12/11/2012 Inside Out West

Hello, from Bath, where we are investigating what it is like to be

locked out of the housing market. Tonight, we go undercover and

discover that the phrase "disabled access" does not always mean what

it says. Also tonight, we meet the farmers

who are having their land sold from under their feet. Will and is gone,

the house will be gone, everything. And the drinking song that became

one of the world's most famous national anthems.

I am Alastair McKee and this is Inside Out West.

Now if you have ever tried renting a home, you will know how difficult

it is to find exactly the right place. But what if you happen to be

a wheelchair user? Journalist Paul Carter went undercover in Bath to

see how bad the problem is there. There a millions of disabled people

in the UK, but our investigation reveals that, when it comes to the

rental property market, sometimes the complete lack of understanding

by estate agents is exacerbating the property crisis.

My name is Paul Carter and, as you can see, I am physically disabled.

I live in an accessible flat, which suits me fine, but it was a real

struggle to find. I heard that many other disabled

people have struggled to find suitable properties, so I am on a

journey to find out why we are struggling so much. I think that a

state agents do not look at disabled people has good potential

customers. I am meeting with a young lady who

has been unsuccessful in finding an appropriate flat in Bath.

And I am going undercover, visiting flats which estate agent told me

Phoebe is 22. For the last three years, she has been trying to find

the right place, but is still looking.

The whole process has been extremely trying for Phoebe and the

stress is really starting to get to her. How is it going? For very

frustrating. Yeah, a lot of the places do not

have anywhere to show or they will take me to places they say are

accessible which actually are not. So I'm just trying to, kind of, be

stationed here, so I can be on the phone and off to somewhere, before

it gets snapped up. Because there are so few places to look at, they

go really quickly. So if you are not there on the mark, you will

lose it. So has it been quite a difficult,

time-consuming process? Yeah. I am, literally, not doing

anything else other than looking for houses and drinking a lot of

coffee to keep myself energised with my research.

Phoebe's struggles are astonishing, but I am really intrigued by the

problems she had with estate agents showing her non-accessible

properties. I am keen to find out how widespread the problem is. So I

am on the phone, randomly calling estate agents in Bath, trying to

see if I can book some viewings for wheelchair-friendly propreties.

I am looking for a property to rent in the Bath area. I am a wheelchair

user, so I am wondering if you have anything accessible available at

all? We haven't got anything at the

moment. Finding anything to view is proving

difficult, but I am not giving up just yet.

The only thing we have which is a potential is a ground floor flat.

But with a bit of perseverance, I am now finally finding estate

agents who tell me they have accessible property for me.

I have got a studio apartment on the ground floor.

After talking to 20 letting agents, I have managed to book five

viewings for flats which should work for me.

Another person that has struggled to find an accessible apartments is

Zoe. She took six months to find a place to live in Bath and also had

a lot of trouble with estate agents. So I got in touch with a few local

estate agents. Their knowledge of what properties would be suitable

was not great. I mean, a lot of them did not even

know what floor the flat was on. When they can not even tell you

about the bathroom, whether it has a lift or what floor it is on, it

is a bit difficult. So I made life difficult for estate

agents, by going to make them look and come back and tell me, which

had about a 50% success rate, but a lot of them did not even bother.

Trailblazers is a national network of young disabled people who come

together to address the issues that are important to them.

They recently published a report that highlighted how estate agents,

landlords and local authorities keep on failing disabled people in

their search for properties. I do not think estate agents and

letting agents look at disabled people as good potential customers.

Therefore, they are ignoring their needs. Therefore, they don't think

about the information that may be required.

But I am hopeful, as I have several properties to visit that, I have

been told by the estate agents, would be suitable for me.

Hopefully, out of all the properties that we have got to

visit today, we should find one that is suitable.

Don't know what to do with that step. Might have to bump it over.

Do you want to try to make sure you could do it if you lived here or do

you want me to do it? Yep, I'm OK. There we go.

To be fair, when I called the estate agent, they did tell me that

there was a step to get into this property, but I am hoping that,

once inside, the rest of the flat will be fine.

