08/02/2012 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight.

A Chief Constable admits some officers have been removed from the

front line to work in the back offices. It is a temporary measure

and it is all about, ultimately, serving the public better.

Copper thefts costing �800 million a year but rail chiefs say they're

starting to beat the thieves. High Street in crisis - how more

and more retailers are going online to boost sales. People are finding

me online because they are looking for something specific, so I may as

well not be on the high street. And, made in the Midlands -

hundreds of thousands of special medals are struck for the Queen's

Diamond Jubilee. Good evening and welcome to

Wednesday's Midlands Today from the BBC. Tonight, the Chief Constable

of West Midlands Police admits some officers have been withdrawn from

front-line duties to work in back office jobs.

A Birmingham MP claims the figure is 32, but the Federation

representing rank and file officers claims the true number is much

higher. Labour say it's proof that budget savings are cutting into the

thin blue line. But the Chief Constable says the

changes are a temporary measure needed to help the force through a

time of huge upheaval. Giles Latcham reports.

Policing the West Midlands - was ever the job more difficult? On the

frontline or back at base handling calls and data, in the midst of

�120 million worth of budget cuts, this is a political battleground

and Labour are on the offensive. Some of the best officers have been

taken out of the front line into the back room.

At least 30 highly trained officers are said to be doing civilian jobs,

the real figure could be nearer 100. According to the Police Federation,

the front line officers had been removed from duty to work in the

backroom. In Dudley, eight officers had been put who work in a contact

centre. One officer has said he has gone into a controlled am...

Federation representatives have a sheaf of emails from front-line

officers unhappy at filling in for civilians who have taken redundancy.

Those still on the streets claim they are struggling to cope.

still perform as best we can. We still try and offer the best

service we can. But as time goes on, officers become more and more

stressed with the workload. Taking calls on BBC WM, the man at

the top agreed some of his 7,000 officers had been moved into

backroom roles, but it was a temporary measure, he said, to tide

the force over. I do not like this front line

distinction. We are cutting crime and faster than we have cut Prime

before. We are delivering it frontline service in a different

way. That is my priority. And the minister rejected calls to

rethink the level of funding cuts. Labour's story, he said, was an old

one. They are calling on us to spend more money and that is what

got this country into the mess in the first place.

Next week, the Chief Constable will outline his vision of policing

after the cuts, and that will involve recruiting a private

partner. And Jack Dromey joins us now from

Westminster. You one the Government to rethink the cuts, but they are

adamant that cuts will not affect frontline policing. They are wrong.

16,000 police officers are going nationally, 1200 in the West

Midlands. That is creating impossible problems for our country.

Theresa May promised that the front line would be protected, but it is

not. I'm no officers have been taken out of the front line and

into the back room. The Police Federation is right that there

might be any more. That is not the fault of the chief constable. The

fault is with government. average, police officers, according

to the government, spend more than 85% of their time in office than

out in patrol. It is misleading propaganda. We have a police

service which is the best in Birmingham and Britain in the

Midlands. It gives an outstanding service to the people of Birmingham

and the Midlands. It is facing unprecedented cuts at breakneck

speed. That is creating impossible problems. The Government has got to

remember the first duty of any government is the safety and

security of its citizens. There is the argument that your government

left a legacy of debt. If you had not, the cuts would not have had to

happen. Before the election, her Majesty's inspection get --

Inspectorate of Constabulary said you could cut 12% of any impact --

without any impact on the front line. The government has gone for

20% cuts. That is creating major problems. The Government must think

again. Thank you very much. Still to come on tonight's

programme. Reaction to new plans aiming to

transform one of our major cities. It has been described as the second

biggest threat to the Olympics after terrorism and costs the

country an estimated �800million a year. The problem of copper theft

has become so big that a national conference was held today to tackle

it. There have been particular problems in the West Midlands with

copper cabling stolen from railway lines, causing commuter chaos, but

Network Rail revealed today that they might be winning the battle to

beat the thieves. Andy Newman reports.

Last weekend, there was an attempt here to steal precious metal from

our rail network. The target was copper cable. But this robbery was

foiled. When officers were called here, they discovered that the

concrete covering the cable had been disturbed. The sort two

figures are running away. They were able to make two arrests. Another

success in the battle against metal thieves. Hidden cameras caught them

in the act. Statistics show a dramatic fall in the number of

trackside thefts. Only 16 this financial year compared to 58 in

the previous 12 months. I we have introduced a lot of new measures.

