03/04/2014 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

effort to put people off smoking. That is all from the BBC News at

Six. Good evening and welcome to BBC Look

North. The headlines tonight: Humberside's Chief Constabld says

that the loss of 200 officers won't mean a poorer service.

21st`century policing is not as simple as having a cop on every

street. You want to see polhce on the streets.

In Lincolnshire, the police commissioner welcomes the ddcision

to review how much money his force gets. I have set in train a look at

the funding formula so we c`n be as fair as possible to all parts of the

country. Also on tonight's show Opposition to the UK's largdst solar

energy farm, set to be built in Lincolnshire.

Better the devil you know ` why Lincoln City is putting the classic

imp back on its badge. An improvement on the way. Writer by

tomorrow afternoon. Full details follow shortly.

The policing minister has told BBC Look North cuts in officer numbers

won't mean a poorer service for the public in the future. Humberside

Police is facing the loss of 20 officers in the next four ydars The

chief constable says the force will be re`designed so they can do more

with less money. But in Lincolnshire they are still fighting for extra

funds. We'll have more from there in a moment but in the first of

tonight's special reports S`rah Corker asked Humberside's chief

constable how she's going to make the force work in the futurd.

Justine Curran's arrival was heralded as a new era for the

Humberside force. It's been a year where she's received royal

recognition for her services. Her officers have faced the challenges

of policing EDL matches, and the chaos of December's tidal strge Her

biggest test is cutting crile with fewer officers. It's roughlx around

the 200 officer mark, and up to 500 police staff, so it is signhficant.

I'm not ducking that. What we are doing at the same time is a lot of

modernisation, a lot of changing how we work, how we use technology. Can

you understandable conerns that this is restricting the force's `bility

to fight crime? There is fewer officers and the same amount to do,

if not more. Of course I understand the concern. I'm not saying, that's

a fantastic thing for us, btt the reason I'm here is to be a bit more

sophisticated about it than that. 21st`century policing is not as

simple as having a cop on every street. And working with thd

community and businesses dohng their bit to help police is seen `s the

way forward. If you see a crime you should be able to stop it, not just

leave it to the police or the community police. I still don't

think you can beat seeing bobbies walking around and doing thdir job.

I think it has a good effect. Higher crime rate. We have seen it in the

local area already, in regards to break`ins. The force is increasingly

sharing expertise. One dive team serves all Yorkshire forces. Mounted

officers are hired in. So what's next? I don't think the merger of

forces is on the agenda at the moment. What we need to do to make

sure we are protecting our front`line officers in commtnities

is to share where we can with those specialist functions I've t`lked

about that are expensive and that we can do better together. When you

first started, you said, I hope the commissioner leaves leaves policing

to us. Has he done that or has he been interfering? No, he's not been

interfering. The commissiondr's role is to set priorities, which he's

done, to give us the budget we need and hold us to account. But it's my

job to deliver policing. He respects that. With ?30 million of s`vings to

make, top of the to`do list, designing a modern force th`t uses

new technology to fight crile. Lincolnshire Police has argted for

many years that the force is under`funded and today the county's

police and crime commissiondr has welcomed a Government decishon to

review the funding formula. This is the system which calculates how much

each police force gets and `wards Lincolnshire the lowest amotnt per

head in England and Wales. With more, here's Jake Zuckerman.

Police and criminal justice minister Damian Green took to an est`te in

Lincoln to see for himself the challenges that Lincolnshird Police

face. His visit today, an opportunity for those involved in

policing in the county to mdet and lobby for a better deal. If I look

in my crystal ball, the pot of money for policing is shrinking. Ly

mission is to make sure Lincolnshire gets a fair share of that, `nd as a

smaller force that's really quite efficient already, we've bedn

impressing upon the Minister the need to fund Lincolnshire police

properly at the cost of being in business. Lincolnshire Police has to

save nearly 20 mini implants by 2015. The force says it has already

made considerable progress reducing the number of police officers by

106, and outsourcing back`office functions to private companx G4S.

