28/03/2014 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

Good evening. It was dubbed 'bedroom tax' by

critics ` benefit changes ddsigned to encourage council tenants judged

to have some spare rooms to move to smaller homes. But a BBC

investigation shows changes to housing benefits have failed to

achieve that in many parts of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. In the

South Kesteven district council in Lincolnshire, only 23 households

actually relocated. That's just over 2% of those affected by the benefit

changes. In Hull, the figurd is 162 households, which is just over %.

But it has been more successful in the East Riding. 204 households have

moved out ` almost 17%. The national average is 6%. Jake Zuckerm`n

reports. The spare room subsidy, known to its

critics as the bedroom tax. A policy, says the government,

designed to move benefit cl`imants with more bedrooms than thex need

into smaller accommodation lore suited to their requirements. But

evidence suggests it's failhng in that aim, and driving tenants into

arrears. Anne Lawton suffers from mental health problems. Changes to

the benefits system meant she had to downsize from a two to a ond bedroom

flat. She was lucky enough to find somewhere to move to, but in the

meantime, she's been left htndreds of pounds in debt. I am still in

arrears. I go to the soup khtchen. I am struggling and I am sellhng

stuff. I haven't really got stuff to sell now, so how am I going to pay

back the rent? In North Lincolnshire, 40% of those `ffected

by the so`called bedroom tax are in arrears, the highest rate in the

region. `` 48%. In Lincoln, where the council are subsidising it, it

is just over 7%, while in Htll, more than 20% are in arrears. In Hull,

they have refurbished more than 70 small flats to meet the dem`nd for

one bed accommodation. I have been here for two months and I al now

delighted to get a one`bedroom place. It took a lot of strdss off

me. In Northeast Lincolnshire, Shoreline Housing Partnershhp says

its tenants now owe ?155,000 in total. We provide as much stpport as

we can, but the responsibilhty does ultimately fall to the tenant to

pay. Regrettably, in a circtmstance when the tenant can't pay, we have

little option other than to take action to encourage them to do so.

But the Government rejects accusations that the policy is not

working. Tens of thousands `re already able to move out of

overcrowded homes. We had a ridiculous situation where the

taxpayer was subsidising rooms that people did not need at a tile when

we had a real shortage of housing. I am 100% behind this policy. It is

working. Whatever the Government's intentions, in East Yorkshire and

Lincolnshire, thousands of people like Anne are now in arrears, many

with no idea how they are going to pay.

It's billed as one of Yorkshire s biggest arts festivals: A

celebration of the 100 days of countdown to the start of the Tour

de France. Events are being held across the county but only ` handful

are in East Yorkshire and only two have been given any funding.

Tonight, the organisers havd denied the area has been overlooked as

Sarah Walton reports. A dance display to mark 100 until

the Tour de France comes to the region. This event in Rippon last

night kicked off a festival running up to the start of the race

involving arts and cultural events across the region. And it whll

involve things like this. This video artwork will be displayed at the

Ferens Art Gallery in Hull from May with the help of an ?8,000 grant

from the festival organisers Welcome To Yorkshire. I hope that the effect

will be beneficial in that people, whilst in the area, will be

attracted to come to Hull and see our wonderful museums and dhsplays

at the gallery. Now, when the Tour comes to Yorkshire in July, none of

the stages will be in the E`st of the county. But organisers say the

whole region will benefit from thousands of visitors, bringing ?100

million to the local economx. This is the brochure setting out all the

events taking place for the festival. In the opening it says it

will be 'spanning the countx', engaging the widest possibld

audience. But turn to the m`p, and just three of the 47 events listed

are in East Yorkshire or Hull. More events are being added but only two

have been given any funding. There were 28 applications, including Hull

Truck's performance of A Taste Of Honey. It was rejected. He

transforms into a show dog! This play is part of the Heads Up

Festival in Hull, also listdd as one of the Tour's cultural events. But

the organisers say they didn't even apply for funding, because they were

made to feel like it wasn't worth it. I think we got the feelhng that

most of the funding for the big projects would go to companhes that

deliver projects around the Leeds and Harrogate area, although it

might be a conduit for people in Europe to going to that part of the

world, which wouldn't necessarily be a stop off point for people going to

the race. It was always cle`r in the road shows that there were different

strands to the festival and that, very clearly, it was not just about

having the events happening where the route is going, although there

was one very specific strand for that. The organisers still want

groups from East Yorkshire to get involved, and more events whll be

added to the festival. Sarah Walton, BBC Look North, Hull.

The RAF's Dambuster squadron, which used to be based in Lincolnshire,

has been disbanded as its Tornado aircraft are withdrawn from service.

A special ceremony took place today at the famous 617 Squadron's most

recent base, Lossiemouth in Scotland. It will be reformdd in

2016 at its new location at RAF Marham in Norfolk.

Hull FC have turned around last weekend's home defeat with ` victory

over Salford at the KC. The Black and Whites were dominant throughout.

The final score was Hull FC 30` Salford Red. Hull Kingston Rovers

will face Wakefield at home on Sunday. There will be commentary on

BBC Radio Humberside from 3:00pm. Let's get a look at the weather now.

Here's Paul Hudson with the forecast.

Quite a promising weekend on the cards. At the moment, it is damp and

we may see a patch of rain loving from the south`east, with low

temperatures of six Celsius. Off to a great start tomorrow, damp in

northern areas but brighter skies will move in. After lunchtile, it

should be sunny. Inland, it becomes warm, with highs of 14, 15 or 1

Celsius. Cooler on the coast, with onshore breezes, and a similar

forecast on Sunday. That's all from the late te`m. Look

North is back just after 1:00pm tomorrow. Hope you can join us then.

Bye for now. forward on Saturday night. Now here

is Nick Miller with the national forecast.

Hello. The clocks go forward this weekend, marking the beginning of

British summertime, BST. It has nothing to do with the weather. As

the clocks changed last year we were coming out of the March freeze.

This year, though, as the clucks change, the weather is warming up.

Not clear blue sky, the sun will be hazy but the thunder storms will be

gone. It will be mainly dry. And the weather is lively out there

this evening. There are bands of rain with hail over western parts of

the UK. A bit of rain for parts of the north

of England and south-west of Scotland. And