09/02/2017 South Today - Oxford

In tonight's programme: so it's goodbye from me.

What's the key to getting people on board?

How bus passenger numbers have risen in the Thames Valley,

Also, nothing left to cut in their schools -

the teachers warning some lessons may have to go

When Rodney Nat. E, D Shakur with the love in time for Valentine's

Day. -- the shark looking for love. The number of people

using bus services in Oxford, Reading and Milton Keynes has grown

in the last six years - despite an overall

decline nationally. That's according to a new report

by public transpor It found, in Oxford,

bus use increased by 12%. In Reading, the number

was even higher at 17%. The increase is partly down

to investment in greener buses, The hustle and bustle

of Oxford's bus network. One in five of us and now uses

the bus to get to work in I get the bus, because

it's a damn good bus And what do you like

about getting the bus? If I could drive and park

into Oxford, I would be much happier with that,

but I won't pay parking Somebody drives you there rather

than you having to walk and its dry if it's

raining and that's it. And if it's busy now,

it's set to get even busier. Oxford is one of the

fastest-growing cities You've got two very good operators

that compete against each other. We serve to raise

each other standards, because we are always watching

with the other one is doing. Making sure we are keeping

the investment going. And also, we have had the right

policy in place from local Government to make sure that bus

travel is prioritised. Oxford is not the only place

that is investing in Reading for instance has

the third highest level of bus passengers per

head outside of London. Even Milton Keynes,

a town traditionally designed for the car

is transforming it. Last year it received Government

funding to bring in more electric In Oxford, there are plans for extra

park and ride sites, bus priority on the roads, and even

a zero emission central zone. But rural areas outside

the city centre Last year, transport bosses ended

all bus subsidies in And what about people

who can't catch the bus? Well, I do accept

that at inconvenient hours, like early morning and late

evening, the bus service is less than it is during

the middle of the day, but we do try to encourage

the bus operators to actually put

on services at those times. The challenge for

the council, it seems, is balancing the pressures to be

greener with the service that is both reliable and

practical for everyone. Next tonight, headteachers

in Oxfordshire say they're running They're now warning the number

of lessons could be reduced Nearly half of the county's schools

are due to lose money under a planned shake up

of education funding. All 35 secondary schools

in Oxfordshire have now Our political reporter

Bethan Phillips has the story. With its new funding formula,

the Government promised to tackle And as a county that's been

poorly funded in the past, hopes were raised that Oxfordshire

would be a big winner. But critics have described

the reality as horrendous, with nearly half of schools

in the county actually facing a budget reduction

if the change goes ahead. Headteachers say they're simply

running out of things to cut. We are absolutely at the bottom now

and there is nowhere else to cut without seriously damaging

provisions. Reasonable sized classes, the 25 hour week curriculum

offer, those are now the sorts of things that are under threat because

Even schools set to gain under the new system say overall

Analysis from the National Audit Office says rising pupil numbers

will mean schools generally see their budgets shrink by eight%

Headteachers in Oxfordshire claim the government's new formula

will particularly hit the core funding they get for each child.

They say they're going to lose more than ?400 for every 11

A letter's been sent to MPs, warning them about the problem -

some have already promised to take the issue further.

