14/08/2013 Spotlight

Further signs that the region's economy is on the mend.

Good evening. Welcome to Spotlight. Unemployment is down but there's

still concern over the quality of some jobs. A fifth of workers at one

of our biggest councils are on zero-hours contracts. The problem is

that there are hardly any employment rights. One week, you can have no

aisles, the next week, 60 hours. Tonight, we'll find out why the

arrangements are so controversial and assess the strength of the

region's recovery. Also tonight: The deadly disease

affecting our woodland. Why the farmer at the centre of an outbreak

in mature trees says it's far worse than originally feared.

And how a trip down memory lane is helping people living with dementia.

There are further signs tonight that the region's economy and job

prospects are improving. There's been a marked fall in unemployment

in all areas, although there are still many challenges. Younger

people are still struggling to find work, others are on reduced hours

and it's emerged that a fifth of staff at Torbay Council are on

so-called "zero-hours contracts", where there's no guarantee of

income. We'll be taking a look at that issue in a moment. But first,

I'm joined by our business correspondent, Neil Gallacher, to

assess the encouraging signs from today's job figures. It's not the

first time this year that we've seen falls in all parts of the region.

What's special this time? It's the fifth month on the trot that it's

happened. That alone tells you something. It tends to drop as you

go into the summer, but the really encouraging thing is when you

compare these latest figures with exactly the same point 12 months

ago. That comparison is now very respectable indeed. It's falling

faster than it's done for about 2.5 years. So how does it look, place by

place? Firstly, a background figure for you. The overall UK unemployment

rate, going by the claimant count, 3.5%. Cornwall's equivalent figure

is down to 2.2%. Devon's is down to 1.6%. Dorset's is down to 1.4%, the

lowest in the region. Somerset's is down to 1.9%. The urban unitary

areas we've got have rates more like the national one. Plymouth's latest

rate is down to 3.1%. Torbay has the highest rate here, down to 3.6%.

pretty much everywhere below the national rate. But Facebook messages

we've been getting today suggest plenty of people here think the

reality is not that simple! isn't. We have serious

under-employment problems, where people aren't claiming benefit but

just work fewer hours than they want. Enormous issues in the South

West with low earnings levels, our classic problem. We went to Torbay

to talk to one 18-year-old school leaver, Laurie Matthews, who's been

doing voluntary work while waiting for her A-level results tomorrow.

She's pinning her hopes on going to university, partly because she knows

the Torbay labour market is so limited. Pretty grim. You look in

the paper and it's mostly cleaner jobs and nursing home assistance. A

lot of the jobs are not somewhere I can see myself progressing. These

figures are another sign that we have turned a corner, even if the

reality is far from rosy. You have to start somewhere and we are in the

middle of the longest recovery in probably 100 years after a

recession. It's bound to be slow to start with. The signs are

encouraging. While the latest job figures do show

a fall in unemployment, there is renewed concern about the quality of

some work. New figures show one of the region's biggest councils is

employing nearly a fifth of its staff on controversial zero-hours

contracts. Torbay Council says they help provide cover for seasonal

work, holidays and peaks in demand. Our reporter, Hamish Marshall, has

been in Torquay, and earlier, I asked how zero-hours contracts work.

It's when someone isn't guaranteed hours. They are offered shifts on

them ad hoc basis. They have the option to say yes or no.

Nationally, it is estimated 300,000 people are on these types of

contracts in the social care industry alone. Under a Freedom of

information request, the council said it had 214 call staff on these

contracts out of a total of 1213. You can add to that 251 people

working in schools in Torbay. have these squat on track so

controversial? Unions don't like them because of lack of certainty

over hours and employment law. They say staff don't get a good deal out

of them. You can be asked to work at short notice. Staff are unwilling to

complain in case they get their hours cut. If you sign a contract

with nothing written on it, you can be sent anywhere, be asked to do

anything. How will you have a life that you can move around a contract

that says, I'm not going to get any money this week? Who's going to give

you a mortgage or loan? What's the council saying? The council says it

uses these contracts to manage peaks and flows in work. It can be people

working in libraries and other industries like theatre. In a

review to check whether these contracts are the best way of

operating. Have you ever been employed on a

zero-hours contract? Let us know about your experience of them. Well,

as we've seen tonight, the region's economy is improving, but of course

it's not the first time it's suffered from the effects of a

recession. In the early 1980s, we featured the problems facing

Ilfracombe in North Devon. 30 years on, we have been back to find out

what happened to one of the people featured in the original report.

Simon Clemison delves into our film archive.

The wheels of the economy spin continuously. It's just at times,

they are running at fast forward, and at others, they are rewinding.

The local job centre offers only 17 vacancies for the 1200 people

looking for jobs. In the early 80s, parts of Devon were hit hard by

unemployment. The jobless rate still rose and has not recovered. In 1982,

we looked at the perilous state care and heard from the manager of a

small factory. What happened to the people you had to make redundant?

