:00:00. > :00:11.The Government offers an unreserved apology for rejecting calls to
:00:12. > :00:14.dredge the rivers. Waters are still rising on the Somerset Levels,
:00:15. > :00:25.cutting all rail services to large parts of south west England. I
:00:26. > :00:36.apologise unreservedly and I'm really sorry we took the advice of
:00:37. > :00:40.what we thought we were dealing with, experts. Plans to make those
:00:41. > :00:43.off work for more than four weeks face medical assessments.
:00:44. > :01:01.And a first medal for Great Britain at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
:01:02. > :01:06.Good afternoon. A senior minister has admitted that the Government
:01:07. > :01:10.made a mistake in rejecting advice to dredge the Somerset Levels.
:01:11. > :01:13.Farmers' leaders had written to the Prime Minister last summer calling
:01:14. > :01:18.for urgent flood protection measures, but the advice was
:01:19. > :01:21.rejected by ministers. Flood waters are still rising in Somerset,
:01:22. > :01:29.cutting off rail services to much of the west of England. Simon Clemison
:01:30. > :01:34.reports. It is a scene which will come to
:01:35. > :01:38.define this winter, not cold but wet, very wet. There was some
:01:39. > :01:42.respite from the rain today but miles away from the flooding the
:01:43. > :01:50.impact is being felt. These passengers are mile away -- miles
:01:51. > :01:57.away from home. It has affected my journey quite badly because now I
:01:58. > :02:04.need to take two trains and two buses. I had to be moved from a
:02:05. > :02:14.different bus to that bus. Landslip then put paid to another attempt to
:02:15. > :02:21.repair the railway in Devon after a picturesque route became a picture
:02:22. > :02:27.of destruction. Many lines are still open but again, they are impacted.
:02:28. > :02:34.Even if we get a little bit of rain, network rail are having to put speed
:02:35. > :02:38.restrictions in place. Back on the Somerset Levels, which have been the
:02:39. > :02:41.focus of attention not just for the emergency services but for the
:02:42. > :02:47.political argument as well, the Government today admitted it had got
:02:48. > :02:52.it wrong. We made a mistake, no doubt about that. We perhaps relied
:02:53. > :02:57.too much on the advice of the Environment Agency. I think we
:02:58. > :03:01.recognise now that we should have dredged and it is important now we
:03:02. > :03:07.get on the process of getting those people back into their houses, once
:03:08. > :03:17.we are able to do some really serious pumping... So do you think
:03:18. > :03:20.ministers should apologise? I will apologise unreservedly and I am
:03:21. > :03:27.really sorry we took the advice of what we thought we were dealing
:03:28. > :03:36.with, experts. Far beyond these fields, there is no letup in sight.
:03:37. > :03:40.The Environment Agency is working to protect coastal areas in southern
:03:41. > :03:43.England. One place thought to be particularly vulnerable to the
:03:44. > :03:48.coming high tides and winds is Weymouth in Dorset. From there Chris
:03:49. > :03:52.Buckler has sent this report. Beaches have been transformed into
:03:53. > :03:59.building zones. A break in the weather, an opportunity to prepare
:04:00. > :04:03.for what is still to come. Wind and waves have already done damage along
:04:04. > :04:10.the south and West Coast. Here in Dorset they know the storms are
:04:11. > :04:13.forecast to return. You can see the long lines of boulders and rocks
:04:14. > :04:21.that have been put in place to try to hold the high tide back. All of
:04:22. > :04:27.this needed to prevent flooding. But has this work come too late? The
:04:28. > :04:32.Government and the Environment Agency have both faced criticism for
:04:33. > :04:37.not being well enough prepared for the extremes of the elements. In
:04:38. > :04:43.coastal towns like Weymouth, people recognise the power of the weather.
:04:44. > :04:47.I don't think they can do much to protect the coast really. The
:04:48. > :04:52.erosion on that part of the coast is enormous, and most of it has been in
:04:53. > :04:57.recent years. I don't know what the answer is really but they have got
:04:58. > :05:03.to throw a lot of money at it to stop it. The shadow of future storms
:05:04. > :05:09.hangs over many communities and the pressure is on for people to be
:05:10. > :05:12.prepared. Well we can speak now to our
:05:13. > :05:15.correspondent Clive Myrie who's at Burrowbridge in the Somerset Levels.
:05:16. > :05:21.How has that apology from the minister in charge gone down where
:05:22. > :05:26.you are? When I told a few people what Eric Pickles said today, they
:05:27. > :05:31.rolled their eyes and said, why didn't they listen to us in the
:05:32. > :05:35.first place? Why didn't the Government listen to the farmers who
:05:36. > :05:40.have worked the land for generations and know how to preserve it and keep
:05:41. > :05:45.it safe? There is a feeling of frankly now the blame game has got
:05:46. > :05:49.to come to an end, whether it is the current government blaming the past
:05:50. > :05:55.government for not giving enough men -- money to flood defences and so
:05:56. > :05:59.forth, but what people want now is results. While they are happy
:06:00. > :06:04.judging is not the only solution to the crisis in the future, it is part
:06:05. > :06:11.of the solution and they are glad it is finally on the political agenda.
