25/02/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

sunshine and showers continuing. And that is all from the BBC News at

six. It Good evening and welcome to

Tuesday's Look North. On the programme tonight.

Two schools in Leeds face an uncertain future after the charity

which runs them is stripped of their control. There's anger from the city

council who say they'll have to pick up the pieces. Also tonight.

Riding into Battle, horse lovers from a stables threatened with

closure take their objections right to Bradford council.

And Dame Edna Everage takes time out of her farewell tour in Yorkshire to

offer us some sartorial advice. It has been another mile day across

Yorkshire, but what do the next few days look like? `` mild day.

Good evening, and welcome to the programme. There's uncertainty this

evening over the future of two secondary schools in Leeds after the

organisation which runs them was stripped of their control. E`Act is

one of the biggest chain of Academies in England and runs

schools in Leeds, Sheffield and Featherstone. But today it handed

over control of two schools in Seacroft and Rodley after Ofsted

inspectors raised concerns about some of the schools run by the

charity. In a moment we'll hear from the local MP Rachel Reeves, but

first Spencer has our top story. New schools and new names, run

together as academy groups. That is part of the government filed ``

formula to reform education but now one such group, E`Act, has thrown in

the towel in Leeds. Inspectors came here and found that teaching was

inadequate, behaviour was inadequate and pupils were not attending

lessons. Most damning of all, E`Act, the Academy groups supposed to be

looking after the school, was not providing any support. Across the

city, Leeds West was performing well but E`Act is getting out of here

today. Parents and pupils knew nothing of the announcement today

and it has left Leeds City Council wondering if they are going to step

in to help the two academies which were supposed to thrive under

E`Act's leadership. We are now facing picking up the pieces of a

catastrophic series of events where the sponsor has walked away from our

schools without any explanation of what is going to happen to those

schools in the future. E`Act was not doing the job as well as it should,

so intervened and said that some of the schools should they already had

to be taken of their hands and placed at the hands of organisations

that could turn around more effectively. It is not clear which

organisation will we doing that. Parents may face several weeks of

waiting before a decision is made. What they want is a good local

school, they do not want to be swapped and change with who runs it

every few years. This will change a huge amount of instability in the

community and a great deal of concern about whether or not their

children are getting the education they reserved. `` deserve. Two other

academies in Sheffield and Featherstone will release `` remain

part of the E`Act group, but for Leeds East and Leeds West, another

organisation will take over the running.

Rachel Reeves joins us from Westminster. So Leeds East and West

Academy are looking for new sponsors, despite the fact that

Leeds West Academy which is in your constituency got a good Ofsted

inspection only two years ago. There has been no real exhalation as to

why controls have been taken away from E`Act, why do you think this is

happened? Let me first say that Leeds West Academy is a superb

school. The principal and the school staff are doing a brilliant job and

I meet students regularly who are highly motivated, doing very well at

school. I think what has happened today is shameful, shameful that

E`Act are walking away from the school that they are supposed to be

supporting, and shameful that Michael Gove and the government have

got no answers to the question of what happens to these schools now.

