:00:07. > :00:13.Welcome to Inside Out. On tonight's programme, when renting goes wrong.
:00:13. > :00:18.The private landlords refusing to put things right for their tenants.
:00:18. > :00:25.Looking around, there is something under that unit. It is wrapped
:00:25. > :00:31.poison. Rat poison? Running out of food, the charity
:00:31. > :00:37.that offers emergency help to people going hungry in the Midlands.
:00:37. > :00:43.Are you starting at times? Definitely. -- staffing at times.
:00:43. > :00:48.Was like really like this? We paid tribute to the Worcestershire
:00:48. > :00:58.cricketer who helped change the world. He was remarkable because he
:00:58. > :01:06.
:01:06. > :01:10.played his first season at 65 and Welcome to Worcester where this
:01:10. > :01:14.week a memorial service will be held for the cricketer Basil
:01:14. > :01:18.d'Oliveira. We will be telling his story later in the programme. We
:01:18. > :01:22.would begin with news that complaints about private rented
:01:22. > :01:26.accommodation in this region have hit an all-time high. It is the job
:01:26. > :01:34.of local authorities to help put things right but tracing the rogue
:01:34. > :01:39.landlords is not always easy. During the hard times, there is one
:01:39. > :01:43.business that keeps growing, that is the private rental market. The
:01:44. > :01:47.good times are always have a downside. Over the last three years,
:01:47. > :01:55.the number of complaints against private landlords in the West
:01:55. > :02:00.Midlands has gone up by more than 25%. Being one of the thousands of
:02:00. > :02:10.unhappy tenants is not easy. Looking around, there is something
:02:10. > :02:14.under that unit? It is actually wrapped poison. Rat poison?! That
:02:14. > :02:23.is obviously really upsetting. With numbers of people renting are set
:02:23. > :02:28.to rise by 20% in the next five years, things could get a lot worse.
:02:28. > :02:32.This couple have been having problems since they moved in in
:02:32. > :02:42.Birmingham which cost them �400 a month. Kelly it is seven months
:02:42. > :02:44.
:02:44. > :02:53.pregnant. This is the partition which... It has not been finished.
:02:53. > :02:57.You can see daylight. We do not know what these wires are for.
:02:57. > :03:05.should not have wires in a bathroom! We have also got damp in
:03:05. > :03:11.here. Again, the walls is coming awake. All of the skirting is
:03:11. > :03:16.coming off. The damp is reaching up to the ceiling. It is an
:03:16. > :03:21.overwhelming feeling of damp that you feel as you walk around. Kelly
:03:21. > :03:25.is stuck. Although the letting agent has said they can leave if
:03:25. > :03:28.they are unhappy, she has not got the money for a deposit and first
:03:29. > :03:35.month's rent on another property. They said they would let us out
:03:35. > :03:39.early because we have been complaining. They also said in a
:03:40. > :03:45.letter that it is not ideal for a child. But they know we do not have
:03:45. > :03:51.the money. You have got a file thick of letters and documents. You
:03:52. > :03:58.have been really fighting to try and get this sorted. Yes. But you
:03:58. > :04:02.are still so -- stuck in this damp flat? You will get there. You feel
:04:02. > :04:12.confident it will happen? It has been a long fight. It is obviously
:04:12. > :04:15.
:04:15. > :04:19.It is not dustpan ands in Birmingham have been problems. This
:04:19. > :04:26.man is an environmental health officer in Stoke-on-Trent. Day-in,
:04:26. > :04:30.day-out, he sorts out problems with private landlords and tenantss.
:04:30. > :04:35.have a work load about 45 complaints a month. What does not
:04:35. > :04:40.help at this moment is the financial situation. Everybody is
:04:40. > :04:44.feeling the pinch. I do not doubt that landlords are in the same
:04:44. > :04:51.position and maybe it is the fact that they are not living with in
:04:51. > :04:57.the property, they do not see the need and the problems directly.
