07/07/2011 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Nick Owen and Suzanne Virdee.

The headlines tonight: Our school is beyond repair - desperate

parents take their plea to Downing Street. We were promised it in 2009.

It is now nearly the end of 2011. The care home where plants,

children and animals are helping Alzheimer's patients to ditch the

drugs. Parents appeal after a teenage couple run away together.

It does not matter what has happened. It does not matter what

the circumstances. Just come home. And the best fun you can have on

three wheels, as Morgan cars Good evening and welcome to

Thursday's Midlands Today. This morning, schoolchildren travelled

to Downing Street to try to get a school fit for them to learn in.

They handed in a 3,000-signature petition asking for their leaking

and damp school buildings to be rebuilt. The pupils and parents

from Richard Lee primary in Coventry say it's no longer fit for

purpose. Teachers from the school also met Education Minister Lord

Hill, but they left London Sunshine at seven, and optimism was

in the air as two coach loads of pupils, parents and teachers from

Richard Lee Primary School in the Wyken area of Coventry head for

We're on the front page of the papers again. The ceiling collapsed

a couple of weeks ago. We had a class told in the corridor for

several weeks. The school probably has a shelf-life of three to five

years. We do not have the money to build a new school. We need the

Government to release their funding to the Council Sobhi Council can

rebuild. Eight year olds Georgie and Harvey have been chosen to hand

in a 3,000-signature petition to Prime Minister David Cameron,

demanding a new school. I hope they say they might do it. It would be

really nice. In London, and part of the delegation were joined by their

local MP Bob Ainsworth, who'd arranged for them to meet Education

Minister Lord Hill so they could argue their case. But afterwards,

they were left a little deflated. We were not exactly expecting a big

bag of cash. We have not been given any certainty. We still do not know

when the rebuild will happen. it was time to head for Downing

Street, the weather almost mirroring the mood. After what

seemed like an age waiting for security checks in the pouring rain,

the children finally made it through the world's most famous

door, where they handed over their petition. We want to get a new

school. It is cold. When I was little by dad said I was going to a

fantastic school. It was so popular. Now I have grown up a little bit, I

have discovered that it is not so fantastic. The boiler is break --

is broken. Little kids have to get a taut and the corridors. It is not

fair. The mood has changed since that meeting. They travel back to

Coventry a little less optimistic. This afternoon, the Government

issued a statement. There was no promise of a new school, but they

did say they were looking at the findings of a review into the

country's worst schools - a very small silver lining on a dark cloud

We're joined now by Bob Ainsworth, the Labour MP for Coventry North

East. The school clearly in a terrible state, and it can't have

happened overnight. Why didn't your Government sort this before it got

to this stage? We have rebuilt a lot of schools in Coventry. Richard

Lee was forced to wait while other schools which needed additional

places were built. Some schools had roofs collapse. Richard Lee was

right at the top of the programme. It was the very next to be built.

Clearly recognised as being in the worst condition. The cap as a

programme has been slashed. -- the capital programme. It has been

slashed because there was no money left after your Government? It has

been massively slashed. Coventry has only got �11 million for the

entire city. It will take 10 million to rebuild Richard Lee,

leaving absolutely nothing for the secondary sector in Coventry, or

for the rest of the primary sector. There is no money, is there?

cannot argue that we spend too much money and that we spend too little

money at the same time. We do spend too little and did not repair

schools like Richard Lee, or we spend too much and there was not

enough left. Which is it? Make up your mind. Still to come in

tonight's programme, the ups and downs of the band of UB40 as a row

A medical trial involving Alzheimer's patients has brought

into question the need for mind altering drugs. Almost half the

patients at one home were taking the drugs. But when they were given

close contact with animals, plants and children, the need for those

drugs was virtually eliminated. It's being seen as the way forward

for the treatment of Alzheimer's, as Michele Paduano has been finding

Brownies regularly keep their promise to help people. Not what

you're used to in a care home, but according out pictures of things

they have done helps to stimulate the elderly. I can join in. The

children are lovely. 10 Hepburn was on a range of drugs for Alzheimer's.

