24/02/2014 Inside Out North West

Tonight, We Investigate How The Voluntary Sector Is Playing A Vital

Role In Social Care, Following Council Cuts In The Region.

We meet the north`west prosecutor in charge of some of the country's

highest profile court cases. We meet the Northwest prosecutor in charge

of some of the country's highest profile court cases. Nobody should

be above the law in this country. We reveal why conserving wildlife in

Lancashire is more than just a job stop I never get up and think, I

don't want to go to work today. I come out and enjoy the reserve for

an hour before work. Local councils across the Northwest

are making massive cuts to their budgets this spring, none more so

than Liverpool City Council. It is facing 100 and ?66 million worth of

savings over the next few years We have been looking at the impact

those cuts guitar on the most vulnerable and how charities could

fill the gap. Dave and Pauline from crocs are

carers. They have been taking care of vulnerable adults by three

decades. Alma has been for us `` with us for 13 years and Keith has

been with us for 15 years. It is a little bit like fostering for older

people. They are part of the family. We encourage them to access as much

of the community as they can. Like the local day centre they go to

Alma and Keith have always made use of a local day centre, the

Parthenon. But along with 11 other council run day centres in

Liverpool, is future is now in doubt due to budget cuts. The centre is a

lifeline for Keith and Alma as well as respite for Dave and Pauline The

centre helps keep them healthy and it adds to the work we do. The fact

that it helps them keep healthy it also helps us keep healthy, because

we get that respite and that break that the council facility offers

us. It is a council facility that is exceptional. But the council has

tough choices to make in Liverpool. They say these cuts are necessary

because of ?173 million worth of cuts to its funding from central

government. If you cut every single service in the council, the library

service, the leisure centres, regeneration, you would still have

to make cuts to adult social care, such as the cuts to the council by

the Government, so it is finding ways to do this without hurting

people. We have one of the best services in the country, we have

developed that over three years we spent a lot of time doing it and now

we have got to the point where we cannot cut any longer, we are now

cutting into the bone. The voluntary sector in Liverpool is already

helping to bridge the gap in funding. This homeless hostel was

previously run by the council, but the salvation army took it over in

2012 and have already managed to make savings. We make sure all

residents receive quality support. How many people are residents here?

There are 26 residents. We operate like schools programmes and

resettlement programmes. White is it important to have a charity doing

this and said the council M B Salvation Army have centres across

the country and head in London, which the council doesn't have and

other charities might not have. How important is it for you to be able

to use a service like this? They help me out with my money, they put

it in the safe, they take me shopping and they do really well for

me. They take me to important appointments, because I have been in

trouble ever since my mum passed away. I was in hospital for months

having cancer treatment and when that finished, I didn't have

anywhere else to go. I came here and they have been very supportive. I do

think it is important to have hostels run by organisations like

this? Because the people here would be out on the street otherwise. But

then our concerns has already been too much reliance on the voluntary

sector. The voluntary sector in the bubble has always played a massive

part in social care. We also sustained those services and

subsidise them, and I honestly hold my hands up and say, if it wasn t

for the voluntary sector and the work they do in this city, we

wouldn't have been able to survive the last three years. Charities and

voluntary organisations have been doing their services David `` since

long before David Cameron coined the term they Big Society. This

organisation runs a shirt like scheme which Keith and Alma years.

