21/02/2017 North West Tonight

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Tiffin.

Providers warn they can't continue as budgets are cut

I think anybody who looks at the current situation should be worried,

and if they are not worried the do not understand that.

Experts say social care here could soon face

A drug-driving case is dropped as a testing laboratory

in Manchester is investigated by the police.

I will have the latest on the big game for Manchester City, and a big

managerial departure in Lancashire. Chess grandmaster Nigel Short

returns to his old school - to face 24 opponents

at the same time! Tonight we reveal the extent

of the region's social care crisis. Some providers say they're

considering walking away - because councils aren't

paying them enough. The councils say more

cuts are inevitable. And all this impacts on some

of society's most vulnerable people. We'll have a series of special

reports on this issue this week. This year the problems with social

care have become big news, Well, for a start more

of the population is over 65. By 2014 that had gone

up to nearly 18%. Social care is paid for by councils

- and they've had seven years now of austerity cuts,

which many say leaves them unable We spoke to the councils

in the northwest and they told us the funding gap -

between what's needed and what they've got -

is ?158 million. And in four years time,

that's going to be half a billion. Now, unlike NHS Trusts,

councils can't go into debt. They have to balance

the books by squeezing, Our Health and Social Affairs

Correspondent Gill Dummigan starts this week's series

of reports in Liverpool. This is Granby Hub -

set up by Liverpool City Council for people who've left hospital

but aren't quite ready to go home. I was trying to sit on a stool, and

still fell over and I fell and broke my.

While Edna gets the care she needs here the council adapts her home

Been here has made me stronger. It is marvellous.

To leave here, many people need a care package -

help with everyday tasks like cooking and washing.

The care packages have sort of dried up. Unfortunately, the bigger the

care package, the harder it is to source.

Liverpool City Council already buys 11,000 home care

This is one of them - Kellie and Michelle who visit Kath

We really look forward to them coming in and chatting. It brightens

the Diop and they come in. It gives you satisfaction when you go into a

house and you sit together -- allow them to sit together and eat

together. The starting pay for a care

worker with this firm That's more than many

care agencies, but less Neither of you get paid on travel

time? And you are 0-hours contracts. Does that make it difficult? Yes, of

course it does. We do deserve more. Especially for the work we do.

Kellie and Michelle's firm is a charity which run community

projects throughout Merseyside, like this choir for carers.

They re also essentially on a zero-hours contract

with the council - ?13.15 per hour.

And they say after wages, pensions, running costs

and the like, that leaves them just about breaking even.

It is actually an anti-social care model in a sense. We're here to

build resilience and raise aspiration among vulnerable people.

In the past few years a number of care firms

have given up contracts in Liverpool and elsewhere.

They say they simply can't run a business

When the figures do not add up, people walk away. We are more

resilient than that, we hang around longer, obviously we have our limits

but I feel complete empathy with the council, who are in a very bad

So let's look at the Council's position.

Since 2010 austerity cuts have taken ?330 million

from the Council's annual income, that 58% of its controllable budget.

As a result, it's now spending ?90 million less on adult social

But in that same period the demand for adult social care

There is an ever diminishing resource out there which means that

those who are not strictly reaching criteria are not getting support. It

is not something we want to do, but we are being forced to do it. Are

you worried? I think anyone that looks at the current situation

should be worried, and if they are not worried, they do not understand.

The Government is allowing a 3% raise in council tax

And money from a national Better Care Fund -

but the council says it barely touches the sides.

Late last year the mayor of Liverpool announced that the

financial situation was no longer tenable. He proposed a referendum to

put an extra 10% on council tax, with all the extra money raised

going to social care. But the public did not want to do that, so now they

are back at square one. Councils up and down the country are telling the

government this condition cannot continue because ultimately we are

facing a breakdown of the system if we carry on putting is much pressure

on us. Earlier this month the Director

of Adult Social services resigned, saying he thought the whole thing

could collapse within two years. The council is determined that will

not happen, but the solution is yet to be found. This issue affects so

many people, and ultimately all of us.