Do not get stuck! But while the step at the front

could have been sorted with a ramp, there is clearly not enough space

for me to maneuver around the bathroom - and there are more steps

inside the flat. I have more hope for the next

property, as this one, the agent assured me over the phone, would be

accessible and fine for a wheelchair user.

There is a step. So the accessible flat comes with a

step at the front. Great(!) Again, there is a step to get in,

but it is not deterring our estate agent.

And inside, the flat is also far too small for a wheelchair to move

around in. The places I have seen so far have

been disasters. But just when I thought things could not get any

worse... I have just arrived at the next

property, but I have realised that we have a bit of an access issue

before we have even got there. I do not know if you can see these four

steps by the roadside, which is That was not very dignified.

Is it here?$$NEWLINE Again, when we booked this appointment, we made it

clear that wheelchair access was a must and this estate agency told us

this property was suitable. With three steps at the front, I

expected this agent to give up straight away, but he seems keen to

show me, anyway. It does have lift access inside.

Great, inside lift access - which is obviously no use to me, as I can

not get there in the first place. Even though I am clearly not going

to get up there, the estate agent still thinks the lift inside will

be helpful. Other than that, it does has lift

access. Lift access, which actually is no

use at all, anyway, as the flat is on the ground floor - after another

step. Is this the flat?

After some minutes, this estate agent is finally seeing sense.

I do not think it will be suitable, is it?

I am astonished at how bad that was. Even the agent was embarrassed.

There were four big steps that I had to crawl up, which was pretty

demeaning. All in all, it was as bad as it

could have been and, if I had had to take time off work to see that,

I would have been very cross indeed. Surely there must be a better way.

There is already a successful scheme which lets you know if

holiday accommodations are accessible. How difficult would it

be to apply the scheme to the rental market?

What we came up with is something we call the access statements,

which is a way that proprietors and business owners can write a written

description about their accessibility. We have one, for

example, of self-catering accommodation, which will have a

lot of transferability over to residential letting accommodation.

This could easily be used by rental agents.

I think that is a good idea, actually, but what I do not want to

lose sight of is the responsibility of landlords and letting agents.

The government needs to start to highlight some of these needs to

the letting industry and landlords, in general, and they can do it.

Back in Bath, I still have more properties to see.

This pathway is perfect. Nice and wide! Maybe this is the one!

Fingers crossed. Arms crossed!

This property was indeed accessible. Altogether, we talked to 20 letting

agents in Bath and arranged to see five properties. Out of the five,

only one was appropriate. Personally, I think this is

unacceptable. The agency who took us to the

property with three steps outside the front door is a member of the

Association of Residential Letting Agents, known as ARLA.

ARLA say that, when using one of their letting agents, you can be

sure you are dealing with an experienced and professional agent.

So we asked them if it was acceptable for one of their members

to book a viewing for a property which was clearly not appropriate.

Even though we provided them with the details of our visit, they told

us they could not comment, because they did not see the programme.

They did say that their code of conduct states that members should

not discriminate against disability. We also asked ARLA if they would

consider using a similar scheme to the one already used to find out if

holiday accommodations are accessible.

They ignored that question. And what about Pheobe? Has she

found the perfect flat in Bath? Well, I still have not found

anywhere, so it is not brilliant. And so, in the meantime, what is

the future holding for you at the moment?

I am going to stay here, at my parents, cos it is a lovely place

to live. Obviously, it would be nice to be be independent, but it

is not worth living somewhere horrible or making my condition

worse. It really should not be a complex

problem to fix. What we need are small changes from all sides which

will drastically improve the life chances of disabled people right

across the country. The financial crisis facing many of

our county councils is rarely out of the news at the moment. But one

solution to the problem is proving to be particularly controversial.

It involves selling off successful farms owned by the council, like

this one just outside Ilminster, putting their tenant farmers out of

business. We meet one of the Somerset farmers

who is set to lose his farm, business and home.

Dave, how did you feel when you first heard you would lose your

farm? I was devastated, really. We are

not in the business of running forms.