This organisation runs a shared life scheme. People can see the services

still need to be delivered, but without funding, we're not in a

position to be able to do that. We know the council and not wanting to

cut services, but obviously, they have a budget and they have to make

that budget balance, it is how we can work together to make sure we're

getting as much out of every pound we spend as possible. The breakfast

bar in crocs to this part of that and for Alma and Keith, it is a

place they feel welcome. On March the 5th, the council will meet to

make difficult decisions about the future of adult services. Until

then, carers like Dave and Pauline will continue to do their job as

they always have, but with the knowledge that things are going to

change. One of the frustrating things is that for many years,

council run services have really been excellent and the kind of

pressure that is going to come from cuts is really worrying. And the

fact that some of the day services are now in jeopardy, what does that

mean for the people you look after and other carers? They are an

intrinsic part of everyday life and if we didn't have these services in

place, the routine which is so important, the benefits we get from

the services that add their, they are council run services. We have

been doing this for 30 years and I am 60 for this year, we will carry

on doing this for as long as we possibly can. We just hope in the

future we are not looking at some of the potential difficulties we could

be looking at. We will get around these that the cookies, we will find

a way of making sure that our service users carry on living a

healthy and fruitful life, but for a lot of other people, I think that is

going to be difficult. Coming up, getting close to nature at Leighton

Moss in Lancashire. There are great wildlife programmes on the telly,

but to see it up close through your own telescope is amazing.

There are more than a dozen cases of historical sexual abuse still being

investigated in the north`west according to the man reading the

prosecution teams. Nazir Afzal is the most senior Asian lawyer in the

country and has been described as many things. I went to meet him

Nobody should be above the law in this country, it does not matter who

they are. Having a day in court heating the evidence believed really

is important. Justice, to be effective, has to be swift. Murders

of these women police constables were nothing short of executions,

planned, premeditated and called blooded. We spent generations,

generations telling children they should be seen and not heard. Why

are we now surprised when we hear what they have to say? He is a

master of the sound bite, a natural communicator who can deliver a 0

minute speech without notes and keep an audience in sheet. Nazir Afzal

has led some of this country's highest profile cases. He's

passionate about giving what he calls a voice to the voiceless,

judicial protection for vulnerable, especially victims of sexual abuse,

honour `based crime and violence. A quarter of a century ago, he was a

humble lawyer in Birmingham, but one with high aspirations and a belief

that the world in court could be fair and just. When was the last

time you were in court? About a month ago. Nothing looks like this

any more. I want to make a difference. If you go back in

history, Gandhi was a lawyer, Nelson Mandela was a lawyer, it is not just

about appearing in a courtroom, you can make a difference as a lawyer.

As a young man, you were bullied at school, racially abused, attacked.

At no point did you go forward and seek help from authority, but now

you really promote that comedy promote going forward to get help.

In the 60s and 70s, it was part of growing up that you were racially

abused. I was told to take it on the chin. Having been through that

journey, I've realised that the only way you can stop it is by

challenging it. Today we're at the Association of Chief Police

Officer's national conference on child sexual abuse and here we are

in Lancashire just outside Blackburn and this is a very important event.

The police lead for child sexual abuse is based here in Lancashire.

Lancashire is seen as best practice throughout the country and so from

our perspective, it's key to be part of this. Nobody should be above the

law in this country. It doesn't matter who they are. Somebody said

you only pick on certain people I can't win. I was attacked for

prosecuting lots of Asians, I was attacked for not prosecuting certain

people. Because I am being attacked from all directions, maybe I am in

the right place. We look for the evidence, we follow the evidence, we

present the evidence. Delighted to be here. Following the evidence

reopening and mounting a successful prosecution of Asian man in the

Rochdale abuse trial led to extreme right wing hate mail. The far right,

their narrative is all Asians, all muslins are all the same. When Asian

Muslim were brought to justice, that destroyed then narrative. His family

were put under police protection. E`mails were sent to David Cameron

and bizarrely President Obama demanding that he be sacked. My

family don't deserve that. I have made choices about the job I have

taken, the calling that I have. The fact that they havea panic alarm in

the house and additional police presence is something that I have

had to come to terms with. I am prepared to take it and I will

protect them with my life. My pain and suffering is nothing to the

parents of a bereaved child. Somebody said to me I was courageous

in bringing that prosecution. The victims are the courageous people. I

just did my job. Nazir devotes much of his spare time to helping

charities, particularly ones at creating opportunities for

youngsters in deprived communities. But he's also responsible for a huge

legal team. 700 people across the region dealing annually with 10 ,000

prosecutions. We've the highest profile cases in the country. It's

not by accident, it's by design because we have taken on these

challenging cases. How many cases of historical sexual abuse are

currently on the books? There are dozens around the country and there

are more than a dozen here in the north`west of England. These figures

vary day`to`day depending on what day of the week it is. It's a

growing area of concern in the sense that more people are coming forward

with confidence and the courage to talk about their experiences, talk

about what happened to them. We re seeing more cases, the police are

seeing more referrals and we're taking more cases to court. That's

as it should be. Walking for charity isn't something

you'd associate with the Crown Prosecution Service but raising

money to provide free justice is another of his passions. Even if

today his heart isn't quite in it. I must admit I am exhausted today

Last night I didn't get home until ten o'clock. I was in the office at

seven and had a meeting at nine I am doing this walk this evening

Tomorrow it's a full`day's work I have to go to Middlesbrough in the

evening. I get home at three in the morning. Saturday night I have

another function to go to. Sunday hopefully is a day of rest and then

it starts off again on Monday. Mayor, how long are you going to be

walking with us? A couple of minutes. A couple of minutes? You

have the official car. I'm sure it'll come and pick you up. I used

to promote clubs when I was in London. What kind of clubs? House

and garage. Most people think house is where you live and a garage is

where you park your car. Actually I used to do house and garage music in

the early '90s. I love trance music and it really enables me to go off

in a world that I am not party to. At the same time I love the Beatles

and I am very eclectic when it comes to my music. It probably is the only

thing that enables me to switch off. I have have spent 20 years going to

court and I always feel a real sense of duty. When you see the tears of

witnesses and the tears of defendants and victims, it gets you

right here and I think from my perspective you need to do that to

see it's not just a paper job. There are real people involved and real

lives are impacted by what happens in this business.

We've got some amazing countryside here in the North West but all isn't

well with the state of our wildlife. A recent stock take by

conservationists showed that 60 of our species are in decline. That's a

pretty grim picture but as Judy Hobson found out in one part of

Lancashire, work continues to buck that trend.

In a world that seems increasingly fast and frantic, this place

represents an oasis of relative calm.

While many of our species appear to be struggling, wildlife in this

corner of North Lancashire is thriving.

The Leighton Moss nature reserve is approaching its 50th anniversary.

Half a century of conservation work which has created this on a site of

major importance for a diverse range of plants and animals.

It's a rich landscape with reed beds but also woodland, grassland,

freshwater and then habitats extending out to Morecambe Bay. This

young biology graduate has landed himself a plum job as one of the

RSPB's assistant wardens. When I was at university, I made the decision,

do I want to make lots of money or do I want to enjoy going to work? I

never want to get up and think, urgh, I've got to go to work today.

Every day I can't wait. I get on my bike, come here and just enjoy the

reserve an hour before work. I enjoy my breakfast here. It's an

absolutely amazing place. Alistair, along with the other wardens and

volunteers, have their work cut out. Most people come to the nature

reserve and think, this is a very nice environment. They couldn't be

further from the truth really. This reed bed that we're in at the

moment, if it was left to go, It'll dry out and every year it grows and

then dies back and it grows up a layer of soil. It dries out and

paves the way for trees like these willow to come in. In the winter we

cut vast areas of reed bed, rake all that off so that the organic layer

doesn't build`up. The reserve opened in 1964. On the odd occasion, film

crews captured a slice of life. Here in 1979, they are given a helping

hand as the weather hits hard and in the previous summer, John Wilson

evangelised about some of the smaller creatures. One of the most

interesting groups are the moths. We've in total 300 different species

of moths here. We study them by catching them. We use this trap

which is a very bright light and it tracks the moths because most of

them fly after dark. Alistair now carries on with this great

tradition. If I take one of the egg boxes out, I will show you the

different species. Just there, look how hairy he is?

