03/04/2017

:00:00. > :00:07.Hello, it's Monday, it's nine o'clock.

:00:08. > :00:13.Police investigating a violent attack on a teenage asylum-seeker

:00:14. > :00:15.in south London release images of three people

:00:16. > :00:20.We'll have the latest from the scene.

:00:21. > :00:22.We have a special report on the financial challenges faced

:00:23. > :00:26.by young people when they leave the care system at 18.

:00:27. > :00:29."That's it, we no longer need to be in contact with you,

:00:30. > :00:32.you've now hit that age where you can live by yourself

:00:33. > :00:39.independently, and there you go, off you go into

:00:40. > :00:43.and there was not much preparation for that.

:00:44. > :00:46.And will your child's nursery be one of those which says it can't offer

:00:47. > :00:48.30 hours of free childcare because it's too expensive?

:00:49. > :01:02.on how the new system for nurseries in England will work.

:01:03. > :01:11.Hello, welcome to the programme, we're live until 11am.

:01:12. > :01:17.Showed profits from the so-called tampon tax go to an anti-abortion

:01:18. > :01:20.group? The group says it is providing essential housing support

:01:21. > :01:24.for women who decide to keep their babies, but the MP who champion the

:01:25. > :01:26.scheme says they should have to give the grand back, let us know what you

:01:27. > :01:33.think about that. Our top story today,

:01:34. > :01:37.detectives investigating an attack on a teenage asylum-seeker

:01:38. > :01:39.which left him seriously injured have released images of three people

:01:40. > :01:41.they want to question. The two men and a woman

:01:42. > :01:44.are being sought about the attack on the 17-year-old boy at Croydon

:01:45. > :01:47.in south London on Friday night. Anisa Kadri is following

:01:48. > :01:56.the story for us. What is the latest? Well, eight

:01:57. > :02:00.people are actually in Kas today now, police are questioning them on

:02:01. > :02:06.suspicion of attempted murder, and as you mention, three images have

:02:07. > :02:13.been released this morning by police, people they want to speak

:02:14. > :02:19.to. Police believe up to 20 people could have been involved. As for the

:02:20. > :02:22.victim, 17 years old, Kurdish-Iranian, police are treating

:02:23. > :02:30.it as a suspected hate crime, they believe his race was integral to the

:02:31. > :02:34.reason that he was attacked. And a... They are treating this, as I

:02:35. > :02:39.say, as a hate crime. He is said to be in a serious but stable condition

:02:40. > :02:43.at the receiving repeated kicks and punches and sustaining serious head

:02:44. > :02:49.injuries. Tell us more about what has been police together about the

:02:50. > :02:52.attack. -- pieced together. On Friday night, this victim was

:02:53. > :02:56.waiting at a bus stop in Croydon with friends when a group is said to

:02:57. > :03:00.have come up to him, and police say they ask them, you know, where are

:03:01. > :03:06.you from? It was then that he said he was an asylum seeker, and they

:03:07. > :03:13.chased him down the street and began kicking him, punching him. Many

:03:14. > :03:18.people saw this happen, some alerted 999, and the victim was left lying

:03:19. > :03:23.there, and it was at that point, of course, that the emergency services

:03:24. > :03:25.got involved and realised that this needed to be, you know, attended to,

:03:26. > :03:32.so to speak. Anisa, thank you. Annita is in the BBC

:03:33. > :03:34.newsroom with a summary Donald Trump has warned that the US

:03:35. > :03:39.will solve the North Korean nuclear In an interview with

:03:40. > :03:41.the Financial Times, "If China is not going to solve

:03:42. > :03:45.North Korea, we will." Mr Trump confirmed he was referring

:03:46. > :03:52.to direct unilateral action. The comments come ahead

:03:53. > :03:54.of a visit to the US Significant restrictions on the use

:03:55. > :03:59.of bail by police in England The amount of time a suspect

:04:00. > :04:04.released from custody can remain on bail will be limited to 28 days

:04:05. > :04:07.in most cases. The decision is in response

:04:08. > :04:09.to concerns that people were being left in limbo for months

:04:10. > :04:12.or even years. as our home affairs correspondent

:04:13. > :04:18.June Kelly reports. Famous faces who've been under

:04:19. > :04:20.police investigation, finally told they wouldn't

:04:21. > :04:22.be facing charges, They were among the 5000

:04:23. > :04:29.still on bail after a year. The Government says the system

:04:30. > :04:33.needed rebalancing. Well, what's happened in the past

:04:34. > :04:36.is people could be put on bail with no end in sight and no check

:04:37. > :04:40.or balance, which means we had thousands of people could be on bail

:04:41. > :04:43.for 12 months or more. In fact, there were examples

:04:44. > :04:45.of people on for several years, We've got to make sure

:04:46. > :04:51.we've got a proper system that It's part of an overhaul of the

:04:52. > :04:55.bail system in England and Wales. From now on, some suspects won't be

:04:56. > :04:58.subject to police bail at all. For those who are bailed, in most

:04:59. > :05:05.cases, the limit will be 28 days. But a senior police officer

:05:06. > :05:07.will be able to grant one three-month extension

:05:08. > :05:08.in complex cases. The police will have to seek

:05:09. > :05:11.the permission of a magistrate The Police Federation, which

:05:12. > :05:14.represents rank-and-file officers, 28 days, in the cycle

:05:15. > :05:24.of a police officer, is not a long time for to

:05:25. > :05:26.investigating a crime. You've also got to bear in mind,

:05:27. > :05:29.in relation to external inquiries, what we tend to have is external

:05:30. > :05:32.resource, so we have got the Forensic Science Service, CPS,

:05:33. > :05:35.and 28 days is not realistic for them to come back to us

:05:36. > :05:37.with the information The Police Federation said

:05:38. > :05:40.the old system protected complainants and victims and helped

:05:41. > :05:42.prevent further offending. Europe is becoming the global hub

:05:43. > :05:50.for the hosting of child sexual abuse images and videos,

:05:51. > :05:53.according to a new report. The Internet Watch Foundation found

:05:54. > :05:56.that 60% of worldwide abuse material was now in Europe,

:05:57. > :06:01.an increase of 19%. of European nations

:06:02. > :06:06.hosting the illegal content. Improved reporting and policing

:06:07. > :06:08.in North America are believed

:06:09. > :06:18.to have driven the shift. The Spanish Foreign Minister has

:06:19. > :06:22.said there is no need to lose tempers over Gibraltar. He was

:06:23. > :06:25.speaking after the chief minister of Gibraltar insisted that the

:06:26. > :06:28.territory would be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations over

:06:29. > :06:35.Britain's exit from the European Union.

:06:36. > :06:38.The EU's guidelines on the Brexit talks suggest that Spain over

:06:39. > :06:40.which claims overeignty over the Gibraltar, might be able

:06:41. > :06:42.to veto decisions that affect the territory.

:06:43. > :06:44.But yesterday, Theresa May assured the people of Gibraltar

:06:45. > :06:46.that her government remained committed to them,

:06:47. > :06:49.and that the sovereignty of the Rock was not up for grabs.

:06:50. > :06:51.Tom Burridge is at the Gibraltar border with Spain this morning

:06:52. > :07:01.you can probably make out a flow of traffic,

:07:02. > :07:05.a lot of people walking out of southern Spain into Gibraltar,

:07:06. > :07:09.because thousands of people work, sorry, live over that side

:07:10. > :07:13.The free movement of people is guaranteed because Gibraltar

:07:14. > :07:17.and Britain are members of the European single market.

:07:18. > :07:23.Now, when Britain comes to negotiate its Brexit deal

:07:24. > :07:26.with the rest of the European Union, in theory now, according

:07:27. > :07:29.to the European Union, Spain will have a say

:07:30. > :07:34.on whether the deal can apply to Gibraltar or not.

:07:35. > :07:38.And what is possible is that Spain might say that, actually,

:07:39. > :07:41.aspects of any deal can't apply to Gibraltar, and it might do

:07:42. > :07:43.so on economic grounds, because Spain has always complained

:07:44. > :07:46.that taxes are much lower on this side of the border

:07:47. > :07:50.Of course, Britain and Gibraltar putting on a united front,

:07:51. > :07:53.saying any deal for Britain is a deal for Gibraltar,

:07:54. > :07:57.take it or leave it, that is the kind of poker game we are in.

:07:58. > :07:59.Rescue teams in Colombia are continuing to search

:08:00. > :08:02.through tonnes of mud and debris for anyone who might have survived

:08:03. > :08:05.the devastating mudslides in the south of the country.

:08:06. > :08:08.In the last few hours, the president has said 254 people

:08:09. > :08:10.are known to have died, 43 of them children.

:08:11. > :08:17.The mudslide engulfed the town of Mocoa,

:08:18. > :08:31.Hopes of finding anyone alive in the debris are fading.

:08:32. > :08:33.The political parties in Northern Ireland will begin

:08:34. > :08:35.fresh talks today at Stormont aimed at restoring

:08:36. > :08:38.Power-sharing collapsed in January because of a row between Sinn Fein

:08:39. > :08:41.and the Democratic Unionists about a botched green energy scheme.

:08:42. > :08:43.Last week, a deadline to form a new administration

:08:44. > :08:56.Police are looking for a dog on the loose in Bolton after armed police

:08:57. > :09:00.shot dead two pit bull type dogs after an attack on a man and a woman

:09:01. > :09:05.in a street. Police were told five dogs were out of control. A woman

:09:06. > :09:08.was bitten on the hand, a man suffered injuries to his legs. Two

:09:09. > :09:13.dogs were captured, a fifth managed to escape. Police are warning people

:09:14. > :09:17.to be on the lookout for a large dog with short hair and of a muscular

:09:18. > :09:21.build. That is a summary of the latest BBC News.

:09:22. > :09:27.In a few moments, a special report on the financial challenges faced by

:09:28. > :09:30.young people when they leave care at the age of 18. Caroline has tweeted

:09:31. > :09:34.to say, I am really pleased to see this as being featured by the

:09:35. > :09:39.programme, and Natalie says, so glad councils are offering more support.

:09:40. > :09:43.There are calls for council tax to be waived for care leavers, and some

:09:44. > :09:50.are doing it, but not all. Let's get some sport

:09:51. > :09:52.with Hugh Woozencroft. And we start with a rather

:09:53. > :09:54.incredible story in golf. I still can't decide

:09:55. > :09:57.whether this story is the good or bad side of sport,

:09:58. > :09:59.because I'm pedantic, and if a player breaks

:10:00. > :10:02.the rules in a sport, then does it really matter

:10:03. > :10:05.who has pointed it out? OK, maybe I'm being harsh,

:10:06. > :10:07.because Lexi Thompson, the American golfer,

:10:08. > :10:10.must be heartbroken after an eagle-eyed television

:10:11. > :10:12.viewer called in to say they'd spotted

:10:13. > :10:18.an infringement. But the heartbreak will be

:10:19. > :10:22.even harder to take because it was the first women's

:10:23. > :10:25.golf major of the year, Thompson held a two-shot lead

:10:26. > :10:29.in the tournament when she was told. She only found out with six holes

:10:30. > :10:32.to play, and the infringement happened a full

:10:33. > :10:35.24 hours beforehand. She was left in tears

:10:36. > :10:38.when she was approached Calling it ridiculous, she was

:10:39. > :10:42.handed a four-stroke penalty, and eventually the title

:10:43. > :10:45.as well in a play-off. The decision hasn't

:10:46. > :11:05.gone down too well. Finally, Lexi Thompson herself

:11:06. > :11:08.took to Instagram a few hours ago, saying, "Well, it was an emotional

:11:09. > :11:12.day here for me, first off I do want to say what I had done was 100%

:11:13. > :11:24.not intentional at all, I played amazing today, probably the

:11:25. > :11:28.best I have played all week. I wasn't expecting that on whatever

:11:29. > :11:32.hole it was, I did not intentionally do that. So to the officials or

:11:33. > :11:38.whoever called in, that was not my purpose. I didn't realise I did

:11:39. > :11:44.that. But you know, I fought hard coming in, I didn't give up, I knew

:11:45. > :11:48.I could still win. But so many players played great,

:11:49. > :11:49.congratulations micro. Rather understandably upset.

:11:50. > :11:51.The LPGA have defended their decision, one official said

:11:52. > :11:54.she wouldn't have been able to sleep if she'd have let it slide.

:11:55. > :11:57.But it does beg the questions what if they'd have noticed

:11:58. > :12:02.Would they have taken victory away from the 22-year-old?

