31/01/2018 London News

Newsnight's about to begin over

on BBC Two in a few moments.

Good evening,

I'm Asad Ahmad.

For the second time

in a matter of days,

residents in West London have

suffered flooding after a water main

burst on a major road.

Today's leak seriously damaged

some basement flats,

while local businesses lost money.

And the problem of flooding seems

to be getting worse,

as more have now been recorded,

than at any time in the past decade.

Here's Jim Wheble.

Another high street flooded,

thanks to a burst water main.

This time Goldhawk Road,

Shepherd's Bush, which started

gushing at 3am this morning.

OK, show us then what's been

going on down there.

And another shop owner flooded out.

It's the fourth time in the last

10 years it's happened

here to Brian Mitchell.

This is what we came down to see.

Right.

I mean, the water is still sort

of flowing in, isn't it?

Yeah, still flowing in.

What does this mean for you here?

We had to close down the studio

and then we had to close down

the shops upstairs as well.

Next door to Brian, it's even worse.

Well, this is Olga's

flat and you can see

it's completely flooded.

We're in the sort of basement level

here and there's all sorts

of stuff floating around.

I've got a mop here,

just floated its way over to me.

She's managed to take some

of her possessions out,

but she's literally too

upset to talk.

Two bin bags.

And if this seems strangely

familiar, well that's

because on the weekend a different

burst water main on King Street,

in Hammersmith, much

the same consequences.

Of course, London's Victorian water

main infrastructure doesn't help,

but some say Thames Water just

aren't doing enough.

It's not as though that issue has

been unknown to Thames Water

and they've only just discovered it,

so that's where my sympathy ends,

and I do think it's time for them

to step up and to get those

detection, the technology

into the pipes, so they can start

telling us which pipes are the most

likely to burst and to try

and prevent rather than then trying

to solve the problem.

So we know that investment

on our network is really,

really important to our customers

and that's why, for the year that's

just gone and the next two years,

we've increased the investment

in our large pipes -

those are big pipes over

12 inches in width -

by the tune of £90 million and why

the next period between 2020

and 2025 we're aiming

to double our investment.

As part of our business plan

processes, we're testing that

with our customers as we speak.

So the floodwater on Goldhawk

Road now has receded.

The engineers have got things

pretty much under control,

but there will be people throughout

the night who will have no water

or very low pressure.

There are bottles of water available

here as well as a liaison officers

from Thames Water who will be

here throughout the night.

Thames Water features

in our next story too,

because this programme has learnt

that tens of thousands of Londoners

could be about to get a pay-out

from their local council.

That's because nearly half

of London's councils have been

unfairly billing their tenants

for their tap water.

Alex Bushill can tell us how,

in his exclusive report.

Getting rinsed for your water bills.

Lorraine is a council tenant

on a low income but now high

on the list of those due a pay-out,

running perhaps to

hundreds of pounds.

It could have benefited

me in a lot of ways -

food, paying bills, I wouldn't have

been struggling so much.

To actually live, day-to-day.

So what's gone wrong for Lorraine

and so many others like her?

Well, this is what you'd expect

to see - Thames Water selling

direct to its customers.

Instead, though, some councils got

involved as a middleman, reselling

the water to their tenants.

What's more, Southwark didn't pass

on the discounts that it was given

by Thames Water for buying in bulk.

It's also worth stressing

that if tenants now fell

into arrears with the council,

effectively their landlord,

they could face eviction orders.

Lorraine says that's exactly

what happened to her.

If I was paying my water bill

directly to the water company,

I would not be allowed,

they would not be allowed

to cut my water off.

They would have to take me

to court themselves

and I wouldn't face eviction.

I think it's really disgraceful.

Our investigation has revealed that

Lorraine is far from alone.

We've identified a total of 269

recent cases where the evictions

of tenants did include an unfair

claim for water rate arrears.

Now, 14 councils in and around

London have confirmed they did enter

into similar deals with water

companies, of whom eight councils

said they generated £33 million

from those agreements between them.

Now, at least 170,000 tenants may

now be getting a pay out.

Wandsworth Council has already paid

back £5.9 million in total.

Waltham Forest has set

aside £4.3 million,

and Lorraine's Council,

Enfield, set aside £2.2 million.

As for Thames Water,

they say they've never

received any charges over

and above the authorised tariff.

What's more, they are now working

with local authorities,

reviewing contracts to ensure

customers pay the correct amount.

Lorraine's case is now

being investigated by lawyers

seeking to bring a joint class

action for all those affected.

They say even where councils

are already paying out,

a closer look may be needed.

