22/09/2014 Inside Out South

Tonight, a man who says he doesn't c`re.

The camera doesn't bother md.

You can put it on whatever TV you want.

I don't care.

Why money mattered in 1996.

Do you know what the Ecu is?

The what?

The Ecu.

The egg cube?

No.

And four people in a dark room who say no, ` lot.

No. No.

I don't like it.

No, thank you.

I'm John Cuthill and this is Inside Out for the South of England.

First tonight, disabled parking badges.

Obviously, the people who use them are disabled themselves.

It's not like anyone is going to try and use one

when they are not entitled to.

Surely.

We are going to meet liars...

He is going to rip me to shreds when I get home.

..cheats...

So why is there a disabled badge on your car?

Because it was put there.

By whom?

By the man in the sky.

..people who break the law...

Because I shouldn't be doing it basically.

The owner of that blue badgd has been dead for the last two xears.

We are following parking enforcers.

most vulnerable drivers.

`` They are on the trail of fraudsters who abuse the rights of

Portsmouth's

most vulnerable drivers.

It is a type of fraud that goes largely tnnoticed

and yet it happens in plain sight, it happens in every town.

And almost all offenders get away with it.

There are just a handful of disabled parking bays in Portsmouth.

Parked behind this wheelchahr user is a brand`new white sports car

The blue badge allowing fred parking is registered to an 85`year`old man

with limited mobility.

The car is owned by a 23`year`old woman.

A quick check reveals the badge was stolen.

The blue badge is not valid.

It is a criminal offence behng in possession of a stolen article and

it is a criminal offence to display a blue badge that is not valid.

So we will remove the vehicle, we will interview the person under

caution and possible prosecttion.

We will meet the driver but not for a few hours.

Across the city centre, council parking enforcer Stephen Goodall

has found a woman who is lyhng about the blue badge in her car

For half an hour, she claims her disabled husband

is stuck in a toilet nearby.

I have had a phone call from what I believed

to be the badge holder.

It is not.

It then turns out it is her son

He has given me two telephone calls saying he is stuck in the toilet,

that he cannot get out.

In fact, he is sitting at home.

With us is Helen Dolphin, a disabled motoring campaigner.

She wants to confront peopld who prevent her from parking

and persuade them to change their attitude.

So you did not think for ond minute how difficult you could be laking it

for another disabled person that has not been able to park?

If I had seen someone else that was going to park...

The woman eventually admits she has been to the hairdresser

I know it is stupid, it is for a hair cut, but I have

been saving, I am on benefits..

But the car is almost new.

The blue badge is confiscatdd.

What is it going to mean now, for your husband, having no badge?

Well, he is going to rip me to shreds when I get home.

Really rip me to shreds.

Across the road, a wheelchahr user has to pay for a parking sp`ce.

I think it just goes to show the lengths that people go to to try

to avoid a parking fee and, you know, she has made up so many lies.

We have been waiting here for ages.

She was insistent that her husband was in the toilet

when clearly he was not.

As a general rule, you're looking at about ?1000.

The fact that she has gone to those lengths to lie to me and concoct

a story and to get her son to say that he is someone else, th`t has

made the matter how a lot worse

Helen lost all her limbs to meningitis.

She runs a charity which helps drivers with disabilities.

Hello!

Lots of people with much more severe disabilities than me can drhve

but if you get to your desthnation and you cannot park

then it makes life very, very difficult and some people

will smash windows of cars to get a

blue badge or look online to see if they can buy badges.

They will go to pubs to find badges, just so they can avoid paying

a couple of quid for their parking fees or park a bit closer

when they go to the supermarket

It is just ridiculous.

Nationally, blue badge fraud is thought to cost councils ?44

million per year in lost revenue.

In Portsmouth, it is ?500,000 per year.

Here comes a regular offendor.

He is using his ex`wife's blue badge.

OK, so what I am going to ask you to do is surrender

the badge over to me yet ag`in.

Stephen knows him well.

And he confiscates the badgd.

I very much doubt that the badge will be reissued.

Make her aware of that.

Helen tackles him.

Do you not consider when you park like that that you are

really depriving so many people

It is my ex`wife's badge.

Yes, I do know.

She is disabled.

That makes it even worse.

Do you not think?

Yes, it does.

You just keep doing it.

When are you going to stop?

Well, obviously now.

No choice!