You've been telling us what you think about the issue

Lots more comments on the Facebook page.

Tomorrow we'll be in Lancashire looking at

We'll also be hearing from the Government

A drug driving suspect has had the case against him dropped -

after an investigation was launched into problems at a testing

Police are looking at hundreds of cases where blood samples

were tested by the company Randox - and two employees from their site

Out social affairs correspondent Clare Fallon has been

looking at this for us - there are some potentially serious

Excuse a horrible cliche, but this has been used bid -- will be a can

of worms. The lab in Manchester has been used

by many police forces to test blood samples of people suspected of drug

driving. Promotional videos on their website sugar cane the work they do.

With this particular case a man from Chester had been arrested. As a

result he was charged and was due to go on trial but after problems of

the liability of testing team to wait he was told by the CPS the case

has been dropped. It is reprehensible that people who commit

this offence can have the evidence reviewed, and if it is in a mess, if

there are issues with that,... But if is not reliable, they are liable

to be acquitted. It is a difficult situation from both sides. It is an

absolute mess. My client has been through well over a year of criminal

proceedings with an end result being that the case was dropped. What is

the next step? The police investigation is ongoing. The Crown

Prosecution Service service said in a statement that they are working

with the Home Office, police forensics science regulator to

assess the impact of the testing failure. We will hear a lot more

about this over the coming weeks. Thank you.

The BBC understands a former Guantanamo Bay

detainee from Manchester - has been killed fighting for

The group announced Abu-Zakariya al-Britani -

originally known as Ronald Fiddler - detonated a car bomb in a suicide

attack at an Iraqi army base near Mosul two days ago.

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall says he spent three hours yesterday,

giving a witness statement to Operation Resolve -

the criminal investigation into the Hillsborough disaster.

It comes after Mr Nuttall faced a fierce backlash -

when it emerged that claims he lost close personal friends

Working families in the Isle of Man have been told they'll be better off

as a result of the Manx budget - which has been delivered in Tynwald.

Income tax allowances will rise by ?2,500.

It's also been announced a so-called Sugar Tax on soft

But the Government needs to save ?25 million a year and is asking

We will be inviting all government employees to contribute. We will

also be requesting input from members and importantly we will be

asking the general public to contribute, which actually is really

great because they are tasking us with managing how we spend our money

in a Julie Morton from Cheshire was 47

when she suddenly began But it soon progressed

to memory loss which forced Doctors diagnosed her with Lupus -

her own immune system Julie is now taking part

in a pioneering research project in Manchester which has received

?28 million from the NHS It affects my skin, muscles and

joints. I have severe circulation problems and liver involvement.

These are just some the things that sum up Julie Morton's

experience with Lupus - a condition that sees her own immune

Some of its major symptoms are joint and muscle pain, extreme tiredness,

Despite suffering from many of the above issues -

Julie has managed to find an employer who

Before diagnosis she worked in a more pressured role. I found I could

not concentrate, and I could not cope with the hours, the work, I

could not take on the responsibility. And it is not just

her work life that was affected. I have a good supportive friends, I

have lost friends that think you're unreliable, think you're making

excuses, and you cannot do activities they are doing so you do

not get invited. From April this year

the National Institute for Health Research has granted

?28.5 million for a new Biomedical Research Centre for Manchester

and lupus is one of the major I hear that many women from African

backgrounds are more likely to get lupus. Is that true? Yes, that is

true and a lot of studies have demonstrated that over the years.

Did a study in the north-west a few years ago, when we looked at lupus

in the kidney, and we found that evil from African background were 20

more times likely to get it in their kidney than people from a white

British background. There is no cure for lupus, but this research will

help doctors understand the illness better, and help patients like Julie

to lead more fool leads. -- lead more fool leads.

The missing link that could increase rail passenger numbers

across the north to more than 50 million a year.

