16/11/2017 London News

On BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.

Welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Victoria Hollins.

The Mayor says it could take years

for an appeal by Uber

over its license to be resolved.

Transport for London wants

to strip the taxi app

of its operating permit in London.

The company has since met with TfL,

but Sadiq Khan said this morning

the process won't be swift.

Let's get more from Ayshea Buksh.

Remind us of the background to this.

Well, back in September, Transport

for London said the company

was unfit to run a taxi service

here in the capital.

It was a shock decision

for the many customers who use

the app and the thousands

of drivers it employs.

TfL's concerns were over

the company's approach to carrying

out background checks on drivers

and reporting serious

criminal offences.

Uber, the company, made an appeal,

not surprisingly, and said it is in

discussions with transport for

London, it says it is determined to

make things right.

And at City Hall earlier this

morning, Ukip Assembly

Member David Kurten asked the mayor,

Sadiq Khan, how long

the appeal process could take.

Here's what he said in response.

The four tiers going up to the

Supreme Court potentially, so before

the appeals are exhausted, there is

a delay to get a case heard, so the

best estimate I have been given is

it could take a number of years. I

would be surprised if we did not

have the first hearing in the early

part of next year.

Driver still very

much operate in London. It is

interesting to look at what has been

happening in Brighton. A few weeks

ago, its council decided to renew

the licence for Uber the six months,

it said it would monitor Tfl's

decision. If it drags on, it might

not even be under the mayoralty of

Sadiq Khan. Mayoral elections are in

2020.

Still quite a long way to go.

Thank you.

The number of incidents of restraint

used in London's mental health

trusts has gone up by nearly 20%

in the last five years.

Five of nine trusts in the capital

released information

to the Liberal Democrats

following a Freedom

of Information request.

Restraints rose from nearly

6,700 in 2013 to nearly

8,000 in 2017.

The Department of Health

says it is working with

the Care Quality Commission

to ensure the use of

restraint is minimised.

Families, firefighters and those

affected by the fire

at Grenfell Tower are being offered

free holidays thanks to a unique

project in Cornwall.

One woman, Esme Page, was so moved

by reports of the disaster,

that she started a campaign to fund

holidays for those affected.

So far, nearly 200 people have

benefited from a break.

Frankie McAmley reports.

A birthday boy without

a care in the world.

But the reality is his life

was uprooted by the fire

at Grenfell Tower.

Now, thanks to a unique project, his

family are on holiday in Cornwall.

How has your day been?

Good.

He lost his best friend

Zainab in the fire.

So young, he struggled

to understand.

The first week, he started

every day looking out

the window saying, "Hello,

Zainab, did you see me?

I miss you."

It's hard for me...

My child...

The family lived in a block

next to Grenfell Tower

and cannot go back.

They've now been staying in a hotel

for more than five months.

This was their only chance

of a break, thanks to Cornish

businesses offering free holidays

to those struggling to cope.

What can we do?

We can do this.

We've got the beautiful

surroundings.

We haven't got a whole

lot of money down here,

but we give what we've got

and that's what everybody's

done, come together.

The group have now helped nearly

200 people get away.

As well as sightseeing

and beach trips, they've had

grief counselling too.

It's just amazing.

People that don't even

know us, they just come,

just from the heart,

tell us, come here and surf.

The holiday ends with a celebration.

But like many here, his sister does

not want to go back.

It's, like, scary because you just

feel like Grenfell's

going to fall on you.

If someone talks about it again,

I will just start remembering stuff,

like what happened.

Make a wish!

Make a wish!

He just wishes he had

his friend back.

All this week, we're showing films

about where your hard-earned cash

goes once you've donated

to Children in Need.

One of those charities

is the Horse Rangers' Association,

a children's charity teaching

horsemanship and stable

management to youngsters

from the age of eight onwards.

Groups are arranged into Squadrons -

Number 7 is the RDA, or Riding

for the Disabled group.

OK, as it is a bit rainy tonight,

do you think we can reach up

to the stars and get some

of the clouds out?

My name is Jo and I am

one of the instructors

here and I piloted the programme

about seven years ago.

Wonderful.

There are children with additional

needs that don't get to be involved.

I just knew that there has to be

a room for this Squadron 7 RDA

to take place and that is why we do

it in the evening,

so that the children can come

from school and they are older.

Once they start senior school

with additional needs,

some schools find the curriculum...

They find that horse riding

is not part of education,

when it is everything.

They have learnt skills

that they can take home

to their parents and their friends

and say, "Guess what,

I learnt to tack up a horse today."

Pretty awesome.

Or, "I picked a horse's foot out."

And some of these children don't

have the strength to do that.

As they come riding regularly,

the core strength builds

and the confidence builds.

I am, basically,

mucking out the horses.

You always have to pick up...

I am Anna and I am here because I am

helping look after the horses.

She has had some quite tough times,

particularly recently,

haven't you, sweetheart?

Yeah.

And actually, this is the bit

of the week that, no matter

what else has been happening,

she has always come home

from smiling and happy.

I like doing everything.

I like riding, mucking out,

just making sure the horses

are happy and healthy.

Horse riding is a really

expensive sport.

It's all done by voluntary work.

All my volunteers, they come every

single week, unpaid.

It is all one big family.

I get a massive kind of escape

from my week in that I am

taking four A-levels,

there is a lot of stress,

but when I come here,

it's all about the kids

and the horses.

I buzz every week.

I look forward to this.

This is my therapy too.

That is just one example of where

your money goes. You can join us

tomorrow when we will be live from

Warner Brothers tours in

Hertfordshire. That takes us to the

weather.

Good afternoon.

Certainly feeling quite mild

outside, particularly

for this time of year.

But that is about to change.

It will get colder.

We have a cold front pushing its way

down from the north and that

will start to show its hand later

on this afternoon.

Until then, good spells

of brightness, always

quite a bit of cloud,

but many places seen

some sunshine at least

for the rest of the afternoon.

The best of that will tend to be

towards southern areas

because here is a cold front.

Just a very short spell of rain,

most of it quite light and patchy,

not lasting for very long.

Top temperatures before it comes

through of 14 degrees.

This evening, the skies are going

to clear behind the cold front.

Some very cold air behind it.

A widespread frost

into tomorrow morning.

You may have to scrape your car

windscreen if you are up

and about early tomorrow morning.

Temperatures away from the towns

will dip below freezing.

A very cold start

to the day tomorrow.

But lots of sunshine around.

A lovely day all in all.

A lovely day all in all.

Certainly feeling very cold, the

winds are light, fair weather cloud

in the afternoon, highs tomorrow of

only between eight and 10 degrees.

More of a patchy frost Friday night

into Saturday. More in the way of

cloud. Cloudier on Saturday, a few

spots of rain, but mostly dry, still

feeling cool on the weekend.

That's about it from me.

Asad Ahmad will be here

with our 6.30pm evening programme.

But for now, from us all,

a very good afternoon.