14/11/2011 Inside Out East

I am at East Carlton in Northamptonshire. This is what is

coming up on tonight's Inside Out. We investigate why this man is one

of thousands to be wrongly assessed as being fit to work. If I did not

have everything that was wrong with me, I would bite anybody's arm off

who would give me a job. A after 12 months of extreme

temperatures we ask if our weather is really changing.

It was 18 degrees below freezing, so phenomenally cold.

And a very unusual war memorial - why first-world-war soldiers from

this village had nothing to fear. You can imagine the relief,

gratitude and celebration. They are our three surprising

This is East Carlton Country Park, and later in the programme I will

be telling of wider village as a special place in history. First,

thousands of people have been told they could be walking instead of

claiming sickness benefits. In trying to clamp down on those

taking advantage, many are being wrongly told they are fit to work.

Do you have everything you need? Yes, I have everything.

Two years ago, Peter Reynolds fell off of a forklift truck at work. He

is now chronically ill with a deep vein thrombosis, problems with his

lungs, and his lymphatic system has stopped working. He is looked after

by his parents. After the accident he was told that he would never

work again. He is in and out of hospital on a regular basis. Today

he is undergoing a procedure at Addenbrooke's Hospital to help with

the pain. I sat and cried my eyes out. A man of 47, to be told I

would never work again after working since I left school. It is,

like I said, gut-wrenching. I sat and cried. I still can't accept it.

He needs constant care and needs to wear a body suit all the time. Why

do you have to wear this? To stop my legs from swelling. It keeps my

legs under control. If I do not wear it, within a matter of hours

my legs would be so big that the skin would not be able to hold but

-- hold back the fluid and it would ulcerate.

After the accident, Peter received sickness benefit, but within weeks,

under new Government rules, he was asked to prove just how sick he was.

Plans to cut billions of pounds from benefits means that the

millions of people on benefits must be reassessed. The Government is

paying ATOS, a private IT company, �100 million a year to carry out

the tests. In Cambridge, ATOS works in the Jobcentre Plus Medical

Centre. The company assessed Peter and found him fit enough for

something of work. Peter is one of thousands of ill or disabled people

who believe they have been wrongly assessed. If he came to the local

Citizens' Advice Bureau for help. Pebble Padfield, one of the

advisers at the branch, represented Peter. She believes that the

assessment process is deeply flawed. I think it is undeniable that the

onus of proof is on the claimant to show that they are not fit for work.

How can somebody with chronic depression or back pain or whatever

have the confidence, the articulacy at that moment to prove their

condition to that person? Peter has had to suffer months of uncertainty

about his future but, with Pebble's help, he got the ATOS assessment

overturned. I have your medical report here from the assessment.

Today pedal is seeing someone else who needs advice. Like Peter,

Thomas McDonnell has been found fit for work. He also believes the

decision was wrong. He suffers from severe depression. Thomas, though,

is at the start of the appeal stage. She had not really examined me. My

doctor says I am not fit for work. I have a lot of medical problems. I

have two specialists that I go to seed. This person who did not

physically examine may -- that I'd go to see. This person who did not

physically examine the decided she was better than those. Better than

the specialists. A his appeal could take a year to

be heard, in the meantime he is on a Job Seeker's Allowance which pays

�30 a week less than the benefit he was receiving. There have been

times when I have felt that I cannot cope any more. That is not

good news when you already suffer from depression, is it? Not really.

It doesn't help much. My friends and neighbours are trying to get me

through the best they can. I feel bad because I do not have the money

for myself to live, never mind doing anything else. It does not

help your self-respect again. am not a scrounger. I try to go

through life the best I can. Pebble believes that ATOS is

letting people down. There appears to be no incentive whatsoever for

ATOS to do a thorough job. They are paid to do this assessment, give

the evidence to Jobcentre Plus. They are not assessed in any sense

on the number of successful appeals on the basis of their evidence.

They actually have no incentive to get it right.

