30/01/2014 Reporting Scotland


30/01/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 30/01/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me, and on BBC One

:00:00.3:59:59

the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye way. That is all from the BBC News

:00:00.:00:00.

Tonight on Reporting Scotland... A fundamental change to the way

:00:00.:00:09.

emergency calls are dealt with. Big cuts to the number of police and

:00:10.:00:13.

fire control rooms - unions warn it could put lives at risk.

:00:14.:00:17.

SNP anger as a former Scottish Secretary suggests independence may

:00:18.:00:20.

dishonour those who fought and died for their country.

:00:21.:00:25.

A major cash boost for Scotland's cricketers as they qualify for the

:00:26.:00:29.

2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. And Scotland's snow sports

:00:30.:00:35.

centres are hoping for a bumper year.

:00:36.:00:44.

There has been so much snowfall in recent weeks that I am actually

:00:45.:00:48.

standing on several metres of snow. Just pick a route and ski down it.

:00:49.:00:59.

Good evening. Control rooms handling 999 calls to police and fire

:01:00.:01:05.

services are to be cut across Scotland. Despite protests, fire and

:01:06.:01:10.

police chiefs say it will allow them to respond to calls more

:01:11.:01:13.

effectively. The fire service currently has eight control rooms.

:01:14.:01:18.

It will go down to three. The police, with 11 control rooms, will

:01:19.:01:22.

see that reduced to five. Here is our home affairs correspondent,

:01:23.:01:31.

Reevel Alderson. In an emergency, dial 999.

:01:32.:01:38.

Emergency calls to the fire and police services have always been

:01:39.:01:43.

handed locally. The recent amalgamation of forces has offered

:01:44.:01:51.

the opportunity for efficiencies. But senior officers say they are

:01:52.:01:56.

confident public safety will not be affected. I would not put forward

:01:57.:02:02.

any proposals that could compromise the safety of people in Scotland.

:02:03.:02:06.

The challenge of course is making sure that as we move to this new

:02:07.:02:12.

model of three, rather than eight, we do the change properly. This fire

:02:13.:02:17.

station in Dundee will house the most northerly control room in

:02:18.:02:23.

Scotland. Unions say it is a devastating blow. The north is left

:02:24.:02:29.

exposed with no cover, which is a great fear that we have in the

:02:30.:02:37.

decision that has been made. In the past hour the Scottish Police

:02:38.:02:41.

Authority has accepted the proposals to cut control centres, which they

:02:42.:02:45.

say will help the new single force be fully integrated across the

:02:46.:02:50.

country. We need to move forward in a strategic direction so the police

:02:51.:02:56.

service of Scotland is a strategic force in name and action. The new

:02:57.:03:01.

101 number means that fewer calls come in but both services insist

:03:02.:03:06.

that local knowledge remains, with the men and people on the ground.

:03:07.:03:15.

Explain for us where the control rooms are. The fire service has

:03:16.:03:22.

eight control rooms fill in visit -- Inverness down to Dumfries. In the

:03:23.:03:27.

future it will operate with just three, Johnston in Renfrewshire,

:03:28.:03:31.

which already handles half of Scotland's calls, Edinburgh and

:03:32.:03:37.

Dundee. The police are closing six control rooms. They will leave Govan

:03:38.:03:43.

and Motherwell in the West, Bilston Glen in the east and done the

:03:44.:03:49.

covering the North. Inverness will be a police data handling area and a

:03:50.:03:55.

control room for special events. In areas like Aberdeen or the

:03:56.:03:59.

south-west, neither of these will have any police or fire control

:04:00.:04:03.

facilities and my colleague Willie Johnston has been looking at what

:04:04.:04:06.

the situation is likely to be in Dumfries.

:04:07.:04:12.

The area covered I the Dumfries divisional control room has nearly

:04:13.:04:18.

150,000 people and a landmass of 6500 square kilometres. 34 civilian

:04:19.:04:24.

operators handle about the -- 3000 nonemergency calls every week and

:04:25.:04:36.

