:00:08. > :00:11.Hello. Coming up on the programme tonight - the questions being faced
:00:11. > :00:18.by the durable leather manufacturer Pittards over the water coming out
:00:18. > :00:23.of its Ethiopian factory. Also tonight, elected police and
:00:23. > :00:27.crime commissioners, are they or one American import we can do
:00:27. > :00:30.without? I personally have a lot of reservations about police and crime
:00:30. > :00:36.commissioners, but it is going to happen, so I need to find out more
:00:36. > :00:40.about it. And I retrace the tyre tracks of
:00:40. > :00:47.the factory worker who a century ago immortalised rural life in
:00:47. > :00:57.Wiltshire. Horrible! With surprising stories from close
:00:57. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :01:09.Pittards of Yeovil is proud of its manufacturing relationship with
:01:09. > :01:13.Ethiopia. But now, the company's high environmental standards are
:01:13. > :01:19.being brought into question. Our reporter investigate concerns about
:01:19. > :01:24.the water coming out of Pittards's Ethiopian plant.
:01:24. > :01:33.Africa is just one of the regions where Pittards has expanded its
:01:33. > :01:37.Paris business, but it links with a Yeovil date back to 1826. This is a
:01:37. > :01:41.highly prized business asset in this part of Somerset. And despite
:01:41. > :01:45.the economic downturn, the company is doing reasonably well, part of
:01:45. > :01:49.the reason for that is because Pittards, like many Western
:01:49. > :01:56.manufacturers, have moved much of their operations away from the
:01:57. > :02:03.traditional home base to overseas. Inside the Yeovil factory, we
:02:03. > :02:09.joined Pittards chief executive Reg Hankey. He is no stranger to the
:02:09. > :02:13.global market. What is stacked up here, thousands of hides and skins?
:02:13. > :02:17.This is the stuff we have here, it comes from many countries, the
:02:17. > :02:21.largest source of supply is Ethiopia, and effectively, we have
:02:21. > :02:25.pandered the material and brought it in as Christ, this is the
:02:26. > :02:32.starting base for the factory we have here. Why Ethiopia? What is so
:02:32. > :02:36.good about it? The simple reason is that Ethiopia has the largest flock
:02:36. > :02:42.of this particular animal. It is hair she'd, which is a sheep as you
:02:42. > :02:47.know it, but Herr rather than a wall. What will happen eventually?
:02:47. > :02:52.It will end up as leather. The clothing market, while it is small
:02:52. > :02:58.in the lead the world, very important to us. -- in the leather
:02:58. > :03:02.world. A their Yeovil plant employs around 200 staff. These are jobs
:03:02. > :03:11.which haven't changed for decades, accept that many are now done by
:03:11. > :03:17.Pittards employees in Ethiopia. 700 of them, processing 16,000 goat and
:03:18. > :03:25.sheepskins every day. The man in charge considers it used you appear
:03:25. > :03:29.very much part of the Yeovil family. -- considers Ethiopia very much
:03:29. > :03:33.part of the Yeovil family. We have the same machines, the same
:03:33. > :03:40.equipment, we have replicated or what we do here in Ethiopia, we
:03:40. > :03:46.have to make it a standard. there a temptation to cut corners
:03:46. > :03:54.out there? It is a long way away, out of sight, out of mind? Not for
:03:54. > :04:00.me or for the people here, I'm out there several times a year. We are
:04:00. > :04:06.as embedded in Ethiopia as we are here. The employees, we have 700 at
:04:06. > :04:11.the tannery, another 300 in Addis Ababa, they are all our staff.
:04:11. > :04:17.Ethiopia, as far as we are concerned, is the same company on a
:04:17. > :04:22.different site. Ethiopia has more than pointed tanneries, processing
:04:22. > :04:28.skins and hides left over from the country's abundant meat industry.
:04:28. > :04:32.Pittards took over this plant in 2009, it is the largest in Ethiopia,
:04:32. > :04:38.and is in the Oromia region, which has witnessed a huge industrial
:04:38. > :04:43.growth in recent years. Concerns have been raised about pollution in
:04:43. > :04:52.the area. We learnt of concerns about a fluent discharge from
:04:52. > :05:01.Pittards factory. -- effluent. We sent a researcher to investigate.