Well, it is important to bear in mind that an MP I can bring pressure

on Government to make sure that the funding is fair and it is precisely

what I'm doing and what I should be doing Monday week when a CD

secretary of the two. The Government insists

the new system will mean an end to the historical postcode lottery

in school funding. It says overall, funding

for Oxfordshire's schools A new centre to help

women and girls affected by female genital mutilation

is going to open in Reading. It'll be the first

of its kind in Berkshire. The Reading Rose Centre

will offer support A similar service is already

available in Oxford. New figures suggest a case of FGM

is either discovered or treated This thing we can start together

is to give them education and for them to learn and know

what is FGM and the consequences coming

after and how it affects your life. A new Oxford Brookes University

campus has officially opened Students have been

using new facilities at the Delta Business Park

site since last summer, The campus offers adult nursing

courses, as well as other health The building is named

after Joel Joffe - the former human rights

lawyer from Swindon. It was a mixture of pride

and feeling privileged, but rather embarrassed, because I'm

just an ordinary person. I consider myself rather

average and so I was I think it's really

important that we play our part in training

health care workers. A lot of the adult nurses

and the ODP students that will train here will of course end

up working locally in Swindon and Wiltshire and there is a great

demand for it in nursing at the He's performed more

than 11,000 heart operations Professor Steve Westaby,

who's recently retired from the John Radcliffe Hospital

in Oxford, is one of the most Now he's written a book

about his career and the patient's whose lives

he fought to save. I spoke to him earlier

and he told me what being Not glamorous, it's gory,

and working like a mechanic. It is saws and sharp

instruments, but we do a lot You save a lot of lives,

we make a lot of patients feel very much better and it's a very

satisfactory job to do. Your book is called

Fragile Lives, how does it feel Because a lot of the people you're

trying to save are very I've had very many very high risk

patients in my career and of course, it's always a privilege to operate

on s patient and save a life. It's important not

to get involved with that patient emotionally

before you do save their lives, because some

of You were the first

surgeon to fit a patient with a new type of artificial

heart, back in the 2000. How high risk did it

feel to do that? Well, when Peter Houghton

walked into my office, I He was within weeks of dying and had

been turned down for transplantation The first time he was too well

and the second time, So, he had given up

on life and I had this small device, the size

of my thumb, called the Jarvik 2000

implanted it into him. Instead of living three

or four more weeks of And then died of something

completely different. Out of all the 11,000 operations

you've done, does one standout for you because it was

either very, very difficult or because you made an emotional

connection with that patient? I used to love

operating on babies and children and there was one case that

came so close tonight getting through that you could

hardly believe it. I was in a hotel in Sydney having

just gone to bed after literally to a baby

who was dying from heart failure

at the age of five months. And that they be had been having

heart attacks at that age, because her main coronary

artery came off the artery to I designed a new operation

for the problem, because existing operations

weren't very satisfactory. Did that operation

with the film cameras running and then couldn't

get her off the bypass machine. And after two hours

of struggling, and a very depressed team in the operating

theatre, I went out to tell the parents that I thought

the baby had gone, had died. And there was such a miserable

response from the mother - you can imagine telling a mother

she's going to lose a baby - that I turned my heels and went back

into the operating theatre and did something absolutely ridiculous,

chopped a third of the circumference of the heart out to make

it smaller and deputy stitch in the valve

to Cut a long story short,

she survived and is now 18. Blenheim Palace has been

given charity status. It means the 18th

century stately home, which was the birth place

of Sir Winston Churchill, will be able to claim back income

tax on donations The extra cash means the Oxfordshire

estate will benefit from more It's well known that dairy farmers

across our region have been struggling for years to make

a living from milk - with supermarkets continuing

to sell at lower prices. But one young couple

in Buckinghamshire are now selling raw milk straight from their cows,

as way of bucking the trend. 6 months ago dairy farmers Jim

and Harriet were watching an episode They wasted no time in starting

their own venture right here from their shack,

at North Hill Farm Customers can now buy raw milk

from this vending machine supplied Pop the milk into the tank. But the

money into the machine and then press the one litre button. Then the

Raw Milk tastes richer and creamier than the stuff you get in the shops,

but the crucial difference is it's unpasteurised -

meaning it hasn't been heated and likely homogenised to kill

harmful bacteria, such as E coli.

Current laugher England says that raw milk must be from animals that

are healthy, a character that is to bear to lose this free and sold

directly to the consumer. District from the cloud, fresh as you like. I

think a lot of people got into it and got hooked at it as such. We are

getting good reviews from it. -- it is straight from the Cal.

Jim and his father Ian begin milking the cows starts

at 5:30am and hygiene is of the utmost importance.

I did the morning shift and finish about 9am. We do the afternoon at

We are usually finished about 6:30pm in the afternoon.

And within months of business they've started to build up

a loyal base of customers who can't get enough.

The line up for this summer's Cornbury music festival has

It includes Bryan Adams, The Kaiser Chiefs, Sophie Ellis

The festival is on the Great Tew Estate near Chipping Norton in July.

It's now in its 13th year, but this will be the last.

I'll have the headlines at 8pm and a full bulletin at 10:30pm.