209 99s. It will be a loss of a lot of local knowledge which will delay

:04:37.:04:42.

response times to an emergency. There is anger that Dumfries is

:04:43.:04:48.

earmarked to close in three weeks. The consultation was dismissed as

:04:49.:04:53.

meaningless. Talk of potential redeployment was dismissed as

:04:54.:04:59.

impractical. A Facebook campaign in control -- support of the control

:05:00.:05:04.

room has attracted massive support. I think there is a great deal of

:05:05.:05:08.

anger in the local community, first of -- the way that the decision has

:05:09.:05:14.

been handled and also the decision itself. There has been no

:05:15.:05:19.

consultation with the local authority on which is supposed to be

:05:20.:05:25.

a partner of Police Scotland. Tonight, no sign of a rip -- a

:05:26.:05:30.

reprieve, known for the control room in dumb Freese. -- nor for.

:05:31.:05:43.

The police control room is scheduled to close in April. The whole process

:05:44.:05:48.

will take a couple of years. It requires new technology to be

:05:49.:05:52.

brought in and in the fire service's case in Dundee, a new

:05:53.:05:59.

control. The Scottish Parliament Justice committee has sent out a

:06:00.:06:04.

note, saying, if you do not think the fire service or police service

:06:05.:06:09.

is working, let us know. It will be interesting to see how people react

:06:10.:06:14.

to these latest cuts. Thank you very much.

:06:15.:06:16.

A former Scottish Secretary has suggested that Scottish independence

:06:17.:06:19.

may dishonour those who fought and died for their country. Ian Lang's

:06:20.:06:23.

comments came in a House of Lords debate. Our political correspondent

:06:24.:06:25.

joins us now from Westminster. Tim Reid, what has the reaction been?

:06:26.:06:33.

This was the first major debate on Scotland's future in the House of

:06:34.:06:38.

Lords. Politicians are engaged in appealing to hearts and heads and

:06:39.:06:41.

some of the language has been strong, some of the views as well.

:06:42.:06:48.

It was a Who's Who of former political heavyweights, handful of

:06:49.:06:58.

previous Scottish Secretary 's -- secretaries.

:06:59.:07:05.

Both countries are woven into the fabric of the UK. Must they both now

:07:06.:07:14.

disavow that shared history? Would that not dishonour the sacrifices

:07:15.:07:17.

made in common cause of those who died for the UK?

:07:18.:07:23.

Those remarks led to angry exchanges, Alex Salmond raising the

:07:24.:07:29.

subject himself. I hope Ruth Davidson will take the

:07:30.:07:33.

opportunity to do so since those -- this associate herself to the

:07:34.:07:38.

remarks, circulated by the Conservative Party, arguing a vote

:07:39.:07:42.

for independent would somehow dishonour the sacrifice. I suggest

:07:43.:07:50.

we all take a step back. Ruth Davidson chose not to answer further

:07:51.:07:54.

questions but her office issued a statement saying Lord Lang spoke for

:07:55.:08:01.

himself. Back at Westminster, his remarks were being defended by one

:08:02.:08:07.

of his successors. It is a sign of the contempt with which those of us

:08:08.:08:10.

who believe in the United Kingdom as a family that such attacks are made

:08:11.:08:19.

on Lord Lang. There are no SNP members in the Lords so this was a

:08:20.:08:27.

one-sided debate. There were fears about the economy and defence. This

:08:28.:08:34.

maiden speech seemed to capture the mood of this unelected house. I and

:08:35.:08:42.

my fellow unionists in Scotland need the support of our fellow lords in

:08:43.:08:46.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is time to stand

:08:47.:08:59.

together. At Holyrood -- meanwhile, at Holyrood, Labour leader Johann

:09:00.:09:03.

Lamont has owned up to a "slip of the tongue", after describing the

:09:04.:09:05.

powers available to Scotland under independence as "wee things".

:09:06.:09:08.

She was responding to the First Minister, who said independence

:09:09.:09:11.

would allow Scotland to control taxation and welfare, scrap nuclear

:09:12.:09:13.

weapons and avoid what he called "illegal wars".

:09:14.:09:15.

This is ludicrous. This is a ludicrous defence by a man who used

:09:16.:09:20.

to cry Freedom and now gives us a list of things that we can do, which

:09:21.:09:28.

we could do... Order! Our political editor, Brian Taylor,

:09:29.:09:31.

joins me now from Holyrood. Brian, it is not often a politician "owns

:09:32.:09:36.

up". No, Labour's response to this is basically, what's, -- the

:09:37.:09:51.