But in January, the Governmdnt cut a further ?1 million from the budget,

a move which led to this re`ction by police and crime commissiondr Alan

Hardwick. We have here the Government performing what H can

only describe as a slight of hand, picking the pockets of the people of

Lincolnshire and other counties by giving us money with one hand, and

taking millions of pounds b`ck with the other hand. Today, the Linister

confirmed the Government is reviewing the funding formula that

determines how much money Lincolnshire Police receives, a move

welcomed by the police and crime commissioner, who says the current

arrangement unfairly discrilinates against the county. But in the short

term, there was no immediatd promise of extra cash. We'd all likd to see

us having more money but I don't think that's on the table. We want

to make sure there's no further drastic cuts for the Lincolnshire

police force. They have dond the best that they can, and the way they

are is making sure Lincolnshire doesn't suffer perhaps as mtch as it

might do if it's just a str`ight 5% cut across the nation. The chance to

speak directly to the Minister is a rare opportunity, and those in

charge of Lincolnshire's force will hope they have managed to influence

government thinking. Earlier I spoke to policing minister Damian Green. I

started by asking him if thdre was any truth in Alan Hardwick's claim

that Government was picking the pockets of people in Lincolnshire.

What we did was topside somd money to give to the Inspectorate and the

Independent Police Complaints Commission, and I think havhng a

strong Inspectorate and a strong complaints commission is re`lly

important at a time when we want to restore public confidence in police.

We know there have been lots of scandals, and strengthening those

bodies in the long run helps the police. Lincolnshire has thd lowest

cost of policing in England. It is getting a raw deal, isn't it? I

don't think so. One thing I have learned today is how effecthve

Lincolnshire has been. It h`s to live within the financial

constraints we have. The fact they have this ten`year contract of using

the private sector, it not only saves money but it makes thdm more

effective. They are answering 9 9 calls quicker than ever. Yot touched

on the funding formula todax. Is Mr Hardwick right when he says

Lincolnshire is discriminatdd against in the way the fundhng is

worked out? Is it something you will look at? We are looking at the

funding formula. It is a long job. The current formula was cre`ted

eight or nine years ago. It was meant to be temporary. It is so

difficult to change. I have set in train a root and branch look at the

formula so we can be as fair as possible to all parts of thd

country. We have been talking to Justine Curran. She says thdy have

got to lose 200 officers by 201 . Don't we have to accept that

policing can't or won't be `s good in the future as it has been in the

past, when we talk about nulbers like that? No, I don't think so We

don't know what the financi`l settlement will be after 2006. More

importantly, one of the things forces are doing is much grdater

levels of collaboration across force boundaries than ever before. In

Lincolnshire, they are part of East Midlands Consortium. That's

behind the scenes. I am talking about police officers, 200 by 2 18.

They can't sustain that, or if they can, they were overstaffed hn the

first place. It is because xou can save money on the back`office

functions, or specialist functions such as firearms officers, ht means

you can police more effectively and are spending less on the back

office, which gives you mondy to spend on front line officers. Have

the crime commissioners been a success? Reading e`mails from

viewers over the last 18 months or so, they don't seem to think so

Have they worked? They are certainly not a waste of money. They cost less

than the old police authorities which were invisible and whhch

nobody ever noticed. As I go round the country, I see a lot of police

and crime commissioners of `ll parties coming up with innovative

ideas, working well with thdir chief constables to make sure polhcing

moves into the 21st century, using technology better. It is a fresh

pair of eyes, which is useftl for an organisation. What about thd

carry`on between Mr Rhodes `nd Mr Hardwick over the last few lonths?

That has been a bit of a pantomime. Well, it was an unfortunate

incident. I am glad it is over. I am glad Neil Rhodes is confirmdd in his

post. He's doing a good job in Lincolnshire. Crime is fallhng in

Lincolnshire. I think we can put that behind us. Final questhon. If

you were starting again, wotld you have crime commissioners ag`in? Yes,

I would. Having locally elected people who hold the police force to

account is good for democracy, and it is good for the police. Ht has

raised consciousness about the police. That is good for thd police

themselves. If it is good for the police, it is good for all of us

because it makes our streets safer. Good to talk to you tonight. Thank

you. We want to hear from you on this story, do you agree with the

policing minister? Do you think you can cut officer numbers without

reducing the quality of service Maybe you have a view on police and

crime commisioners as well? The body of a woman has been found

in a house in Hull. Police say they were called to an address in

Bransholme last night. The death of the woman, who was in her 40s, is

being treated as unexplained. Portland Street in Lincoln was

closed today after a lorry got a wheel stuck in a collapsed sewer.

Anglian water say the probldm is five metres below ground level and

will take several weeks to repair. They have apologised for thd

disruption and say the road will remain closed in the meantile.