And we visit Dorset, where the council takes a totally different

approach. We need young people who are actively it involved in

producing the food that we as a nation eat.

The County Farm service dates back to 1908. In a bid to combat rural

depopulation, councils bought farms and offered them for rent,

providing opportunities for people who wanted to farm, but who could

not afford a farm of their own. And so it has remained for a century,

Recent surveys have shown that more than 60 % of the 25 top-ranking

state schools are based on religion. Although opponents accept that many

fake schools provide a very good academic education, they say it is

not balanced. -- faith schools. Unless they are careful, they will

not grow up into rounded children, rounded citizens who create harmony

This high-school is linked to the Islamic Academy but the education

is free. It's paid for by the state. Some of the children are here have

friends from all religious backgrounds and their old school.

Now, their classmates are almost all Muslim. Do they resented when

their parents and send them to the school? Through the years, I've

learnt to build my confidence with my religion and I can integrate

into society with no problem whatsoever. I can go to university

with an identity of being a Muslim girl. I thought I was going to miss

out on everything else but now, I'm in Year 11, and I can see a got a

great education. The teachers teach fantastically. Parents need choice

and freedom. I'm a great believer in freedom and opportunity. The

school provides an opportunity. If the demand was not there, faith

schools would not flourish, as they are currently doing. I think choice

is an over-used word in this country. Whilst I have nothing

against teaching religion, which indeed they should, I don't think

the state has any responsibility at all in providing funding for this

We have clear links between these three ideals and the curriculum.

Sikhs in Leicester want to open a new school next year. The school

may provide them with a model for their plans. State schools are very

big in terms of their classroom size. The schools are very large as

well. We want to create a school where children are brought up like

a family and the education will be outstanding. Are we ready for our

new day? Chris spall is the head teacher here. He is a Kristian

Foster piece says it is vital that all faith schools open their doors

to all religions. It is a British school with a Hindu ethos. That

ethos is inclusive in it that our admissions policy in fact states

that we give the first 50 % of our places to all other faiths or none

faiths. The last 50 % goes to Hindu faith. We've succeeded in a small

way to begin with and we are expecting to improve on that in the

future. Let's have our 32nd silence. Prime Minister David Cameron says

state schools -- a fate schools provide more choice. -- faith

schools. This boy is currently one of only two Christiane pupils at

the school. We were overwhelmed by the ethos of the school hand

despite being practising Christians, we thought it would be a perfect

school for Oliver to attend. It doesn't really matter what colour

our skin is or what our cultural beliefs are, one of the parents

said in the playground to my husband, Howard both gods made both

of us, we are had the same inside. And to be fair, that is the nicest

thing. That sums up how we feel the For four more than 30 years, this

man, has led a campaign to bring to face together. He believes the new

wave free religious schools will lead to more division. Know the

time has come for us to integrate with the mainstream, living along

with others and showing respect to others. But if we are going to be

exclusively operating within our own faith, within our own community,

then I think the contribution to society as a whole is not going to

be very beneficial. Religion has played a very important part about

the history of education in this country especially. I think that is

a very, very good value. I believe we can still hold on to it. We

don't need to compromise in dealing with other faiths, religions or

other schools. The government is keen to fund more faith schools and

is hoping the expansion of academies, free from local

authority control, will drive up standards. But opponents are asking,

will this be at the expense of a Finally, why Remembrance Day has

even more meaning for a group of war veterans who have waited 67

years for national recognition. Demi -- there is now a monument to

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

Bomber Command, but that's only Surely selling off this valuable

land is quite a good idea really. Why sell the only thing that makes

you money. They can only said it wants. They will be wanting money

for something else then. If they sell off the farm, it is very

Finally, we tell the curious tale of a man from Gloucester and how we

drinking song from him that became one of the most recognisable

national anthems, the Star spangled A it's as potent a symbol of the

United States of America as the Flybe itself. It's a wonderful tune,

a fantastic tune. So much better than our national anthem, even

though I say it myself. But what of the man who wrote it? Tucked away

in Gloucester Cathedral is an elegant but understated plaque.