:04:57. > :05:01.They hope that the problem will may be just go away. But with this man
:05:01. > :05:06.on the job, the problem will not go away. He is taking me to meet some
:05:06. > :05:16.of his current cases. On the face of it, there does not look too much
:05:16. > :05:17.
:05:17. > :05:26.wrong. But the landlord has failed What is the problem with it? A few
:05:26. > :05:30.things. Sockets, holes in walls. No doors. That is quite an interesting
:05:30. > :05:36.accessory you have on the side of your cooker. What is that about?
:05:36. > :05:41.I have got no lighting it in here. You have a socket in the middle of
:05:41. > :05:46.the ceiling? And there are no internal doors, even on the
:05:46. > :05:51.bathroom. No handrail on the stairs. Under the sink is broken. What kind
:05:51. > :05:55.of reaction do you get when you ask him to put these things right?
:05:55. > :06:01.you do not like it, go. You can find somewhere else to live.
:06:01. > :06:07.that an option? Not really. not? Because I do not want to move
:06:07. > :06:12.again. I have moved a few times in the past two years. I just want to
:06:12. > :06:22.stay where I am. As long as he get the jobs done, it would be a nice
:06:22. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:29.house. We could get decorating. Thank you. Good luck. What will
:06:29. > :06:35.happen with the landlord now? main problem is that we have got a
:06:35. > :06:41.large paper trail to catch up on. I have got seven addresses. Seven?!
:06:41. > :06:45.They are all interlinked. It is time-consuming and painstaking work
:06:45. > :06:55.to try and track down misbehaving landlords. One of his almost long-
:06:55. > :06:59.
:07:00. > :07:03.running cases is this house. -- one of his long-running cases. I am at
:07:03. > :07:08.your property at are arranged appointment time. Please give us a
:07:08. > :07:14.call back as soon as possible. Thank you very much. It turns out
:07:14. > :07:18.that the tenant has left. Not surprisingly. It is quite a unique
:07:18. > :07:23.property and that the alterations inside are so dramatic. It is
:07:23. > :07:31.beginning to look like a rubbish dump. There is no actual division
:07:31. > :07:38.between living spaces, kitchen or bedrooms. It is all open plan?
:07:38. > :07:48.Everything is totally open plan. What was he using as a wall? He has
:07:48. > :07:48.
:07:48. > :07:55.used and the remnants are here. 25 millimetre Installation Board. --
:07:55. > :08:05.insulation board. His palette is part of his stairs. Part of his
:08:05. > :08:08.
:08:08. > :08:13.des?! To get the right level on the stairs he has inserted palates in
:08:13. > :08:19.order to make a different height on the staircase. It is quite unique.
:08:19. > :08:23.It has all been tied together with string at the back. Extraordinary
:08:23. > :08:27.does not even begin to cover it. Have you seen anything like this
:08:27. > :08:33.before? Never. I do not think I will ever see anything like this
:08:33. > :08:39.every game. Nor do I want to, to be quite honest. At my estimation,
:08:39. > :08:43.there is probably a bit -- possibility in excess of 30 dozen
:08:43. > :08:48.pounds of repairs required just to make the house habitable. --
:08:48. > :08:54.�30,000 of repairs. Cases like this are rare. Over 50% of rented
:08:54. > :08:59.accommodation meets the regulations for home standards. The majority of
:08:59. > :09:03.landlords are doing their job. Bob Kelly in Birmingham, the
:09:03. > :09:06.situation goes on. Her and her car at -- partner have left their flat
:09:06. > :09:15.with their three-month old girl and a living in temporary accommodation.
:09:15. > :09:23.How do you feel about way you are now? Can they do and our old house,
:09:23. > :09:27.this is good for us! It is a lot of better -- compared to our old house.
:09:27. > :09:32.We have forgotten about all the problems. What about the
:09:32. > :09:37.possibility of going back? I will not go back. Simple as. What advice
:09:37. > :09:43.would you give to people who need somewhere to live and are thinking
:09:43. > :09:49.about renting from a private landlord? What would we say to them
:09:50. > :09:55.-- what we do say to them? Go and check it out before. Watched that
:09:55. > :10:04.people do not take advantage. We had no way to go. We signed the
:10:04. > :10:07.contract. They took advantage of us. Sound advice from one of the 86,000
:10:07. > :10:17.tents back complaint last year about their rented accommodation.
