17/08/2017 London News

Tonight on BBC London News. be more on the BBC News channel.

Campaigners call on the police to abandon their plans to use face

recognition technology at the Notting Hill Carnival -

It's a great intrusion of people's privacy,

and really empowers the police in a way that is as yet unchecked.

The Met says the technology will only be used to

Also tonight - a damning report for a south London hospital,

where staff failed to meet basic cleanliness standards.

As students receive their A-level results, we hear why so few

A slower pace of life but with what risks?

New warnings about living on London's canals and rivers.

And how to preserve a piece of wartime history -

the stretchers that became housing estate fences.

And how to preserve a piece of wartime history -

the stretchers that became housing estate fences.

Good evening and welcome to the programme.

Undemocratic, unlawful and discriminatory.

The view of a civil liberties charity over the Met's plan to use

face recognition technology to find suspected criminals during this

450 arrests were made during the carnival last year -

and City Hall has said it must be made safer.

Campaigners have now written to the police,

calling for the intelligence trial to be abandoned during the event.

Notting Hill Carnival, a place of colour, music, dance, food and fun.

But it's also a place where police want to hunt down known criminals,

and for the second year in a row, they will try facial recognition

technology to try and spot suspects. The technology involves using

cameras to scan the faces of people. Any matches to their database which

matches images wanted by the police will be flagged up. Officers can

speak to individuals, confirm their identities and potentially make

arrests. In the UK, we have policing by consent, but there is no consent

for this technology. Civil rights groups say it is undemocratic,

unlawful and discriminatory. It takes a face print, which is similar

to a fingerprint, without people even knowing about it, so it is a

gross intrusion of people's privacy. It empowers the police in a way

which is as yet unchecked. One security expert told us, the

public didn't be alarmed. People's data is being captured everywhere,

when they walk about the shops, public areas, hotels, bars, so they

are already being recorded. The only difference here is the police are

looking at the faces captured and it is being run through a software

algorithm so that they can identify potential targets earlier, which

only makes the crowd safer. Those I spoke to earlier were split on

whether using the technology was a good idea. I understand why they

want to do it, but it will make everyone feel a bit uncomfortable. I

think it's a good idea, because if you have nothing to hide. I don't

think it's really needed, to be honest. What do you think they

should be doing instead? Managing the community better. No arrests

were made using the technology last year. Police say once the child is

complete, there will be a public consultation. For campaigners,

though, it is a gross invasion of carnival goers' privacy.

Looks pretty lovely, doesn't it? It's that sort of you that is

inspiring more and more people to live on the canals. But are they as

clued up on the rules of the waterways as they should be? Maybe

not. A South London hospital trust has

apologised after inspectors issued a damning report into its patient

care - its third in as many years. The hospital watchdog found that

staff working at Greenwich and Lewisham NHS Trust weren't

meeting basic cleanliness standards - with some staff not

washing their hands before treatments and patients

with infectious diseases Our political correspondent

Karl Mercer has this report. Florence is one of the first

patients to try out this new unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in