:12:03. > :12:08.What did she actually do? Well, essentially, she marked ball

:12:09. > :12:13.on the 17th green in her third round with a coin, just before she was

:12:14. > :12:17.going to putt. When she replaced the ball, it had moved just over to the

:12:18. > :12:21.side, essentially, she didn't play from where the ball had landed,

:12:22. > :12:25.which is watching as to do. She could have been looking for a better

:12:26. > :12:29.lie, and that is why you get a penalty, two strokes moving the

:12:30. > :12:35.ball, two for signing for the wrong score after her third round. So

:12:36. > :12:36.yeah, really difficult one to take. Let's move onto tennis, Roger

:12:37. > :12:38.Federer. Well, Roger Federer is defying

:12:39. > :12:41.all the odds at the moment. At the age of 35,

:12:42. > :12:44.he's won the Miami Open. and he's playing as well as anyone

:12:45. > :12:48.in the world right now. But the body does need some

:12:49. > :12:51.tender love and care at his age. He now says he'll take nearly

:12:52. > :12:53.two months off and probably not play

:12:54. > :12:59.again until the French Open. He beat Spain's Rafa Nadal

:13:00. > :13:01.in straight sets to lift the title, 24 hours after Britain's

:13:02. > :13:04.Johanna Konta won the women's event. Federer moves up to fourth

:13:05. > :13:06.in the world rankings, adding Miami to big wins

:13:07. > :13:08.at the Australian Open and And before we go,

:13:09. > :13:22.we must mention Celtic. It may be only the first

:13:23. > :13:24.week of April, but Brendan Rodgers' side

:13:25. > :13:25.have clinched the Scottish Premiership

:13:26. > :13:27.again, after beating which helped put them 25 points

:13:28. > :13:33.clear of second-placed Aberdeen. And they're still on for

:13:34. > :13:35.the domestic treble as well, so congratulations and good luck

:13:36. > :13:38.to Celtic and their fans While most teenagers are living

:13:39. > :13:43.at home when they turn 18, are suddenly thrust

:13:44. > :13:47.into a grown-up world. They can find themselves

:13:48. > :13:49.alone in a flat with all Managing money is one of the biggest

:13:50. > :13:54.challenges, and a new scheme - so far adopted by 14 councils -

:13:55. > :13:58.aims to help. Our reporter Ashley John-Baptiste,

:13:59. > :14:01.who was himself in care, There's no ifs, buts, maybes -

:14:02. > :14:29.this bill has got to be paid then. About 2000 across

:14:30. > :14:33.different companies. Council tax bill's

:14:34. > :14:44.really the worst one. Like thousands of kids

:14:45. > :14:49.across the UK, I grew up in care. From the age of two, I lived

:14:50. > :14:52.with four different foster families, and I also spent two years

:14:53. > :14:57.in a care home. I remember like it was yesterday

:14:58. > :15:00.the time I had to leave care When I was 18, I left care

:15:01. > :15:11.and I moved into a council Really nervous, because I haven't

:15:12. > :15:19.been back here for at least, say, five years, and it brings

:15:20. > :15:24.back a bit of emotion. But this is the flat I moved

:15:25. > :15:27.into when I left care, when I had to sort of fend

:15:28. > :15:30.for myself as an adult. I can see the flat,

:15:31. > :15:33.it's a bit crazy! That's the window of the flat that

:15:34. > :15:42.I lived in nearly ten years ago now, that I moved into this council flat

:15:43. > :15:46.at 18, as a care leaver. Back then, I felt very isolated

:15:47. > :15:50.and I'm thinking, "What the heck? I've got to go and live

:15:51. > :15:52.independently, by myself, And I remember the toughest weekend,

:15:53. > :15:59.potentially, of my life was when I had 37p to live off

:16:00. > :16:05.for a weekend, and all I could afford was an onion,

:16:06. > :16:11.and I had a bit of tuna and I made I remember the first night that

:16:12. > :16:22.I moved into this flat. The flat wasn't decorated,

:16:23. > :16:32.and I just slept on a mattress, and I felt extremely lonely,

:16:33. > :16:35.vulnerable, and unprepared It is crazy to think that,

:16:36. > :16:45.at 18 years old, when friends I think I've blocked a lot

:16:46. > :16:59.of that out of my head. I think so, because I remember

:17:00. > :17:03.asking for your iron. You've asked for my

:17:04. > :17:07.iron, Hoover, eggs. Oh, my gosh, that's

:17:08. > :17:17.really embarrassing! Did you know, did you know that,

:17:18. > :17:21.when I moved here, I had left care? Then, I had no idea

:17:22. > :17:27.of where my life was going, and I didn't have a mum or dad,

:17:28. > :17:32.and I had these bills, and I had council tax,

:17:33. > :17:34.but I didn't necessarily have the means to get by,

:17:35. > :17:37.so I'm very, very happy that I'm not in the position that

:17:38. > :17:40.I was in when I moved here. You gave me a lot to think

:17:41. > :17:44.about, actually, yeah. Because I didn't really realise half

:17:45. > :17:48.of the stuff that you just told me, so I'm really proud to see that

:17:49. > :17:51.you've accomplished a lot of things. I know I wasn't alone in finding it

:17:52. > :18:03.difficult to leave care, Research suggests well over half

:18:04. > :18:09.of care leavers struggle to pay That's why, as of this month,

:18:10. > :18:16.some councils have decided to stop charging care leavers council tax

:18:17. > :18:22.until they're older. In reality, only a small number

:18:23. > :18:27.of care leavers will benefit. The councils that are doing this

:18:28. > :18:30.hope it will ease the sudden As tough as it was, within months

:18:31. > :18:37.I then went off to university, and with all the trauma

:18:38. > :18:39.and difficulty that I experienced, I'm in East London today to meet

:18:40. > :18:46.a care leaver who's 23, and she's really, really transparent

:18:47. > :18:48.about the struggle she's having Tiffany was taken into care

:18:49. > :19:20.on Christmas Eve when she was five. Growing up, she was moved 15 times,

:19:21. > :19:24.all over the country. Tell me what happened

:19:25. > :19:31.when you went into care? It was the most traumatising thing

:19:32. > :19:34.you could be put through, I'd say, Nothing prepares you for being

:19:35. > :19:41.placed in a car and put outside someone's front door,

:19:42. > :19:43.and then obviously when they open They officially went, "That's it,

:19:44. > :19:50.we no longer need to be in contact with you,

:19:51. > :19:53.you've now hit that age where you can live by yourself

:19:54. > :19:55.independently, and there you go, off you go into the

:19:56. > :19:57.world," kind of thing. There was not much

:19:58. > :20:01.preparation for that at all. So, no-one told you,

:20:02. > :20:04.no foster parent or social worker told you about the bills and council

:20:05. > :20:07.tax that you would have to pay? No, I mean obviously they pointed

:20:08. > :20:09.out the obvious ones, obviously, food, gas,

:20:10. > :20:11.electric, TV licence, But it was never a case of, "Oh,

:20:12. > :20:18.but also, council tax." When you got your first council tax

:20:19. > :20:21.bill, did you pay it? Yeah, because it was actually

:20:22. > :20:23.quite a low amount, so I was like, "Yeah,

:20:24. > :20:26.OK, I'll pay that." And then I thought, "Oh, right,"

:20:27. > :20:29.I didn't think anything of it, then the next one came

:20:30. > :20:31.round and I was like, I just didn't understand

:20:32. > :20:37.that they came year by year. And, you know, it

:20:38. > :20:39.made no sense to me. And then obviously when I got older,

:20:40. > :20:43.you know, when you watch TV more, then you work out where it actually

:20:44. > :20:46.comes from, where the money goes. Because other than that you're only

:20:47. > :20:49.just left with a guessing game Did you ever struggle

:20:50. > :20:53.with those payments? "We're aware that you

:20:54. > :21:03.couldn't make payment..." Can I have a read?

:21:04. > :21:07.Do you mind? "Were you aware that we couldn't

:21:08. > :21:11.make some of your payments because there were not enough

:21:12. > :21:14.available funds in your account?" So you've had direct debits go

:21:15. > :21:16.through that clearly haven't About 2000 across different

:21:17. > :21:26.companies, so... Council tax bill's

:21:27. > :21:28.probably the worst one. About ?500 now, but that's not

:21:29. > :21:39.the figure it was last Well over a grand, I'd say,

:21:40. > :21:46.in court fines, then obviously So yesterday I met Tiffany,

:21:47. > :22:04.lovely care leaver who's doing a great job, actually,

:22:05. > :22:06.in looking after her two-month-old daughter and maintaining

:22:07. > :22:10.the responsibilities of her flat. The only thing, I think,

:22:11. > :22:13.is that, at some point, she will have to pay off her council

:22:14. > :22:19.tax there, and it's inevitable that the bailiffs will approach her,

:22:20. > :22:22.and I just wonder how on earth I'm in Grimsby today to meet

:22:23. > :22:26.another care leaver, Jodie. She's a student, but she does have

:22:27. > :22:29.some outstanding council tax debt, and she has a few weeks to pay it

:22:30. > :22:35.off before the bailiffs visit her. This is, this is my place that

:22:36. > :22:48.nobody can take away from me. Jodie was taken into care

:22:49. > :22:50.when she was eight, She was upset to leave,

:22:51. > :22:56.but says she was also excited at the prospect

:22:57. > :23:03.of being independent. See, I always hear that, I hear

:23:04. > :23:07.about care leavers being quite excited about the independence

:23:08. > :23:09.of being a care leaver, leaving care, and the opportunity

:23:10. > :23:12.to have a flat and sort of do But, for me, I was

:23:13. > :23:17.actually really scared. Because I just wanted to be

:23:18. > :23:21.a normal 17, 18-year-old. I remember the first night that

:23:22. > :23:26.I moved into my flat, it was almost like being put

:23:27. > :23:29.in a prison cell. It was like, "This is your flat,

:23:30. > :23:32.here you are," doors closed. I had nightmares for

:23:33. > :23:46.the first few weeks. I'd probably become a bit

:23:47. > :23:52.depressed, to be fair. Yeah, not to the extent where I had

:23:53. > :23:58.to go on medication or anything, but to the extent where sometimes

:23:59. > :24:02.I didn't want to get out of bed, How did you cope with the pressures

:24:03. > :24:06.of being an adult - If I didn't open the post,

:24:07. > :24:15.I didn't have to deal with it. Some councils have decided to scrap

:24:16. > :24:28.council tax for young care leavers, some councils it's until you're 22,

:24:29. > :24:31.some until you're 25, to help them Do you think this is a measure that

:24:32. > :24:39.will help care leavers? Yeah, I do, because it gives them

:24:40. > :24:47.the chance to adjust to life of not being in care and not having

:24:48. > :24:50.the parents being a local authority that haven't had to think

:24:51. > :24:52.about anything before. But some might say, why should care

:24:53. > :24:55.leavers benefit from this but not I understand, I understand why

:24:56. > :25:05.people might say that, but until you've walked in the shoes

:25:06. > :25:08.of a care leaver, how do you know Other people that come from a normal

:25:09. > :25:15.family have that, "Mum, can I just borrow 20 quid,"

:25:16. > :25:18.whereas other care leavers don't. There's been times where I've

:25:19. > :25:20.literally had nothing in the cupboards and I've gone

:25:21. > :25:23.hungry because I've had nobody Leaving home and moving

:25:24. > :25:31.into your own place is a learning curve for anyone, and of course

:25:32. > :25:33.no-one enjoys paying bills. But meeting other people

:25:34. > :25:36.who were in care and revisiting my old flat has reminded me how abrupt

:25:37. > :25:38.the transition from care So, on one hand, many care leavers

:25:39. > :25:51.will benefit from this measure. Care leavers like Jodie

:25:52. > :25:53.and Tiffany could certainly do without the pressure of having

:25:54. > :25:56.to pay council tax when they've just But, on the other hand,

:25:57. > :26:01.many people will question why should these young,

:26:02. > :26:03.vulnerable care leavers benefit from this when other

:26:04. > :26:26.young people don't? If you want to watch that again, you

:26:27. > :26:30.can see it on our programme page. Karen texted, "I work with children

:26:31. > :26:33.in care and it upsets me when we're told we can only support our care

:26:34. > :26:36.leavers for a few weeks and sometimes not at all, especially

:26:37. > :26:42.when we have been main key workers in the time they have spent with

:26:43. > :26:47.us." Peter says, "It is an excuse for the adult to fail." Natalie

:26:48. > :26:50.says, "This shows the realities and challenges many care leavers face."

:26:51. > :26:52.We can now speak to Labour MP Clive Betts.

:26:53. > :26:55.He's chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee

:26:56. > :26:57.which has recommended that all councils exempt care leavers

:26:58. > :27:07.Thank you for joining us. So far, 14 councils are doing it. Is that good

:27:08. > :27:11.enough for you? Well, it isn't, but actually our recommendation was that

:27:12. > :27:16.Government should bring in a national policy for care leavers.

:27:17. > :27:22.So, from the age of 18 to 21, a young person leaving care wouldn't

:27:23. > :27:26.have to pay council tax to help them with what has been describe as a

:27:27. > :27:28.cliff-edge. One minute they are in the local authority care, the local

:27:29. > :27:32.authority does everything and pays everything for them and the next

:27:33. > :27:36.minute they're left by themselves with no support at all to help them.

:27:37. > :27:40.So that will be one way of giving them some assistance to get back

:27:41. > :27:46.into independent living. How do you answer the question that was put in

:27:47. > :27:52.in Ashley's report? That it is why should care leavers benefit

:27:53. > :27:56.financially with council tax exemption where other people might

:27:57. > :28:00.be struggling? We understand and many people struggle financially for

:28:01. > :28:04.different reasons, but when we did our report into homelessness, we

:28:05. > :28:08.talked to young people who had been homeless and found that a lot of

:28:09. > :28:10.young homeless people had been in care in the first place. They had

:28:11. > :28:14.difficult lives and difficult experiences so talking to them, what

:28:15. > :28:20.they described to us was a situation where they came out of care. Young

:28:21. > :28:24.people and other circumstances may have family to support them, maybe

:28:25. > :28:27.able to stay at home for a bit longer, if they leave home, they may

:28:28. > :28:33.get financial support from their family. That isn't open to young

:28:34. > :28:36.people in care. They are in care because they haven't got a family to

:28:37. > :28:39.support emthis. It is a challenging set of circumstances and just that

:28:40. > :28:43.little bit of help and it wouldn't cost us much money to say to the

:28:44. > :28:46.young people who come out of care, you're coming out. You have had

:28:47. > :28:50.difficult lives. Difficult experiences, you're on your own now,

:28:51. > :28:55.but we'll give you that bit of helpment don't way the council tax

:28:56. > :28:59.for the first three years until you're 21 and hopefully that will

:29:00. > :29:05.prevent these young people getting into debt and losing their homes.

:29:06. > :29:08.Does it delay the inevitable though? Putting yourself in the shoes of the

:29:09. > :29:11.young people and we took evidence and talked to young people in these

:29:12. > :29:14.circumstances. A lot of challenges. They're sudden from being in the

:29:15. > :29:18.local authority care, from having everything done for them, they're by

:29:19. > :29:23.themselves with a tiny bit of support maybe. In that situation,

:29:24. > :29:25.just taking one pressure off them, one additional responsibility, one

:29:26. > :29:29.bill coming through the door that they don't have to deal with, just

:29:30. > :29:32.helps them adjust to a situation where eventually they will take

:29:33. > :29:37.responsibility and they will pay their council tax in full.

