08/11/2017 Channel Islands News

Good evening and welcome

to BBC Channel Islands.

I'm Clare Burton with

the headlines here tonight.

Big changes for States workers -

staff finally learn how new pay

and conditions will affect them,

but some unions aren't happy.

The issues around shift pay, meal

breaks, the valuation process,

pensions, all that has not been

resolved.

A hike in property tax

for Guernsey as the budget

for next year is approved.

After a fine day today with good

spells of sunshine it is all strange

for tomorrow, if not cloudy with

rain. Stay tuned for the forecast.

Thousands of public sector staff

in Jersey today learnt

how they'll be affected by a major

overhaul of the States workforce.

For many it'll mean

a pay rise of up to 20%.

But others will see their wages cut.

There are also changes to working

hours, shift pay and meal breaks -

which the Government believes

will provide a simpler,

fairer system.

But some unions are angry the final

offer has been put to workers

without their agreement.

Emma Chambers has more.

Paramedics, civil servants,

nurses and manual workers -

the people who keep us healthy

and keep the island's

services ticking along.

But the time has come

for the Government to

change how these jobs -

as well as thousands of others -

are structured and paid.

The Government is modernising

the public sector to get rid

of what it's described as historical

inconsistencies and

an unfair framework.

It wants to reduce the current 75

pay grades and 20 sets of terms

and conditions within the States

of Jersey to 10 pay grades and 1 set

of T's and C's for all.

This will result in pay increases

for many between 7% and 21%.

This is about us meeting our

obligation as an employer to reward

people fairly, appropriately.

And you get the right pay for the

job compared to similar jobs in the

organisation. That has to be done.

But the Union Unite have hit back

saying this is a premature move.

Despite negotiations

spanning three years,

they still have concerns around

pensions, evaluation process

and fixing pay possibly below

the cost of living until 2020.

Under the circumstances

we will be recommending

rejection of the offer,

we need to get back

around the table.

There were some members of staff

who are going to do quite well out

of it but that won't apply

to everybody, some are going to be

financially hurt, and hurt badly.

States employees have already

starting seeking advice

within hours of the new changes.

We've received a large number

of emails as well as phone calls

at our branch office at this stage

it wouldn't be correct for us

to give too much information as many

members of staff are still waiting

to receive their information packs

but we've had varied responses.

The second phase of the pay deal

is still yet to be put

to uniformed services,

executives and teachers.

Union members now have to decide

whether they accept this final deal

which will cost the States

£47 million over

the next four years.

Guernsey's budget for

2018 has been voted

through by States members,

with very few changes

and little opposition.

But there was no shortage of passion

during some of today's speeches,

with issues such as Aurigny's debts,

fuel supplies and high-paid civil

servants all featuring.

Earlier our reporter

Mark Inchley joined me

from our Guernsey studio to explain.

Well, it's been described as

a budget the States can be proud of.

The headlines remain a 5%

increase in personal

income tax allowance,

increases on fuel,

alcohol and cigarettes

as well as on property tax or TRP.

Also money transferred

into States reserves

for the first time in a decade.

President of the Policy and

Resources Committee Gavin St Pier

described it as a fair and balanced

budget where low and middle income

earners would be better off.

But the debate did raise

other issues didn't it?

Yes a few.

The most passionate or emotional

speech of the day came from

Alderney Representative Louis Jean

who said it was time to stop blaming

Alderney for losses made

by the States-owned airline Aurigny

and he called for a forensic

analysis of its accounts.

The island itself is

very concerned over it

and the businesses are affected

by it and it's very serious.

Every man woman and child wants

a resolution to this and certainly

doesn't want to see the island

threatened or blamed for what's

going on when it's actually,

we feel, the management of Aurigny's

fault for not addressing

these problems.

In response, Aurigny said it

provided an incredibly high level

of service to the Alderney community

and refuted any claims

that it doesn't support

the island's economy.

But there were other issues raised

during the States debate.

Deputy Peter Ferbrache complained

that there had been no review

of high-paid civil servants as part

of the wider transformation

of the States.