Woolwich. And bosses here hope it will be part

of the answer to turning It's had three inspections

from the health watchdog The general culture,

you know, the way staff are talking to patients,

is not what we'd expect to see. We pulled the trust up on it

certainly last year, when we inspected medical services

in the emergency department. And it's disappointing we're still

seeing those failings happening. Staff had not washed

their hands between patients. Doctors were seen taking outdoor

bags into anaesthetic Some TB patients weren't properly

isolated from other patients. And there was dirty and poor

standard equipment. No, it doesn't make happy reading,

and we want to apologise to all those patients who actually

haven't got the level of care And all those many individual

patients who have had that The hospital, like others,

has had trouble moving people out into the community and at the same

time, has seen more people coming The staff work very,

very hard under very There is evidence of extreme

pressure, increased numbers of patients that we're seeing

in the hospitals. And that does create

their own pressures. We've had problems as well

with discharging patients out of the hospital,

which obviously then gives But you're right, we have

to get those basics right. The fact they haven't been getting

those basics right meant that the Care Quality Commission

considered putting them I think the whole health system

are watching Lewisham and Greenwich very closely,

it certainly has a history. The ratings are such that actually,

as a trust that requires improvement with some inadequate services,

we certainly had discussions about special measures,

but considered they weren't As I say, we will keep them

under close observation. The CQC will be back

for unannounced inspections soon. The trust says it hopes it has

turned a corner and will soon be delivering better care

for its patients. Karl joins us in the studio -

and Lewisham isn't alone in getting No, it's not. Let's take a look at

the numbers of trusts the CQC has looked at. Just six of those have

been rated as good by the CQC, just a third. Ten of them, like Lewisham

and Greenwich, have been rated as required improvement. Bring to go

there for them. Two of them have been rated as inadequate are and are

in special measures. It does seem as though a lot of

these problems, time and again. Does that suggest there is a major

problem? I have the joy of reading lots of

these reports in the same thing comes up again, they mention the

financial challenges facing the trusts, they mention the problems of

growing demand, so more people coming in through the front door,

but also the problems of getting people out of hospital and into

social care settings in the community. Also the issue of

staffing, a big issue in Lewisham, a 17% vacancy rate. When you speak to

some of these individual trust directors and they say, if the CQC

are finding the same things in all these different trusts, that points

to it not being individual problems, but a system wide issue.

Detectives investigating violence following a demonstration in east

London last month have released four pictures of men they'd

Fireworks and bottles were hurled at riot police in Hackney,

and protestors blocked part of Kingsland Road and set

The violence broke out following a separate,

peaceful protest at Stoke Newington police station.

Islington Council has been fined for failing to keep people's data

safely. The wait for students -

and their parents - While many will now be making

the move to university - there's concern that students

are overlooking another It comes at the same time demand

for the young trainees has rocketed. Our Education reporter

Marc Ashdown has more. The nervous faces, the shuffle

through, and finally, the waiting is over. Thank you. Some students were

over the moon. Others, less so. Attention now turns to their next

step. The government wants more young people to swap university for

an apprenticeship, it wants 3 million by 20 20. The trouble is, in

London, that's not going so well. In other parts of the country have seen

the numbers double, the capital was at a modest 15% growth. It's harder

to attract high performing students to ditch the University where the

workplace. I got for days and I'm going to Oxford University in

October to do psychology. Was it always University for you? Yes,

because I want to do research. So yes, university. But demand for

apprentices is growing, especially in the tech sector. The red team are

trying to hacking, while the blues are defending. We have the most

advanced attackers. For these for apprentices, the upside are clear.

The top thing is earning a salary, a really good salary. Secondly, there

is no debt. All my friends are huge amount of debt and I have none. I

managed to buy a house when I was 20 years old, so that was awesome. I

beat my friends went to university. I can work there and see where my

work is being tailored to. I am definitely working and learning. I

dropped out of university after two years. It was one of the best

choices are made. I am earning, I am learning and I don't have any debt.

I think will see a lot more in the next three to five years. The

apprenticeship programme fits London's economy much better. It

just takes a bit of time Footitt catch up. The researchers patient

attitudes and a big factor. These parents wanted their daughter to go

down the traditional route. That's what I was brought up with. He has

broken out of the mould, but I'm glad that he has succeeded. I

realise that now, he has the responsibility, he is not a boy any

more, here's a man. I was really impressed. By these students, it has

been a long and winding journey through school. There are many

opportunities ahead. They may look like some natural

don't really is, but these played a life-saving role throughout some of

London's darkest days in the Second World War. Find out how later the

programme. And the remnants of a hurricane are

going to be heading this way later this weekend. Find out what that

means later on. Before then, we'll have a mixture of sunshine and

showers. Campaigners and doctors are warning

that changes to sexual health services in south west London

aren't clinically safe. In a letter to the NHS,

they say plans to reduce staff numbers and to close a clinic

in Tooting will lead But the group that is taking over

the services say the move will meet 30 years, that's how long Richard

says the St George's Sexual Health Ever since then, he's been

going to the Courtyard Clinic. How much of a loss for you,

personally, is it? I've relied on this service

for over 30 years and now The cutbacks are just

too much to take. He is now a trustee of this

charity shop in Tooting. They raise money for

those living with HIV. Many, too, it seems, support him

from inside the NHS as well. Critics say plans to cut

the workforce by a third and close down the Courtyard Clinic

here at St George's Hospital will be disastrous, replacing an existing

trusted service with a worse one, spread over two sites which haven't

even been found yet. And they only have six weeks

to find those two premises, as this clinic closes

on the 1st of October. One reason among many why leading

consultants and doctors in this trust have signed a letter

demanding a rethink. They say the reorganisation

is unsafe, unworkable It goes on to say that new plans

are not clinically safe. Many of us have had 23 years'

