25/01/2017 Channel Islands News

Making sure the Islands are not forgotten when it comes to Brexit.

Good evening and welcome to the late news from BBC Channel Islands.

A Jersey Politician says Andium Homes is charging too much

not a problem for them, but it is a not a problem for them, but it is a

problem for the taxpayer. There is no room for complacency -

that's the message from a senior Guernsey politician

following the UK's Justice The three MPs are responsible

for making sure the interests of the Crown Dependencies aren't

forgotten when it comes to Britain's exit from Europe,

as Mark Inchley's been finding out. If there's one thing that

Brexit's promised to deliver And the Channel Islands

are by no means immune. But this week's visit by members

of the UK Justice Committee has at least gone some way to reassure

the Islands' governments that local Well, I'm certainly confident that

we're doing everything that could be reasonably expected of us

to ensure that outcome. But I don't have a crystal ball.

My glass certainly isn't half empty. I'm cautiously optimistic but I'm

absolutely sure of one thing, that there is no room

for complacency which is what makes visits such as the one

from the Ministry of Justice Select Committee

so important. The committee's here to make sure

the Channel Islands feel well represented and to hear

where concerns lie. One is the whole question

of uncertainty affecting That's exactly the same as we've got

to handle in the UK as well. And the second one,

again common to the UK, is giving assurance to EU citizens

who are already in the Crown Dependencies as they are in the UK

that their rights to remain and remain a welcome part

of our society are not The Islands' smaller industries such

as fishing and agriculture also play a role in the inquiry,

but local farmers say there's at least one area likely to survive

the changes unscathed. We actually manage our production

to try and avoid export because our costs of production

are high so we're not really We produce milk for the island

and we try and make sure we have enough for the island

and very little extra. And for those reasons,

what goes on beyond our shores hopefully isn't going to impact us

in a huge way. But that optimism isn't shared

across the Islands' industries and as Islanders line up to find out

the true impact of Britain's departure from Europe,

much rests on the findings of just A Jersey politician will travel

to Washington DC to attend Deputy John Le Fondre has accepted

an invitation on behalf of US Congress to go to the annual event

addressed by President Donald Trump. Every US President since the 60s

has addressed the forum. Deputy Le Fondre says he'll pay

for the trip himself. Jersey's Andium Homes is charging

too much for new social housing Deputy Montfort Tadier is worried

rents are spiralling out of control. It comes after some social housing

was priced at ?1300 a month These are the newly

refurbished homes at Clos de Deputy Montfort Tadier's impressed

with the quality of the flats, but he says for some people

affordable housing The rent for these two bed

maisonettes is around ?300 a week. And as social housing,

those rents are pegged at 90% But his concern is that tenants

on income support who are renting privately only get around

?280 a week. If their rent is fully covered

by income support that's not a problem for them but it's

a problem for the taxpayer. That is also question

about inflation in the But Social security says this isn't

an issue for tenants as the cost Andium Homes follows the rent

policy set by the States. The Housing Minister wasn't

available but her spokesman told us: We are making a ?250 million

investment to improve social housing, which would not be possible

without the financial certainty Jersey's Social Secutiry

Department says... So while most of Jersey's affordable

housing will be refurnished to provide better accommodation,

that will cost the tax payer. Guernsey has been chosen

by the internet giant Google as the location for its first

Education Summit The two-day event in May

will showcase the latest technology in education and how it can help

teachers and professionals. The tech company says it

will involve leading Google Guernsey's Scrutiny Management

Committee says it's extremely concerned by the findings

of an independent review into health The Committee says the review

identifies a number of areas where existing provision falls

below acceptable standards. Its president says a lot of work

is needed to rebuild confidence. Jersey's Environment Minister says

the quality of the Islands water is getting better but admits there's

still room for improvement. Deputy Luce has issued a response

to a report by Save Our Shoreline. It's concerned that marine life

will disappear and tourism will suffer unless more is done

to reduce the level We have got some environmental

challenges and our water could be better, but are we at

a tipping point? I don't think so and I come to that

conclusion because our I will put my hand up

and say we can do better It's one of the most important ice

age sites in northern Europe - and this week archaeologists

are meeting with engineers to work out how the La Cotte site

at St Brelade can be preserved It comes after Jersey Heritage had

to turn down a ?180,000 grant from the government as work can't

continue until the site More than 40,000 years ago,

it was mammoths and Neanderthals And they returned time and time

again to the site at La Cotte. Once linked to Northern France

by coastal plains, it now contains more Neanderthal artefacts

than the rest of the British Like most of the coastline

it is vulnerable to erosion It's a question of stabilising

the site and stopping the rocks from becoming loose and creating

a safe environment Archaeologists wanted to continue

digging at the site later this year. But that work has been frozen, along

with the government funding for it, Around 200,000 stone tools have

already been discovered there. But Dr Matt Pope, who's

an archaeologist, is confident Although a lot of excavation has

taken place only about 40% of the site has been explored

and that was a long time ago. For the future that is

an incredible archive there. Modern scientific techniques

would throw an even greater light Dr Pope and Jersey Heritage are

meeting with engineers this week. They're hoping to publish a report

on exactly what needs to be done But as it's expected to take

years rather than months, for now the rest of La Cotte's

secrets will remain undiscovered. David Braine has your

weather forecast. Thank you. It is going to be a cold

day tomorrow. Bitterly cold. Biting south-east wind develops through the

night and for much of the day tomorrow. Windy. But when

temperatures start at around zero or slightly below, with the strength of

the wind, despite the sunshine it will feel cold. The morning

temperatures with the wind, this will feel well below freezing

because of the wind and that low start of temperature. The rain is

the high pressure out to the east. Low-pressure trying to get in. Cold

air from senior continent and a strong wind which means a raw

feeling day. The weather fronts will move across us and maybe some patchy

rain into Friday. Tonight is cold and the breeze starts to increase.

It becomes quite a when they start and very cold start with

temperatures from zero to minus one or minus two. Cloud will break up

nicely and the wind will feel pretty raw tomorrow. Six or seven at best

for most of us. A bit different on Friday. The breeze beginning to

ease. Temperatures climbing. A lot of cloud with patchy drizzle and a

more definite change, south-west winds through the weekend.

Temperatures start to recover. Have a good night.

That's your news this Wednesday evening.

BBC Radio Guernsey and Jersey will have bulletins from 6am

tomorrow morning and I'll be back at 6:30pm tomorrow night.

take a look at the Outlook towards the weekend.

Good evening. If you think it was cold today, for many it will be

colder still tomorrow. Cold even when we have the sunshine today.

This was one of the wonderful weather watcher pictures we had sent

in from Cornwall. It contrasts with a cloudy and foggy eastern half of

the country, and a bank of cloud. Still foggy, but it is starting to

lift. It is being pushed north and west, this bank of cloud. That will

continue through the night. We will still have some fog sitting on the

hills. Even with the cloud, it will be a cold night, with temperatures

away from the far north and west falling