Scottish Government backed this up with this leaflet being handed

:09:52.:09:55.

round. They complained this was effectively party for the gander

:09:56.:09:59.

being put out by the Scottish Government. -- party propaganda. I

:10:00.:10:14.

think on balance both sides think the referendum is fairly big.

:10:15.:10:22.

A man has admitted possessing almost half a million indecent images of

:10:23.:10:27.

children on some at the worst levels depravity. The man was arrested in

:10:28.:10:33.

front of colleagues at the Maritime Museum in Irving after police raided

:10:34.:10:39.

his home. Heroin with an estimated street

:10:40.:10:43.

value of ?1 million has been seized at a house in the East End of

:10:44.:10:48.

Glasgow. Police also found firearms, ammunition and a quantity

:10:49.:10:54.

of tablets. 33-year-old man has been.

:10:55.:10:56.

Funding has been approved to transform Oban into a hub for

:10:57.:11:06.

tourism and renewables. Lothian buses carried more than 150

:11:07.:11:10.

million characters last year, the highest number for 25 years. Buses

:11:11.:11:15.

in the capital will be integrated with the capital's tram service due

:11:16.:11:19.

to start in May. Cycling Scotland is welcoming the

:11:20.:11:24.

decision to lift the ban on this bike advert. The advertising

:11:25.:11:27.

Standards Authority had banned the advert because some of the cyclists

:11:28.:11:31.

were not wearing a helmet. The Army is to help police and

:11:32.:11:37.

private contractors provide security for this summer's Commonwealth

:11:38.:11:42.

Games. Meanwhile, MSPs have debated the event's "legacy", as it is

:11:43.:11:45.

known, with a focus on how to get more people to take part in sport.

:11:46.:11:48.

Our Commonwealth Games reporter, Lisa Summers, reports.

:11:49.:11:52.

This table tennis is 25 years old but it has just become part of the

:11:53.:11:59.

community's press hub, part of the Commonwealth Games Legacy

:12:00.:12:02.

programme, where clubs get together to share resources. The best thing

:12:03.:12:08.

has been getting on the table, hitting the ball. Another hub is

:12:09.:12:15.

based here at this school, where people get the chance to be sports

:12:16.:12:20.

leaders. It is rewarding because the same people progress, they don't

:12:21.:12:28.

stay at the same level. The Olympics was criticised for not achieving its

:12:29.:12:34.

goal of getting us more active but really, is watching sport on TV the

:12:35.:12:40.

thing to get us off the sofa? Can Glasgow succeed where others have

:12:41.:12:46.

failed? There is no evidence to suggest that watching major events

:12:47.:12:51.

on TV leads particularly adults to go out and participate. It may lead

:12:52.:12:56.

children to get excited and ask their parents to let them

:12:57.:12:59.

participate. MSPs debated the Commonwealth Games in Parliament

:13:00.:13:04.

today but the hardest challenge will to be to get us to participate. It

:13:05.:13:10.

is a challenge but we have been doing this through this -- grass

:13:11.:13:16.

roots, so sports Scotland are helping clubs so that young people

:13:17.:13:21.

who want to try a sport have the opportunity to do this. We have been

:13:22.:13:25.

tackling PE in schools some more young people can be active more

:13:26.:13:30.

often. The Games will be the capitalist -- maybe the capitalist

:13:31.:13:33.

to get people interested in sport but whether it can help us change

:13:34.:13:40.

our life style is another matter. Here's David now with all the

:13:41.:13:43.

sporting news. Scottish cricket is in for an injection of cash because

:13:44.:13:46.

the national team's qualified for next year's World Cup in Australia

:13:47.:13:50.

and New Zealand. They came through a tough qualifying campaign,

:13:51.:13:52.

confirming their place with a thrilling win over Kenya. Here's

:13:53.:13:58.

Brian McLauchlin. As we approach the end of January,

:13:59.:14:03.

the football transfer window is about to close and Robbie's Six

:14:04.:14:07.

Nations is about to get under way, but today Scotland's cricket team

:14:08.:14:14.

Paula fied for the World Cup. A dramatic game with Scotland

:14:15.:14:16.

confirming their place in next year's finals with just three balls

:14:17.:14:21.

remaining. Good to give something back to Cricket Scotland. The lads

:14:22.:14:26.

have worked so hard. They just saw us through. And the chief executive

:14:27.:14:34.

says qualification for the finals was crucial in more ways than one.