And Deputies Barry Paint

and Lester Queripel called for more

information about a review of how

fuel is delivered to the island

in future, threatening to leak

damaging information to the media

if they weren't given answers

by the end of the week.

Jersey's Treasury Minister has been

reassuring business leaders Jersey

IS a transparent and

well-regulated tax jurisdiction,

following revelations

in the Paradise Papers.

The documents showed Apple

chose Jersey to shelter

some of its profits,

saving the company billions

in corporation tax.

The arrangement isn't illegal -

and the Jersey Financial Services

Commission argues there's no

evidence the firm

did keep cash here.

But Senator Alan Maclean told

a Chamber of Commerce lunch

the attention was 'unwanted'.

And the fact that this has come out

as unwanted, we would prevent it had

not happened. But we have to be

realistic, there will always be

circumstances like this and tell

other big or small and issuers, it

can get twisted in the national

international media to look at times

of much worse than perhaps is the

case. I think the facts when they

come out in this issue will prove

that jersey has not been involved in

any wrongdoing.

An inquest has heard hospital staff

lacked the necessary

training to use equipment to move

a patient who fell from

a hoist and later died.

The 83-year-old woman

from St Clement was being

cared for on Oak Ward

at Jersey's St Saviour's Hospital

last March, when she fell

after being bathed.

As a result, the health department

has replaced the equipment and given

staff more training.

Marian McNamee was at

this morning's inquest.

The inquest heard how the patient,

Mary Cornish, had finished her usual

bathing routine when she fell

from the hoist being used

by nurses to lift her.

She hit and cut her

head on the ground.

She was transferred

to the General Hospital and later

developed bronchial pneumonia,

the recorded cause of death.

An inspector's report was read

to the inquest and we were given

access to a photographic

reconstruction where it could be

seen that a seat belt hadn't been

used with the hoist.

It was also found that staff

did not have appropriate

or up-to-date training to use

this specialist equipment.

Describing what she termed

weaknesses in the system,

the inspector recommended changes.

As a result the hoists have been

replaced and there is now a detailed

and regular training plan in place.

After the hearing Mrs

Cornish's daughters gave

the BBC this statement.

The family went on to tell us

they're encouraged that the health

department has taken action to keep

patients safe in the future.

Marian McNamee, BBC

Channel Islands News, Jersey.

Gun owners in the Channel

Islands who wish

to surrender their firearms can do

so from Monday, as part

of a national police appeal.

The Guernsey and Jersey forces

are joining a two-week British

campaign called Operation Aztec

urging people to hand in any

unlawfully held or unwanted

guns and ammunition.

Police say the amnesty

is an opportunity to get more

firearms out of harm's way.

Work to turn a Victorian fort

in Alderney into a luxury hotel

could start next year.

Plans to redevelop Fort Tourgis at

a cost of £17.5 million had stalled.

The developer blamed

the delay on the global

financial crisis and Brexit,

but he's now confident

work can start in 2018.

You're watching the BBC

in the Channel Islands.

Later in Spotlight with Justin

and Victoria, an injured

Royal Marine prepares to row solo

across the Atlantic,

helped by a Jerseyman who completed

the challenge 20 years ago.

helped by a Jerseyman who completed

the challenge 20 years ago.

First the weather and Dan is here.

Quite cool in the wings today but

bright, all change for tomorrow,

milder but a not cloudy. This is

earlier today, tomorrow a lot damper

for many. Cloud, missed and fork

with rain and drizzle as well. Today

between the areas of cloud, good

spells of sunshine but thanks to a

ridge of high pressure, short-lived

but that'll decay overnight and

allowing weather fronts to move in

for tomorrow. This one bringing a

lot of cloud and rain tomorrow and

the edge of that high pressure, for

the weather fronts push in for

Friday and into the weekend bringing

rain at times. At the moment, dry,

clear skies and temperatures dipping

quite swiftly this evening. Into

single figures but we start to see

the cloud pushing and and rain the

soil temperatures starts to pick up

again, like twins overnight,

north-westerly 's. Tomorrow starts

rather dumb, mist and fog, rain

through much of the morning. Feeling

and for the showers, bright spills

into the afternoon. Highs of 14.