If in fact, thousands of people have been successful in getting the

ATOS assessment overturned. Of the 146,000 appeals that are being

heard, over a third have been upheld. That is over 56,000 people.

For someone like Peter, the tragedy is that he would love to work if he

could, but his life is taken up with managing his illness. Very

uncomfortable. If I did not have everything that was wrong with me,

I would bite anybody's arm off who would give me a job. I would sooner

be out in the workplace, doing a decent day's work for a decent

day's payee than be in the messiah men.

We asked ATOS to explain the high number of incorrect assessments.

The company declined to be interviewed but it did send the

following statement. It said that it focuses on quality and

satisfaction to stop whilst it was recognised that the number of

appeals was higher than would be liked, the total number of appeals

is just 7% of all assessments carried out. We also wanted to

speak to the Department for Work and Pensions. It, too, declined to

be interviewed but did send a following statement. They said they

would continue to review and refine assessments to ensure they are

effective, fairer for patients and, as a result, fairer to the taxpayer.

A review into the assessment scheme will be undertaken by the

government and published this autumn. It is very degrading

because it is all right for them to be in an office, shut away and not

seeing the person in question or the people who have to look after

that person. If only them who make all these decisions were to see the

person and see what they have to go through day after day. Not only me,

but my parents to look after me, what they have to do. Then them who

make the decisions would see things in a different light. I personally

think that. Lovely to see you. How are you feeling today? Could be a

lot better. Making the system fairer, though,

may mean that others will not have to go through the ordeal be to win

through. -- Peter went through. As ever, if there is anything you

think we should investigate here Ron Inside Out I would love to hear

from you. Send me any male. -- send me an e-mail.

Later, why we should remember those who survived after fighting for

their country. There is not a day goes by where I am not praying for

my sand to be home. We must remember the ones who came back

alive. Over the past year we have seen

some weather. Our region has been dried out, drenched and frozen. At

Christmas we had temperatures of minus 15 Celsius, then at the start

of October we had temperatures in the high twenties. What is going

on? Is it down to global warming or just a bit of a blip?

The Great British weather - it was until quite recently seen as fairly

predictable - warmish in the summer, cold in the winter, no extremes.

Over the past year it has been more like a climate roller-coaster. I

have been following the weather with all its ups and downs across

the year and across the East. I ask: Could it be linked to climate

change? Last winter, with plant --

temperatures plunging to minus 18 degrees, colder than Helsinki, the

There was travel chaos across the region in what was the coldest

winter in Britain for over 100 years. Temperatures are going to

struggle to get above freezing all day. Most places will be below

freezing. With this moderate north- westerly wind it is going to feel

bitterly cold Mack. -- Cold. It was bitterly cold. I cannot find

words to describe it. I was amazed. I had never seen anything like that

low. It is the lowest temperature I have ever recorded in 40 years of

recording temperatures. The cold almost killed off the

sugar beet harvest. You have this soft mossy material. This liquid is

basic labour should go decomposing. How much of that can be used?

Probably 50% at the most. I know people who have worked in this

industry for 40 years and who have never seen anything like this.

has been a year of extremes, one of the coldest winters on record,

followed by an exceptionally dry spring. By early summer, East

Anglia became so dry it was the only region in the country to be

officially declared a drought zone by the Environment agency. Rainfall

in some areas was just 10% of the average and soils were drier than

in the Middle East. Our rainfall is very similar to Israel. It is a

very dry part of the world anyway. Going forward, are we going to have

enough water and are we going to be able to meet customers'

expectations? It is a big worry. Come July, the flood gates opened.

During the summer isolated flash flooding unhinged the summer calm,

with sporting events taking a direct hit from the rain. A

friendly match between Norwich and Real Zaragosa took on an unexpected

turn - a lightning strike plunged most of the ground into darkness.

