25/02/2018 London News

That's all from us.

Now for the news where you are.

Welcome to BBC London,

I'm Chris Rogers.

Families have taken to the streets

of south London to protest

about the lack of school places.

Later this week pupils

will find out which secondary

school they'll attend.

And in Bromley there's anger

a new school might not even be

ready for September.

Ayshea Buksh reports.

CHANTING.

Taking their fight for a school

place to the streets.

Hundreds of families marched

through Bromley town centre,

angry at the council's decision

to not build a new free

school in the area.

The march was organised by parents

and teachers who want a boys school

to be built on this playing field

in nearby Bickley.

It's owned by Bullers Wood School

for Girls, who say an all-boys

school is needed locally.

We have 490 applications for

180 school places, so we know

that there is a need and demand

for this school in this area,

and we are deeply disappointed

about this decision and deeply

worried about the prospect

of opening this September.

The local council gave the school

planning permission but last month

that decision was overturned,

as a different department

at the council found

there were still concerns over

traffic and road safety.

The head of the borough's education

department told BBC London

they were disappointed

by the decision, but reassured

parents that all applicants will be

given a place at a borough school.

This family told me

they just want to know

if their first choice

for an all boys school

will be a viable option.

Most of the schools within Bromley

are very good schools.

The problem is that we'd very much

like him to go to an all boys school

like his sister goes to an all girls

school, within the area

that he can walk to.

I want to make sure I'm

at a school, at least.

And I want to know where I'm

going before September so we can

get everything ready.

With just days to go

before offers to secondary

schools are confirmed,

these parents are still hopeful

their children will get

the school they want.

Changes to the Metropolitan Police

to meet a huge budget

shortfalls have been described

as a "disaster for London".

The Met is merging each borough,

with the loss of 1500 jobs, to form

12 new command units.

But those opposed to the changes

say they leave police

without "the manpower"

to investigate low level crime,

as Helen Mulroy reports.

Officers searching

for hidden knives.

They are part of policing operations

in Camden and Islington,

brought together to test the idea

of merging borough commands,

but the results of the pilot

are worrying for some.

The impact of the merger

has been quite stark.

Anti-social crime, low-level crime,

those are areas where the Met

are not bothering to investigate,

they are not bothering

to mount investigations.

They simply don't have the manpower

because of the underfunding

by government and by the mayor.

The force needs to save £325 million

in 2022, and it's already cut

600 million from budgets in recent

years, resulting in the loss

of police officers and stations.

Officer numbers are expected to drop

below 30,000 by April,

the first time that's

happened since 2003.

This is highly challenging.

The reduction in numbers,

the current risk around terror

is undoubtedly a huge challenge

for the Met at the moment, coupled

with the financial challenge.

It means we have to think

about doing some things differently.

This week, Sadiq Khan committed

an extra £110 million for the Met

in the next financial year.

He claims this means

City Hall is paying a greater

percentage of the Met's budget

than ever before.

In a statement,

the Home Office said...

The mergers will be rolled out

across London over the next year.

So where is that snow?

Here's Lucy Martin.

Hello there.

A very cold night on the way

tonight, with temperatures falling

away to an overnight low

of minus four Celsius,

the risk of one or two snow showers.

Tomorrow, a mixture of sunny

spells and snow showers.

The Met Office have issued a yellow

weather warning for snow.

A brisk north-easterly breeze

will take the edge off temperatures.

A maximum around three Celsius,

but add in the wind and it

will feel a touch colder.

We have an amber weather warning

in place for Tuesday.

We could see a substantial amount

of snow through the morning.

Feeling cold again with

highs of two Celsius.

That's all from the weekend team.

We're back

tomorrow morning from 6.30.

Until then, goodbye.