18/07/2017 BBC News at Six

for children and young people is safe,

He says the decline in standards in England and Wales is staggering

I do fear for the future and the safety of both the young

people who are held in custody and of staff

unless something is done to break this circle of violence.

We'll be looking at why secure accommodation for young

offenders has been allowed to become so dangerous.

Reduced petrol prices brings inflation down lower than expected.

After Grenfell Tower, a BBC investigation reveals how

councils are failing to offer social housing despite a statutory

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on what they call a shattering visit

And the threat to the critically endangered Madagascan lemur

This is the biggest rush in Madagascar

Tens of thousands of people have moved here

And coming up in Sportsday on BBC News,

after an incredible finish against South Africa,

England's cricketers reach the final of the Women's World Cup,

Good evening and welcome to the BBC News at Six.

Not one of the youth custody centres in England and Wales is safe

That's the shocking warning by the Chief Inspector of Prisons,

who says a tragedy is inevitable and the decline in

Describing the men's prison system, Peter Clarke says he is often

appalled by the conditions in which inmates are held.

The Government has acknowledged that prisons have faced a number

of challenges and says it's taken immediate action to,

amongst other things, boost the number of prison officers.

Our home affairs correspondent June Kelly has more.

Medway secure training centre in Kent, a place where young offenders

are held and hopefully rehabilitated. 18 months ago, an

undercover investigation by BBC Panorama shone a light on daily life

in Medway. Teenage inmates were seen being mistreated and abused. A

number of staff were sacked and the police launched a criminal

investigation. Medway, then run by G4S, is now the responsibility of

the prison and probation service. But it is still struggling, and only

last month inspectors denounced it as inadequate. And it's not alone,

according to today's damning report by the prison watchdog, which says:

the Chief Inspector of Prisons says he was so alarmed at what was found

that he alerted ministers earlier this year. Violence, giving rise to

repressive regimes, more discipline, longer being locked in cells. I have

seen children being held in cells for 22 hours a day, not eating any

of them meals in association with other children. When inspectors went

into Feltham young offender institution in west London, they

found that violence was so acute that the site was unsafe for both

staff and boys. Jennifer Blake, who runs an anti-gang charity, was in

felt last month. Their toilet systems are overflowing. The stench

in there, the fact that there are more afraid to be inside the prison

than outside because of the gang rivalry inside the prison. She began

offending when she was 13 and spent 20 years involved in knife crime,

drugs and robbery. Through my own life experience, I know that I

wasn't stopped and I went down the wrong path. So if these young people

are not stopped, they will take it through to their adulthood and they

will continue reoffending. The Ministry of Justice said no minister

was available for interview, and in a statement, it said:

When it comes to adult jails, today's report warns that prison

reform will be blighted without less violence, fewer drugs and more time

spent out of cells. All these require additional staff. The Chief

Inspector of Prisons has raised his concerns in the strongest terms and

he clearly feels the government is not listening. Yes, Peter Clarke

comes across as a desperate man. He is focusing on the proposed

rehabilitation of these young people, which he says it's

impossible given the conditions they are living under. The Ministry of

Justice says they will provide an extra 2500 staff across the prison

estate, but Peter Clarke said it is not just about numbers, it's also

about the conditions inmates are being held in, including the things

we heard about with overflowing toilets and Dickensian conditions in

some institutions. The ministry has also said it has created a youth

custody service, and they say that is a sign of the priority it is

giving to this issue. But again, Peter Clark is saying that while

initiatives are fine, it's all about the practicalities. He says he and

his staff produce these reports. Everybody reads them, nods and

agrees at what he's suggesting, but he said nothing ever seems to

change. And that is what is really irking him. As we were hearing, he

is warning that there could be a tragedy if the situation doesn't

improve in young offender institutions. June, thank you.

There's been an unexpected fall in inflation.

The rate, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index,

was 2.6% in June compared with 2.9% the month before.

The drop is partly due to a fall in fuel prices.

But some economists are warning the drop could just be a blip,

Here's our Economics Correspondent Andy Verity.

We're used to petrol being the motor of inflation,

Between May and June, the cost of fuel dropped by more

than a percentage point and instead of edging higher, as many expected,

inflation generally fell back from 2.9% to 2.6%.

One of the biggest elements that held inflation down

was culture and recreation, everything from theatre tickets,

to sports tickets to video streaming on the internet and another big

downward pressure came from these, cheaper tablet computers.