We are using smart water where we speak the equipment and the cable

him. We have CCTV and we have patrols. They Industry still wants

a change in the law forcing scrap metal transactions to beat

paperless. That would create a paper trail. It delays dreams, --

trains and causes to run destruction to people travelling to

and from work. As police step up patrols, it seems that the

criminals are facing increasing disruption to their working the --

are working routine. Homeserve is to cut 200 jobs at its

head office in Walsall after admitting it was taking longer than

expected to recover from accusations that it mis-sold

policies. The firm, which last year insured three million people in the

UK against burst pipes, broken down boilers and electrical problems,

stopped making sales calls in October and retrained staff after a

review into whether its pricing policies were clear.

Brintons Carpets could axe 150 jobs as part of a cost-cutting programme.

The firm, which has its main base in Kidderminster, said the cuts

could affect its sites in the UK and China. It employs around 1,700

people globally, with 630 in the UK including sites in Kidderminster

and Shropshire. Brintons was bought out last September in a �40 million

deal. Birmingham City Council says it

needs to save almost �62 million from next year's budget. More than

1,000 jobs are now at risk, although the council is proposing

to freeze council tax. Our political reporter Susana Mendonca

is at the council's office in Aston for us now. Susana, what more can

you tell us? Well, it's a less painful budget

than last year's when we saw cuts of �213 million in Birmingham but,

none the less, �62 million of savings in the coming year is a lot

of money and some areas will feel the pinch again. The worst hit

department will be Adults and Communities. It has to save almost

�30 million in the next financial year. Children, Young Peoples and

Families will have to save �22 million from its budget. In terms

of jobs, the council confirmed here today that 1,144 posts could go at

the council over the next financial year. That does not necessarily

mean job losses as the council would look to redeploy people

elsewhere. On the whole, the council thinks they have come up

with a good budget, not least because they'll be freezing council

tax for another year. For those people that have to pay council tax,

89 % have said they do not want an increase in council tax. We are not

going to put up the rents on the homes we own. This is not a budget

about closure. We are opening swimming pools, we are not going to

close libraries, we are not going to close down children's centres.

What are the unions saying tonight? Well, the sting has been taken out

of the tail a bit for the unions. They had been telling me this

morning that they were worried at the prospect of children's homes

closing and people with disabilities at the council

potentially losing their posts. The council made it clear today that

neither of these things will happen. None the less, the unions say

Birmingham City council leaders have not been doing enough to

reduce the scale of cuts. People are going to lose their jobs, they

will be thrown onto the scrap heap. The vulnerable will be hit again.

It's a balancing act, isn't it, for the ruling coalition with an

election in May? Yes, and the Tory- Lib Dem coalition is on shaky

ground politically in Birmingham. This could be their last budget if

Labour win enough seats in the local election. Last year, their

cuts were top loaded so we had that 213 million figure, but the council

has to save 400 million over four years. And what's quite interesting

is that. This year, the cuts are far lower - 62 million

Plans for a major revamp of Coventry have been scaled back to

save money. In 2008, a �1 billion redevelopment was announced to

include rooftop gardens and an artificial river. But those plans

have now been changed. Kevin Reide has more.

This was the vision in 2008 - the so-called jerde plan, a �1 billion

vision complete with an artificial river and rooftop gardens, but now

deemed as unnecessary. Instead, Coventry Council has decided to

make the best of what's already here.

Need to address the situation. The in their aim is to knock down

the many buildings which have led to a disjointed and cluttered city

centre. They have blocked off the most obvious route through the city.

We are trying to introduce it began. Coventry's own - the Specials -

alluded to the city in the late '80s with their song Concrete

Jungle. But the new plans aim to change that image by sweeping away

dark forbidding alleys and dead ends and opening new vistas.

market and furniture store is only connected to the city with a dingy

alleyway. The new scheme emphasises and brings out the market, making

it share the most prominent space. There will be some new buildings,

some of that residential. But there will also be a new cinema.

But not everybody is happy with the plans. For example, this row of

shops behind me, known as the City Arcade, will be demolished. There

is a large number of independent traders here and some are concerned

for their future. The City Arcade is one of the harbours in the city

centre. If the plans are to move us, they will increase the rent and the

rates and that will be a problem for us. I will worry if there is

something to worry about. Planning permission has yet to be applied

for and then the developer will lead to be sought.

