15/01/2018 London News

high-speed rail line to the

management of schools and

Good afternoon, I'm Asad Ahmad.

management of schools and

Bailiffs employed to collect unpaid

Council Tax, are being scrapped

in one London borough,

which says its taking a more

"ethical approach" to unpaid bills.

The idea of getting rid of bailiffs

has led to warnings that debts

to Hammersmith and Fulham Council

will now just rise,

but the authority believes

its doing the right thing.

Mark Jordan has been speaking

to a man who lost his home

as a result of his debt -

and finds out what the new system

could mean for residents.

Mike Thompson was a book-seller or

until a devastating illness meant he

could barely work. His council tax

debt would take his home and lead to

recovery costs. 30 times the

original arrears of £2900.

They

cancelled forced sale of the house.

I got just over £6,000 as my share

of the proceeds. The other £85,000

was swallowed in the debt itself and

all of the costs that had

accumulated along the way. The

lawyers who do this business for

local authorities prospered

mightily, but the local authorities

themselves in the great scheme of

things lose out big time.

At

Hammersmith and Fulham Council they

began to wonder if bankrupting

seizure of homes and bailiffs is

working. They claim bailiffs only

recover 30% of council tax debt and

getting rid of them from April.

A

fair family is trying to keep the

bailiffs away and prioritises the

bill for council tax, they may risk

-- miss their rental payment. Then

you are left with a homeless family

being traumatised by presenting the

public sector with a huge bill in

terms of rehousing and the other

impacts housing -- homelessness can

have.

But bailiffs say the move will

backfire.

It will, cried a price. I

think that in -- it will come at a

price. I think the councils will be

asking in a couple of years, where

is the money.

--? Now medical debt

collection in Hammersmith is about

to discover whether the bailiff's

knock may become part of debt

collecting history.

And you can see more

on the story tonight

on Inside Out London,

on BBC 1 at 7.30.

Under new plans being considered

by the government, home owners

could be fined if their rubbish

is fly-tipped by

disposal companies.

There were over a quarter

of a million fly-tipping incidents

across London last year.

And so by giving councils

the power to fine people,

it's hoped homeowners

will check their rubbish

is being disposed of correctly.

Women and girls are being asked

to share their experiences of sexual

harassment in public places

to MPs in Westminster,

as an inquiry is launched

into the problem.

The Women and Equalities Committee

says it wants to understand why

harassment happens,

and establish what can be done

to tackle the problem.

Here's Simon Jones.

Allegations against the movie mogul

Harvey Weinstein and other Hollywood

figures, claims of sexual

misconduct at Eestminster -

they've brought the issue

of harassment into the open.

-- Westminster.

Now an influential committee

of MPs wants to hear from

women about their experiences

of being groped, intimidated or

assaulted, on the street,

on public transport,

in shops and in bars and clubs.

The inquiry is being

welcomed by many.

I think is really important.

It's definitely still occurring.

And a lot of men,

I think, are aware of it.

-- aren't aware of it.

I think it's actually

very important.

I think, yeah, it needs to be heard.

Yeah, it's definitely

the right thing to

be done, but I think

they should be focusing more

on what is going on in the workplace

and how they can improve

that, remove the glass

ceiling and make it more

of an even playing field.

A recent survey by YouGov

suggests more than 85% of

women aged between 18 and 24 had

experienced unwanted sexual

attention in public places.

45% had suffered unwanted touching.

And the number of reported sexual

offences on trains has more than

doubled in the past five years.

The committee recognises that

harassment can happen to anyone.

But it says it wants

to shine the spotlight on

something that is seen to be

routine in women's lives.

It says it wants to know

why it is happening

and what the government can

do to try to stop it.

The Home Office says it

will continue to work until

the problem is

eliminated completely.

Simon Jones, BBC London News.

Detectives investigating

an assault in Fulham,

in which two men were sprayed

with ammonia as they sat

in their car by attackers on mopeds,

have released this image

of a man named Ameer Makame,

whom they want to speak

to in connection with what happened.

The attack was on New Year's Eve.

575 Wandsworth Road -

a residential house

until a few years ago,

which is now a museum.

That's because Khadambi Asalaish,

a poet and civil servant who lived

there, had an unusual way

of spending his evenings.

So when he died, and left his house

to the National Trust,

they thought we should be

all allowed to see inside.

Helen Mulroy has done just that.

He came to London in the early '60s.

He came from western Kenya but he'd

been at school in Nairobi, and he'd

done his degree in architecture.

This started in the mid-'80s.

He bought it and it

was in a really -

as he'd say himself

- parlous state.

He started doing some carving

in order to just cover up the damp.

This was his passion but also

he was creating his own world.

Here, he maybe just took it

to a slightly stronger level.

Unsurprisingly, the house

has inspired others

for the last two years.

Through the London Symphony

Orchestra, it's had

an artist in residence

and Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian has

just won a British Composer

of the Year award for this piece

of music, which she

wrote in the house.

They invited me to be

here for two years -

not living here, sadly,

but responding to the house,

its history, the acoustics,

and all of the art that had been

created, and his poetry as well.

I also sampled, like,

recorded elements of the house,

including these inkwells and some

piano as well to create this lilting

sort of gentle rhythm, which goes

underneath the soprano voice.

It was a lovely feeling to sort

of make a musical home

here because that's another thing

that really inspires me

about the place, someone who has

come to this country and made

a wonderful life and work

and career here as well.

And the National Trust hopes

the house will continue to inspire.

It's open for pre-booked tours

from March through to October.

Helen Mulroy, BBC London News.

That is a must see on my list. Now

the weather with Sarah.

That is a must see on my list. Now

the weather with Sarah.

Good afternoon. It has not been a

terribly impressive start to the

working week with wet and windy

weather sweeping across us. It made

for some arty weather pictures but

it has been gloomy. We continue with

blustery showers macro for the rest

of the afternoon. Some colder a

fitting in. You will notice the

difference through tomorrow. Here is

the main stripe of cloud that

brought the earlier rain. Only a few

breaks in the cloud between the

showers. There will be some drier

interludes. It is not wall-to-wall

rain today. The winds taking the

edge of the temperature. Seven to 10

degrees. Starting to feel colder.

Further showers tonight. The

temperatures dropping away close to

freezing. It is a chilly start to

Tuesday. We will do better for some

time between the showers. It could

turn wintry towards higher ground

tomorrow evening as well. Five to

seven Celsius is the best we are

going to see. Continuing very windy

in the middle part of the week. A

Met Office weather warning for

Wednesday night into Thursday. More

details as we move through the week.

In the coming days there will be

some sunshine at times between the

blustery showers.

some sunshine at times between the

blustery showers.

A technical glitch is being blamed

for a new announcement on London

buses which tells passengers to hold

on as the bus is about to move,

which plays AFTER the bus moves.

Here's the proof.

Please hold on, the bus is about to

move.

Transport for London says the alert

is designed to help reduce

the number of passengers who injure

themselves by trips and falls.

But TfL accepts the timing

isn't quite right.

That's it.

We're back at 6.30.

Have a good afternoon.

Bye-bye.