:29:38. > :29:42.And in terms of the cost of it and the impact on comes, you say it is

:29:43. > :29:46.small cost... Yes. In proportion to other costs. However, it is money

:29:47. > :29:51.that would have to be covered somewhere else in the budget? Of

:29:52. > :29:55.course you cans it is. We call them central Government to do it and it

:29:56. > :30:00.is a tiny drop in the Chancellor's resources. And in the end, if it

:30:01. > :30:05.helps these young people get back into a stable life, a stable way of

:30:06. > :30:09.living, once they have left care, then that actually would probably

:30:10. > :30:13.mean less demand on other services, less demand for help with the debts

:30:14. > :30:16.they get into and hopefully they won't get evicted and end up

:30:17. > :30:20.homeless with the local authority. It could mean savings in term of the

:30:21. > :30:24.pressure that they're going to put on other services to help them out

:30:25. > :30:28.and I think it is just a proper and humane thing to do, to say to these

:30:29. > :30:33.young people, "Look, you have had a difficult life. Here is one way

:30:34. > :30:36.society can help you get back into independent living and hopefully not

:30:37. > :30:40.get into the same problems that we heard many young people get into

:30:41. > :30:44.once they leave care and are left to themselves with the responsibilities

:30:45. > :30:48.and the bills. If there isn't the national strategy, is there anything

:30:49. > :30:53.that can make councils do this? Councils can look at it and see

:30:54. > :30:55.whether perhaps in their own locality and Connells are challenge

:30:56. > :30:59.for resource at present. They have had 40% of the their Government

:31:00. > :31:03.grant taken away since 2010, but if they can find a little bit of mub to

:31:04. > :31:08.help maybe it means those young people don't become a burden and an

:31:09. > :31:11.extra pressure on local services if they get into difficulties and debt

:31:12. > :31:15.and find that they lose their home. So I very much welcome what you said

:31:16. > :31:18.that 14 councils have decided to do this, but in then come on

:31:19. > :31:23.Government, let's find this bit of money to help these young people.

:31:24. > :31:26.Thank you very much. Later, we will be talking to two young people who

:31:27. > :31:32.are benefiting from the new scheme. Two young care leavers and also a

:31:33. > :31:40.council leader of a council that has introduced that policy.

:31:41. > :31:44.Sima says, I can relate to this, I didn't know light bulbs. Thank you

:31:45. > :31:47.for your comments. Still to come, we spoke to them

:31:48. > :31:50.back in March about their battle to save the life of their baby boy

:31:51. > :31:53.Charlie, who receives 24-hour care Half of nurseries in England say

:31:54. > :31:57.they might be unable to provide the full 30 hours of free

:31:58. > :31:59.childcare from September, We'll be discussing why

:32:00. > :32:07.with parents and nurseries. Here's Annita in the BBC Newsroom

:32:08. > :32:14.with a summary of today's news. Detectives investigating an attack

:32:15. > :32:16.on a teenage asylum seeker, have released images of three people

:32:17. > :32:20.they want to question. The two men and a woman

:32:21. > :32:23.are being sought about the attack on the 17-year-old boy at Croydon

:32:24. > :32:28.in south London on Friday night. Nine people have

:32:29. > :32:30.already been arrested. One was later released

:32:31. > :32:32.without charge. Police believe up to 20 people

:32:33. > :32:36.were involved in the attack. Donald Trump has warned

:32:37. > :32:38.that the US will solve the North Korean nuclear threat

:32:39. > :32:40.under his leadership. In an interview

:32:41. > :32:43.with the Financial Times, "If China is not going to

:32:44. > :32:48.solve North Korea, we will." Mr Trump confirmed he was referring

:32:49. > :32:53.to direct unilateral action. The comments come ahead of a visit

:32:54. > :32:55.to the US Significant restrictions on the use

:32:56. > :33:01.of bail by police in England The amount of time a suspect

:33:02. > :33:07.released from custody can remain on bail will be limited

:33:08. > :33:10.to 28 days in most cases. According to the Home Office,

:33:11. > :33:12.the move will end the injustice of people left in limbo for months

:33:13. > :33:15.or even years. the change will be unrealistic

:33:16. > :33:33.in complex investigations. Spain's Foreign Minister has said

:33:34. > :33:36.there is no need to lose tempers over Gibraltar. The chief minister

:33:37. > :33:40.of Gibraltar had insisted it would not be used as a bargaining chip in

:33:41. > :33:43.negotiations over Britain's exit from the European Union.

:33:44. > :33:46.The EU's guidelines on the Brexit talks suggest that Spain,

:33:47. > :33:47.which claims sovereignty over the territory,

:33:48. > :33:50.could be able to veto decisions that affect it.

:33:51. > :33:52.But yesterday, Theresa May assured the people of Gibraltar

:33:53. > :33:53.that her government remained committed to them,

:33:54. > :33:56.and that the sovereignty of the Rock was not up for grabs.

:33:57. > :33:59.That's a summary of the latest BBC News.

:34:00. > :34:12.They won the Scottish Premiership title with room to spare,

:34:13. > :34:15.Scott Sinclair's hat-trick helped them to a 5-0 win at Hearts

:34:16. > :34:19.They now need the Scottish Cup title to seal a domestic treble

:34:20. > :34:22.in Brendan Rodgers' first season as manager.

:34:23. > :34:24.The pressure eased slightly on Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger,

:34:25. > :34:29.as his side drew 2-2 with Manchester City

:34:30. > :34:35.protests against him before the match

:34:36. > :34:50.and Wenger insists his future will be revealed soon.

:34:51. > :35:01.Lexi Thompson was punished in the ANA Inspiration golf after a viewer

:35:02. > :35:05.spotted an infraction. Roger Federer has moved up to four the world after

:35:06. > :35:07.winning in Miami, that is all the sport for now, back with more just

:35:08. > :35:10.after ten o'clock. The parents of baby Charlie Gard,

:35:11. > :35:13.who suffers from a rare genetic condition, are hoping to persuade

:35:14. > :35:16.a High Court judge to let them Connie Yates and Chris Gard

:35:17. > :35:20.have now raised over ?1.2 million for the treatment,

:35:21. > :35:22.but UK doctors have opposed Victoria spoke to Connie Yates

:35:23. > :35:27.and Chris Gard last month. It's not really been fine

:35:28. > :35:30.since the day we found At the end of the day, we just

:35:31. > :35:38.want him to be given a chance. You're never going to find

:35:39. > :35:41.treatments or cures for these things What we're asking to give

:35:42. > :35:48.him are not poisons. They're naturally occurring

:35:49. > :35:51.compounds that me and you can produce, and unfortunately he's

:35:52. > :35:54.deficient in them and he can't So, you know, there's no real known

:35:55. > :36:03.side effects to these medications so I kind of think the whole time,

:36:04. > :36:07.why not try? It's just something that

:36:08. > :36:15.his body requires, you know? I know people will say

:36:16. > :36:19.it's very different. If a diabetic doesn't have insulin,

:36:20. > :36:24.then they're in trouble. Insulin is known

:36:25. > :36:28.to be safe in humans. Who was the first

:36:29. > :36:32.person to try this? We feel like because he's got

:36:33. > :36:35.a rare disease, then he hasn't got any treatment at the moment,

:36:36. > :36:39.but he's only number 16. He always has been and always

:36:40. > :36:46.will be our number one priority, but we know how it feels to have

:36:47. > :36:49.someone born with this disease, so if anyone else in the future

:36:50. > :36:52.is born with this disease, we want something that can

:36:53. > :36:55.help this, and we want to find a treatment

:36:56. > :36:58.and cure for the disease. We want parents taken

:36:59. > :37:01.into the side room to say, "We've got something for you,

:37:02. > :37:04.something you can take." We don't want that devastating news

:37:05. > :37:10.of, "There's nothing we can do." Our correspondent Daniel Boettcher

:37:11. > :37:23.is outside the High Court. What happens today, Daniel? Well,

:37:24. > :37:29.Joanna, we expect a judge to hear detailed arguments from both sides

:37:30. > :37:33.in this case. Now, Charlie was born last August, initially he seemed

:37:34. > :37:37.perfectly healthy, but after about six weeks as parents noticed that he

:37:38. > :37:40.was losing weight. When he was eight weeks old, he was taken to a local

:37:41. > :37:46.hospital, initial tests couldn't establish what the matter was. In

:37:47. > :37:48.October, he was then taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital, and he has

:37:49. > :37:53.been diagnosed with a very region and a condition, which is a type of

:37:54. > :37:58.mitochondrial depletion syndrome, and his parents believe he is only

:37:59. > :38:02.the 16th person to be diagnosed with this particular form. The

:38:03. > :38:06.mitochondria are the power units of the cells, if you like, they power

:38:07. > :38:13.various functions of cells, and this condition leads to muscle weakness,

:38:14. > :38:17.progressive muscle weakness, so Charlie is being treated in the

:38:18. > :38:20.intensive care unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the doctors

:38:21. > :38:25.there say that there is no accepted queue. They now believe that

:38:26. > :38:29.withdrawal of life-support treatment is in his best interests, but his

:38:30. > :38:32.parents want to take him to America, where they hope that he can receive

:38:33. > :38:39.treatment. As you have erred, in that interview with them, and at a

:38:40. > :38:42.hearing last month a judge was told that an American hospital will

:38:43. > :38:45.accept him for treatment being trialled there so long as they can

:38:46. > :38:52.pay for it. So is parents have been raising funds, and an online

:38:53. > :38:57.donation page shows that they have already exceeded an initial ?1.2

:38:58. > :39:02.million target, but whether he can be taken to the United States now

:39:03. > :39:07.depends firstly on practicalities, but primarily it will depend on the

:39:08. > :39:12.decision of a judge here, once he has heard both sides of the

:39:13. > :39:16.argument. He will decide what is in Charlie's best interests. Thank you

:39:17. > :39:22.Ray Mutch, Daniel. Lots of you reacting to Ashley's report about

:39:23. > :39:26.the financial pressures on care leavers. Stewart says, good news

:39:27. > :39:31.that councils are reacting to this. Khalid tweets, thank you for your

:39:32. > :39:40.report highlighting these important matters. Tom tweets, councils have

:39:41. > :39:44.legal parenting responsibilities to care leavers, what would any other

:39:45. > :39:47.reasonable parents do to support their child? Robert tweets, their

:39:48. > :39:51.lives have been hard enough, anything to help is a blessing, good

:39:52. > :39:57.luck to them all. Jude says, we need more stories putting the spotlight

:39:58. > :40:01.on what care leavers have to face. Thank you for your comments, we will

:40:02. > :40:05.be talking about that more later with two care leavers who are

:40:06. > :40:08.benefiting from the decision by their councils to wave council tax.

:40:09. > :40:11.It's one year since a British charity worker was was sentenced

:40:12. > :40:13.to five years in jail by a secret Iranian court.

:40:14. > :40:19.Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager at

:40:20. > :40:21.the Thomson Reuters Foundation, has been imprisoned in Iran

:40:22. > :40:23.since April, when she was arrested and accused of attempting

:40:24. > :40:26.In a moment, we'll talk to Nazanin's husband Richard, who's here,

:40:27. > :41:17.but first here's a quick reminder of what's happened so far.

:41:18. > :41:25.Let's now speak to Richard Ratcliffe, who's with us.

:41:26. > :41:32.Thank you very much, another anniversary, if you can call it

:41:33. > :41:37.that, tell us what the latest is an Nazanin. Yes, that is right, the

:41:38. > :41:42.latest is she is still in prison, she is still waiting for hospital

:41:43. > :41:45.treatment, so she was very ill back in February, she saw a neurological

:41:46. > :41:50.specialist who said that she needed to be admitted to hospital, but the

:41:51. > :41:55.judge decided it was not going to happen. We have been waiting for

:41:56. > :41:59.that to progress. What the health issues? Is this something that has

:42:00. > :42:03.come about since she was in custody? Yes, she has had a problem with her

:42:04. > :42:09.neck, back and shoulder, and she been passing out, and also not been

:42:10. > :42:21.able to move her arms. At different times, we have at this but don't

:42:22. > :42:30.like -- we have had different reports. She has spasms of pain that

:42:31. > :42:35.sometimes are not so bad, sometimes terrible, and sometimes she is not

:42:36. > :42:40.able to lie down. So I don't know, that is the honest answer. That is

:42:41. > :42:45.obviously physically debilitating what about her mental state? It has

:42:46. > :42:49.been very tough, obviously she was in solitary confinement for the best

:42:50. > :42:53.part of 18 months, moved to general cells after Christmas, and in some

:42:54. > :42:56.ways it is about the legacy of that coming through, she talks about

:42:57. > :43:00.panic attacks, not being able to sleep. One of the things of the

:43:01. > :43:10.interrogation is pressure, threats, and those comeback. -- and those

:43:11. > :43:15.comeback. For me, the hardest part will be the psychological part, that

:43:16. > :43:19.is where the scars will be long-term. Yesterday we mark the

:43:20. > :43:23.anniversary, at a tree in our local park we put loads of messages for

:43:24. > :43:28.what people would do with one day of freedom. The idea of it, really, was

:43:29. > :43:32.to keep an eye on that hope for tomorrow, and when you come out,

:43:33. > :43:37.that there are things we can do together, simple things like go to

:43:38. > :43:42.the beach, have a coffee or watching Gabriella sleep, things we all took

:43:43. > :43:45.for granted. And talking to other prisoners who have come out of the

:43:46. > :43:49.other side, what you lose is the ability to choose, the ability to

:43:50. > :43:55.feel anything other than stress, so to have a list of things to do can

:43:56. > :43:58.help. And are you now resigned to the fact that she has been sentenced

:43:59. > :44:05.to five years and it will be five years? Are their options to get out

:44:06. > :44:08.soon? I can't cope with five years, I was battling very hard to bring

:44:09. > :44:13.her home for Christmas, and that didn't happen, and then there was a

:44:14. > :44:21.bit of a lull, and now I am battling until the summer, I am working in

:44:22. > :44:27.blocks of six months, like a staircase. This was the mark of a

:44:28. > :44:30.new start. In terms of how long, we had a trial, she wasn't allowed to

:44:31. > :44:34.speak at the trial, sentenced to five years. We had an appeal where

:44:35. > :44:38.the sentence was confirmed, she was allowed to say a few words, but it

:44:39. > :44:43.was confirmed, and lies were told. There is a final High Court appeal,

:44:44. > :44:49.no date set, the papers are there for that to happen. So the legal

:44:50. > :44:52.process continues, and the political and diplomatic process continues.

