18/02/2014 Look East - West

Good evening. Hello and welcome to Tuesday's Look

East. Coming up in the programme tonight: Accused of financial

mismanagement, the college that claimed more than ?1 million for

students it couldn't prove it had. We have an exclusive report.

Victory for campaigners in the latest courtroom battle over a wind

farm at this heritage site. And later with Susie and me...

On the Rowe`d to Wembley: After a night of high drama, Posh hit the

history books. And Indiana Jones and the mystery of

the manuscript... Stay tuned to find out more.

Good evening. First tonight, the college in Luton which claimed

nearly ?1 million pounds for students it had no record of

teaching. The BBC has seen a damning report into the Barnfield Federation

which runs a college and half a dozen academies and schools across

Bedfordshire. The report also says the college spent at least ?1.2

million on failed projects. Paul Scoins has this exclusive report.

For the management at Barnfield College, this report makes for

uncomfortable reading. Investigations began last October

following allegations of financial mismanagement and the massaging of

grades, and today we can reveal the report has found: The college

wrongly claimed nearly ?1million for students it had no record of

teaching. Mismanagement led to it losing 1.25

million on failed projects. And its former boss, Sir Peter

Birkett, was given two payoffs, holiday allowances and a car when he

resigned, despite only being entitled to and asking for holiday

pay. Now, because of the findings of this

report, I understand Barnfield College has also been told it will

now lose around ?1million worth of funding because it cannot simply

prove it enrolled and taught some students here at the Luton campus.

The college and the former boss here, Sir Peter Birkett, say they

won't comment until the final report is published, but I understand from

the Government that this report has now been passed to the police.

The allegations surrounding Barnfield have also now been raised

in Parliament. The Luton South MP called for all

information to be made public. Whistle`blowers have previously

experienced the experiences. While we committed to publishing all

inquiry reports in full, including all of the versions of those reports

that have been circulated outside of the Department? I am grateful to the

honourable gentleman for basing this case. There have been serious

allegations made in connection with the Barnfield Federation. They are

being investigated and nothing that I should say, to publish should

prejudice that. Whenever there is information, however, that is

correct that we should share with those affected and the public, we

will do so in due course. The Barnfield Federation was once

singled out for praise by the Government, but now finds itself

waiting to hear the final results of the investigation by the Department

for Education and crucially that of the police.

A short while ago I spoke to Luton MP Gavin Shuker and asked whether

claiming nearly ?1 million for students it had no record of

teaching was down to poor book`keeping or something more

sinister. On the surface of it, the concern that more than one mugging

pounds worth of public funds `` funds were procured by the Barnfield

Federation as outlined in the report without the student numbers backing

up that claim, that is the play concerning. I am aware that there

will be further investigations into this. What I would say is that

biofuels will have to get a clear account as to how those mistakes

occurred in the first place. Otherwise people will be concerned

there was foul play. There has also been the suggestion about Sir

Peter's extravagant handshake, did that surprise you? Some of the most

shocking details surround Sir Peter's departure. It is clear there

was an issue around the people who agreed that the. One of the concerns

I have around the conflict structure of the Barnfield Federation was that

there were two different boards of trustees and it is not clear which

one would have had the decision`making power. It points

back not just to the management but also the structure of this college

in the first place. You say there is a lack of accountability. That is

often the criticism levelled at academies, who is accountable? In

previous days where you have said it was under local control. That has

been completely changed. Initially locked out by the Labour

Party who introduced the academy system. The major difference is that

academies were brought in to deal with the small number of schools

that were constantly running into difficulties. Since 2010 that

programme has been massively accelerated. They have since gobbled

up schools at an enormous rate. With all these problems, can Barnfield

operate successfully or would you like to see the whole structure

broken up? To be clear, there is a positive future for Barnfield and

looting and possibly beyond, but that future can only be brought

about if we are clear that the truth comes out as to what went wrong

That is why the process for publishing these reports should be

accelerated. There are many agents who want to see what evidence is

available. You mentioned the parents and it comes down to them and the

pupils, what can you say to reassure them tonight? My commitment is to

make sure that the full truth comes out. We do not want a witchhunt but

if there are policy implications, I will be pushing for them in

Parliament. Plans for a wind farm near a

heritage site in Northamptonshire have been halted. The Court of

Appeal rejected an application by the developers behind the proposal.

