11/02/2016 Reporting Scotland

The women's prison at Cornton Vale is to close, with prisoners moved

It's the first stage of what ministers say will be

a transformation in the way Scotland deals with women in custody.

Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent Reevel Alderson.

The government plans to close Scotland's only women's prison in a

radical overhaul for female offenders. A typical story, Sarah is

receiving help at a centre in Glasgow to help with her drug and

alcohol addictions which led her to commit crime after crime. I am

different. Your feelings and emotions come back. I am really

confident in myself. I have a lot of respect for myself now as well. I

didn't have any of that before. Could you see yourself going back to

prison? No. That is the past, definitely in my past. Currently,

there are 412 women visitors in Scotland in four jails. 222 are held

at Cornton Vale comment and now government plans will see just 80 in

a new unit here, with a further hundred in community units around

Scotland. This sits alongside... More women committing offences will

be put into community programmes which are much more effective in

tackling offending behaviour and reducing the risk of these

individuals committing offences again in the future. This jail

represents the old style the punishment. Today's announcement of

the eventual closure of Cornton Vale marks a shift in the way that the

particularly women offenders will be treated in the future. I'll make the

most serious offenders will go to jail. More reminder to shock or

minor offenders will be offered help and assistance to make sure that

they don't commit any more offences and stay out of jail for good. One

centre in Glasgow gives women help to break the cycle of reoffending so

many find themselves in. We only have 12 beds here. This helps the

women feel safe and secure and helps them actively in gauge in the

programme and make better choices for their life and to move on with

their recovery. Building on a new centre for serious women offenders

is going to start soon, and it is going to be given a new name, a

symbol of the new prison policy. MSPs have set the Scottish rate

of income tax for the first time. They voted by 74 votes to 35

to maintain it at the same level Labour and the liberal democrats

argued for a penny increase to invest in education,

but the Scottish Government proposed the rate for 2016-17

should remain 10%. Here's our political

editor Brian Taylor. Tonight's proceedings were genuinely

historic. MSPs were voting to set a rate of income tax for Scotland, and

the historic outcome, leave well alone. Aber and the Liberal

Democrats argued for a 1% increase in income tax across the Banff, but

the Conservatives agreed with the Scottish finance secretary who said

it was the wrong approach to take and that it could damage those on

relatively low incomes and would cause problems for the economy and

problems for those who were struggling, and by majority,

Parliament back to that approach, so your income tax will stay the same

throughout the rest of the UK, but that is on the end of the matter.

From next year, it is intended that... There will have to be a

matching cut in the block that comes from Westminster and the

negotiations of the level of that cut and how it is indexed for the

future is causing an almighty row. Clarification published today refers

to indexation. It is only mitigating the ?7 billion cut which is

considered intrinsic to the Treasury. Tomorrow a revised

proposal will be published, and meanwhile, the deadline that was

meant to be sorted by tomorrow, it has slipped until next week,

possibly the beginning of the week after. Much more negotiations come.

-- much more negotiation to come. Scientists have discovered that

a pod of whales stranded on the Fife coast had high concentrations

of toxic chemicals that may have 31 pilot whales were beached

between Anstruther and Pittenweem This is a very tricky question

because there are loads of possibilities why they are stranded,

but it could be with rising metals in the ocean, toxic elements in the

ocean, this might be an additional toxic stress on these animals.

Two thirds of children in Primary 1 are now learning a second language -

The Scottish government wants every five-yea-

old to have the chance within just four years.

The Scottish government wants every five-year-

old to have the chance within just four years.

Our education correspondent Jamie McIvor has been to one primary

school, where three extra languages are now taught.

At this school, Spanish is part of everyday life for these children.

The five-year-old in this class have been learning Spanish for a few

months, and some of them really enjoyed the subject. At this age, it

is easier for children to simply absorb any language. We come into

school and greet each other in Spanish and the children in order

their lunch in Spanish. They speak Spanish to different staff members

and are you here that parents sometimes using the language of the

playgrounds as well, which is lovely. By 2020, every primary one

people should have this type of chance.