:05:01. > :05:07.Just to give you an idea, that is the factory there, and it is black,
:05:07. > :05:12.the water is black. It smells a very potent, very strong, not quite
:05:12. > :05:17.like rotten eggs, but not dissimilar. Our researcher of
:05:17. > :05:21.followed a stream back to the family -- a factory. Pittards have
:05:21. > :05:26.told us they outflow has primary, secondary and tertiary treatment,
:05:26. > :05:29.and they also own the land here, allowing farmers to use it.-1 to
:05:29. > :05:34.the complaint we research, they produced this letter, written by
:05:34. > :05:39.the local farmers' association after we had filmed at the factory.
:05:39. > :05:44.They state that no land is spoiled by the tannery, and they are always
:05:44. > :05:51.happy and appreciate the good activities of the Tenerife. But our
:05:51. > :05:55.research has break to a farmer with a different view. TRANSLATION: The
:05:55. > :06:03.factory discharge has been polluting the water for some time.
:06:03. > :06:07.We cannot use it now to water the fields. Pittards dispute that claim,
:06:07. > :06:13.saying that weekly checks show the effluent is within acceptable
:06:13. > :06:21.limits. We showed our footage of the stream towards expert from
:06:21. > :06:26.Greenpeace. They are based at Exeter University. It is hard to
:06:26. > :06:29.say whether that affluent has had any treatment at all. Certainly,
:06:29. > :06:33.primary treatment may have been used to settle out some of the
:06:33. > :06:37.heavier particles, but clearly, there is a lot of suspended
:06:37. > :06:41.material in the discharge as standard practice. It would not be
:06:41. > :06:45.considered to be a safe practice to be releasing effluent of that
:06:46. > :06:50.quality, even that visual quality, to the environment. Doesn't matter
:06:50. > :06:56.whether the land on to which it is being released is owned by the same
:06:56. > :06:58.company or not. At the point in which it is exiting from the
:06:58. > :07:02.factory, the responsibility is being given over by the company to
:07:02. > :07:07.the environment to clean up its waste, and that is totally
:07:07. > :07:11.unacceptable. Pittards told us that letting affluent water discharged
:07:11. > :07:16.to land in this way is a treatment process used globally in the
:07:17. > :07:21.tannery industry. Greenpeace say they would like to know more.
:07:21. > :07:25.Whether there is a problem which is limited in time, some think they
:07:25. > :07:29.are aware of and are trying to sort out, I think they are questions to
:07:29. > :07:34.be put to Pittards, and I would find it hard to understand if
:07:34. > :07:40.Pittards, as a responsible company, would be happy with seen this kind
:07:40. > :07:44.of evidence coming from one of their factories. Pittards studied
:07:45. > :07:52.the footage as well. The Co op reassured us that they discharge is
:07:52. > :07:56.thoroughly protest. -- processed. We have a major effluent treatment
:07:56. > :08:01.plant in the Ethiopia tannery, it is probably the largest in Ethiopia,
:08:01. > :08:07.and probably the best in Ethiopia, we have a lot of commendations for
:08:07. > :08:11.it. We have primary, secondary and third level treatment, a biological
:08:11. > :08:15.treatment plant, so it is a very serious piece of work, our
:08:15. > :08:23.treatment. The standards to which we work in Ethiopia are actually
:08:23. > :08:29.more stringent than in Yeovil. The discharge averages that we have in
:08:29. > :08:33.Ethiopia are much tighter. Hankey went on to say there are
:08:33. > :08:39.planned for a huge reed bed here, with the plant helping with the
:08:39. > :08:42.final clean-up of the affluent water. All part of a drive towards
:08:42. > :08:47.becoming a zero waste factory. They are keen also to highlight other
:08:47. > :08:53.benefits they have brought to the area. They run a clinic on site for
:08:53. > :08:58.employees and their family, and help a local school. Perhaps in
:08:58. > :09:08.buying the plant in 2009, they inherited problems which preceded
:09:08. > :09:09.
