:00:00. > :00:14.And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Dominic Heale.
:00:15. > :00:20.Statistics obtained by East Midlands Today reve`l that
:00:21. > :00:22.seven teaching staff in our region have died from asbestos-rel`ted
:00:23. > :00:31.The dangerous material can still be found in most of our schools,
:00:32. > :00:34.and staff exposed to it are now getting payouts from councils.
:00:35. > :00:36.And managing the problem in our schools is costing htge
:00:37. > :00:42.Mike O'Sullivan has this special report.
:00:43. > :00:45.They kept saying to her, what's your pain level out of ten?
:00:46. > :00:48.Bromley Kniveton's wife Jenny, a retired teacher, died aged 72
:00:49. > :00:52.from the asbestos-related ltng cancer mesothelioma in the summer.
:00:53. > :00:55.The diagnosis had come three years earlier.
:00:56. > :01:06.You know, it was a terrible shock cos we'd gone from being OK,
:01:07. > :01:10.Mr Kniveton says Jenny handled broken asbestos ceiling tilds
:01:11. > :01:23.She worked for two decades at the former Glaisdale
:01:24. > :01:27.He said the City Council made an out-of-court payment to her.
:01:28. > :01:29.Asbestos was used as a building material for decades...
:01:30. > :01:30.ARCHIVE: The walls are plastic-covered asbestos...
:01:31. > :01:34.It is in the vast majority of our older schools' stock,
:01:35. > :01:38.But asbestos is still causing concern.
:01:39. > :01:41.Leicestershire County Counchl says they have paid out nearly
:01:42. > :01:44.?30,000 over exposure to asbestos since 2010.
:01:45. > :01:46.For Nottinghamshire County Council, it is nearly ?200,000.
:01:47. > :01:54.Derbyshire County Council s`ys it has paid damages of ?400,000.
:01:55. > :01:55.The Derbyshire figures were uncovered by an asbestos
:01:56. > :01:57.in schools campaigner from London, who says
:01:58. > :02:01.Lucie Stepehens' mother Sue, a retired teacher from Devon,
:02:02. > :02:04.died from mesothelioma in the summer.
:02:05. > :02:07.Mum was terrified of all the children who might also have
:02:08. > :02:10.been exposed through her te`ching, when she didn't know anything about
:02:11. > :02:12.it so she couldn't protect herself and she couldn't protect thdn.
:02:13. > :02:26.This asbestos support worker in Chesterfield says her te`m's
:02:27. > :02:29.helped around ten teachers in the region who have developed
:02:30. > :02:32.Now they are promoting their own interactive computer model,
:02:33. > :02:40.We're not wanting to scare people, but I think that if people know then
:02:41. > :02:43.they can at least ask the rhght questions, and ask the school
:02:44. > :02:46.if they've got a register of their asbestos, if they know
:02:47. > :02:49.Jenny's old school is now the self-governing
:02:50. > :02:51.Bluecoat Beechdale Academy, which has its own asbestos
:02:52. > :02:54.The Academy says some asbestos was removed in a controlled
:02:55. > :03:02.way from a heating duct here as recently as August.
:03:03. > :03:04.But Jenny's husband says the government is putting off action
:03:05. > :03:06.to take out all asbestos from all schools,
:03:07. > :03:11.From the government's side, it would take a terrific amount
:03:12. > :03:22.And it's a problem that is shelved, I guess, but people are still dying.
:03:23. > :03:24.The Health and Safety Executive says seven people in our region
:03:25. > :03:26.who worked in teaching have died from mesothelioma
:03:27. > :03:33.She spent her payment on a cancer treatment that wasn't avail`ble
:03:34. > :03:43.A council in Nottinghamshird is considering fining rough sleepers
:03:44. > :03:49.Rushcliffe Borough Council is mulling the idea of a fixed
:03:50. > :03:54.penalty of ?100, which could rise to ?1,000 if it's not paid.
:03:55. > :03:56.The campaign group Liberty has called the idea "cruel".
:03:57. > :03:58.The district council is inshsting they'd only be used against homeless
:03:59. > :04:07.This isn't about fining people, this is about acting as a ddterrent
:04:08. > :04:09.and preventing the problem from occurring in the first place,
:04:10. > :04:12.and directing people to appropriate support if they do need it.
:04:13. > :04:17.We have an excellent reputation for supporting
:04:18. > :04:20.people in Rushcliffe - we help people, over
:04:21. > :04:21.1,000 people each year, with homelessness issues.
:04:22. > :04:24.So it's not an issue about homelessness, it's
:04:25. > :04:25.about preventing unwanted antisocial behaviour from occurring
:04:26. > :04:31.Well, also today a homelessness charity has cancelled its annual
:04:32. > :04:34.sleep-out event, because of fears it might be targeted by protesters
:04:35. > :04:36.Framework in Nottingham was planning an event for 300 people.
:04:37. > :04:45.Here's our social affairs correspondent Jeremy Ball.
:04:46. > :04:50.This is one of Nottingham's most high-profile fundraising evdnts
:04:51. > :04:52.It has been running for more than 15 years.
:04:53. > :04:54.But today Framework announcdd next month's Big Sleep Out
:04:55. > :04:59.Up to 300 people were plannhng to spend the night here
:05:00. > :05:07.But the charity says it has been sabotaged by a protest group
:05:08. > :05:09.that was going to harass people and it couldn't guarantee the safety
:05:10. > :05:14.of the families who were taking part.
:05:15. > :05:17.It follows a row that began almost a year ago, when this camp
:05:18. > :05:21.was set up in Nottingham to highlight rough sleeping.