:14:35.:14:41.

We get increased money from the ICC which will be significant. It gives

:14:42.:14:47.

us a chance to plan longer term to build player contracts and put in

:14:48.:14:51.

place good support networks and give not only the current players at the

:14:52.:14:56.

next crop of international players as good a preparation as we can to

:14:57.:15:01.

play at the highest level. So a World Cup to look forward to and a

:15:02.:15:06.

good reason to burst into song. And sent them home words... St Johnstone

:15:07.:15:11.

are preparing for one of their biggest ever matches. If they beat

:15:12.:15:16.

Aberdeen on Saturday, they'll be in the League Cup final. As if that's

:15:17.:15:19.

not enough to cope with, our reporter Rhona Mcleod has been

:15:20.:15:22.

putting them under even more pressure.

:15:23.:15:25.

With such a huge match in the club's history just two days away,

:15:26.:15:30.

the fans are getting nervous and excited, so they have been tweeting

:15:31.:15:33.

the questions they want to asked directly to manager Tony Wright, so

:15:34.:15:38.

let's hope he is in the mood to talk. Can you ask if new signings

:15:39.:15:44.

James Dunn and Chris I will know are likely to start? They will be in

:15:45.:15:54.

that squad of 16. The contract situations of hassle bank and the

:15:55.:16:00.

Manaus, he would like them to stay. They are at least two players I want

:16:01.:16:05.

to stay. Would you bring it a new keeper or stick with Stevie Banks?

:16:06.:16:12.

Know we are happy to go with Steven and Mark Hurst. Any new bids for

:16:13.:16:21.

Stevie me? Know, and that is fine. I want them here for next season. That

:16:22.:16:27.

was painless enough, wasn't it? Let's see if we can find one of the

:16:28.:16:34.

hottest properties because a fan has a question for him. He wants to know

:16:35.:16:37.

which shampoo and conditioner users? I do keep it washed and

:16:38.:16:44.

conditions but I can't talk brand names. A magician never reveals his

:16:45.:16:53.

tracks. His hair is lovely and glossy though, isn't it? Time for me

:16:54.:16:57.

to reveal some more stories from across Scottish sport. Scotland

:16:58.:17:01.

rugby captain Kelly Brown isn't saying the Scots can win this

:17:02.:17:05.

year's Six Nations tournament but he thinks they can do that than last

:17:06.:17:10.

year. We finished third last year, which was our highest finish in a

:17:11.:17:15.

number of years, but we need to keep working hard and improving. If

:17:16.:17:20.

eating Saint Mirren last night isn't enough to cheer hearts up, they

:17:21.:17:26.

signed a striker, Paul McCallum, on loan. Saint Mirren manager signed

:17:27.:17:33.

Josh Magennis on loan until the summer.

:17:34.:17:38.

Scottish Badminton Championships start tomorrow in Perth.

:17:39.:17:42.

Commonwealth Games prospects Robert Blair and Kirsty banking our ones to

:17:43.:17:49.

keep an eye on. Andy Murray is in America repairing for the Davis cup

:17:50.:17:54.

match with the USA and not planning a summer wedding despite reports on

:17:55.:18:00.

social media. Maybe in the next couple of years

:18:01.:18:05.

but one thing I hope people would know about me by now is that I

:18:06.:18:09.

wouldn't be announcing whether I am engaged over Twitter or on TV. And

:18:10.:18:16.

there are more sports stories 24 hours a day on the Scotland website.

:18:17.:18:22.

And that is tonight's sport, or is it?

:18:23.:18:27.

Not exactly, because we are staying with sport. Scotland's ski slopes

:18:28.:18:30.

have seen heavy snowfall in recent days, and are hoping it could be the

:18:31.:18:34.

start of a bumper season. All five outdoor resorts are reporting good

:18:35.:18:37.

cover. Let's cross to Glencoe and our reporter Craig Anderson. There

:18:38.:18:46.

he is. Hello, Craig. Here at Glencoe it has been a good

:18:47.:18:49.

day and that is not just because they have a massive amount of snow

:18:50.:18:53.

and there have even been sunny spells. There have also been good

:18:54.:19:00.

custom here, something like 700 people who have taken to the slopes

:19:01.:19:03.