There were 25, 26 of us in total. I would estimate that no more than

four or five at present found -- found alternative employment.

pretty dark day in 1982 for you, but you weren't beaten for it? It was a

dark day for everyone. It was terrible for the staff. In the end,

most found work. Tom wanted to stay in the area that he needed an income

to do that. I've always been fairly enterprising. I thought this was an

opportunity to actually see what I can do. If I can't make any money on

this, I'm an idiot. Little by little, he raised the funds to buy

the factory. I was always positive. I was determined to stay in North

Devon. There's no way I would want to move away. Three decades on, this

is the factory? It still is!Tom says his heart goes out to people

who lose their homes or livelihoods, but he believes others can succeed

with a bit of will. If you put your mind to it, anyone with any

resourcefulness will do well. government is trying to rebalance

the economy so it is less reliant on certain sectors, but this

businessman believes the south-west has already diversifying. It sounds

like you think the recessions have less of an impact as time goes on.

We are very fortunate in North Devon. Lots more opportunities than

what they were in the 60s. If you think of the South West, from

agriculture, it became just tourists, and now, Plymouth, Exeter

and other places, as well as having wonderful educational

establishments, there are always lots of businesses. 30 years on from

that moment, how does it feel to see the factory in operation today?

Absolutely brilliant! It was a success story for myself. But I had

to get the loan and the money and pay it back to the bank! But I did!

Not a formal economic analysis but the experience of one man who has

seen it all and survived, portrayed through the lens of history.

Still to come in Spotlight tonight: A little old-fashioned service to

help people with dementia. And our summer series continues with

a visit to a surprising garden in Cornwall.

A hard-hitting campaign's been launched across the South West,

warning about the dangers of hand-rolling tobacco. The public

health agency Smokefree South West says although it's often marketed as

less harmful than manufactured cigarettes, it carries the same

serious health risks. New figures show the region has a higher

proportion of smokers rolling their own than anywhere else in the UK.

The farmer at the centre of a big outbreak of ash dieback in mature

trees says he's devastated to find it's spread even further. John

Greenslade, who farms close to Bickleigh in the Exe Valley in

Devon, says 1,500 young ash trees have already had to be felled.

These are the Woodlands were Ash dieback was identified earlier this

summer. The Forestry Commission confirmed the disease at the time

and since then, it has been closely monitoring the area. But now, Ash

dieback appears to be spreading. When you scratch around under these

trees, you come across these spores. They then blow up, explode, and the

wind picks up, birds picked them up, and that is the spread of it.

the things that the Forestry Commission has told us is it intends

to place small traps close to John 's farm so it can monitor how this

disease is spreading. However, the ash tree is the third most popular

tree, and it will be very difficult to stop this disease from taking

hold. The Forestry Commission says it will continue to monitor this

latest outbreak. It's inevitable that the Hardy Bulow, the more you

are likely to find it. That infection has been there for 12 - 15

years. It takes time to establish itself and for the symptoms to show

for us to start noticing it. number of hotspots within the

valley, close to John 's farm, have been identified as having the

disease. 12 months ago, this was a canopy. John is devastated to learn

Ash dieback is more widespread than he first thought. The Forestry

Commission wants to hear from anyone who thinks they have seen other

cases. A care home in Cornwall has created

a 1950s style shop to help residents with memory problems. It's stocked

with well-known items from the time. Boiled sweets are sixpence a

quarter, apples a penny each and a daily newspaper costs a few coppers.

The average weekly wage for a man is �9 five and 11, half for a woman.

It's all bringing back memories for resident Sylvia. I feel it empowers

them. They become the teller instead of being told. They become the

teller. It empowers them and makes them feel important. All this stuff

has come from online auction sites, the residents families and the

Co-op, supplying 1950s packaging. gentleman happened to notice a

packet of cigarettes. He said, I used to get them from my father.

Little things like that, continuously. Shaking the Swedes,

because they are stuck together, now that brings back memories for me!

The papers are full of the conquering of Everest and

preparations for the Queen 's coronation. The next plan is to

build a 1950s pub. With beer a bob a pint, looks like I have enough for a

round! How important are the sorts of initiatives? Very important

indeed. It's not about taking somebody back to the past. These

opportunities, by triggering memories, can trigger conversations,

interactions and help people regain a sense of who they are. Quite a

simple scheme in essence. What's the value of that? Because of the impact

dementia has upon someone's memory, very often, one of the most

difficult consequences of it is people 's own sense of identity and

self and helping to maintain that is hugely important. Little examples,

such as this, where people can really engage with their past

memories, but through that, be able to interact. We heard someone saying

it empowers them to be able to express their own feelings. That is

tremendously important. The more this example can be spread through

the community, it should be seen is a very positive way of helping

people regain a sense of who they are. Is the scope there to extend

that scheme into other areas, perhaps outside care homes?

