23/02/2012 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

Good evening and welcome to BBC Look North. The headlines tonight:

The controversial training programme for young people that

costs thousands, but managers say it is saving taxpayers money.

gives you a lot of confidence to go out there and apply for different

jobs that you may be thought you couldn't do in the past.

Worried about the future. Families of disabled and elderly people in

Lincolnshire wait to find out if day centres could be saved from

closure. Uncertainty for more than 300 staff

as the electrical giant Comet considers closing its call centre

in Hull. Three generations of musicians

prepare to take perform in the biggest show on the planet. The

opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

Temperature levels today have been close to record levels for February.

It was a project launched in a blaze of glory, hailed as a new way

of getting young, unemployed people back into work. And today, three

years after the start of the controversial CatZero scheme,

organisers claim it has had a remarkable impact. It costs �3,000

to put someone through the CatZero scheme. But managers say the number

of youngsters who are now in work, education or training as a direct

result of it has saved taxpayers millions. In a moment, I will be

talking to the patron of CatZero, Alan Johnson, to ask him if it has

been worth the money. First, this report.

It is a project that has split public opinion and divided

politicians. CatZero takes unemployed young people and teaches

them to sail this �500,000 yacht, amongst other things. The idea is

to motivate and inspire them. After months of unemployment, this man

joined the scheme five months ago. He says it is beginning to change

her sly. It is fun. It helps to get back into working as part of a team.

It is a good thing to be on. So and so the scheme was launched, 416

teenagers have taken part in the project. Of those, 285 now have

jobs or have read -- restarted training Norwich occasion. These

success stories claimed to have saved the taxpayer �60 million.

Even the Prime Minister has questioned its ideology. If this

extravagance had been published at the time for all to see online, the

people who made this crazy decision would have had to justify it or

scrap it. Three years on, those behind the project believe this has

changed. New financial backing is being sought. But will it provide

value for money and satisfy tax payers? Any project like that will

do the local economy a lot of good. But you're just not getting what

you should be getting out of something so expensive. Do you use

the money on better things? And undecided. And confident with our

results and the support from our partners. This man is one of the

69% who have been on the scheme and been successful. He now has a full-

time job with a telecoms company. It did you confidence to apply for

it jobs that you thought you might not have been able to do in the

past. Posture were on the course, you gain qualifications. These

students are selling themselves like never before to find a job.

Hull MP Alan Johnson is the patron of CatZero, and joins me now from a

special event being held by the charity tonight. Isn't this scheme

so preserving the few lucky ones and may be ignoring the wider

issues in this in a vacuum mac -- in this area? We have a problem

here with young people not getting training. We heard some stories

today about those involved. One youngster who spent his life in

care. These kids have a lack of seaweed -- self-esteem and

confidence. All the traditional methods which cost taxpayers money

have failed. Let's look at some of the figures. 69% have gone into it

education or training. That leaves a lot of unsuccessful people. Is

that value for money? Government would consider this to

be one of the best value for money schemes we have ever had. The usual

drop-out rate is something like 16%. CatZero's target was to get 50%

back into education, employment or training. The fact they have had

almost 70% is extraordinary. I want to bring Iain Duncan Smith here to

look at this. This chairman said that we make these people ready for

work. When we were teenagers, there were not schemes to get as ready

for work. Plenty of these -- plenty of the people in our region had to

be ready for works themselves. There were difficult jobs for

people of Europe age. The jobs you can access without qualifications

now are far less. They're getting less all the time. It is estimated

there will only be 600,000 jobs you can access without qualifications

in eight years' time. Everyone agrees that these schemes are

important. We have found a blueprint here. Briefly, much of

the funding is running out. If this scheme was so great, wouldn't the

Government come forward to run it across the country? They may be.

That is why am asking Iain Duncan Smith to come here to look at it.

Already, this scheme has won at two national awards. I believe the

private sector will contribute even more now they have seen the success.

Do get in touch with us on this. Do you think this is the right

approach to getting some of our young people into work of training?

Or is it spending too much money on too few? Maybe you have seen first

hand how it can work? In a moment:

Hailed as a wonder drug to help you stop smoking, but one East

Yorkshire man is campaigning for more clarity of the medicine's

possible side effects. 31 day care centres in Lincolnshire

could be saved from closure. The county council says it plans to

keep the buildings open, but only if it can find private businesses

to come in and run the service on its behalf. And that has left the

families of disabled and elderly people worried about the upheaval

that change could cause. This man is returning home from his

day centre that he visits five times a week. He has severe

epilepsy and learning difficulties. His family are worried that if his

day centre is run by different staff, it will set him back.

knows the current staff and has wonderful things there. He is

worried things will not be the same. That would devastate them if he is

pit in a chair and just told to sit there. These private companies

promise the earth and then it disappears. The recommendation to

keep day centres like this one Open comes after hundreds of people

campaigned to save them. There are 31 day centres like this one across

Lincolnshire. There used by almost 700 people. The county council is

no longer going to pay to run them itself. Instead, it will give cash

directly to elderly and disabled people to spend on the services

they want. If those services happen to be at day centres like these, it

says it will find private businesses are groups to run them

for it. Four that vast majority of these services, we already have

people saying they want to carry on these services. There is our

handful where no one has come forward yet. But we're working on

that. This is very early days. The hand full could still close if no

one comes forward. We will work with people who use those services.