:44:53. > :44:57.And you have a daughter, Gabriella, who is nearly three. And she is

:44:58. > :45:02.there, being looked after by her grandparents. With this situation is

:45:03. > :45:06.so uncertain, in terms of how long Nazanin might be there, can you

:45:07. > :45:12.bring her back? We have been asking for her passport back, the Iranian

:45:13. > :45:15.authorities still have her passport, that is a technicality, but the one

:45:16. > :45:21.thing that is important for Nazanin is to be able to see Gabriella. At

:45:22. > :45:24.the moment, it is once a week, so back in the autumn I was exploring

:45:25. > :45:29.whether I should bring her home, and she said, please don't take my baby

:45:30. > :45:36.away, I live for senior. I made a promise to her that it is a choice,

:45:37. > :45:39.we will keep trying to get the passport back, but fundamentally, if

:45:40. > :45:44.Nazanin can control nothing in this, at least she can decide what happens

:45:45. > :45:50.to Gabriella. Tobias Ellwood, the Minister for the Middle East, has

:45:51. > :45:54.raised the case with Iran and is also supporting you directly. What

:45:55. > :45:58.support our view had? It has got better, we have met with the Foreign

:45:59. > :46:07.Office quite frequently recently, very caring and sympathetic. I

:46:08. > :46:11.suppose my criticism would be of the Government is that there is a glass

:46:12. > :46:18.ceiling, it has never been raised by the Foreign Secretary, and there has

:46:19. > :46:23.never been any criticism. Nazanin was on holiday, held in secret

:46:24. > :46:27.charges, a five-year sentence - you know, all of these Iranian and

:46:28. > :46:30.international laws were broken, and the Government has never said,

:46:31. > :46:31.listen, we don't treat a British citizen like that, it is not

:46:32. > :46:39.acceptable. Do you think what the Government is

:46:40. > :46:43.doing will make any difference then? I want them to bring her home and it

:46:44. > :46:44.would be good for them to stand up for her. Thank you very much,

:46:45. > :46:54.Richard. Thank you. This is about 12 months of growth

:46:55. > :47:06.since chemo finished and it has come Victoria says goodbye

:47:07. > :47:12.to her wig in her latest video diary charting her recovery

:47:13. > :47:17.from breast cancer. From September, some children

:47:18. > :47:20.in England will be eligible for 30 It's double what's

:47:21. > :47:24.currently on offer. But we've been told that about half

:47:25. > :47:27.of nurseries are either uncertain if they'll be offering the scheme

:47:28. > :47:30.or have decided already to opt out. The Government says 390,000

:47:31. > :47:31.three and four-year-olds in England will be eligible,

:47:32. > :47:34.but some say it could be closer to 500,000, meaning

:47:35. > :47:42.a shortage of spaces. Research from the Pre-School

:47:43. > :47:44.Learning Alliance, a charity representing childcare providers,

:47:45. > :47:54.suggests that over 36% of nurseries are unsure if they will offer

:47:55. > :47:56.the 30 hours scheme, while almost 20% say

:47:57. > :47:58.they are definitely opting out. The majority of providers say

:47:59. > :48:01.government funding falls short of the actual hourly cost of looking

:48:02. > :48:04.after a child and there are fears many nurseries could be forced

:48:05. > :48:06.to close under the new scheme. Let's talk now to Neil Leitch,

:48:07. > :48:09.who is the chief executive of the Pre-School Learning Alliance

:48:10. > :48:11.who carried out this research. Liz Burnett, whose nursery

:48:12. > :48:18.won't be offering 30 hours. Jane Jones, who is unsure

:48:19. > :48:21.if their nursery can or not. Luisa Element, a mother of two whose

:48:22. > :48:27.youngest son is eligible but his nursery doesn't know

:48:28. > :48:29.if they can offer it. Vanessa Warn, a nursery owner

:48:30. > :48:32.from York who was part of the government trial,

:48:33. > :48:36.and with her Jill Campbell, a mother who's child goes

:48:37. > :48:48.to Vanessa's nursery and under 30 Thank you very much for joining us.

:48:49. > :48:53.Neil, you have been carrying out the research. Tell us more about what

:48:54. > :48:57.you have found in terms of how many private providers will be offering

:48:58. > :49:02.the 30 hours? Well, the difficult thing is we already know that many

:49:03. > :49:09.providers are reluctant to participate. This research which was

:49:10. > :49:14.over 1300 participants, around 44% only have said that they would

:49:15. > :49:18.participate so we are left with a huge void in terms of the number of

:49:19. > :49:22.places that are likely to be available come September and that is

:49:23. > :49:25.pretty poor news for parents who think they can knock on the door and

:49:26. > :49:29.come in and a place will be available. The research is saying

:49:30. > :49:33.that's not the case. Liz, you are one of those saying you will not

:49:34. > :49:39.offer the 30 hours, why not? We are a village pre-school. We're only

:49:40. > :49:45.open for 30 hours a week. And we are under funded on the 15 hours

:49:46. > :49:51.currently. So therefore, we will have lost about ?24,000 this year in

:49:52. > :49:55.terms of offering the 15 free hours. Therefore, with under funding, still

:49:56. > :50:00.an issue as of September, to offer the 30 would be financial suicide

:50:01. > :50:06.for us. Would you go bust, would you? Yeah, we would be unable to

:50:07. > :50:09.keep the doors open, but by not offering it, we are, you know,

:50:10. > :50:15.perhaps going to be losing parents who are looking for the 30 hours

:50:16. > :50:20.offer. Jane, you're not sure if your nursery will be able to offer the 30

:50:21. > :50:25.hours. What are the considerations for you? It is the same as Liz, it

:50:26. > :50:33.is the finance. We have the capacity, but we have been under

:50:34. > :50:37.funded since 2015. We were about ?17,000 short 2015/2016 so we're

:50:38. > :50:42.thinking about maybe offering five places and have some policy in place

:50:43. > :50:47.to decide which parents would get that. Possibly if they previously

:50:48. > :50:51.had two-year-old funding and had got into work, but as we have trustees,

:50:52. > :50:56.we need to look at and see what's the best option for us. Let's go to

:50:57. > :51:03.Vanessa, your nursery was part of the Government trial. Did it work

:51:04. > :51:07.out? How did it work financially? It worked extremely well for York. York

:51:08. > :51:11.has a strong partnership with its local authority and we were allowed

:51:12. > :51:18.to charge additional services with the bletsing of the Department of

:51:19. > :51:21.Education. So we were able to not lose any money basically, we were

:51:22. > :51:25.able to communicate with our parents to explain that the Government gave

:51:26. > :51:32.us ?4 an hour, my nursery charges ?5. So we were able to charge our

:51:33. > :51:37.parents ?1 for additional services like food and nappies, forest school

:51:38. > :51:41.and then that actually was met really positively by our parents and

:51:42. > :51:46.we didn't lose any money. Jill, you're sitting a long side Vanessa.

:51:47. > :51:51.You are one of those parents, how did you feel about paying towards

:51:52. > :51:54.what was billed as free childcare? Because the childcare funding had

:51:55. > :52:00.made such an I will pact to our monthly bills, I didn't see it as

:52:01. > :52:05.having to pay towards the daily cost of my daughter having to attend the

:52:06. > :52:09.nursery. I had already seen it as a massive benefit being able to access

:52:10. > :52:13.the funding so I was more than willing to pay the additional pound.

:52:14. > :52:20.Liz and Jane, is that something you could consider to make it viable? At

:52:21. > :52:24.the moment, our children bring packed lunches in. I know that some

:52:25. > :52:29.nurseries have been charging for lunches and things like that, but we

:52:30. > :52:33.don't have facilities to provide a meal as such so... What about

:52:34. > :52:38.nappies? Again, families bring their own nappies in and things so the

:52:39. > :52:43.children arrive each day with a bag which has nappies and things like

:52:44. > :52:49.that. So we are really quite stuck on where we could charge for extras.

:52:50. > :52:53.Our only options being potentially to open for an extra hour of the

:52:54. > :52:57.day, but we have staff who have children themselves and therefore,

:52:58. > :53:03.you know, they're dropping them off at quarter to nine and picking up at

:53:04. > :53:10.just gone 3pm, to stretch our day from 8.30am to 3.30pm would create a

:53:11. > :53:15.big impact on our staffing arrangement. Jane, what about you?

:53:16. > :53:21.We are the same. We are on a school site, and they can have a hot meal

:53:22. > :53:26.and a That would be charged at the same rate as the school. We take

:53:27. > :53:30.children from two. We don't have that many in nappies and those

:53:31. > :53:35.parents bring those. And also parents bring something for snack

:53:36. > :53:40.time for us as well. So we don't have really any scope for charging

:53:41. > :53:43.extra. You have got a two-year-old boy who will be eligible for the 30

:53:44. > :53:49.hours from September, but you don't know if his nursery will offer it?

:53:50. > :53:52.What have they said? I've asked them a number of times now and they keep

:53:53. > :53:56.saying they are having meetings about it, but they haven't decided

:53:57. > :54:00.which means that in the moon time, we're if limbo waiting for a

:54:01. > :54:04.decision because we're faced with having to find another childcare

:54:05. > :54:09.provider for one year before my son goes to school. I'm fully expecting

:54:10. > :54:13.them to say that it is not financially viable, but until we get

:54:14. > :54:19.a des we are just waiting. What options do you have? Well, the

:54:20. > :54:22.school that my oldest son goes to have already said they were not

:54:23. > :54:26.going to offer the 30 hours in their nursery. So the option we have, I

:54:27. > :54:30.guess, is to either leave him where he is and take the hit and not get

:54:31. > :54:34.the 30 hours funding that we are entitled to or find somewhere else

:54:35. > :54:37.that does offer the 30 hours, but that's another issue because we

:54:38. > :54:41.don't know yet where is going to be offering it because lots of people

:54:42. > :54:45.haven't decided yet. So it's tricky. Neil, local authorities have to

:54:46. > :54:50.offer the 30 hours for free, don't they? There is always an option?

:54:51. > :54:53.They have an obligation to offer it, but at the end of the day, it is

:54:54. > :54:58.down to the provider and I think what we really need to remember here

:54:59. > :55:01.is held out to be free childcare, so the real crit is that parents

:55:02. > :55:05.shouldn't have to pay additional charges and if Government haven't

:55:06. > :55:10.put enough money in, they should make up the difference. There is no

:55:11. > :55:13.such thing as free childcare, there is subsidised childcare. They need

:55:14. > :55:17.to be honest and say that's what it is. When the policy was announced a

:55:18. > :55:20.couple of weeks before the election, no consultation. The Government had

:55:21. > :55:23.no idea of what it would cost. They had no idea of whether there was

:55:24. > :55:28.capacity within the sector to deliver it and when you look at

:55:29. > :55:33.numbers, when they announced it pre-election, they said 630,000

:55:34. > :55:38.parents would benefit. When it came to post election, only 390,000, I'd

:55:39. > :55:42.suggest if you walked into any business, commercial environment,

:55:43. > :55:45.put an offer like that on the table, you would be laughed out of the

:55:46. > :55:50.building, yet we as providers are expected to make up for a poor

:55:51. > :55:53.policy. When there is criticism of charges, it won't fall on

:55:54. > :55:57.Government. It will be on Liz and Jane. It would be be on ministers.

:55:58. > :56:01.How many parents would you estimate would actually end up not being able

:56:02. > :56:09.to access it or having to pay an element? 44% of providers. At the

:56:10. > :56:12.moment we estimate 200,000 of those parents will not find a place as it

:56:13. > :56:20.stands and Government recognises that. Hidden in the last Budget...

:56:21. > :56:26.That's 50%? 50% roughly speaking. Hidden in the last Budget Government

:56:27. > :56:32.said we're not going to have to spend the same amount of free

:56:33. > :56:38.extended 15 hours. They recognise it. They just won't put enough money

:56:39. > :56:42.in. Jill, you said that at least it has mitigated your childcare costs,

:56:43. > :56:45.but in terms of a policy where you're told you're going to get free

:56:46. > :56:51.childcare and then you have to pay towards it. How do you feel about

:56:52. > :57:00.that? I think, every parent would be different. For me personally, I was

:57:01. > :57:05.more than willing to contribute towards my daughter's daily cost at

:57:06. > :57:11.nursery because I wouldn't want any nursery to have to suffer and

:57:12. > :57:17.therefore the child have to suffer because of an inability for the

:57:18. > :57:20.nursery to be able to survive on the reduced funding that they receive

:57:21. > :57:27.from the local authorities. If you had to pay, how would you

:57:28. > :57:31.feel about that? Well, we're paying already

:57:32. > :57:39.obviously. But having been told, you're eligible for 30 free hours

:57:40. > :57:44.and you may not get that? Obviously I would prefer not to

:57:45. > :57:49.prefer for the hours that we are entitled. We have to see how that's

:57:50. > :57:52.going to pan out. It is not looking particularly good for us, yeah, of

:57:53. > :57:57.course, I would like to take up the 30 hours that we're entitled to.

:57:58. > :58:04.What's it like, Liz, when you've got parents coming to you saying, "Hang

:58:05. > :58:08.on, I'm entitled to this." And you're telling them you're not

:58:09. > :58:11.offering it? We're lucky and we have supportive parents and the withins

:58:12. > :58:15.that we have spoken to and explained the situation and told them how

:58:16. > :58:20.under funded we actually are on a per child per hour cost have

:58:21. > :58:25.actually said well, we understand and we appreciate why you are unable

:58:26. > :58:29.to do so. They are disappointed. Obviously from their prospective

:58:30. > :58:35.they would like to have us offering the full 30 hours, we are three

:58:36. > :58:40.times outstanding sort of facility. Our parents are really happy with

:58:41. > :58:45.what we do, but they do appreciate that financially we are unable to

:58:46. > :58:49.carry that cost. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts with us.

:58:50. > :58:52.The Department for Education told us they are putting a record ?6 billion

:58:53. > :58:54.into childcare per year by 2020, including ?300 million

:58:55. > :58:56.to increase the hourly funding rates paid to nurseries,

:58:57. > :59:00.They said, "The vast majority of providers will see their funding

:59:01. > :59:03.rate increase and councils will have to pass 95 % of this funding

:59:04. > :59:19.Let's get the latest weather update with Carol.

:59:20. > :59:25.We have had fog. Some frost and sunshine and rain. Most of the fog

:59:26. > :59:29.will lift during the course of the next couple of hours. But there will

:59:30. > :59:34.be some sea fog lapping on shore as we go through the course of the day.

:59:35. > :59:39.It will hold the temperature back. We have got rain coming across

:59:40. > :59:42.Northern Ireland and Scotland. And pushing towards the South East

:59:43. > :59:45.overnight. Overnight. Behind it, there will be cloud and for England

:59:46. > :59:48.and Wales not as cold a night as it was last night, but a cooler night

:59:49. > :59:50.across Scotland and Northern Ireland. So this is how we start

:59:51. > :59:56.tomorrow with a weather front in the south-east. Still producing rain,

:59:57. > :59:59.albeit patchy. That clears away, leaving residual cloud with the odd

:00:00. > :00:02.spot of drizzle coming out of that, but for most it will be dry and

:00:03. > :00:06.bright and there will be somebody shine. A lot of showers blowing in

:00:07. > :00:12.on a gusty wind across the north of Scotland. In Shetland some of those

:00:13. > :00:14.could be wintry, and our temperature eight Celsius in the north to 15

:00:15. > :00:18.Celsius in the south. Hello, it's Monday,

:00:19. > :00:23.I'm Joanna Gosling, in for Victoria. Police say they want to question

:00:24. > :00:26.three more people over the vicious beating of a teenage asylum

:00:27. > :00:28.seeker in Croydon. There have been eight

:00:29. > :00:30.arrests so far. Police are due to hold a news

:00:31. > :00:33.conference in the next half hour. We take a look at the financial

:00:34. > :00:36.challenges faced by young people when they leave the care system

:00:37. > :00:38.at 18 and the local "That's it, we no longer need

:00:39. > :00:42.to be in contact with you, you've now hit that age

:00:43. > :00:45.where you can live by yourself independently, and there you go,

:00:46. > :00:47.off you go into the world," kind of thing, and there was

:00:48. > :00:56.not much preparation for that. Outrage after ?250,000

:00:57. > :01:00.of tampon tax money is used to help fund

:01:01. > :01:10.an anti-abortion charity. One MP tells us the ground should be

:01:11. > :01:13.stopped. The tampon tax fund was about empowering women, it is one of

:01:14. > :01:20.the biggest awards to a charity which takes choice away from women.

:01:21. > :01:23.Surely women, if we do believe in choice, must have more than one

:01:24. > :01:33.choice. That interview in full at half-mast. Also coming up...

:01:34. > :01:38.How brilliant is he?! He is 11 years old and from Nottingham.

:01:39. > :01:44.last night as the world's youngest orchestra conductor

:01:45. > :01:50.We will talk with him and his mum live a little later this hour.

:01:51. > :01:58.Here's Annita in the BBC Newsroom with a summary of today's news.

:01:59. > :02:00.Detectives investigating an attack on a teenage asylum seeker,

:02:01. > :02:12.Have now charged five people. Police investigating the attack last Friday

:02:13. > :02:16.believe up to 20 people were involved in the attack.

:02:17. > :02:19.Donald Trump has warned that the US will solve the North Korean nuclear

:02:20. > :02:21.In an interview with the Financial Times,

:02:22. > :02:25."If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will."

:02:26. > :02:28.Mr Trump confirmed he was referring to direct unilateral action.

:02:29. > :02:35.The comments come ahead of a visit to the US

:02:36. > :02:39.Significant restrictions on the use of bail by police in England

:02:40. > :02:43.The amount of time a suspect released from custody can remain

:02:44. > :02:46.on bail will be limited to 28 days in most cases.

:02:47. > :02:48.The decision is in response to concerns that people

:02:49. > :02:51.were being left in limbo for months or even years.

:02:52. > :02:55.as our home affairs correspondent June Kelly reports.

:02:56. > :02:58.Famous faces who've been under police investigation,

:02:59. > :02:59.finally told they wouldn't be facing charges,

:03:00. > :03:03.but only after long months on bail.

:03:04. > :03:06.They were among the 5000 still on bail after a year.

:03:07. > :03:09.The Government says the system needed rebalancing.

:03:10. > :03:13.Well, what's happened in the past is people could be put on bail

:03:14. > :03:17.with no end in sight and no check or balance, which means we had

:03:18. > :03:20.thousands of people could be on bail for 12 months or more.

:03:21. > :03:22.In fact, there were examples of people on for several years,

:03:23. > :03:27.We've got to make sure we've got a proper system that is

:03:28. > :03:31.It's part of an overhaul of the bail system in England and Wales.

:03:32. > :03:34.From now on, some suspects won't be subject to police bail at all.

:03:35. > :03:38.For those who are bailed, in most cases, the limit will be 28 days.

:03:39. > :03:43.But a senior police officer will be able to grant one three-month

:03:44. > :03:48.The police will have to seek the permission of a magistrate

:03:49. > :03:51.The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers,

:03:52. > :03:56.28 days, in the cycle of a police officer,

:03:57. > :03:58.is not a long time for investigating a crime.

:03:59. > :04:01.You've also got to bear in mind, in relation to external inquiries,

:04:02. > :04:05.what we tend to have is external resource, so we have got

:04:06. > :04:08.the Forensic Science Service, CPS, and 28 days is not realistic

:04:09. > :04:11.for them to come back to us with the information

:04:12. > :04:16.The Police Federation said the old system protected

:04:17. > :04:20.complainants and victims and helped prevent further offending.

:04:21. > :04:25.Spain's Foreign Minister has said this morning

:04:26. > :04:28.that there's no need to lose tempers over Gibraltar.

:04:29. > :04:30.He was speaking after Gibraltar's chief minister insisted yesterday

:04:31. > :04:34.that the territory won't be used as a bargaining chip

:04:35. > :04:37.in negotiations over Britain's exit from the European Union.

:04:38. > :04:39.The EU's guidelines on the Brexit talks suggest that Spain,

:04:40. > :04:42.which claims sovereignty over the Gibraltar,

:04:43. > :04:50.might be able to veto decisions that affect the territory.

:04:51. > :04:55.This morning, Boris Johnson said there would be no change in the

:04:56. > :05:01.status of Gibraltar without the consent of its people. Well, I think

:05:02. > :05:04.the position of the Government is very clear, which is that the

:05:05. > :05:08.sovereignty of Gibraltar is unchanged, and it is not going to

:05:09. > :05:12.change, and cannot conceivably change without the express support

:05:13. > :05:15.and consent of the people of Gibraltar, and the United Kingdom,

:05:16. > :05:17.and that is not go the change will stop thanks a lot!

:05:18. > :05:19.That's a summary of the latest BBC News.

:05:20. > :05:28.Loads of you getting in touch about the financial pressures on care

:05:29. > :05:32.leavers, Christian has e-mailed, students are exempt from council

:05:33. > :05:36.tax, so no reason why we shouldn't give care leavers the same support.

:05:37. > :05:39.Although 18 is the legal age for adults and, the transition from

:05:40. > :05:45.adolescence varies from person to person. Those who have been in

:05:46. > :05:53.institutional care likely to cope than other teenagers, this is

:05:54. > :05:57.sensible. Robina says, as well as exemption from council tax, it would

:05:58. > :06:02.be good to have a centre whereby such Kellie Wells can live together

:06:03. > :06:09.and be given a bit of targeted support if necessary. -- such care

:06:10. > :06:14.leavers can live together. Melnicescu and this needs to be

:06:15. > :06:25.combined with improved training. -- Melanie says. Many services are

:06:26. > :06:30.under too much pressure or not delivering adequate support to the

:06:31. > :06:34.children. Michael has e-mailed, care leavers deserve all the help they

:06:35. > :06:37.need because the effect of being in care can last throughout their

:06:38. > :06:40.lives. I was in care for ten years and lived in several children's

:06:41. > :06:45.homes, when it was time to leave, it was deemed I was not capable of

:06:46. > :06:49.living on my own because I was institutionalised, and instead I was

:06:50. > :06:53.put into a hostel. Despite spending most of my life in care, it was as

:06:54. > :06:59.if I had never been in care, eyelid in the hostel for ten years, not

:07:00. > :07:03.sure what to do. -- I lived. I attempted to kill myself, I spent a

:07:04. > :07:08.week in intensive care, but fortunately I survived, I am glad I

:07:09. > :07:12.did, I am a single parent with two beautiful girls. Gina says, I am an

:07:13. > :07:16.81-year-old pensioner who gets no help from the state and my biggest

:07:17. > :07:20.worry is paying my council tax bill. But I have a well furnished home and

:07:21. > :07:25.enough money to pay the rest of my bills, these young men and women

:07:26. > :07:30.need all the help they can get, they seem to have been forgotten in the

:07:31. > :07:36.space of things. Come on, they should be given a free grant, it is

:07:37. > :07:39.disgusting how young adults are left like this. And Julie says, I have no

:07:40. > :07:48.contact with my family after leaving home at the age of 17. Thank you for

:07:49. > :07:49.your thoughts and comments, do get in touch. Texts will be charged at

:07:50. > :07:52.the standard network rate. Let's get some sport

:07:53. > :07:56.with Hugh Woozencroft. Good morning and very good if you

:07:57. > :08:01.are a fan of Celtic. It may be only the first week of

:08:02. > :08:05.April, but Brendan Rodgers side have clinched the Scottish Premiership

:08:06. > :08:06.again after beating Scott Sinclair scored a hat-trick,

:08:07. > :08:11.which helped put them 25 points clear of second-placed Aberdeen,

:08:12. > :08:17.and they're still on for the domestic treble -

:08:18. > :08:19.having won the League Cup, they are also into the last four

:08:20. > :08:29.in the Scottish Cup. I am very honoured and very

:08:30. > :08:32.privileged to manage Glasgow Celtic. When you support a team like this as

:08:33. > :08:39.a boy, and you know the history of the club, I was happy to take on the

:08:40. > :08:43.responsibility to make the supporters dream and make the

:08:44. > :08:44.supporters happy. This coming season, and hopefully for years to

:08:45. > :08:47.come. Manchester United defender

:08:48. > :08:49.Luke Shaw's future at the club is in doubt following

:08:50. > :08:51.a stinging attack from his manager,

:08:52. > :08:52.Jose Mourinho. He thinks the England international

:08:53. > :08:54.isn't even deserving saying Shaw lacks commitment,

:08:55. > :08:58.focus and ambition. He's only played 15 times

:08:59. > :09:03.the season, with his boss claiming he is a long way behind his

:09:04. > :09:07.competition for a place in the team. Lexi Thompson, the American golfer,

:09:08. > :09:09.must be heartbroken after an eagle-eyed television

:09:10. > :09:11.viewer called in to say they'd spotted an infringement

:09:12. > :09:16.that cost her a major title. It happened at the first women's

:09:17. > :09:18.golf major of the year, with Thompson holding

:09:19. > :09:23.a two-shot lead in tournament. She only found out

:09:24. > :09:29.with six holes to play, and the infringement happened

:09:30. > :09:35.a full 24 hours beforehand. She was left in tears,

:09:36. > :09:37.calling it ridiculous, as she was handed a four-stroke

:09:38. > :09:39.penalty, losing her lead and eventually the title as well

:09:40. > :09:43.in a play-off to So Yeon Ryu The 14-time Major winner

:09:44. > :09:47.Tiger Woods tweeted, "Viewers at home should not be

:09:48. > :09:51.officials wearing stripes." Former US Open winner

:09:52. > :09:53.Graeme McDowell said, "Another rough day for the deep dark

:09:54. > :09:55.complex rules of golf, simplification cannot

:09:56. > :09:57.come quick enough." Finally, Lexi Thompson herself took

:09:58. > :10:02.to Instagram a few hours ago, saying, "Well, it was an emotional

:10:03. > :10:06.day here for me, first off I do want to say what I had done

:10:07. > :10:18.was 100% not intentional." I played amazing today, probably the

:10:19. > :10:22.best golf I played all week. I wasn't expecting that on whatever

:10:23. > :10:26.hole it was, I did not intentionally do that, so to the officials or

:10:27. > :10:32.whoever called in, that was not my purpose. I didn't realise I did

:10:33. > :10:37.that. But you know, I fought hard coming in, I didn't give up, I knew

:10:38. > :10:42.I could still win, but so many players played great, so congrats.

:10:43. > :10:46.Things went slightly better for Roger Federer.

:10:47. > :10:49.He says he'll have some time off after winning the Miami Open.

:10:50. > :10:53.He beat Spain's Rafa Nadal in straight sets to move up

:10:54. > :10:57.to fourth in the world rankings but won't play most of the clay

:10:58. > :10:59.court season and will probably next appear at the French Open

:11:00. > :11:04.That is all the sport for now, we will be back with more at around

:11:05. > :11:06.10:30. While most teenagers are living

:11:07. > :11:09.at home when they turn 18, are suddenly thrust

:11:10. > :11:12.into a grown-up world. They can find themselves

:11:13. > :11:15.alone in a flat with all Managing money is one of the biggest

:11:16. > :11:19.challenges, and a new scheme, so far adopted by 14 councils,

:11:20. > :11:22.aims to help. Our reporter

:11:23. > :11:23.Ashley John-Baptiste, who was himself in care,

:11:24. > :11:28.has this report. and I moved into a council

:11:29. > :11:34.flat on this street. I'm really nervous,

:11:35. > :11:36.because I haven't been back here for at least,

:11:37. > :11:39.say, five years. But this is the flat I moved

:11:40. > :11:47.into when I left care when I had to fend for myself as an adult,

:11:48. > :11:51.and I can see the flat. I remember thinking,

:11:52. > :11:56."What the heck?" "I've got to go and live

:11:57. > :11:58.independently by myself I remember the toughest weekend

:11:59. > :12:06.potentially of my life was when I had 37p to live off

:12:07. > :12:12.for a weekend, and all I could afford was an onion,

:12:13. > :12:16.and I had a bit of tuna, and I made pasta tuna

:12:17. > :12:28.and lived by myself. I know I wasn't alone in finding it

:12:29. > :12:32.difficult to leave care, Research suggests well over half

:12:33. > :12:38.of care leavers struggle That's why as of this month some

:12:39. > :12:44.councils have decided to stop charging care leavers council tax

:12:45. > :12:49.until they are older. In reality, only a small number

:12:50. > :12:55.of care leavers will benefit. The councils that are doing this

:12:56. > :12:58.hope it will ease the sudden Tiffany was taken into care

:12:59. > :13:13.on Christmas Eve when she was five. Growing up, she was moved 15 times

:13:14. > :13:18.all over the country. They officially went,

:13:19. > :13:24."That's it, we no longer need to be in contact with you,

:13:25. > :13:26.you've now hit that age when you can live by yourself

:13:27. > :13:29.independently and there you go, off you go into the world,"

:13:30. > :13:31.kind of thing, and there was not much

:13:32. > :13:34.preparation for that. It's my bank.

:13:35. > :13:36.Do you know what it says? "We are aware that you

:13:37. > :13:40.couldn't make payment." Can I have a read?