It will be the UK's largest solar energy farm ` and it'll be built at

RAF Faldingworth just outside Market Rasen. But despite claims that the

farm will produce enough endrgy for 12,000 homes, people living nearby

insist it should never have been given planning permission. Crispin

Rolfe has been to find out why. Open space, open skies ` making

Lincolnshire possibly the pdrfect place for renewable energy solar

farms. This latest, potenti`lly the UK's largest so far to be btilt here

at RAF Faldingworth by Lunar Energy. The planner's green light ghving the

go`ahead to a solar energy farm the size of 210 football pitches, with

permission for 196,000 panels, enough to power 12,000 homes. The

thrust must be on Brownfield site. That is what the council insists

this former airbases. Neighbours say they are wrong. The issue is we are

using agricultural land. Thdre are more on the way. Lincolnshire

already has six solar farms, and four more are `` and more are

proposed. Not the sunniest day for this solar farm outside Skegness.

Lincolnshire ordinarily recdives about 1500 hrs of sunshine ` year,

rivalling the likes of Devon and Cornwall, which has seen a rise in

the amount of solar generathon. It has prompted a campaign for real

England to talk about the industrialisation of the

countryside, and a battle bdtween agriculture and energy.

Lincolnshire's land is worth a huge amount for food security re`sons. We

would be crazy if we don't say solar is OK on agricultural land. The

issues around food security are here today. Sheep graze alongsidd solar

farms. This ?NEWLINE Still `head tonight: The town in Lincolnshire

celebrating 20 years of running their own hospital.

And fans queue through the night for the chance to see Hull City play at

Wembley in the FA Cup. There has been a lot of smoke

around. Not too bad now part the world. This is a photograph tonight.

You can see the flood barridr. It is on the left near my flat. The

question is, how we been affected by this high air pollution? New line

yes, we have. At the start of the week, it was very high. What we have

just seen is missed. That is not pollution. The area that has been

affected today is southern part of Lincolnshire and into north`west

Norfolk. Further north, not any problems. Tomorrow, we clean the air

up. There will be a south`wdsterly which will show the escalathon back

into the North Sea. No problems In the short term, there will be

further problems. The cloud will be think this evening. A bit of results

further east and the risk of fork. Seven Celsius is 45 Fahrenhdit. The

sun will rise around 630 a.l.. Another slow start. A bit of patchy

light rain. Gradually, it whll fizzle out. As looks dry by the end

of the morning. The clouds will break up. Practice dive with some

sunny breaks for most of us. A small chance of a shower. That pollution

will be out of the way. Feeling quite pleasant. 15 Celsius. That is

the focus. Somebody doctors in the night making

a joke about Thomas Schaff `nd Acca. Somebody told him and he had

about it and he has promised to come and do the forecast here.

Peter, I know Thomas very wdll. You'd be better checking thd

seaweed. That will get back to him. H had

absolutely nothing to do with that whatsoever.

When the people of Holbeach faced losing their local NHS hosphtal

they decided to run it themselves. 25 years on and they now not only

own the hospital, they've increased the number of beds and servhces they

offer. Those behind it say they can't understand why other

communities aren't doing thd same. Vicky Johnson has been at the

hospital today. It looks like many other NHS hospitals, but as Dorothy

here has recently discovered Holbeach is run for the loc`l

community by the local commtnity. It has been lovely. I hadn't rdalised

until now that it wasn't NHS. 25 years ago, when the local NHS

needed to save ?600,000, thd hospital was threatened with

closure. But local people wdre having none of that and rallied

round. We recognise that with a business plan we put togethdr, we

could run it with half the cost We have maintained that efficidncy ever

since. So they've cut costs by bringing

services like catering and laundry back in house. Many here can't

understand why other communhties haven't followed suit. I fedl less

is the future. With Wigan h`ve smaller units, community`based, they

would be far more cost effective. The hospital is run not for profit

and makes money by providing services like outpatient clhnics and

nursing care beds on behalf of gps and other hospitals. Local residents

take great pride in its success They certainly do, yes. People feel

it is theirs. If people don`te money, they can see where it is

going to. When we have events, people will come and look around.

Here, they are not what abott profit. They are just worridd about

the care and looking at people. That is all they are interested hn. You

should team has big plans wdre the future, from increasing the number

of beds to building a speci`list dementia unit, so far from losing

services, this community hospital seem to be going from strength to

strength. A referendum to find out whdther the

villages surrounding Hull w`nt to become part of the city will take

place in the summer. There was a big response on this.

That will run and run and wd will continue to follow it.

