21/03/2017 Spotlight

The home care system in Cornwall is on the brink of collapse.

That's the warning from owners of some of the South West's

care agencies, who say they only keep going

Tonight at six, the funding crisis in social care services...

It is one of the biggest crises facing the UK...

Tonight, home care companies in crisis...

Home care companies have warned of a funding crisis...

Never far from the headlines, but there is a new side to this story.

One report today claims the care system nationally is no longer

I have been told one company after another providing

home care in Cornwall dipped into their own pockets

Of four providers I spoke to, they all said they were

struggling financially and to recruit carers.

I am a carer simply because I love it.

I love coming in to help people daily and seeing different people.

Being able to be that person that keeps them in their own home.

Cornwall Council says it agreed its prices after negotiations.

But the owner of Trelawney Domiciliary Care in Camborne

says she is one of many not making a profit.

That is putting the home care system under real threat.

We are literally just treading water, there is no money left over

and I'm sure we're not the only ones and I hear it among other colleagues

59-year-old Jan Radley helps look after her father, Terry Brown.

Three daily care visits keep him at home.

I don't like the idea of my dad going into a care home at all.

And the care that they give enables my dad to stay at home.

In response to worries about the future, Cornwall Council

says it is trying to spend its money more cleverly with a 10-year plan

making sure care and support is available at home

to promote independence and social inclusion.

With us, people take their last breaths and it is good to know those

people went with somebody there next to them, even if their family

couldn't be there, at least we could be there,

People living on the Isles of Scilly have been asked for ideas to keep

The council says it's had significant problems

At a packed public meeting today, the head of social care said

she didn't want to see anyone moved out.

Christine Butler reports from St Mary's.

Both part of the heart and in the hearts of this island community.

Providing care for its residents and reassurance for their families.

Yesterday, those living at Park House were faced with

finding somewhere else to live after the announcement it was to close.

And to me, it is losing a family, splitting up my family.

making them, when they need me, to need me,

And that is the most heartbreaking of all,

to think that somebody that has looked after you in your hour

of need or brought you up and you have looked up to

is not going to be there when they need you.

Hundreds of islanders packed out the Town Hall on St Mary's to hear

for themselves the reason for the planned closure.

Six months ago, if you knew this was on the cards,

An appeal was made from the director of adult social care for fresh ideas

on how to save Park House, and it worked.

The issue is recruitment and retention of staff,

and I think one of the solutions that this brilliant meeting came up

with is that there was a clear commitment from the community

that they would like to see our carers paid more money,

and members have arranged to have a special meeting

to review that, and I'm really, really pleased that

Members of the Isles of Scilly Council have three weeks

to find the money to increase pay for carers, in the hope that this

will attract qualified staff to apply to work here.

Christine Butler, BBC Spotlight, Isles of Scilly.

Exeter City Council's ruling Labour group has been facing

tough questions tonight about delays in the redevelopment

This emergency meeting was held at the Guildhall -

the first time such an event has taken place in the city

A destination has been agreed, but the journey to a new bus station

has been delayed and no-one is sure how long it will take.

Work should have started this month, plans were made

to re-route services, but the timetable has changed.

and the project management company was sacked.

Long-term opponents of the ?32 million scheme want answers.

Exeter does need a bus station, but it's got to be fit for purpose.

We want one that coaches can crawl out, we want one

that has a waiting room, we want one big enough,

so let's build for the future, and I don't believe the bus station

Most people agree that this part of town does need redevelopment.

We've had the new cinema over there, John Lewis in one direction

and then, of course, there is the new Princesshay.

But while all of that development has been taking place,

The plans are not just for a bus station, but also a leisure complex

But some wonder if it needs to be so expensive.

You need a restaurant, places for people to sit

while they are waiting for their bus, and everything

Just make it into a decent bus station.

Because we've got one or two pools around,

This is brilliant, it is right in the city centre, it's a brilliant

asset to the city and it's right where it should be.

The Labour-run City Council said pausing the scheme for a short time

Is the ?32 million the maximum you will spend on this?

We don't know what's going to happen, and that's

a good question to ask me, and it's an even better one

for me not to answer, because we just don't know.

I'm not being evasive, I'm not being secretive,

I'm trying to say those negotiations are still in play.

We are not going to disclose our hand.

Tonight's emergency meeting, the first of its type in Exeter

for more than a decade, was open to the public.

The opposition claims too many decisions on this project

But we still don't know for how long this scheme will remain on hold.

Hamish Marshall, BBC Spotlight, Exeter.

Now to one man's mission to help people better understand disability.

he's using his new role as a nude life model to powerful effect.

Since birth, he has lived with cerebral palsy and

a speech problem, but he won't let that stop him.

I was the first severely disabled person to do a Dance Theatre BA

Presently, I am studying for a Masters in Performance Training.

Kevin communicates with an iPad, by using his nose or a head pointer.

My speech is my biggest problem, because not being able

to verbally communicate, most people think I'm mentally

challenged and I don't know what I'm doing.

When people take the time to engage with me, they find out who I am.

Kevin has become a life model to use his nudity

When I am dancing or life modelling, I am expressing who I am.

That I am intelligent, creative, sensitive and

In my Masters, I am focusing on movement, body image and nudity

because my disability gives me great body definition.

Now 53, he is determined not to let his disability get in the way.

He's run for Parliament, travelled all around the world and...

In the future, I hope to get my Masters,

maybe do a PhD and hopefully, make more close friends.

I understand I challenge many people and their varying

To my amazement, many artists and even lecturers have problems

If one person's view of what I can do

is altered positively, it is one more small victory

On to football now - Torquay United have been in action

tonight as they continue their fight for survival in the National League.

But they lost 2-3 at home to Eastleigh.

Let's take a look at the weather now -

a blustery night out there, David!

Thank you, yes, we have had four seasons in one day today! The Shard

have been wintry in places, we have have been wintry in places, we have

had blustery winds. More of the same tomorrow but not as windy. The

showers will be slow-moving but still the potential for some heavy

downpours. We are right in the centre of an area of low pressure

and that is generating not only some showers but some more persistent

rain, sweeping across the South West. That continues right through

overnight tonight and in towards the London area by the time we get to

lunchtime tomorrow. Before that arrived, we had some sunshine, this

was the Isles of Scilly, out there, some lovely sunshine, looks a bit

threatening in the distance and there has certainly been quite a

wind blowing. Some very blustery conditions not just here but right

across the South West. Some of the showers have been wintry and it is a

cold night despite the band of rain. We're looking at temperatures

reasonably close to freezing to start tomorrow. Some of the showers

tomorrow have the potential to give a dusting of snow over high ground.

The rest of us, slow-moving showers and a top temperature of between

seven and nine sources. The outlook is for milder air, we develop

easterly winds as we head towards the weekend. Have a good night.

The Breakfast team's back from 6:25 in the morning.

From us, though, thanks for watching and have a good night.