05/03/2012 Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Welcome to Inside Out from Leeds. This week, as many businesses

struggle to pay their bills, we find out the length so a royal

landlord was prepared to go to avoid paying -- paying tax. And

what do these strange art works have to do with saving a mint for

the Duchy of Lancaster? Also tonight, the forgotten heart

patients. Why some say the controversial review of children's

heart services has ignored one group of patients. We have the same

surgeons, the same team, we should have the same review with the

children. And defying the odds. The younger boy who has amazed doctors

For many businesses, times are tough and they are looking at ways

to reduce their tax bill. But we discovered that the Duchy of

Lancaster, which holds the Queen's property portfolio, has been going

to unusual lengths to avoid paying tax on one of its properties in

Harrogate. This is 11 Ripon Road, near the centre of Harrogate. It's

an office building that is on the market for around �1 million. But

it's been empty for nearly three years and that could be costing the

owner around �16,000 a year in business rates. He owns the

property? This is a clue. -- who owns it? His it is owned by the

Duchy of Lancaster. The Duchy of -- the Duke of Lancaster is of course

the Queen. The Duchy dates back to the 13th century and holds land and

property on behalf of the sovereign. Last year, it made a surplus of �13

million. Since 2008, landlords have to pay business rates on properties

after they had been empty for three months. It seems the Duchy of

Lancaster has tried to find ways around pain. What is this?

Apparently, if you have a charity in, you get three months rate free.

We have been told in order to avoid business rates, 11 Ripon Road has

been filled with art. Could the Duchy be trying to avoid tax by

placing art in its property? We decided to find out. Posing as a

business man, Inside Out journalist Richard made an appointment to view

the property. It was arranged for 9am.

It is a few minutes to 9am and the property is just up the road. We

have a Jaguar, so we look businesslike. We will see how we

get on. Richard is met by an estate agent he selling the property on

behalf of the Duchy. He walked into the first room and is struck by

what is in there. What is this? Apparently, if you have a charity

in, you get three months rate free. Is there a sort of art group in as

tenants? A victory do their Artin here. In is it OK to take two or

three pictures -- they do their art in here. He has finished the

meeting and we will see what has happened.

Hello, Richard. How did that day? The what you have in there is a

deserted office block. The only thing in there is a rather bizarre

modern art work. One did it look like? If you look at the camera,

that almost looks like draped toilet rolls. Actually, it is

dustbin liners. They have been festooned across a room. A are they

all like this? The have different types of art work. There are

balloons, often for oil. There is very as types of plastic bags. The

estate agent was open. This is a tax dodge. She said the art work is

there to reduce the outgoings of the people who own the building,

the Duchy of Lancaster. There are little cards. I picked up the one

of the person who has done the art work, he is called Josh Artus. Is

that Josh Artus? Josh explains the service he offers. In case you are

wondering, it is not a charity. have my own art company. It is

based on helping clients manage their empty rates. He says he knows

what he's doing. The air are cases being fought against companies,

illegally doing it -- and there are. We do occupy the property. We do

not make up a fake company. We have artists working in the building.

They claim people can make an appointment by e-mail to view the

art works. We tried to make an appointment, but after two weeks,

we still had no response. We have tried sending e-mails and

telephoning Josh Artus and his colleagues. But they did not return

our telephone calls. The duchy said that ACTE Arts apologised for not

responding to the viewing request and will ensure it is not repeated.

The organisation said it had several exhibitions which have been

viewed favourably on the site. It plans many more for the remainder

of its tenancy. It says the building supports artists and is

for the benefit of the community. The question is, are they doing

anything wrong? It is not my taste in art! I am no expert,. Stuart

Hicks is an expert on business rates and advises landlords on how

to reduce their tax liability within the law. Whether it is to

your taste, would you advise people to do this to reduce rates? It is

not something I would advise to proceed with. Stewart has sympathy

with landlords facing bills on properties that are lying empty.

economy is difficult. -- the economy is difficult. Landlords

with empty property are suffering. How can they reduce their

liability? The law is black and white in terms of what people can

do, such as occupation for 43 days, after that, there is a period of

relief. The problems that can arise is if the property is not occupied

genuinely, alternatively, occupied for the purpose for which the

property is there. What do you think of the use of this property

in Harrogate? I would be concerned it was not a genuine occupation, in

which case the billing authority could seek to take action to

recover the money claimed. Duchy told us that ACTE Arts

occupied the building twice last year and in accordance with rating

law, the Duchy have claimed a total of six months business rate relief.