:13:41. > :13:44.Do you mind? About 2000 across

:13:45. > :13:51.different companies. Council tax bills

:13:52. > :13:53.are probably the worst one. This is my place that

:13:54. > :14:14.nobody can take away from me. Jodie was taken into care

:14:15. > :14:16.when she was eight but said she was also excited at

:14:17. > :14:27.the prospect of being independent. How did you cope with the pressures

:14:28. > :14:30.of being an adult, If you don't open the post,

:14:31. > :14:39.then you don't have to deal with it. Some councils have decided to scrap

:14:40. > :14:45.council tax for young care leavers. Do you think this is a measure

:14:46. > :14:49.that will help care leavers? Yeah, I do.

:14:50. > :14:55.It gives them the chance to adjust. But some might say why should care

:14:56. > :14:58.leavers benefit from this, but not other vulnerable groups

:14:59. > :15:03.in society? People who come from a normal family

:15:04. > :15:08.have that, "Can I borrow 20 quid?" There have been times when I've got

:15:09. > :15:13.literally nothing in the cupboards, and I've gone hungry

:15:14. > :15:16.because I have nobody to lend me We can now speak to

:15:17. > :15:29.Tiffany Bacchus, who is 20 She spent two years in care

:15:30. > :15:33.from the age of 16. She has struggled to pay her council

:15:34. > :15:37.tax in the past but is now exempt. Ria Roberts is from west

:15:38. > :15:39.London and was in care She's now 21 and has just moved

:15:40. > :15:44.into her own council flat, and a change on 1st April means

:15:45. > :15:49.she won't have to pay council tax. Claire Ward is a housing

:15:50. > :15:51.advice officer for care Stephen Cowan is the leader

:15:52. > :15:55.of Hammersmith and Fulham council, he's a Labour councillor

:15:56. > :16:09.and who have just stopped charging Thank you for joining us. Tiffany

:16:10. > :16:14.you went into care from 16 to 18. At 18 you went into your own flat. Tell

:16:15. > :16:19.us what that was like and how you coped? It was a shock going in from

:16:20. > :16:22.so much help to taking a step back and having to manage all your bills

:16:23. > :16:29.and get a straight head on things very quickly. And how did you cope

:16:30. > :16:34.with bills? Just budgeting plans and getting as much help as k and not

:16:35. > :16:39.being scared to ask for help and looking into what you are entitled

:16:40. > :16:43.to. You have to be quite savvy? Yeah. When bills are coming in and

:16:44. > :16:46.you're fearing you haven't got the money to pay them, it must be

:16:47. > :16:52.frightening? It worries and then you're not able to think about the

:16:53. > :16:56.other smaller bills. So they get out of control sometimes. We are talking

:16:57. > :17:01.today about care leavers being exempt from council tax. That does

:17:02. > :17:06.come in in your area, but before that came in, how much of a burden

:17:07. > :17:09.was council tax? It was a worry. No one likes to have debt on their

:17:10. > :17:14.back... You had a debt, did you have? Yes and to have that there at

:17:15. > :17:18.the time was just a worry, I couldn't focus and feel like I could

:17:19. > :17:22.go out and have fun just for the fact that was at the back of my

:17:23. > :17:30.mind. Were you being pursued for the debt? Yes, I was being pursued. I

:17:31. > :17:35.didn't know I was entitled, to North Somerset Council to help me pay.

:17:36. > :17:41.Were you being pursued by bailiffs? Yes, I was. You were 18. Yeah, I was

:17:42. > :17:46.18 when they came to the door. It was like, "You've got six hours to

:17:47. > :17:52.get it all sorted." Luckily Clare Ward and the team in North Somerset

:17:53. > :17:57.Council said, "She is a care leaver. You can't be going knocking on

:17:58. > :18:03.doors." Sometimes they don't believe the situation and that's their jobs

:18:04. > :18:06.to pursue that. Clare, you were able to help Tiffany and how many others

:18:07. > :18:11.in this situation? I'm not sure of the numbers, but part of what North

:18:12. > :18:17.Somerset do is with the care leavers, we don't take legal action.

:18:18. > :18:22.They stop any legal action for any previous debt so there won't be any

:18:23. > :18:28.bailiffs turning up. So we are getting this sorted out. It came in

:18:29. > :18:32.in 1st April 2016. This is our first full year. It has been a learning

:18:33. > :18:36.curve, but it is working really well. What was your prospective

:18:37. > :18:44.previously on the impact of council tax on care leavers? I came in just

:18:45. > :18:47.before it came in last year, my prodesesor, but we are their

:18:48. > :18:52.corporate parents and these young people don't have a parent to lend

:18:53. > :18:57.them the odd ?50 or ?60. We felt this was something we had a little

:18:58. > :19:00.bit of control over, that we could help them financially to ease them

:19:01. > :19:06.into the independent living. And that's the approach that you've

:19:07. > :19:10.taken as well, Stephen Cawan at Hammersmith and Fulham Council. How

:19:11. > :19:15.would you define the role of a council in terms of parenting kids

:19:16. > :19:18.in care? We're the corporate parent and any parent anywhere has a

:19:19. > :19:21.responsibility to make sure their children have the best possible

:19:22. > :19:25.start in life, but too often care leavers don't have that, so we have

:19:26. > :19:30.been working with some of the care leavers and looking at policies we

:19:31. > :19:33.can implement to make the transition into adulthood easier and getting

:19:34. > :19:36.rid of council tax just seemed an obvious step, but I would stress we

:19:37. > :19:40.see that as the start. We want children in our care to go on and

:19:41. > :19:44.have the best possible life and we know that any corporate parent

:19:45. > :19:50.should be there for them throughout just as much as parents are for

:19:51. > :19:54.their own children. So, you're benefiting from what's happening in

:19:55. > :20:00.Hammersmith and Fulham. Tell us about your situation. Because I'm

:20:01. > :20:08.working part-time I don't get a lot of money. I think I save about

:20:09. > :20:12.?3,000 over the next four years, I'm 21 now. It ends when I'm 25. It is

:20:13. > :20:16.amazing to have that. Like I can spend money on going on holiday or

:20:17. > :20:21.anything else. You mentioned other things that might help people. What

:20:22. > :20:26.more do you think? We are looking at how we can help children get into

:20:27. > :20:29.internships, Ria wants to work at somewhere like the BBC. Parents

:20:30. > :20:33.normally go the extra mile and we are looking at what we can do to

:20:34. > :20:38.help facilitate a child's ambitions to have the type of life they want.

:20:39. > :20:42.We think it is a critical part of being a parent and that's what we

:20:43. > :20:47.intend to do. The question was put in Ashley's report, what about other

:20:48. > :20:52.vulnerable people? How much does all of this cost the council and where

:20:53. > :20:56.do you get, where do you take the money from? There will be 35

:20:57. > :20:59.children leaving, becoming over the age of 18 this year, and therefore

:21:00. > :21:03.applicable to council tax normally. It will cost us ?49,000 a year to

:21:04. > :21:06.abolish that for them. We think it is a good investment and we think

:21:07. > :21:11.anyone who is in a difficult position needs our help which is why

:21:12. > :21:16.we're investing in foodbanks and why we are the only council to take

:21:17. > :21:19.children out of bed and breakfast accommodation. These children did

:21:20. > :21:23.not ask to come into our care, they were put in for specific reasons and

:21:24. > :21:29.we owe them and we are taking that seriously. Give us your personal

:21:30. > :21:34.prospective on that Ria? I'm lucky because I have a lot of support from

:21:35. > :21:40.my whole experience in care. Being able to volunteer abroad and along

:21:41. > :21:45.with other things. So now hearing if I want to apply for an

:21:46. > :21:51.apprenticeship, these guys are going to back me and help me with. That's

:21:52. > :21:54.amazing. How about you? I agree with the amount of support you get. Just

:21:55. > :21:58.to have that, OK not to worry, calm do you think we'll sort it out and

:21:59. > :22:04.then if everything goes well, we will see what else we can aim for.

:22:05. > :22:10.Lots of comments coming in from viewers who watched Ashley's report

:22:11. > :22:14.and are watching now. A tweet from Vonnie, "After leaving care and

:22:15. > :22:20.entering the homeless system, I have been in debt my entire adult

:22:21. > :22:25.livment" A viewer says, "All the best to both of them. They deserve

:22:26. > :22:30.the best." A social worker says, "I have worked for foster carers and I

:22:31. > :22:35.would be horrified if I found a foster carer was not providing a

:22:36. > :22:43.foster child with the necessary skills." ""There are many reasons

:22:44. > :22:48.why young people need to leave home. Family can't afford to keep them.

:22:49. > :22:52.Bad family relationships. No chance of work in their area, I could go

:22:53. > :22:58.on." What's your reaction to the last comment, Clare? Yeah. Like I

:22:59. > :23:01.said, we are the corporate parent. I think, it's not just financial

:23:02. > :23:06.support that parents give, it is a emotional support. So, you know,

:23:07. > :23:10.your child might pick up the phone and say, "Mum, dad, can you help

:23:11. > :23:13.with this?" We help with emotional support. We are always there, our

:23:14. > :23:18.office has a room where the young people can come, where they can do

:23:19. > :23:21.their washing and cook meals and use the computer and use the phone.

:23:22. > :23:26.There is always someone there to talk to, a friendly face, that's

:23:27. > :23:30.important. The financial side is very important, but that emotional

:23:31. > :23:34.side is also important, I think. We're hearing from you representing

:23:35. > :23:38.councils where this is being done, this level of support is being

:23:39. > :23:43.given. It may not be the same everywhere. It is not the same

:23:44. > :23:47.everywhere, is it? No, it's not. And it's up to those councils to make

:23:48. > :23:51.the decisions that are right for their resident. I do thank the

:23:52. > :23:54.Children's Society who have been pushing this. This is the right

:23:55. > :23:58.thing to do and no matter where there is hardship, where we need to

:23:59. > :24:03.try and fix, we should make sure that we take council tax away from

:24:04. > :24:07.children in care if that's possible and I'm glad we have been able to do

:24:08. > :24:12.it. You want to go in the media and work at the BBC. I'm sure we can, I

:24:13. > :24:16.don't know, I'm sure we can help you. We will do our best. We would

:24:17. > :24:22.love to help you. Tell us more about your am bishings? Yes, so, I'm

:24:23. > :24:26.studying film and television at the moment and hopefully in September I

:24:27. > :24:33.can get on to an apprenticeship and I don't know, start from there. It

:24:34. > :24:37.be a runner, but my dream is to be a writer/film director. Dream big.

:24:38. > :24:46.Follow your dreams. What about you Tiffany? I'm aiming to go on the

:24:47. > :24:49.midwifery side of things, but I'm an adventurous person, support worker,

:24:50. > :24:54.care worker to midwife and see where that takes me. Good luck. It is

:24:55. > :24:58.great to have you all in. Thank you very much.

:24:59. > :24:59.Keep your comments coming in. So many of you getting in touch. We

:25:00. > :25:03.appreciate those comments. As you know, Victoria has

:25:04. > :25:06.been keeping a video diary for this programme,

:25:07. > :25:07.having been diagnosed The diaries have chronicled her

:25:08. > :25:10.mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy to try and help

:25:11. > :25:12.demystify the treatment. Following chemotherapy,

:25:13. > :25:14.Victoria lost quite a lot of her hair and has been wearing

:25:15. > :25:17.a wig for the last 16 months. OK, so it's time to stop wearing

:25:18. > :25:23.a wig, which I have been wearing since December 2015,

:25:24. > :25:25.since I had chemotherapy And probably about half my hair,

:25:26. > :25:35.maybe three-quarters of my hair, fell out as a result of that

:25:36. > :25:38.treatment, and I have to say losing my hair was the worst bit

:25:39. > :25:41.about cancer treatment for me. And I'm grateful to this wig,

:25:42. > :25:50.actually, because it helped me get on with things,

:25:51. > :25:53.go to work, live my life This is about 12 months of growth

:25:54. > :26:18.since chemo finished. And it's come back as thick

:26:19. > :26:21.as it was, if not thicker. Slightly more ringlety

:26:22. > :26:33.than it was before. But I am actually apprehensive

:26:34. > :26:36.about it, about taking my wig off, But I know it doesn't really matter

:26:37. > :26:45.what my hair looks like. The point is this is proof,

:26:46. > :26:48.if proof were needed, that once chemotherapy is complete,

:26:49. > :26:50.your hair does grow back, and when you're in some of those

:26:51. > :26:56.dark moments during chemo, you do doubt that, as irrational

:26:57. > :27:00.and absurd as that sounds. But your body does slowly renew

:27:01. > :27:03.itself once chemo is complete, and there's something really

:27:04. > :27:17.optimistic about that. You can watch all of Victoria's

:27:18. > :27:34.video diaries via our programme Lots of you getting in touch on help

:27:35. > :27:37.for care leavers. A tweet from LJ "Preparation for adult life needs to

:27:38. > :27:43.be part of school learning. Preventative work is a better

:27:44. > :27:49.approach." Buddy says, "Council tax should be abolished and replaced

:27:50. > :27:55.with a local form of taxation." LJ says, "It is ridiculous taking

:27:56. > :28:00.people to court and adding bailiffs is awful." Fiona says, "Many care

:28:01. > :28:05.leavers want to stay put." Thank you. Keep them coming.

:28:06. > :28:09.Money raised from the tampon tax is being used

:28:10. > :28:13.We speak to one MP who wants the grant stopped.

:28:14. > :28:16.The world's youngest conductor at the age of 11.

:28:17. > :28:18.We speak to Matthew Smith fresh from his record-breaking performance

:28:19. > :28:29.with the Nottingham Symphony Orchestra.

:28:30. > :28:32.We will talk to his proud mum as well.

:28:33. > :28:35.Here's Annita in the BBC Newsroom with a summary of today's news.

:28:36. > :28:38.Detectives investigating an attack on a teenage asylum seeker,

:28:39. > :28:43.which left him seriously injured, have now charged five people.

:28:44. > :28:45.In the past few minutes police investigating the attack last

:28:46. > :28:47.Friday night in Croydon, say that three others

:28:48. > :28:53.Police believe up to 20 people were involved in the attack.

:28:54. > :28:57.Donald Trump has warned that the US will solve the North Korean nuclear

:28:58. > :28:59.In an interview with the Financial Times,

:29:00. > :29:02.the President is quoted as saying, "If China is not going to solve

:29:03. > :29:06.Mr Trump confirmed he was referring to direct unilateral action.

:29:07. > :29:09.The comments come ahead of a visit to the US by the Chinese

:29:10. > :29:19.Significant restrictions on the use of bail by police in England

:29:20. > :29:23.The amount of time a suspect released from custody can remain

:29:24. > :29:26.on bail will be limited to 28 days in most cases.