And today's ruling could have implications for future developments

across the region. Lyveden New Bield in

Northamptonshire, a historic listed building that campaigners say would

be spoiled if four wind turbines were built nearby. They'd be almost

twice the height of Nelson's Column. So the National Trust, English

Heritage and the local council took the case to court and won. I am

overjoyed. It has been a great week off of our shoulders. Hopefully this

is gone. I club they will go away now.

In 2010, East Northamptonshire District Council refused permission.

The developers appealed and in 012 the planning inspector granted

permission. But last year the High Court said that decision was flawed.

The developers then went to the Court of Appeal, but lost. So why is

the National Trust blocking a green energy project? Sharrine Scholtz we

have supported many renewable projects and we have our own targets

to reduce our energy use by 50% by 2020. This is over and inappropriate

skill and location and we believe that renewables can be incorporated

within our landscape and a West Coast Energy could now ask the

planning inspector to reconsider their application afresh.

Much more sensitive way. In a statement the company said "We

are disappointed with the decision of the Court of Appeal. We will have

to carefully consider the detail of the judgment before deciding what

action to take." This decision by the Court of Appeal

means those pants for those particular carbines have been

halted. The effect of this potentially goes beyond

Northamptonshire. Three senior judges underlined that whenever a

development like this is proposed next to a historical site, serious

consideration must be given to the potential harm of winning it up

against the potential benefits. `` weighing it up.

Police have launched an investigation after a body was found

in a river in Bedfordshire. A member of the public raised the alarm

yesterday afternoon. The body was seen floating in the River Ouzel in

Leighton Buzzard. The police say it's too early to confirm if it is

that of missing 36`year`old Neil Devlin who hasn't been seen since

New Year's Day. Next tonight, the changing face of

A departments. The increase in people turning up at A nationally

is pretty stark. In 2004, a total of 17.8 million. By 2012 that had risen

to 21.7 million. So across the region hospitals are experimenting.

Installing new buildings,diverting some patients and using their staff

in different ways. The latest to make changes, the Queen Elizabeth in

King's Lynn. Kim Riley reports. They call it ACE, that is ambulatory

emergency care. This nurses attending to Anthony who suffered a

collapse. He will be visiting a consultant very soon. People like

myself who have chronic conditions need places like this where they can

drop in to keep themselves on track. This unit can deal with 16 of them

was comical `` common medical conditions.

Where does it get its patients? Like Anthony B can be directed for prompt

treatment. They can be deferred by this assessment unit where patients

would have a stay overnight. Or they can be referred by their own GP who

has direct access to the duty consultant. The new unit began as a

pilot last summer. Things here happen quickly. The patients we see

here historically would have stayed in hospital for one night. Our

average turnaround is three hours and nine minutes. Since opening last

August we have seen 1200 patients. Only 96 of those have had to be

admitted to hospital. We have a 100% response rate from her patient

satisfaction surveys. It is to do with the fact that they get prompt

treatment from admission to treatment all in one day. Jim

Cassell from King's Lynn is here with swollen legs and serious pains

and looking for answers. What do you think about the staff? We are very

nice and friendly. They are doing their job. I have just got to wait

and see what can be done. This is a new treatment and we want to share

this with local hospitals. We wanted to evolve around the whole of the

NHS. That is part of the solution to ease the pressure on A

departments. Two and a half years and the panning, morale is high gear

but the team is soon to be suspended. There is genuine

enthusiasm, not least the saving of hundreds of overnight stays in the

hospital that are no longer required. The aim is to have begin

it up and running eventually around the clock.

First Capital Connect has given `` been given a six`month extension to

its current contract. The contract was due to end next month.

Yesterday, a Which? Report placed the company joint bottom of the

table for train cleanliness. First Capital Connect has said it's

committed to continued improvements to services.

a home would viable or sustainable. The dieses supports the demolition.

`` still to come. Peterborough are on

their way to Wembley. Why are the Chinese so much better at teaching

maths than we are? Education experts in Bordeaux East to learn more ``

will go. A professor from the University of

Bedfordshire is being hailed as a real`life Indiana Jones, after

cracking the code of a mysterious mediaeval document. This is it. It's

called the Voynich manuscript. We know it's 600`odd years old. And it

shows plants and stars as well as mysterious human figures. But it's

the script that makes it famous, because no`one has ever deciphered

what these symbols mean. Over the years it's become infamous and it

even features in the Indiana Jones books. And the man who cracked it is

Stephen Bax, Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of

Bedfordshire. Earlier I asked him how he did it.