Certainly. There are a number of initiatives around the country. A

museum has introduced a section supporting people with dementia.

Where there are resources that enable people to think back to their

past, but through that, to be able to re-engage with themselves as a

person and with others around them, we should be looking to expand that

throughout the community. treatment and helping people with

dementia is moving all the time. This is one of the elements that

could be a help. That's absolutely true. While progress will be made,

in terms of addressing neurological causes of dementia, the impact that

it has upon people 's sense of self and their relationships can be

addressed in the number of different ways.

Now it's time for the third in our summer series where members of the

Spotlight team and presenters from BBC local radio visit part of the

region they've never been to before. For BBC Radio Cornwall's Tiffany

Truscott, that place was Tregothnan. And she's not alone, since the

private estate near Truro is only open to the public once a year. We

weren't allowed to film the family home, but in a rare TV interview,

Tiffany talks to the Honourable Evelyn Boscawen about life on the

estate. It's just three miles from where I

work and have done for quite a few years now, and yet, I have always

wondered what is behind those gates. You live on an amazing state that is

very well-known and yet, you and your family remain private. That is

a million-dollar question! Shyness, I suppose. Once a year, it's the

biggest garden opening in the country. That must be completely

different, to have so many people here. It's quite exciting. We can

get up to 5000 people. My parents started to do it in 1960. This year,

we were thrilled to give a check of �20,000 to shelter box. We raised a

large sum of money for very important organisations. Doing that

in Cornwall has been part of our ambition for years. I am a customer

Dian. You do have a responsibility to follow one. But it depends how

you look at it. I grew up with it. Now I have met him, I am heading off

to explore some of the estate. First stop, the new Himalayan valley.

the top two leaves from the Bard. This will make the best tea. It's

good for the tea bush. These are only four years old, so well ahead

of themselves. In 400 years time, he will be able to see how successful

you were! That's a cup of tea already. There's pots and pots of

tea here. How long before that becomes tea we can drink? Not that

long. 36 hours. You pluck these now. By lunchtime tomorrow, we will

have a lovely cup of tea for you. have come into the wood yard to ask

Abby about the family. It's well known the family are really flash --

passionate about introducing new species of plants and flowers.

camellias and rhododendrons were first introduced to England through

the family. They started here in 1335 and has continued through. We

are really lucky to grow so many rare varieties of plants and trees

and flowers. A lot of it is down to hard work. If a flower doesn't like

it in one part of the estate, it can be moved elsewhere. That is true.

There are lots of farms, so always experimenting with different flowers

and plants. It is trial and error. What do I think of my first visit? I

have met the family, picked some tea, seen beautiful flowers and I

get to travel round in style. I don't think I'm coming home!

And tomorrow, I will be exploring the uninhabited island of Samson in

We may have to wait for a couple of days before things start to improve.

, high pressure is back. At the moment, we have got a lot of low

cloud around and that will be a problem again tomorrow. Quite a

humid feel to the air and a little bit of sunshine every now and then.

That's how it looks through the evening. Quite a lot of cloud around

but it should keep us drive. Cloud lower than it was last night. A mild

night as well. Temperature is no lower than 17 or 18 degrees. All

this cloud really is rain that is heading towards us. This weather

system will introduce fresh air once it moves through and that gives us a

bit of a headache because there are ripples developing along that line

of rain, meaning its progress eastwards is erratic. Notice how it

develops a few bumps. The possibility of further outbreaks of

rain. It's fresher, clearer air, cooler conditions. Sadly, though,

this area of low pressure will arrive on Saturday, so Saturday

could be a wet and windy affair. It is producing spits of rain now, but

tonight, much of that will fade away. This was earlier today in

Torbay were just a hint of brightness in the sky. Even though

the clouds were fairly extensive, it didn't stop people getting out and

enjoying the beach. C temperature is around 17 or 18 degrees. Clearer

skies in the distance but not a great deal of that today. A hint of

the sunshine trying to get through. Let's look at the detail for

overnight. Any drizzle will tend to fade away. Largely dry through the

night. Overnight temperatures unusually high. For many of us,

temperatures no lower than 17 degrees. Hill fog and coastal

temperatures, 17-18. For tomorrow, then, not a bad day. Quite a warm,

Mikey, humid feeling day. A risk of the few showers but most of the day

largely dry. Tomorrow is the one day that will be largely dry. 22 or 23

degrees the top temperature tomorrow. A warm feel for all of us.

We do keep quite a lot of cloud and a brisk south-westerly breeze. For

our servers, messy. The surf will be up to three or four feet. For the

coastal waters forecast, the winds are south-westerly four,

occasionally five, and patchy drizzle around. I mentioned Saturday