26/04/2016 Reporting Scotland

ScottishPower has been told to pay ?18 million in penalties for failing

It's been criticised by the industry regulator Ofgem for unacceptable

delays to call handling, billing and complaints.

Our business and economy editor, Douglas Fraser, reports.

At ScottishPower, we think about what energy is and what it can

In the real world outside this advert, its customers have been left

waiting on the phone or for their bill.

One of the big six energy supplies, ScottishPower joins rivals

in being heavily penalised for the treatment of its customer.

She set up a direct debit to pay her bills.

She found her money was not taken out of the account

and she was ignored and is now left with a backdated claim.

They have no record of any gas that was supplied,

but they have been chasing me for it.

It has been well documented and it is stressful in my late

The regulator found the Spanish owned company let down customers

while changing its IT system four years ago.

Call waiting times were found to be too high, which some

300,000 bills were late, leading to a million complaints

and those complaints were handled too slowly.

The problems were still being resolved earlier this year.

Ofgem is giving ScottishPower a fine of only ?1, but requiring it to pay

?80 million on penalties after 15 million for failing

to support vulnerable customers and 3 million to charity.

It is the second-biggest fine we've imposed in relation to not

This should send out a message, ?18 million is a large fine and it

says we expect companies to treat their customers fairly

ScottishPower had no one available to interview

Later this year, ScottishPower will occupy this

city centre headquarters, a grand building that underlines

the important role of the company in the Scottish economy.

But the penalty issued today is a reminder it cannot afford

to get too grand for its customers and demonstrates the danger

when companies' computer systems need to be renewed and rebooted.

In more disturbing evidence to the Liam Fee murder trial,

a young child said he felt "unsafe" with the two accused.

The boy says Nyomi and Rachel Fee told him his dad was dead,

Nyomi and Rachel Fee deny murdering Liam and harming two other boys.

Some viewers, particularly young children, may find some

of the details in Lisa Summers report upsetting.

Two-year-old Liam Fee was found dead at his home in March 2014.

For a second day, the jury has been watching video evidence from a child

Rachel and Nyomi Fee are accused of mistreating.

He believed his dad was dead because Rachel told him full.

She said she had killed them because she doesn't like liars.

The social worker said she assured him

He said he broke down and didn't want to go back to the house.

The child says on one occasion Nyomi tried his hands behind his back

with a dressing gown cord and forced him to sleep naked

The rats were in and the snakes, but they were in boxes.

Nyomi Fee told him it eats little boys.

But she never got it out of the box. The two women deny killing Liam and

deny harming him and two other boys. The trial continues.

Scotland's first female Lord Justice Clerk has been

installed at a ceremony in Edinburgh.

Appointed by the Queen on the recommendation

of the First Minister, Lady Dorrian becomes the country's

second most senior judge behind the Lord President.

Her elevation means she'll play a prominent role

In the Holyrood election campaign, the SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon,

says she has not ruled out cutting the number of local authorities.

The party's promising a wide-ranging review.

But rivals are not convinced structural reform is necessary.

Here's our political correspondent, Glenn Campbell.

Getting rid of your rubbish is not the only thing your council does.

It is also in charge of local roads, school education and social care

This city of Edinburgh Council is one of 32 local authorities

in Scotland and the SNP wants to review the role and review

the responsibility of these councils and how they work together

with the network of health boards that run NHS services.

The party leaders made clear that would mean having fewer

We will review the situation in partnership with local government.

The provision of public services and the governance is changing.

In health and social care, we now have new partnership that

bring health and local government together.

Health and social care became an integrated

service earlier this month, with cross-party backing.

The Conservatives favour more joint working rather than trimming down

The Scottish Conservatives don't leave in the wholesale

We don't think there should be wholesale organisation

because we should be doing the best job of service delivery.

That means councils working closer together but not

Scotland's eight Fire Services were merged into just one

during the last Parliament and a single police force was created.

The Liberal Democrats call it centralisation and don't

We don't want to be meddling around with the boundaries of councils.

