:00:02. > :00:05.$:/STARTFEED. 38 homes, by the age of 15. That's the reality for this
:00:05. > :00:11.mum's daughter. We ask if our vulnerable children are being well
:00:11. > :00:16.looked after, as budget cuts bite. When you don't know what's happened
:00:16. > :00:19.to that child, it rips you apart. Marks and Spencer in the firing
:00:19. > :00:23.line - a �1 million fine for asbestos breaches. We reveal the
:00:23. > :00:27.company was warned of problems eight years earlier.
:00:27. > :00:32.And why are more and more of us taking to extreme endurance events?
:00:32. > :00:36.I'm finding out for myself, at Tough Mudder in Northamptonshire.
:00:36. > :00:39.This is unbelievable. The more mud you go through, the harder it gets,
:00:39. > :00:49.the more exhausting it gets. They're the stories that matter
:00:49. > :01:06.
:01:06. > :01:10.To mack, we are in it Whitlingham. Managers turned up a blind eye to
:01:10. > :01:16.complaints about asbestos, and shoppers are right to be anxious
:01:16. > :01:22.about whether they have breached -- breathe asbestos fibre. That was
:01:22. > :01:27.the view of a judge as it -- as he imposed a �1 million fine on a
:01:27. > :01:33.store in the south. But we have been asking if the problems were
:01:33. > :01:38.confined to just one Marks & Spencer outlet.
:01:38. > :01:46.Pietter Pipping was a warehouse manager at odd Ford from the 1960s
:01:46. > :01:50.to the 1980s. -- M&S. His working life was Marks &
:01:50. > :01:56.Spencer. Peter suffered from rheumatoid
:01:56. > :02:05.arthritis. In 2010, he was diagnosed with diffuse pleural
:02:05. > :02:11.thickening. He believed he may have been exposed to asbestos at five on
:02:11. > :02:16.Ford stories in the 1960s and 1970s. He described people smashing down
:02:16. > :02:20.at seedings, taking cladding off walls and columns, and all of that
:02:20. > :02:25.book as he described to me was made of asbestos.
:02:25. > :02:31.P to die from a heart attack in May last year, before he could pursue
:02:31. > :02:34.his claim for compensation. M&S says they were not responsible
:02:34. > :02:39.in any way for Pietter Pipping's exposure.
:02:39. > :02:42.He is one of a number of people who it is claimed developed asbestos
:02:42. > :02:51.related diseases from working at Marks & Spencer.
:02:51. > :02:53.More Pietter Pipping work there at Folkestone in Kent from 1961 until
:02:53. > :03:00.1966. During that time that there was renovation work involving
:03:00. > :03:04.asbestos. Her only route to go to the canteen or toilet was fire
:03:04. > :03:12.where the work was being carried out on the floor above.
:03:12. > :03:18.Int 2007, Freda Hughes developed mesothelioma. She discovered the
:03:18. > :03:28.exposure may have been a at M&S. She met the local chemist and the
:03:28. > :03:32.hairdresser had been reading that Bristol had had asbestos in it.
:03:32. > :03:39.Marks & Spencer paid three doubt a substantial amount in compensation.
:03:39. > :03:45.She died of mesothelioma in 2011. It is possible that staff were
:03:45. > :03:49.exposed to asbestos in our stores. It is tragic that our staff and
:03:49. > :03:53.colleagues were affected. Any illness relating to asbestos is
:03:53. > :03:59.terrible, and we did pay compensation which is absolutely
:03:59. > :04:07.right. As society has learned, our policies have become Industry
:04:07. > :04:12.leading. Most of our major it retailers have
:04:12. > :04:16.stores but used as best as former. Some have been fined for breaching
:04:16. > :04:20.red -- regulations. They include House of Fraser, the Co-op, Top
:04:20. > :04:25.Shop and John Lewis. But evidence we have about how
:04:25. > :04:33.Marks & Spencer have handled as best has been on Mac stores is
:04:34. > :04:42.worrying. It suggests warnings may not have been fully heeded. In 9098,
:04:42. > :04:51.but Ford refurbishes its store in more blotch.