:05:22. > :05:23.That was criticised by Framdwork, who said many of the protesters
:05:24. > :05:26.were not really homeless, and that by choosing to sledp
:05:27. > :05:31.in tents they risked losing their housing.
:05:32. > :05:37.Now activists have responded with this post on social media,
:05:38. > :05:40.urging the Big Sleep Out fundraisers to hand over their sleeping bags
:05:41. > :05:43.and their warm clothing and mugs, so that what they call "the real
:05:44. > :05:45.homeless of Nottingham" can spend the night in safety,
:05:46. > :05:49.and use the charity's free drinks and breakfast.
:05:50. > :05:52.It's a problem, because the event must be safe, it must be secure
:05:53. > :05:56.Participation in the event is to raise money, not to gdt
:05:57. > :06:03.This year's Big Sleep Out was supposed to pay for mord
:06:04. > :06:05.of the outreach workers and help people sleeping rough,
:06:06. > :06:09.and Framework says it should have raised ?30,000.
:06:10. > :06:11.Money that is desperately needed, as more people
:06:12. > :06:22.The future of the East Midl`nds specialist children's heart unit
:06:23. > :06:30.There was a debate today in Westminster over the Glenfield
:06:31. > :06:33.unit in Leicester, which has been threatened with closure.
:06:34. > :06:35.The NHS claims it's not meeting standards
:06:36. > :06:45.It is also a world centre of excellence, and for it to be
:06:46. > :06:48.closed or for any of its services to be decreased would be little
:06:49. > :06:52.Keeping Glenfield open is lhterally a matter of life and death.
:06:53. > :06:55.If it was to be Birmingham, or Great Ormond Street,
:06:56. > :07:00.It's a topic that has united left and right,
:07:01. > :07:04.led by Leicester West MP Liz Kendall, who secured thhs
:07:05. > :07:06.special debate into the futtre of Glenfield Hospital's children's
:07:07. > :07:21.If this proposal goes ahead, the East Midlands will be the only
:07:22. > :07:23.region in the country without a children's
:07:24. > :07:27.NHS England says the unit is not meeting, and is unlikely to meet,
:07:28. > :07:35.new standards, including not performing enough operations.
:07:36. > :07:38.But that was refuted by Liz Kendall, who says it is likely to hit
:07:39. > :07:42.And if they don't quite achieve this, it won't be
:07:43. > :07:47.So they rightly say, why put a centre which is on track
:07:48. > :07:55.The debate forced the Department of Health to send a minister
:07:56. > :07:58.Philip Dunne reiterated that this wasn't a cost-cutting exerchse,
:07:59. > :08:05.and gave a timeline of when a decision would be made.
:08:06. > :08:07.The intent is to do a formal three-month public consultation
:08:08. > :08:19.which will conclude in the spring, and decisions will be made
:08:20. > :08:21.next summer and I'm sure all right honourable members
:08:22. > :08:26.The magic of Harry Potter is being brought to life in Loughborough
:08:27. > :08:27.For the second year, the Loogabarooga Festival
:08:28. > :08:29.is celebrating all forms of children's literature.
:08:30. > :08:31.But one of the star attractions is an exhibition
:08:32. > :08:33.of original illustrations from the Harry Potter series.
:08:34. > :08:36.What people will get to see is some of the original artwork
:08:37. > :08:41.that the illustrator Jim Kax used for his book, from the sketches
:08:42. > :08:44.through some of the oils through to the digital prints.
:08:45. > :08:46.Supplemented by Leicestershhre Museum collections, so things
:08:47. > :08:49.like skeletons of rats and some fungi and things like that.
:08:50. > :08:51.We've also got a place for people to try stuff on,
:08:52. > :08:54.so we hope that people will come in and really get involved
:08:55. > :09:04.Andrew Smyth from Derby is through to the final
:09:05. > :09:09.Earlier, here in the studio, he told us he'd had to be pdrsuaded
:09:10. > :09:14.Well, I've always been a fan of the series, I've watched it
:09:15. > :09:29.I almost applied for the last series but kind of wimped
:09:30. > :09:31.out of the last moment, I thought, "No, I'm
:09:32. > :09:34.But this year, friends and family said "You've really
:09:35. > :09:39.So, it's goodbye from me - but with your weather
:09:40. > :09:47.We've had quite a lot of cloud around today, so thank goodness we
:09:48. > :09:52.had some lovely autumn colotrs. We've still got that weather front,
:09:53. > :09:57.which is across the East for the last couple of days. It is giving us
:09:58. > :10:01.a few showers, but keeping lost of the rain out towards the east and
:10:02. > :10:07.bringing in quite a lot of cloud. It's not really going anywhdre over
:10:08. > :10:13.the next few days. There should be a few more breaks tomorrow so a few
:10:14. > :10:18.more sunshine. The chance of a rogue shower, but most of us stayhng dry
:10:19. > :10:21.and bright. The wind is a bht brighter, so it is feeling ` bit
:10:22. > :10:29.warmer. We still got a couple of showers, most are fading. Jtst one
:10:30. > :10:34.or two macro continue across eastern parts, but the temperatures will be
:10:35. > :10:39.held up for most of us. If we get breaks in the cloud, we could see
:10:40. > :10:42.them dipping around us back to around five or six Celsius. Tomorrow
:10:43. > :10:47.morning we will see the clotd breaking up, so we will get some
:10:48. > :10:50.sunshine breaking through. One or two macro light, isolated showers
:10:51. > :10:56.drifting in, but you would be unlikely to catch one of those.
:10:57. > :11:01.Temperatures tomorrow peaking at around 12 or 13 Celsius.