Times of high water...

As for our coastal waters, wins

coming west north-west, generally

good visibility. Into Friday, still

a future was around, bright and

sunny spells but also breaks of

rain, milder and to Friday and that

of the weekend but winds picking up

and becoming breezy into the

weekend, wins from a northerly

direction which starts to make it

feel cooler. By Sunday, temperatures

could be ten or 11, a few showers

was around but bright and sunny

spells at times but also cold by

night. A bit of everything in our

forecast. That is

night. A bit of everything in our

forecast. That is the news and

weather from BBC Channel Islands

this Wednesday evening. I am back

after the news at 10pm.

And after a fine day today it's all

change for tomorrow, becoming a lot

cloud. Milder though with some

outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Stay

tuned for the forecast.

Now how does the idea of spending

three months at sea,

battling 30ft waves,

all alone in a tiny

rowing boat sound?

Doesn't appeal?

Well for one former Royal Marine

from Devon those are the challenges

he'll face next year as he attempts

to become the first physically

disabled person to row solo

and unsupported from Europe to South

America.

Lee Spencer - who lost his right

leg in a freak accident

aims to leave Gibraltar in January:

all being well he'll reach Venezuela

some 3,500 miles later.

It's a massive challenge,

but as John Henderson reports,

Lee has form when it comes to rowing

across the Atlantic.

I need to get as fit as I can be, as

strong as I can be and as fat as I

can be. I'm doing that one well!

Because in January Lee Spencer will

be leaving his Devon driveway to row

across the Atlantic on this. A seven

metre long boat.

If you go that

side.

It fills a bit unstable. But

the former Royal Moraine hopes to

roll into the record books.

I'm the

first physically disabled person to

row from Europe to mainland South

America and the second one is want

to break the able-bodied record.

Lee

has form when it comes to rowing

oceans. He was part of the four-man

legless boat that became the first

all amputees crew to make it across

the Atlantic. Lee lost his right leg

when he was hit by debris as he

helped at a car accident. His solo

row is about changing perceptions

around disabilities.

It is only when

I was rowing last time that I

realised that and still the same

person, nothing has changed.

Lee

will spend up to 18 hours a day on

the oars. There are six in case they

snap go overboard. He will shelter

from wild weather in a cosy capping.

His food with vacuum packed and his

toilet is a bucket.

I suppose having

road before, I kind of know I can do

it. But so low, thousands of miles

away, if anybody knows what going it

alone is like, it's this man. John

rode across the Atlantic 20 years

ago.

It was fantastic to have that

space and be in the middle of the

Atlantic with no wind whatsoever. It

was calm and I could see hundreds of

miles in every direction, five

kilometres deep, it was my own

private swimming pool.

And like

before, Lee will be jumping into the

Atlantic to take a dip and clean his

boat.

It will be a little bit more

scary on my own but I'm looking

forward to it.

It'll be raising

money for two charities that help

service men and women but aware that

rowing across the Atlantic solo is

something else.

If the ocean says

not you, not today, there's nothing

you can do about it.

But who bet

against the rowing Marines making

history on the high seas.

Incredible.

A Somerset veteran of World War two

is doing all he can to make sure

the sacrifices of his generation

are never forgotten.

At 94, Stan Tooze braves

all weathers to sell poppies.

And he has no intention

of stopping any time soon.

Clinton Rogers has been to meet him.

According to Stan, a hat is all you

need, even if it did drop below

freezing last night. Nothing deters

this 94-year-old war veteran from

his outdoor dayshift. And so on duty

as the years most days in the

Taunton supermarket.

No, I don't

feel the cold. I'm too young for

that!

I'd like to know what your

muscles are.

Just the Second World

War.

Modest as well but always the

main attraction here.

He gives is

100% support, he is therefore

everything come sunshine, or rain,

he's always there.

Stan was part of

the sixth airborne division of the

Parachute division. He saw active

service in Belgium towards the end

of the Second World War. Inevitably,

their memories are still vivid.

One

day my mate was there one second on

the next thing he was knocked down

dead. I was still left.

