because we are dependent on the world price of gas, which is increasing, and we are shutting down our coal-fired power stations," she added.

"Coal produces 40% of our electricity and it's cheap.

"But we've got an emissions directive that is going to shut down a quarter of our coal-fired powers stations before 2020. Why are we closing them down?"

Angela Knight gives two reasons: EU directives on emissions are difficult to meet with so many coal-fired stations.

There's also a domestic political reason.

"In 2008, the Labour government put the targets into law and we have to legally meet standards against a timetable that is extraordinary quick."

"By 2020, we are legally bound to get 15% of our total energy from renewables. In effect that's translated into meaning 30% of all electricity production by 2020 have got to be produced by renewables."

She has an app on her iPad which shows how much power is generated for the national grid from the UK's renewables.

"Renewables sometimes work. Sometimes the wind blows."

"Sometimes, we can produce about 10%. But my little app tells me we are producing just 3% from renewables today."

I met Angela Knight when she was back in Nottingham to address senior city Tories. She knows that any 'knocking' copy against the EU or wind farms will get a receptive hearing.

"How much are households prepared to pay for shutting down power stations because they thought 'going green' was touchy feely?" she told her audience.

Is shale gas an answer? Former coal field areas are thought to be rich in gas deposits deep underground. But extracting that gas through fracking - using high pressure water to fracture the rock - is controversial.

"Shale gas is going to be tricky to get at," she admits.

"But if we don't start looking now, we won't be able to determine how much there is."

Angela believes energy policy is forcing itself to the top of the political agenda. A recent survey of MPs showed they now regard the issue as important as crime and education.

With ever-rising domestic fuel bills, she wants a public debate on future energy policy. Any call for a public debate is usually a sign that the policy consequences could be rather unpalatable.

As Angela reminds her audience, the alternative is the lights going out.

And no doubt, he would have looked over his shoulders at the political meltdown his Budget caused last year. A repeat of the pasty tax omnishambles would have been a career-limiting move indeed.

But through the prism of an East Midlands viewpoint, it's possible to judge which measures he announced will impact on the jobs and economy of the region.

Its economic background looks rather favourable. At 178,000, the latest monthly unemployment figures for the East Midlands showed a fall of 7,000, making it one of the few English regions where employment is on the up.

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Budget: Full coverage

It could be in part to the network of small and medium sized companies in the East Midlands.

Significantly, the chancellor backed Lord Heseltine's proposals to give 'city regions' such as greater Nottingham much greater economic devolution from Whitehall. The aim is to give small business and the entrepreneur a boost.

That promises more decision-making and government cash to the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), the business-led organisations that took over economic regeneration from Labour's Regional Development Agencies.

The Treasury has worked out how much two of the biggest LEPs in the East Midlands are worth economically per head of population. Leicester and Leicestershire is valued at £19,000 per head, and Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire is £17,000 per head.

The chancellor is now looking to the LEPs and small businesses to help kick-start the economy. In one of his measures, start-up small businesses will pay no tax on hiring their first employee.

There was also special cash support for two of the region's contrasting grown sectors. One is to strengthen the UK's aerospace industry, such as Derby-based Rolls-Royce.

The other helping hand is for Nottingham's developing creative industries sector. Confetti, based in the city's Lace Market, runs a flourishing training business for the digital music, TV and film industries.

When Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg visited Confetti, he must have passed on a good word to the chancellor.

One announcement that could have huge repercussions for the East Midlands is George Osborne's announcement about exploring for shale gas. The former coal fields of the region are thought to have huge deposits.

But the potential won't be realised until drilling for the underground gas is allowed. The Budget contained two significant measures: new planning guidance to make it easier for operators to explore and a tax break to cushion start-up costs. The prospect of shale gas exploration and the use of fracking to release the gas is bound to be controversial in communities affected.

The East Midlands remains one of England's fastest growing regions. But an influential report from the Smith Institute think-tank last year warned that the collapse of house building threatened further growth in the region, and would make home ownership for many a distant dream.

The prospect of an interest free loan covering 20% of the cost of a 'newly built home' - as the chancellor described it - could stimulate house building and provide far more starter homes.

And the region's brewing industry can celebrate. Real ale campaigners and the brewers - both large and micro - had raised concerns over the impact of the beer tax escalator, which imposed an automatic annual above-inflation increase on a pint.