Older children at this school also do French and Gaelic. Nationally,

the government wants all primary children to experience two extra

languages. It says there is good progress but there is more to do.

Not every teacher will have had the opportunity or the occasion to teach

a language in the class in primary, although more and more it is

happening. It is about making sure that teachers have the confidence

and the schools have enthusiasm and that there are the resources

available that are needed. There is a fear that pressure on budgets cut

hit education facilities across the country. There have been questions

about some of the training that has been on offer and that it might not

be adequate enough to deliver the quality. If this policy succeeds,

what happens at this school might seem the norm in four years.

Scientists have detected gravitational waves. It is the

result of a huge international project with crucial development

technology -- technology developed in Glasgow. This report contains

some flash photography. It was the breakthrough 1.3 billion years in

the making. We have detected gravitational waves, we did it. The

announcement came from Washington but there were celebrations in

Glasgow as well and here is why. More than 1 billion years ago, and a

galaxy far away, something cataclysmic happened, to a massive

black holes spiralled and collated, releasing the energy of 100 billion

trillion suns. A Bert Einstein predicted something that big would

create ripples in the fabric of space and time, gravitational waves,

but getting from theory to prove has taken a century and a massive

international effort. The ripples are so small that they squeeze space

and time by less than the width of an Adam and to look for them a laser

beam was sent at right angles. The beams were then beamed back

together. Normally they cancel each other out, but when the ripple

passed through planet Earth, one beam was stretched and the other

squeeze, producing an interference pattern, the first direct detection

of gravitational waves. Eventually, there were two detectors built. They

are called advanced Lego. Key parts of the technology were built right

here in Scotland. The sensitivity we need is phenomenal. The kind of

precision has alluded us until now but we have achieved that greater

precision because of various upgrades. Glasgow University was

part of a UK consortium that has had a key role in making this upgrades

happen. Here in the laboratory at Glasgow University were the first

working gravity wave receivers in the country. They have been building

wave detectors at the gravity of -- Glasgow University for half a

century and now it is no longer ageing. We have seen the first

observation of gravitational waves. We are at the same stage Galileo

was. It means a completely new branch of science has just been

born. Kenneth Scotland, the universe.

Rugby and Scotland coach Vern Cotter has been forced into one change

for Saturday's 6 nations clash with Wales.

Saracens centre Duncan Taylor replaces Edinburgh's Matt Scott

The team are hoping to avoid an eighth straight defeat

in the tournament - but they haven't won

Now for the weather. It is a cold one out there. A good deal of cloud

and a scattering of showers, and across Scotland, temperatures are

tumbling. Temperatures widely getting down below freezing and as

low as minus seven in parts of the Highlands, where we have snow cover.

A more organised band of showers pushing into the far north that will

turn wintry evening to low levels by morning. There will be an ice risk

across the country to start the day, so some tricky conditions. A yellow

the eyewear warning for that band of the sale and sleet across the North.

A risk of eyes for Northern Ireland's. Further south across

England and Wales, bit more in the way of cloud, and a scattering of

showers that will keep coming as we go through the day. Dry and bright

weather for Southern and western Scotland as the day goes on

tomorrow, but this wintry showers in the East, and a few centimetres of

snowfall at low levels, ten cm or more, over the hills of stops in

tricky conditions on the roads. Feeling cool. Feeling quite wrought

with a strong easterly wind across the North. Tomorrow evening it turns

cold again and the band of wintry weather sinks suffers across

Scotland, getting into the borders. A deep area of low pressure tracking

to the south of us which will bring so light and windy weather into

England and Wales as we head into Saturday, but north of the border,

these easterly winds will be introduced which will bring fairly

frequent showers to South East Scotland in particular. These are

showers will be wintry and there will be some significant

accumulations of snow. Further north, lots of bright weather, and

it will be chilly. The best of the sunshine on Sunday will be on the

Southwest. That is the forecast. Thank you.

Our next update is during Breakfast at 6:25 tomorrow morning.

But, from everyone on the late team here in Glasgow and around