24/01/2014 Reporting Scotland

things will get colder and sweet, find out

Tonight, on Reporting Scotland: The Clutha victims receive compensation.

The company operating the police helicopter that crashed into a

Glasgow bar, killing ten people, begins interim payments. If you

don't have money to pay for your bills, it is just an add-on, to the

thing that is happening in your mind, what happened on the night.

The loss of friends, family members, it is really, really difficult. Also

tonight: Remembering little Mikaeel Kular. Here in Edinburgh and Fife,

hundreds of people are paying tribute to this three-year-old who

was found dead last week. Handshakes and hugs for Labour's

Alex Rowley, the newest Member of the Scottish Parliament, following

Cowdenbeath by-election victory. Rangers' controversial finance

director Brian Stockbridge leaves the club.

It's Burns Night tomorrow - we hear from one act with a rather risque

take on the works of Scotland's Bard.

The company that operated the police helicopter which crashed into the

Clutha pub in Glasgow, killing ten people, has begun making payments to

victims and their families. Solicitors representing Bond Air

Services have accepted the firm is liable for the losses suffered by

those killed or injured. Our reporter Julie Peacock is outside

the Clutha tonight. Julie. Yes, today we learned that Bond Air

Services is making interim compensation payments to those

affected by the crash here last November. That is because the

company had accepted liability for the crash. This is not about

accepting blame, because of the crash is unknown, it is simply

because any owner of the helicopter is liable for any damage or loss of

life that it causes. It will be many months before the final compensation

amount is agreed, so this interim payment is about helping those

affected pay their bills until that cheque comes in. It is almost two

months since that Friday night in November when a police helicopter

fell like a stone into the Clutha bar in Glasgow. Ten people died.

Their family's lives were changed for ever. Many of the survivors were

a seriously injured. One person remains in hospital. The strain on

those affected has not just been physical and emotional. It has been

financial as well. The Clutha pub was just one of the people left

without an income since the crash. If you don't have money to pay for

your bills, it is an add-on to the thing that is happening in your

mind, what happened on the night, the loss of friends and family

members, it is really difficult. You can't imagine how hard that will be.

Many of those who were injured have not been able to work since. Lawyers

representing those affected say the payments by Bond Air Services will

make an enormous difference. They have begun making interim payments

to our clients. That is welcome because some of our clients are

suffering financially. They have been through a bad life changing

event and the last thing they need is more stress and worry about

finances. This pay out will only help cover people's loss of salary.