:10:17. > :10:23.
:10:23. > :10:28.If you are looking for a place, Like a rooftop over our heads, food
:10:28. > :10:33.is something that most of us take for granted. An estimated 4 million
:10:33. > :10:37.people in the UK are living in what as described as food poverty. The
:10:37. > :10:44.charities that are trying to feed them are struggling to keep up. A
:10:44. > :10:47.man who runs a soup kitchen in commentary tells us the story. --
:10:47. > :10:52.in Coventry. Starving Britain, something you
:10:52. > :10:57.associate with days long gone. of the time it is some noodles a
:10:57. > :11:02.day. It is sounds too far-fetched in this day and age. There are some
:11:02. > :11:07.mothers who go without food so that their children can eat. I cannot
:11:07. > :11:17.believe it. I know it is true and help from charities can only go so
:11:17. > :11:22.
:11:22. > :11:27.far. That should last someone two Every week you will find me here
:11:27. > :11:35.feeding the homeless and the hungry. Get in the queue, please. Recently,
:11:35. > :11:40.the queues have been getting longer. I want to find out why. Now, I'm am
:11:40. > :11:44.no angel. But I am working overtime on this with Mike charity. We are
:11:44. > :11:49.not the only ones who are busy. Food banks like this one in
:11:49. > :11:58.Coventry are inundated. Volunteers are feeding around 150 miles every
:11:58. > :12:01.week. These people are really desperate -- 150 mouths. Half of
:12:01. > :12:06.whom we feed our children. Some people would say that they do not
:12:06. > :12:10.believe that is happening in this modern-day society in this country?
:12:10. > :12:15.In the city, we know that 20% of the population, about 59,000 people,
:12:15. > :12:25.are living on the breadline. After paying for fuel, food and
:12:25. > :12:30.
:12:30. > :12:34.everything else, they have nothing So who are these hidden hungry? I
:12:34. > :12:37.meet the team-year-old Alisha. Her �53 a week jobseeker's allowance
:12:38. > :12:44.was stopped 10 days ago because she forgot to bring an essential
:12:44. > :12:52.document. So tell me a bit about how you are living? Most of the
:12:52. > :12:59.time, it is a pack of Super noodles the day, which is 17 p. I just pull
:12:59. > :13:06.them with the cattle. I don't have a cooker or microwave. And are you
:13:06. > :13:14.getting any help? My mum is looking after my son, so she can't feed me
:13:14. > :13:19.as well. So not much. What have you got in your cupboards? If we went
:13:19. > :13:29.into your kitchen now, what have you got in your cupboards? At the
:13:29. > :13:31.
:13:31. > :13:34.moment, a few pounds and a tub of margarine. -- a few pounds.
:13:34. > :13:42.militia has got enough to keep her going for three days. She is one of
:13:42. > :13:48.the lucky ones today. Clare has got five children, and feeding them is
:13:48. > :13:53.her priority. How bad is it at its worst? At its worst, it could be I
:13:54. > :13:58.am thinking, what will last until next week when I get paid again. It
:13:58. > :14:04.could be three or four days until that happens. I have to find things
:14:04. > :14:09.to put together. That is how it is. Have you ever found yourself having
:14:09. > :14:16.to go without food yourself so that the family can eat? Yes, on
:14:16. > :14:20.occasion. It is hard to say that, but yes. Oxfam says one in seven
:14:20. > :14:28.poor people and the West Midlands regularly go without food to insure
:14:28. > :14:33.their families can eat. Food prices are 11% higher in real terms than
:14:33. > :14:37.five years ago. But most benefits will rise by more than 5% from
:14:37. > :14:43.April, in line with September's inflation figures. The Chancellor
:14:43. > :14:47.says that will significantly boost incomes of the poorest. I know we
:14:47. > :14:54.are seeing real desperation here. What really bugs me is that people
:14:54. > :14:56.are thinking these lot are spongers, or that they don't exist. People
:14:56. > :15:02.like the former Conservative minister Edwina Currie, who refuses
:15:02. > :15:08.to believe that there is anyone going hungry in this country. I had
:15:08. > :15:12.a run-in with her not so long ago on a five live debate about poverty.