:04:51. > :04:56.But -- more above large. You could not have guaranteed the safety of
:04:57. > :05:01.anybody. Wallace begins copping pages from
:05:01. > :05:11.reports the left by the day and night shifts, and this report says
:05:11. > :05:22.
:05:22. > :05:30.Somebody has to control the day shift, if they do not want the
:05:30. > :05:36.store closed and the the HSE crawling all over you.
:05:36. > :05:42.A recommended that all areas where it was reasonable to assume we
:05:42. > :05:47.would find it, be handed over for asbestos removal.
:05:47. > :05:54.Were you Wallis riots took M&S Chief Executive Sir Richard
:05:54. > :06:04.Greenbury. M&S say they are taking the
:06:04. > :06:04.
:06:04. > :06:09.appropriate action. Our team are at the time, 15 years ago, thoroughly
:06:09. > :06:12.investigated on the day and some three months afterwards, and I can
:06:12. > :06:17.find no case whatsoever to say that any member of staff or the public
:06:17. > :06:22.was put at risk. M&S also says William Wallace was
:06:22. > :06:28.mistaken about what materials may have contained asbestos.
:06:28. > :06:33.understand there was not asbestos everywhere. We met Mr Wallace in a
:06:33. > :06:41.third party location. His claims were discussed. He went away,
:06:41. > :06:45.rethink, happy. He was then invited to take those claims to the Health
:06:45. > :06:53.and Safety Executive. He did not do that.
:06:53. > :06:59.He in 2006, William Wallace begins working as a safety can tractor
:06:59. > :07:04.working at M&S wedding. There was very little control on the
:07:04. > :07:10.contractors working on the ceilings. We find other reports of incidents
:07:10. > :07:17.that had occurred. -- we find other reports.
:07:17. > :07:25.For wing a tip off, the HSE swoops on the Reading store. Or M&S is
:07:25. > :07:29.prosecuted. Among the witnesses in 2011, this building worker. We have
:07:29. > :07:35.disguised his identity. He described it to be caught a girl
:07:35. > :07:45.stacking sandwich packs. A you could see the dust falling
:07:45. > :07:50.down on health. We asked her if she could move somewhere else. We were
:07:50. > :07:58.told, we do not tell staff where to Began its in the ceiling are
:07:58. > :08:08.initially sealed with hardboard. The dust narrowly missed a small
:08:08. > :08:09.
:08:09. > :08:15.child in a buggy. In court, Marks & Spencer tried to
:08:15. > :08:19.blame its contract is for all the problems. The implementation of on
:08:19. > :08:24.that policy was not correct. We will make sure it never happens
:08:25. > :08:31.again, and we are clear that our policy to date is leading the
:08:31. > :08:39.industry. And yet fans were switched on in a roof where there
:08:39. > :08:46.was potentially asbestos? This was regrettable. The implementation was
:08:47. > :08:53.not carried out. M&S was found guilty of asbestos
:08:53. > :08:55.breaches, fined �1 million and �600,000 in costs.
:08:55. > :09:02.His Honour Judge Christopher Harvey Clark said there had been a
:09:02. > :09:07.systemic failure by management. Marks & Spencer's response was to
:09:07. > :09:10.turn a blind eye to what was happening, because the asbestos
:09:11. > :09:17.what was already costing the company too much. To keep profits
:09:17. > :09:21.as high as reasonably possible, insufficient time and space were
:09:21. > :09:29.allocated to asbestos removal. have never, ever put profit before
:09:29. > :09:37.safety. Investigations were full and thorough. Our policies were
:09:37. > :09:41.described as sensible and practical. We regret what happened at Reading.