and that is good for the midweek, all of them benefiting from some of

:19:04.:19:08.

the best snow sport conditions anywhere. Everywhere you look there

:19:09.:19:13.

is the white stuff, while other parts of the country have been

:19:14.:19:17.

dredged by almost incessant rain in recent weeks, appear it has fallen

:19:18.:19:22.

as snow and more than they have seen here for 20 years. Since

:19:23.:19:28.

mid-December it has snowed and snowed, six weeks constant snow. A

:19:29.:19:33.

little rain but nothing too bad and it has built up snow levels. We now

:19:34.:19:42.

have top levels on the bottom runs. There has been so much snowfall here

:19:43.:19:46.

that I am now standing on several metres of snow. The mountainside

:19:47.:19:50.

behind me is usually where rock but now regardless of the dedicated ski

:19:51.:19:56.

runs, you can just pick a root and ski down at. Eat your heart out,

:19:57.:20:02.

Saatchi. What do you think of the conditions and the amount of snow

:20:03.:20:08.

that is here? It is fabulous. Every now and then there is a rock, but

:20:09.:20:14.

tonnes of snow. When you are skiing in Scotland you can't complain with

:20:15.:20:18.

a day like this. Granted the high winds that helped build the gullies

:20:19.:20:23.

with snow have also been closing down operations and places in the

:20:24.:20:31.

East have not had the same snowfall, but all Scotland's ski areas now

:20:32.:20:35.

have good clover and are hoping this is a good omen for the busiest part

:20:36.:20:39.

of their season. The real litmus test, the one that helps to ski

:20:40.:20:44.

areas fill the coffers, is the school half term holidays in about a

:20:45.:20:49.

fortnight from now, so they will hope this go -- the snow stays and

:20:50.:20:54.

they don't get high winds. This weekend, here is the forecast.

:20:55.:21:02.

Pretty chilly here today and it was cold across the sun -- across the

:21:03.:21:08.

country. Tonight stays largely dry although it will be cold. Still a

:21:09.:21:12.

number of showers across parts of Grampian, potentially some isolated

:21:13.:21:19.

sleet flurries. Elsewhere cloudy and dry but clearer skies in the North

:21:20.:21:24.

West so a patchy frost. Temperatures in towns and cities close to

:21:25.:21:29.

freezing, and in the countryside or skies are clear it will be below

:21:30.:21:34.

freezing. Tomorrow we have an area of low pressure from the Atlantic

:21:35.:21:36.

and that means wet and windy conditions for all. Because of that

:21:37.:21:42.

the rear is a risk of snow and the Met Office has issued a yellow

:21:43.:21:47.

warning. After a dry start, that rain band works its way in from the

:21:48.:21:52.

West Coast and that will be heavy and persistent rain accompanying it,

:21:53.:21:58.

pretty song -- strong southerly winds and as the rain comes in it

:21:59.:22:04.

turns to snow on high grounds so some road routes like the A9 and

:22:05.:22:09.

A74 could be affected. Temperatures will feel the cold and wet and

:22:10.:22:15.

windy, but because of their action of the wind, places like Laszlo and

:22:16.:22:22.

Edinburgh have a lot of shelter so not too much rain or snow. It will

:22:23.:22:28.

be windy across the board and those shelter effects in place, with the

:22:29.:22:32.

rain tracking eastwards through the day. This evening the rain continues

:22:33.:22:39.

to work its way is that some heavy snowfall on high road like the A9

:22:40.:22:44.

and windy as well, a separate morning in force for Shetland on

:22:45.:22:49.

Friday with gusts up to 70 mph. At the weekend it is still windy but it

:22:50.:22:54.

should be dry, still a number of heavy showers in the south-west and

:22:55.:22:59.

they could be wintry on high ground. Sunday is a little better, less rain

:23:00.:23:03.

and showers but still a little breezy. So from a rather cold Len

:23:04.:23:09.

Coe, it is back to your lovely warm studio. A quick reminder of

:23:10.:23:20.

tonight's main news. Control rooms monitoring police and Fire Services

:23:21.:23:24.

are to be cut across Scotland. I'll be back with the headlines at 8pm,

:23:25.:23:28.

and the late bulletin just after the 10pm news. Until then, from everyone

:23:29.:23:30.

on the team, have

:23:31.:23:31.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS