:00:14. > :00:18.With your news now for the East Midlands, I'm Maurice Flynn.
:00:19. > :00:20.A Government minister has criticised East Midland council leaders for
:00:21. > :00:24.building up cash reserves while complaining about having to make big
:00:25. > :00:27.budget cuts. The intervention comes as our county councils finalise
:00:28. > :00:35.their budget plans for the next year. Our political editor John Hess
:00:36. > :00:39.has more. I am heading to the very top of the
:00:40. > :00:45.East Midlands. It is from this spot at Wigan Hill that you get a
:00:46. > :00:50.fantastic view of the whole these Midlands. `` Beacon Hill. When it
:00:51. > :00:58.comes to budget treasures, it is not a bad place for the big edge. Take
:00:59. > :01:02.Derbyshire, it is facing budget cuts of ?157 million, but is the
:01:03. > :01:09.equivalent of 1600 job losses. In Nottinghamshire, the total of cuts
:01:10. > :01:15.is ?154 billion and 750 jobs. Since the age of 30, it has lost almost a
:01:16. > :01:20.quarter of its workforce. In Leicestershire, the County Council
:01:21. > :01:26.is talking of cuts of ?110 million, the equivalent of 700 posts. It has
:01:27. > :01:31.already had to lose 750 jobs. You can only spend reserves once. We
:01:32. > :01:34.have spent them and continue to do so. We have reduced them
:01:35. > :01:42.considerably. We will have reduced them by half by this time next year.
:01:43. > :01:46.And we use them, for example, by giving ?20 million for the widening
:01:47. > :01:51.of the A453. If we were to invest million pounds more in preventing
:01:52. > :01:55.people from tripping and falling and breaking their hips, it would save
:01:56. > :02:02.?12 million in A, but the money does not move back into our pockets.
:02:03. > :02:08.Letter member that is a whole, we spent ?117 billion this year. The
:02:09. > :02:11.authorities in the East Midlands have increased their reserves over
:02:12. > :02:15.the last 12 months substantially. But will not be welcome in council
:02:16. > :02:17.chambers like this, as our local politicians struggle to find more
:02:18. > :02:21.savings. You can watch today's special Sunday
:02:22. > :02:24.Politics on the BBC's iPlayer now. It concentrates on the cuts, and
:02:25. > :02:28.includes a debate with the leaders of our county councils on the impact
:02:29. > :02:32.of those cuts. Tributes have been placed at the scene of a car crash
:02:33. > :02:35.in Leicester which killed a young mother`to`be this weekend. It
:02:36. > :02:38.happened on Saffron Lane near its junction with Knighton Lane East
:02:39. > :02:42.yesterday. The Police say 22`year`old Paige Jackson was
:02:43. > :02:46.walking at the time. She died later in hospital. Friends have told us
:02:47. > :02:50.she was pregnant. In a statement, her work colleagues said she was "a
:02:51. > :02:54.popular and valued friend" who'd be "dearly missed".
:02:55. > :02:57.The Army's commander in Helmand province has told us that troops
:02:58. > :03:03.from the East Midlands have made huge contribution to the military
:03:04. > :03:05.campaign. `` made a huge contribution. Hundreds of soldiers
:03:06. > :03:08.from Leicestershire and Derbyshire are deployed on operations this
:03:09. > :03:11.winter. Some troops are helping the Afghan police protect the city of
:03:12. > :03:17.Lashkar Gah. Others are targeting insurgents who use deadly improvised
:03:18. > :03:21.bombs. One can look back over the history
:03:22. > :03:25.of our time here in Afghanistan and see the role that has been played by
:03:26. > :03:33.regiments such as the Royal Anglian. The contribution has been
:03:34. > :03:36.really valued, and you can see the changes and the progress that has
:03:37. > :03:38.been made on the ground in Helmand. Sport now, and Nottingham ice
:03:39. > :03:42.dancers Nick Buckland and Penny Coomes are about to perform in the
:03:43. > :03:50.figure skating ice dance at the Winter Olympics. `` have just
:03:51. > :03:55.performed. We will let you know more details later. To football now, and
:03:56. > :03:58.Nottingham Forest were knocked out of the FA Cup this afternoon.
:03:59. > :04:01.They were beaten by Sheffield United by three goals to one and miss out
:04:02. > :04:04.on a quarter`final tie. Meanwhile, in the League, Leicester
:04:05. > :04:07.and Derby haven't played this weekend, but Notts County and
:04:08. > :04:10.Mansfield were in action, as Natalie Jackson reports.
:04:11. > :04:18.In League 1, Notts County remain in the bottom four after the lost 2`0
:04:19. > :04:20.four stop the first half had it `` header from Michael Jacobs but
:04:21. > :04:26.Wolves ahead. His deflected shot after the break left the West
:04:27. > :04:32.Midlands side with all three points. But Notts manager John Derry thinks
:04:33. > :04:36.his team can stay up. There was a pitch inspection after the wet
:04:37. > :04:38.weather. The game went on, Mansfield may have wished it hadn't. They lost
:04:39. > :04:48.3`0. And in this afternoon's rugby
:04:49. > :04:52.action, Leicester Tigers overcame Gloucester 11`8 at Welford Road to
:04:53. > :04:53.keep pace with the play`offs in the Premiership.
:04:54. > :04:58.Meanwhile in the Championship, Nottingham lost to Bristol, going
:04:59. > :05:02.down 24`25 at Meadow Lane. After a glorious, fresh winter's day
:05:03. > :05:07.for most of us, let's see what's coming next. Sara has your forecast.
:05:08. > :05:15.The coldest part of tonight will be through the early part of the
:05:16. > :05:19.evening. The temperatures will drop quite low initially, down to about
:05:20. > :05:24.two Celsius. Turning misty with some fog around. But the breeze starts to
:05:25. > :05:30.pick up overnight. The rain starts to gradually come in as well. It'll
:05:31. > :05:34.us quite a wet day on and off on Monday. It will be quite a blustery
:05:35. > :05:40.day with temperatures reaching a maximum of nine Celsius. Tuesday,
:05:41. > :05:44.the winds will fall like but it is likely to be quite a day. We do
:05:45. > :05:46.start to see some high pressure coming in, to give us or settled day
:05:47. > :05:53.on Wednesday. `` or We'll have more for you after
:05:54. > :05:57.tonight's national and international update, which is the other side of
:05:58. > :06:01.tonight's BAFTAs, at around 11:20pm tonight.
:06:02. > :06:06.Until then, have a very good evening.