:09:09. > :09:17.their ownership of the factory. TRANSLATION: I am happy the factory
:09:17. > :09:26.created jobs for some farmers. But at the same time, the factory has
:09:26. > :09:32.to improve the water that is being discharged. Ensuring the highest
:09:32. > :09:39.environmental standards isn't just about appealing a few locals --
:09:39. > :09:43.appeasing a few locals around the Ethiopian factory. It is also vital
:09:43. > :09:49.for consumers who question ever harder where, and under what
:09:49. > :09:54.conditions, could have been made. Consumers in this day and age, me
:09:54. > :09:59.or you or anybody else, we are concerned about supply chains.
:09:59. > :10:04.Globalisation has brought issues, and I think the old values come
:10:04. > :10:09.from the old companies such as ours, we have been on the back foot as
:10:09. > :10:15.manufacturer to for a long time now, but actually, when you re-examine
:10:15. > :10:19.the week -- old values, they are still valleys in this day and age.
:10:19. > :10:22.-- still valid. It is time we stepped up and applied those old
:10:22. > :10:32.values of responsibility to the supply chain. We are totally
:10:32. > :10:36.
:10:36. > :10:44.Later in the programme, the life of a great Swindon poet, set to music
:10:44. > :10:47.at the Uffington White Horse. How would you like to be
:10:47. > :10:51.responsible for your local police force? The job is open to anyone
:10:51. > :10:57.who can win enough votes in December of -- November. But do we
:10:57. > :11:03.need enough -- elected police and Crown Commissioners, or could it be
:11:03. > :11:07.an expensive mistake? From air-conditioning to tabard
:11:07. > :11:10.computers, we are quite used to the odd American idea over here.
:11:10. > :11:16.Obviously, some fitting better than others.
:11:16. > :11:19.So what about police commissioners? A senior politician who holds the
:11:19. > :11:24.purse-strings and tells the police what to do. They have had been in
:11:24. > :11:31.the US for years, but will they work in this country? One person
:11:31. > :11:36.keen to find out is Jeff Osborn. He used to be the chief constable of
:11:36. > :11:40.Gloucestershire police, now he's considering being the country's --
:11:40. > :11:45.county's first elected police and crime commissioner. I I have a lot
:11:45. > :11:49.of reservations, but it is going to happen, so I need to find out a lot
:11:49. > :11:53.more about it. We are sending him on a fact-finding mission over the
:11:53. > :12:00.border into Wiltshire, which boasts one of the lowest crime rate in the
:12:00. > :12:05.country, and we have even provided him with wheels. He had better get
:12:05. > :12:09.comfortable. It is going to be a long journey. His first meeting is
:12:09. > :12:13.with Inspector Kate Pain. She is the chair of Wiltshire Police
:12:13. > :12:21.Federation, which has been representing rank and file officers
:12:21. > :12:24.for nearly 100 years. I think in terms of operation -- operational
:12:24. > :12:28.policing, they will not be any impact, but the question around to
:12:28. > :12:34.morale is interesting. In Wiltshire, we are reducing officer numbers as
:12:34. > :12:38.is common around the country, and we are willing to spend �125
:12:38. > :12:44.million on electing a police commissioner at a time when
:12:44. > :12:47.policing budgets are under such pressure, I think it is difficult.
:12:47. > :12:52.These commissioners are going to be given a huge amount of power, power
:12:52. > :12:58.vested in one person. Do you think it is a good idea it they are
:12:58. > :13:02.elected? It is about accountability, so there should be elected
:13:02. > :13:06.accountability, yes, they are made up of independent councillors as
:13:06. > :13:15.well as members, so I would argue that accountability is in place and
:13:15. > :13:20.She has made two very important point, the first one was about
:13:20. > :13:25.costs, �120 million when we're losing police officers, and that
:13:26. > :13:35.will be spent on party political elections. And, she is dressed, the
:13:35. > :13:39.police are already accountable. There is a lot of stress on police
:13:40. > :13:46.and accountability. Next, he goes to Trowbridge where
:13:46. > :13:49.Welsh a council is based. At the moment, councils have a way in
:13:49. > :13:54.which the police is run, but with this new elected representative, it
:13:54. > :13:57.would be the end of this. He is meeting Councillor Jeff Osborne, a
:13:57. > :14:04.member with an interest in community development and local
:14:04. > :14:08.residents' groups. What you think of the qualities that unelected
:14:08. > :14:12.crime commissioner will have to have and will they not be a party
:14:12. > :14:17.politician? If not, he will have to be when he gets there any way! He
:14:17. > :14:22.will have to have a profile so people know who he actually is. It
:14:22. > :14:28.has to be someone that has a high position in some public authority
:14:28. > :14:32.are even a private authority and understands how such large
:14:32. > :14:38.organisations work. Is there not a danger that extreme parties can get
:14:38. > :14:42.elected from the far-right, the BNP, for example? I may be naive, but I
:14:42. > :14:45.believe in the common sense of the British people and when you say
:14:45. > :14:50.that parlty cannot stand and this party cannot stand, this is a
:14:50. > :14:53.slippery slope. I do not think we should start saying that we can
:14:53. > :14:58.have any body but the BNP or anybody but the Socialist Workers'
:14:59. > :15:02.Party, I didn't think you can say that. I think what he has
:15:02. > :15:08.emphasised their his it is likely to be a party politician that is
:15:08. > :15:11.elected, but there is a slight chance that an extremist candidate,
:15:11. > :15:15.maybe from something like the BNP, could get through.