:06:12. > :06:17.There is now at least a small improvements with the problems on
:06:18. > :06:22.the railways. Yes, in a number of ways. Firstly it is not raining,
:06:23. > :06:27.which is a help. The River Parrett which I am standing on here has
:06:28. > :06:32.stabilised, although this morning it was rising by a quarter of an inch
:06:33. > :06:36.an hour, again threatening the neighbouring land around. As far as
:06:37. > :06:39.the railways are concerned, a glimmer of hope for the connection
:06:40. > :06:44.between the east and the south-west. The landslip at
:06:45. > :06:48.Crewkerne in Somerset which caused so many problems yesterday, it now
:06:49. > :06:53.transpires trains can travel through that area but at a much slower
:06:54. > :06:57.speed. Finally things are beginning to improve on the transport side,
:06:58. > :07:06.but the bottom line is that more storms are waiting in the Atlantic
:07:07. > :07:26.waiting to batter this area, due from Tuesday onwards.
:07:27. > :07:30.All workers are to be referred for health assessments if they are ill
:07:31. > :07:33.for more than four weeks, under a new scheme to be launched by the
:07:34. > :07:37.Department for Work and Pensions. The plans have been criticised by
:07:38. > :07:40.the trade unions, who say it could put people under pressure to return
:07:41. > :07:42.to work too early. Our business correspondent Jo Lynam reports. The
:07:43. > :07:45.Government is pushing to get those out of work long-term back into the
:07:46. > :07:48.workplace. Those off work for more than four weeks are entitled to
:07:49. > :07:51.statutory sick pay of ?90 a week, that won't change but the Government
:07:52. > :07:54.wants to set up a new body to advise companies and their long-term sick
:07:55. > :07:59.staff how best to get back to work, including medical and training
:08:00. > :08:03.programmes. It is bringing the experts together so we can look at
:08:04. > :08:08.why you have been off sick and see if we can make the situation better.
:08:09. > :08:17.That could help cut the Government's estimate of 1 million
:08:18. > :08:22.people off long-term. The focus of this service should be about getting
:08:23. > :08:29.them better, as opposed to just getting them back to work, and the
:08:30. > :08:38.two are not the same. Although they will not force employers and that is
:08:39. > :08:43.a problem. As high as the figure is, it is half of that from a decade
:08:44. > :08:47.ago, in fact Britain has one of the lowest sick rates in Europe.
:08:48. > :08:59.However, getting long-term sick back into the workplace is a benefit for
:09:00. > :09:02.the employers and the employees. Barclays bank says it's
:09:03. > :09:05.investigating claims that the personal details of thousands of its
:09:06. > :09:08.customers have been stolen and sold. The bank says it's contacting those
:09:09. > :09:11.customers affected. The problem came to light after a whistle-blower gave
:09:12. > :09:14.a Sunday newspaper a memory stick containing personal details.
:09:15. > :09:16.Sport, and Jenny Jones has won Britain's first ever medal on snow
:09:17. > :09:19.at a Winter Olympics. The 33-year-old from Bristol took bronze
:09:20. > :09:29.in the women's snowboard slopestyle. From Sochi, Andy Swiss reports.
:09:30. > :09:34.Jenny's experience will come to the fore here...
:09:35. > :09:39.On the brink of sporting history. For nearly a century Britain has
:09:40. > :09:45.been trying and failing to win a medal on snow but the former
:09:46. > :09:51.chambermaid from Bristol has done it. This is the first time Jenny
:09:52. > :09:58.Jones' event has been included in the Olympics and she tricked and
:09:59. > :10:03.jumped the performance of her life. Just listen to what the crowd made
:10:04. > :10:09.of that, what a run from Jenny Jones. She has waited her whole
:10:10. > :10:17.career for this, the question now is if that will be enough. There is a
:10:18. > :10:25.big argument going on with the judges right now... Jones was in the
:10:26. > :10:36.gold medal position, and she held on for the bronze, the news -- new snow
:10:37. > :10:44.queen of British sport. It is amazing, I can't believe it, I can't
:10:45. > :10:54.believe it! So, on the second day, the first medal for Britain and in
:10:55. > :10:59.Jenny Jones and new staff. -- a new star. That's it from us, you can
:11:00. > :11:02.keep up to date with the latest on the weather and flooding on the BBC
:11:03. > :11:05.News Channel. The next news on BBC One is at 5:35pm. Bye for now.
:11:06. > :11:25.After another stormy week of whether, what has the week ahead got
:11:26. > :11:26.in for