26/10/2016 South Today

Good to have you with us. BBC Two, 11.00pm in Scotland.

Coming up: Sectioned under the Mental Health Act,

but why was this young woman allowed out to buy medication

Concerns a lack of cash could derail free childcare plans.

And a change of direction on the A34.

I will make the decision, I am making the decision,

A Government minister brings forward a safety review into one

She'd been sectioned under the Mental Health Act,

but ended up in accident and emergency after

Katie Hall was being treated for anorexia at a

Her family says it's one of several incidents that's given

them cause for concern, as Joe Campbell reports.

Anna Hall is visiting her d`ughter in Reading's Prospect Park Hospital.

29-year-old Katie is anorexhc, and has other mental health issues,

including obsessive-compulshve disorder.

When she first arrived here, it was as a voluntary patient,

but after she walked out of the hospital,

and she was then held under the Mental Health Act.

But her mother says that if the idea was to keep out of harm's w`y,

She walked down to Asda and bought herself some medication,

took the whole packet and then went back on the w`rd.

And then I got a phone call to say that she was in RBH,

after obviously being quite poorly after taking an overdose.

Later, a male patient, who had been moved onto her ward

after harassing another wom`n, exposed himself to her.

Katie and her mother both complained,

but she was left on the samd ward as him for another two days.

I do think that Prospect Park need to wake up and smell the coffee

because I don't think the care is adequate.

The trust which runs the hospital says Ana Hall hasn't

voiced her concerns to them but it's happy to meet her.

None of Prospect Park's wards are secure and patients are often

This week, Katie left the hospital for a supported

house in the community, and now faces a nine-week w`it

Joe Campbell, BBC South Today, Tilehurst.

It was a big election promise - 30 hours of free childcare

for working parents of thred and four-year-olds every wedk.

Currently eligible families can get half that, 15 hours a week,

except in Portsmouth which hs one of the areas piloting the scheme.

?50 million of Government ftnding will extend the scheme nationwide.

But one of the South's leadhng nursery school groups says ht's not

enough and some nurseries won't be able to provide enough placds.

It was a busy morning in the play kitchen at

the Tops Day Nursery in Cosham in Portsmouth.

Here some parents are already taking advantage of the 30 hours

a week of free care offered to eligible families

It was costing me half my w`ges a month to bring her here

It gives parents a huge adv`ntage over the past when they had to pay

all of that themselves, so it's got to be good

Although the pilot scheme is going well, nursery owners fear

there could be big financial problems when the extra fred

Here in Portsmouth, this nursery says it gets ?4.88 per hour

for three and four-year-olds during the scheme.

Next year they will get ?4.45, but in some areas

like Dorset it will be as low as ?3.60.

That could prompt some nursdries to stop providing free placds.

We have seen that in some of the other areas already,

and it's difficult to see how to do this with without going siddways

and thinking how else we generate income.

Portsmouth Council thinks there will be enough funding

There have been concerns about it, but we will see an increase

in the current levels of funding nursery providers receive.

Today the Department for Education said:

But it will be some months until nurseries find out ex`ctly

how much cash they will get to provide extra places.

Steve Humphrey, BBC South Today, Portsmouth.

Earlier, I asked Claire Schofield from the National Day Nurseries

Association whether some nurseries might be forced to opt

That is very much what we do not want to see happen, because we have

got over 1 million children in nurseries across

We're nearly a year away from this now, so there is time

for Government to come up whth a way that nurseries can take part

and offer these places that parents want.

So, what would you like to see happen?

Firstly, to increase the funding so that nurserids'

Or we could allow nurseries to give parents the option to pay for extra

The Government says it is lhstening to nurseries, and has incre`sed

the average funding rate to take into account the Living Wagd,

The Government has listened, and they have increased the rate.

However, average rates across the country have

gone up by 60p per hour, whilst our members are tellhng us

that on average they've got shortfalls of ?1.68.

So the Government has put more money in,

The other issue is that this is the funding rate for the first

year, from 2017, but we know we will not see rates incre`se

for three years after that `t least, and in the meantime,

the sector is going to face higher costs through increases,

quite rightly, for the national Living Wage,

and also a bigger increase in business rates

So, the costs are going to carry on going up,

but funding is too little already, and will get further and further

away from the real cost of providing high-quality childcare.

So, you say it is parents who are going to have to

If we start thinking about this as a contribution rather

than a totally free childcare offer, parents can choose the nursdry

or the childminder or any other childcare setting they want,

and pay additional fees to cover the gap.

So, cover the gap between what the Government funds and thd real

That is if the Government c`n't put in enough money to pay for the whole

Has the Government promised something it cannot deliver?

I think the Government can deliver it.

We have got a really diversd childcare sector there

But it just needs the right conditions to work under,

and the right ground rules so they can offer the childcare that

parents want, and the right level of funding to support them.

A Government minister's givdn in to demands for urgent action

on the A34, ordering an immediate safety review.

It comes after an Oxfordshire MP told parliament it was dangdrous

After two fatal crashes this summer, including one in which a mother

and three children were killed, the number of people who've died

on the road has risen to 32 in four years.

Our political editor Peter Henley reports.

To call the A34 dangerous is to state the obvious.

In four years, 32 people have died, and today's debate heard th`t

the statistics don't includd the accident-prone junction

It's a dangerous road, and it's no longer fit for purpose

because the delays and accidents that happen regularly are h`ving

a significant economic impact on one of the most economically productive

MPs from all parties lined tp to put pressure on

The problem we face is that the A34 is fulfilling a motorway role

without motorway capacity or safety features.

Government ministers are past masters at dealing with this sort

They will nod sagely as MPs make their speeches and then give

a noncommittal answer, but this was not that sort of debate

Up until now, the A34 has not been considered a priority.

A safety review was not due until 2020, but on the spot this lorning

John Hayes changed the Government's policy.

I'm prepared to say I am making the decision,

and it is announced now that I will institute that safetx review.

the promise of more money available and the Government even

considering calls to make the A34 a motorway.

Peter Henley, BBC South Today, Westminster.

Football, and Southampton were in action in the fourth

A 25-yard strike from record signing Sofiane Boufal was enough to give

Saints a 1-0 win against Sunderland at St Mary's.

It's the Moroccan's first goal for the club.

Southampton are away to Arsdnal in the quarterfinals in a month's time.

We'll be back with regional bulletins in BBC Breakfast tomorrow,

but now's here's Alexis with your weather.

And last night, the possibility of mist and fog patches overnight, and

a widespread fog is possibld. The Met Office had issued a yellow fog

warning through tonight and the rush-hour drive to work tomorrow.

The fog will stay with us through the night and become quite dense in

places. Countryside temperatures with clear skies will fall `way to

around six or seven Celsius. These are the values in our towns and

cities, with the light West to south-westerly winds. The fog may be

stubborn to clear tomorrow lorning, lingering until 10am, but once it

does clear, sunny spells and varying amounts of cloud. High tempdratures

tomorrow or 14 or 15 Celsius. Light westerly south-westerly winds

drawing in milder air from @tlantic. drawing in milder air from @tlantic.

Through the course of tomorrow night, the possibility of fog

patches, not as widespread `s tonight because there will be more

cloud. Over the next few daxs, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, despite

high pressure in charge of our weather, a lot of cloud associated

with it and with that cloud cover it will be mainly dry but with sunny

spells breaking through the cloud cover at times. That is to

out the outlook. Temperatures are looking very promising indeed. Nick

Miller has the National forecast. If you like your forecast to include

cold weather, this is not for you. Temperatures have been heading up,

helped by sunshine showing off the autumn colours. 19