It be many more months before a final figure for compensation is

agreed. The amount that each person gets will vary case-by-case, but it

is to cover things like loss of salary are any medical bills that

people might have, for example video then the order psychological help

that they have had to get. -- for example physiotherapy. It could

range from a ?300 to thousands of pounds. -- it could range from a few

hundred to thousands of pounds. Hundreds of people have gathered in

Edinburgh and Fife to pay tribute to three-year-old Mikaeel Kular, who

was found dead in Kirkcaldy a week ago. Our reporter Rob Flett is on

the south side of the Firth of Forth, at Cramond shore. Rob. That's

right. This is a community here which has been through a lot in the

past week, such tragic events which the community has really rallied

together through. This event has been organised by local people both

here and over in Fife, where they are gathering at Ravenscraig. They

are releasing balloons as a mark of respect to Mikaeel Kular who was

found dead last week. It is one week since the search for a

three-year-old Mikaeel Kular was led by people from this area. Police

have now left his family home. Today the windows of the house had been

boarded over. In the park around the corner, gazebos have been put up to

shelter the hundreds of soft toys left in his memory, a sign of the

community's respect. There is a continued need to remember the

tragic loss of a young life, but also to begin the process of moving

on. I hope this final sendoff for Mikaeel Kular will be the start of

bringing together the positive community spirit we have seen in the

last few days and we can build on that wave. And that the local people

and council can look at how we develop a lasting memory of Mikaeel

Kular and how we can develop that. This has affected communities on

both sides of the Forth Bridge. His body was found in the woods in

Kirkcaldy. Ravenscraig Beach is one of three locations where hundreds of

people are expected to join in tonight's candlelit vigil, drawn by

the need to be together. It is a nice thing that is happening, to

remember him. I think it is brilliant that everyone is finding a

way to a respect for a poor little boy who has recently been found. It

is horrible and tragic. I am emotional for the wee man. Tonight,

as a final community sendoff for a little Mikaeel Kular, more lasting

memorials are now being planned. Mikaeel Kular's mother has been

charged with his murder. But for the community here this is about finding

something positive out of his death and efforts to remember him will

continue now in the form of sponsored walks and cycles to raise

money for practical memorials, and also for the wider community to help

children who may be new Mikaeel Kular or didn't know him but stand

to benefit in some way from his tragic death.

Labour has held the Scottish Parliamentary seat of Cowdenbeath in

Fife. The party increased its majority to 5,000, beating the SNP

with an 11% swing. The Conservatives came third, with UKIP pushing the

Lib Dems into fifth place. Steven Godden reports.

Bleary eyed but happy, the winning candidate celebrates with his

supporters. Cowdenbeath was already Labour territory. Helen Eadie

resisted the SNP landslide three years ago, but this morning, it was

those in red focusing on the scale of victory. It is important to treat

people with respect and not take them for granted but there is no

doubt that the scale of the victory yesterday was very significant

indeed. Alex Rowley, Scottish Labour Party, 11,192. Alex Rowley secured

almost 5500 more votes than his nearest rival. Testament, he argued,

to what he calls a bigger vision than independence. It is about full

employment, every young person being able to get the opportunities that

they deserve in their lifetime. It is about elderly people being able

to live with pride and dignity and when they need the services, the

services are available. Despite the winning margin, the SNP said they

found in courage on the doorsteps. What was really interesting is the

results that lie behind the by-election and independent support,

which showed that right across the political spectrum, but crucially

from Labour voters, people who voted Labour in the by-election and

associate with the Labour Party, clearly many of them were supporting

independence. -- they found encouragement. In the end, the

Cowdenbeath by-election produced the result that most people expected. A

34% turnout underlining the view that this was not a contest that

particularly roused the voters. Hollywood's newest MSP will be sworn

in on Wednesday, a Labour victory in the first political skirmish of

2014. Big battles still lie ahead. You're watching Reporting Scotland

from the BBC. Still to come on the programme: Why the main ingredient

of Scotch whisky is now increasingly being grown in England.

In sport: Big news from Rangers tonight - as finance director Brian

Stockbridge resigns. All the details later. And have some of the world's

best athletes bitten off more than they can chew?

A cancer charity says too many over-65s are being "written off"

after a cancer diagnosis, whereas in fact they can live for many years,

given the right treatment. MacMillan Cancer Support says decisions on

treatment should be based on a patient's level of fitness, not

their age. Our health correspondent Eleanor Bradford reports.

When his doctor suspected the symptoms of lung cancer, Jim

Robertson was immediately sent for tests. He got the same treatment at

the age of 76 as he would have got if he was 36. And two years on, his

treatment appears to have worked. At 76, I suppose I would be prepared to

have a short life thereafter, but as it has turned out, it is very

contrary and I am looking forward to at least another ten years of

healthy living. 11,000 over 65-year-old in Scotland have

survived for at least a decade after being diagnosed with cancer. 735 of

them were over the age of 80. Which is encouraging, but survival rates

in the UK are much lower than in other countries. To give you an

example for lung cancer, in general people with lung cancer survive five

years, we are 9% lower than the rest of Europe for adults, but for older

people that is high as 40%. Kim is planning to stick around for at

least another ten years. -- Jim is planning to stick around. But with

an ageing population, who are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer

but less likely to accept that as their fate.