This is an elephant hawk moth. Very common garden species of moth. You

can see how beautiful it's. `` it is. There's a different type

here. You can see they are from the same family. They're the same shape,

just different type of habitats This one is more suited to the

floral areas and this one is more suited to the brick areas. There's

another amazing one that looks like a twig. This is a buff tip. As an

indicator species of a reed bed these species are doing very well.

We're getting newspecies every year and the number of moths we're

catching is staying fairly stable. On this reserve, they are doing

pretty well. Elsewhere, they aren't doing so well. These aren't flying

away because they are too cold to fly at the moment. They'll be using

the heat from my hands to warm up their wings. Shaking so they warm

their muscles up in their wings There you go. Amazing.

For the human visitors, the big attraction is the birds. The variety

is astonishing and the mood, not always so calm.

If you like bird`watching, if you can get here in spring or early

summer, there is one great find The beautiful Avocet. With its

distinctive up curved beak, it's one of the great success stories of

British conservation and now the emblem of the RSPB. It disappeared

from Britain until the 1940s when it returned to East Anglia. Over time,

it's moved up north. David has been involved with the

RSPB for almost 50 years. All last night's catch will be in that bottle

there. Every day for the last 1 years, he's had a special task at

Leighton Moss. He counts the number of visitors arriving from the sea

and entering the freshwater around the reedbeds. Another 15 or so

there. There's one slightly thicker one there. It'll be a feast that is

a little older. Eels are slippery. There's a big one. There's a

whopper. That will be three years old. This is one of the most

detailed studies anywhere in the country. To be honest, the movements

are so complex that the more I study this subject, the more confused I

become. I guess I'll have to be here still studying eels when I am 1 0

years old. I have a very special bird here which is a heron which is

extremely rare and it only lives in these unique reedbeds. They've been

trained over the centuries and they depend on this habitat. Eels are an

important item in their diet. Eels are the important diet for birds

like herons, egrets and otters which are also thriving here.

Spotting birds at the reserve is easy enough although some, like the

bearded tits, are more elusive. You can always take it easy and observe

life from the comfort of the cafe. Webcams offer images of bearded tits

glamping here in their stylish man made nests. And then there are the

slightly geeky marsh harrier chicks. To be honest, there is nothing

better than being out on location. Quite happy to see whatever there is

about. Especially this time of year. Even though we have seen a harrier

take a baby gull. There's lots of gulls. I was here once sitting

watching some babies and a heron flew down, grabbed a chick in his

mouth, swallowed it and flew off. All drama is here and there are

benefits for those looking on. Studies suggest working and living

amongst wildlife is good for your health. What else would we be doing?

Better than sitting in front of the television. It's happening live

They look amazing down the telescope. You don't get that. You

get good wildlife programmes on the television but to actually see it

through your own scope is amazing. Definitely different.

There was one instance where we were having a meeting in the visitor

centre and a visitor came running in so excited. They had been sitting

with the family and watched a red Deer give birth to a calf.

Absolutely amazing. That will stay with them for the rest of their life

and they got to experience that as a family at Leighton Moss. If we can

provide moments like that for people and that is why we are here really.

Didn't they look wonderful? That's all from us for this week but don't

forget you can catch us again on the BBC Iplayer and we're back the same

time next Monday. Until then, goodbye.

Next week, we discover the artist who has been called the Lowry of

Cumbria. He drew everything in sight all his life. It was compulsive He

couldn't not paint or draw. Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your

90 second update. Two women and four dogs have been found shot dead at a

house in Farnham. An 82-year-old dog breeder has been arrested on

suspicion of murder. He's been named locally as John Lowe.

Dave Lee Travis is to face a re-trial over two charges of

indecent assault and sexual assault. The former Radio One DJ was cleared

of 12 other offences earlier this month. He said his "nightmare goes

on". They call it a living hell. These

are the faces of men, women and children desperate for food. More

than 20,000 are trapped in a bombed-out area in Syria. Just 0

packets of food made it in today. We've a special report at