Episode 2 The Council

This programme contains some strong language

Brace yourself!

The council, the organisation everyone loves to hate.

See, the thing is - they're all talk at this council, but no action.

Everything is the council's fault, the council's fault,

-the council's fault.

-You will empty my bin!

Listen, I pay my council tax.

-I'm saying nothing more.

-You work for me.

I pay your wages.

It's such a rewarding job(!)

Did you get that note of sarcasm?

Councils in Scotland are facing punishing budget cuts,

but with demand for public services higher than ever,

the pressure has never been greater.

I've only got two weeks,

I've got to find somewhere for me and five children to go.

You're paying your council tax for services that you're not receiving.

You've got no money, it's hard to just do anything.

It's not fair. There needs to be more funding.

I've got no choice, they give me no choice.

From educating our children, to caring for our elderly,

and protecting the vulnerable -

the council staff are on the front line.

Oh, it's just a nightmare.

We have to be allowed to do our job by the council's rules.

Fife House in Glenrothes,

headquarters to Scotland's third largest local authority.

'I've been saying this for months,

-'and it's actually making me really quite stressed.'

-Yeah.

In Scotland,

recent changes to the welfare system are estimated to have cost tenants

around £50 million a year,

with one in ten households now living in fuel poverty so extreme,

it's considered dangerous to health.

I'm going through about 60 or £70 a week.

I can't afford it. I'm going to end up with having to live with no gas

in my house and I've got two kids.

-I've got two accounts in arrears.

-Yeah.

I'm actually struggling to deal with it at the moment.

UK-wide, almost a fifth of those on benefits

have had their money stopped at some point.

We'll sort this, all right. It can be sorted,

so try not to lose any more sleep over it.

No, you're welcome, see you on Thursday at ten.

All right? Bye.

Stacey is one of over 400 council housing staff

dealing with around 30,000 tenants across Fife.

At least I'll be able to tell who is different,

cos you've at least got your name tattooed on you.

Hilarious. I normally have it covered by a watch.

I was young and stupid.

My gran always says,

"Are you getting your address on the other side?"

Come on, then.

A housing officer job - there is never a dull day.

You do not know what you're going to from one day to the next.

Anyone who is a housing officer will tell you, it is...

One thing it definitely is not is boring.

Stacey is on her way to see council tenant Anne,

who's in substantial rent arrears.

The issue we're going to have is that she said

that she has difficulty using computers,

so we really need to concentrate and make sure that she has got her

benefits back up in place.

She has had them up in place in the past.

However they've either been stopped,

because she's not either submitted medical lines, or depending on what

benefit she's on, she's not done what's required of her

so the benefit continues.

Do you like my Scottish cup?

Although deemed unfit for work,

Anne had her benefit stopped three months ago.

Not a penny. That's happened about three times, four times.

Even when I was on the sick for a year,

I didn't get extra money, it was just on ESA.

The amount of times you hand your sick note off,

it didn't arrive, so you had to go and get another sick note,

but your money got stopped.

It's just a vicious circle.

Today, Stacey has teamed up with a member of a local charity,

which helps people in fuel poverty.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Have you got your torch there?

-There you go.

-Thank you.

Now, don't touch anything.

For the last three years, Anne hasn't been able to afford to heat

her home and her gas was cut off.

She then started bypassing her electricity meter.

If you look here,

everything else is normal, but this black cable that's taped here,

this is your bypass meter, OK?

Effectively, it means that you're getting your electricity

for free, OK?

Anne was in a pretty desperate situation.

-No heating and using an electric heater, yeah?

-Mm-hm.

And if she's not got that, and she's not got any electricity,

then, you know, what does she do? Yeah, desperate times, I think.

It's nine degrees in here.

Very cold. Yeah.

So, there was a real risk to your health, so it's understandable why

you have taken that measure.

All we need to do now is make sure that it's safe, OK?

Normally, it's a criminal offence,

but due to the circumstances of this particular lady,

there's not going to be any further action taken.

There's a major concern that if there's too many things running,

it can surge and cause a fire,

so we really need to get this meter fixed.

Right, a couple of other things

I need to have a wee chat to you about.

You used to love sitting in here.

I think ultimately that's what you were looking to do,

to get your house back, eh?

-Aye.

-You've got a lot going on and it doesn't help when it's cold.

You're not going to be able to clean everything up

when it's freezing cold. Have you got anyone who could help you do it,

-because it's quite a big job?

-I don't like asking people to help.

-I don't.

-Just take it a day at a time, because at the end of the day,

I'd like to come back in a few months and see you back in here,

heating on, cosy, back in your living room again.

-Thanks, Anne, see you later. OK, bye.

-I'll contact you shortly.

It just shows you, we were in there for 25 minutes

and I am freezing.

That lady has been living like that for over three years.

It's scary.

Very, very scary to think that someone is living like that.

So, we really need to try and see what we can do to help her,

as soon as possible.

I'm freezing, absolutely freezing.

It would take a not very nice person to sit and say,

"Who cares? She has committed a crime."

She was actually really worried.