Not any more. Rico macro here every day. We can still have some quality

of life. Whereas before I thought my life was over. I was down in the

dumps. All of a sudden I jumped out of it. 21 patients used to take

mind-altering drugs. But now there is just one. A another lady we have

here at the moment lungs to take the rap for a walk. -- likes to

take the rap. Dash macro Rabbit. You can see the enjoyment on her

face. It costs nothing. Implementing this alternative has

made such a difference to staff and residents. Academics say it is

obvious. The problem says overworked staff become jaded.

more like real life you can make things, the better it is.

Interaction with animals and children turns what could be an

artificial closed setting into something that is more like

everyday life. It is more than a little birdie that says this

approach is better. We're joined now by David Ash from the

Alzheimer's Society This is an incredible turnaround - how did

this treatment come about? Really simply, the treatment is about

trying to stimulate people in care homes. Often these environments can

be quite sterile. Lots of people on anti-psychotic drugs, which means

they are not as physically mobile as they can be. By stimulating

people, they can have a more fulfilling life. It is not really

expensive things. Could it be more expensive to implement this

treatment? There are 180,000 people in the UK being prescribed anti-

psychotic drugs. Most of those are in appropriate, according to

research. The cost of not prescribing those drugs could be

easily invested in good training for carers. This is not expensive.

It is basic understanding of people with dementia. It is not just

understanding them as a manger. It is understanding the individual. --

dementia. I would like to see this in all care homes. Anti-psychotic

drugs need to go. People need to be stimulated. They would be better

off. The parents of two missing teenagers from the Black Country

have pleaded with them to get in touch. 15-year-old Charlotte Ford

is thought to have run away with her boyfriend, Luke Jarvis, who's

16 today. Sarah Falkland reports. Where were they going and why?

Charlotte Ford and her boyfriend Luke Jarvis caught on CCTV at

Dudley bus station on the evening of Sunday 26 June. It's the last

anyone has seen of them. It does not matter what has happened. It

does not matter what the circumstances are, just come home.

I really miss you. Charlotte's mother says her daughter had split

from Look two months ago. Charlotte then moved from Wordsley near

Stourbridge to live her aunt in Wales. They were together and then

they were not. It is just their age. Luke should have been celebrating

his 16th birthday today. We are all worried about you. Not just us, the

entire family. Think about what you're doing. We will celebrate

your birthday together as a family. I am hopeful about the fact it is

his birthday will provide another opportunity for look to make

contact with some of his friends and that they will be responsible

enough to notify either of the Police or his family where he is,

and help us to get in touch with him. Police say it is unusual for

young teenagers to go missing for such a long time. There are asking

anybody in Tipton, Bilston or Dudley to check their garage as or

out houses. One report police are investigating is that the couple

were seen yesterday in Prestatyn in North Wales. They're asking anyone

with any information about Charlotte or Luke to call police at

Sandwell Hospital has failed standards for dignity and nutrition

in a Care Quality Commission investigation. On one Ward the

system for identifying patients who needed help was not working. It

also found Patients warned that adequately covered for decency and

some areas were not a single sex. am very confident this is not the

situation. The report shows that three out of the four words had

adequate standard of care. -- awards. We're confident... It has

been the last day of the public inquiry into higher than

anticipated deaths at Stafford Hospital. The inquiry is going into

recess for eight weeks because the chairman needs an urgent medical

procedure. The hearings will resume in September. One of the biggest

band Birmingham has ever produced found itself embroiled in a court

case today. Five original members of UB40 were facing a bankruptcy

hearing. It was expected that a judge would make a final decision

surrounding the finances of the record label behind the band, Dep

International. A petition for bankruptcy has been filed by

creditors. Lindsay Doyle reports. They have been portrayed as an icon

for the British working class. UB40 were named after a document issued

to people claiming unemployment benefit at the time they formed in

1978. There have been many highs over the last 30 years, but today

was one of the lows when representatives of five members of

the reggae band appeared before Birmingham County Court for the

bankruptcy hearing. For the sake of clarity, they are not bankrupt and

they are not intending to become bankrupt. The legal action is

focussing on their record label Dep International. Each of the band

members were directors of the company which went into

administration in 2006. The creditors have been trying to get

some money back. When frontman Ali Campbell left the band in 2008, he

claimed the main reason was concerns about the band's finances.