And here is a grandmaster taking on 24 junior champions at the same

kind. Find out who wins later. -- at the same time.

The north of England is on its way to becoming a real alternative

to the South East when it comes to business and investment.

That was the message today at the Northern Powerhouse

More than 2,000 delegates were there, but there was a warning

that government must invest now to maintain momentum.

Our political editor Nina Warhurst was there.

She joins us live. Are we starting to see some substance of a Northern

Powerhouse? Yes, there has always been that question, what on earth is

the Northern Powerhouse? It is the idea that if towns and cities across

the North work closely together, they unleash enormous economic

potential and could take on the south-east. If anyone thought it was

a gimmick that would leave when the Chancellor George Osborne left

Downing Street, they were wrong. What happened here today was

impressive. 2000 delegates. I spoke to some from China, across Europe,

who are buying into the concept. Let me give you an example. Manchester

Airport is opening brand-new routes to America, the Middle East, Africa,

Asia, and they say it is because internationally this notion of the

North as one economic hub is really taken hold. People do not just look

at it as landing at Manchester Airport, they are looking at what

else there is within two hours of the airport, whether it is leisure

or museums within that to our patch. There was criticism last week of the

make up of the panels to speak at this. Over the issue of women. Has

that been an issue today? Just over one in ten of the speakers at the

conference are down as women, and there were some protesters who

turned up to say that simply is not good enough, but the conference

started with an apology that said next year there would be at least

one women in each panel. One women here was the leader of Lancashire

County Council. I asked her what the impact had been there, and she said

the political power of the Northern Powerhouse means Lancashire have

started looking to work closely with Yorkshire. We can build something

one day, recognising that it will benefit the North and Lancashire as

a whole. This is exciting stuff, make no mistake. But there are still

some questions that remain unanswered, for example high-speed

three rail link which would link the north-west to the north-east, we do

not know where the budget has gone for that, but progress has been

made. A bit like the disparity when it comes to gender, they're still

has a long way to go. Well, a crucial part

of the Northern Powerhouse idea is investment in

the region's transport The Northern Hub is a multi-billion

pound project to increase capacity and reduce journey times

on our railways. Today the completion

of a small but hugely important part of the network

was bridged in Manchester. It'll connect the city's two

major railways stations The UK's biggest crane. It carefully

hoists the country's newest railway bridge into place.

The centrepiece of the Ordsall Chord, linking-up

Manchester's Piccadilly and Victoria Stations

It is going to be a game changer in the way that we use the railway.

A relatively short span providing a very long reach.

That new section of railway will alleviate capacity problems around

Piccadilly. If the large trains stop at platform...

This 600 tonne bridge, built in Bolton, platform...

increase annual passenger journeys across the north to 52 million.

from building this is not just about completing a missing link, it is

making a bit of history as well. That is the 1830 bridge built by

George Stephenson, the first railway bridge in the world. The new bridge

is unique in its own right. It flows down then comes back again as a

horizontal structure. It is the first asymmetrical one that has been

done. It tapers, changes its shape as it moves along, and this was all

very important in the way we join the structures together.

Transpennine Express and Northern Rail Trains

Whose train will be the one that crosses first? That is a good

question and I will let it be argued by people who are more important

than me, and they will decide. All I care about is getting passengers

across time. -- across the town. And we'll know who's won

that race in December Sport now, and the Champions League

is back tonight with Manchester City facing Monaco in their last 16 tie

at the Etihad Stadium. But first, Stuart, news

of a managerial departure. Yes, that is correct. Owen Coyle has

parted company with Blackburn Rovers after just eight months in charge.