As I wrote in an earlier blog, rising beer prices were claimed to be a factor behind last year's closures of up to 10,000 pubs throughout the country.

George Osborne not only scrapped Labour's escalator, but has also cut beer duty by one whole penny. It comes into affect from this Sunday night. But somehow, I'm not expecting long queues outside my local.

But could his political stock also rise with his handling of another explosive issue: the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and its cash subsidies to farmers.

He wants the EU's direct cash payments to farmers to be scrapped. Many farmers would probably agree with him.

"The market will tell farmers best what the most appropriate food is to grow and what is the appropriate price the market should stand."

That's what he said within days of getting the Defra job in last September's Cabinet reshuffle.

The market should decide is the mantra. But what's the reality on the ground? I've been to find out from East Midlands farmers for BBC One's "Sunday Politics" programme.

Let me introduce you to John Charles-Jones, of Woodborough Park farm just north of Nottingham.

He farms 585 acres and grows wheat, oilseed rape and beans. From the EU, John gets £50,000 in single farm payments.

But months of heavy rain have left his hilly farmland waterlogged and financially on difficult ground.

In one of his biggest fields, there is a long gash of a trench caused by the weather.

"It's caused by the sheer volume of water that's come off the fields over this winter," he told me.

John jumped into the trench to illustrate its depth. It came up to his armpits.

"It makes it very difficult for us to sow or get our machines onto the fields to fertilise or spray," he added.

The flood waters that swept into nearby villages last year may have gone, but the record rain fall continues to have a big impact.

Much of the farm land is still too wet to grow crops. EU cash support through the single farm payment is now keeping John and many other farmers just about on financial dry land.

"If our single farm payment of £50,000 was taken away, our average income over the last seven years would be slightly less than £20,000 per year," he said.

So how is he able to make his business work on that?

"With great difficulty," he told me.

"Take the single farm payment away and either food prices will rise significantly or we will have to diversify and away from food production."

The EU's agriculture budget now tops £50bn a year.

Seventy per cent of that goes to farmers, and 200,000 UK farmers get those direct payments - that's worth £3.3bn.

Downing Street and Defra's Owen Paterson say that's just too expensive. The message to farmers: EU farm subsidies distort the market.

Charles Sercombe knows a thing or two about distorted markets.

His farm at Frisby-on-the-Wreake in Leicestershire covers 200 acres.

He's got 2,000 sheep and 70 dairy cows. His EU single payment is £18,000 pa.

For meat producers, the weather, disease and tumbling prices have made it a tough year.

"The drive by supermarkets for cheap, low prices creates a problem for the market place. We are having to produce more for less," he said.

"The price of lamb has collapsed. It's 25% less than it was a year ago. And without the EU's single farm payment, it would have made this business very difficult to keep going."

The government wants to scrap the current system of EU farm subsidies by taking the money out of food production to fund projects that sustain the rural environment.

The issue now is the knock-on for food prices and the future of Britain's farming industry.

"Many sheep farmers, especially those on the uplands and in the Peak District, have struggled with rising input costs and poor weather," he added.

In the past month, Charles has been getting £67 for each of his lambs sold under the auctioneer's hammer. That's slightly better than it has been. But he is still losing £20 per head on the sale.

"With the fall in sheep prices, I fear it will drive confidence out of our industry. The present situation isn't sustainable."

For both Charles Sercombe and John Charles-Jones, farming is their livelihood. But their future - without the EU payments - is far from clear.

In Nottinghamshire, the word " bung" has suddenly has entered the political lexicon. That's the description the county's opposition Labour leader used to describe the part-funding of a high profile road scheme.

To help pump-prime the local economy, the county council's Conservative leadership contributed £20m towards a government project to improve the A453, the road that links the M1 motorway with the south of Nottingham..

The Highways Agency has already started road building and the first phase of a seven-mile dual carriageway will be open to traffic this time next year.

But did the political go-ahead involve a hefty financial inducement to government transport ministers, at the cost of county council jobs and services?

That's the accusation made by councillor Alan Rhodes, the Labour leader who hopes to be running Nottinghamshire County Council after May's elections.

"It was wrong to give a bung of £20m of public money to the government to make something that is their responsibility anyway," he told me.

"This is happening when front line services are being cut."

Since the Tories took control of Nottinghamshire's County Hall four years ago, £180m has been sliced off budgets with the loss of 2,500 council jobs.