Now more of today's stories with Sally Taylor.

had kept the ipod which contained all her father's favourite songs.

Say with us for the weather forcast.

After yesterday's political row over leaked texts Government ministers

have been insisting that Surrey County Council has not been

given a special deal to keep council tax low.

However, under questioning by Labour, The Leader of the House

of Commons did admit Surrey has asked to join a pilot scheme

to retain business rates a year earlier than other councils.

If there is no special deal for Surrey, why did

the Prime Minister simply not confirm this?

I, and other honourable members, want a memorandum of understanding

to secure our libraries and social care.

Surrey County Council has asked if it can participate in one

of the pilot project is for the proposed 100%

As any other local council will be free to apply, there is no

I'm sure we'll be hearing more of that in future. Now, all the sport.

We are going to hear from the chairman of Bournemouth. Is he

despondent at the moment given the poor recent run. Far from it. It has

been a tricky spell. They have had injuries, suspensions, didn't manage

to make signings but they are just looking over their shoulder.

It's probably the most trying spell of the fledgling Premier League

life of AFC Bournemouth, and their manager Eddie Howe.

Slipping down the table, the Cherries are battling

A lack of new signings in January didn't exactly rouse the mood.

South Today has spoken exclusively to Bournemouth chairman Jeff Mostyn,

as the club try to get the ball rolling back in

In a debut season in, arguably, the world's toughest league,

any team would be given time to settle in.

Second time around, with tens of millions

of pounds spent, the expectations at Bournemouth

It's been a very difficult and stressful January

You know, the performances have been disappointing, to say the least.

There's always a concern when you're not winning games.

It was not for the lack of trying, right up until

11 o'clock, on transfer deadline day, occasionally you have to spend

a little bit more than you budgeted for and we were always willing to do

that with the players that we wanted to bring in.

Some of the values were just crazy, as they always are

It's the worst market to deal in and, as Eddie has said,

publicly, it's in the public domain, it was probably the worst window

There's no sense that if you haven't got

recruitment department have failed in their duty.

We are more concerned than we were before Christmas.

Our goal has always been to retain our position

Would we be having this conversation now if we

haven't reached the dizzy heights of the top half of the table,

or would people have been satisfied that we

We still haven't identified an ideal sight but we have

identified three sites that have potential.

So, it's a very slow moving project but we're in talks

practically with the Council on a daily basis.

Eddie is our manager and he will continue to be our manager

We have an incredible relationship and you

will never get a person who is more level-headed.

He's more determined than ever ensure that this football

club retains its position at the very top level of football.