The Arts Company occupied the building for 45 days in March and

April and 50 days from July to September, in other words, just

over the 43 day limit. There were precisely three months between the

two occupations. The duchy said they reimbursed ACTE Arts for their

business rates during short periods of occupation and that the company

has signed a six-month lease, during which time the business

rates will be paid. There are many charities genuinely occupying empty

buildings and I have come to visit one of them. East Street Arts is a

registered charity that has been around for 20 years and they have

occupied this empty building in Leeds since October. What have you

got going on? A range of things from young people producing art, to

painters, to people working on experimental animation and we have

actors rehearsing. What do you do you have with the landlord?

landlord gives us a tenancy, in this case for one year, and for low

rental. We get a building cheaply and then landlord finds a tenant,

even though they are not getting a big rental. Stuart Hicks believes

that putting these so-called art works into 11 Ripon Road was a

mistake. Have -- I have been approached in the past by companies

offering a similar sort of service, but my advice to landlords I

represent has been not to go ahead. How serious could this be? If the

occupation is a sham, there are problems potentially with her

Majesty's Revenue and Customs, who could see the claiming of rate

relief as a serious issue. Could the Queen's private land portfolio

find itself in trouble with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs?

The controversial review of children's heart surgery that could

see the unit in Leeds closed is still being fought in the courts.

Away from that, there is a group of patients who believe they will be

affected by future changes, who say they have not really been

considered. My heart has a leaking a foul for.

It causes one side to work harder than the other -- valve. It's will

make a difference. He will be limited in his activities. Phil

Varley is about to undergo an operation to fix a problem with his

heart he was born with. I asked the doctor the bottom line and he said

if I did not get it done, I would not see 60. He is one of a growing

number seen as a modern medical miracle, children born with

congenital heart disease who are surviving two adults. There are

concerns that a review of children's heart services in

England that could see operations stop in Leeds, could lead the loss

of adult congenital surgery, too. We have the same surgeons and team,

we should have the same review with the children. It is bizarre not to

consider the two services together. After all, what is important is the

patient. With the two together, it could not have been managed in

practical terms. Phil Varley faces a difficult operation but the

outcome could make all the difference to his life. We get

married next year and have our lives to look forward to. That will

get me through it. The media spotlight has so far been fixed on

controversial plans to reorganise children's heart surgery, which

could see centres like Leeds stop operating, and it follows the

scandal at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in the 1990s, when

children died due to poor care. The NHS once bigger specialist centres

to ensure surgeons have enough patients to keep their skills honed.

But are they the same surgeons operating on children as adults? It

has left some questioning why adults were not included in the

review. Kimberley Botham was born with serious problems to her heart.