What we should have done when we discovered that,

is contact the police, and I didn't do that. I didn't want to do that,

it's just going to make that lady's situation 100 times worse than it

already was and we didn't need it.

So, the power company had agreed

they wouldn't take the matter any further.

I'm quite thankful that nothing is going to come of that

and we'll just get that fixed and safe again,

cos it is a major fire hazard.

Anne has lived in her house for over 20 years.

My kids and family mean everything. I mean,

they didn't know when I didn't get my money, when it was stopped

and you don't like telling people

so I was glad Tesco's opened across there,

because you find the pennies. They sold ginger nuts for 25p

and I got jam for 29 and the bread you can get for 6p

when it's starting to go off the sell-by date.

Aye, it's no'...

You feel worthless.

That's how you feel when they stop your money.

Littering, dog fouling and fly-tipping

costs local authorities in Scotland over £75 million a year.

-What have we got?

-Car parts, bed base, microwave, TV.

-It's like the Generation Game.

-It is. Cuddly toy!

No, there's no cuddly toy! Fridge.

It's got beer in it! No, I'm only kidding.

I'm just going to take a picture, just to remind me,

because you go to so many of these, they all blur into one eventually.

Kat and Frank are the council's environmental enforcement officers,

and have the authority to serve fixed penalty notices on people

who they find to be guilty of littering,

fly-tipping and dog fouling.

You get a lot of verbal abuse, threatening violence against you.

You remember that day the guy came to the door

and he started to threaten us?

Oh, yeah.

He was roaring and screaming and all the rest of it.

Then he turned round and says, "If you don't move away from the door,

"I'm going to stab you." That's right.

Because he had a broad accent, you didn't know what he was saying.

I hadn't a clue what he was saying!

By this time, I walked down the path and I'm getting into the van.

-I turned round.

-I'm still standing there.

-And you're still standing there.

-Talking to him, trying to convince

him to recycle! I hadn't got a clue what he was saying, not a clue!

I said to myself, "Oh, you're one tough cookie!"

We're now going to look at a dirty garden that's been reported to us.

Oh, yeah, there's quite a lot here.

-20-plus anyway.

-It's stinking as well.

-Yeah.

The aroma of rotten food.

-There's somebody upstairs.

-OK.

Fife Council. No, it's important we speak to you about that food waste,

-it's a health hazard.

-I'm on the phone at the minute.

We'll just wait until you finish your phone call then.

Their attitude stinks for a start. An important phone call?

I'm not saying it's not an important phone call,

but that's important that she gets rid of that waste, too.

-That's not acceptable, no.

-She's not acceptable. She's at it.

She keeps on looking out the window, too.

Right, I'll pop a card through.

We'll come back after seven days to make sure it is shifted and if not,

then we'll take it to the next level.

If the rubbish isn't removed,

the tenant could face a fine of up to £200.

Kat and Frank regularly patrol the high streets in Fife

and issue on-the-spot fines of £80 for those caught littering.

The biggest picture today is we use the mobile CCTV unit.

It's obviously to capture people dropping litter on the high street.

-Excuse me!

-Excuse me.

Excuse me, we're from the council.

We're doing a litter patrol with the CCTV van and you've been caught on

CCTV throwing your cigarette end down.

-Right, yeah.

-The fixed penalty notice is £80.

-Right.

-It's not a nice thing and you feel really bad when you're doing it

and you don't want to persecute people,

but they have committed an offence and they've got to recognise that

they have to pick up their litter,

they can't just drop it anywhere.

I've been caught on camera doing something you shouldn't be doing,

so I've got to accept it.

Learn your lesson.

The amount of money it costs to keep the streets clean.

It will deter people from doing it

and it's word of mouth as well, because if somebody gets stung for

throwing a cigarette end,

they'll go and tell their friends and it does work.

Every year, the council have to move people for their own safety,

due to domestic abuse and extreme violence within the home.

Today, housing officer Laura has found a potential new flat

for a Fife resident, who has been seriously assaulted

and needs to be rehoused urgently.

I'm aware that he was assaulted quite violently within his own home

so his current tenancy, and due to that,

our housing investigations team have awarded him management points to

deflect the danger that he's in and he feels unsafe in his current home.

What that means is, we've been then looking for a property for him quite

urgently. So, we've found one, which he's viewing today.

I'm not saying it's a routine daily occurrence.

It's not unheard of that people do wish to be rehoused,

because they feel unsafe in their current accommodation.

There's different degrees as to how scared they may be

or what they have been victim to, but, yeah,

it is a fairly regular occurrence that people are rehoused,

due to fear of violence or of having been victims of violence.

-Hello, hiya.

-Hi, Scott. I'm Laura.

-Nice to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you.

What I'll do is, I'll just take some details from you and get you to sign

a form. That just allows me to pass your details on to our caseworker,

-so it's just a quick risk assessment.

-Yeah.

I've got your name.

Now, it's asking about any issues relating to the abuse of drugs

-or alcohol.

-Do you have any issues at the moment?

No, only my prescription. Methadone prescription.

Methadone? I'll just say past.

-Have you ever been convicted of any criminal offences?

-Mm-hm.

Yeah? Was that for a violent offence at all?