More than 70,000 people braved the weather at the MotoGP at

Silverstone. Casey Stoner wins in a rain-sodden

Silverstone. With Ed Sheeran headlining, the

rain at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk did little to dampen the

It is wonderful to see how many people turned up with their

umbrellas. Despite this drenching, there was

simply not enough rain to ease the drought. The summer rain arrived

too late for the wheat harvest, which perished in some areas. But

how do we explain this weather? Does our turbulent year mean it is

really changing? Is climate change causing more extreme weather

events? I have come to the British Antarctic Survey to find out. Based

in Cambridge, it is one of the world's leading environmental

research centres. With much of the research done in the Antarctic, the

scientists look at the effect of global climate change and how that

might impact on us here at home. We have had a year off pretty extreme

weather, how one usual has that been? We have son -- seen some very

unusual events. For instance, last December in the UK was the coldest

on record. The three spring months in East Anglia were the driest ever

on record. To have those two extreme events - the very cold

winter followed by the exceptionally dry spring - how

unusual is it to have those together? Obviously, if you have

two events, each of which is unusual inside a year, that is a

more unusual occurrence. Such things can occur just by chance. If

you toss a coin 20 times in a role it would be very unusual to get 20

heads coming up, but it can happen. Does it give an indication that it

could be down to climate change, as -- climate change? It is difficult

to say. Our climate models are only just becoming good enough for us to

make any statements with any kind of confidence about that.

Because we can't control events, perhaps what is more important is

how we cope. We are increasingly finding small solutions to the ever

bigger problems thrown at us. Because the weather was so

difficult to predict and farmers were caught off guard, they are

learning to adapt. The second sugar beet harvest going on at the moment

is affected not by cold this time but by drought. The soils are so

dry that, in order to protect the roots from breaking off, farmers

are being selective about which fields to harvest first. It could

end up being a bumper crop. Other farmers have found ingenious ways

to tackle changing conditions. George Munns had chatterers in

Cambridgeshire has built himself a 30 million gallon reservoir. --

Chatteris. This water is here when there is

the prospect of severe drought Slater run in the summer. There are

also 12 other farmers licensed to take water from here. He has shored

up the water for next year as well as he is not taking any chances. Is

this a sign of the future? There may be some contribution from

climate change and stop it could have occurred by chance. Does it

sought a precedent -- set a precedent for next year? Could we

have another year of extremes? is very difficult to make

predictions that far ahead. I would not want to stick my neck out at

this stage and make any prediction about what the coming -- the coming

winter is likely to be like. As we approach another winter, the

past year's unpredictability was not all on welcome. Remember, just

six weeks ago we enjoyed these record-breaking temperatures, with

deckchairs on the beach and 29 Celsius. It was definitely a high

point. From the freezing cold of the winter to the searing heat of

autumn, if the last year has taught us anything it is that long-term

forecasting is challenging. Yesterday was, of course, you

Remembrance Sunday, the day we remember those who died in the

service of the country. -- Remembrance Sunday. In a few places,

including here in East Carlton, the memorial tell a different story. --

the memorials. The rolling countryside of

Northamptonshire. Every now and then the countryside reveals

another little village tucked away off the beaten track. Like many

villages, this one sent men to fight in the Great War. What

happened here is unusual. There is something special about this place.

This is East Carlton Country Park, on the edge of the village. Nearly

100 years ago all of this was owned by the lord of the manor who used

to live here. Nearly all of the men who went to fight in the First

World War from the village lived and worked right here. Life would

have been very much different to how it is now. The only employment

was the farms or a hall. There were quite a number of people who were

servants. -- the hall. They would have about 10 or 12 servants. That

would take a number of people. And then the rest would be farm workers.

How do you think they would have felt going to war? I should think

it would have been traumatic, just somebody to say, or you are leaving

your family and you're going. And you do not know where you're going

and there are so many people dying that you think, will I ever come

back? It is an awful thought. My lots of men didn't come back. --

lots of men didn't come back. turned out that men from East

Carlton had nothing to fear. It is sad to think that in nearly every

church in any village in the country you will see a memorial

chiselled the stone with the names of those men who went to fight the

First World War. They are the names of the bed, the ones who didn't

come home. -- the names of the dead. This celebrates the fact that all

of the men who went to the front line from this village came home

safely. East Carlton is a thankful village. It is one of only 60 in

the whole country. Tom Morgan has spent years researching it.

phrase was coined by a very popular writer at the time, called Arthur

Mead. He published a series of books called The In's England. He

travelled the country, pointing out interesting architectural features.