8:30am is the first time that the school learnt of these changes. And

they have no idea, this evening, who is going to be running this school

in the weeks and months to come. That uncertainty should not be

hanging over a school like Leeds West Academy. I call on the

government to urgently get a grip. You cannot put all this on the

doorstep of the Conservatives, it was a Labour policy, academies,

initially designed to help struggling schools. Yes, and Leeds

West Academy is now successful. We have seen under this government

these Academy chains being too big and not able to give the school the

individual support they need. E`Act became a chain of 34 schools, and

they were not able to oversight order of those schools and there are

now walking away from a third of them. I do put the blame because the

government this evening cannot tell us what the future holds for schools

like Leeds West Academy, who now have no academy sponsor and not sure

who is responsible for that school going forward. It is fine to say

that one sponsor is not doing its job properly and I would agree that

E`Act had let down a number of schools. It is not good enough for

the government to say, E`Act should known not the be a sponsor but we

have no idea who the sponsor for B. We need to leave it there, we will

be following the story. The trial's started of a 22`year`old

woman accused of organising a child prostitution ring in South

Yorkshire. A jury heard how Amanda Spencer befriended nine underage

girls, giving them alcohol and drugs. Five men are also on trial

accused of exploiting the girls. Danny Savage was at Sheffield Crown

Court today. Amanda Spencer is 22 years old but

she herself was a teenager between 2006 and 2011, when she is accused

of exploiting children here in Sheffield. The prosecution say that

she exploited nine teenage girls, maybe the young teenage girls. Huber

granted them, gave the drugs and in `` she befriended them, gave them

drugs and alcohol added use them into prostitution. She had grown up

in care and she knew what to look out for, according to the

prosecution, because the girls and she introduced into the prostitution

also came from care. The court also heard that some of these girls are

very frightened of her, that Spencer would become violent if the young

girls didn't do what she told them to do. She referred to the victims

as her sisters, the court was told, to tell them how to dress more

provocatively and how to lie about their age. There are 45 charges that

the jury are having to consider, it is expected to last about eight

weeks and as well as Amanda Spencer, there are five other men on

trial as well. All of the defendants deny all the charges.

Later on Look North. It's a city better known for steel than snow but

Sheffield produced some of Sochi's stars, who owe their training to the

city's ski village. In other news now, and police are

asking the public to help find a convicted prisoner from Richmond

who's breached the terms of his release from prison. Christopher

Hugill was sentenced to two years in jail in 2012 after being convicted

of assault. He was released last summer but has now been recalled to

prison. Detectives believe he's committed further offences. Anyone

with information is asked to contact North Yorkshire police.

Residents living near a recycling centre in Worksop are being advised

to keep doors and windows shut whilst fire crews tackle a blaze at

the plant. Last summer a fire at the site on Shire Oaks Road took three

weeks to put out. It was caused by the natural decomposing of materials

kept at the centre. Nottinghamshire Fire Service say they're seeking

assurances there won't be another fire in the future.

A West Yorkshire riding school popular with disabled children is

facing closure because of plans to build hundreds of new homes in

Bradford. The school and stables in Fagley could be bulldozed if the

scheme is approved. Today supporters and riders presented their

objections on horseback at City Hall. Phil Bodmer reports.

Staff and volunteers of this riding school in Fagley, setting off for a

protest this lunchtime. Their destination, City Hall. Their

mission, to try and save their school from potential closure which

could impact the lives of 200 young riders including 50 children with

special needs. It is the one thing they look forward to, it improves

their behaviour, the autistic children, because it can calm them.

It can slow down the progression of the physical conditions that they

have. People say it is better than therapy and trek Liza, it helps to

palm them down, give them a different viewpoint on life. ``

therapy and tranquillisers. There are plans for 600 new homes on the

side of a nearby quarry and the riding school. No one from the

council or the landowners was available to speak to us on camera

but they gave us the following statement.

There are a lot of clubs for boys and girls, because I have got one of

each, they are able to learn something together there. The

teachers helped them have confidence in how to handle the horses. When

you're taking away activities which are trying to be promoted the

children, they can find another alternative. With their objections

lodged, supporters of the riding school face an anxious few months as

planners balance the need for much`needed housing against equally

prized community assets. All this week Look North is marking

the centenary of the First World War by looking at stories from the Home

Front. In December 1914, Scarborough was shelled by the German navy, and

18 people lost their lives. We are still receiving new stories about

this raid. Thank you for your reaction. An attack on a defenceless

seaside town left the whole country in shock. The government described

the Germans as "barbarians and baby killers" and used the bombardment to

begin a new recruitment drive. Michelle Lyons reports.

It lasted less than half an hour, but the scale of destruction left

behind was immense. Homes and businesses destroyed, 18

people killed, and dozens more wounded. Although this number pales

into insignificance compared to those killed on the front line, the

bombardment brought the reality of World War I to the peaceful shores

of Scarborough. And it shocked the nation.

It committed many people to the war who had perhaps wavered. It was

certainly a gift to the propaganda people, who had to recruit people to

the Army because this was an event which many people in Britain

perceived as giving Britain or high ground. This was a bustard leasing,

it had not happened before. `` giving Britain the moral high

ground. But it was the tragic story of the

Bennet family which captured the nation 's heart. Four members of the

same family killed when a shell struck their home. One man survived

after falling through the bedroom floor into the kitchen, he gave his

account of the experience. It was terrible, father and I took the

others out there petticoat, we moved mother into the yard with the young

once but it was too late. I carried little George into the next house

but he died as I put him down. Instead of dwelling on the

aftermath, the government quickly decided to use it to their

advantage. An image of the house was used in the recruitment campaign.