This afternoon, the governor of the Bank of England

I think the first thing is, one doesn't want to put too much

The reason why inflation is above the 2% target

is because of the depreciation in the pound following

the referendum or associated with the referendum, and that's

We'll see in the fullness of time whether that judgment is right,

but it's the judgment of the market about the relative incomes in this

country as a consequence of those decisions over the medium term.

This carpet factory in Kidderminster is an example of a growing business

It means it has to pay more than it once did to buy the yarn that goes

It's adapted to that and more of its yarn now

That's helped it to trim its costs and keep its price rises contained.

We've increased prices by around 2% this year and that's been a natural

consequence of increased wage costs, yarn costs and energy costs.

We have had to pass that on to our customers.

While inflation is lower than last month, prices

are still rising faster than the average worker's pay.

The squeeze on living standards isn't over yet.

It looks as if inflation might be dampened a bit by softer fuel price

growth over the next few months, but underlying price pressures

from post-Brexit falls in sterling are still there and they look set

to continue to push inflation up a bit further as we move

For now, the pressure on the Bank of England to tame inflation

by raising interest rates sooner rather than later has eased.

In the City, they are still betting a rise in interest rates will be

The aftermath of last month's fire at Grenfell Tower exposed social

inequalities in the borough, in particular the kind of affordable

housing offered to those on the lowest incomes.

Most councils have a statutory duty to offer half of accommodation

in all new large buildings projects as social housing.

But BBC News has found that the council where

Grenfell Tower is located - Kensington and Chelsea -

agreed that developers could give them nearly ?50 million

instead of building the required social housing last year.

the council is far from alone in doing so.

A rarely seen view of one of Britain's richest areas. The

Kensington and Chelsea, like everywhere else, does have social

housing, just not enough of it. This person is currently living in a

local hostel, desperate for a home. I have tried to get a house for two

years. It is just impossible to get any sort of housing. I have tried so

many times, and they just won't listen to you. They say there is

nothing for you and I can't help me. They won't even get me on the

housing list. Just minutes away, a huge new development in

Knightsbridge that Kalpesh ukla will never live in. There will be shops,

offices and luxury flats. Council rules say half the homes should be

affordable, but the architect said the flats were too big, the service

charge would be too expensive. So Kensington and Chelsea Council

allowed the developers to pay them ?12 million, which they should now

spend on affordable homes. Research for the BBC shows that in 2016,

Kensington and Chelsea agreed to take nearly ?47.5 million from

developers in such deals. The money property companies have paid them,

more than ?9 million remains unspent. However, just 336

affordable homes were built in the area over five years. In one year,

just four were actually added. We are exporting the poor population.

The leader of the Labour group of the Council is appalled. One of the

great things about living in London is that you do have a balanced

population, and I do think we have a duty not to produce the prettiest

ghost town in western Europe. Our first loyalty should be to

maintaining and strengthening our communities, and we have fallen down

on that job terribly. Kensington and Chelsea told us they are struggling

to provide affordable homes, due to being a small, densely packed area

with limited sites and high land values. They say they do what they

can, sometimes pushing developers to give more. But ultimately, they say

they have limited capacity to provide housing. Average house

prices around here are more than ?1 million. Despite that, the council

has a target of building 200 affordable homes each year.

Developers, however, seem increasingly keen to ignore such

goals. Kensington and Chelsea is an inner borough, and it also has

relatively high land values. Therefore, there is more likelihood

of developers wanting to build entirely private schemes and give

the payment to the council in lieu of a affordable housing coming

through as part of the new-build application. Lots of English

councils take money from developers instead of forcing them to build

affordable homes. But in Kensington and Chelsea, many luxury flats lie

empty. It's the only London borough where striking such deals can

exempt, believe the money is properly used.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have described as "shattering"

their visit to a former concentration camp, part

of their five day tour of Poland and Germany.

Holocaust survivors at Stutthof, near Gdansk,

where 65,000 people were killed during the Second World War.

Prince William hailed the country's "incredible bravery"

Our Royal Correspondent Peter Hunt was travelling with them.

Poland, a country with a troubled past,

provides presidential-style security for visiting royal

dignitaries that leaves little to chance.

Part of that past is captured here at Stutthof, a concentration

camp turned museum with evil on display,

With two survivors, tens of thousands perished here.

The Duke and Duchess paid their respects

at the camp's Jewish memorial and reflected.

"What the Nazis did here", William and Kate wrote later,

"was a terrible reminder of the cost of war".

They described their visit as shattering.

In what was a friendless, soulless place, teenagers Manfred

and Ziggy formed a friendship for life.