My background is in linguistics, and basically what I did was try to

identify pictures and match them with particular words alongside. I

see it as a picture crossword, working out which latter letters

match the sound. Why is it important? It is a big manuscript,

with lots of interesting details. If only we could understand the

manuscript, it would give us an insight into mediaeval thinking. The

script has been uncrackable for 600 years, so I think my efforts, which

are still partial, are a kind of chink in the armount of the

manuscript, which I hope will open it up to future understanding of the

mediaeval mind. There has been an air of mystery around it. You think

it is a treatise on nature? I think it is a mediaeval treatise on

nature, written in an un`known script. I think we are now a step

forward cracking it. The words you found, can you describe the ones

you've managed to crack? The interesting one is the word Taurus,

which is next to a picture of stars. The word alongside it seems to be a

foreign word, which if you use those letters and compare it to the two

plants, you can start to build up the system of letters as a whole

system for the manuscript. There is still more work to do. You are being

hailed as a real`life Indiana Jones. What do you make of that? My

children had to laugh at that. They pointed at my balding head. Great to

talk to you. A group of teachers and education

experts are going to Shanghai next week to learn how they teach maths.

In the most recent league table, China comes top. England is down in

26th place. The delegation is being led by the Norfolk MP and Education

Minister Liz Truss. It also includes Dame Rachel de Souza, who runs a

number of schools in Norfolk. We'll hear from Dame Rachel in a moment,

but first the background from Dawn Gerber.

The contrast could not be clearer. Shanghai schoolchildren are the best

in the world at maths, while British peoples like behind, ranked 26th in

this study. That is why the education minister and North MP

Elizabeth truss it heading east. Businesses in her county want

skilled staff. This engineering centre is a hub with over 30

companies in the energy and motor industry and many people with the

right qualifications. It is important that students looking to

work in engineering sector have got good competency in both maths and

English. If you take the energy sector, it is growing and growing.

We need the workforce that can manufacture these products to meet

the demand. The classroom is where changes have to be made. Norfolk

schools have been criticised for being among the worst performing in

the country. We have to be open`minded and DeMarco minded to

new schools. `` two new learning. If students fail to get good grades,

they could lose out, because places like this will have to look further

afield and maybe even abroad. Dame Rachel de Souza is the CEO of the

Inspiration Trust, which runs seven schools in Norfolk, and has helped

two schools out of special measures and into "outstanding" . And when I

spoke to her late this afternoon, she told me why she thinks the

Chinese are doing so well. I think there are two things. There

are the methods they use, and we are already using those methods and

seeing great result in our classrooms. There was also an

attitude towards maths. Parents and students are pro mathematics. They

see maths as the key to unlock a great future. We need to do that.

Let us look at the methods. A lot of modern talk takes us back to how we

used to do things. I used in Singapore mathematics in my primary

schools. The students do rigorous timetables. The homework is done and

marked and returned by the very next morning, so students get instant

feedback. A lot is about rigour and intense teaching, so intense blocks

of teaching. The little ones can do it. My little six`year`olds are

doing Singapore maths and are only a year ahead of the students above

them. It works. What about aspiration? What I'm dying to see is

Chinese parents in action. There is a whole approach to mathematics and

support for your child learning mathematics. We have to learn from

over there. We can be a bit anti`maths, seen it as

anti`creativity in the UK. Is to do with the way mathematics is taught?

The teachers not make it interesting enough? If you look at the Chinese

model, they not trying to entertain. They are teaching basic concepts,

basic arithmetic in very intense blocks. Young people respect that.

You remember that teacher who was rigorous and you remember it. Is it

about discipline? Become back to that rigour and discipline.

Youngsters love to learn, and every get them young and start laying the

foundations of good arithmetic, I have no doubt we can be topping and

beating the Chinese. We need to do it for our own economy and that each

of these young people. Mathematics is key to all the best jobs now. It

is a different world. Thank you very much. Outdoor swimming pools are

read enough. Outdoor pools donated to village by a local duke or

unique. That is a story in Beds. It was built by the Duke of Bedford for

his staff, but tonight it is on the verge of closing the good.