:15:12. > :15:21.People are so desperate that their children eat the food before it
:15:21. > :15:26.comes out of the packets. I'm sorry, but it can't... It this is real!
:15:26. > :15:30.Don't get hysterical. But do others except this is happening? Yes, I
:15:30. > :15:34.believe it. I think it is disgusting that people in this day
:15:34. > :15:38.engaged should be starving, and families that can't afford to feed
:15:38. > :15:41.the kids, that is disgusting. told you there were some others who
:15:41. > :15:46.had to force themselves not to eat in order to give their children
:15:46. > :15:51.something to eat, would you believe it? I wouldn't think it is
:15:51. > :15:55.necessary. There is a safety net for them. I am telling you there
:15:55. > :16:01.are some mothers who go without food so that their children can eat.
:16:01. > :16:07.I can't believe it. So, some need to see more evidence. I don't have
:16:07. > :16:12.to look far. Sam's turned up at my soup kitchen with his girlfriend.
:16:12. > :16:17.He says he has recently become homeless. Are you starting at
:16:17. > :16:21.times? Definitely. Are you eating a lot less than you are used to?
:16:21. > :16:26.Definitely. I have a healthy appetite normally, but I'm cutting
:16:26. > :16:32.down because we haven't got any money. I you're looking for work?
:16:32. > :16:38.Definitely. I want the job. A daily? If somebody gave you a job
:16:38. > :16:42.today, would you bite their hand- off for it? Easily. Although leg,
:16:42. > :16:47.or whatever. Everything I see tells me there are more hungry people out
:16:47. > :16:52.there. Surely there is someone in charge keeping count. It is quite
:16:52. > :16:56.hard to be clear about it, to say yes, there are 20% more, or
:16:56. > :17:02.whatever, and that is because in Britain we don't have irregular
:17:02. > :17:07.system for monitoring who is going hungry or whether people are living
:17:07. > :17:12.in food poverty. And Professor Darra is not convinced that the
:17:12. > :17:16.government is doing enough. My fear is that it gets left to food banks.
:17:16. > :17:23.I am not against what you do in giving out free food to people who
:17:23. > :17:28.need it. People are hungry. They need to be fed, of course. But if
:17:28. > :17:33.that becomes the answer, that is a totally inadequate sticking-plaster
:17:33. > :17:38.that will not solve the problem. can't believe that there is no
:17:38. > :17:44.official measure. I want to talk to someone in Government about this,
:17:44. > :17:54.but it appears that everyone is too busy. So instead, I have got a
:17:54. > :18:11.
:18:11. > :18:17.statement from Defra. A So, the Government is keeping an
:18:17. > :18:22.eye on things. But is it going far enough? I think, without charity, a
:18:22. > :18:27.lot of people would start. After the intervention of the food bank,
:18:27. > :18:34.and Leisha's cupboards are full. Her jobseeker's allowance has been
:18:34. > :18:40.reinstated. But she is still living hand to mouth. I would normally
:18:40. > :18:47.have a lot more food and less snacks. If you could afford to eat,
:18:47. > :18:54.would that be what you would buy? Definitely not. I would buy a lot
:18:54. > :19:02.better stuff that would fill me up. What would you prefer to eat?
:19:02. > :19:07.would rather be able to come good dinner -- Cook a dinner. But I
:19:07. > :19:11.can't afford to buy all the stuff. The sad case is that there is not
:19:11. > :19:16.just one of her. There are hundreds and thousands of people living that
:19:16. > :19:23.sort of existence. That is what it is, an existence. There is no
:19:23. > :19:27.purpose or meaning to it. They go from day to day, hand to mouth. I
:19:27. > :19:31.don't know what the answer is, but it is good to a lot more ordinary
:19:31. > :19:41.people to step into that gap for the meantime. We have to do what we
:19:41. > :19:42.