Its Conservative leader Kay Cutts refutes Labour's claims that front line services have been damaged. If anything, she points to extra funding for adult and child care services.

But it's the Labour "bung" accusation that's really caused anger.

According to my dictionary, one definition of a bung is a payment to persuade someone to do something, usually something dishonest.

"I'm surprised and shocked. He's behaved quite disgracefully," said Ms Cutts.

There's absolutely no suggestion from Alan Rhodes of anything illegal. But it's sparked off the first salvo in what could become a bitter election campaign .

"When you are in public life, you really should measure your words more carefully," the Tory leader added.

The work "bung" is more associated with dishonest football transfer deals than road improvements. So has the Labour leader scored something of an own goal?

He added:" Bung? I think it's a word we all understand and that's why I'm using that term."

Labour has high hopes of winning back control of Nottinghamshire.

But whichever party wins the elections, they'll face some harsh realities.

Tucked away in the council's budget report is an example of the tough financial reality facing English local government.

After May's elections, Nottinghamshire's political leadership faces having to find an additional £132m in budget savings. That's on top of savings already planned.

"The challenge will be greater. I don't think that's in any doubt," Paul Simpson, Nottinghamshire's director of finance, told me.

So how can it be done?

"We need to be more efficient, more effective and better at procuring services from our suppliers, "he added.

"We must find efficiencies and drive costs out of the business."

One big reason is the rising cost of child care services.

The number of children now in Nottinghamshire's care is 900. That's doubled since the baby Peter child cruelty scandal.

"About £35m extra has gone into our child protection services over the last four to five years," said Anthony May, the council's director of child, families and cultural services.

Much of that extra resource has to come from squeezing existing budgets.

Caring for an ageing population is also a huge rising cost.

The county council spends £500m-a-year on services ranging from schools, transport, libraries and country parks and yet half of that now goes on adult social care.

Nottinghamshire's county population is 785,000. The number of citizens over 65 is 142,000.

One senior council executive put this question to me:

"We are now spending 45% of our total budget on 17% of the population. Is that balance right?" he asked me.

That touches on a looming social policy issue. Another is financial.

How is Nottinghamshire - one of the largest shire county authorities in England - going to fund the extra demands for child and adult care, while wrestling with finding an additional £132m in savings?

Then there's the political question: Are the newly-elected councillors - emboldened by their manifesto promises- really up for the flak that comes with the inevitable tough decisions ahead?

If the rhetoric of this election campaign starts with a bung, the language could get more explosive closer to polling day and in the budget decisions that follow.

The campus venue at Nottingham University is home to some of the latest research in creating eco-friendly homes.

This political party's come a long way since it was formed at the Bridge pub at Napton, in Warwickshire, 40 years ago. Inspired by the growth of the green movement in Germany, the party went through early birth name change: People, then Ecology before settling on the Green Party.

Its leader is former Guardian journalist Natalie Bennett. Elected last autumn, her priority now is to spread the message that the Greens aren't a single issue political party.

The banks are in her sights for causing the global recession. The multinationals for not paying "a fair" tax. So is the Labour Party for taking Britain into the Iraq war.

"Because Labour is staying so close to the Tories on policy terms, we have a huge opportunity to talk about our policies, " she told me.

"Making the minimum wage a living wage, for example. We are wanting to renationalise the railways. That's popular with every audience I ever come across."

The Greens have two MEPs and in Caroline Lucus, a Westminster MP.

"Caroline has before Parliament a land value tax bill, " added Natalie Bennett.

"This would replace council tax and business rates with a far more equitable system.

"It would stop land banking and would ensure that local councils have the funding they need."

One of the party's councillors is Richard Mallender from Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire.

Before the conference started, he was shown some of the world-leading research at Nottingham University on creating energy efficient homes.

In a quiet cul-de-sac on the university campus, there are six experimental carbon-zero houses . They will shape future home design and help meet the 2016 deadline for Britain's carbon reduction targets.

"We developed these carbon zero homes from the design and development stage through to people living in them," said Professor Mark Gillott, of the University's School of Architecture and Built Environment.

"We feed that back to industry so when we get to 2016 and we build these homes on mass, we'll have learnt the lessons to smooth the way."

Mr Mallender is one of the Greens' 134 councillors in England and Wales. He believes local councils have a key role in delivering those targets.