:09:41. > :09:46.The judge said contract as an staff and shoppers have a right to be
:09:46. > :09:54.anxious about whether they have breathed asbestos fibres, and what
:09:54. > :09:57.effect that might have on their well-being and future. I think best
:09:57. > :10:05.-- expert testimony would say there was no risk to Obama customers or
:10:05. > :10:15.staff. Two of Bob Ford's staff were also
:10:15. > :10:17.
:10:17. > :10:21.fine. -- M&S's staff. Mesothelioma can take decades to
:10:21. > :10:26.develop. Many people never know when or where they were exposed to
:10:26. > :10:31.asbestos. For Marks & Spencer and the Hall of the retail industry,
:10:31. > :10:38.what happened at ten or 20 or 30 years ago may still have an impact
:10:38. > :10:43.today. Any suggestion that staff or customers were put at risk,
:10:43. > :10:50.deserves to be examined. If there is anything you think we
:10:50. > :10:54.should be looking into, please send me an e-mail.
:10:54. > :11:02.Still to come. I get submerged in mart to find out
:11:02. > :11:09.why we love pushing ourselves. These people need the excitement of
:11:09. > :11:14.realising they could get hurt! The number of vulnerable children
:11:14. > :11:18.being taken into care is increasing, and it can be difficult for local
:11:18. > :11:21.councils as they struggle with tighter budgets. A few years ago
:11:21. > :11:26.Essex County Council was leading the way with a new kind of care.
:11:26. > :11:28.But now that has been scrapped. BBC Radio Stoke's political reporter,
:11:28. > :11:34.Elizabeth Glinka -- reporter macro meets the mothers with think that
:11:34. > :11:39.was wrong. Having your child taken into care
:11:39. > :11:42.is one of the most difficult things are more they could face. But some
:11:42. > :11:46.in Essex say that situation has become a whole lot worse.
:11:46. > :11:52.I have come to meet a mother whose son was taken into care when he was
:11:52. > :11:56.eight. Since then, here has been looked after in a care home run by
:11:56. > :12:02.Essex County Council, but the home a long with 11 others has been
:12:02. > :12:07.close. She cannot be closed, to protect her son's identity.
:12:07. > :12:14.would smash a house up, try to jump out of windows, tried to smash
:12:14. > :12:24.windows. Then he started getting violent with his siblings and
:12:24. > :12:37.
:12:37. > :12:47.myself. On a daily basis I would be How did it feel to let your trout
:12:47. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:55.down? I felt like a complete failure. -- your child. He settled
:12:55. > :12:59.there really well, he was getting on so well. How did you feel when
:12:59. > :13:08.the County Council announced they were going to close the home?
:13:08. > :13:14.Absolute devastated. Panic. It is the worst decision that Essex
:13:14. > :13:16.County Council have ever made. These are children's lives. But her
:13:16. > :13:20.son is not alone because Essex County Council didn't just close
:13:20. > :13:23.his home, over the past three years its shut all of its mainstream
:13:23. > :13:27.childrens homes - including this one here at Little Clacton - the
:13:27. > :13:30.only county in the east to take such a radical approach. The only
:13:30. > :13:32.care homes now owned by Essex County Council are those that
:13:32. > :13:35.specialise in children with disabilities, meaning all the
:13:35. > :13:45.children in the mainstream care homes, around 70 in all, had to be
:13:45. > :13:46.
:13:46. > :13:51.rehomed, the majority with foster parents. Figures show the number of
:13:51. > :13:54.children in foster care in Essex gross 66 % during the closures. And
:13:54. > :13:57.it's that concentration on fostering that is causing concern.
:13:57. > :14:07.This Essex mother has two children who've been in care for most of
:14:07. > :14:09.
:14:09. > :14:13.their lives. One has thrived in foster care - but for her 15-year-
:14:13. > :14:17.old daughter it has been a disaster. She wants to remain anonymous to
:14:17. > :14:27.protect their identity. How many place whence her she had now?