:19:42. > :19:46.can. And there has to be hope. So, what do you think? Should
:19:46. > :19:51.people be more self-reliant? His hunger a reality here in the
:19:51. > :20:01.Midlands, and if so, why? You can join in the discussion on our
:20:01. > :20:04.
:20:04. > :20:08.It wasn't that long ago that apartheid was an all too familiar
:20:08. > :20:13.word. People were kept separate because of the colour of their skin,
:20:13. > :20:18.unable to use the same shops, buses, homes. But one Worcestershire
:20:18. > :20:22.critic -- Worcestershire cricketer is credited with helping to change
:20:22. > :20:27.that. And a memorial service is going to be held at Worcester
:20:27. > :20:32.Cathedral as a tribute to him. Apartheid South Africa was a
:20:32. > :20:39.country segregated by race, where the white man ruled supreme. And
:20:39. > :20:43.for Basil de Oliveira, every aspect of his life was controlled. You are
:20:43. > :20:48.born in a certain area, and you are told you have got to live there.
:20:48. > :20:52.You are told where to go. It becomes part of you, and you just
:20:52. > :20:56.live in that system, so you don't realise, you can't measure it
:20:56. > :21:00.against anything. But despite being celebrated cricket in the non-white
:21:00. > :21:06.community, he would never be allowed to play first-class cricket.
:21:06. > :21:14.Ceri turned his attention to England. -- so he turned his
:21:14. > :21:23.attention. He began writing to John Arnold, a fierce anti-apartheid
:21:23. > :21:33.campaigner. He wrote in four years in green ink, saying please, give
:21:33. > :21:34.
:21:34. > :21:40.me a chance. Arlett made it his mission to give him a chance, a
:21:40. > :21:48.contract for one season, and the princely sum of �450. But the
:21:48. > :21:53.timing was terrible. Basil was a newly-wed with a pregnant wife.
:21:53. > :21:58.Behind every man -- behind every great man, there is a great woman.
:21:58. > :22:02.She would never have stopped my dad doing anything. If it was to better
:22:02. > :22:05.the life of our family, he would go with her blessing. Whither the
:22:05. > :22:10.decision made, Basil left to his pregnant wife in the care of his
:22:10. > :22:15.family and arrived in London in 1962. From now on, it was his
:22:15. > :22:22.cricket that would do the talking, not the colour of his skin. After a
:22:22. > :22:27.slow start at Middleton, Basil's soon proved to be every good --
:22:27. > :22:32.every bit as good as Arlett had claimed. He was remarkable, because
:22:32. > :22:38.he came over here, played his first season in 65, and played for
:22:39. > :22:48.England in 66. Amazing. Basil was overwhelmed to be making his
:22:48. > :22:55.England debut at Lord's. I stood there and I looked out. I am here.
:22:55. > :23:00.I have done it. Basil's career was flying. He had successfully
:23:00. > :23:04.outwitted the apartheid regime. Off the field, he was taken to the
:23:04. > :23:14.hearts of the British public. He was a celebrated figure in British
:23:14. > :23:14.
:23:14. > :23:19.culture. He made 100! Did he really? And he was revered around
:23:19. > :23:23.the world for his performance at the crease. He was a superb player,
:23:23. > :23:28.constantly striving to be the best. Yet always painfully aware that his
:23:28. > :23:32.greatest cricketing years had been laid to waste in South Africa.
:23:32. > :23:36.Basil knew he was a formidable player, but he told me on more than
:23:36. > :23:41.one occasion, if you think I was good then, you should have seen me
:23:41. > :23:47.in South Africa. I was a far better player. I was over the hill when I
:23:47. > :23:53.came to England. That is remarkable. In 1968, he was selected to play in
:23:53. > :24:02.a Test match against Australia. Success here could be -- could mean
:24:02. > :24:08.he would be selected for a team to tours have Africa. Basil would go
:24:08. > :24:12.on to score his highest ever innings in Test cricket. Was there
:24:12. > :24:19.the greatest innings played under more pressure than that 158 against
:24:19. > :24:24.Australia? He knew he had to make it happen. He told Naomi, put the
:24:24. > :24:33.feet up, watch the television, because I will be there all day.