"This is the standard of housing we need to see for the whole of the UK," he told me.

"It's also about getting building regulations up to standard and the building industry working smarter with local councils."

The Greens believe they are no longer a fringe party. Their message and policies from the Nottingham conference could set the tone for the party's next 40 years.

That alarms Labour MP Chris Leslie, a former fire minister in the Blair government.

He's furious that the government's fire services minister Brandon Lewis used the parliamentary Regulatory Reform Committee to get the changes, rather than introduce a new bill.

"The ministers are taking this through a committee - a little known committee in the House of Commons - but actually I think they should have the courage to admit what they are doing, which is out sourcing the entirety of the fire services," he told me.

"I think it's a step too far. It's a different thing saying IT services or human resource management service within a fire fighting service should be outsourced, but to sell off everything is full scale privatisation.

"I don't think that profit should be at the forefront in fire and rescue protection."

The law allows only trained fire fighters employed by a fire authority to fight fires or handle other emergencies.

That's what the government wants to change. In the North East, Cleveland is the first authority to consider transferring its fire fighting service to an independent employee-led mutual.

In the East Midlands, union leaders say it's just not on.

"Fire fighters are there to serve the public. They have no wish to become share holders in the fire service," said Gary Mitchell, the regional secretary of the FBU, the Fire Brigades Union

"Look what has happened in Lincolnshire," he added.

"AssetCo actually own the fire engines. It's a private company. That means the councillors, who are responsible for the fire service, just won't have any say in it in future."

But there are some privately run fire fighters - for example, at East Midlands Airport. It employs its own specialist crews. Is this an option the government wants?

In a statement, the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "Fire and rescue authorities will remain statutorily responsible for this public service and to suggest otherwise is completely wrong.

"The government does, however, support co-operatives and employee ownership. We are keen to work with local authorities and their staff wanting to explore the scope for employee-led mutuals, where there is local support and backing."

That doesn't persuade Chris Leslie.

"If the public knew that the fire service was on the brink of privatisation, they would be absolutely appalled," he said.

"The police or the ambulance service could be next in line. Our emergency services should not be privatised."

The government says it wants more cost effective alternatives for fire service delivery.

The last Labour government attempted to release efficiency savings by creating a network of regional fire control rooms. Smart new buildings appeared. But, like the planned East Midlands HQ, it was never used and was mothballed at great public expense.

The fire minister Brandon Lewis has a new approach. But even he recognises his proposals are "not without some level of controversy".

Chris Leslie said: "They should have the courage of their convictions and bring forward a full bill. Because sneaking through is just out of order."

The minister may have a political fire fight to win his argument to secure the changes he wants.

That was the rather exasperated question posed to me by a dad, who's funding his children through college.

It's also a question that's been on the mind of many of our MPs.

They've been debating the state of the East Midlands economy and the future of our manufacturing sector. And the picture they painted was robustly rosy. Surprised?

The parliamentary debate was secured by the Sherwood Conservative Mark Spencer.

Manufacturing is no sunset industry, he said.

"We are heading in a high technology direction," he told MPs.

"The East Midlands is ideally placed to trade with the rest of the country and the world. We should be cheerleading and banging the drum for the region."

In the East Midlands, a higher proportion of people continue to work full-time in manufacturing than in any other UK region.

Nationally, the rate is 10.5%. In the area covered by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, that rate tops nearly 17%.

But, according to some Labour MPs, the region has missed out on government funding to help new business starts up.

That concern centres on RGF (Regional Growth Funding) and it was summed up by the Leicester South Labour MP Jon Ashworth.

"In round one, the East Midlands made up 13% of the bids for funding yet won just 4%. Frankly, that's just not good enough," he said.

That worry was backed up by Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins.

"We faired worst than any other region for funding," he said.

So why in RGF round three did the North West get £88m and the East Midlands receive a lowly £14m?

The clue is in the government's strategy. In "rebalancing" the UK economy, it's wanting to help English regions that have traditionally relied on the public sector for jobs.

"This government is addressing the need to rebalance our economy," said Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire.

"We can't have 50% of the economy, the private sector, supporting itself and the rest of the public sector. That led to the huge deficit we are trying to sort out from the last Labour government."

In the debate, a succession of Conservative MPs followed to highlight business successes in their own constituencies: I learned there are more brewery starts ups in Derbyshire than anywhere else in the UK. That was courtesy of Erewash's Jessica Lee.