It is a miserable debris night. `` February. This has been here for a

century. It is run by a group of trustees. The recent weather has not

been kind to the pool. There is a lot of maintenance needed. Here is a

trustee. What is the problem? Lack of people to organise and take

responsibility to get things done. We need a committee and more people.

We had a great year last year. We made good surplus, but unfortunately

the people involved have got too much work to do in other areas and

are not able to give their time to it. We are on the verge of closing

through lack of people support, not a money. That will be a shame

because this pool has been used by generations. It is quite unique. I

should think every child in the village has used this pool for

enjoyment over the years. Many have learned to swim here. It is

virtually a unique situation. You can come and have a picnic with your

family. It is not a swimming pool, it is a lie down and place to have

fun. You have called a meeting. Are you confident you will get people to

come forward? Yes. We have had a few names come forward. Thank you for

coming tonight. The pool is open at May. Whether it is open this may.

Whether it is over Miss Maple depends on what happens tonight. ``

this may. Peterborough United have made it to

a Wembley final for the first time in 14 years. They beat Swindon Town

last night in the southern area final of the Johnstone's Paint

Trophy, but only after a nervous penalty shoot`out. The first leg

finished 2`2. Last night they came from a goal down to draw level and

will play either Chesterfield or Fleetwood on March 30th.

Life is never dull at Peterborough Utd. Promotions, relegations and now

the chance to win their first cup final at the home of English

football. He runs to the near side to salute

the fans. Tommy Rowe is out of contract at the end of the season,

but his spot kick could prove priceless. For much of last night's

game against Swindon they struggled, conceding a scrappy goal after half

an hour. Swindon should have scored a second but tired towards the

end.Posh meanwhile showed plenty of pluck, and 15 minutes from time,

their top scorer Britt Assombalonga took advantage. Tied at 3`3 on

aggregate, and with no extra time being played, it came down to

penalties. Swindon started and promptly wished they hadn't. One of

two bad misses for the home side. It was 3`3 when Tommy Rowe stepped up

to strike the winning penalty. And after a torrid winter of poor form

in front of fewer fans, Posh at last have something to shout about. You

can't underestimate how getting into a cup final changes everything. You

noticed the feel`good factor last night. It lifts everyone. Going to

Wembley, for a club like Peterborough, is a big deal. It is

not like Manchester United where it happens every so often. It is a once

in a lifetime opportunity. Manager Darren ferguson will be hoping a cup

final can inspire his team to promotion via the play`offa and, who

knows, it may not be their only date at Wembley this season.

If you're interested in what the BBC does in this region, then you might

be interested in joining the BBC's regional audience panel. We want to

hear from people of all ages and all backgrounds, from across the region.

The panel meets three times a year, and it's your chance to tell us what

you think about the BBC. You don't get paid, but you will get expenses.

The closing date for applications is the 7th of March. Go to

bbc.co.uk/ace for an information pack. If you don't have internet

access call: 0800 092 6030. I am always glad I do the first part.

Today we recorded temperatures of 11 Celsius. It felt springlike. We are

still in an unsettled weather pattern. Today we saw a good

shattering of showers. Some were on the heavy side. There are more to

come and heading eastwards. You still may catch a shower before the

end of the day, but they will tend to clear out into the North Sea. But

the much of the night it looks dry. That'll allowed temperatures to drop

over the next few hours. It is cold a love for a touch of ground frost.

It'll be quite isolated and a patchy frost when we get it. Those winds

will fall to a patchy frost when we get it. Those winds will fall to

alight south`westerly. Into you will notice a weather front portion in

from the West, but it won't get yours until overnight. We are into a

reasonable forecast for tomorrow. It'll be a mainly dry day with light

winds, and it will feel quite springlike wants more. If we are

lucky, we will see something brighter. Where the cloud is

thickest, that might produce an isolated shower. It is looking mega

dry forecast and not a bad forecast all. `` like a dry forecast. There

will be a light wind. There is a little more cloud for the afternoon.

That is coming from the West and will bring a sunlight and patchy

rain overnight on Wednesday. It changes our forecast once bought

into a rather cloudy and down forecast for Thursday. The wind

speed picks up and it will stay windy from Thursday right into the

weekend. We start Thursday quite cloudy and misty in places. They'll

be some outbreaks of rain. The middle of the day that batter and

dryer. `` looks better. They'll be showers on Friday and they will be

around on Saturday. The tempered as will be cooler by the weekend ``

temperatures. Good