10/07/2014 BBC Oxford News

question is, will more competition deliver better programmes? That s

Good evening. all

Teachers, firefighters and refuse collectors

are among the public sector workers who've been on strike in our region,

in protest at Government pl`ns that would affect their pay,

Across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Swindon,

48 out of 88 fire engines wdre out of action because there werdn't

And at least 135 schools and colleges were affected

In terms of other council sdrvices, most local authorities have told us

The Unions say they have public support.

Katharine Da Costa sent this report from Swindon.

It's time to end the pay cuts or we will be out together agahn.

Angry at pay freezes, pensions and cuts, up to 100 workers

from any of the large unions joined forces at the Cenotaph in

We've been offered 1%, where is the fairness in th`t?

I don't agree with the Government's ideas.

I'm here about conditions as much as pay, really.

We all should have decent pensions and pay.

We are not being greedy, we're not asking for much, we are just asking

Teachers, firemen, council workers, a whole cross range of socidty have

gathered today with their own grievances, be that pensions or pay

and conditions, but they ard united in their frustration at the

Government and they demands to be taken seriously. We've had four

years of no pay rises and a derisory 1% offer for this year.

There's a cost of living crhsis people are 20% behind inflation

Like other areas, Swindon h`s been hit by high youth unemploymdnt.

Together with inflation and rising food and energy prices,

families here say they've struggled to get by.

But how much sympathy is thdre for those who chose not to go to

I think it should be illegal for any public service workdrs to go

There are enough people out of work in this country,

they would be happy to take those jobs on conditions they havd.

People are getting less and less wages, more and more work

and they are not getting the rights they are entitled to

The Government has described the walk`out and a huge disappohntment

The unions claim they made their point loud and clear.

Today's walk out was the 15th by fire crews.

In Berkshire, the service is asking for volunteers to do some of the

Bosses say it isn't an admission that they're struggling

Good afternoon, Simon Smith speaking.

The nerve centre here in Re`ding on strike day at Berkshire Fire

Managers say 60 firefighters are on duty, about half the usual number.

Some of them are answering emergency calls.

It's a road traffic collision with four cars, one

In Surrey, private contractors are being hired to perform the duties

Eight volunteers are also working during the strike here in Bdrkshire,

but the Fire Service wants to treble that number and is asking for lorry

Professional crews would go in there first, deal with the incident,

but there's a lot of clearing up to be done, a lot of work to bd done

afterwards, and this is the work these crews will bd doing.

They will also deal with low risk incidents, grass fires,

Managers say the emergency volunteers will get 12 days

I've spoken to some of the firefighters who didn't want

to say this on camera, but they told me they have grave concerns

They say basic firefighter training lasts 14 weeks, whereas

the emergency volunteers will get around three days of training.

They also say they won't be able to use specialist equipment,

and these deficiencies in training, they say, will only become `pparent

Next week, members of the Fire Brigades Union will strike

Berkshire Fire and Rescue will be hoping it can

The man accused of murdering Didcot teenager Jayden Parkinson h`s told a

Ben Blakeley, from Reading, admits killing his ex`girlfriend in a field

He's told the jury he relives what happened

One of Oxfordshire's councils is planning to do without any part

of a Government grant worth almost ?4 million.

Cherwell District Council s`ys it's working on the basis it won't

The Government has dismissed that as "pure speculation".

Our political reporter Helen Catt has the story.

It's money that helps fund this this and even this.

But in recent years the revenue support

Now Cherwell says it will plan to do without it at all from 2017,

even though the Government hasn t said it's going to stop it.

Whoever wins the election next spring, atsterity

Britain is going to be here to stay for at least five years.

A responsible council simplx plans ahead how best to meet that.

Bicester might be blooming but it doesn't seem to be growing `ny money

trees, so where would Cherwdll find ?3.84 million, more than

It thinks money can be saved in back`office functions and admin.

And it hopes not to raise council tax,

My wages don't rise, why should theirs?

As long as it wasn't too much, I wouldn't be too concerned.

Sometimes there's a need, everything is going up.

I would expect council tax to go up eventually.

If they get some more money, all well and good to them.

They won't be giving anything back, will they?

It will get government cash for new businesses moving in and all

Anything else, it says, will be a bonus.

A lack of carers willing to look after older children is becoming

a major issue in Oxfordshird, according to a fostering agdncy

Of around 300 children in foster care in the countx,

Social workers at Fosterplus in Bicester say families prdfer to

take on younger children rather than teenagers.

Changes that you can make to a child of that age are phenomenal.

A lot of people have a preconception that they won't be able to lake any

effective change with a child who is, say, ten or older,

when in fact there is a hugd amount of work that can be done to help

But most of us tonight it is a dry affair. Just a couple of brdaks in

the cloud, some clear spells, but we do have a few of us seeing some

dampness. We have cloud spilling across a working its way in from the

east. There, we do see some wet weather on the eastern fringes. West

is best for brightness first thing tomorrow morning. Some decent sunny

spells, the cloud, though, spilling across. The rain easing awax, some

of us could see some more wdt weather through the course of the

morning. Into the weekend, Good evening. We had stark contrasts

in our weather today for most of us we had sunshine and it was warm 25

in Glasgow, 27 Attlee on Solent Just 14 under this cloud back. We've

had quite a brisk breeze and torrential rain at times.

Thunderstorms across East Anglia, Essex and Kent. Parts of London

That's meandering at the moment It is edging into Lincolnshire, parts

of Yorkshire. It is going to bring further downpours throughout the

evening. Nasty conditions on the roads with spray and warm. Elsewhere

bar the odd shower, a drier, clearer night. Mist and fog around. A chilly

in the Scottish glens. Fog for the East Coast. Sea fog could plague

eastern areas tomorrow. More cloud as the rain slowly eases away. It is

quite dry, but by the end of