:15:15. > :15:19.As it stands, no candidate of any party has put their names forward
:15:19. > :15:24.in Wiltshire. Perhaps they don't know what the job holds for them.
:15:24. > :15:30.Time to look at how things work in America where Inside Out has been
:15:30. > :15:35.to seek a serving police commissioner in action. In
:15:35. > :15:39.Springfield Massachusetts, there were 19 murders last year. Drugs
:15:39. > :15:44.very big problems. Things are improving. In a list of America's
:15:44. > :15:49.most crime-ridden cities, Springfield Massachusetts has
:15:49. > :15:54.plummeted from 18th in 2003 to 51st today. Many in the City put this
:15:54. > :15:58.down to one man. But Police Commissioner position, as it exists
:15:58. > :16:05.in Springfield, is the chief executive of the police department
:16:05. > :16:12.and that is in all phases. Administrator of, budget,
:16:12. > :16:17.employment faces, it is all a composing. -- and cumbersome.
:16:17. > :16:21.have the strategies for combating crime has been introducing a
:16:21. > :16:25.network of microphones that covers three square miles of the City
:16:25. > :16:29.centre with computers in every patrol car. This is how long it
:16:29. > :16:34.takes for every cop on the street to know there has been a shooting.
:16:34. > :16:40.It tells you exactly where it happened. Tactics like this have
:16:40. > :16:43.come about thanks to the commissioners the public profile,
:16:43. > :16:49.communicating his policy to be community and listening to their
:16:49. > :16:53.needs. Exactly what the Government wants to happen here. The footage
:16:53. > :16:57.from North America is really interesting, but the question is,
:16:57. > :17:01.will it work in Wiltshire? Crime is coming down here, people feel safe,
:17:01. > :17:06.the police are happy with the system. Sure, the current system
:17:06. > :17:12.could work better, but you have to ask the question, is the
:17:12. > :17:16.commissioner the right to fix for To get answers for this question
:17:16. > :17:21.and others raised by this fact- finding mission, we go to meet one
:17:21. > :17:25.of the architects of the new policy. Blair Gibbs is head of crime and
:17:25. > :17:33.justice at the Conservative think- tank policy exchanged and they are
:17:33. > :17:35.advising the Government on how to put this system into practice.
:17:35. > :17:38.Policing is one of the most important public services but the
:17:38. > :17:43.police cannot choose their police force, so we took the view that
:17:43. > :17:47.what the public need is greater clarity. They need one person that
:17:47. > :17:52.is responsible for crime and public safety in their neighbourhood, not
:17:52. > :17:56.a committee of were the people that spent a long time on the police are
:17:56. > :18:00.authority and er maybe quite experienced, but do not know the
:18:00. > :18:04.public. A single person has that advantage and having to be elected
:18:04. > :18:09.means they will have to going public and meet the public and win
:18:09. > :18:14.their support and deliver. What about the costs, the current
:18:14. > :18:18.estimate is up to �120 million. This is the first time that the
:18:18. > :18:22.public will get a say, and elections cost money. The important
:18:22. > :18:26.thing is this is that coming from the police budget, so it is not a
:18:26. > :18:29.question of losing money in the police, the benefit is, you have a
:18:29. > :18:33.clear mandate for the person that is responsible for the police and
:18:34. > :18:37.you can hold them to account. commissioner will be well paid,
:18:37. > :18:41.they will almost certainly come from the mainstream political
:18:41. > :18:45.parties with very little room for an independence to get elected,
:18:45. > :18:49.isn't this really jobs for the boys? We need to hope that we have
:18:49. > :18:52.some good people waiting to stand. It is an important office and an
:18:52. > :18:57.important role and hopefully we will get people from outside
:18:57. > :19:01.politics. So, as strong defence, predictably, from the organisation
:19:01. > :19:04.that came up with the commissioner post. With campaigning getting
:19:05. > :19:10.started and the public still largely in the dark about the whole
:19:10. > :19:15.thing, how do we think it will pan out? There is a danger that many
:19:15. > :19:19.people will get elected by putting party politics before police saying.