experience in sexual health. There has been zero collaboration

with the clinical team, and this provider has no real

experience of providing this sort of service,

except one small centre. In response, Wandsworth Council

stand by their position. Most of our patients are young

patients under the age of 35. Actually, they don't

want to traipse to big London teaching hospitals any more,

in this kind of secret sexual health They want services that

are available to them out of hours, they want services that

are available to them online. For Richard, though, one simple

question remains unanswered. Why replace a service that has

served him and so many others For him, this really has been

a life-saving service. Now, for the third part

of our series exploring life Prompted by the Grenfell fire

in June, BBC London has spent a week meeting people who live

in tower blocks. We've been hearing from

residents of Trellick Tower, which was built by Erno Goldfinger

in the 1970s. Today, we meet those learning

and teaching skills in the factory We put the effort in to make sure

that the work looks good. My name is Oliver and I am the CEO

of Goldfinger Factory. The name Goldfinger Factory comes

from the architect that Our reason for being here

is to try and empower people That basically means training people

to become craftspeople, so that they can use waste materials

and then sell them. The basic elements of Goldfinger

Factory are a community cafe, a showroom on the top floor,

and then downstairs, We always try and engage as much

as possible with the people most local to us, which is the people

who live above us in Trellick. And we've even got a trainee

on at the moment called Jase, I bumped into Ollie,

and he helped me get a scholarship fund, just being able to do

what I want to do and build a portfolio here and use

a lot of techniques. And yeah, learn a lot

about furniture that Once you've got crafts, you can go

into set design or facilities I want to be a prop maker

for TV, film and theatre. I couldn't get into the field

without having to have experience There are talented people out there,

who for one reason or another, can't escape this chicken and egg

situation, where, if you are a craftsperson,

you need money to start a workshop, but you need a workshop

to get money. Or if you are a young person,

you need experience to get a job. But you need a job

to get experience. I think the biggest impact

that we have is to help people out Oliver and Jason from

the Goldfinger Factory. And you can catch up

on the rest of the stories from the Trellick Tower

on our Facebook page. We'll be taking a final look

at the building's history It might have a reputation

for a more laid-back pace of life - but those who want to live

on the capital's canal boats are being warned to think carefully

before making the move to the water. The Canal and River Trust say

a surge in living on canal boats means space is limited and berths

difficult to come by Jim Wheble is in Little Venice

for us this evening. That's right. I can imagine having a

stroll down the towpath and many people doing the same thing and

thinking, this can album living could be friendly. A lot of those

canal boats in the background on what they call continuous cruising

licenses. It means you can stop wherever you want as appropriate on

the canal ways, but you have to move on after 14 days. The increasing

numbers of people doing that is huge, 195% since 2012. But it seems

not everyone is as clued up on the rules of the waterways as they

should be. After years of neglect,

many canals are busy once more. And those who look after them

say that canal users, especially those new to all this,

need to ensure they know The Canal and River Trust manages

2,000 miles of waterways The trust records incidents

when it can, but in London, where problems are most severe,

it's a huge task. Boat numbers here have

risen by 72% since 2012. Just moved out of a flat in Brixton,

because I can't afford Nick is typical of many

new to the canals, attracted It's not particularly

comfortable, at all. But you're preferring it to paying

a lot of money on renting a flat. Sarah Emmings manages a private

motoring site and believes many canal newcomers haven't

thought things through. It's not their fault,

because there is nothing in place to say, right,

you need to know this before you put Three quarters of the boats

moored in the capital are now being lived in,

according to the Canal A transport system built

for carrying goods, buckling under What are the sorts of things people

are not doing, when they are beginning their life on the canal?

Of course, a lot of people are doing the right things, big because we

have seen the growth equivalent of one new port working day, we see a

lot of people who haven't done the research and are not prepared for

life on the water. The kind of things are getting wrong is there

using locks unsafely, or the double or triple moving in places that runs

safe and they may not know where to deposit their waste properly, which

causes all kinds of problems. Double motoring, there is an example down

there, boats parked next to each other. It's quite why there, so it's

not a problem, but I imagine some parts of the canal and narrow. Yes,

on bends and under bridges, will it narrows. We have lots of people

using the like commercial craft talking large cargo, and other

people using it, it's difficult for an navigation. It's not just people

buying boats and going on the river, there have been a massive increase

in people renting, it's a new industry, letting out canal boats.