They walked out of these death gates in the '40s,

This was the only camp I thought I was going to die,

because it wasn't only from sickness or starvation, but also the weather.

In November here, it was well below zero and we wore stripy pyjamas.

It was an extremely emotional event for me, in that 70 plus years

since our liberation, I have never set foot

At this brutal camp and at the others, so many people died,

The hope is that this royal visit will help to educate the young

and ensure that the horrors of the Holocaust

These visits change tempo and mix the solemn with the less so

But despite such changes, the memories of Stutthof

Not a single custody centre for children and young

people is safe, according to the Chief Inspector of Prisons.

Coming up, I will be live in Winchester in the company of Jane

Austen, launched today on Britain's brand-new ?10 note.

We're in the Netherlands to look ahead to England's

match against Scotland at the Women's European

Lemurs are unique to Madagascar and now a sapphire "rush"

on the island is threatening the largest of the species, the Indri.

Since late last year, more than 40,000 miners have invaded

a remote area of rainforest in the east of the country.

The men live in squalor and rarely get rich.

But the illegal mining is destroying the home of the Indri, which is

From Madagascar, Angus Crawford reports.

In the forests of Madagascar there's a new sound,

the sound of men working, poor men who want to get rich.

This is the biggest rush in Madagascar for more than 20 years.

Tens of thousands of people have moved here to clear

Once virgin rainforest, felled and burned, now look,

mine shafts and spoil heaps stretch across the valley.

Meet Bruno and his sapphires, he's travelled 1,000 miles,

Each morning the work takes him down into the dark.

The job is cramped, back breaking and dangerous.

In this, one of the poorest countries on earth, that's the dream

that keeps them coming, men desperate to

See the damage it causes, threatening the habitat of one

of the world's rarest animals, the Indri lemur.

They're on that side of the valley and they're singing

They're critically endangered and they only live in a very

They can't survive in captivity, so when they're gone from here,

They spend their lives in the trees, eating leaves and fruit and breeding

There may be as few as 2,000 left in the wild.

Jonah Ratsimbazafy is a world authority on the Indri,

he's horrified by the effects of the mining.

When people buy sapphires, they kill Indri.

So today I'm telling you, stop buying precious stones

But how can buyers know, the gems go from mine to capital city,

are cut and polished in back street workshops before being

Illegally mined sapphires are then anonymous

So, for now, the miners keep working.

Great riches lie beneath this soil, unique wildlife in the trees above,

but how does Madagascar extract one without destroying the other.

Angus Crawford, BBC News, Madagascar.

Four crew members of the South Yorkshire police

helicopter have gone on trial accused of using the aircraft to spy

on people, some sunbathing naked or having sex.

The case relates to four alleged incidents between 2007 and 2012.

A fifth officer has admitted charges of misconduct in a public office.

Danny Savage is at Sheffield Crown Court.

This case isn't exactly edifying, is it?

Tell us more? The South Yorkshire Police Helicopter is a familiar

sight in the skies above here. It's used as a valuable resource in the

fight against crime. The allegation in this case it was misused on a

number of occasions over a five year period. As a result, five members of

its crew were charged. What did they do? Videos were shown to the court

today, the first one showed a woman sunbathing naked in her garden, the

camera zooms in on her body. A second video showed anywayrieses

sitting outside their Canavan in Doncaster. The next showed a couple

having sex on their patio. They knew they were being filmed. The woman

waves and a fourth shows somebody sunbathing naked. It was a

deliberate invasion of their privacy, for the amusement of the

crew. Two police officers and two pilots are on charge here. They deny

the charges. . They blame another police officer for doing all of

this. He pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. The

trial is expected to last for three weeks. Danny, thank you.

Republicans in the US Congress say they'll press ahead with a vote

to repeal healthcare reforms, known as Obamacare,

even though there's no agreement on what will replace it.

The announcement was made after efforts to approve

President Trump later took to Twitter and urged Republicans

to work on a new plan from a clean slate.

The family of a seven-year-old autistic boy with a rare condition,

that puts him at risk of severe brain damage, are beginning

a High Court challenge to an NHS decision to deny him

NHS England says the long-term effectiveness of the drug,

which would cost ?100 a day, hasn't been proved.

A victory could mean that in future cases the welfare of the child

could take precedence over cost, as our legal correspondent,

We can't give his real name for legal reasons.

If his protein isn't limited to 12 grams a day,

what you'd find in three slices of bread, he could suffer

He also has severe autism, can't talk and so managing his diet

He'll sometimes run into a room, if we're eating and he will

He doesn't realise that he can't have certain things.