Some people park in disabled bays to avoid paying ?1 for a ticket

You are parked in a disabled bay.

Are you a blue badge holder?

No, I am not.

I am just picking up my partner

Is she a blue badge holder?

No, she is not.

So why are you parked in a disabled bay?

There are plenty of other spaces here and if a disabled person

pulled up, I would pull up straightaway and let them p`rk.

There is a car park right ndxt to you with plenty of spaces.

Yes, but I am not intending to park.

I'm not getting out of the vehicle, I am just here for a couple

of minutes.

You have been here for about ten minutes.

I don't think so, about fivd.

Remember the white sports car that was towed away?

The owner has turned up at the City Council offices to pay

a fine and get the vehicle back

I'm not disabled.

I put it on.

It is nothing to do with her.

Before she can talk, her boyfriend interrupts to explain

where the badge came from.

Are you a registered disabled person?

No.

So why is there a disabled badge on your car.

Because it was put there.

By whom?

By the man in the sky.

I don't have to say.

The camera doesn't bother md.

So you can put it on whatevdr TV you want to, I really don't care.

So is it a responsible thing to do, to park on a disabled badge?

I don't care.

Why don't you care?

Down the road, parking officers have spent all day

watching a Renault close to a shopping centre.

It belongs to a local man btt the blue badge is registered to someone

who lives hundreds of miles away.

Here is the real kicker,

the blue badge owner has bedn dead for two years.

It costs ?10 per day to park here so using a blue badge could save

the driver ?2500 per year.

Obviously with the badge holder being deceased, there is absolutely

no genuine reason for that badge to be in use in that vehicle.

It is a serious dishonesty charge and carries a fine of up to ?5, 00.

Or alternatively they could also be charged under section 2 of the

Fraud Act or false representation.

A few hours later, the owner shows up.

He tells Helen that the badge belongs to his mother

Are you with her now?

Are you taking her to the shops

No, to be honest I didn't rdalise I had the badge on display.

Oh, right.

She is up in the north`east at the moment.

So you just bought a parking ticket as well?

I can't remember, to be hondst.

I was surprised when I got back and my car was not there.

According to the records, the owner of that blue badgd has

been dead for the last two xears.

Well, then, no...

My mother has not been dead for the last 2 years.

So why did the official records of the badge registered to

your car show that the owner of that badge is deceased?

I don't know.

We leave the parking enforcers to deal with him.

They have checked the records and eventually he changes his story

The badge belonged to his f`ther and he died years ago.

It is completely astounding, really.

First of all we hear that it is his mother's badge

and she is fine and well and then we actually discover it is his dad s

badge and his dad is dead.

He has been here all day, while he has been at work,

using a badge of someone th`t died a couple of years ago and doesn't seem

the least bit ashamed of hilself.

People have got to learn th`t they cannot carry on doing this

You know, it is cheating evdryone.

It is cheating society, cheating the council

and cheating disabled peopld.

And I am sure you have got something to say on that.

Next tonight, we are Better Together.

Scotland has spoken.

So now is as good a time as any to celebrate our nationalithes

and remember what it means to be English here in the South.

There is just something about the South of England.

Dickens.

Austin.

The dreaming spires of Oxford.

Blue cheese, the giant, Thomas Hardy.

The Spitfire!

Of course, the Spitfire!

Rolls`Royce, Stonehenge, even our rocks are better.

Although some of those are from Wales but...

We create, we invent, we inspire, we produce.

But what we don't do is makd the laws which run our own little

bit of Great Britain.

But that could be about to change, thanks to

a little something you might have heard about up in Scotland.

I have long believed that a crucial part missing from this

national discussion is Engl`nd.

We have heard the voice of Scotland and now the millions of voices

of England must also be heard.

Winchester, the old capital of Wessex.

At one time, decisions made here ruled the land, England.

Should there be an English Parliament for Engl`nd?

Yes.

I speak as a Scot.

Have you asked the right person !

No, I do not.

Can I ask you a quick questhon about whether there should be

an English Parliament.

No, no, no.

Why not?

We have got Europe, regions, Westminster, the counties, the city,

we don't want any more.

John Redwood disagrees.

What is good enough for Scotland is good enough for England.

We will have a devolved parliament, just like Scotland.

There will be an English national view on what the

level of income tax should be, or what capital gains tax should be.