The club announced it this afternoon. The 23rd this season, and

his last game in charge was the 2-1 defeat on Sunday to Manchester

United, we're it had actually played pretty well. The club are now

searching for a seventh manager since 2010. Alan Shearer has tweeted

tonight that the owners need to show the club some respect. These are the

views of another former striker at Rovers, Kevin Gallacher. The News as

a surprise after the way the team seemed to perform against Manchester

United, but in the last few weeks, months, a lot of the fans have been

calling for his head, and want something different. But it is

always crazy because you never get -- he never got a chance in the

transfer market, and neither will the next manager. Pep Guardiola to

the pressures on intimate. They are still without the key defender

Vincent Kompany. Monico either higher scorers in any of the major

European leagues. The key striker did very little at Manchester

United, but has done plenty in France this season. As for Pep

Guardiola, all eyes will be on him to see if he can achieve what he has

recently in the Champions League. He is always made at least the

semifinals in this competition is. The media are analysing us,... It is

a beautiful experience to live. The people who look at us, criticise us,

evaluate us, to see whether we're going the right direction. One other

line of sports News, Lancaster have re-signed

the Pakistan fast bowler Junaid Khan for this year's 20-over competition.

Junaid has already had two spells with the Red Rose in 2011 and 2014.

On both occasions Lancashire made the final of the T20 Blast.

Accrington Stanley's Dame tonight has been postponed. -- Accrington

Stanley's match has been postponed. You can get full coverage of the

match here that the Etihad Stadium online.

Chess is a game of strategy and concentration.

Taking on one opponent can be challenging enough.

But imagine taking on more than 20 - all at the same time.

Well, that's what chess Grand Master Nigel Short did

He returned to his old school to challenge the best

of the new crop of chess players to a game.

And they certainly gave him a run for his money,

The school has always been a big part of history. Nigel Short, one of

the most successful chess players Britain has ever produced was

educated here at Bolton School. And the pupils learned the word -- he

was returning, they decided to get in some practice. Into strategical,

there is no luck involved. If you when it is because of skill. And you

have just won. Are used to be good when I was younger, I had more time,

I used to play a lot. That is one of the things I really enjoy about

chess, you get out what you put in. At first it is difficult, but if you

keep on practising... That is checkmate. Do you beat your brother

a lot? Line no, just once. But he has just beaten me. Nigel Short was

competing from the age of seven, making chess history. He was the

youngest ever to compete in a British Championship. By the age of

19 he was the youngest ever grandmaster. Today he was back at

his old school to take on more than 20 of the best current players

simultaneously. It is not very difficult, it is just tiling, you

require full concentration and you are on your feet for however long it

takes. I played him once before when I was younger and it did not go very

well, I lost very quickly. I am not going in there to try to wind

because I know I will probably not because he is one of the best in the

world. One of the best he may be, but the young we're certainly gave

Nigel a run for his money. He did actually beat them all, but it took

two and a half hours. Line we have a storm coming our way cold Doris.

Here is Doris, Denise has been in touch --.

The Spring Flowers are coming out but there may not be too many of

them as we go through thirsty because here it comes. Weather front

after weather front develops into an area of low pressure which will be

storm Doris. There are strong winds, 60, 70, 80 miles an hour. It is an

amber warning from the Met Office. There could be some disruption, also

in the mix there could be snow. This is all for Thursday, and adds. Here

is the potential for snow on higher ground. The rain has continued to

push everywhere. It will continue on and off throughout the night.

Bullseye the weather fronts just following each other across the

Irish Sea. In terms of temperatures, they will be good through the night.

It will be six to 8 degrees, but there is a lot of wet weather

around. For the more southern parts of the region, that is how we start

the day. You may see some brighter skies in the Isle of Man. For the

more southern parts of the region it is all about how the rain clears.

Most places will see some sunshine coming through, but with the change

in their mass, it will be colder, and then Doris by Thursday. Just a

mention, The two surviving members

of the Beatles have recorded music together

for the first time Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr

released pictures of themselves McCartney will be making a guest

appearance on Starr's latest record. Nawal El Saadawi,

the world-renowned Egyptian author A fearless feminist

facing a world in turmoil. Imagine...

She Spoke The Unspeakable.