Some of them are saying

that they are waiting for a legal

challenge and they are not

going to pay a single thing.

Others are trying to make small

payments below the radar.

Some tenants are having

small payments, £50,

that kind of amount,

made into their bank account

or credited against arrears.

Some councils are clearly hoping

that they can dispose of this

problem to a few people at a massive

discount against the true

compensation that should be paid.

Enfield Council also say

they have had no complaint

from Lorraine as yet,

but are happy to discuss

one when they do.

They have also changed their policy

so they are compliant.

Alex Bushell, BBC London News.

In other news...

Police officers were called-in

to take control of a Royal Borough

of Greenwich council meeting this

evening, after protestors shouted

over a speech about why

an unofficial shrine to murdered

soldier Lee Rigby had been

removed from the spot

where he was murdered nearly

five years ago.

Council Leader, Denise Hyland said

far-right groups used the shrine

"for their own causes"

and Fusilier Rigby's family

supported its removal.

The meeting was temporarily stopped.

A prisoner has been stabbed

to death at Wormwood Scrubs

jail in East Acton.

Scotland Yard said the victim

was found with a number

of knife wounds this afternoon

and died at the scene.

Just last month, inspectors said

the jail

has high levels of

"serious violence".

The Mayor of London delivered on one

of his election pledges today.

The new unlimited hopper bus fare

means you can take as many

journeys as you want in an hour.

But, we can reveal that

the Mayor also has plans

to cut bus services,

after figures show a big drop

in passenger numbers.

Here's our Transport

Correspondent, Tom Edwards.

If you've noticed it can take longer

to get a bus, you're not wrong.

Services in London are being cut,

and the bad news is it's

going to get worse, and buses

are the most used form

of public transport,

with 6 million journeys a day.

Generally, I mean the bus service

I use is pretty regular,

but other services are not so good.

The only thing I can't complain

about actually is the drivers.

Are they regular, are they frequent?

Yes, when I use them they are, yeah.

The latest figures show that

in 2016, buses travelled

495 million kilometres.

In 2017 it fell to 490

million - a drop of 1%.

And, during that period, passengers

nnumbers fell by 32 million.

That's blamed on congestion,

the rise of minicab

apps and even Netflix.

But the Mayor wants to make further

cuts to the bus service.

He wants to reduce the total bus

mileage by 7% by 2022.

This morning, the Mayor

launched his hopper fare,

meaning unlimited bus trips

within an hour.

You've got passenger

numbers coming down,

you've cut bus mileage.

Is the bus service

in London in decline?

No, not at all.

I'm committed to buses in London.

As far as outer London is concerned,

you'll see more buses.

In central London, for very good

reasons, there'll be fewer buses

because of the Elizabeth Line coming

in and the Oxford Street

pedestrianisation.

But actually, we want to make

sure buses are where

they are needed the most.

What nobody wants to see is empty

double-decker buses driving

across the centre of London

with nobody using them.

What we do want to see is buses

in those parts of London

where Londoners desperately need

more buses and with the unlimited

hopper, it makes it far more

attractive going forward than it has

in the past.

The unlimited hopper will cost

£35 million every year.

TfL's finances are already

under strain, and it

will mean more efficiencies.

The hopper will increase

the number of bus journeys

being made in London,

but it reduces our income

by a little bit because people get

a second journey free.

The unlimited hopper makes more

journeys free and it has a small

impact on our budget.

But as the Mayor has said,

TfL has been on a path of reducing

costs quite aggressively in the past

few years and that will

pay for the hopper.

The Mayor says the hopper fare

will bring back passengers.

Its critics say it is not worth

paying, with a worse

service for passengers.

Tom Edwards, BBC London News.

That's it for now from me,

but let's find out what

the weathers up to with Helen.

I don't know if you have seen the

moon everyone has been talking

about.

moon everyone has been talking

about.

Good evening. This is one of the

beautiful photographs we have had

sent in. No, it won't affect our

weather but our weather may affect

the view. Not just rain on the way

but as the skies cloud over we could

see a real wintry mix, a bit of

sleet and snow. It should clear for

the most part before the morning

rush, but look at the temperatures.

Falling back close to freezing. They

will fall to freezing on the roads

and pavements, they will be wet

following the rain and sleet and

snow so there is a Met Office be

prepared ice warning for the rest of

the evening, overnight and the

morning rush. Although tomorrow

looks sparkling, we will be scraping

the ice when the morning. A further

few showers to combat the wind

really will make it feel

significantly colder than

temperatures adjust. A little sweet

and hail as well. Here is