When our son gets upset, he really gets upset.

It's physical with us, physical with his siblings.

David's NHS consultant wants him to have a drug called Kuvan

which allows him to have more protein, but it costs ?100

a day and NHS England has refused to fund it.

At the moment, parents have to jump through a series of hoops to prove

that their child's case is exceptional and that the drugs

that they need are clinically and cost effective, but if the legal

challenge brought here today succeeds, then the best interests

of the child could be put at the heart of NHS

decisions on whether to provide expensive drugs.

That could have a significant effect on NHS funding

Funding is being squeezed, demand for care is going up and that

means the NHS is having to take some really difficult decisions

If a child with PKU is given Kuvan, it can transform their life.

Nine-year-old Alex Learoyd was struggling at school,

He's now been prescribed the drug through a clinical trial,

his concentration has soared and he can eat the same

It's given Alexander so much more concentration and so much

Whereas before you were sort of powering down a bit.

Now I'm like, when there's a task, like now I'm, head down, doing it.

Before I was just like, oh, there's an aeroplane flying outside.

Expensive drugs can put children with rare conditions on a level

playing field their peers, the High Court could determine how

England's women cricketers have narrowly beaten

South Africa to book their place in the World Cup final.

Anya Shrubsole hit the winning runs as England

reached their target of 219 with just two balls

It means they'll play either Australia or India in the final

200 years since the death of the author Jane Austen,

the Bank of England has put her image on its new

It was unveiled this afternoon at Winchester Cathedral,

where she was buried in 1817, and will go into

Our correspondent Duncan Kennedy is in Winchester.

It's exactly 200 years to the day that Jane Austen died in Winchester

she is buried in Winchester Cathedral. What more fitting place

to launch this brand new ?10 note with Jane Austen's face on it.

It's taken 200 years to put the "ten" into Austen,

but today this became Britain's newest banknote.

One of our greatest authors now adorns

this latest addition to our currency, and all of it

unveiled exactly two centuries after her death,

We really need to look at it in the round in

order to capture it and

obviously, Jane Austen - it's certainly not

based on my opinion - but the opinion of the British

people, but also leading scholars, really, at the top of the pantheon

The new tenner is made of polymer and has multiple

It's also the first Bank of England note to have

raised dots, to help blind and visually impaired people.

For Jane Austen's army of devotees at today's

ceremony, the note is a moment to cherish.

I like all the little touches that they've got

going on of Winchester Cathedral and the quill.

So over all, marks out of ten for the ?10?

Some people have needed a bit of "persuasion" over the Jane Austen

Compare it to the original portrait it was taken

from, it's had critics talking of an Austen airbrush.

However Jane Austen looked, when she died, 200 years ago

today, ?10 would have been worth around ?1,000.

The new Jane Austen tenner comes into circulation

A stylish addition to a catalogue of work

universally acknowledged to be priceless.

Duncan Kennedy, BBC News, in Winchester.

Time for a look at the weather. Here's Chris Fawkes.

For many of us another glorious afternoon with temperatures surging.

We have seen highs of 28 degrees in a number of spots, Hampshire, Dorset

into Anglesey, western areas of Scotland as well. All of these

places warmer than they were yesterday. Now our focus is turning

away from heat and over towards thunderstorms. On the satellite

picture there have been storm clouds into south-west England. One or two

are working elsewhere across the central English Channel threatening

the Isle of Wight into Hampshire and Dorset in the next few hours. Don't

be surprised if you hear rumbles of thunder. This was the scene in

Plymouth today as fork lightning came down. This evening and

overnight the storms will drive northwards. They will be

hit-and-miss in nature. The rain from the storms will vary a bit as

well. One or two could bring half a month's worth of rainfall in the

space of an hour or two, others not so much in the way of rain. It will

be a muggy night, temperatures no lower than 18 in London and Cardiff.

Fresher air with us across northern parts of the country. Wednesday'

forecast. That first batch of storms will work northwards. There will be

a lull for a time. Heavy rain will work into Northern Ireland. That

could turn thundery during the day. A few more thunderstorms could break

out elsewhere across England and Wales as the temperatures begin to

rise once again. It is going to be a particularly humid day tomorrow

across eastern areas of England, temperatures hitting 31 or 32

Celsius. The ninth day this summer we have seen temperatures over the

30 degree mark. It tells you something about how warm this summer

has been. Thursday and Friday and the weekend it will be unsettled

with showers and feeling much, much cooler.

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me