:19:19. > :19:25.Policing works best when it is independent of party politics and
:19:25. > :19:31.people put local policing issues first. For that to continue, we
:19:31. > :19:35.really need strong, independent candidates.
:19:35. > :19:40.Finally tonight, the working-class man from Wiltshire who were in 1912
:19:40. > :19:44.got on his bike to record the legends and landmarks in the
:19:44. > :19:47.villages he loved. Offered Williams was so worried about rural
:19:47. > :19:52.traditions dying out that he wrote the book, Villages of the White
:19:52. > :19:57.Horse. -- Alfred Williams. 100 years later, I am retracing his
:19:57. > :20:01.tracks. I am in South Marston in Swindon,
:20:01. > :20:07.the home of one of the areas forgotten heroes, Alfred Williams.
:20:07. > :20:13.By day, he worked for the Great Western Railway works and by night
:20:13. > :20:19.he wrote about his life. 100 years ago he was nationally famous as a
:20:19. > :20:25.Hammerman poet. I was in my song triumphantly and I will finish my
:20:25. > :20:30.race. I will work my task. He was also a travel writer, touring
:20:30. > :20:34.around nearby towns and villages on his bike recording what he saw. In
:20:34. > :20:38.1912 he researched his book, Villages of the White Horse, by
:20:38. > :20:43.cycling in the shadow of the ancient monument. 100 years later,
:20:43. > :20:49.I am getting on my bike to retrace some of his route and to find out
:20:49. > :20:54.why there is an Alfred Williams renaissance in Wiltshire. First I
:20:54. > :21:00.stop off at Rose Cottage where he grew wop. It belongs to a local man
:21:00. > :21:04.called Rupert who is proud of its heritage. We have tried to keep as
:21:04. > :21:10.many period features, or put its period features back for, because
:21:10. > :21:16.when we brought it, there were none in head. He is impressed by what
:21:16. > :21:23.Alfred achieved in his life. He had a hard, terrible, dreadful life.
:21:23. > :21:29.There was their health and safety, nothing. What happened at work if
:21:29. > :21:33.he lost a finger or lustre on, it was tough luck. He still found time
:21:33. > :21:37.to come home and write some amazing work. Across the road is his old
:21:37. > :21:41.school. Today, the children have been learning what their famous
:21:41. > :21:46.former people said about it. village school stands in a field
:21:46. > :21:51.near the road a short way down. There, the little children run off
:21:51. > :21:54.each morning to acquire the rudiments of learning. The school
:21:54. > :21:58.walls were adorned with pictures and we did not understand all of
:21:58. > :22:02.the subjects. They made a deep and lasting impression. We cannot force
:22:02. > :22:07.the children to look at things through the eyes of sage experience.
:22:07. > :22:12.This is the time of glorious irresponsibility and carelessness.
:22:12. > :22:19.The any distinction I do make is in the case so the very poorest of
:22:19. > :22:24.financial front. I think that I care for them most of all. I am
:22:24. > :22:30.visiting just a few of the many places that he talked about. On
:22:30. > :22:34.leaving South Marston, he headed to Wroughton and then on to Wanborough.
:22:34. > :22:37.He says that Wanborough is one of the most ancient settlements on
:22:37. > :22:43.this island and goes on to say about even before the Romans
:22:43. > :22:47.arrived in England, there were people living in Wanborough. It is
:22:47. > :22:53.here that one of his most enthusiastic fans lives. A local
:22:53. > :22:58.surgeon, John Collymore, he has written a musical called the Common
:22:58. > :23:08.man based on his life. It is being performed in Swindon later this
:23:08. > :23:09.