The new National Police and Fire Services have announced proposals to

reduce the number of their control rooms. Here is our home affairs

correspondent. Police control rooms in Scotland

respond to about 600,000 999 calls per year. And 3.6 million

nonemergency calls to the new 101 number. The old forces all had their

own way of working. What we have at the moment is a entirely different

systems across the country we have inherited from the legacy forces. We

need to get them all working as one and right now I cannot do that. The

driver is to make sure that we deliver the same level of service in

the same manner right across the country to every member of the

public. The proposal from Police Scotland is to reduce the number of

control rooms, 11, spread across the country from Inverness to Dumfries.

Instead there will be four, Govan and Motherwell covering the West,

Bilston Glen the West and Dundee serving the North. Moving from eight

regional forces to a single service always meant that Police Scotland

was likely to have to reduce the number of control rooms it operates.

This proposal envisages that up to 212 people may lose their jobs with

others redeployed within the service. And the savings are

estimated at up to ?6 million per year over the next four years.

Opposition parties have criticised the plans and the union representing

civilian staff says that cuts, after local police stations have been

closed, meaning more people are using the new 101 service. 60

offices have been closed or their hours reduced. That is because the

public were using the 101 service more. 280,000 calls per month taking

place. Now they are going to have to number of force control centres and

call centres. That means that the public are not going to be getting

the local police service they wanted. The National Fire and Rescue

Service is also planning control room closures. Only three will

remain in Renfrewshire, Dundee or Aberdeen and Edinburgh. A decision

will be made next week. Other stories from across Scotland this

Friday: The police have now joined an investigation into complaints

against an Aberdeen private school. The Care Inspectorate and Aberdeen

City Council revealed earlier this week that they were looking into

concerns raised over care at Hamilton School in the city's west

end. The UK Government has added six new

areas in the Highlands and Argyll to its list of places that could

benefit from their fuel duty discount scheme. The initiative,

cutting 5p per litre off the price of diesel and petrol, is already in

place in the Scottish islands. But ministers are seeking permission

from the European Commission to roll it out in remote parts of the

mainland. Two people have been injured after a

lorry crashed into a house in Ayrshire. The incident happened

first thing this morning in Irvine, when the lorry collided with a car.

A third person was treated at the scene, but no-one was seriously

injured. The Forth Bridge is applying for

worldwide recognition, alongside structures like the Sidney Opera

House and the Taj Mahal. -- Sydney Opera House. The rail bridge, which

is 100 years old, is being nominated for World Heritage status. It will

join Scotland's five other world heritage sites, if the bid is

approved next year. An exhibition exploring the lives of

mammoths and mastodons during the Ice Age is on display at the

National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. It's the first time in

Europe that the collection has been brought together.

And there are more stories from your area - and all the latest news, 24

hours a day - on BBC Scotland's website.

It's emerged that increasing amounts of the main ingredient for Scotch

whisky are being imported from England. Booming sales of whisky

around the world have led to soaring demand for malting barley. And

English farmers are now being encouraged to grow more of it, as

Craig Anderson reports. Hardest time in Lincolnshire, the grain here

destined for Scottish whiskey. The success of Scott around the world

has led to increased demand for Malta in Bali, and English farmers

are being urged to fill the gap. Some of this, all of it, is going

for malting, some of this will produce lager and the majority of

it, that which has the right specification, will go to British

whiskey. The distillers are after fermentable extract, they need as

much alcohol as we can supply as possible and the barley growing

regions of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are brilliant at

producing good, local team Bali. The whiskey industry has always sourced

it malting barley from whatever they could get the right quality at the

right price, even abroad. But this is leading to more Scotch being

produced from English grain. The fact is that Scottish whiskey

production is so large at the moment that Scottish farmers cannot meet

the demand for Bali so we must take Bali from England. So well the main

including that has gone into this whiskey made me Bali from south of

the border, the skill and tradition that has gone into making the

whiskey is definitely local. And definitely Scottish. What is being

produced here is most definitely Scotch. Some breaking news in sport,

accuses David. Big news from Rangers tonight

concerning the boardroom. The club's finance director Brian Stockbridge

has resigned with immediate effect. Our reporter Jonathan Sutherland

joins us now from the newsroom. Jonathan this news seems to have

come out of the blue, but is it really a surprise.

