:00:00. > :00:16.two weeks' time. That is all from us
:00:17. > :00:21.Hello and good evening. With your news now for the East Midlands, I'm
:00:22. > :00:24.Maurice Flynn. Council leaders across the region are building up
:00:25. > :00:26.cash reserves, while still complaining about having to make
:00:27. > :00:30.budget cuts. That's the criticism levelled at East Midland councils by
:00:31. > :00:32.a Government minister. It comes as our authorities finalise budget
:00:33. > :00:36.plans for the next year. Our political editor, John Hess, has
:00:37. > :00:42.more. I'm heading to the very top of the East Midlands. It's from this
:00:43. > :00:46.spot at Beaconhill that you get a fantastic view of the whole of the
:00:47. > :00:49.East Midlands. When it comes to County Council budget pressures, if
:00:50. > :00:54.you want the big picture, it's not a bad place either. Take, for example,
:00:55. > :01:00.Derbyshire, it's facing budget cuts of ?157 million over the next few
:01:01. > :01:05.years. That's the equivalent of 1,600 job losses. In
:01:06. > :01:11.Nottinghamshire, the cuts total is ?154 million and 750 jobs since the
:01:12. > :01:14.age of austerity, it's lost almost a quarter of its workforce. In
:01:15. > :01:22.Leicestershire, the County Council is talking of cuts of ?110 million.
:01:23. > :01:30.That's the equivalent of 700 posts it has had to lose 750 jobs. Local
:01:31. > :01:38.governments will spend ?117 billion this year, ?3 billion more than last
:01:39. > :01:42.year. That won't be welcome in council chambers like this, as our
:01:43. > :01:47.local politicians struggle to find more savings. Catch today's special
:01:48. > :01:52.edition of the Sunday Politics for the East Midlands. It's all about
:01:53. > :01:56.the cuts and it's on the BBC's iPlayer now. Flowers and cards have
:01:57. > :01:59.been left at the scene of a car crash in Leicester which killed a
:02:00. > :02:04.young mother`to`be. It happened on Saffron Lane this weekend. Police
:02:05. > :02:08.say 22`year`old Paige Jackson was on`foot at the time, she died later
:02:09. > :02:12.in hospital. Friends say she was pregnant. A statement from her work
:02:13. > :02:18.colleagues in Wigston described her as "a popular and valued friend"
:02:19. > :02:21.who'd be "dearly missed." Troops from the East Midlands have made a
:02:22. > :02:24.huge contribution to the military campaign in Afghanistan, that's
:02:25. > :02:26.according to the Army's Commander in Helmand Province. Hundreds of
:02:27. > :02:30.soldiers from Leicestershire and Derbyshire are deployed on
:02:31. > :02:34.operations there this winter. Some are helping the Afghan Police
:02:35. > :02:39.protect the city of Lashkar Gah. Others are targeting insurgents who
:02:40. > :02:42.use deadly improvised bombs. One can look back over the history of our
:02:43. > :02:50.time here in Afghanistan and see the role that's been played by regiments
:02:51. > :02:54.such as the Royal Anglican Regiment, their contribution has been really
:02:55. > :02:59.valued and you can see the changes and you can see the progress that
:03:00. > :03:02.has been made on the ground here in Helmand. At the Winter Olympics,
:03:03. > :03:05.Nottingham figure skaters Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland suffered a
:03:06. > :03:08.point deduction today for the same reason they lost one in last
:03:09. > :03:11.weekend's team event. They were penalised for holding their lift,
:03:12. > :03:14.just milliseconds beyond the six seconds they're allowed. The same
:03:15. > :03:17.lift, and same problem, they thought they'd ironed out in practices
:03:18. > :03:21.since. They're in 11th place tonight, aiming for a top`10 finish
:03:22. > :03:27.in tomorrow's event. We've got a strong free dance. We love doing it.
:03:28. > :03:30.Our goal has to be to go out and do it to the best of our ability and
:03:31. > :03:34.show the world what we can do. I'm sure the judges will see that and we
:03:35. > :03:40.will be rewarded. I'm looking forward to it now. Today's football
:03:41. > :03:44.saw Nottingham Forest out of the FA Cup. It's after Sheffield United
:03:45. > :03:47.came from behind, to beat them 3`1. It was a win for Leicester Tigers in
:03:48. > :03:50.the rugby. They beat Gloucester 11`8, thanks to a late Toby Flood
:03:51. > :03:54.penalty. In the Championship, meanwhile, Nottingham lost 24`25 to
:03:55. > :03:57.Bristol. In the ice hockey, a double defeat for the Nottingham Panthers
:03:58. > :04:01.contributed to a double title win for the Belfast Giants. They take
:04:02. > :04:06.the League and the Conference. Panthers lost 3`1 last night. Last
:04:07. > :04:11.night, it was the same result, 3`1 to Belfast. Let's check the weather
:04:12. > :04:15.now, Sara has your forecast. It was nice to see the sunshine today. We
:04:16. > :04:19.have had a cold evening because of the clearer skies. Temperatures drop
:04:20. > :04:22.to a minimum of two Celsius tonight. We will see the cloud increasing. It
:04:23. > :04:26.has been misty with fog around as well. There is rain on the way now.
:04:27. > :04:30.We will see the winds starting to strengthen too. Becoming blustery
:04:31. > :04:34.through tomorrow. The rain will work it is way towards the north`east, it
:04:35. > :04:38.will be showery, there could be heavy bursts as well as we head
:04:39. > :04:41.through the day time with a maximum temperature of nine Celsius. The
:04:42. > :04:46.windfalls lighter on Tuesday. There is a chance of a few showers. We
:04:47. > :04:49.have a ridge of high pressure starting to build in, enough on
:04:50. > :04:53.Wednesday to give us another dry day. Thanks for sticking with us
:04:54. > :04:55.tonight, there's more in BBC Breakfast in just a few hours' time.
:04:56. > :05:11.Goodbye for now. Good evening. In the midst of any
:05:12. > :05:15.normal winter weather for the week ahead would be fairly unremarkable.
:05:16. > :05:19.Some rain in places, some strong winds at times, but of course we are
:05:20. > :05:23.in the midst of no normal winter. It is worth emphasising that with -
:05:24. > :05:29.the weather this week will be less angry and volatile overall, a fair
:05:30. > :05:32.bit calmer. Calmer but by no means dry. Outbreaks of rain will spread
:05:33. > :05:36.across much of the UK through the night. There will be some snow mixed
:05:37. > :05:38.in across the hills of central Scotland. Temperatures slowly
:05:39. > :05:42.starting to rise through the night but they could be at or below
:05:43. > :05:46.freezing across northern Scotland first thing, maybe a bit icy as the
:05:47. > :05:50.weather pushes northwards. A dull, damp, dismal Monday morning with
:05:51. > :05:53.outbreaks of rain covering much of the UK. The rain may not yet have
:05:54. > :05:54.reached the