:14:27. > :14:30.
:14:30. > :14:36.placements up to last year. -- How many placements has she had. How do
:14:36. > :14:46.feel? It upsets me, especially when you don't know what has happened to
:14:46. > :14:47.
:14:47. > :14:53.your child. It happens you -- it rips you apart. Because you know
:14:53. > :14:56.she isn't settled? Yes. But what has surprised and angered parents
:14:56. > :15:02.is the method of care practiced at homes like this one was pioneering
:15:02. > :15:06.and had implications for the care of children across the country. The
:15:06. > :15:13.system Essex was using is called social pedagogy. Although
:15:13. > :15:16.successfully practised in Europe, it is uncommon in the UK. Essex
:15:16. > :15:19.County Council were so enthusiastic about the idea four years ago, 160
:15:19. > :15:23.staff were trained up and the system was rolled out across all of
:15:23. > :15:31.its 12 mainstream care homes. Jonathan Stanley helped them set it
:15:31. > :15:34.up. The Ofsted inspection showed the Essex homes were all working to
:15:34. > :15:37.an extremely good standard and that was being sustained over a number
:15:37. > :15:47.of inspections, so the homes in themselves were really offering
:15:47. > :15:50.
:15:51. > :15:56.very good care to young people. Essex scrapped the entire social
:15:56. > :16:04.pedagogy project and the last home was closed last year. However,
:16:04. > :16:07.elsewhere some counties are still using the system. This residential
:16:07. > :16:09.care home in Cambridgeshire is run by the charity, Break, and helps
:16:09. > :16:11.provide stability for youngsters who've already had numerous
:16:11. > :16:15.placements in other care or foster homes. What is Social Pedagogy?
:16:15. > :16:25.Social Pedagogy for me is very much a child -focused way of working its
:16:25. > :16:29.
:16:29. > :16:32.about building relationships up with young people. -- it's about.
:16:32. > :16:34.What do you think then are the main differences between this childrens
:16:34. > :16:44.home and what somer people might perceive to be a traditional
:16:44. > :16:50.
:16:50. > :17:00.childrens home? It's a home. It doesn't Look institutionalised. We
:17:00. > :17:04.
:17:04. > :17:11.focus on the love. If you're working or living with someone for
:17:11. > :17:21.years, it is not difficult to form attachments. We love the people we
:17:21. > :17:22.
:17:22. > :17:25.work with. The staff at this care home are convinced social pedagogy
:17:25. > :17:33.works - particularly with children that have experienced multiple
:17:33. > :17:37.placements. Essex was a leader in this at that time. It was a service
:17:37. > :17:47.that people were looking to an something they wanted to emulate.
:17:47. > :17:50.
:17:50. > :17:54.We were mystified. Essex County Council say the homes were closed
:17:54. > :17:57.because there were too many vacant beds and that the children would do
:17:57. > :18:06.better in foster care or by going to a privately run home.." This has
:18:06. > :18:09.saved a lot of money, hasn't it? It costs just under �700 a week to
:18:09. > :18:12.fund a child in foster care, but in a local authority children home it
:18:13. > :18:15.costs about �2700 so is this more about money? I don't think it's
:18:15. > :18:17.about money at all. I'd never apologies for having saved
:18:18. > :18:21.taxpayers' money and used it more wisely and more appropriately.