Or that Derbyshire exports more per person that anywhere else in Britain. Derbyshire South's Heather Wheeler is to thank for that one, together with - among others - Rolls Royce, Toyota and JCB.

The Business and Enterprise Minister Michael Fallon offered another eye-catching fact: annual exports from the East Midlands are now worth £18bn. That's an all-time high.

So is that where the future jobs for our kids are going to come from? Youth unemployment in the region is still high.

Yet apprenticeships in the East Midlands are up and regional unemployment is down.

"Let me reassure you that this government is committed to manufacturing," said the minister.

This Coalition government feels it's got a good story to tell in the East Midlands.

With key shire county elections this May, the economy and people's perceptions about it will be critical to how people will vote.

The Derbyshire Dales MP is a pretty likeable guy who carries a warm smile. He also has the appearance of a veteran politician who is panic-proof.

He'll need those qualities. He now has the job of steering through the case for the proposed routes of the UK's high speed rail services from Birmingham to the Northern cities.

But it's his East Midlands backyard that could become tricky.

Tory colleagues in Leicestershire are outraged at the proposed route. Its county council leader Nick Rushton says for Leicestershire, it's all pain and no gain.

"I realise that part of the link will be unpopular. It is inevitable," Mr McLoughlin told me.

"You can't build a major infrastructure in this country without some problems and some people being against the plan.

"As a government, we've got to look at what is in the long term interest of the country."

The East Midlands hub for HS2 will be at Toton. It's commuter belt between Nottingham and Derby, and probably better known for its vast expanse of old railway sidings.

But is Toton the right location? Not according to the Labour leadership in Derby. They'll want the hub at the city's railway station. The Transport Secretary will need some persuading.

"The people who are working on HS2 haven't just come up one morning and drawn a line," he said.

"They've studied each detail of the route. The cost of reconfiguring Derby station for HS2 would have been substantial and it would have been incredibly disruptive."

Then there's the case for the hub at East Midlands Airport. The western leg of HS2 from Birmingham stops at Manchester Airport. So why was East Midlands Airport ruled out for the eastern route.

"One of the things we had to look at was connectivity, and the way we could best serve Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and the rest of the region," said the Transport Secretary.

"It's not so easy to do from East Midlands Airport. But if East Midlands Airport - which is owned by Manchester Airport - wants to come forward with a proposal, I'll look at it.

"But our plans are what we think is best for the route."

HS2 will also hug a long stretch of the M1 in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This raises the need of shifting part of the motorway. It was only widened to an eight-lane motorway a few years ago.

The HS2 engineers call it realignment.

"There are certain areas where some realignment will have to be done," he added

"It is expensive. But then, this is an expensive scheme.

"The engineers say to me the line should go by the road network.

"There are very good reasons for the work we will need to do. We won't do the work unless it's necessary."

At £33bn, HS2 carries a big price tag. But could that cash be better spent on improving local transport?

"We are already going to electrify the Midland Main Line. HS2 will free up track space on the Midland Main Line. That's how you build up capacity and improve services.

"There's no way you can build a major railway of the nature of HS2 without upsetting some people.

"The size of the scheme, the importance of getting the route right is by far the most important thing for the government. And for the country."

As a politician, this Transport Secretary may have to draw on his reserves of Midlands pragmatism.

The first HS2 trains through the East Midlands may be 20 years away, but this is one big political issue that's not heading for the buffers.

For single dad John Wesley, it became a choice of heating or eating.

"The house was very cold and the living room never warmed up," he told me.

"So I had to wrap myself up in a duvet just to watch the TV."

What he needed was an overcoat - not for himself, but for his Nottingham home.

John's three bedroom house in Aspley now has wrap around insulation, part funded under a government energy efficiency scheme. He's delighted with the improvement.

"From the room being cold, it gets warmed up within 15 minutes and after half an hour, I can switch off the central heating," he added.

"The warmth of the room stays constant. I hardly lose any heat at all. No need for duvets now and I can see the difference in lower energy bills."

The government recommends a living room should be heated to around 21 degrees centigrade.

That's just enough to make the room warm and snug. But if you spend more than 10% of your income on those gas and electric bills, you are deemed to be in fuel poverty.