Now that we are moving into a world where Scotland will have thd right

to choose her own income tax and her own capital gains tax, we w`nt a

national rate and we do not think it should be settled by Scottish MPs

coming down to Westminster telling us what our income tax will be.

If they are not going to be paying themselves.

Just because we are still altogether does not necessarily

mean that everyone is happy.

You see, devolution does not just apply to countries.

It can affect regions or even counties.

There is one political partx, albeit a small one, that is deadly

serious about reforming Wessex.

That is Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Isle of Wight, Hampshire,

Somerset and Wiltshire, and running it as a separatd state.

The Wessex Regionalists are campaigning for autonomy for Wessex,

which is a region of approxhmately 6 million people, that is 1,000 000

more than Scotland.

And we did a study many years ago which verified that all

the income generated in the region of Wessex more than covered for all

its needs for pensions and so on, once you have got rid of all the

taxes to Westminster and Brtssels.

In other words, all that money stays in a rdgion,

does not go to people who are going to thieve it and tell us wh`t we can

and cannot do with it.

Public spending would be decided at the most local level possible.

Parish councils would have sovereign power.

So no larger gathering of county council or region`l

assembly would be able to tdll the parishes what they can and lust do.

They will be constrained to deliver what the parishes

tell them they must have.

I would just think it would be small chaos, it really would.

People would only look after their own selves, their own littld parts.

And we cannot really have that, we need to work as one unit, rdally.

As most of the money comes from the Government, it has to be

centrally acknowledged that decisions have to be made there

Back in 1996, it was the Isle of Wight making a break for frdedom.

Coins were minted and local news reporters were sent out to spend

the proposed new currency.

I would like a coffee, please.

Do you accept ECUs?

Is that from Jersey?

No, it is an ECU from the Isle of Wight.

An ECU from the Isle of Wight?

So, it?s funny money from the Isle of Wight?

Well, we can give you a beefburger for it if that is any good.

20 years on, what does the man behind devolution on the

Isle of Wight think about it today?

We presented to the Governmdnt an Island Apart case,

because we were feeling we never got anywhere with grants, and wd were

never recognised as an offshore island with all the problems

which came with an offshore island.

We felt we could attract in finance institutions, banks, building

societies, create jobs, if we had a certain amount of independence.

Whilst the Isle of Wight did not manage to establish independence,

now it is cities looking to run their own affairs, in the hope it

will boost their economies.

The first point is, we want a very effective st`te,

and that has to be local.

Secondly, if we create this effective local

state, we feel it should have genuine tax`raising powers.

It should have, we believe, the right to control the property

taxes in its area, from stalp duty to council tax to business rates.

We also feel that the case for a local income tax is mdrited.

And actually, once the servhces are integrated, your taxation c`n be

related to the services you receive.

ResPublica?s research relatds to Britain's nine so`called core

cities, which are pushing to be the country 's main economic hubs.

But smaller cities wants to be in the driving seat, too.

So they are on the road to reform under the banner of key cithes.

Portsmouth is one of those places putting itsdlf

forward as a potential key city

So, what difference will that actually make?

Time to find out.

Key cities wants to be mastdrs of their own ship, making ddcisions

locally which are normally out of their remit, because thex are

dictated by government policy.

I would really like more control over road

infrastructure, over schools ` that is really important, that wd can

improve educational outcomes for people in the city of Portslouth.

I also want more control ovdr planning`type issues,

so that we are not dictated to by overarching national planning

legislation, which can affect some areas more than others.

I have inherited a local edtcation authority which actually is very

poorly performing, it has bden for a decade, and I would reallx like,

through the Localism Act and through devolution of power from thd

Department of Education, to really get in there and sort out

the schools in Portsmouth and make the very much`needed changes.

Is there an argument for brhnging back that sort of thing, whdre more

decisions are made locally and the budgets are held locally?

No, I think it should stay `s it is.

Should not have local ones because there will always be arguments.

I think devolved government to different parts

of the country is inevitabld, so yes, I think a degree of devolvement

should be part of the futurd, yes.

Leave everything as it is.

Why?

Because it is going all right at the moment.

The devolution revolution is here.

We might be taking the scenic route to constitttional

change, but at least, being British, we are doing it in style.

And don't forget, you can fhnd us on Twitter at Inside Out Sotth.

Now, finally tonight, the whnners of the National Open Art Competition

are due to be announced shortly

The event, which is based in Chichester, attracts entrants

from across the country.

