06/04/2017 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Dominic Heale.

First tonight, a mother of two boys is tonight in custody

and being questioned on suspicion of abduction.

40-year-old Samantha Baldwin and her sons from Newark,

A nationwide hunt for them came to an end this morning

when they were found at a secluded holiday park in north

Our Social Affairs Correspondent Jeremy Ball has been

following the days events and reports from the county's

Nottinghamshire Police held a news conference here at Sherwood Lodge,

where they revealed how Samantha Baldwin was arrested.

She was discovered this morning with her two sons,

six-year-old Dylan and nine-year-old Lewis Madge and they were discovered

on a secluded holiday village in a cabin on the edge

of Sherwood Forest run by Sherwood Hideaway

The officer in charge of the enquiry gave us more detailed supplement.

We don't believe they are physically harmed.

It's more difficult to tell whether there is long-term,

Obviously that will be investigated as part of the enquiry.

Police say they got a call last night from someone who recognised

the month and the boys from the picture during that

You'll remember how that began on Tuesday last week

that the month pose a risk before a judge reveals concerns

Two days ago a new tactic as Helen Chamberlain made a direct

appeal to someone that, mother to mother.

The enquiry continues, and officers believe this to be

a preplanned attempt to evade authorities.

Nottinghamshire Police is now working to establish the full facts

of the disappearance, and is putting in place additional

support for all people involved in the case.

Tonight Samantha Baldwin is in custody, where she is being

questioned on suspicion of abducting her sons and two other

Jeremy Ball, East Midlands today, Nottinghamshire Police headquarters.

Next tonight - A campaign meeting has been told that the widows

of some East Midlands miners are having to survive

on just ten pounds a week because of problems with the former

Ex-miners say the way the fund was set up more than twenty years

ago has allowed successive governments to take out

Today a national campaign group held its first open

More than two decades on, passions were running high

at the Mineworkers pension Association meeting in Mansfield.

As far as I'm concerned they should be disbanded.

When British Coal was privatised in 1994 changes were made

In return for providing a guarantee against insolvency it was agreed

the Government would share a 50-50 split of any surplus

with the scheme, while not having to make any payments into it.

Today the Government has received ?3.3 billion in shared surpluses.

But ministers say the arrangement gives trustees the freedom

to generate surpluses and therefore bonuses for members.

We estimate or pensions have been cut basically the Government,

our members should be on double what they're actually

And what sort of hardship is that causing?

We have widows that there are on so little as ?10 a week

from the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme.

The meeting was told the campaign has the unswerving support

I believe very passionately in what is right and what is wrong.

That money belongs in those miners' pockets and if it was,

here in Mansfield the money would be spent in for a local

economy and that is very important for Mansfield.

200,000 former miners and windows are affected by the surplus showing.

Today 30,000 people signed it petition calling for at least

an 85-15 split in favour of the miners.

Quentin Rayner, BBC East Midlands Today, Mansfield.

Well, next month a group of coalfield MPs will be meeting

Trustees of the pension scheme at Parliament.

Among them Ashfield MP Gloria de Piero.

She told Quentin Rayner why she thinks the scheme

When the scheme was set up, the reality is that nobody

anticipated that it would become a multi-billion pound cash

It was set up to benefit the miners, obviously.

So that 50-50 split which may have been plucked out of the air,

but seemed clear at the time, actually has not stood the test

To enter into renegotiations with the representatives

at the Trustees of the pension scheme and mine workers union,

to see if there can be a there a settlement.

A very simple ask, enter into negotiations.

Now, we have a meeting with the trustees of the miners

With coalfield MPs, representatives of the NUM,

What sort of settlement are you looking for?

I'm not going to pluck a figure at the air.

It is clearly unfair at the moment that 50-50 share isn't working

And so that split, that 50-50 split needs to be reviewed.

Miners, ex-miners and their widows must get a decent share.

They say they have invested in a way that has generated surplus,

But the reality is that the kind of surplus that this

scheme has generated, nobody anticipated that sort

of billion pounds of cash that has been going into the scheme.

A fairer distribution of that will benefit the miners,

and their widows, so they can get a decent pension.

The Prime Minister was in the region today.

Theresa May was making the Conservative case

for the forthcoming local elections - with the East Midlands likely

Her visit follows Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's earlier in the week.

Our political editor Tony Roe went to see what Mrs May had to say

This is the day a Conservative Prime Minister came

Calverton closed in 1999 but it is now the kind

of community the Conservatives want to try to win over.

They say they are the party for the ordinary working people.

The Prime Minister was in Nottinghamshire to launch

the Tories' local election campaign, 48 hours on from the Labour

East Midlands MPs, council election candidates and supporters were here.

There is only one party in our country today which has

The Conservative slogan is a Plan for Britain.

She admitted councils have, in recent years, had to cut costs.

After the speech, a brief chance to question.

For better quality of life. That's our message. Let's get out to beer

Let's get out to beer and deliver it.

After the speech, a brief chance to question.

A question raised by Jeremy in Newark.

How'd you answer Mr Corbyn's claims that 40% cuts to local Government

funding is the reason council tax bills are going up in both Labour

And that you are running the country down?

First of all, let's be clear, local councils have had

to play their part, as I said, in dealing with Labour's deficit.

The Conservatives were clearly staking their claim to win voters

in former industrial areas, trying to capture the centre

Millions of pounds is being made available to improve

The cash will be for schemes to tackle congestion

County councils have to bid for the money from the National

Productivity Investment Fund which aims to improve

local economies by enhancing transport links.

And finally, East Midlands Ambulance Service says requests to help

with pets were among the more bizarre nine nine nine calls it

Users of the service asked for help to treat a sick cat,

advice on dandruff and for a lift home from someone who'd been

kicked out of a nightclub and had no cash left.

EMAS says it wants to remind people ambulances are only

So, it's goodbye from me, but with a look ahead to the weather

for tomorrow and the weekend, Here's Lucy.

Warming up as we move through the weekend.

By the time we get to Sunday, we've got high pressure

It starts to make its way towards the east.

More southerly, and we draw in warmer air from the south.

Add in the sunshine and we started to see temperatures creeping

Through tonight, variable amounts of cloud, most of us staying dry.

Clear spells, also temperatures falling away.

The potential for one or two patches of mist developing.

It could be slightly cooler in rural parts.

Now, as we move into tomorrow, a dry start, a little bit more

cloud to begin with, but sunny spells developing.

Temperatures reaching a maximum of 13, 14 Celsius.

We haven't got too much in the way of breeze.

We've got sunny spells and warmer temperatures,

I leave you with the outlook, as we move into Sunday,

that's when we'll see prolonged sunshine and warmer temperatures.

That's it from us in the East Midlands,

at the next is the National forecast with Darren.