According to government figures, 22% of households in two Nottingham parliamentary constituencies, East and North, are in fuel poverty, that's one of the highest rates in Britain.

Up to 850 homes - both rented and private - on the 1930s Aspley estate had insulation improvements. Then government funded dried up.

"In 2006, there were 2.2 million people classified as fuel poor," Miranda Cumberbatch, of the Nottingham Energy Partnership, told me.

"Now, the number of households in fuel poverty is in excess of five million. That's a huge increase."

The partnership is an independent charity that's behind Aspley's warm homes make-over.

"The average home now costs £1,400 a year to heat and fuels costs are rising," added Miranda.

But the coalition government's scrapped many of the last Labour government's home insulation schemes - including one only last week, Warm Front. That's turned up the political temperature.

"MPs are being contacted by constituents who are trying to get help from Warm Front," the Ashfield Labour MP Gloria De Piero told a parliamentary debate.

"But they're being told they must wait or have not had the answer that they need in these freezing temperatures. These are elderly and vulnerable people. It is nothing short of a disgrace."

The Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey says the coalition has a big plan to tackle rising energy bills.

The Green Deal is the government's revamped answer. It includes subsidies for insulation, new boilers and solar panels. It was piloted in Nottingham.

"Government policy is designed specifically to drive a wedge between global energy prices and energy bills, now and in the future," said Mr Davy.

"It is designed to enable us to cushion and insulate people from the hikes in global fossil fuel prices as best we can."

But for organisations at the coalface of delivering energy efficient homes, the policy change involves a real financial worry.

"As we move to these more new advanced energy saving measures and new policies, there's a definite funding gap," said Miranda Cumberbatch.

"For solid wall insulation and harder-to-treat properties, you are looking at costs of between £6,000 to £10,000. Which is a far cry from £200 to £400 pounds for loft or cavity wall insulation," she added.

As the thaw sets in, it won't just be mercury rising. One research group, the Energy Bill Revolution, estimates the number of families in fuel poverty within three years will rise to nine million.

If you haven't heard of The Green Deal, you will in the months to come.

If he is to offer the electorate a future referendum of our membership of the EU, prepare for the mother of all political war of words between the pro and anti EU camps.

It'll come down to issues of sovereignty and economic growth…and whether are we better off in or out of the European Union.

That debate is likely to drill down to the benefits of the EU for us all and local communities: clean water and beaches, food standards, employee rights, cross border movements of labour, open markets.

And don't forget the EU's protective status for the Melton Mowbray pork pie or Stilton cheese!

Take just a short walk through most of our cities and you can see the impact of EU funding.

In Nottingham, there's regeneration of public spaces, the city's tram network, the new art galleries of the Nottingham Contemporary, or the watching and making of films at the Broadway Cinema.

The clue will be the EU's blue flag displayed as one of the funding partners.

In the East Midlands, the EU's current regional development fund is worth £424m.

As part of its seven-year programme, 17,000 East Midlands businesses will get cash support. Already, 9,300 have benefited. That EU investment is on course to create 11,000 jobs.

Nottingham-based "One East Midlands" helps voluntary, community and business organisations tap into some of that EU funding.

"The money helps to create new businesses and also some of the more deprived areas of our cities, " said Rachel Quinn, its chief executive.

She also points to the new aerospace centre of excellence based at Nottingham University, which acts as a hub for 250 research and high-end precision engineering businesses.

"But also in the rural areas, the money is investing in the agricultural sector. For example, helping farmers develop their milk output into secondary products such as ice-cream, or cheese. Actually, there's a lot going on."

Yet despite those apparent benefits, the East Midlands remains one of the most Euro sceptic of English regions. That's reflected politically in the five MEPs the region elects to the European Parliament.

Roger Helmer became an East Midlands' Conservative MEP twelve years ago and defected to UKIP last year. In a speech in the European Parliament, he seized the opportunity of the prospects of a referendum on EU membership.

"The voters have understood that EU membership is making us poorer and less democratic and less free," he said.

"The people want freedom, and independence, and democracy. They have concluded, rightly, that we shall be Better Off Out."

In contrast, the Liberal Democrat's Bill Newton Dunn quit the Tories in protest at its increasing hostility to Europe. And now?

"Cameron's pampering to the Euro sceptics is extremely risky, " he said.

"It could result in an outcome that he claims he is against, a British exit from the EU. Leaving the EU would weaken the UK's position and jeopardise three-and-a-half million jobs."