Probably not is the honest answer. He was brought in by Charles Green

but has been an unpopular figure for some time. It's pretty major news

this for Rangers, their finances very much under the microscope at

the moment. As Finance Director Brian Stockbridge had responsibility

for the spending at the club, frankly many people think the club

has been spending too much money. In fact at the Rangers AGM back in

December you may remember there was plenty of booing for the board, the

loudest booing reserved for Stockbridge. Rangers had reported

losses of ?14million back in October. And for many Rangers fans,

as Finance Director the buck stopped with Stockbridge. This decision for

him to leave reflects all that, especially with new chief executive

Graham Wallace very much in the process of driving down spending at

the club. The search for Brian Stockbridge's replacement will begin

immediately, and Stockbridge leaves Rangers with immediate effect. Will

Rangers look to replace Mr Starbucks? How quickly? That remains

quite -- slightly unclear. The search for the replacement will

begin immediately. Who that will be remains unknown. Stockbridge leaves

Rangers with immediate effect. In a statement to the stock market

Rangers say the decision was by mutual consent and Stockbridge

leaves the company by mutual consent and has resigned as a director of

the company. Rangers have also confirmed no ex gratia benefit or

bonus has been offered or paid to Stockbridge and they thank him for

his contribution to the Club during a difficult period. Thank you very

much. More on that on our website. Some of the world's best athletes

are in Glasgow for the start of the international indoor season. They'll

be competing against a Great Britain team, and a Scotland team tomorrow.

But as Jane Lewis reports, some of the track superstars have already

faced an unexpected challenge. In honour of Barnsley tomorrow, the

Scottish welcome for some of the biggest names in world athletics.

Although the address to the Haggis was lost on some. I did not

understand one word, but it was a great experience. I tasted the

Haggis and it was really good. We probably should have told me it was

sheep stomach before I hate it but it was really tasty. So to

experience" the way the Scottish do was great. There is an impressive

line up for the international tomorrow, and for the first time a

Scotland team is taking part. I have been trying to work out what to see

the team to keep them motivated, I have never had that responsibility.

I was honoured to be asked and hopefully I can just go out there

and motivate the team. Child and call will do battle against the

Great Britain and Northern Ireland team, a team from the USA and the

Commonwealth select. This man will lead the way for them, and after

four second-place finishes in Glasgow, there is one thing on his

mind. To come out and win and shall that you are fit and ready to race.

That is my goal tomorrow. If he does that, Haggis may just be on the

series menu again. And now for a look at what else is happening

across Scottish sport. Scotland will be among the fourth seed for the

euro 2016 qualifying draw, as it groups of six and one of five.

Second versus third in the premiership tomorrow, Aberdeen

visiting Motherwell. Aberdeen have already won at Fir Park. Your Mac we

have won twice then there already, we had two strong performances. We

need to give ourselves a chance at that. Paul Lawrie's two shots in the

readers at the Masters. He is ten under par going into the third

round. Stuart Anderson from Auchinleck is out of the world

indoor Bowls Championships, beaten by Darren Burnett of Arbroath. We

were playing well in the matter is, slightly better each round,

hopefully that continues. I am delighted to still be in the event.

2012 Olympic medal gold winner in daily is retiring. He won the canoe

slalom with partner Eddie and start. -- Ken Bailey. There are more sports

stories plus the latest news 24 hours a day on BBC sport Scotland

websites. I am away home. All of that Haggis earlier, my stomach is

rumbling. The third annual Big Burns Supper

festival gets underway across Dumfries today. Top attractions at

the weekend music and arts extravaganza include Big Country,

Fred Macaulay, Dick Gaughan and Mull Historical Society. But a rather

different feature this year is a series of Burlesque Burns Suppers.

