:00:15. > :00:19.And now the news for the East Midlands. I'm Jo Healey. First
:00:20. > :00:24.tonight, more signs the NHS is under huge pressure from the region's
:00:25. > :00:27.ageing population. The number of over`70s going to casualty by
:00:28. > :00:34.ambulance in the last three years went up by 28%, to more than
:00:35. > :00:49.120,000. The number of over`90s rose by 56%. Here's our health
:00:50. > :00:55.correspondent, Rob Sissons. More of us, like Walter, are living longer.
:00:56. > :00:58.He is 92, a retired miner who suffers chronic breathing problems.
:00:59. > :01:03.It has been an anxious week for his family. He was rushed to hospital
:01:04. > :01:07.with a bad chest infection. When I came here, I was on a point of
:01:08. > :01:10.hitting the buffers, you might say, collapsing in a bad way. I am better
:01:11. > :01:21.now, but what I have got is what will be a
:01:22. > :01:23.lasting problem. At Nottingham's medical centre, the number of
:01:24. > :01:27.patients being brought in by ambulance aged over 70 has gone up
:01:28. > :01:31.by a third in three years. The unit was not designed for this number.
:01:32. > :01:36.The head of the department says more investment in social care is needed.
:01:37. > :01:37.We have less community beds available, so we 0
:01:38. > :01:40.We have less community beds available, so we have to discharge a
:01:41. > :01:43.patient if we think we can discharge that person, but community bed
:01:44. > :01:47.availability is less than it needs to be, so we find it harder to
:01:48. > :01:56.discharge that patient and carry on the care package. In the control
:01:57. > :01:59.room at East Midlands Ambulance Service, they handle more calls each
:02:00. > :02:08.year involving the frail and elderly. Many can be time`consuming
:02:09. > :02:10.and complex to sort out. They require patience and careful
:02:11. > :02:12.handling by paramedic staff, sometimes using specialist
:02:13. > :02:19.equipment, which many ambulances now carry with them. Preventing more
:02:20. > :02:23.elderly people going into accident and emergency is one of the biggest
:02:24. > :02:29.challenges as an ageing population is expected to get larger.
:02:30. > :02:32.Next, there's hope for people looking for work in the building
:02:33. > :02:36.industry, with predictions of up to 10,000 new jobs in the region's
:02:37. > :02:41.construction sector in the next five years. Experts point to a rise in
:02:42. > :02:46.the number of private homes now being built. Building a stronger
:02:47. > :02:50.economy. That is the hope and the forecast from the construction
:02:51. > :02:54.industry training board. Building work last year was worth around ?7
:02:55. > :03:05.billion to the East Midlands economy and the board believes that will
:03:06. > :03:09.grow. It says its research shows the construction of private homes here
:03:10. > :03:16.will go up by 4% a year between now and 2018, and work on public sector
:03:17. > :03:21.housing by 1.5%. That should mean more jobs. We are talking about just
:03:22. > :03:28.under 10,000 jobs, sustainable opportunities over the next four to
:03:29. > :03:31.five years. That is hugely encouraging for the sector and our
:03:32. > :03:34.local employers. It will offer opportunities, employment, skills to
:03:35. > :03:37.the local community and the region as a whole. Plans on paper from
:03:38. > :03:41.developers are more often being turned into successful schemes on
:03:42. > :03:45.the ground. The sites we are standing at today are not short`term
:03:46. > :03:49.projects. They are going well onto 2017. This is sustained employment
:03:50. > :03:56.for the operatives, staff and local people we engage with. But business
:03:57. > :04:03.leaders say keeping hold of these long`term projects won't be enough
:04:04. > :04:07.itself. `` by itself. In terms of construction itself, that is not
:04:08. > :04:10.sustainable. It has to be a much broader based recovery in all
:04:11. > :04:12.sectors, especially sectors like ourselves, high`value manufacturers
:04:13. > :04:22.and exporters to generate the wealth that leads to house building.