:18:21. > :18:24.However, the thing that we needed to do was ensure we got the right
:18:24. > :18:26.placements for the right chidlren and just having a sort of block
:18:27. > :18:32.booking for beds didn't necessarily provide them with the right
:18:32. > :18:38.placement. He trained 160 staff and invested a lot of money, yet it was
:18:38. > :18:45.scrapped within a year. The process worked well in some cases of, not
:18:46. > :18:51.so well in others. Certainly, the children that go for whatever
:18:51. > :18:55.reason into care homes don't have good outcomes. Their educational
:18:55. > :19:00.outcome is not as good, their lifelong health tends to be worse,
:19:00. > :19:07.so if we can get the nearest thing that equates to their loving family,
:19:07. > :19:09.that is the best we can do. challenge what is presented as a
:19:09. > :19:17.fact of the that children under fostering do better than those in
:19:17. > :19:20.children's hopes -- homes. The outcome currently shows that
:19:20. > :19:27.children in children's homes are doing less well, that is true, but
:19:27. > :19:31.they have more negative life experiences to be overcoming.
:19:31. > :19:36.is other things they can cut costs with. This is children's lives,
:19:36. > :19:46.this is the future. They are messing about with their lives and
:19:46. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :19:55.it should never have happened. Never. 20 12th was a great sporting
:19:55. > :20:00.year. -- 2012. What if you fancy doing something very extreme? I
:20:00. > :20:10.spent a lot of time running around here getting a red -- ready for an
:20:10. > :20:12.
:20:12. > :20:15.event in Northamptonshire that is tough. Described as the toughest
:20:15. > :20:25.obstacle course in the World, Tough Mudder is a 12-mile endurance test.
:20:25. > :20:29.
:20:29. > :20:35.It makes running a marathon seem These people need the excitement of
:20:35. > :20:38.standing there and realising that they could seriously get hurt.
:20:38. > :20:44.tried have obstacles that test every different way the human body
:20:44. > :20:47.can be tested. Tough Mudder's been a huge success in the United States
:20:47. > :20:57.and now it's coming to Britain. Kettering in Northamptonshire has
:20:57. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:05.Over recent years, marathons and triathlons have become increasing
:21:05. > :21:15.popular. Something like Tough Mudder is obviously trying to tap
:21:15. > :21:17.
:21:17. > :21:23.into that demand from people looking to challenge themselves.
:21:23. > :21:28.There is only one way to get an idea of how difficult it is. I'm
:21:28. > :21:33.quite fit anyway, but I have had to train really hard over the past
:21:33. > :21:37.couple of months for this. This is Scratby beach near Great Yarmouth.
:21:37. > :21:40.Now, I've run marathons in the past, but what I'm planning to do
:21:40. > :21:50.seemsfar more challenging. I need to know if I'm really prepared so
:21:50. > :21:55.
:21:55. > :22:01.I'm meeting Ben Price, a fitness So, what kind of challenge will I
:22:01. > :22:07.be up against? What kind of challenge are you not going to be
:22:07. > :22:14.up against?! Upper-body strength, lower body strength, all sorts of
:22:14. > :22:19.stuff. Do you think I will cope? Physically, no worries. It will be
:22:19. > :22:29.tough but your mind might struggle a little bit. We don't know what's
:22:29. > :22:39.
:22:39. > :22:42.coming. It is an unknown quantity, This is 12 long miles of hell!
:22:42. > :22:49.event's being staged in the grounds of Boughton House, a stately home
:22:49. > :22:54.near Kettering. More than 10,000 people have paid around 60 quid for
:22:54. > :22:58.the privilege of taking part. It is really loud, but the atmosphere is
:22:58. > :23:08.tense and it's really starting to get to me now, it's really helping
:23:08. > :23:14.
:23:15. > :23:19.We are really trying to test people without obstacles in every which
:23:19. > :23:24.way, mental toughness, physical death -- toughness, we testing your
:23:24. > :23:31.stamina, agility and endurance. We're really testing your fears, as
:23:31. > :23:36.well. We do have a injuries, a lot of sprains, but we have had their
:23:36. > :23:40.it -- we have been very fortunate not to have any major injuries.
:23:40. > :23:45.That is a credit to allow a event planners and the medical staff we
:23:45. > :23:48.have one side. Dutch that is a credit to an hour event planners.
:23:48. > :23:58.The 12-mile long course has 25 obstacles and should take me around
:23:58. > :23:59.