If our membership to the EU was a marriage, we would be celebrating a ruby anniversary. After 40 years together, there would be talk of a little give and take to make the relationship a successful one.

But the match between the UK and the EU is going to require some counselling. The Prime Minister will address that in his speech. But any counselling may come in the shape of a referendum.

Anyone heading into the town centre would have been attracted by its ornate gatework and alluring entrance.

Sadly, the corner pub is now boarded up and getting derelict day by day.

Over the last four years 5,800 pubs - like the Castle - have closed down. Last year alone, pubs were shutting at a rate of 18 a week. That's according to Camra, the beer drinkers' consumer group.

At the nearby New Plough, I met some real ale campaigners. They want to preserve their local and the thousands of other pubs threatened with closure.

"To be able to buy drink from the supermarket is great," one of the New Plough regulars, Elizabeth Lewin told me.

"But on the other hand, I like to come out, socialise and meet up with people. That's what you get in the pub."

Since the start of the recession, pub beer sales in the Midlands are down by a third, according to the British Beer and Pub Association.

So is cost the main reason? The average price of a pint in the most parts of the Midlands is between £3 and £3.50.

Tax has increased by 40% since 2008, when Gordon Brown introduced a 2% above inflation annual rise. The so-called beer escalator now means 30% of what you pay goes direct to the government.

A housing estate just outside Hinckley illustrates another growing trend.

The area used to have a local pub. Some thought the beer at the Galaxy was out of this world, but not enough it seems.

It closed down last year and is now a Co-op supermarket.

Local Lib Dem councillor David Inman led a campaign and organised petitions to block a supermarket sweep of so many pubs.

"The pub owners told me they no longer required the premises and simply allowed a supermarket to move in," said Mr Inman.

"There was no need for planning permission and they didn't take into account the wishes of the local people."

In the last two years alone, 200 former pubs have been converted into convenience stores.

It's one of the issues that's prompted MPs to debate the future of the pub industry.

"Britain's pubs are economically vital," Labour's Shadow Business minister Toby Perkins told the Commons.

"Last year, beer and pubs contributed £21bn to the UK's GDP."

Now the government's proposing to introduce an industry adjudicator to referee between the six big pub companies, their tenants and the consumer wanting a wider range of beers.

"We want to introduce a relationship that is market based," said the Business Secretary Vince Cable.

"We want genuine competition and a real choice for people entering the industry."

But will that be enough?

"We accept that pubs will close," David Finn of Camra said.

"But the situation is not helped when legislation is against us and beer prices are rising above inflation.

"Let's freeze duty and legislate, so pubs cannot be demolished or changed for retail use without permission."

Tax, rising prices and supermarkets: for England's traditional pubs, the pressure is on.

It was no coincidence that David Cameron chose the impressive Royal Derby Hospital to unveil his latest NHS initiative.

This prime minister has always said that his stewardship of the NHS would be an acid test of his premiership.

"I am absolutely committed to the NHS. It will always remain a free health service while I am Prime Minister," he told me during his visit to the Royal Derby.

But last year, there was a succession of allegations of mistreatment and neglect of elderly patients in some Midlands hospitals.

So at Derby, the Prime Minister offered one solution. It's a hospital-style "Trip Advisor", the on-line consumer feedback site that's empowered the tourist when choosing which hotel to book.

The NHS scheme was piloted at the Royal Derby and gets its national roll-out in the spring. The idea is that feedback from patients and their families will sharpen performance in hospitals not quite up to scratch.

David Cameron was keen to get one step ahead on NHS concerns. Little wonder. The findings into the scandal at Stafford Hospital are due.

It'll make tough reading. It'll highlight serious ill treatment of patients and a widespread medical cover-up.

The politics will centre on whether the scandal at Stafford was a localised issue or the effect of wider NHS budget pressures.

That gets us back to the Royal Derby. Officially opened two years ago, it's a showcase PFI hospital.

That means construction and many of its basic building services are funded through private finance, with repayments - like a mortgage - spread over a generation.

The hospital costs £440m to run annually. Its 8,000 staff help look after a million patients a year. But budgets are being squeezed.

"We're already to had to take £23m out of our annual budget," Sue James, chief executive of Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, told me.

"It's not easy finding savings on that scale. But we've been able to do so through some smart thinking, while remaining focused on the people who need our care."