But are they strictly relevant to the work of the Scottish Bard? Well,

probably yes, as Willie Johnston explains.

Burns always had an eye for the woman, but perhaps not an Eiffel

quite like this. Burlesque is adding space to this Burns summer. People

have always tried to be imaginative when treating an alternative Burns

supper, but I imagine this is the most alternative Burns supper, but I

imagine this is the mortal tempter it has gotten. Provocative, a little

bit sexy, high-energy people spinning around the air. Whilst

people are having their Burns suppers. I think this is the most

outrageous it would have gotten. Would Burns have approved? He would

have, I think he would have been front of house and back of house.

Image be raped, Burns could have been beautifully dramatic but base

and crude. Songs in this collection secretly circulated. -- I imagine he

would, Burns could have been beautifully dramatic. This would

have been enjoyed in gentleman 's club, friends would have enjoyed the

pawns and sent them to one another. Also, Burns could have been seen to

send poetry to flatter patrons, you are as open-minded as I am, you will

enjoy this. This festival is about far more than Burns's body.

Organisers report regular advance ticket sales for a packed programme

for a Children and Families Bill and diverse shows encompassing all case

of music, drama, poetry and visual arts. With one of course is standing

out as the most diverse and visualise all. -- visual of all.

Time for the weather. It certainly was a very wet stay

across the central and eastern parts of the country, the rain still with

us for a time and get some blustery showers. Q is the man from 7pm, here

is that brain. It is still breezy across the coast. Too late blustery

showers, the focus of them in the north-west, but not as cold as last

night. Temperatures in towns and cities around three or five degrees.

On Saturday it will be blustery showers, the focus will be the

north-west but at times that is a fresh westerly breeze and will push

as ever further east and south-east across the country. Across the hills

and high ground, it will be when the ad even at times in the Highlands

and north-west levels. Temperatures will be seven or eight degrees, and

these showers will, go. There will be some shelter across Aberdeen and

Angus but not entirely dry. There will at least be some sunshine and

later winds for you. If you are hill walking across the western Rangers,

those showers will be of snow and fairly heavy at times. -- Western

ranges. Across the eastern arranges fairly similar conditions, Baker

skies here and there at temperatures up to the -- 2-3 or -2. There will

be a southeasterly force eight wind with mother visibility. There will

be a south-westerly force five and force seven. In any showers that

visibility will decrease. Yesterday afternoon into the evening the

showery theme will continue but as we look ahead towards Sunday the

real deal arrives, this big area of low pressure out in the Atlantic,

fairly deep and coming our way bringing rain and indeed wind. On

Sunday morning it is the wet and windy across the central part of the

country, readily to snow. Still across the mountains make affect

higher road routes. The rain hit parts of the site in Aberdeenshire

possibly causing river flooding. By the afternoon we will have some

sunshine on the West Coast, two, gusting to 70 or 80 mile an hour.

The remainder of the top stories. The company that operated the breeze

helicopter that crashed into the Clutha Bar in classical cooling ten

people has begun making payments to victims and their families.

Selectors and -- solicitors have said he, they have admitted they are

liable. Downing Street say that take-home pay rose faster than

inflation last year. Labour said the figures are misleading because they

do not take into account cost to taxpayers and tell benefit.

A series of bomb attacks in Egypt's capital Cairo has killed six people

and wounded dozens more. A group with links to Al-Qaeda has said it

carried out the attacks on the eve of the third anniversary of the

popular uprising that removed President Mubarak from power and

brought hopes of new democracy. That is Reporting Scotland. I am back at

8pm and 10:25pm. We are back with a new work on Monday. Goodbye.