Still ahead tonight, we begin the countdown to Wolves v West Brom in

the Premier League on Sunday, but surely the ball skills on show will

be better than this? And it's now no longer a case of no

snow, but just how bad is it going to be? The West Midlands is in the

firing line and it all starts from tomorrow night onwards. Join me

With retail sales falling and the cost of running shops in the high

street still rising more and more, small retailers are deciding to

give up and move online. The volume of goods being sold over the

internet is continuing to rise and sales could top �70 billion this

year. In the latest in our Crisis in the

High Street series, our Business Correspondent, Peter Plisner talks

to those setting up on the internet Hats off to the high street. Well,

not quite. Adelle Partridge runs her hand-made hats business from a

shop in the centre of Shrewsbury. But not for much longer. The

increasing costs of running a shop have force her to rethink sales

strategy. My outgoings every month for keeping this shop open have a

shot up. And I have the cost of petrol to get here and parking. You

have got to cover that before you make any profit.

Instead she decided to abandon the shop and use the internet instead.

Twitter is great. It is pushing up the number of people who look at my

website. Operating an online spiritual

healing business from her bedroom. Jane Bremer from Pershore wants a

shop, but like Adele it just too expensive. I did what a high-street

store and I spent a long time looking at premises and stores.

Again, there was no way I could get the financial support to have a

shop. The that so many shops in the High Street now empty, there is no

surprise in the growth of online retailing. But retail experts

maintain that even with that growth, the High Street is not dead yet.

You do not walk into an online shop randomly. You have to be found. You

have to promote yourself. Life can be difficult for them and there is

quite a high drop-out rate of those shops leaving their real world to

go online. The good news is that, even with

some retailers preferring to be online, high streets all over the

region still have a bright future. Peter Plisner, BBC Midlands Today

in Shrewsbury. And you can see more on this with

our Political Editor Patrick Burns on the Sunday Politics programme,

this Sunday at 12 o'clock. Ian's here now with this evening's

sport. Birmingham City fans will certainly

be enjoying looking at the Championship table tonight. Chris

Hughton's men are up to third and only two points off an automatic

promotion slot after victory over Portsmouth at St Andrew's last

night. And, as Nick Clitheroe explains, it

No-one leaves St Andrews early this season because Birmingham City's

impressive rise to promotion contention in the Championship has

been built on last-minute heroics. No wonder the fans' anthem is Keep

Right On Till The End of the Road. And they were at it again last

night. Denied by Portsmouth's rearguard action until just four

minutes from the end when substitute Nathan Redmond smashed

home the winner. It means Birmingham have now scored almost a

third of their goals in the final ten minutes of matches, are

unbeaten in 12 games and have not conceded a goal in 8 of their last

11 matches. I do not think it is a coincidence. Chris Hughton is

meticulous about the way he gets his team together. We do finish

games strongly. Cheltenham Town were knocked off

the top of league two last night at the new leaders Crawley. It looked

like it would be another victory on the road for the Robins when Luke

Garbutt's stunning goal put them in front. But they were 3-1 down by

half-time as Crawley took control and that quickly became 4-1. As

tempers flared, the Cheltenham manager Mark Yates and his opposite

number were sent to the stands. Daryl Duffy's late goal was little

consolation, but Cheltenham stay second and very much in the chase

for automatic promotion. Nick Clitheroe, BBC Midlands Today.

The clock is ticking towards Sunday's Black Country derby at

Molineux. And with so much at stake near the foot of the Premier League,

the fans of Wolves and West Brom are feeling rather tense. So this

morning, I went to meet four funny ladies to find out if laughter is

the best medicine to cure those pre-match nerves.

I hear it is a big game on Sunday. I am ready.

Something funny is going on in Quarry Bank. Or, as they say around

here Quarry Bonk. The most important game of the season.

paid for it off. -- I hate football. At Thorns Community College, Black

Country humour is very much alive and well. And that's all down to

Fizzog, a group of comedy actors. They all met at Dudley College and

now, ten years later, they're still making the Midlands laugh out loud.

It is just a blip. Tomorrow evening, Fizzog start their new comedy tour

in Bridgnorth. Apparently, it's 50% funnier than their last comedy tour.

And they've even attracted a TV crew from Denmark. How big is

Sunday's game in Denmark? English game is very big in Denmark.