He pointed out that some of the villages were thankful villages, a

phrase that he point. Back in 1914, this village was even

smaller. Only 87 people live here. Seven of them joined up. In 1914

men of fighting age were volunteering to go to the trenches.

The seven who signed up from East Carlton joined six separate

regiments. It would have been a time of great enthusiasm. There was

an enormous wave of enthusiasm in 1914 and 1915 for a variety of

reasons. They thought it would be an adventure and they wanted to be

in it because all their friends were doing it. I think it was quite

an optimistic start. As the war progressed that optimism was more

difficult to tap into. By 1916 it had virtually gone and that is when

conscription was brought in. What would like have been like for

the men who did return? It must have been an extremely wonderful

feeling to come home and everything was the same. Throughout the rest

of the country there was a blanket of grief. I think there would have

been an enormous feeling of thanksgiving, multiplied manifold

compared to one family whose soldier came home. Imagine my

gratitude in a whole community, even though it is small. Their joy

must have been absolute. No-one was missing, they could go back to

their jobs in agriculture. They were probably still needed, whereas

in some of the industrial areas jobs have vanished. It must have

been a unique experience compared to the experience that most men had

when they came home. The people of East Carlton are very

proud of their thankful village status. It is something that was

celebrated at the end of the First World War and something they are

still very proud of today. Arthur White is one of the men from the

village who came back safely. John Wells is his great nephew. What do

you know about your Great Uncle Arthur? He married, he got a wife

called Hannah. I think he had five or six children. He was a big

family man, I think. He worked for a living on the farm and, basically,

when the First World War came, they were called up to serve their

country. They are proud of what they did but they never spoke about

what happened. I think it must have been the traumas of the actual war.

Are you quite proud that you have this family history? I am very

proud that I have this achievement. When you think of all the ones that

perished, all to come from one community and all to come back

safely is incredible. The idea of creating memorials for

those who survive war is still important today. Nearly 100 years

after the First World War, British troops are engaged in very

different types of warfare. Of course, the dangers are still the

same. At the moment there are 9,000 troops serving in Afghanistan from

Britain. This is Russell Bari from Brackley

in Northamptonshire. His son is serving in the army. He has fought

in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every day, every minute that goes by, you are

thinking of your son. I am very proud that he was over there. I am

always proud. You miss him so much. The feeling you get when they go

away and you're taking them to Brize Milton and you see them

walking into the terminal is one you never forget. The stress, the

worry, the fear, the laugh all comes to you -- the Love.

Can you sympathise with parents who had sons going to fight in the

first four workers were I can, very much. The First World War was one

where they went away and they did not know whether they were coming

back for months or even years. I do feel that they were in the same

position as me. I saw my son go out of the country, possibly not to

come back again. During the First World War there

was no media coverage. People did not know what was going on. Now we

see a lot of coverage. Do you think that is a good thing? No, I think

it is quite a bad thing to know that on menus every day you hear of

a young lad dying or being badly wounded, losing limbs. In the First

World War they went away and you just did not know anything at all.

With respect to the people in the first of war, I think it would have

been better for us now owe not to know what is going on. Russell's

son is home and will soon be discharged from the army. Just like

the people of East Carlton in 1918, his father is very thankful. There

is not a day goes by where I am not thankful for my son to be home. We

must learn a lesson from our other villagers. Although we remember the

dead, we must remember the ones That is up for this week. If you

have missed any of tonight's programme you can watch it again on

the iPlayer. If there is something you think we should investigate,

send me an e-mail. You can also follow me on Twitter. I will see

you next week. I will be back with the surprising stories.

Next week we investigate what happened to the �50 million grant

to improve the lives of Lytton residents. They have no faith any

more. They have lost hope. They have been promised so much in the