Here it is. John Stafford Smith, born in this city, some of Martyn

Smith, organist of the cathedral. He will long be remembered as

composer of the tune of the national anthem of the United

States of America. I am not sure how well remembered he actually is.

Am going to find out how they little-known British composer came

to write one of the most famous tunes ever known. My journey starts

among for vaulted cloisters and church music of Gloucester

Cathedral. John Stafford Smith spent his early he is here. --

years. Here we have his records of his admission to the Cathedral

School. He would have been taught in this very room by his father.

Later, we can see he was a cathedral chorister, being paid �5

a year. In modern terms, that could be about �1,000, not bad for an 11

year-old. Stafford Smith was an exceptional talent and before his

12th birthday, he was packed off to join the the country's elite

choristers at the Chapel Royal in London. He sang for George III. But

it is his musical activity outside work that I am most interested in.

It was the late 17 hundreds and gentlemen's clubs were popping up

all across London. One such club was on the Strand, just a few doors

down from this pub. It was called after a Greek poet, notable for his

drinking songs. The society would meet, eat, drink and perform short

songs. Then they would drink a whole lot more and carry on singing

into the early hours of the morning. Now in his twenties, John Stafford

Smith, himself a number of the club, composed its official anthem. It

was set to words by the society's president. It is that eighteenth-

century gentleman's drinking song that I believe was the basis of the

star-spangled Banner. I have heard the British Library might hold one

of the original manuscript so why have come to meet the curator of

the sick. Richard, this is it, the song. If indeed. You can see the

melody very clearly here with the words beneath it and the baseline.

He to is what I've been handing out. What date is this edition? This

edition is about 1785. This must be the oldest surviving... One of the

earliest editions. Is this actually the tune? Yes, it is slightly

different in a few of the melodic details and the harmony underneath

is the same. The rhythms will be slightly different because there

was a different. Extraordinary. What I would really like to do is,

would you let me have a digital copy? Yes, we can let you have

copies. Let's get a choir to try singing it. Let's find out what it

actually sounds like. Great. have sent the song off to Stafford

Smith's old school at Gloucester Cathedral, now known as the King's

Well, it is unmistakably the right song but somehow, rather old-

fashioned and a bit church like. Clearly, more than just the words

changed when the chop -- when the song travel to America. To find out,

I've come to talk to the Professor of Music at Bristol University. So,

how did a popular drinking song in England make its way to America?

those days, they drank in America as well. Songs were international

commodities. Americans wanted to follow fashion as well. In America,

the popularity of Stafford Smith's us song exploded. As many as 85 new

sets were written and the tune was beginning to change as well. He is

one. It's a Boston patriotic song of 1798. What they've done is added

a dotted rhythm which found that -- which sounds military and therefore

militant, which is what we recognise from the modern version.

It still has the Church second phrase. -- church like. In 1812, an

American lawyer, Francis Scott Key, witnessed the British naval

bombardment in bottom. He observed how the morning after the onslaught,

the fort and its star-spangled Banner was still standing. He was

inspired to write a poem and he suggested setting it to the tune of

Stafford Smith's song. This changes a little bit again and there is one

interesting thing in here. Now we have the air for the shop. -- the F

sharp. It gives us the sense of our boys will swelling. Throughout the

19th century, the anthem was performed on the stages of

Philadelphia, Baltimore and New York. It grew into a favourite

patriotic song. It was finally made the official national anthem in

1931. So, it is the man who composed the tune given the

veneration he deserves? Sadly, I think the answer is No. We don't

really know who -- who he was and what he did in this regard. But

what he is remembered for subliminally, is that it is a

wonderful tune. Americans thank him for that because it is the right

kind of June for singing at the top of your voice when you have a

maximum confidence. It's an extraordinarily difficult due to

sing but when you are in the right mood, whether or not plied with

alcohol, you can't make the most of it and Stafford Smith had written

with that in mind right from the start.

Well, that's just about it for this week. If you would like to keep in

touch with what we are up to, you can find a song Twitter or you can

try e-mailing us and the usual Next week: cold, hungry and facing

another benefit cut. So on times I only eat what the kids leave so