Even when I got independent accountants to ask for the

information, I still did not get it. When you're getting letters from

the Inland Revenue to say that you were being investigated, that is

frightening. UB 40 -- UB40 played their first concert here in 1979.

They went on to sell 70 million records, the most successful of

reggae act ever. No final decision was made in court this morning, a

decision welcomed by the band's legal team Full details of how the

band have ended up this position are expected to come to light after

the court proceedings are completed. Each of them will continue to

dispute the amounts claimed in these proceedings. If Bancroft

proceedings are issued following this hearing, we will vigorously

oppose them. -- bankruptcy proceedings. But whatever happens

in the courts, UB40 will carry on Still ahead, and you look for a

Birmingham's Alexander Stadium. -- and you look for Birmingham's

Alexander Stadium. And how much longer can the rain and showers

More than 20 vulnerable elderly people face being made homeless,

and the 36 staff who help care for them will become jobless, with the

closure of a residential home. It's been run by a charity for 20 years.

But a series of complex issues is forcing it to shut. The trustees

who give up their time to run the home say the decision has been

difficult and painful. Joanne Writtle takes up the story. They

face moving from a care home they love. These women - here with

family and friends - are among 24 residents of The Chestnuts in Ross-

on-Wye searching for somewhere else to live. Absolutely disgusted, I am.

It is my home. It is terrible. Great grandmother Hazel Childs is

regularly taken out by her daughters. She's been here for nine

years. The staff at are lovely. She loves the staff. She treats them

like her children and grandchildren. It is so upsetting. Volunteer

trustees have run the home for 20 years, ever since the local

authority announced it was to close. But the lease ends in September.

The charity pays a nominal �8,000 rent to Herefordshire Council. The

local authority wants to double that, though the market value would

be far more - an estimated �70,000. Complex changes in policy

nationally on adult care are also among the reasons for closure. The

trustees say this home is a fine example of a community taking

responsibility for services. The situation they are now in makes

them wonder what the so-called big society is all about. With falling

funding and the need for the local authority to make the most of us at

this, the running of the home will have become more commercial. --

make the most of its assets. It is awful. The residents are like

family. Herefordshire Council says it's been in talks with the

trustees for some time. trustees are in a position where

they feel that they cannot continue operating in the way they are

operating. This family and everybody we spoke to said this

home was excellent. But it could close very soon. You can see why

that care home could be seen as an example of the Big Society in

action. So what would its closure say now for the Government's Big

Idea? Patrick Burns is here with us. Patrick, the Big Society seems to

be shrinking before our eyes? there is a textbook answer to that.

It is called the big society by Jessie Norman, the Conservative MP

whose constituency includes Ross- on-Wye. No guarantee that homes

like that will not close. What Jessie Norman would say is that the

threat of closure may trigger local business interests to devise their

own home-grown strategies to find a solution, in a way that top-down

solutions, bureaucratic solutions, demand less on a ship from local

people. -- ownership. But when you see what's happening there in Ross-

on-Wye and elsewhere, people are bound to say the Big Society is no

more than an excuse invented by David Cameron to justify public

sector cuts? To which the Government would say that one of

the first places he came to as leader of the opposition six years

ago was Balsall Heath, where local community activists worked together

to get prostitution off the streets. The fastest man in the world this

year will lead a star-studded field at Birmingham's first ever Diamond

League athletics meeting this weekend. And it's hoped this could

be just the start for the city after a �12 million redevelopment

of the Alexander Stadium. A major summer championships could be next.