Erm, no. It was a breach of the peace.

And breach of probation.

And have you ever been convicted of anything violent?

In the past, aye.

-Have you ever spent any time in prison?

-Mm.

Okey dokey. As I say, I'll see you tomorrow anyway.

-And we'll get the housing benefit done.

-Perfect.

-Great.

-So, that's you for now.

-Brilliant. Thank you.

-That's great, thank you.

-See you. Great.

A few months ago, I was in a drug debt.

It was £1,300.

And people came to my house and I got abducted from my house and I got

took to another house and I got attacked with a knife.

So, I've got a wee scar there and I got stabbed in the top of the head,

as well. It was quite a bad attack.

25-year-old Scott now lives in fear of his life

at his home in Kirkcaldy, with partner Rosie.

I suffer from anxiety and depression.

-I'm on medication for it.

-After what happened,

I have a baseball bat next to my bed and I have an iron bar.

If you're in a drug debt, when you're sleeping at night

with your missus, you'd want to feel safe.

Wouldn't you? So, that... that is my safety.

In fact, every inch of this house you'd probably find a weapon hidden.

I need to feel safe.

That's quite a frightening way to live.

It's the only way to live for me right now.

I don't want to be sitting on the toilet doing a shit

and my door goes in, then I've no' got a piece next to me,

know what I mean?

The attack happened after Scott started using the drugs

he was supposed to sell.

I feel bad that I helped destroy lives by selling that drug,

but I was only thinking, "Money, money, money."

You know what I mean? I was thinking of money. It was stupid.

-As you can see, I never made nothing from it.

-No.

-All we made was a bigger habit.

-Habit.

-That's all we made.

We were selling all that amount of smack every day

and all we were making was a bigger habit.

A bigger habit and a bigger habit.

That's all we made. We just want to move away to a new place,

where nobody knows us. We can start a new life, where nobody knows us

and then just build it from there.

Scotty found himself in a situation where his life was in danger,

possibly due to actions of his own doing.

However, as an authority,

we do have an obligation to help people that are deemed

at threat of violence

and find them something suitable and safe to live.

So, I'll just let yous grab they two seats there.

The next day, Scott and Rosie meet Laura to sign the new lease.

Right. We're here to get your new tenancy signed up.

You have to make sure that everything's removed

from the tenancy, that's floor coverings. Anything that's left,

you will be recharged for. If there is any damage in the property,

-you would be recharged for that, as well.

-OK.

-I don't know. Did they carry out an exit check?

-They did.

-Yeah, yeah. They explained all that to us.

-So, you'll be aware

-of anything that's a concern.

-Aye, they explained that.

The other section here is about respect for others.

That is about your responsibility as a tenant for noise, or issues.

You're responsible for yourselves

and anybody that's visiting you or living with you.

If we receive a complaint regarding antisocial behaviour against you,

we have to investigate that and if there is any evidence of

-that antisocial behaviour, we can take action against you.

-Yeah.

That may result in legal action and possible loss of your tenancy.

So, this is your tenancy agreement.

What I'll get you to do on each one is, I need your name,

signature and date. One here and another one there.

-All right, sound.

-Then I'll witness it. That's your keys.

-Thank you.

I wish I could move in tomorrow,

but we'll just need to wait until next Friday, when I get my money.

-Looking forward to it.

-Definitely.

-Get away from there, eh?

-Yeah.

-Can't wait.

No, happy. Quite happy with that. Thank you. That's good.

-Thank you.

-No problem and I'll see you in four weeks.

-Sure, brilliant.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Cheers.

-See you later.

At the other end of Glenrothes, Anne still hasn't received any benefits.

She's resorted to collecting scrap metal to get by.

That's actually copper, but it's like silver copper.

-Why were you doing that?

-To make money.

I'll be lucky if I've got £30 worth in all this stuff

I've got in my house.

They're things... I think it's out of the microwave.

When my microwave broke.

It takes ages cutting it out.

That's what I do.

I'm looking for any factories that are derelict,

that the skips are there. There might be some wire

with some copper in it.

Plugs. Or any bits of the, like, cookers, they've got thick wire.

Anything's that's dumped that's either copper or aluminium.

I'm going to squeeze through here and see. It looks derelict.

If anybody asks us, we're going to buy it. The place.

That door's wide open, the factory door.

That skip belongs to them.

Now I know it's there, I'll come back at night,

because it's not trespassing. You get in.

The factory's locked and secure.

I'll have a wee peek in the skip.

Anne, it's Stacey again. Anne, I was speaking to Catherine,

how early tomorrow could you manage it?

Stacey has now brought Anne's situation to the attention

of senior caseworker Catherine.

Is nine o'clock too early?

Right. Okey dokey. I'll see you then.

-That's fine.

-She's happy with that?

-Nine o'clock.

-Right, OK.

We need to address the hoarding and try and get at least, maybe,

one room clear, so it's about encouraging her to do that.

I think it's just baby steps with her the now, eh?

I think she's just keen to get her house back.

Right. We'll just see how it goes tomorrow, then.

It's strange. I've always taken care of myself. I've never done

the copper business, but I've always managed to keep everything going.