Sunday's game is no exception. There is on a one road to settle

this. On the pitch. Bring it on. What more people in Denmark make of

this? They will have a hard time to understand the dialect. We will

have subtitles. We have had a couple of comments that today.

we cannot repeat them. It is all friendly banter. Today's tussle

between Jacky and Sue was a feisty affair. No quarter asked, no

quarter given. Just like the big match at Molineux. The girls from

Fizzog are tipping a 1-all draw. And when the dust settles on Sunday,

they'll head off for a bostin cuppa The children's TV presenter Andy

Akinwolere returned to his old school in Birmingham today to help

the pupils train for this year's Sport Relief. The charity is

holding dozens of running events across the West Midlands next month.

Staff and pupils at St Mary's Catholic Primary in Harborne will

be taking part. While he was at the school today, Andy came across one

of his old teachers, Miss Callaghan, who remembers him well. You were

really popular. Was I? You were very popular. You used to talk too

much and so did your brother. Brilliant. That stood me in good

stead for the future. Good luck to Andy. And of course, the girls from

Fizzog. They were all good sports on a chilly morning in Quarry Bonk.

You can see that the sketch in full on the Midlands Today Facebook page.

Companies in Birmingham's world famous Jewellery Quarter have

started shipping the first of thousands of special medals being

produced to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. 450,000 medals are

being produced, and the recipients will include members of the Armed

Forces, emergency services and prison service. Three factories are

involved in making the medals and they've taken on more staff to

complete the order. Ben Godfrey reports.

If there's the slightest scratch, Each Diamond Jubilee Medal is

meticulously crafted. Commemorative medals are usually the domain of

the Royal Mint, but Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter has stolen this

particular crown. Worcestershire Medal Service won a

�7 million contract, an order for almost half a million pieces, the

largest production since the First World War.

We have to deliver 30,000 Beddoes a week. We have our lot of schools we

can draw on. -- we have a lot of skilleds we can draw on.

Gladman and Norman is one of three companies in the Jewellery Quarter

to benefit. They've taken on 11 more staff. It is fantastic to see

this company getting this mass of order. It will keep us going. It

gives us a good feeling. It will help us for the next three or four

years. It was sustain the business. The first medals have been

despatched and will be presented to those performing a front-line

public duty. There is no distinction in rank

when awarding these medals. They will be worn by members of the

royal household, front line police and ambulance staff. 20 tonnes of

nickel-silver and 40 kilometres of ribbon are needed for these medals.

It is an historic order, not least in that the first commemorative

medal awarded to Princess Catherine is this one and it's made in

Birmingham. Ben Godfrey, BBC Midlands Today.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that the Queen and Prince Philip

will visit Hereford, Worcester, Birmingham and Shropshire during

their Diamond Jubilee tour on July 11th and 12th. And if you have any

special plans for celebrating the Diamond Jubilee in the summer, or

any memories of meeting the Queen, we'd love to hear from you. The

best way to get in touch is by email, and the address is on the

screen now - [email protected].

Meanwhile, it seems to be getting colder and colder out there. Here's

Shefali with the forecast. Well, Shefali with the forecast. Well,

talk about changing weather. The outlook has altered quite

dramatically since yesterday which now brings not only a little snow

our way but perhaps more than we had over the weekend. In fact, it's

the West Midlands now, not the East, that is going to bear the brunt of

it and it's all down to our classic battle of cold air versus mild. The

cold is now pushing further West and when it bumps into this rain

heading South, we get snow. The Met Office has issued an early warning

of up to 10cm of snow, that's 4 inches, almost anywhere across the

Midlands from tomorrow night into Friday morning. That's definitely

one to watch. Back to tonight though, and it'll eventually turn

out to be a cloudier one than last night, so although still very cold

with temperatures falling to a minimum of minus six, the frost

won't be as severe and we're still running the risk of some ice. And

so we come to tomorrow. It's going to be a cloudy day with an area of

rain spilling down from the North, turning to freezing rain to begin

with, creating an ice risk. There'll be the odd flurry of snow

as well to begin with, but the real snow risk is tomorrow night into

Friday morning with between 5-10 cm of snow possible anywhere and at

any level. Things begin to dry up from Friday afternoon onwards

through the weekend. Looking largely dry over the weekend. But

freezing fog then becomes the problem over the weekend from any

melting snow with frost and ice. A look at tonight's main headlines.

A victory to remember for football manager Harry Redknapp as he is

cleared of tax evasion. And a Chief Constable admits some