:24:33. > :24:38.There was no doubt that Basil had done enough to make the team
:24:38. > :24:48.heading to Sat Africa. But in a move that stunned the nation, Basil
:24:48. > :24:49.
:24:49. > :24:56.was not selected. When the team was announced, he fell apart. He went
:24:56. > :25:00.off the field and went home. It was so unfair. Cricketers who played
:25:00. > :25:07.with him and knew his talent, there was no way we thought that the 16
:25:07. > :25:14.players should be picked without him. No way. Days later, when a
:25:14. > :25:19.team-mate pulled out injured, Basil was finally included in the squad.
:25:19. > :25:25.I don't think the cricketing body made that decision without any
:25:25. > :25:34.influence. But the South African government refused to accept the
:25:34. > :25:40.selection of a non-white cricketer on the tour. It is not the team of
:25:40. > :25:47.the MCC. It is the team of the apartheid Movement. We are not
:25:47. > :25:52.prepared to receive a team thrust upon us. Refusal by the England
:25:52. > :25:58.selectors to withdraw basil from the squad resulted in the two are
:25:58. > :26:02.being cancelled. The committee were informed that the side selected to
:26:02. > :26:06.represent MCC in South Africa is not acceptable for reasons beyond
:26:06. > :26:10.the control of the South African Cricket Association. The MCC
:26:10. > :26:18.committee, therefore, decided unanimously that the tour would not
:26:18. > :26:22.take place. They just demonstrated, quietly and unobtrusively, what was
:26:22. > :26:25.so fundamentally wrong with apartheid in cricket. He was a top-
:26:25. > :26:30.class cricketer playing Test cricket for the country of his
:26:30. > :26:34.adoption who could not play for the country of his birth. Yet the MCC
:26:34. > :26:40.went on to invite South Africa to tour England in 1970, sparking
:26:40. > :26:45.public outrage and the formation of Peter Hain's stop the 70 to a
:26:45. > :26:50.campaign. Because he was a cricketer, and because he was just
:26:50. > :26:55.a cricketer from the beginning to the end, he crossed boundaries that
:26:55. > :27:00.the anti- apartheid campaign could never do. He reached writer out
:27:00. > :27:03.into middle opinion in Britain. Basil de Oliveira found himself at
:27:03. > :27:08.the centre of international political storm, but he refused
:27:08. > :27:13.himself -- refused to be drawn on the subject, remaining entirely
:27:13. > :27:17.focused on cricket. It involves you in many ways, you have questions
:27:17. > :27:22.fired at you the she cannot answer, as much as you would like to. I
:27:22. > :27:27.would rather just continue playing for Worcestershire. But Basil was
:27:27. > :27:34.privately supportive of the movement in his name. I think it
:27:34. > :27:44.spurred him on, and it gave him another thing to strive for. If I
:27:44. > :27:48.do well in my cricket, everyone in sad Africa can see. South Africa
:27:48. > :27:52.was banned from international cricket, and that ban spread around
:27:52. > :27:56.the world, including all sports from rugby to the Olympics. The
:27:56. > :28:03.next time that England and South Africa would meet on the pitch was
:28:03. > :28:07.in 1994, and South Africa was a nation on its way to equality. And
:28:07. > :28:12.Basil? He played 44 Test matches for England, and later joined the
:28:12. > :28:22.coaching staff at Worcestershire, overseeing the most successful
:28:22. > :28:22.
:28:22. > :28:31.That's all we've got for you this week. We will be back again next
:28:31. > :28:35.Monday at 7:30pm. On next week's show: We investigate the illegal
:28:35. > :28:39.alcohol being sold on a street near you. Also in the programme, digging
:28:39. > :28:43.through the Cotswolds - the volunteers trying to restore a