But I highlighted with the Prime Minister the cash difficulties of another showcase PFI hospital nearby. It's the King's Mill at Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire.

Like the Royal Derby, the new King's Mill sparkles ...the glass and steel design symbolise a modern 21st Century NHS.

But King's Mill is in serious financial difficulties. At one stage last year, it was £6m in debt and in danger of going bust.

The findings of a highly critical report resulted in sweeping management changes; in effect, the hospital is now in special measures.

So could Kings Mill become the first PFI hospital to go the way of Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Cambridgeshire, and be privately run for the NHS?

"The health regulator Monitor is keeping a close eye at the situation there at King's Mill and we will ensure that everything can be done to sort it out," said the Prime Minister.

King's Mill could become a real political headache. The same NHS trust also runs Newark Hospital, which also has an uncertain future. Its accident and emergency unit has been scaled back, causing a huge row locally.

Newark is represented in Parliament by the Conservatives' Patrick Mercer and he must feel nervous whenever speculation mounts over the future of Newark Hospital. There's been a highly visible campaign by patients' groups to safeguard the hospital's future.

The Prime Minister's hospital "Trip Advisor" may find itself overloaded if Newark and King's Mills struggle because of budget pressures.

Patrick Mercer must also hope that the initiative doesn't backfire, and round on Tory MPs in marginal seats like him at the next election.

He's never seen eye-to-eye with councillor Graham Chapman and the rest of the Labour leadership on Nottingham City Council. They've been exchanging political swipes on megaphone terms since deficit reduction cuts began squeezing council budgets.

But this Christmas, he's sent personal greetings. This wasn't one of those web site generated e-cards, but on prime-time TV.

"Graham's a nice chap, and if he's looking in - happy Christmas Graham," Mr Pickles told viewers of the BBC's East Midlands Today.

He was rounding off an interview he gave me on the so-called local government settlement, the cash councils can expect from the Treasury for the next financial year.

Local councils in England cost the government £114bn a year. That's £1 for every £4 spent on public services. The Coalition's set a target to chop its funding to councils by a third over the next few years.

Town halls have juggled with three years of government-imposed budget cuts. The "settlement" for the next year is a further cut, on average a reduction of 1.7%.

"That represents a bargain to local authorities," Eric Pickles told MPs.

But the devil is in the detail and local government finance can be very complex.

"A small number of authorities will require larger savings to be made," added the communities secretary.

"But no council will face a loss of more than 8.8% in their spending power thanks to a new efficiency support grant.

"But councils will have to improve services to receive this grant. It's not fair on the rest of local government to expect them to subsidise other councils' failure to embrace modernity."

However, take two very contrasting East Midlands local authorities - Derby City and Rutland County Council.

They have little in common, but they now both face the next financial year with 2.3% less cash from the Treasury. That's noticeably higher than the 1.7% average. Bolsover in Derbyshire will have an 8.8% cut - one of the highest in English local government.

In our big cities, political leaders and their finance chiefs are working out what it all means.

It'll have a direct impact on jobs, services and council tax. Expect to hear the political accusation of "smoke and mirrors" directed at Mr Pickles.

At 0.5%, Nottingham City Council appears to have escaped lightly with a lower reduction than the overall national average.

Leicester's City Mayor, Labour's Sir Peter Soulsby, even gets a slight grant increase of 0.01%.

So has Eric Pickles waved some Christmas magic dust over certain councils in the East Midlands.

Not so, according to Graham Chapman. His council fears a funding gap of £25m next year.

"It's going to have an impact on elderly care and child protection," he told me.

"We're going to have to reduce spending on repairing the roads and libraries.

"What upsets me is the unfairness of it. Some of the authorities down south are not being hit as hard."

Yet Mr Pickles is offering cash incentives. Business rates are worth £11bn to English local government and, from April, town halls will keep that rather than it going direct to the Treasury.

"Striving councils will benefit from doing the right thing for their communities. If they bring in jobs and businesses, they will be rewarded," he said.

"I know Graham is very keen to regenerate where the old lace-making used to be in Nottingham and expand its media centre. Well, he'll get the money to expand those ambitions."

If there's something of a Christmas truce between Eric Pickles and Nottingham's Labour leaders, don't expect it to last.

As councils embark on their budget setting in the New Year, the budget squeeze will cause fresh political anger.