:04:23. > :04:25.A housing association has apologised to a 67`year`old pensioner from
:04:26. > :04:30.Derbyshire who has been living with a flooded kitchen for a fortnight. A
:04:31. > :04:35.pipe above John Fowkes' flat in Ripley leaked, putting his kitchen
:04:36. > :04:40.out of action. He's had to empty buckets of water every two hours and
:04:41. > :04:42.cook on his lounge floor. Today, work to mend it began, and
:04:43. > :04:45.Metropolitan, the housing association responsible, said all
:04:46. > :04:52.repairs will be completed in the next week. John is a vulnerable
:04:53. > :04:57.adult and the last thing he needs is this level of anxiety. This is
:04:58. > :05:02.supposed to be a safe environment for him. He has been left in this
:05:03. > :05:06.state for 15 days. In sport, The Queen's Baton Relay is
:05:07. > :05:10.to visit the East Midlands on its way to Glasgow for the Commonwealth
:05:11. > :05:15.Games. It will visit Leicester on June 10th as part of a two`week tour
:05:16. > :05:20.of England. Local people will be chosen to be baton bearers. And the
:05:21. > :05:24.city centre will give locals and visitors a chance to try out some of
:05:25. > :05:27.the sports that will be on show at the Games. Earlier, I got reaction
:05:28. > :05:36.from councillor Piara Singh Clair, the assistant city mayor for
:05:37. > :05:42.Leicester. I am really excited. Really delighted that Leicester has
:05:43. > :05:46.been chosen to host the Queen's Batten relay for the Commonwealth
:05:47. > :05:52.Games, which are due to be hosted in Glasgow this July. What will it mean
:05:53. > :05:58.for the city? I think it means a lot. We have a lot of experience in
:05:59. > :06:03.hand to deliver those big events, and it will offer us a chance to
:06:04. > :06:09.lend our support behind the England team. Do you think it will be as big
:06:10. > :06:14.a success as the torch relay, which was phenomenal? Of course it will
:06:15. > :06:18.be, and we have lined up the programme that will be shortly
:06:19. > :06:23.announced. It will be a great success in the city centre and in
:06:24. > :06:26.different parts of the community. Thank you very much for joining us.
:06:27. > :06:28.Let's see what the weather's up to now.
:06:29. > :06:32.Let's see what the weather's up to We have had a mild winter so far but
:06:33. > :06:39.tomorrow it will feel a little colder. It won't be blue skies and
:06:40. > :06:42.sunshine, instead we keep hold off the cloud and we can expect a
:06:43. > :06:48.scattering of showers. It's a cloudy story out there at the moment, we
:06:49. > :06:50.will have showers tonight turning wintry across higher ground
:06:51. > :06:55.especially into North Nottinghamshire and the Peak
:06:56. > :06:59.District. We have a risk of rice on untreated services, where the
:07:00. > :07:04.temperatures will be falling below freezing, but for the rest of us
:07:05. > :07:09.looks like a frost free night. It's chilly start to Thursday, rain
:07:10. > :07:15.pushing its way in, light and patchy throughout the day the little wintry
:07:16. > :07:19.in higher ground, feeling cold with that easterly wind and looking at
:07:20. > :07:22.highs of five degrees tomorrow and then wet and windy on Friday.
:07:23. > :07:25.Newsnight's starting over on BBC Two now. We're back with more in the
:07:26. > :07:29.morning, starting just before 6:30am, but from all of us here on
:07:30. > :07:38.the late team, have a very good night.
:07:39. > :07:44.Hello. The next dose of wet and windy weather is due to arrive on
:07:45. > :07:48.Friday from the Atlantic. Today we have had an easterly wind bringing
:07:49. > :07:51.the chill as the threat of icy patches comes to the north where the
:07:52. > :07:57.cloud breaks. More cloud further south. Maybe some sleet and snow in
:07:58. > :08:01.parts of East Wales as we engage the cold air. Temperatures in the
:08:02. > :08:05.south-east are not changing much because the rain keeps going. It
:08:06. > :08:10.will be colder further north, though. Icy patches are possible.
:08:11. > :08:12.More wintry showers in the north-east. Quite a few flood
:08:13. > :08:21.warnings in Tayside. Write to the west of the Pennines. -- brighter.
:08:22. > :08:28.Figure clad -- thicker cloud further south. We see some dampness in parts
:08:29. > :08:36.of the West Country, possibly into East Wales. In the north-west of
:08:37. > :08:39.Wales is the cloud breaks, temperatures will be close to. Not
:08:40. > :08:41.as cold as that in Northern