The image of the house was produced as a postcard quite quickly, and,

you know, it was a very emotive story, understandably and that when

together with Churchill's statement that they were going to avenge the

baby killers of Scarborough. A campaign to raise more body the guns

was launched using Scarborough as the resident white people should

donate. `` as the reason why people should donate. That painting on this

poster was still hanging in the town Hall today. The bombardment of

Scarborough may only play a tiny part in the history of the great

War, but its legacy fuelled and National Patrick is which led to

thousands of young men wanting to fight for King and country.

Thank you to everyone in Scarborough yesterday who

`` who were wonderful in helping us yesterday.

The BBC has been working with Imperial War Museums on the World

War One at Home project. Radio York is looking at the Scarborough

bombardment all week and Radio Leeds and Radio Sheffield will also be

featuring stories every day. And to be able to see all these features in

one place then go to the website. Before 7pm. Listen up, possums,

we've a treat ahead! I am Barry Humphries, and I'm very pleased to

be in Leeds. Join me tonight where I will be talking, raving on, really,

about my Brilliant career. Onto sport now and in Super League

the future of Bradford Bulls is uncertain tonight. The Rugby

Football League announced the club's been docked six points for going

into administration, minutes after the prospective new owners pulled

out of a deal to buy the club. Tanya explains how serious this could be.

I think it is pretty serious, because they are currently owned by

an administrator. The group that pulled out today whether one is

agreed by the administrator last week to buy the club and move it

forward. So what the administrator now has the club with financial

problems, only has half of its television money and is now Doctor

six points. This is a season where to means `` two teams are going to

get relegated, so that does not make them a great prospect to buy. The R

F L says they had a good look at the whole administration and the affair

and the way it was dealt with and the way they have gone into

administration before, and this was the punishment, they had been

brought down. If you are trying to sell club, to say you are on `6, you

haven't got a squad and not much money, it is not an easy sales job.

Onto football and there'll be no Sheffield derby in the quarter

finals of the FA Cup. Sheffield Wednesday blew the chance to take on

city rivals United, losing 2`1 to Charlton. The visitors took the lead

in the first half but after the break Wednesday levelled it with

Leon Best getting the goal. The Owls though were not at their best and

sloppy defending allowed Charlton in for the winner.

It was a remarkably successful Winter Olympics for Sheffield. Three

of its skiers got to Sochi ` impressive for a city without snow.

But there are now fears they will be the last. Sheffield Ski Village, the

place where they all learned their jumps, burned down in 2012 and will

never re`open. In a moment we'll hear from two of our Olympians fresh

from the slopes in Sochi, but first James Vincent has this report.

Three Olympians, all from Sheffield, all learned to ski on sheets of

brushes strapped to the side of one of the hills. Five fires later but

one of the `` and the ski village looks different. These sites have

helped three Sheffield athletes get to the Winter Olympics. As you can

see from the state of it, there will be no more Olympians being nurtured

here. Katie Summerhayes went along as a toddler and stayed. We had to

drag her off at times, Katie, it is five o'clock on Saturday, it is time

to go home. Just one more run! She loved it so much he has still got a

pat of the synthetic snow at home. It is really heartbreaking that the

ski village is, it is still there but no one is using it. No one is

going to be able to experience that, it was really special for me.

Another member of Team GB told me it was too painful to see what the ski

village had become. It is not so much an issue for us now, but it

will be for the younger generation coming through. Because there is no

area in Sheffield which you can practice on half pipes or jumps, you

have to go abroad now. With the ski village, it was fire, with the Don

Valley Stadium, it was council cuts. Some are worried about the state of

the city of sports. All the people inspired by their performances and

seeing the man TV, Gary Arthur represented Sheffield, where do they

go now? It is worrying to see for the next generation. We have had

some fantastic facilities in Sheffield and we are starting to

lose them. The side of this hill will probably end up as a housing

estate, not a home for Olympians. We are joined on the sofa by the

Olympians, James Machon and Katie Summerhayes, who performed in the

ski`pipe and the ski slopestyle in Sochi and have just arrived back in

Yorkshire. You are fresh from the States, what would you like at

there? Nadal it was amazing to be there. Especially for us, it was

amazing coming from Sheffield in the new action sports. I just loved

watching it, it was so exciting. Were you captured by the adrenaline

of the occasion as well? Yes, the reaction we had at home, on Twitter

and Facebook, everyone was going mental. We just wanted everyone to

love it. And we feel like everyone enjoyed it. Let's talk at the ski

village. It is key to your development, both of you. That is no

more, do you think it would have been different for you if Sheffield

ski village would not have been there? Nadal yes, we probably would

not be here today. It is it is probably like that.