Nick Clitheroe reports. This is the crowning glory of the redevelopment

at the Alexander Stadium, a 5.000- seater stand on the back straight

of the Birmingham venue. Why is it so important? Well without it they

wouldn't be staging Sunday's Grand Prix, which is part of the Diamond

League series for the finest athletes in the world. It has to be

the best in the world. That is the whole thing about being in the

Diamond League series. It is the best athletes. In some of the

events it can be stronger than the Olympic final. There is a fantastic

view for the spectators. And that ground level, very impressive. And

it's very popular too with the British athletes who've made this

stadium their home over the years. It is amazing. It is beginning to

look like a proper world-class stadium. It has always been a great

venue. The added bonus of the stand, now we can attract world-class

championships. It was the first place I came to, to watch the

Olympic trials. I became captivated by it. I have been to the Diamond

League in Doha and a New York. This place will have a much better

atmosphere. The redevelopment has also seen the stadium brought up to

international standards for track and field. That leaves the stadium

ready to bid for a European Championships in the future. But

the first treat for a sell-out crowd on Sunday will be to see the

true stars of world athletics in You can hear more about that on BBC

WM tomorrow morning when Phil Upton at Breakfast will be talking live

to the President of the Jamaican athletics team, who'll be based in

Britain's newest car took to the roads today, and with only three

wheels, the new Morgan is something of a throwback. Back in 1909, the

Worcestershire company's founder, Harry Morgan, designed his first

car, a three-wheeled runabout, and many more were to follow. Three

wheelers seem to be linked with this region. It was in Tamworth

that Reliant turned out their cars in big numbers. Fondly recalled by

many owners but the butt of jokes too. Remember Del Boy's Reliant in

Only Fools and Horses? But now Morgan has returned to its heritage

with a three wheeler that will put a smile on your face for all the

right reasons, as our business correspondent Peter Plisner has

been finding out. OK, driving with goggles on doesn't quite do it for

me - but the car certainly does. Despite having fewer wheels than

conventional vehicles the new Morgan 3 drives extremely well. It

represents something of warp back in time for the Malvern-based car

maker. This rare footage shows the original Morgan three wheeler being

put through its paces in a hill climbing competition. This is one

of the originals. It was designed and built in the 1930s. This is the

modern version. The company has stayed true to its tradition. At

the factory the first cars are already being built - they're

expecting to build around 400 each year. It has still got a lot of

charm. It does not take itself too seriously. It is a proper sports

car. You can have a real laugh in it. And that's exactly what members

of the motoring press were doing today at Malvern. By all accounts

they like what they saw. Modern cars are too sanitised. They are

covered in safety and luxury. This strips of --. We are ahead of

Lotus... For Morgan's Chief Executive, the new model has to

potential to deliver a new younger market to the 100-year-old brand,

with 500 pre-orders already on the books. I think where it is quite

interesting is it is like motorbike quarter a little bit. The sales in

motorbikes have actually increased enormously over the past 10 years.

We hope that the three-wheeler is a bit like that. Like previous cars

from Morgan, it should be in great demand. And Peter joins us now. So

when are we going to see these Morgan Threes on the road, Peter?

At the moment they are in the pre- production stage. Full production

starts in September. Only then will you start to see these cars

appearing in the showrooms. Having driven the car today, I can say

that it probably will sell very well. It is pretty efficient. It

does 45-50 miles to the gallon. It will make it popular and good news

for the company. Good news for the West Midlands. The majority of

parts are made here in this region. Good news for the components of

firms who have suffered in the recession. How much will they cost?

And do you get the goggles? It is cheaper than the average Morgan.

Starting price around �25,000. The average Morgan around 30,000 to

40,000. Most of them will be Now the weather. We were definitely

over credit by showers. Plenty of them around. Things are improving

over the weekend. Temperatures will pick up slightly. Currently we are

caught up in the workings of this low-pressure. Once it moves to the

North East by the weekend, the way will be clear for a brighter and

better weather. At the moment we are plodding the same path. Still

some showers out there at the moment. The next sign of activity

will be just after midnight as this next band of rain hit in from the

West. Heavy pulses of rain overnight. By the end of the night

it will reach eastern part of the patch. Temperatures dropping to 20

Celsius. It will feel cooler. Tomorrow morning the rain heads

east words. It will increase in the east. It will be a wet start.

Almost a seamless transition from that rain Clearing to a rush of

showers. Some could be heavy and thundery. There will be sunshine in

between raising the temperature has to 20 Celsius. Once again it will

be a windy day. As for the weekend, we have got some dry weather on a

wave. Showers on Saturday. The sunshine will take the temperatures

A look at tonight's main headlines: The News of the World - the

newspaper at the centre of the phone hacking allegations - is to

close. It will print its last edition this Sunday. And pupils go