There have been horror stories. Imagine you're on your canal boat,

you hear water trickling in, and it's sinking. You are doing things

about that, in June, to tighten up the rules on renting, to make it

safer? Yes, the trust is really concerned about the safety of people

renting out boats and also to protect the person renting out their

board. The laws aren't the same, people aren't protected. So we're

bringing out a new static letting license, which provides some of

those safeguards. What you have to do is get yourself a home moving,

get the correct insurances and safety certificates. Lovely. Thank

you very much. If you are thinking you very much. If you are thinking

about life on a canal, if you things to bear in mind. Make sure you call

on the right side of the canal when you are travelling as well. The

right side. The few things to bear in mind. Thanks very much.

You may walk past them every day and not give them a second glance.

But the history behind the railings on some south London housing estates

They used to be stretchers during World War II and helped

save countless people during the Blitz.

Now there's a campaign to try and preserve them as Thomas Magill

Discussing civil defence forces in general, Admiral Evans

They were once used to move the injured and dead

from parts of London destroyed during the Second World War,

and as the bombs fell, the stretchers became a crucial

Hundreds of thousands of stretchers like these were made to be used

by people who were members of the Air Raid Precaution Service,

who were stretcher bearers, who manned first aid posts.

And in order to respond to casualties on the Home Front,

When the war ended in 1945, the stretchers were put to work once

again, this time as railings around some of the capital's

housing estates, as London began to rebuild itself.

Decades on, and the stretchers are still being used

as railings across London, but campaigners say they are

You just have to look at the poor condition of these ones here.

But now those who love them want to raise money so that this

unique part of London's history can be protected for ever.

Hundreds of thousands of stretchers were made

for use during the war, and today, it is thought

there are just 12 sites across south and east London where they can

Recently, some were removed from an estate in East Dulwich,

and now theret is a real concern that this historic link to our past

At the moment, they are slowly disappearing.

Over the years, they are being removed from estates,

as part of regeneration and estate improvements, because it's cheaper

and more straightforward to replace them than try and keep them,

so we're really trying to work with local councils to find ways

they can be protected - now while there are still some

surviving, is the time to try and protect what we have left.

No-one knows why the metal stretchers were used

as railings in post-war London, but now, for many,

they are an irreplaceable part of our present,

It looks quite nice outside. Yes, not a bad day. Pleasantly warm in

the sunshine and not too windy yet. This was a lovely picture taken on

the Thames. But look at the bigger picture. We started off with cloud

first thing this morning. Keep an eye on these showers which have

developed in the south-west. We can see them moving towards the London

area. Or likely to affect the Chilterns into Hertfordshire before

they tend to fade away. But the most part, it will be dry and clear

overnight. Wins coming in from the south and south-west. Temperatures

in all lower than 13 or 14 degrees. We start with clear skies, but there

could be showers. We start off fairly fine, with sunshine, but

towards the end of the morning, lunchtime and beyond, we have a

greater chance of catching those showers. We could see a spell of

heavier showers for a while. Gusty winds and it will be called than

today. Heading into the weekend, we have westerly breezes, still quite

brisk. It looks like it'll be a fine day, a good day to get out and

about, those temperatures not really getting any higher. Looking at highs

of 20 or 21 Celsius. But look at the other side, there is a hurricane

heading towards the UK. This is what is left of it, it would be a

hurricane by the time it reaches our shores. But it will draw in warmer

air and then close and rain. Showers few and far between probably this

weekend. Briefly just a little bit warmer on Monday.

Spanish police confirm one person has died and ten season injured in

an attack in Barcelona. Civil rights campaigners have demanded the police

abandon a trial to use face recognition technology judging the

Notting Hill Carnival. But at the same time,

you are now nothing. An elite group,

including scientists, pilots, surgeons and athletes, are about

to go head-to-head to become We keep raising the bar and see

who can keep getting over it. I don't think you ever feel

completely safe. They'd tell us how they crossed

continents and centuries... It's a story that's been

put into paint.