The ski village in Sheffield, we have done so many features over the

years about this. It is devastating for you, below. Yes, I do not think

I would be skiing if it was not for the ski village, we were just happy

there. We had so much fun growing there, I have known James for ten

years. We enjoyed skiing so much with everyone, it is that a shame.

There is Castleford and Halifax, there are slopes there, but you are

saying that you cannot get what you need for your particular style in

this slopes? Yes, Sheffield had the only half pipe in the UK so that is

a blow for James and everyone else that wants to do that. You are going

to stick at it, and be there in four years time? Definitely! You are

fantastic, they joining us. Barry Humphries. Need I say more!

His farewell tour hits the region tonight with Dame Edna in full flow,

albeit nursing a heavy cold. But that won't stop Barry! He loves the

Grand Theatre in Leeds where he'll be on stage until Saturday night.

Indeed he calls it one of the finest theatres in Europe. Very fitting,

that. After all we are talking about a friend of her Majesty!

Tonight, you are my guests come in my home from home, Buckingham

Palace. Yes, her Majesty's lovely, centrally located, 4`storey town

house. A stones throw from Mal Street and Trafalgar Circus. Over

the years she changed. I did one show in Melbourne, I would get her

out, put her back in the box, close the lid. Next time I did the show,

she would come out with new glasses, better dressed. A bit more

opinionated. She began shy, and now it is her audience who are shy. And

a beautiful woman, of course. Yes, she is by some standards. I am not

want to comment, really. Beauty is not a speciality of hers. But

personality certainly is. I have got a couple of pictures that I want to

show you. I would carry that one with me. Can we see that?

Definitely! I work with two people, and I wonder if you would comment.

That is my co`presenter, Amy. Why didn't you send your co`presenter?

That would have been nice. I would not have occasionally taken my

glance to the camera if she had been sitting where you are sitting. This

is our man `` this is our weatherman, Paul, what you think? He

looks so nice and he has also anticipated nice weather. I would

like to be a weatherman. It is the one thing in television that I think

I would quite like to do. Can you give me some advice? Of the passage

of time catches up with me, I know one of your things you are a

speciality of, glasses. These are the ones I am thinking I might have

to wear on screen at some point. Can you give me a comment? I think they

are quite good. Did you spend a long time choosing the? I think they suit

you. OK. And I don't think people might glasses at all. Edna's glasses

are unusual, in that they have no lenses. She calls her face

furniture. They just are a frame for the eyes. Not an aid to looking and

seeing. But I think yours are fine for a man approaching middle age.

Admittedly from the wrong direction! Absolutely, thank you!

These are the ones you might have to wear. You're just missing a few

feathers! Have you ever thought of making you

lurve that that's not living dressed as a woman? I am told you might be

good at it? Here's a few pictures. `` have you ever thought of making

your living just as a woman? Once again, we had double`figure

temperatures in eastern parts. Tomorrow, mild, variable cloud.

Showers across northern part of the region. A little ridge of high

pressure which means the best of the weather will be across eastern and

open region. `` southern regions. The many, not a bad day, the showers

are fiddling out today. A risk or one of two sharp showers, but they

will die out eastwards. Many of us will be dry overnight with clear

spells. Quite breezy but where you are sheltered from the breeze, there

could be a touch of ground frost. Not a bad day across South Yorkshire

and eastern parts of Yorkshire, some sunshine, but Northern areas at risk

of seeing some showers. Lead northwards, they coming quickly, a

little bit of sleet and they fizzle out. If you are south of Leeds and

York, it should be mostly dry. But in the Yorkshire Dales, the showers

recruited heavily. `` they are frequent and heavy. Temperatures

just above average tomorrow. Best in the eastern parts of South Yorkshire

and through the North Midlands. More unsettled weather on Wednesday

night, the rain spreads in from the south`west. That should be clear of

the Coast first light Thursday morning, Thursday is sunny intervals

and scattered showers. Friday, low`pressure so showers and it will

be breezy into March. Tonight, we will have the latest on

the uncertain future of two local academies as the organisation which

runs the schools is stripped of its control. We will have the first

reaction of the chair of governors of both schools. That is at 10:35pm.