It's coming.

What do you reckon the value of what you've got in your hand might be?

Probably 10p, if that.

You've got all these really heavy bits of metal, which you could,

in theory, take to a scrappy and yet you have to just...

You'd get a lot more money for it all that way, but you'd need

somebody to help you to do it. I don't...

I do things by myself.

No bits of wire.

When you've got no money, it's hard to just do anything.

But now the council are trying to help me.

They believed what I was saying and I believed them.

They said they weren't going to evict me,

or anything and I believe them and they are...

They've stuck to their word and they're helping me.

Because I'm in a rut. I can't get forward at all.

Last year, councils in Scotland evicted over 600 households,

due to rent arrears.

But now, housing officers are trying to support people

before they become homeless.

That's what it's all about -

it's to stop the revolving door of homelessness.

You know, that is part of our policy in Fife Council,

that we're sustaining tenancies, keeping people in their tenancies

and putting the supports in there

that will keep them in their tenancy.

It is cheaper than having to go through an eviction or abandonment,

but that's something that we're trying to avoid at all costs.

Catherine and Stacey have arranged to visit Anne

and begin a 23 week programme of support.

I think, in the short term, Stacey and I should work together with you.

And you know Stacey and you trust her and you'll get to know me.

I think Stacey advised you that what we normally do is that we

would normally still do a weekly visit, but I'll do more if we need

to because I know we've got a few problems with electricity, the gas,

and that's something that we really need to get sorted.

-You seem quite positive about it.

-Aye, because I've been getting help

-and I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

-That's good.

-That's good.

-Before, there wasn't.

-Right, OK.

I'll be in touch later on today, OK?

-If not in the morning.

-OK, then.

-All right.

-OK, then.

-See you later, bye.

With rising costs and decreasing demand,

many councils across the UK have abandoned Meals on Wheels.

Here in Scotland, 94% of councils continue to offer the service.

So, today, the main meal is a chicken curry

and a lemon sponge for pudding.

And the soup today is a mushroom soup.

In Fife, the council deliver a daily hot meal to nearly 1,000

elderly and disabled people.

It's nice to know that you're providing people with a hot meal

every day and that you're helping somebody in some sort of way.

You may be the only person they see every day, as well.

See you later.

Today, driver Michael is on the Cupar and St Andrew's run.

Today we have 26 clients to deliver to.

And our delivery window is between half past 11 and half past one.

So, we do need to ensure that the meals are delivered by that time.

So, we tend to be quite quick, in and out of clients.

Although, there are some clients who would love for you to stay,

have a cup of tea, sit down, have a wee natter.

-Hello.

-Hello, Michael.

-Hi, there.

-How are you today?

-Not too bad, yourself?

-Hello!

-Oh, my goodness.

-You're getting spoiled today.

I know, I should've had the bikini on.

Oh, no. You've got a nice wee pose.

-You're a nice-looking boy.

-A wee toy boy for you.

You've got lovely blue eyes.

As long as you're behaving yourself.

-Bye-bye.

-She's quite a character.

Yeah, I suppose the nature of this job has, maybe,

built my confidence in some ways.

Because we have to be more confident

to be able to go into strangers' houses

and talk to a variety of different characters

and different people every day.

-Hello! How are you today?

-Fine, thanks.

-Pop this down here for you?

-That's great.

-Just slacken the lids for you?

-That's lovely.

-OK?

-All right. Thank you very much.

-You're very welcome.

Have a nice day.

Michael is one of a team of 65 staff serving over 500 square miles.

Sorry, we're a bit late today.

-There we go.

-Thank you.

-Have a good day.

Hi, there. Hiya. How are you today?

Running a wee bit late now.

Well, a big bit late.

With vulnerable people depending on the council for their food,

the pressure is on Michael to deliver on time.

Hello! Sorry, we're terribly late today.

Nearly a dead body on the floor!

-Oh, dear.

-Is that through starvation?

My God, yeah.

Hello!

Hello, there?

Oh, hiya.

I think it's arrived. Many thanks for phoning.

Are you OK? Were you wondering where we were?

See you later.

Right. One to go.

With minutes to spare,

Michael delivers his final meal in the allocated time.

Hello!

Hello, there?

Hiya. Your dinner's here for you.

Sorry we're a bit late today.

-Yes, I'm absolutely starving.

-Let's hope you enjoy it, then.

-I've slackened the lids for you. Is that OK?

-Yes, fine. Okey dokey.

That's us, then. OK?

I'll leave you to it. See you later.

-Bye then.

-Bye-bye.

That's as done for today. So, we'll had back to the kitchen now.

Clear out the hot locker, if there's any spillages or anything.

And pass on any messages to the kitchen.

That's us.

In Kirkcaldy, Scott and Rosie are being emergency rehoused

for their own protection.

See everything in the cabinet, is that to go? Everything?

Everything.

That's my certificate when I completed the DTTO.

-Do you know what that is?

-No.

-Drug Treatment Testing Order.

It's like probation, but you get drug tested.

I suppose it's an achievement, eh? It is. I completed it.