She relied on the expertise in Leeds her whole life. If I have

surgery, I have to have it done with a congenital heart surgeon,

and most of the MoD children's surgeons. I cannot go to my local

hospital for an anaesthetic. I broke my arm and had to go to Leeds

to have pins fitted. If I have children, I have to have a surgeon

ready in case anything goes wrong. We have to be at these centres. Yet,

they have ignored the adults who need that service. Dr John Gibbs is

a former president of the Congenital Heart Patients

Association. He is a consultant in Leeds. It is incomprehensible. The

patients need an ongoing service through their lives. The specialist

expertise required to look after them is common among children and

adults and all centres work closely between children and adult services

and it is bizarre not to consider The NHS says the decision was taken

because adults have difficulty -- different needs. But this is an

issue that has divided opinion will stop this is a letter sent to the

NHS body running the children's review back in 2010. It is on

behalf of 34 doctors and nurses and calls for the to refuse to be an

integrated process rather than seen as two issues with a separate

solutions. But the BBC has also seen a damning e-mail sent just a

few months ago by a senior doctor called Graham Stuart who sits on a

influential panel that advises the children's review. This is a copy

of the e-mail which was sent to me enormously in the post. Bennett, it

says clearly, it was ludicrous to only consider paediatric services

when at a critical level, we're all running services for both are adult

and paediatric patients. In retrospect, I should have jumped up

and down and screeched like a banshee and will sense prevailed

and adults was included or I collapsed foaming at the mouth. The

image says says this is not the general view of professional bodies

involved in the process. I don't agree but the fundamental points

made in that e-mail and those are not points in the wide process that

has gone on throughout all the professional groups. A there was a

pressing need because children were dying and it was thought they were

dying unnecessarily so the view was taken to get on with the review of

children. That is four years downstream, the adult review only

started last year and paediatricians don't want for the

delay on this. So why does it matter whether adults were included

in the children's review? A separate review into adult surgery

is now under way and should overhaul a service that is

desperately in need of change. But some people fear the children as if

you will have already decided where many of the surgeons they need will

be based. Michael Cumper is from the grown-up congenital heart

patients' Association and also sits on the advisory board for the adult

review. The result of safe and sustainable will determine where

the children's surgical units are and as the surgeons are the same

teams as operate on the adults, then it will obviously determine

where the adult centres will be as well. The idea that the original

plan was for adult surgery to follow children's can also be found

in discussions between members of an expert panel set up to advise

the children's review. In a limited conversation, one senior doctor

reminded colleagues that there had been an expectation that adult

services would eventually be Co located with children's. In essence,

some believe this also means that if the centre like Leeds lost its

children's heart surgery, then adult operations would be lost, too.

If you took away paediatric cardiac surgery, they would not be enough

work to sustain its expertise for adults here in Leeds. If it went

from here, I believe adults would as well. The NHS refutes any

suggestion that adults will have to follow children's and say there is

no requirement for adult and children's services to be located

together. Absolutely no decision has been made in that regard, and

nor is any decision inevitable. Isn't it commonsense that if you

move it from one city, it. From where it has gone? We say first of

all what the most desirable service is and there is no reason

whatsoever that this stage there are stand alone adult congenital

services cannot exist provided there are an adequate number of

cases and volume for the surgeons have to do. The children's review

is currently being challenged in the courts but could make a

decision as soon as the spring as the adult review could stretch well

into 20 that team needing some people are uncomfortable about what

the future holds. I don't know what surgery centre I will end up at

come I don't know if Leeds will close. If it closes, I will go to

Birmingham and that terrifies me because I think it will be overrun

but patience. The operation on Phil's hard to clearly 10 hours to

complete and was a success. Eight weeks on and he is feeling much

better. It has already made a difference. I feel better in myself

and if it wasn't for the surgery, maybe my life would have stopped

sooner than what it will. For Phil and thousands like him who were

born with congenital heart disease, the reorganisation of their

surgical care is seen by experts as a rare opportunity. The question

now is, where do they go from here? Do they backtrack and start again

from scratch or do they carry on and see what the outcome is? I

would prefer they carried on because the worst thing is delay

and mortar late. I think that having been to refuse separately is

something that will work very effectively. It has made me feel

like we don't matter and we are just aside think that they will

think about later. The NHS says no decisions have been made in terms

of either review and there are no plans to bring the two together.