We followed three artists from the south.

Move over, London, Paris, Ndw York.

There is a new city in town, working hard to claim its place

on the art world map.

And this is only the cathedral.

There is the Pallant House Gallery, with its collection

of modern art to give galleries the world over a run for their loney.

All of it donated over the past 30 years, and all of it in Chichester.

And just up the road, Goodwood House, a work of art

in its own right and the falily seat of the man behind the plan to have

Chichester officially recognised as a key cultural centre by 202 .

Well, the vision is that Chhchester would be seen primarily as ` city

of the arts.

That would be the first thing you think of

when you hear the word Chichester.

And a big part of that drivd is the National Open Art Competition.

Started by the Chichester Arts Trust, it is now in its 18th year.

One of the judges this year is Royal Academician Norman Ackroyd.

When you come to a different part of the country,

other than London or somethhng, you find that there are wonderful

things going on all over Brhtain.

And things come in front of you ` fantastic, really.

Now, Chichester is determindd to put itself on the art map `

do you think it can, do you think it can make its mark?

I think it can.

It has got a great gallery in Chichester, Pallant Housd `

a lot of artists live in this part of the world.

So, yes, of course it can, but you need a group

of people to really work at it.

It is quite interesting, re`lly I have never judged an exhibition

in this part of the world bdfore.

Greg Gilbert from Southampton is one of the 3,600 entries this ydar.

By day, or possibly night, he is the front man of the band Ddlays.

But his other love involves getting busy with a Biro,

creating microscopic portrahts.

But working on such small images has its drawbacks.

I get a lot of headaches dohng it.

And it is a strain on the exes.

I kind of, I get one walk a day I take the dog for a walk,

and the world is a bright, wonderful place for however long you

are out and about.

And then it is back down to it.

Last year, Greg entered and won the Best in the South of England

category in the National Opdn Art Competition, with this thred`inch

drawing entitled Boscombe Pher.

Winning got him the attention of the Royal Academy, and they chose this

as part of their summer exhhbition.

It?s a little drawing of ond of the tsar's friends, and originally there

were two, and I messed up the one on the right, so I had to trim it down!

This year, Greg has tweaked his winning Biro formula, inspired

by Victorian relief postcards and scenes from his childhood.

That?s me, and that?s my cotsin

And that was my favourite shirt

This is in St Denys.

They used to have the balloon festival which would take off

on the Common, and the balloons would come down really, really low.

Are you pleased at how the the 3D has come to life,

because this is the first thme you have tried a 3D version of ht?

I would say I am as happy as I am going to get with it.

Step forward contestant number two, Sarah Shaw from Hove,

who is using Rorschach?s inkblot tests for inspiration.

This series of work is based on replicated imagery,

random replicated imagery, made by putting ink on one side

of the paper, squishing it...

Oh, a butterfly!

Lift it, here we go...

Mysterious forest, I think.

Yeah, cool!

Sarah uses the same method to create two mirror image canvases,

then works with a brush.

This is one of Sarah's entrhes The Watcher and the Watched.

And that came from one of those blottests that you were

doing last time we saw you?

The floor was covered with them

Yeah, to be honest, this started because, I think it had

been in my head anyway, the idea of the watcher and the watched, but

those ears were the two things that I just kind of saw in the blottest

and then kind of responded to that.

Gina Soden is a photographer inspired by decaying old buhldings.

Having won Emerging Artist of the Year last year with this

the plan now is to record this soon`to`be demolished

Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport.

I think this was the old A

It is really interesting, the old courtyard.

Yes, it is pretty good.

It would be good if we could get in.

Look what I have got.

Oh, my god, really?

Wow!

Quick!

Ah, brilliant.

Peeling paint heaven, and, wow!

An old ward, I think.

Fantastic.

This is great.

I would photograph about six exposures.

Later on I merge them and then I do some colour toning as well just to

get generally what my eye c`n see.

Because the camera can make it a bit flat, especially

if the light is a bit flat `s well.

How big a deal are competithons for you?

Do they open doors?

Very much so.

I have entered quite a few `nd I have had some really good rdsults,

and I have had my work in several clubs because of it.

Having the competitions, thd wins, to your name,

really does add a bit of emphasis to your career, that you are

extraordinarily passionate `bout.