:29:27. > :29:29.According to the Home Office, the move will end the injustice

:29:30. > :29:31.of people left in limbo for months or even years.

:29:32. > :29:34.But the Police Federation has warned the change will be unrealistic

:29:35. > :29:40.Spain's Foreign Minister has said that there's no need to lose

:29:41. > :29:45.He was speaking after Gibraltar's chief minister insisted yesterday

:29:46. > :29:49.that the territory won't be used as a bargaining chip

:29:50. > :29:51.in negotiations over Britain's exit from the European Union.

:29:52. > :29:53.The EU's guidelines on the Brexit talks suggest that Spain,

:29:54. > :29:56.which claims sovereignty over the Gibraltar, might be able to veto

:29:57. > :30:01.This morning the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said

:30:02. > :30:04.that there would be no change in the status of Gibraltar

:30:05. > :30:13.Join me for BBC Newsroom Live at 11am.

:30:14. > :30:25.They won the Scottish Premiership title

:30:26. > :30:29.Scott Sinclair's hat-trick helped them to a 5-0 win at Hearts

:30:30. > :30:34.They now need the Scottish Cup title to seal a domestic treble

:30:35. > :30:37.in Brendan Rodgers' first season as manager.

:30:38. > :30:39.Manchester United defender Luke Shaw's future at the club

:30:40. > :30:42.is in doubt, following a stinging attack from his manager,

:30:43. > :30:46.He's claimed the ?27 million signing isn't even deserving

:30:47. > :30:48.of a place on the bench, saying Shaw lacks commitment,

:30:49. > :30:54.American Lexi Thompson was penalised four strokes that cost her the first

:30:55. > :30:58.With six holes to play, she was told she would be

:30:59. > :31:00.punished for an infringement in her previous round.

:31:01. > :31:02.It came after a television viewer emailed the LPGA saying

:31:03. > :31:12.And Roger Federer plans to take a short break from tennis

:31:13. > :31:14.after beating Rafa Nadal to win the Miami Open.

:31:15. > :31:17.He's moved up to number four in the world but says he's unlikely

:31:18. > :31:25.to play again until the French Open at the end of May.

:31:26. > :31:28.That is all the sport from me for this morning, I will be back after

:31:29. > :31:30.11. Labour MP Paula Sheriff has told

:31:31. > :31:33.this programme she plans to confront the Government over why ?250,000

:31:34. > :31:35.from the tax on women's sanitary products has been awarded to Life,

:31:36. > :31:38.an anti-abortion group in the UK. which is now re-allocated

:31:39. > :31:47.into a fund to support women. The Government announced on 24th

:31:48. > :31:50.March that 70 organisations across the country would share

:31:51. > :31:52.?12 million from this tampon-tax fund, which it said would improve

:31:53. > :31:55.the lives of disadvantaged women Earlier, I heard from both

:31:56. > :32:07.sides of the debate. We can speak now to

:32:08. > :32:09.the Labour MP Paula Sheriff. Ann Scanlon, who is

:32:10. > :32:14.education director at Life. Paula Sheriff first of all,

:32:15. > :32:18.you say you will be raising Why are you so against

:32:19. > :32:22.Life getting money? I'll be raising this as soon

:32:23. > :32:25.as I return back to the House of Commons, and I believe

:32:26. > :32:27.the minister has some serious questions to answer about this

:32:28. > :32:29.charity which offers no Essentially, it is going against

:32:30. > :32:36.the very concept of the tampon tax, which is to empower

:32:37. > :32:39.and offer equality and this charity It refers to abortion

:32:40. > :32:44.as the death penalty, I understand their website has been

:32:45. > :32:51.taken down this morning, which does have

:32:52. > :32:54.that comment on there. And equally the tampon tax fund

:32:55. > :32:57.was about empowering women. It is quite ironic that this

:32:58. > :33:03.is a tax that women pay for their own biology

:33:04. > :33:07.which has then been awarded, and, in fact, it is one

:33:08. > :33:10.of the biggest awards to a charity that takes

:33:11. > :33:13.choice away from women. Ann Scanlon, ?250,000,

:33:14. > :33:16.it is one of the biggest awards. It will be spent directly

:33:17. > :33:20.on helping women, and I mean some of the most

:33:21. > :33:28.vulnerable women in our society. This is going to be used

:33:29. > :33:31.in our west London area where we deal with asylum seekers,

:33:32. > :33:33.women who are fleeing domestic violence, women who have been

:33:34. > :33:36.trafficked into this country I am really surprised

:33:37. > :33:38.by this outcry. Surely, if we really do

:33:39. > :33:44.truly believe in choice, surely women must have

:33:45. > :33:46.more than one choice. We give ?10 million every year

:33:47. > :33:51.to the abortion industry, and we are saying that ?250,000

:33:52. > :33:54.spread over three years is too much to help women who perhaps wants

:33:55. > :33:58.to carry on with their pregnancies. Yes, we are a pro-life organisation.

:33:59. > :34:00.We are very transparent about that. Our application for the money

:34:01. > :34:04.made that absolutely clear. But it doesn't in any way

:34:05. > :34:06.influence the fact that what we want to do

:34:07. > :34:09.is open choices for women. The women who come to us

:34:10. > :34:14.all say they feel they have got to have an abortion

:34:15. > :34:17.because they feel they have no choice, and we don't want

:34:18. > :34:20.any woman to be in that position. So when you say they come

:34:21. > :34:22.to you wanting an abortion... No, they come to us looking

:34:23. > :34:24.for help, But when they go to

:34:25. > :34:28.abortion providers, there is actually

:34:29. > :34:29.only one thing on offer. When they come to us, of course,

:34:30. > :34:33.any woman who comes to us is free to go and have an abortion,

:34:34. > :34:35.but should she want to keep her baby, we can offer

:34:36. > :34:38.practical help and support. We are one of the largest providers

:34:39. > :34:42.of supported accommodation for pregnant women and new mums

:34:43. > :34:44.with their babies. And this money will be specifically

:34:45. > :34:47.spent on that and not campaigning? Absolutely.

:34:48. > :34:48.How can you guarantee that? I myself am involved in the

:34:49. > :34:54.advocacy side of the organisation. 90% of what we do is direct

:34:55. > :35:03.hands-on help for women. Even our campaign.

:35:04. > :35:05.We do education work in schools. We have reached the stage

:35:06. > :35:07.where the entire pro-life voice Surely people need to know both

:35:08. > :35:11.sides of the debate. That is not what we

:35:12. > :35:13.are dealing with here. We are dealing with hands-on help

:35:14. > :35:17.for women, vulnerable women. I think if you were

:35:18. > :35:19.truly pro-choice, Paula Sheriff, do you accept this

:35:20. > :35:25.is about helping vulnerable, It is about hands-on help

:35:26. > :35:29.and not about campaigning? I spoke to one of Ann's colleagues

:35:30. > :35:32.on BBC Radio last night, We put the question to her that

:35:33. > :35:38.should one of those women who came to their organisation then decide

:35:39. > :35:43.to go on and have an abortion, her colleague wasn't actually able

:35:44. > :35:45.to tell me what would happen She basically said the housing

:35:46. > :35:55.and support wouldn't be available It is not true to say that

:35:56. > :35:58.other organisations, including the British Pregnancy

:35:59. > :36:00.Advisory Service and other such charities do not offer

:36:01. > :36:02.a range of services. That absolutely isn't true.

:36:03. > :36:06.I've met them myself. They do of course offer abortion

:36:07. > :36:09.counselling, but they also offer the other options available,

:36:10. > :36:11.and that is why I am pro-choice. It is about offering

:36:12. > :36:13.women the choice It is 2017,

:36:14. > :36:18.and a website that refers which may be in very traumatic cases

:36:19. > :36:22.including rape, including sexual assault,

:36:23. > :36:28.is referred to as the death penalty. If someone faces losing a home

:36:29. > :36:30.that you are offering them, if they then

:36:31. > :36:32.decide they want an abortion, that is not giving

:36:33. > :36:34.them a free choice. We support women.

:36:35. > :36:36.Every woman that comes to us. No, we are not abortion providers,

:36:37. > :36:39.and we talk about BPAS. BPAS don't hold a woman's

:36:40. > :36:41.hand for nine months should she want to carry

:36:42. > :36:43.on with the pregnancy. and decided they did

:36:44. > :36:47.ultimately want an abortion? that is probably the majority

:36:48. > :36:51.of the women that we see. Lots of women who come to us

:36:52. > :36:54.will end up having abortions, and the last thing we say to them

:36:55. > :36:57.when they leave is, "Please, whatever decision you make,

:36:58. > :36:59.please know that you are welcome to come back and speak

:37:00. > :37:02.to us at any time." Many of those women do come back

:37:03. > :37:05.to us, and it's actually the stories we hear in the counselling room

:37:06. > :37:08.about women who felt railroaded down the abortion

:37:09. > :37:10.route who are often very, Actually, that is what firmly

:37:11. > :37:13.made up my mind that abortion is not

:37:14. > :37:15.in a woman's best interest. as to what would happen

:37:16. > :37:19.if somebody wanted an abortion. She says the majority do end up

:37:20. > :37:24.going off and having an abortion. But it is absolutely clear

:37:25. > :37:27.from what she is saying that those women would therefore not be offered

:37:28. > :37:30.the housing, support and any other If they are going off and having

:37:31. > :37:33.a termination, they don't obviously

:37:34. > :37:34.need that support. They may still need support,

:37:35. > :37:36.absolutely. In fact as much

:37:37. > :37:40.as any of the other women. Sorry, this is specifically

:37:41. > :37:44.about giving support to vulnerable pregnant women who don't have

:37:45. > :37:46.someone else to live. If they decide they are having

:37:47. > :37:48.a termination, they don't specifically need

:37:49. > :37:51.that support from this charity. But it isn't true suggest that only

:37:52. > :37:55.the charity can offer that support. but doesn't the same apply

:37:56. > :38:00.to a lot of charities? This money is being spread

:38:01. > :38:07.among 70 different charities. I am not here to talk

:38:08. > :38:11.about whether abortion It is every woman's decision

:38:12. > :38:16.to make that choice But my issue is with the Government

:38:17. > :38:22.giving money to an organisation which is pro-life, which takes

:38:23. > :38:30.the choice away from women. It is clear that Life charity do not

:38:31. > :38:33.offer women who approach them There are many more causes

:38:34. > :38:40.which would have been better, which would have

:38:41. > :38:42.received this money. I held a debate last week

:38:43. > :38:44.in the Houses of Parliament WE're hearing about schoolgirls

:38:45. > :38:49.playing truant from school because they don't have

:38:50. > :38:51.sanitary protection They didn't receive any money

:38:52. > :38:55.as a result of the tampon tax fund. Surely something like that

:38:56. > :38:58.would have been a much better I want to get Ann Scanlon's

:38:59. > :39:01.reaction to that. Absolutely. They would absolutely

:39:02. > :39:03.have been deserving. Is Paula suggesting

:39:04. > :39:06.that they applied and didn't get it? Really, we cannot

:39:07. > :39:09.have a situation... and we were very clear about

:39:10. > :39:15.how that money would be used. Period poverty,

:39:16. > :39:20.absolutely it is a worthy cause. And really somebody should have

:39:21. > :39:22.helped those people There was ?12 million being given

:39:23. > :39:27.to help vulnerable women, and I believe that we do

:39:28. > :39:37.that every day. It is up to the Government

:39:38. > :39:40.to explain exactly what the criteria was for awarding money

:39:41. > :39:42.from the tampon tax fund. I know from the feedback I received

:39:43. > :39:45.just in the last 24 hours, and I have received hundreds

:39:46. > :39:48.of emails, only literally four or five emails out of those hundreds

:39:49. > :39:50.actually supported the campaign that Life were running, and the vast

:39:51. > :39:53.majority of women, and let's not forget it is the women contributing

:39:54. > :39:56.to the tampon tax fund from sanitary products they provide,

:39:57. > :39:59.were firmly opposed to this measure. So you are saying that

:40:00. > :40:01.you want clarity Absolutely, and I will be asking

:40:02. > :40:04.the Government to rescind the money

:40:05. > :40:07.that they are giving to Life. Is there a mechanism to do that?

:40:08. > :40:10.I don't know. Obviously, when I return

:40:11. > :40:12.to Parliament, I will be making

:40:13. > :40:13.those inquiries urgently. How do you react to that

:40:14. > :40:17.if the money were taken back? I can't imagine why it would be,

:40:18. > :40:21.because we were absolutely transparent about how the money

:40:22. > :40:24.would be used and when they analysed the help and support

:40:25. > :40:27.they were going to give to women, I think it would be outrageous

:40:28. > :40:30.if it was removed. I really cannot believe in a country

:40:31. > :40:34.that spends ?10 million on abortion, we are suggesting that a quarter

:40:35. > :40:37.of a million pounds is too much to help women who might

:40:38. > :40:40.want to keep their children. Final thought, Paula Sheriff,

:40:41. > :40:43.on the overall policy? You initially wanted

:40:44. > :40:46.an end to the tampon tax. Overall, if it is doing good,

:40:47. > :40:50.are you happy to see it continue? Obviously, our objective

:40:51. > :40:53.is to have the tampon tax cancelled so sanitary products are not

:40:54. > :40:55.considered as luxury items. While there is still a tax

:40:56. > :40:57.on sanitary protection, it is absolutely right

:40:58. > :41:01.that the money should not go into the Treasury, and it should be

:41:02. > :41:05.used for good causes, but like I say we need to understand

:41:06. > :41:08.what the Government's criteria is for awarding that money,

:41:09. > :41:11.because I do not believe that giving money to a charity that does not

:41:12. > :41:17.provide choice is the right idea. Paula Sheriff, Ann Scanlon,

:41:18. > :41:24.thank you very much. A Department for Culture,

:41:25. > :41:27.Media and Sport spokesperson told us are benefiting from this

:41:28. > :41:31.year's tampon tax fund. They said, "Life has been awarded

:41:32. > :41:36.?250,000 to fund a specific project in West London that will help

:41:37. > :41:38.homeless and other at-risk women who are pregnant

:41:39. > :41:42.by providing housing, counselling and

:41:43. > :41:56.life-skills training." For years, it has been rumoured that

:41:57. > :42:00.somebody has been going out late at night correcting bad punctuation on

:42:01. > :42:03.Bristol shop fronts. The self-proclaimed grammar vigilantes

:42:04. > :42:06.goes out in the dead of night, correcting street signs and shop

:42:07. > :42:20.fronts where apostrophes are in the wrong place. Jon Kay met him.