Imagine being told your baby has an incurable disease and could die

before reaching his first birthday. That was the stark reality effaced

by Steve and Diane Waller more than a decade ago but their son Jack

defied medical opinion and we have been to meet this remarkable young

boy. And 12 candles on the cake but few

believed he would live long enough to delight. All children spread

these are special but as a parent, imagine how pressures they would

seem if you feared each of them might be their last. We were told

that Jack would die suddenly at any minute out of nowhere. Jack had

this very rare lung condition and there was nothing they could do but

to take him home and enjoy the time with him because he would probably

not see his first but it. A Jack suffered from a rare and fatal lung

condition called primary pulmonary hypertension. For four years, he

had to wear a back pack which injected life-saving drugs into his

heart. There were times when I thought, I will never make it and

this will be the end. I am a natural born fighter, whatever life

throws at me, through letters of the way. I like that song, just

look on the bright side of life. Jack is in London with his dad for

one of his regular trips to Great Ormond Street. In total, he has

probably spent a year of his life so far in hospital. This is a

familiar routine for Jack and the staff here. They will know that

without the constant medical intervention, he wouldn't have

survived this long. Blood test Tarin but it is Jack who is giving

the middle. The nurse is an Arsenal fan and tonight the London team is

playing Jack's beloved Liverpool. You should see me on the train, who.

Whatever happens on the pitch, a jack winds the pre-match banter.

Kaka is literally thousands of blood tests and it would upset and

adults. Gay I don't mind having blood tests. In fact now I laugh at

the needles. Jack's spleen is severely is one of through medical

complications and and knock could burst at with fatal consequences.

It is one of a long list of challenges he faces. Jack became

the face of the Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice Appeal and he

raised �500,000 towards its building costs. A double lung

transplant at the age of 5.5 saved his life. Unfortunately it is not a

cure and so, Jack is doing very well and we hope he will have many

more years of great quality of life. We are extremely proud of him. The

way he has progressed is definitely down to his character. He is a

stubborn the devil and he has always asked questions. The doctors

and nurses will speak to him in a manner that he can understand but

they don't treat him like a little kid. He still needs a daily

cocktail of drugs to keep him alive. Since my transplant, I have had so

many people looking after me and I am grateful to all of them because

without any of this, I would never have made it to the stage. It is

Jack's 12 but the today and he is opening his cards and presents with

his and her brothers, Adam and Joe. Despite the celebrations, there's a

school day to prepare for and Jack is not skipping lessons today.

Every parent is proud of their child's milestones but Jack's

didn't think he would survive long enough to a temporary school. He is

now in his first year at Muff comprehensive. We used it

laparoscope, he was wearing a backpack that kept him alive. Seven

years on, he spread the is a cause for celebration. There are over

1800 pupils in the school and many of them tower over Jack. Things

they take for granted like walking to and from lessons, for Jack, can

be potentially life threatening. The school is all too aware of the

need to keep Jack away from any chance of being knocked by other

pupils. He avoids the rash and only leaves when it is safe to do so. He

has his own support worker to escort him to and from lessons.

don't want to get caught up in the rush. Often is there anything going

around school, for example chicken pox, he cannot come into school. He

would pick things up a lot more quickly than other children so that

would affect his tiredness and things like that. He is definitely

an inspiration to a lot of the children in their in the amount he

copes with and he is still doing everything they do. His friends

agree. What you think about the fact that he is still coming to

school and doing his lessons? just America that he is still here.

It is amazing that somebody with so many problems and so many things

going on in his life and he is still positive about it. He make me

think that we're all lucky. would you think about the fact that

you can't quite do everything everybody else does? I find it a

bit depressing but I may not be able to do it but I am still lucky

because I was told I wouldn't see my first British. I have come to

the Yorkshire why live tower and today there is a new junior ranger

on patrol. This is quite disgusting fact, they eat their own Pep!

has notched up another birthday they thought he would never see.

Next year he will be a teenager and he has hopes and ambitions for the

future. If I do we get to being an adult, I want to become the world's

youngest opera which is 15 or 16 years old. Hopefully I can live

long enough to do that. He has just been through so much pain and

frustration that he manages to keep smiling and he is an amazing little

boy and he fights everything and he has the will to live and he is

determined he is going to enjoy it. I want him to have the best, he