That is a distraction. We should be pushing powers back down into the

communities. The SNP took control of the police, they are threatening to

take control over our schools. This is not acceptable. Local government

reform could cut the cash available for Scotland's poorest areas. It is

20 years since local government was last overhauled when regional

councils, like Strathclyde, were abolished. Labour says its manifesto

tomorrow will not propose another big shake-up. We have to be very

careful about any more centralisation, which has been

hugely unpopular. I think we can get government to work on a much more

joined up fashion by devolving power to governments. That's the way to

get efficient local government. The SNP says it wants more local

decision-making, not less. Either way, it has managed to put who

provides what service on the election agenda.

A driver who deliberately drove and knocked over a man as he walked

home from a night out has been jailed for almost six years.

Akib Aslam struck Steven Ballantyne in Grangemouth before swerving

violently to throw him off the bonnet of his car.

Mr Ballantyne was so badly hurt, he was unable

A court heard the victim did nothing to provoke the incident.

Many people are exposing themselves to harmful levels of pollutants

in their homes because they're not ventilating them properly.

Specialists at Glasgow School of Arts Environmental Research Unit

say modern homes are airtight, which allows pollution

Our health correspondent Eleanor Bradford reports.

Margaret and John are chuffed to bits with their new house.

It's draught free and much cheaper to heat than their old one.

They were given a manual telling them how to ventilate the home,

It was quite technical, in fact, too technical.

I put it in the drawer, and that is where it has stayed.

It was for someone with mechanical expertise, not me.

Experts say that was probably a bad idea.

We have things like carpets, soft furnishings...

Everyday objects give off chemicals that need to escape.

Pollution inside can be five times higher than outside.

It depends on the nature of the house, the type

of ventilation, carpets, candles, air fresheners, ironically,

Sofas and air fresheners contain volatile organic compounds

MDF and plywood contain formaldehyde, which can

Plastic gives off chemicals that disrupt the reproductive system

if there is not adequate ventilation.

Ken Shepherd works for the housing association

It gives its householders simple tips.

There was a big build-up of CO2 in the bedroom,

and the best way to deal with that is to open the window,

get some ventilation in, and that gives you better air quality.

The advice is to use trickle vents, which let fresh air trickle in.

Use bathroom fans or open a window while showering to let moisture out.

Modern homes are built to be airtight, so it's important

to know how the ventilation system works or you could be

The fashion and tailoring chain Austin Reed has gone

The retailer has three shops in Scotland, Edinburgh,

Glasgow and Livingston, as well as an outlet in Gretna

The company, which was founded in 1900, employs nearly 1,200 staff

It's over to Christopher now with the weather forecast

Good evening. It was fairly wintry at times today. You can see on the

radar the number of showers we had pining in on BOS brisk winds, and

some of them had seasons snow fixed in, and we saw some snow settling to

low levels as well. You can see one of our weather watchers sent in this

picture. Overnight, the showers fade away which means it will be cold,

frosty and, for some, icy. Dry for many in the morning. We have a

yellow be aware warning for those continued snow showers with the risk

of ice. Elsewhere, it is reasonably dry with some showers down through

the Borders, South Lanarkshire and the Borders. For many, a sunny start

but chilly. In the countryside, close to freezing or below freezing

at 8am. Those showers frequent across the North and it is a wintry

mix. Through Wednesday, many central, southern and eastern parts

will be dry and bright but a few showers will pop off as well. For

many parts of England, there will be some rain showers around, but the

winds are lighter so they will be slow-moving. If you catch one, it'll

be with you for some time. Not feeling as cold tomorrow as it did

today. Into the evening, some wintry showers around, and, potentially,

some snow to the lower levels, too. Thursday, all eyes on this

developing system out in the Atlantic, low pressure being rain

our way. Reasonably dry bright, chilly, a few showers, then you can

see the system bringing the rain in to Scotland and Central Scotland by

mid-afternoon. That is low pressure system still with us on Friday. Its

exact track and certain but we are likely to see rain, strengthening

wind. That's the forecast. Our next update is during Breakfast,

at 6:25am tomorrow morning. But, from everyone on the late team

here in Glasgow and around