:23:09. > :23:13.month. What is that most appeals to you about Alfred Williams?
:23:13. > :23:20.Complete Live story, really, and what he achieved. It is an
:23:20. > :23:24.inspiring tale and a fascinating life story. I suppose, one
:23:24. > :23:29.identified with him because he really started from nothing as a
:23:29. > :23:34.farm boy that went into a factory, but then had this amazing passion
:23:34. > :23:40.for self-education. Tell me about how he captures this part of the
:23:40. > :23:49.West? The way he has done it is, I think, but probably one of the
:23:49. > :23:54.first forms of travel writing that we have experience, because he
:23:54. > :23:58.travels around and get to know the people, places and Customs and
:23:58. > :24:03.knows the local history. He is a bit like a pre- cursor of Bill
:24:03. > :24:08.Bryson, really. His travel route pass through pretty villages
:24:08. > :24:16.including Hinton Parva Andante Bishopstone, known for its water
:24:16. > :24:19.gardens. I am taking a quick detour from Alfred's travel route to try
:24:20. > :24:29.and unusual drink that he writes about in villages of the White
:24:30. > :24:34.
:24:34. > :24:39.Horse. Hello, Chris. Welcome. I'd pass either buys a cot. -- if I
:24:39. > :24:43.pass to the bicycle. I wonder if Alfred had these problems! Chris
:24:43. > :24:47.Parker is an enthusiast of Alfred Williams. One of the reasons I have
:24:47. > :24:52.come over here is because you're a beekeeper and you know about this
:24:52. > :25:02.extraordinary drink that Alfred Williams has mentioned, the name of
:25:02. > :25:09.
:25:10. > :25:15.which I can barely say. Is it called Pittards? -- napthalgalum?
:25:15. > :25:25.It is an alcoholic drink made from honey. Yes, that is right. There
:25:25. > :25:33.was no time like the present. After a few drinks, he says he will
:25:33. > :25:41.be intoxicated, so let's have a go. It's not pretty good. -- it smells
:25:41. > :25:51.pretty good. It is a bit like alcoholics syrup. I am not sure I
:25:51. > :25:55.am ready to give up beer for this, but it is quite good. Leaving
:25:55. > :26:02.Bishopston, not over the limit, I might add, I am now heading to
:26:02. > :26:10.Kingston Lyle. There is an unusual relic that he named King Alfred
:26:10. > :26:13.Bugle. One of the things that he writes about in this book is the
:26:13. > :26:17.blowing Stone and if you can make a sound from it, it can be heard from
:26:17. > :26:27.the Uffington White Horse and would be king of England! Time for me to
:26:27. > :26:36.
:26:36. > :26:42.That is horrible. A, dear, it is a commoners life for me! Never mind,
:26:42. > :26:48.on we go. A short but very steep right away, it is the ancient White
:26:48. > :26:54.Horse Hill, believed to be 3,000 years old. It was one of Alfred's
:26:54. > :27:02.famous places. This is it, the last leg of the journey, but for this
:27:02. > :27:07.bit, I am on foot. To end by a journey, members of the cast of
:27:07. > :27:17.hammer man have braved the cold to me to meet. Among them, Alfred
:27:17. > :27:18.
:27:18. > :27:25.himself. Very nice to meet you. It is a bit cold here today. So, you
:27:25. > :27:28.play Alfred Williams, what is that like? It is a privilege. He is an
:27:28. > :27:32.inspiration to a lot of people and it is certainly correct to bring
:27:32. > :27:38.back the musical to this region and to talk about his life. What
:27:38. > :27:43.appears you about this here? suppose his search about truth in
:27:43. > :27:48.his life, he was an incredible writer and poet, and he always
:27:48. > :27:53.tried to put on paper what, from nature, he could glean has been
:27:53. > :28:03.part of life and his relationship with it. We're looking forward to
:28:03. > :28:33.
:28:33. > :28:37.hearing the music got, so take it That is said for this programme and
:28:38. > :28:41.indeed for the series. We will be back in the autumn, in the meantime,