:23:59. > :24:02.three hours to complete. Watching with interest is sports scientist
:24:03. > :24:12.Simon Rea, he thinks some people are naturally drawn to take part in
:24:13. > :24:29.
:24:29. > :24:32.events like this - it's something Watching with interest is sports
:24:32. > :24:35.scientist Simon Rea, he thinks some people are naturally drawn to take
:24:35. > :24:38.part in events like this - it's something they feel they just have
:24:38. > :24:41.to do. Certain researchers have looked at personality and they have
:24:41. > :24:47.identified that there may be a risk gene. Certain people are
:24:47. > :24:51.predisposed to put themselves at risk. That is why people come out
:24:51. > :24:56.on a Sunday morning and put themselves at serious risk to their
:24:56. > :25:00.health. They may find their lives a fairly safe and routine, lacking
:25:00. > :25:04.challengers. They may have a sedentary day job where it is all
:25:04. > :25:10.quite routine. It goes back to our hunter-gatherer days whenever we
:25:10. > :25:19.were that threat, had we had to go out to us Hunt to survive. All of
:25:19. > :25:24.that challenge has been taken away. They need the excitement and these
:25:24. > :25:34.thrills in their lives, hence the success of things like the Tough
:25:34. > :25:42.
:25:42. > :25:52.We work in a hospital, so we are very clean all the time. A little
:25:52. > :25:56.
:25:56. > :26:01.different! If you do it as a team, it's not so bad. People who watch
:26:01. > :26:05.television all the time and don't go to the gym, there's always an
:26:05. > :26:15.easier option in life, but this is a way to challenge yourself and
:26:15. > :26:16.
:26:16. > :26:24.make yourself work harder. For some reason, I managed to book myself on
:26:24. > :26:33.to this act of sheer madness. But, great day and fantastic competitors.
:26:34. > :26:38.A real team effort. This is unbelievable. You think, this bit's
:26:38. > :26:48.OK, then there's a bit round the corner that is even worse. The more
:26:48. > :26:52.
:26:52. > :26:55.modest you go through, the more exhausting it is. -- the Mork --
:26:55. > :26:57.the more mud. While it looks competitive, organiser's stress the
:26:58. > :27:00.event is not about racing round trying beating other people, the
:27:00. > :27:04.challenge comes from finding your own personal limits and working
:27:04. > :27:11.together as a team. A lot of people in work situations want to develop
:27:11. > :27:16.cameraderie. Cohesion, to stick together and work together at all
:27:16. > :27:21.costs. A lot of companies will invest money in taking days out and
:27:21. > :27:31.doing team-building activities, but this is a real-life situation. They
:27:31. > :27:32.
:27:32. > :27:37.come and work as a team. It builds really deep bonds. This is the last
:27:37. > :27:47.obstacle now. We're going to get electric shocks. We're going to
:27:47. > :27:48.
:27:48. > :27:52.finish it together. I feel a bit shell-shocked now I've finished it.
:27:52. > :27:57.There were times when I did feel pretty tired and about half way
:27:57. > :28:01.round, I thought, I don't think I can finish, but glad I did it. It
:28:01. > :28:05.wasn't quite as tough as I thought it was going to be, but it was
:28:05. > :28:15.still pretty tough. I've run marathons in the past, but I've got
:28:15. > :28:23.to be honest, for me, Tough Mudder wasn't quite as physically hard.
:28:23. > :28:26.Maybe next time I'll try to do it quicker. That is it from Norfolk.
:28:26. > :28:33.If there's anything you think we should be looking at on the
:28:33. > :28:38.programme, you can contact me via Twitter or e-mail. I will be back
:28:38. > :28:40.next week with these stories from the east. We investigate if
:28:40. > :28:45.councils from the east are building the right house is where we need
:28:45. > :28:50.them. The heart-warming story of the self-made Norfolk businessman