It is why he

feels a duty to help raise money for

the Royal British Legion, to honour

the memory of his fallen colleagues.

How long do you think you will carry

on selling the poppies?

And 94. Get

another six years!

At the very least

I'd say. And I don't doubt it for a

minute, what a great man. I love the

line that is too young to feel the

cold. Now, I wonder what he would

make of this?

Could this be the shortest

stretch of double yellow

lines in the country...?

At just two feet long the freshly

painted markings in Hayle are barely

the length of a pram.

Cornwall Council says contractors

who'd been digging up the road

were simply replacing the existing

yellow lines - which as you can see,

were rather faded.

You might remember earlier this week

on Spotlight we featured Exeter

animator Ashley Thorpe

and his feature-length horror film.

Well it's won an award in New York.

Borley Rectory picked up

Best Animated Feature Film

at the Buffalo Dreams film festival

- which champions

independent movies.

The spooky film tells the tale

of a haunted house in Essex.

When the Countess of Wessex agreed

to come to Devon to help celebrate

the region's agricultural industry

she probably didn't expect to come

face to face with pink sheep.

Who would?

Who would?

But that's exactly what she

encountered at Agrifest today,

a major farming show

at Westpoint next Exeter.

And as Chloe Axford discovered

the brightly coloured sheep didn't

phase the royal visitor.

I don't get to go to many farming

chosen when I was told I was coming

here today I was a bit worried that

I might not be dressed quite right

for a day with livestock. But it

turns out I'm wearing exactly the

right colour. That's because today

is less how now Brown cow and more

hello, pink sheep. These died in the

wall use are due to be auctioned off

a cancer charity. So you are the

pink sheep expert. To the animal 's

mind?

Well, I didn't because she got

lots of attention and cuddles and

stuff so she loved it.

Research out

this week claim sheep can recognise

celebrities. So will recognise this

one? The Duchess of Wessex is

visiting as patron of a charity and

as much as you like the sheep she

wasn't tempted to take them home.

I'm not sure my husband would fight

me for that one. It's a wonderful

way of showing support for a charity

and I think it's a bit of fun.

Pink

sheep aside, this is big business

and those competing taken extremely

seriously. That's because a win here

can push the animal's Valley

write-up.

Is big competition and

obviously you want to make the best

of your animal, so you do the best

to bring it out and try and beat the

opposition.

Is it quite cut-throat?

Sky yes, it can be. Right, so time

to find out how to beat the

opposition. So this is your cow.

He's about to go in the Ring Fish

show so can you tell me what you are

doing?

And brushing up so he'll be

fluffy and prepped up for the judge

to look like he has been prepped.

Once in the ring, the cow came third

and, yes, I do know he is a steer

and not a cow. But now for the

auction everyone has been waiting

for. £2200 for a pink sheep, what a

bargain. I'm tempted to put a bid in

myself, I could do with a new

woollen jumper. BBC Spotlight, West

point. Lovely! Very well sprayed on,

isn't it?

Very well sprayed on, isn't it?

When staff at a residential care

home asked Lizzie Picken how she'd

like to celebrate her hundredth

birthday she told them

she wanted 100 birthday cards.

Well after Lizzie's request

was shared on social media more

than 1,000 were posted to her.

Today, as she celebrated her

centenary she was presented

with them which included one

from the Queen.

John Danks reports.

The morning post arrives and it's

all for one person.

Hello,

congratulations!

Thank you.

Lizzie

Pickering, 100 years old today.

It's

wonderful it's like being the Queen

Birthday!

Around 300 birthday cards

arrived for today including one the

real Queen.

Oh my goodness me!

What

she didn't know is that hundreds

more had already been delivered.

I

cannot believe it! I don't know that

many people!

All this from an appeal

for cards that staff put on social

media to help Lizzie celebrate her

big day. Alan Mak it just went

viral, everyone started commenting

and retweet in it and reposting

everywhere.

Every started saying

lovely, can I send a card? Then we

had children writing cards. Lizzie

was just so excited about the whole

situation. She thought it would be

absolutely hysterical to get this

many cards but busy we never

expected to many.

Well, I couldn't

-- I could have wept with joy

because everyone has been so kind.