A year and a half, three appointments a week.

Getting drug tested every week.

-Some books there, Rosie.

-I know. It's him.

He buys them all. He started buying them all last year

when he was in the hospital. He's got me into reading now.

Sure. Sure. It's a bit dark in this hall.

Aye, I took the light bulbs down.

All that's left here that we're taking is, obviously,

we're not even taking the bed, cos the bed's a bit broken.

-The bed is broken, we'll take the mattress.

-The dog's bed.

That's all that's coming from here.

-That's all that's coming from this room, eh?

-That's it.

-Curtains.

-That's it.

-Yeah.

Do the people you owe money to, do they know you're leaving?

-No.

-No.

-But, obviously, you never know...

-Exactly.

-But they don't know we're moving, know what I mean?

-No.

-So, no. And we've not really told anybody where we are moving to.

-So, keep that quiet.

-Yeah.

Moving to Timbuktu.

I mean, I guess, if you don't help someone in Scott's circumstances

then the worst-case scenario is that he's a victim of violence again

and he's injured or worse.

I guess there's an element, as well, if somebody's going to be a repeated

victim of violence and issues, that the neighbours that he's got,

that he's living beside,

they're also becoming victims of the situation,

if it all keeps on occurring on their doorstep.

So, I think, by helping Scott,

you're helping the wider neighbourhood, as well.

It's move-in day for the couple.

-Shit. Right, you got it?

-Aye, I've got it.

No, I don't think so.

Oh, no!

Bend it around, aye.

Do you think it'll look nice when it's all finished

-and it's all decorated?

-Definitely.

Grand designs on a giro budget.

-Rosie.

-Aye?

-My diary's not there.

-Is it not?

-No. No, I don't see it.

Oh, there it is. Fuck's sake.

There's my diary.

Do you want to see a poem? Here's one.

I was in the jail at the time and I was thinking about Rosie.

And I was bored. So, I wrote it.

Do you want me to read it to you? Right.

"Rosie, I love you so much that no words could ever explain,

"through all of our pain, believe me, babe,

"all this is for a greater gain."

"For me and you to live as equals.

"No more pain. Forget my prequel.

"Eight years on, we're still not peaceful.

"Still struggling with drugs, mugs, and all the thugs.

"And just when I think I'm at the end again,

"your hug shows me the cure to my pain again.

"I dream of a better life with you as my lovely wife.

"And never no need of a knife.

"Just trust me, babe. You're almost there. Never look behind.

"There's nothing there. Just look to the future.

"There's me and you there." Do you think that's good?

-It's no' bad, eh?

-What do you think of that, Rosie?

-What? I never heard it.

-The poem that I wrote for you.

Oh, aye. It's nice, lovely, aye. It was a nice surprise.

-There's a lot of space in here for him to run about.

-I ken.

It's a month since Scott and Rosie moved in.

Today, housing officer Laura is carrying out a standard checkup.

-That's all right, cool.

-Can I just come in?

-Yeah, sure, sure.

-Perfect.

-Bud, behave!

So, as I say, it's just a case of, I'll check some details first and

-then I'll run through a few bits and pieces with you.

-Sure.

It's still just the two of you that are living here at the moment?

-Yeah, yeah. And the dog.

-The dog, aye. He's quite big.

Right, your rent account.

As we look at it, because your housing benefit didn't start until

the 22nd, I take it that was your move-in date?

-Yeah, that's right.

-There's like a wee gap between...

-Jen said that.

-..when you signed up and when you moved in.

-It's 30 odd pound or something, eh?

-It's 38.63.

-Mm.

Obviously, the sooner you start paying that, the sooner the balance

will be gone. So, if you were paying £5 a week,

-that's like seven and a bit weeks to clear it.

-We'll start

-paying that off.

-OK. So, have you settled into the property OK?

-Aye, I like the area.

-No problems?

You certainly seem more settled than the last time that I saw you.

So, it's been a good move?

-Yeah, definitely.

-Perfect.

-Happy with it, eh?

-Aye, deffo.

I mean, I think he's been given a fresh start, new opportunity.

He seems positive about where he is.

And going forward, I would hope he remains positive,

because it can't always be easy, you know,

upping and moving from what you're familiar with.

Not having any support network, friends, and so on.

Hopefully he will sort of remain long-term in his tenancy

and make a success of it.

-I like coming up here.

-It is freedom -

being out in the wild with the dog, walking where you want to go,

doing what you want to do. Freedom.

It's the first time that I've ever,

ever had stability or ever been normal.

It's this right now. This right now.

See, before, in our last house, wasn't normal, wasn't stable.

Before that, I've never been normal, I've never been stable -

apart from now. And I'm 25.

-And that's the truth. Have I ever had normal stability?

-Nah.

I met you when I was, like, 16, 17.

I was in the jail, out the jail.

Drink, drugs, in the jail, out the jail.

This is the only stability and normalness I've ever had

and I fucking love it. And it's going to continue.

-I'm happy with it. I love it.

-Good.

In Dunfermline, Jane has been a council registrar

for the last 20 years.

Oh, it's nice to see the sun shining, isn't it?