Hull City fans camped overnhght to make sure they got their hands on

Wembley tickets. Hundreds qteued for their place at the FA Cup sdmifinal

as tickets went on general sale this morning. Around 25,000 have already

been sold ahead of the Tigers facing Sheffield United a week on Sunday,

as Phillip Norton reports. My tent's in there, my flask's

there. That's my bog roll! That s my bog roll, mate! On my way to

Wembley! Camping chairs, tents and flasks ` not what you normally need

at the KC Stadium, but essential to guarantee a ticket for one of the

most historic games in Hull City's history.

We had a tent up, didn't we? All night, us lot, every one of us,

buzzing. We've been here since nine o'clock last night. Absolutdly. .

We're shattered! Absolutely shattered. But it's worth it, isn't

it? It's worth it. Cos next Sunday, we'll be at Wembley. We'll be sat

there with our tickets. Get in! Dan Stanyon was first in the qudue.

Banter and football tales hdlped him endure the chilly temperatures and

Saharan smog. I managed to get the day off work.

It's a once`in`a`lifetime opportunity to see Hull Citx in the

semifinal of the FA Cup. Three goals in ten minutes against Sunddrland

last month sealed the Tigers' first FA Cup semifinal since 1930. It s a

result that prompted hundreds to set early alarms and join fellow fans

ahead of the ticket office doors opening, 12 hours after thehr long

wait began. It's an absolutely fantastic

commitment from the supportdrs, and it shows how the supporters are

embracing the competition and the fact that we're going to Welbley.

That kind of commitment, to stay out all night and wait for your ticket,

it's everything you need to know about how the supporters vidw the FA

Cup, and hopefully we'll be victorious in it. Tickets in hand,

the road to Wembley awaits. Thought it might be touch and go at

some points to get it, but pleased I've got it in my hand and now I'm

going! Ecstatic, mate. Just going to go home now, chill out, bed. In

fact, no, I'm off shopping with the Mrs. She can buy what she w`nts She

can buy what she wants now. A potentially expensive day, then for

one fan, no doubt keeping fhngers crossed ` and the tent handx ` for a

place in the final. In this evening's rugby league, Hull

FC host Salford in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup The Bl`ck and

Whites were last season's fhnalists when they lost to Wigan Warriors.

And you can listen to full latch commentary tonight on BBC R`dio

Humberside. Kick off is at 8.00 Lincoln city fans reminisced about

the glory days when Graham Taylor's team rewrote the record books, and

when Colin Murphy got the chimps promoted. While they were whnning

everything in sight, they dhd it with the famous Lincoln Imp on their

chests. It is making a return to the team. In the early days, Lincoln

city didn't have the same as Imp on their shirts. `` the famous Imp on

their shirts. In 1976, when Lester Piggott won a record seventh derby,

Patti Freeman was walking on water as the Imps were promoted to the

third division. We got a record number of goals. A record ntmber of

points. A record number of wins I mean, it was unbelievable. We choose

to touch the Imp before we went out. In 1981 as looks fizz won the

Eurovision Song contest in the world watched Prince Charles marrhed Lady

Diana Spencer, the game was on Tony Cunningham's shared as Lincoln were

promoted once again. We nevdr went out expecting to lose. We wdre very

confident. We didn't take anything for granted. We worked hard. We

played the game very physic`lly I don't think anybody ever gave up.

Next season, the impact that enjoyed these scenes is back on the shirts.

If you look back at past glories under Graham Taylor and Colhn

Murphy, the Imp was on the shirt and it seems right to bring it back this

season. The Imps take her nhckname from a cheeky chirpy that lhves here

in Lincoln Cathedral. It is actually a little devil. 20p helps you find

him and liked him up. It sits below the angels of heaven, as a reminder

that good must overcome evil. There is no doubt the fans will bd proud

to see the back, but the return they are really after is the Football

League. We will get in the headlines.

Stranding on cigarette packdts in the UK if effectively banned. An

independent review said the move would cut smoking and make

cigarettes less appealing to young people. Humberside's chief constable

says the loss of 200 police officers won't mean a poorer service.

Tomorrow's weather: we have been talking about the

policing situation in Lincolnshire and Humberside. This is frol a

serving officer, and wants to remain anonymous. The chief constable of

Humberside police is talking rubbish. We as a force are totally

demoralised, underfunded and our bosses are always telling untruths

to the press. Another one hdre, I am a serving officer in Humberside at

the moment, losing 200 officers will have an adverse effect on the force.

More and more work is being put on everyone in the force, and they

expect even better results. Team Humberside is being worn down, we

need to recruit more officers, not lose them.

Both of those are from servhng officers who are watching the

programme. Thanks for watchhng. Good night.