03/02/2018 BBC Weekend News

Good evening.

A local council has taken the highly

unusual step of imposing

emergency spending controls,

after saying it's facing severe

financial challenges.

The move by Northamptonshire

County Council means a ban

on all new spending -

apart from what's used

to protect vulnerable people.

The council's Conservative leader,

Heather Smith, says the move

is a result of rising demand

for services, and cuts

in government funding.

It follows warnings that other

authorities are also

struggling to remain solvent.

Our political correspondent

Matt Cole reports.

Like so many others across Britain,

people in Northamptonshire have

watched their council manage

multi-million pound budget cuts

since 2010, and now they've run out

of cash, meaning a host of services

from subsidised buses to libraries

are threatened.

I'll be absolutely

devastated if it closes. We've been

here for just over a year and I was

delighted that this is kind of ten

minutes down the road from us.

We

just feel, I suppose, let down, and

why wasn't anything in place to

prevent this situation happening?

There will now be no new spending

save on services to safeguard the

vulnerable until the next financial

year.

We've been in what you might

call a perfect storm of huge

increases in demand for our

services, at the same time,

significant reductions in funding

coming from central government.

But

is this a one-off? English councils

say by the end of the decade they

will have seen £16 billion cut from

their core central government

funding. They say by 2020 there will

be a £5.8 billion annual shortfall.

What's more, they say they need an

additional £1.3 billion now for

social care. Ministers will point to

much-needed efficiency savings made

in the same period, but Labour says

it's time for change.

After nearly

eight years of Conservative

government, councils have lost 50%

of their funding from central

government.

In Northamptonshire,

government inspectors are now

investigating the council's

financial management, but the

Conservatives have responded to

Jeremy Corbyn's proposals, saying

they would deliver less money to

people's pockets and hit communities

with higher council tax and worse

public services. The government has

plans for a new funding system for

local authorities to come in at the

start of the next decade. Alongside

that, proposals for councils to be

allowed to keep more of the business

rate raised locally. But with this

year's finance settlement for

authority is due to be announced in

the coming week, the local

government Association is calling on

the ministry here to provide new

funding for all councils now. Matt

Cole, BBC News, Westminster.

Six people have been shot in Italy

in a drive-by attack that police say

was racially motivated.

It happened in the central

Italian city of Macerata.

All of the victims

were African migrants -

one is in a critical condition.

From Rome, James Reynolds reports.

One man, a 28-year-old Italian armed

with a pistol, turned the Italian

city of Macerata into a terrifying

place. Reports say the gunmen fired

from his car at anyone who appeared

to be a migrant from Africa. There

was no time for his targets to hide.

I was passing by this morning to go

and buy cigarettes. When they shot

me on my leg this morning, you know.

So the person inside the car was

shooting, you know.

During the

attack the authorities posted

warnings instructing the city's

residents to stay inside. The gunman

was arrested when he got out of his

car. He is identified as

car. He is identified as 28-year-old

Luca GRaini. He had been a candidate

for the anti-immigrant Northern

league party in local elections held

in 2017. This attack comes at a time

of high anxiety in the city of

Macerata. Earlier in the week it is

mended body of a young Italian woman

was found, a Nigerian migrant

arrested in connection with her

death. Now migrants have been

injured in this drive-by shooting.

The country now heads into next

month's general election with all

this on its mind. James Reynolds,

BBC News, Rome.

Scotland Yard have confirmed that

two further women have made

allegations of sexual assault

against the Hollywood

producer Harvey Weinstein.

There are now nine women who've made

allegations in the UK.

The actress Uma Thurman has accused

Mr Weinstein of assaulting her

in the early 1990s.

The star - in an interview

with the New York Times -

described several incidents

in which she claims the film

producer forced himself on her.

In a statement, a spokesperson

for Mr Weinstein said

he acknowledged that he'd made

a pass at her - and that he

immediately apologised.

The government has announced

a package of financial support

for small companies affected

by the collapse of the construction

company, Carillion.

The state-backed British

Business Bank will allocate

£100 million in loans.

Customers worried about repaying

mortgages will also be offered help.

Thousands of suppliers were left

unpaid, after the firm went

into liquidation last month.

A prominent Conservative MP has

stepped up his criticism of civil

servants at the treasury -

accusing them of 'fiddling

the figures' in Brexit forecasts,

in order to make the case for the UK

remaining in the EU's customs union.

Jacob Rees Mogg, who was caught

in a scuffle last night

when protesters disrupted a meeting

he was attending at the University

of the West of England -

told the Today programme on Radio 4

that Treasury forecasts about

the impact of Brexit were 'clearly

politically influenced'.

With the referendum,

and with EU, the Treasury has

gone back to making forecasts.

It was politically advantageous

for them in the past,

it's the same now.

So yes, I do think they are

fiddling the figures.

Our political correspondent

Eleanor Garnier is with me.

'Fiddling the figures' -he's saying

it's deliberate isn't he?

And for the second time this week he

has questioned the impartiality of

civil servants. Now the FDA union

which represents senior officials in

Whitehall has hit back saying Mr

Rees Mogg is peddling

unsubstantiated conspiracy theories

and called on to come out and make

an unequivocal statement in support

of the civil service. This is about

much more than an MP complaining

about Treasury figures he doesn't

like. Mr Rees Mogg is an ardent

Leave campaign of he leads a group

of Tory Brexit is -- Brexiteers in

the Commons. That group is worried

the Prime Minister is shying away

from completely disentangling the UK

from the EU when really. All this

comes ahead of an extremely big week

for Theresa May on Brexit. The chief

negotiator Michel Barnier will be in

Downing Street on Monday for talks,

then there are a key ministerial

meetings later in the week on the

UK's future relationship with the

EU. I think this is about Mr Rees

Mogg putting pressure on Theresa

May, ratcheting up the pressure just

as she goes into the next round of

extremely difficult negotiations.

Thank you, Eleanor Garnier.

Now to the rugby -

and Wales have thrashed Scotland

in the opening match of this year's

Six Nations championship.

They ran in 4 tries at

the Principality stadium in Cardiff,

to start their campaign

with a 34-7 win.

Ireland scored with the lack kick

of the game to beat France by two

points in the day's second match.

Joe Wilson has been

watching the action.

The six Nations is designed to stir

you, but does it inspire or

overwhelmed? Josh Adams making his

debut for Wales here. Steady now. If

you get a chance, snatch it.

Interception, opportunity for Wales.

Scotland could see their pre-match

optimism disappearing after just six

minutes as Gareth Davies, legs and

lungs, reached the line. Wales led

14-0 at half-time. Scotland tried

the fancy stuff and failed. Wales

did basics brilliantly. Leigh

Halfpenny scored two tries. Who saw

this coming? Not the Scotland coach.

Now the Welsh flourish to finish.

Four tries in a match means a

tournament bonus point. At its best

rugby is pace, power and agility. In

other words, Steff Evans. 34-7 final

score. So many injured players were

missing from this Welsh team, then

they produced a performance like

that. Wales really made everything

about home advantage count. In Paris

not not happened to 71 minutes, then

everything did. Teddy Bridgewater to

win the game for France, it seemed.

Time was up, Ireland had one chance

to win, one kick. Johnny Sexton drop

goal... What a moment. What a day.

Joe Wilson, BBC News. That is it for

now.

I'll be back with the latest on BBC

One earlier than usual, at 9.10.

Now on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.