The ease proposals need to get approval from councillors next

month. But this family worry whether their day centre will stay

just the way it is. And BBC Lincolnshire will be having

a special hold to account debate on the issue of care provision and so-

called personal budgets tomorrow morning between 9am and 11am.

More than 300 jobs are under threat tonight after Comet announced it is

considering closing its Hull-based call centre. The electrical

Bristol. All the affected staff have been told. Our correspondent

has this. It is 2008 and Comet's call centre

in Hull is part of an electrical giant celebrating its 75 birthday.

Four years on and this call centre is threatened with complete closure,

jeopardising 316 jobs. Clearly, this is not good news. Comet had

been struggling for a while. But they have started a consultation

process here and in Bristol. We will continue to work with them.

They started and the City so we have had at many regular meetings

with them. We will do all we can to help support them and hopefully

keep their jobs here. The company blames a tough economic climate. In

six months last year, they announced losses of �22 million and

were sold for just �2 in November. Now managers must chose whether to

save the Bristol site or Hull one. The electronics sector has been

under huge pressure for many years. Obviously the kind of things that

consumers are cutting back on other big-ticket items that stores like

Comet are known for. White goods and televisions. Comet has suffered

because they are a major player in those categories. The consultation

will run for three months. But almost 80 years after Comet was

launched in Hull, its presence in the city could be diminished.

Behind these stores over the next few months, there will be lots of

conversations as to how these jobs can be saved. That could even be

staff relocating to Bristol. With 80 people chasing every vacancy in

this city at the moment, there is no more daunting time to be made

redundant. The family of a grandmother and her

six-year-old grandson who both drowned in a pond in Lincolnshire

has described their deaths as leaving a hole in our lives which

can never be filled. Dawn Mullany, who was 71 and from Castle Bytham,

and six-year-old Laurence Mills were found at Holywell near

Stamford last week. Today, the inquest into their deaths was

opened and adjourned. Our reporter was there and he joins me now. What

happened this morning? Well, this was a very brief

preliminary heat -- hearing and lasted five minutes. The coroner

heard that Laurence Mills had been staying overnight with his

grandmother. His family raised the alarm after they were unable to

contact her. They finally found her car near the pond in Holly Wells.

Both the bodies were discovered in the pond. A post-mortem confirmed

that both had drowned. Their family The coroner adjourned the inquest

until a later date and took the opportunity to convey his sympathy

There's been a rise in exclusion rates in North Lincolnshire schools.

Eight pupils were expelled in the 2009, 2010 school year. This rose

to 77 pupils expelled in the 2010, 2011 year.

A local charities calling for the Holy Trinity Church -- the Holy

Trinity parish church in Hull to be converted to a minster. It is

believed it would attract more visitors to the area.

Ministers are under renewed pressure to fund an upgrade of the

A63 rd in Hull. The Transport Minister has promised to consider

the proposal after it was raised by Karl Turner.

Thank you for watching. Still to come: Imagine all the way

to the Olympic opening ceremony. -- marching all the way to the

Olympic opening ceremony. And from temperatures of -16 to

temperatures better than the Mediterranean. How people in

Lincolnshire are coping with the weather. Also coming up, some

serious gloating and smug faces in a moment. Before we get to him,

Good evening. Were what a lovely day, Peter!

I got in there first and beat you to it.

Under the radio, you said you would admit that I got it right!

Yes, make a note of the date in your diary because it will not

happen again! Let's have a blow to us how high

the as temperatures have been. -- let's have a gloat as to how high

those temperatures have been. There will be a little patchy rain among

the middle of the day tomorrow. The conditions look quite nice for the

weekend. A dry weekend. You can see on the satellite picture that

Lincolnshire and much of East Yorkshire played up nicely.

Lincolnshire, -- Lincolnshire's has had a lie in's share of sunshine.

Variable amounts of cloud and not dropping below nine of 10 Celsius.

Nine is 48 Fahrenheit. In Hull, 11 degrees tonight. A dry start to the

day. Possibly quite bright at times around the Wash, but cloud will

thicken from the north-west. NIE's end to the day. A breezy day a game.

Temperatures not as high as today, but we are looking at around 12 or

possibly 13 Celsius. It is looking This is a day to remember. Accurate

forecast and serious gloating! I am not want to gloat.