More of that interview on our Facebook page and on the BBC sport

website. Now for the last of our

features from Bermuda. Tony Husband has been three and half

thousand miles across the globe to visit the island that will stage

the America's Cup this summer. Sir Ben Ainslie's Land Rover BAR

will hope to become the first British team to win the trophy,

that was first contested Tonight Tony finds out how

the island is preparing and what conditions the sailors

will face. Bermuda is Britain's oldest colony

so it is fitting that Ben Ainslie is hoping to bring the Americas cup

home from these waters. Bermuda is 21.6 square miles. The population is

60 4000. Bermuda shorts borrowed from the British military. Though

neither was settled in 1609. It is the proverbial picture postcard

island. Britain's largest naval dockyard outside the UK was once

here. The America's Cup is big news for traders. It's is an absolute

need for Bermuda, a tremendous boost to our economic benefit and it's a

lot of fun. Memorabilia fills the rails across the stores in the

island. What today they think about the America's Cup? Just the

publicity alone is ideal for the island. On the one hand, I'm rooting

for Oracle because they've been here a while and are established in the

community. If they were to win the cup, they would stay which would be

good for the island. Generally, people are for BA are and Oracle on

the island. It is there that the boats competing for the America's

Cup will race off this summer. It forms a perfect the theatre. It's a

tricky place to sail. It's perfect for the flat water where we will be

racing but it is very landlocked so the wind is shifting. Thankfully,

I've got a bit of experience having sailed here a lot over the years but

we've got Giles Scott, our tactician on the boat who decides where we

will go on the course and you couldn't ask for anyone more

talented than Giles, having come out of Rio with a gold medal. Between

them, they have five gold medals. To have tactical racecourses brilliant

for our team. For the island of Bermuda, they are hoping that

staging the America's Cup is a major moment in history of their tourism

industry. The speed and lifestyle that comes with the America's Cup

ratings is right in our comfort zone for who we think we are going to be

going forward. Transport, infrastructure, everything you can

imagine, it's been a very delicate strategic project to get the balance

right. With the team Oracle being the home team, we will be cheering

loudest for them but the second team we are cheering for his Land Rover

BA are. We are partly British and we have a special place in the heart

for the British. Six Nations will begin qualifying here in May. Only

one will be left standing by the end of June. For this island in the

summer the number one aim is for everyone to have fun along the way.

One of the figureheads of British Sailing has announced

that he's to retire from his role later this year.

John Derbyshire OBE is to stand down as the Royal Yachting

Derbyshire's departure will follow that of Olympic

manager Stephen Park, who is also leaving this spring

A couple of things to deal with. Tony didn't get his legs out. Note

Bermuda shorts. And he didn't bring as anything back. Not even a bag of

sweets. I gave him a cold to go with so I didn't anything to come back.

We're just a few days away from Valentine's day -

and there's one couple who'll be spending February the 14th together,

that's despite the fact they haven't met yet!

We're talking about a pair of sharks.

Rodney the zebra shark is being transported

from his current home at the Blue Reef Aquarium

in Southsea to a larger tank in Cheshire but luckily Rodney

won't be lonely when he gets there The plan is to

For a shark it's not easy making friends, there's always the

temptation to eat them. Four Rodney it's even harder. He has no mate but

now love is in the air, or rather the water. This lovely lady is dotty

and hopefully for Rodney by nature as well as name. We are giving him

to an aquarium and we raised her as a little baby so it was always going

to be the case that they would meet. We have our fingers crossed that it

is going to be successful. This is Rodney as a baby, strikingly

different markings giving this PC is name of the zebra shark. He is

currently getting extra rations to give him energy for the journey

north. He will travel up to Cheshire on Monday, in time for Valentine's

Day on Tuesday. He is going to stay up in Cheshire, hopefully for many

happy years ahead. Hopefully for this pair of sharks, it will be love

at first bite. A lot of expectation there. Frightening. They should be

more laid-back. Too much pressure. Onto the weather. Wrap up warm is

the answer. You will need all the layers. This wind from the east is

going to make it feel bitterly cold. Let's look at your lovely weather

pictures. Shazz Hooper captured

the cloudy skies over the River Frome in Wareham Nick

Keown photographed the cloudy skies And Sarah Dawson took this picture

of starling murmuration at Studland. You can see all of our pictures on

the Facebook page. Tonight, we expect wintry flurries or even a

dusting of snow. More likely for Eastern counties. Elsewhere, mainly

dry, Frost can't be ruled out. In towns and cities temperatures will

fall to freezing. So, a cold and frosty start tomorrow. Wintry

showers will continue. With a strengthening east to north-easterly

wind, further showers will roll in from the North Sea. Temperatures

will reach a high of four Celsius but with wind chill it will feel a

lot colder. Wind coming in from the north-east staying with us through

tomorrow night and there will be further wintry showers. More

frequent during the early hours of Saturday morning. More likely

further east. Temperatures down to freezing and possibly -2 in the

countryside. Saturday is another cold day with that wind chill. Still

the risk of wintry showers brought in on this north-easterly wind.

Showers will drift westward with the strengthening wind. Limiting the

brightness for the next few days. Possibly one or two spells tomorrow

afternoon. For the next few days, some wintry showers at times and it

will feel colder. It will be stronger than recent days,

temperatures starting to climb with the start of next week. Temperatures

made next week to rise into double figures in some places. With high

pressure not far away it should stay mainly settled. I love the optimism.

It's still very cold. Spare a thought for the headteacher sleeping

in a tent behind his school. We will find out tomorrow why he is doing

it. That's it for tomorrow. This evening bulletins later.

OK, everyone, have you got your bamboo sticks?

If you just paint what you want to paint,

I've turned around, my painting washes away.

..and take on The Big Painting Challenge.

Remember, you're not painting a pond.