It is judging time, and Norman Ackroyd is joined

by fellow Royal Academician Chris Orr, along with photographer

Caroline Irby and art collector Vanessa Branson ` shortlisthng 00

entries out of 3,600.

When an image comes up and xou have been looking at work for ye`rs,

and you have got an experienced eye, you can always tell in

a second whether it is good or not.

Then sometimes you think, I need to look at that,

so you look at it for a bit longer.

Judges have a maximum of eight seconds for each entry

No, and...

No.

Thank you.

And...

Anyone?

I do not like it.

No, thank you.

Then, it is Greg's Biro minhature.

Miniature Biro drawing.

I would quite like to see it.

It is tiny.

It could be really interesthng, as a three`dimensional object.

It is set forward by some khnd of device.

Yes, it?s a three`dimensional object

OK.

Greg has been shortlisted.

Sarah is next.

In the end, she submitted four paintings.

We?re back to Wolves, are wd?

Folding canvas.

What about going for the carousel and the bo`t?

I think we should have the wolf as well.

OK.

What are we going for?

One, two, and three.

Finally, Gina, whose photographs of decayed

buildings seem to be going well

That is strange.

Very beautiful.

So, yes to number one.

Number two is definite.

And she is through.

All three of our artists have made it to the final whittling down.

Out of 500 shortlisted, onlx 12 pieces end up being chosen for

the National Open Art Competition.

And this year, it is not such good news for Greg.

No.

There are some fantastic works which are not chosen, and even I, as

the chairman, am disappointdd with some of the works which havd not

been chosen, but I am not a judge.

So, it is absolutely fair, they do not know who the artist is,

it is completely anonymous, and they put together a show which,

every year, seems to work ott as a fantastic show.

On some of them, you think that they have made their minds just

as they are coming up to thd table.

Others, they are really intdrested, they want to have a look, lhke,

to look at the detail.

Up next, Sarah Shaw.

And she?s through.

Keep those two.

These are...

These two are yes.

Two, two, two.

And two of Jena 's photographs have also made it into the exhibhtion.

The yes and the no that we gave to the different works was not a yes,

that is brilliant and no, that is dreadful, it was just, yes, we like

it, no, we don't, yes, this is going to work in the whole exhibition with

the other works we have seldcted, or no, it isn't.

A young artist should put in for this kind of competition,

especially under`25s.

If they get into an exhibithon at Somerset House, at Pallant

House, and they have got thdir name as a prizewinner, it gives them ..

Any kind of encouragement is very valuable

when you are in your early 20s.

Having had to leave out so lany entries worthy of an exhibition

artist Chris Orr has a mess`ge for the arts outside London.

We need a lot more venues which show work outside of London.

We need a lot more encouragdment.

Please note, Arts Council, the regional policy is really

important, and it should be what we think of as a whole national thing,

not just London and a littld bit on the side in the country!

This art exhibition is now the premier art exhibition hn the

country, with the biggest prize and with a huge number of 3,600 entries.

And the winners of the competition are due to be

announced at the end of this week.

That?s it for now.

Don't forget the e`mail...

And I will see you next timd.

Next week on Inside Out, I will be trying to find out why Portsmouth

is one of the most dangerous places to cycle in the South.

You kind of take your lives into your hands every day you cycle

in Portsmouth.

Hello, I'm Sam Naz with your 90-second update.

14-year-old Alice Gross went missing three weeks ago.

Today, police carried out a finger-tip search of

the canal where she was last seen.

600 officers, from eight forces are working on the case.

There is trouble at Tesco.

It has overestimated its profits by a quarter of a billion pounds.

Four bosses have been suspended

Shares have plummeted.

A new focus for Thai police looking into

the murder of two British tourists.

They plan to test the DNA of every man on the island where David Miller

and Hannah Witheridge died.

It is thought they were attacked by two Asian men.

Arranging a sham gay wedding to get someone UK citizenship.

A BBC investigation has found gangs will organise it for ?10,000.

It is thought up to 30% of same-sex marriages are fake.

Got any spare cash?

The Royal Mint is encouraging people to invest in gold or silver

by launching a website to trade them online.

You can keep it in their vaults or opt for home delivery.

Hello, I'm Rob Powell, with your headlines in the South.

Claims of contaminated diesdl at this Tesco petrol station

in Poole are being investig`ted by the supermarket.

Motorists say their cars broke down after filling up