As well as recording births, deaths and marriages, councils also perform

ceremonies for those wanting to become British citizens.

-How do you do? I'm Jane.

-Nice to meet you.

-Is this your hubby?

-This is my husband, Frank.

-Frank.

-How do you do, Frank?

Do you just want to come through? Thank you.

Last year, 150,000 people in the UK applied for British citizenship,

each hoping to get UK passport.

So, we both came over for work.

And met and got married here.

And it seemed like a nice kind of in-between place for us to live,

between our two countries, coming from America and Germany.

What I'll do, I'll just go over this first of all.

-OK.

-And just check that everything is OK.

And do you have a Life In The UK test certificate and an appropriate

knowledge of language and life in the UK requirement,

but you don't need it for the language,

-because you come from an English speaking...

-Yes.

-So, that's fine.

-I've got those.

-Yes.

And the fee is £1,005.

-I have that, as well.

-OK.

-All right.

-That's you, then, thank you very much.

Today the successful applicants are being sworn in.

There's 18 new citizens today.

China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Poland, Pakistan,

United States of America, Turkey.

I think I've got them all.

Well, I woke up this morning and thought,

"Oh, this is the last morning I wake up

"as just a citizen of one country."

I've been practising the national anthem last night and this morning.

So, it's very nice to meet you. You look very smart indeed.

We've heard about the sword, as well.

I am the Lord Lieutenant, so I'm the Queen's representative.

And because I'm not military, I'm not used to having

these kind of things around.

I will be handing out the citizenship certificates.

So, effectively, it's like the Queen handing them out,

except I'm not the Queen.

Well, good afternoon, everyone.

And on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,

the Government of the United Kingdom and Fife Council,

I would like to welcome you all here today

for this very special ceremony.

So, first of all, can I have Rebecca?

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Thank you, Rebecca.

# God save the Queen. #

I didn't even know you liked tea.

I do, but it felt like today it was an important day

to drink tea instead of coffee.

-It was lovely.

-I found myself getting quite misty

when you had to read out a line in the oath

where you were saying, "As a British citizen,"

and you suddenly... I thought, "Oh, that's me."

Just another day.

Another good day at City Chambers.

First thing we're going to do is speak about our equipment.

We don't call it a truncheon. We call it a baton.

-What do you think we use a baton for?

-To hurt people!

No, not to hurt people, no.

Take a photo!

There are nearly 27,000 adults with learning difficulties in Scotland.

You can manage that, no bother.

Curtis, we'll pop you in this side.

-Do you want to get in the front seat here?

-I love it.

West Fife Community Support Service, based in Cowdenbeath,

is run by the council, providing activities from sports to leisure,

arts to drama, and life skills, every day

for people with learning difficulties.

Curtis, let's go. Up to the blue cone.

Right, Curtis, pick it up. Put it on your head and walk back.

Community support assistant Tony has been working with West Fife

for three years.

Keep it on your head, Curtis.

We'll just wait over here, where it's nice and quiet for you, OK?

-Yeah.

-Curtis is on the autistic spectrum,

and you have either hyper- or hypo-sensitive.

Curtis has a problem with noise.

And that's why he has his fingers in ears quite a lot -

to blank out the noise

and he's making his own noises to blank out the background noise.

And basically that's just perfectly normal for Curtis.

And how he supports himself.

21-year-old Curtis currently spends one day a week with Tony

and his team.

OK, come on, let's go, good man.

Well done.

And jog to the bottom.

Mum Nicola has been bringing up Curtis on her own

for the last 11 years, along with daughter Nadia.

This was Nadia and Curtis.

Curtis was only two and a half, and that was when he was just diagnosed.

Yeah, it was hard.

Hard work. That day was hard work.

He looks like a little angel in the photograph, but he wasn't.

But when you look at him now, the difference is...

There's no comparison.

Curtis is now about to leave college,

so his care package is being reviewed by social work.

It's an end of an era.

It's a different change.

He's not going into the big world like we go into the big world

for work, but it's a different stage in his life.

Nicola wants funding to increase Curtis' time at West Fife

to cover the days he would have been at college.

Are you frightened about the future just now?

Yes, yeah, I am.

It's the uncertainty of, erm...

just now you know exactly what he's doing,

how often he's attending college,

how often he's got carers and because he's not going to go to

college as much, it's, "What is going to happen?"

-Hello. It's Stephen.

-Hello, Stephen.

-Hiya, Curtis.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-What does Nadia do?

-Whinge.

She whinges, doesn't she?

What does she say to you?

Move, the television!

Because you stand in front of the television to annoy her,

don't you? Yeah, OK.

I don't like photographs, Mummy.

All right, I'll move the photograph.

We can't have photographs in the house face up.

-Why?

-Because he doesn't have photographs of people watching him.

They've all to be face down unless it's him and Nadia.

You can have him and Nadia, but you can't have anybody else.

Funding for Curtis will come under the budget of social work service.

I'll speak to you soon, Lorraine. See you later. Bye!

Curtis' social worker is Sara.

A lot of people ask me why I want to do social work, because I'm so young

and a lot of people say to me, "What do you know? You're only 27."