See you tomorrow. Some of her that as a wonder drug,

but others claim it is dangerous. Lea Margeson from East Yorkshire

says taking Champix caused him to have seizures. He has convinced the

DVLA that the drug was behind is fit, and has just got his driving

licence back. The drug companies say there is no reliable evidence

it causes adverse reactions. Lea is calling for more research into is

possible side-effects. There have been times when Lea

Margeson wondered whether he would ever work again. The sudden onset

of seizures made his driving job impossible. He has convinced the

DVLA that his figures were likely to have been caused by Champix,

taken to help him stop smoking. kept on fighting and fighting.

Eventually, the DVLA took the evidence and made the right

decision. Pfizer, the manufactures, listed range of side-effects

associated with the drug, but Segers are not among them. Lea's

neurologist from Hull Royal The Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle

has raised concerns about the drug with a health tsar thrush -- with

the Health Secretary. It does say that the drug can cause seizures in

certain circumstances. But there are thousands of smokers who are

used Champix without problems. There is no doubt that Champix can

be an effective tool. Early trials showed that 44 % of smokers had

quit by the end of it well we cause, compared to around 30 % for the

drugs. It prevents the reward feelings of inhaling smoke. Pfizer

has issued a statement, saying it takes the safety of all his

medicine seriously, and that there is no reliable scientific evidence

to demonstrate that Champix causes adverse effects. 100,000 people in

the UK die every year due to smoking. The European medicines

agency has concluded that the benefits of Champix outweigh its

risks. Lea and many others are not convinced.

Hull City equalled a 104-year-old record last night after their

goalless draw with Brighton. It is now six games since their last

conceded. Despite efforts from Cameron Stuart and Aaron McLean,

the score means that the Tigers at two points off the play-off places.

A big response to our story about Lincolnshire Police signing a deal

with private security firm G4S to run one of its stations. The

contract was announced yesterday, and will include a new purpose-

built police station that will be run by the private firm. Just a few

And two Fall of theirs. Three generations of a family from

Spalding will be performing in front of their biggest audience yet

at the opening and closing ceremony of the Olympics. Around a billion

people are expected to watch the events. Among the performers will

be the Brights. Practising for the biggest gig of

their lives. Five members of the Spalding Marching Ambassadors will

perform at the opening and closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in

London. There was a global audience of a billion for the Beijing

Olympics opening ceremony, and the same number is expected to watch

London 2012. So no pressure, then! Is is an adventure. It is exciting.

I have always wanted to be involved with something big. I have always

wanted to be involved with one of these big bands you see in America.

I think this will be even better than that. Jim is not the anyone in

his family vault. His daughter Catherine and grandson Tristan will

join him. That is three generations of the same family. You can count

over imagine the grand scale of how it will be. Exactly how it will be,

you cannot imagine. It is unbelievable. The miners will Bay,

I do not know! -- the noise will be, I do not know. Let's not forget the

other band members with a part to play on the beat Gayle -- on the

big day. I am really excited to do it. By M excited, but nervous,

because they do not know what we are doing yet. They really do not

know what they will be doing. But in auditions, they had to Drome,

dance and even do some drama. One thing is for sure. London has there

not to live up to have. In May, rehearsals for the big event will

begin in earnest. For now, it is back to basics in Spalding.

Fantastic stories. Could look to the Spalding Marching Ambassadors.

As we heard LEA, today has been one of the warmest February days for 14

years. We reached highs of 18 Celsius. That would have been felt

in Holbeach a Lincolnshire, where less than a fortnight ago, it was a

call this place in the country, recorded overnight temperature of -

Just a few days ago, our weather was cold. And then all of a sudden,

like someone had flicked a switch, the sun is up. Less than two weeks

ago, Holbeach was recorded as the coldest place in the country, with

temperatures of -16 degrees. I would have been in my attic head

gear and thermal plants. Today, temperatures could reach as high as

18 degrees. That is like -- that is equivalent to make temperatures.

Such a dramatic change was the talk of the town on Holbeach's market

day. Warmer today! It is. Working with globes, thick globes, your

hands were still cold. Today, no jacket. It is a very warm. I had to

take my cut-off. When I get home, I will sit on my deckchair and drink

a glass of champagne. It is beautiful today. Make the most of

it. In the surrounding fields, it when the daffodils could thrive

again. But some had Friday bit too early. These daffodils were

flowering nicely, but then we had the extreme frost, which has

damaged the crop. I have never seen this before. Within less than two

weeks, we have had a Betty Ford degree Celsius difference, and that

is pretty remarkable. -- a 34 degrees Celsius difference. Today's

temperature of 18 degrees is 10 degrees higher than it should be,

so do not expected to last too long. Let's have a recap of the headlines.

Abbey s announces losses of nearly �800 million, the same amount it

has paid out in bonuses. The controversial training programme

for young people which managers claim has saved millions. Cloudy

start with patchy rain. It will get back to through the afternoon.

Response coming him on the scheme we were talking about earlier.

Somebody from Christopher's -- something from Christopher's mother.

She said, it was a godsend for him. It was worth every penny. John says,

you said that when we were young, there were no schemes to make us

work ready. There was, it was called school. Graeme said, if it