I'm quite overwhelmed with it.

Lizzie never married nor had

children. Her older sister is 103

but wasn't able to travel down from

Birmingham where she lives. Two of

her oldest friends from her time as

a midwife in Plymouth was there

today.

Something I didn't expect

that it's fantastic.

I would say the

same because we've known each other

for a very long time and each

birthday, we think will this be the

last one? Here we are, we've got to

100 and still going strong.

Now with

more than a thousand cards from all

over the world, she's going to be

busy Lizzie.

Al never get through

them! And have to an extra year!

BBC

Spotlight, Plymouth. What a lovely

story. And, Lizzie, to wish you a

very happy birthday. And if you

plough through all those cards you

should find one from all of us on

the Spotlight team at some point. I

hope you've had a lovely day. Yes,

happy birthday. Now, onto the

weather forecast. It was a gorgeous

morning gorgeous morning this

morning implement.

What a lovely... It's all change for

tomorrow and Fred. It was quite a

cold start for many of us today,

some frost around. Also some mist

spots. This one caught on the way to

Tavistock.

spots. This one caught on the way to

Tavistock. But it's it is up for a

fine and dry day with plenty of

sunshine around. We can take a look

at some pictures from earlier today.

This was taken from a drone operator

who has been to Lyme Bay today. Some

good spells of sunshine, blue skies

from many others, the sea has become

a bit calmer as well as the day has

gone on. Still have that westerly

wind with as though so it has been

feeling on the cool side but the

sunshine making up for that,

becoming milder for tomorrow. If we

take a look at tomorrow's outlook

then I'm afraid it's a lot cloudier,

some hillfort and brain injuries and

around overnight and into the

morning. We should see it clearing

some parts for some sunny spells to

develop but nothing like the

sunshine we have seen today. You can

see will the sunshine in a cloud

sandwich today. This has been a

clear spot thanks to a ridge of high

pressure that has been building in

for today. But it is short lived and

is retreating now allowing weather

fronts to move in. Further weather

fronts around the edge of this high

pressure coming in for Friday and

indeed as we head into the weekend.

Will see further outbreaks of rain

on Friday and to start the day on

Saturday. Also will start to see the

wind is picking up. You can see by

Saturday those isobars are quite

tight together. A breezy day to

start those winds coming in from a

northerly direction so it will feel

on the chilly side into the weekend.

Temperatures of 9-10 Celsius by

Sunday. Today though the cloud is

hung on in the south-west of the

country. For most of the day it is

being clear skies, a bit more cloud

pushing in through tonight. Through

the night will continue to see that

Bush the north and north and west

and thickening North... Mainly rain

and drizzle around overnight. A cold

start to the night in eastern areas,

with temperatures dropping to want.

As the cloud pushes in, the

temperatures will pick up again

through the night. Mild start

tomorrow, more than today. Still

some outbreaks of rain and light

drizzle. Into the afternoon, we will

see that cloud breaking a bit to

allow some sunny spells in for some

of us. Most of those showers

clearing. The wind so coming from

the North west, moderate.

Temperatures up from today. A high

of 13-14 Celsius. Looking at the

Isles of Scilly, rather cloudy here.

Some brightness coming through

particularly into the afternoon, the

chance of some showers around

though. High waterfall Bideford

tomorrow... The waters forecast

seasonal north-westerly four or five

picking up later with occasional

drizzle and generally moderate or

good visibility except any rain

showers. Our outlook then as we go

towards the weekend sees cloud

around on Friday. Some outbreaks of

rain through the morning, perhaps

brightness coming through the middle

part of the day before a heavier

band of rain in the evening. This

weather front brings further rain

perhaps on Saturday. But coming dry

and brighter as Saturday goes on. By

Sunday it will be a lot cooler,

temperatures are 9-10 degrees. Sunny

spells around but also heavy showers

at times. That's it from me, have a

good evening.

at times. That's it from me, have a

good evening. That's all from the

team here. Thank you for all of your

e-mails on our top story tonight, we

will try and include some of them on

the programme is an tomorrow. From

others here, good night. -- from all

others here, good