I've actually been called a wee lassie a few times,

which offends me more than anything else.

I'd rather they found something I did or something,

rather than my age.

Sara needs to assess Curtis' situation,

to determine whether the council will provide funding

for additional care.

Hi, I'm Sara, hiya.

-Nice to meet you.

-Hi, pleased to meet you.

-Hi, Curtis.

My name is Sara. I've not met you before.

-Hello.

-I have spoke to your mum on the phone, though.

-Yeah.

The reason I'm out to visit today is obviously, there's a change in

Curtis' circumstances, in terms of...is it three days down

to one day at college?

-We need to go to West Fife five more days.

-Is that what you want to do?

-What is it you like about West Fife?

-Sara, S?

-Yes, that's me.

-S...?

-How do you spell it, he's asking?

-S-A-R-A.

-Yeah.

What do you like about West Fife? What do you like doing with them?

-Trips.

-Trips? What kind of trips?

-Edinburgh.

-Yeah. What else?

-Glasgow.

-Good.

-What do you do on your trips?

-Dundee.

-What do you do on them?

-Perth.

-What do you do? Where do you go?

-The museum.

-Yeah.

-Did you go to the museum in Edinburgh?

-Yeah.

-I've been to that one. The big one?

-Yeah.

You do lots with West Fife, don't you?

-Yeah.

-What do you do at college?

-Life skills.

Yeah, but what type of life skills do you do?

-Computers.

-Very good. What about cooking and stuff like that?

-No.

-It's all Mum?

-It's safety danger.

-He'll help stir if I've got things on.

-OK, OK.

-You have to supervise that?

-Yeah. He's got no awareness of the danger.

OK.

Karen was giving me the impression that we might not even get funding

for the days that I'm working.

-Yeah.

-So, what would happen?

What would be the circumstances when I'm working that

he's not got anybody to look after him?

-This is what we're facing every day.

-What's meant to happen with him?

We're trying creatively to move things about,

-see if there's anything else we can do.

-We need Sara to go!

SARA LAUGHS

-Do you want me to wrap up soon, Curtis?

-Yeah.

-You're tired?

Because you've got to work. I've got to work, I've got no choice.

Yeah, of course. No, that's your life as well.

-You need to work to earn money.

-He needs somebody with him.

-I'm not disagreeing with that whatsoever at all.

-Yeah.

I can't answer the question, yes, no, maybe,

-what's going to happen, because we don't know, OK?

-Mm-hm.

We just need to see what we can do now.

That's great, thank you so much for seeing me.

-It's so short notice as well.

-Thanks, Sara.

-Say bye-bye, shake hands?

-Are we going to shake hands?

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, Curtis. See you later.

Nicola will have to wait as Sara takes her case

to panel for approval.

-I'll be in touch.

-Thank you.

-Bye.

I don't like giving bad news.

I want to be the one that helps and supports people and

makes a difference. That's the whole point.

I think every social worker will say that to you.

They want to make a difference in people's lives.

They don't want to have to fight for money and tell them bad news that...

if there's no money or if the funding hasn't been approved

or they're not getting the support they might need.

Yeah, I'm stressed, because I've still not got any answers

and I think she's like everybody else.

She's got to fight to help us.

It's not her that's saying no, it's her bosses,

and her boss's bosses that's saying no.

It's the government, that's where it's coming from.

It's coming from the budget that the government gave

the social services for the carers.

That's where the system is wrong.

It's a month since Stacey and Catherine

first visited Anne to discuss her bypassed meter.

Now, her gas and electricity have been reconnected.

It's a grand sight, eh?

Well, it was Stacey who offered me help. Instead of getting on to me,

she offered me help, she realised I needed help,

so she gave me help to put my heating back on.

-So, are you chuffed to bits?

-I'm over the moon.

-Yeah?

I'm really over the moon, yes.

It's great. It's warm, the whole house is warm.

When you walk in, oh, it's brilliant.

It used to be when you walked in my house, it was colder than outside,

but now it's actually warmer in my house and it's a brilliant feeling.

A brilliant feeling.

So now, because the house is warm,

I'll be able to start tidying it now,

because before it was too cold to come downstairs.

You know, you felt it in your bones straightaway.

I just didn't have the heart to do anything, to tidy up.

It was like I didn't exist really.

So, now I've got the heart to do it and that's what I'd say.

Right, let's go.

I already phoned Anne just to check that she had the black bags,

because this is us obviously starting to tidy out her house.

We're going to concentrate on the living room for her.

-Get a couple of bags filled today and that's us started, eh?

-Yeah.

Hello. Hi, Anne.

-Hi, there.

-It's nice and warm in here.

Right, I'm ready for action.

-Anything Scottish, I'm wanting to keep.

-Right, OK.

Now that's classed as Scottish, do you want to keep that, Taggart?

Aye, anything just Scottish.

Bay City Rollers, that's Scottish.

Rab C Nesbitt, he's certainly Scottish.

# Mamma Mia, here I go again. #

Do you want to keep that?

-No.

-Oh, God, I don't know how you can handle throwing that out.

I love Mamma Mia.

Drop it!