:42:21. > :42:49.This is just wrong, it's not meant to be like this.

:42:50. > :43:03.I do think it's a cause worth pursuing.

:43:04. > :43:30.I have felt extremely nervous, my heart has been thumping.

:43:31. > :43:33.Gibraltar is insisting it won't be used as a bargaining chip

:43:34. > :43:35.in negotiations about Britain's exit from the European Union.

:43:36. > :43:38.The EU's guidelines on the Brexit talks suggest that Spain,

:43:39. > :43:39.which claims sovereignty over the territory,

:43:40. > :43:45.could be able to veto future decisions that affect it.

:43:46. > :43:46.The UK Government is rejecting that

:43:47. > :43:49.and says it's committed to the territory.

:43:50. > :43:55.Meanwhile, the Spanish Foreign Minister

:43:56. > :43:57.has urged people not to lose tempers over the issue.

:43:58. > :43:59.Speaking to reporters in Luxembourg in the last hour,

:44:00. > :44:01.the Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson,

:44:02. > :44:03.has reiterated that the sovereignty of Gibraltar is non-negotiable.

:44:04. > :44:07.Well, I think the position of the Government is very clear,

:44:08. > :44:09.which is that the sovereignty of Gibraltar is unchanged,

:44:10. > :44:12.and it is not going to change, and cannot conceivably change

:44:13. > :44:17.without the express support and consent of the people of Gibraltar,

:44:18. > :44:20.and the United Kingdom, and that is not going to change.

:44:21. > :44:26.Marlene Hassan Nahon is an independent member

:44:27. > :44:35.She joins me via webcam from Gibraltar.

:44:36. > :44:43.How do you are act to all of this? Good morning! Well, we always knew

:44:44. > :44:48.that Brexit was going to be a nightmare for Gibraltar, that is why

:44:49. > :44:53.we were the one centre that voted overwhelmingly to remain. What we

:44:54. > :44:59.didn't expect was this clause 22, whether EU council has accepted the

:45:00. > :45:04.argument by Spain that Gibraltar should be singled out for separate

:45:05. > :45:12.treatment. Now, we know that Spain has a BDO, but then Suso the other

:45:13. > :45:16.26 member states. -- has a veto, but then so do the other 26 member

:45:17. > :45:20.states. But what is worrying is that Spain has shown its cards in terms

:45:21. > :45:25.of wanting to have a say over any future deals, which is something

:45:26. > :45:32.that the UK needs to factor in in terms of their exit package.

:45:33. > :45:41.You said you always knew that Brexit would be a nightmare for Gibraltar.

:45:42. > :45:46.96% of people in gi bratter voted Remain, but a higher percentage of

:45:47. > :45:54.people in Gibraltar want to remain part of the UK. So, under the

:45:55. > :46:00.auspices of the UK. So how do you square those two things with Brexit?

:46:01. > :46:05.Well, it is very difficult. And we had the EU under Secretary of State

:46:06. > :46:10.coming over to speak to us and we made it clear that this could happen

:46:11. > :46:14.and this could be a real crit and Spain could start being the

:46:15. > :46:17.belligerent neighbour to the north that she has been historically and

:46:18. > :46:22.this is why we have been lobbying and trying to explain to the United

:46:23. > :46:28.Kingdom that it has to be very clear that the deal has to include the

:46:29. > :46:32.best interests of Gibraltar. We have a land frontier with Spain which is

:46:33. > :46:39.an access to Europe and we need to know what the frontier is free

:46:40. > :46:44.flowing and that moving forward the directives and any deal going

:46:45. > :46:51.forward will be favourable to Gibraltar in terms of European

:46:52. > :46:54.working with Europe and collaborating and an ex-clues of

:46:55. > :47:00.deals relating to trade and aviation is something that we need Britain to

:47:01. > :47:06.fight our corner for. So this is the question now, will Britain be

:47:07. > :47:12.willing to come roe mice on deals? Will they be ready derailed in the

:47:13. > :47:19.process for the rest of the UK in favour of Gibraltar? This is what we

:47:20. > :47:21.need to be fighting now and I understand Lord Howard's comments

:47:22. > :47:29.over the weekend. I know that talking about war is a ril bit

:47:30. > :47:36.upping the stakes, but I'm grateful that as a British ex-leader and

:47:37. > :47:40.friend of Gibraltar he has made it very clear that the Britons would go

:47:41. > :47:43.to war for us. It doesn't mean that we are going to have a war, but to

:47:44. > :47:48.feel that love from the United Kingdom is a very good sign for gi

:47:49. > :47:50.bratter because we can see they are committed to our cause and to the

:47:51. > :47:56.difficulties that we face at this present time.

:47:57. > :48:00.Let's listen to the Spanish Foreign Minister who has been speaking in

:48:01. > :48:04.the past few minutes. TRANSLATION: It is not the Spanish

:48:05. > :48:10.Government's job to respond to each and every comment by any British

:48:11. > :48:16.politician past or present. In any case, the Spanish Government

:48:17. > :48:20.is a little surprised by the tone of comments regarding Gibraltar coming

:48:21. > :48:27.out of Britain which is a country known for its composure.

:48:28. > :48:31.Calm down everyone is effectively the message from Spain. How do you

:48:32. > :48:38.react to that? Yeah, it is very easy for them to say calm down, but they

:48:39. > :48:47.made it very, they made very sure to have manipulated the EU council to

:48:48. > :48:50.write a separate clause just which involves Spain and the United

:48:51. > :48:55.Kingdom. So, of course, they can be calm. They can be calm because they

:48:56. > :48:59.don't have the worries that the Gibraltarians have and they still

:49:00. > :49:02.remain in the European Union. So, effectively, one could say that they

:49:03. > :49:07.have the upper hand. We're leaving and they are staying and as a member

:49:08. > :49:11.state, they will do their best clearly, we have seen already, early

:49:12. > :49:15.on, to let us know that they want to have the upper hand. So, of course,

:49:16. > :49:20.it is easy for them to be cool, but it is not so easy for us to be cool

:49:21. > :49:26.when we're trying to negotiate our future. The way that the

:49:27. > :49:31.Gibraltarians are looking are opposites, one to the UK, the other

:49:32. > :49:36.to the EU. If there are no special terms for Gibraltar, which way do

:49:37. > :49:40.you jump because of all of the economic concerns around freedom of

:49:41. > :49:46.movement and the other economic issues arising from Brexit? Well, I

:49:47. > :49:54.know that Theresa May, the British Government have been saying no, no

:49:55. > :49:59.deal is better than a bad deal. We like to count ourselves in that. A

:50:00. > :50:02.bad deal with Spain would be very bad for Gibraltarment so we would

:50:03. > :50:08.hope that the UK will stick up for us and prefer to have no deal than a

:50:09. > :50:14.bad deal for Gibraltar. In that basket of negotiations. But, of

:50:15. > :50:17.course, you know, there is a lot of negotiations to continue happening.

:50:18. > :50:24.Let's just remember that this is just a draft and you know, there is

:50:25. > :50:30.no reason to worry in the sense that there are 26 other member states

:50:31. > :50:36.which I hope will be more humane towards Gibraltar, more reasonable

:50:37. > :50:40.towards Gibraltar and will want to help Gibraltar and an exiting UK to

:50:41. > :50:45.secure a good deal moving forward for the sake of a collaborative

:50:46. > :50:53.future for the Gibraltarians. So I remain optimistic and I also think

:50:54. > :50:57.that Spain, by playing this card so early on, has almost let us all know

:50:58. > :51:02.what they, you know, what they're planning or what they're after and

:51:03. > :51:07.perhaps that will give us more time to foster better negotiations and

:51:08. > :51:10.terms looking forward. Marlene Hassan Nahon Thank you very

:51:11. > :51:17.much. Thank you.

:51:18. > :51:20.Lauren has been in touch over the financial difficulties for care

:51:21. > :51:24.leavers. She says, "A degree of responsibility is needed. I was

:51:25. > :51:27.homeless at 16 and yes, you was helped with benefits whilst still in

:51:28. > :51:31.high school, but you are forced to cope in that situation. At 18 I was

:51:32. > :51:34.given a council flat and I researched ways of dealing with

:51:35. > :51:38.bills. There are more than just care leavers needing help. I was forced

:51:39. > :51:43.to pay council tax within my rent to the hostel. Driving my monthly rent

:51:44. > :51:46.up to ?706 for a room, bathroom and shared kitchen, that's hard and I

:51:47. > :51:50.was still in full-time accommodation. I learned the hard

:51:51. > :51:55.way, scrimp and save and don't splurge on anything. I have never

:51:56. > :51:58.been on holiday. This move should be means-tested and more education

:51:59. > :52:03.needs to be put in place within our schools. It should not be the

:52:04. > :52:08.State's fault if one cannot learn how to handle one's finances."

:52:09. > :52:09.Thank you very much, Lauren and keep all of your comments coming in on

:52:10. > :52:13.that and everything else. Now, he's an 11-year-old

:52:14. > :52:15.boy from Nottingham, but last night he became a world

:52:16. > :52:18.record holder when he became the youngest person

:52:19. > :52:19.to conduct an orchestra. Matthew Smith led the 75 piece

:52:20. > :52:22.Nottingham Symphony orchestra through the overture

:52:23. > :52:26.to Johann Strauss's operetta Die Fledermaus,

:52:27. > :52:27.entirely from memory. In a moment we'll speak to Matthew

:52:28. > :52:30.but first let's take MUSIC: Die Fledermaus

:52:31. > :53:15.composed by Johann Strauss. I'm pleased to say that Matthew

:53:16. > :53:20.joins us now with his mum We're also joined by his music

:53:21. > :53:25.teacher Derek Williams. Thank you for joining us. Matthew,

:53:26. > :53:30.what was it like doing that? Very exciting. And you knew it all from

:53:31. > :53:37.memory. How long did it take you to learn it? Not that long.

:53:38. > :53:44.I already, because I already had like it in my head so it want really

:53:45. > :53:47.that hard to remember it. You're a remarkable 11-year-old boy. When did

:53:48. > :53:54.you decide that's what you wanted to do? Well, I first I never really

:53:55. > :54:02.wanted to conduct until, well, I never really knew what it was until

:54:03. > :54:13.Derek, one day he told me to learn this piece. He was playing the same

:54:14. > :54:17.piece that I played yesterday, the Die Fledermaus and he told me to

:54:18. > :54:21.learn it and he gave me a lesson, but on the lesson I knew the song

:54:22. > :54:27.since I learnt it from memory. We'll talk to Derek in a moment. I want to

:54:28. > :54:34.bring in your mum. You got him involved, didn't you, in the whole

:54:35. > :54:44.situation, to help your son. Tell us what the role was of Derek and what

:54:45. > :54:48.you did? Matthew said he was interested in playing the violin and

:54:49. > :54:53.because I work at the high school and there is music teachers there,

:54:54. > :54:58.but I just went over to the music department and I didn't know what

:54:59. > :55:03.happened, I just chose Derek to teach Matthew and there was other

:55:04. > :55:08.music teachers there, but I chose Derek and from there Derek just

:55:09. > :55:20.said, his first lesson, he said he never seen anyone like this before

:55:21. > :55:25.from many years of teaching. So we kept pushing Matthew to do more. So

:55:26. > :55:29.She told you about her boy and when you met him, what did you think?

:55:30. > :55:34.Well, I could tell how much talent he had just really the first lesson.

:55:35. > :55:39.I put all the, all his fingers on the string, which you don't normally

:55:40. > :55:48.do in the first lesson. I gave him a bow, the violin itself wasn't great,

:55:49. > :55:53.but he had this ability of finding the best notes. You don't get

:55:54. > :55:57.seven-year-olds doing that. How would you describe his talent?

:55:58. > :56:02.Outstanding. I haven't come across a talent like his more about 30 years.

:56:03. > :56:06.Music comes out of every pore of his body. And chance that he came to

:56:07. > :56:14.you. Could that talent have been overlooked? Oh yeah, easily. We

:56:15. > :56:18.don't know how many more Matthew Smiths' there are in the country.

:56:19. > :56:25.There isn't the opportunity for the children now a days. Matthew, what

:56:26. > :56:31.do you want to do in the end? I don't know because I might want to

:56:32. > :56:34.carry on keep on doing my music career or I might want to change and

:56:35. > :56:45.do something else. Leave music completely? Pardon? I won't leave it

:56:46. > :56:49.completely because I would like to keep on playing my vio listen and I

:56:50. > :56:54.might join an orchestra and I will keep on playing my guitar and my

:56:55. > :57:00.other instruments in a band. I won't leave it at all though.

:57:01. > :57:04.How do you feel when Derek says that you're an exceptional talent. He

:57:05. > :57:08.hasn't seen a seven-year-old as you were when you first went to him in

:57:09. > :57:17.his entire 30 years of teaching music? I feel like, well, I feel

:57:18. > :57:24.that he knows I have a great talent and he has pushed me to do lots of

:57:25. > :57:30.different stuff because you've done Grade 8 scales, because he keeps on

:57:31. > :57:34.pushing me to do different things at different times. How proud are you

:57:35. > :57:44.of your son? Very, very proud of him. Happy for him as well and I'm,

:57:45. > :57:48.I do owe Derek a lot for what he has done for Matthew and I'm grateful

:57:49. > :57:53.for the opportunity that he gave to Matthew. Well, really good luck in

:57:54. > :57:57.your career, Matthew. That's an extraordinary thing to be saying to

:57:58. > :57:59.an 11-year-old boy, you know where you're going. Good luck with

:58:00. > :58:01.everything and thank you very much for joining us. Thank you.

:58:02. > :58:10.You're welcome, thank you. We are about out of time. But we

:58:11. > :58:14.have had so many comments from you an Ashley's report on care. You can

:58:15. > :58:20.see that whole report again on our programme page if you would like to

:58:21. > :58:24.see it. A very powerful personal report by Ashley today about the

:58:25. > :58:27.difficulties for kids leaving care. BBC Newsroom live is coming up.

:58:28. > :58:28.Thank you for your company. I will see you soon. Victoria is back

:58:29. > :58:34.tomorrow. Every two minutes, someone in

:58:35. > :58:40.Britain is reported missing. You feel helpless. Like,

:58:41. > :58:44."Where do I go? Where do I start?"