31/03/2014 BBC Oxford News

Good evening. The Government has News channel. Now on

Good evening. The Government has admitted it was wromg to cut the

welfare benefits of an Oxfordshire man who later starved to de`th. Mark

Wood from Bampton had been declared fit to work despite suffering from

psychiatric disorders. Relatives believe the cut in his incole added

to the pressures he already faced, and caused him to stop eating.

Here's Peter Cooke. Mark Wood was just 44 when he died

last August. He weighed less than six stone. Described at his inquest

as a vulnerable and fragile man he had been dealing with compldx

disabilities, like Asperger's, a form of autism, for a number of

years. Once he was passed fht to work by ATOS, this triggered a

decision by the Jobcentre to stop his sickness payments, leavhng him

with just ?40 a week to livd on His family say the stress of thhs

decision and a phobia about food and eating led to his death. Thdy now

want the government to reform how it treats people with mental hdalth

problems when it assesses their eligibility for benefits. Somebody

very vulnerable died in a state of acute panic, malnutrition and

starvation in David Cameron's consistency. I would like them to

stop and think about that. We have had a statement from David Cameron

eventually saying it was a tragic case. I would like them to `pologise

for his death, because everx life is valuable, and I would like them to

rethink their processes on vulnerable people. Oxfordshhre

Welfare Rights has been helping the family with its case. We de`l with

cases like this all the timd. In 2012 and 2013, we did see 102

hearings on this issue. We were successful in 90% of them. Hn a

statement, the Department for Work and Pensions said, after receiving

evidence from Mark's GP not presented at the first assessment,

we have revised our original decision. We have written to the

family about the decision and are carrying out an internal review of

the case. It is worth adding ATOS has had its contract to carry out

these fit to work tests enddd early. It follows government criticism over

significant quality failures. A new company will take over earlher next

year. A report released tonight s`ys

businesses and other agencids need to work more closely togethdr to

deal with the development pressures that Oxfordshire is facing. Oxford

Civic Society has warned th`t lessons have to be learned from

other cities if theirs is to thrive. Jeremy Stern reports.

Here in Oxford the shops ard busy, house prices are up. You max think

these are signs of an econoly on the cusp of a boom. This new report by

the Oxford Civic Society saxs there are huge problems in Oxfordshire.

Peter Thompson is from the society. What are these huge problems? Number

one is housing. There aren't enough houses for the jobs that exhst.

There are many more jobs behng created and the number of houses is

going to have to increase enormously. What do you think should

be done about it? There has to be joined up thinking across the

district councils that are responsible for planning, the County

Council that is responsible for transportation and the businesses,

the universities. I know thd society has put a lot of work into this

document. What difference c`n it make? We think it raises thd profile

of both the problems and opportunities, and it suggests a

route map for solutions to the challenges and ways in which the

opportunities can be maximised. Peter Thompson, thank you vdry much.

Could this document shape the future of Oxfordshire? You can buy it or

read it online. The funeral of two`year`old Eileen

Ellie`May Doran, who died after being hit by a reversing car in

Oxfordshire two weeks ago, has been held this afternoon in Northampton.

It follows a requiem mass at the Immaculate Conception Church in

Bicester yesterday. The acchdent happened on the Oaks View c`ravan

park in nearby Upper Arncott. A 49`year`old man arrested on

suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving is currently on

police bail. Network Rail has announced how it

plans to spend ?38 billion to tackle problems on the busiest parts of the

network over the next five xears. As previously outlined, a new,

electrified railway will connect Oxford with Bedford and Milton

Keynes as part of the East West Rail project.

Oxford gets a bit of benefit today with talk of Oxford to Milton Keynes

and some rail investment works works. Still the problem for Oxford

is that ?15 billion is going on the HS2 line from London to Birlingham,

which will just whizz past Oxford, right through Buckinghamshire and

Oxford. No benefit to the communities en route at all.

Sewer has collapsed in Oxford. It was described as having lots of fat.

Repairs will mean traffic whll have to be diverted the two weeks next

month. Plans to help rejuvenate Abhngdon

town centre have taken a set back today. The town council wanted to

spend ?4.5 million converting the Guildhall into a cinema, cafe and

conference centre, but their bid for the money has been rejected. As Tom

Turrell reports. It is market day in Abingdon, and

that means shoppers from thd area head to the town centre, re`dy to

spend their hard earned cash. But many here feel more needs to be done

to pull in the punters. The town council believes the answer could

lie right here in the centuries old Guildhall. They want to spend around

?4.5 million doing it up. The building dates back to the 0400s.

The idea is to bring it into the 21st century. Turning rooms like

these into a cinema and conference facilities like these. But the

council has just been told hts bid for almost ?2 million of lottery

funding has been rejected. So, how do local people feel? We do need a

cinema and I think Abingdon is always the poor parenting f`mily. It

is what it is, a little town. Never be more than that? Not unless they

knock the centre down and start again. Apparently it is by no means

the end of the line for the project, as the council say they will

continue, but with a scaled`down version. We want to have a place

where people can come and mdet and socialise casually. That'll be a bit

more restrictive. We will still have it but not quite as large as we

want. We have had to cut our cloth in that way. So, there is hope yet

for Abingdon's new Guildhall, but it seems when and exactly what form it

will take are yet to be confirmed. That's it from us for now. For

football fans, Late Kick`Off is on BBC One tonight at 11.20pm. The

weather's up next starting with the regional forecast with Alexhs. But

that's it from us. Goodnight.

Good evening. A murky night to come with low cloud, mist and fog

patches. Fog more likely ovdr the hilltop areas. That fog will stay

with us over the night and there will be mild temperatures, laybe a

bit of rain to start with, which will make its way northwards. Lows

of seven to eight Celsius. These temperatures are a lot highdr than

they have been in recent nights We will start the day on a dry note,

with hazy sunshine breaking through. The mist and fog will lift hnto low

cloud. Not wall`to`wall sunshine. Hazy sun in places and therd will be

cloud, but temperatures risd nicely in any sunny spells we do h`ve. A

high of 16, possibly up to 07 Celsius. As we look ahead to the

rest of the week, there will Some rain will clear the atmosphere

on Thursday. More information on all of that. Hello, talk of the

day-to-day has been the Saharan dust. If you have no idea what