Oh, who needs the gym, eh?

-A big difference already.

-Yeah.

There's just the wee bit at the back really to be tidied.

So, are you quite happy with what we've done?

-I'm very happy.

-Right.

-Excellent, thanks.

-Thanks for your help.

-You're very welcome.

Any time, as I say. I'm quite happy to come up again and help you if

you're wanting another hand,

but that's made a massive difference already.

-Aye, and it will be a cup of tea and cakes next time.

-Aye!

-That's what you said, eh?

-Home-made scones.

I've never baked a cake in my life. You can't expect me to make them,

I've never baked a cake in my life!

-See you later, bye.

-Bye, thanks.

-I didn't quite expect her to be so up for it.

-Mm-hm.

I thought she would have found it quite difficult to get rid of a lot

of the stuff but, no, she was really good.

Everybody's got different issues, but Anne was at that stage that

-she knew that she needed help, she was ready to take it.

-She was ready.

So, I think that made all the difference,

the fact that she was ready.

We have one happy Anne. She's happy, we're happy.

Yeah. Long may it continue.

It makes such a difference to Anne's quality of life.

As well as sorting out her power, the housing team have worked with

the benefits office and Anne's GP to get her payments backdated.

So far, she's engaged with us really well,

because it's all about the tenant engaging with you.

If they don't engage, there's no way we're going to be able to help them,

but she is, so she will be a success.

Home at last.

No words can describe it, you know,

to have a wee bit of money in your pocket and food in your house.

It's everything.

I feel better within myself.

I think I'll put them up here.

It's a long time since I've got flowers.

That's nice.

Right, as you can see, my living room is back to being a living room.

Just a couple of things to move over there, but, yeah,

it's a great feeling.

It's changed. It's a home again.

I feel it's a home again.

The heating, it's warm in here.

It's just great. It's home again.

In Glenrothes, Sara is presenting her assessment of Curtis' case

to her manager, Suzanne.

Where are we sitting with budgets, etc, at the moment?

OK, he's at three days at college,

but that's dropping to one day, so we're going to have two days

where Curtis doesn't have anything on.

What would the impact of that be on Curtis and his mum?

Well, mum has her own health needs. She has fibromyalgia.

She stated that this varies on a day-to-day basis.

I did ask her to explain a good day and a bad day to me.

-They were total ends of the scale.

-Mm.

A good day was her taking Curtis out for walks, going to church,

being with family.

On a bad day, it was literally in bed all day.

-She could not get out.

-Right, OK.

We can't predict what will happen in the future.

Even as I said before, the early conversations,

you can see this is critical there.

Curtis' case must now pass through two more stages,

before a decision is made.

DOG BARKS

Sh-h-h! That's enough, please.

Making such a row.

Curtis says sh. Sh!

HE SINGS TO HIMSELF

-Have you heard from the social work yet?

-No. Nothing. Nothing.

They're never quick in getting in touch with you.

We want to know as soon as possible about funding, things like that,

so we know where we're going to stand.

Our lives are on hold until then.

I want to work and support myself and support my two children,

but if they don't give me the funding to have carers for Curtis

and be able to go out to West Fife,

I don't know how I'm going to be able to work,

because he can't be left in the house on his own.

He's not able, he is not mentally able to be on his own.

After two months of waiting,

Nicola will hear today if she will get the funding needed to get Curtis

his extra days at West Fife.

PHONE RINGS

-'Hello?'

-Hi, Nicola, it's Sara Aitchison,

the social worker from the self-directed support team.

-'Hi, Sara. Hiya.'

-How are you?

-I'm fine, thanks. How are you doing?

-'I'm all right, I'm all right.'

I just wanted to phone you to let you know

that the package for Curtis' care has been passed.

Oh, fantastic! Oh, that's great.

Huge, huge weight off my shoulders.

So, the service at the community support services will start in June.

Oh, that's brilliant, Sara. Thank you so much.

-I'm glad.

-Thanks for your hard work, Sara.

-I really, really appreciate it.

-No, not at all. It's part of the job.

I'm just glad it got passed, Nicola.

Mum's happy. Yes.

Because you're going to be busy and cared for while Mum's working.

-Can go out to earn.

-So, when Mum's working,

Curtis is going to be with West Fife!

-West Fife! More days!

-More days at West Fife. And what did we do?

-We went...?

-Three days!

-Yes.

Obviously, I'll go home tonight and I will feel happy that, obviously,

knowing that the funding is been agreed and knowing that that's great

for Nicola and how happy she is and things. Obviously, I'll go home

tonight and I will feel better. But then tomorrow's a new day.

I don't know what that's going to bring. But, yeah, obviously...

Good news is good news and it's nice to give people good news.

And you wish more of your job was like that,

but that's not the reality.

-Yeah. You're happy, aren't you?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Shame on you, Fife Council.

Shame on you.

They have made my life a misery.

Hello, Tam?

I'm getting a blessing here, I think. Thank you, my son!

You have to be really very careful.

It's somebody's life that you've got your hands.

It did not strike me that his first priority was Michaela.

What we don't want to happen is Michaela becomes another statistic.