:00:01. > :00:06.compared with 8.3% nationally. The Government is working to bring down
:00:06. > :00:08.youth unemployment by funding a big increase in apprenticeships. In a
:00:08. > :00:10.moment, Mike Liggins has been moment, Mike Liggins has been
:00:10. > :00:20.speaking to young unemployed people in Lowestoft, but first this from
:00:20. > :00:21.
:00:21. > :00:25.our business correspondent, Richard The booming offshore wind is a huge
:00:25. > :00:32.stimulus for the region's economy. Firms making work boats, for
:00:32. > :00:36.example, taking workers to windfarms, are very busy. At its
:00:36. > :00:41.yard in Great Yarmouth, this company sells to windfarms all over
:00:41. > :00:47.the country. It has taken on for young apprentices this year, among
:00:47. > :00:50.them this 19-year-old. Renewable energy, hopefully if that is the
:00:50. > :00:55.way forward they will have orders coming in so there will be more
:00:55. > :00:59.work and hopefully a job for longer. Last year 23,000 young people
:01:00. > :01:05.started apprenticeships in the east, but this year it will be 38,000, a
:01:05. > :01:10.60% increase. How do they work? The government pays for the training,
:01:10. > :01:14.the employer just pays the wages, which can be as little as �2.60 an
:01:14. > :01:19.hour. These engineering apprenticeships at college mostly
:01:19. > :01:23.earn more than that and they are thankful to have jobs. I am getting
:01:23. > :01:26.qualifications as well as earning money. Lurking -- working my way
:01:26. > :01:31.into an industry. I'd just like doing things like this, doing
:01:31. > :01:35.things with my hands. I couldn't sit in an office all day. I like
:01:35. > :01:39.seeing what I'm making. Despite the expansion of apprenticeships, not
:01:39. > :01:45.everyone can get one. At his college in Northamptonshire,
:01:46. > :01:49.training places in construction are much sought-after. There are 50
:01:49. > :01:53.applications for every apprenticeship place that we are
:01:53. > :01:57.currently helping to advertise with employers. And apprentices are not
:01:57. > :02:02.immune from the problems of the wider economy. In the construction
:02:02. > :02:06.industry, we are finding there are still companies going into
:02:06. > :02:11.liquidation and as recently as last week, an employer we worked with
:02:11. > :02:16.for many years did in fact go into liquidation and that meant 11
:02:16. > :02:20.apprentices lost their jobs. It is a very tough time to be starting a
:02:20. > :02:25.working life. Apprenticeships are great, but they depend on real jobs
:02:25. > :02:27.being created and sustained a in the private sector.
:02:27. > :02:32.Behind the unemployment statistics are the real-life stories of people
:02:32. > :02:42.who can't find work. Mike Liggins went to Lowestoft in Suffolk to
:02:42. > :02:42.
:02:42. > :02:47.speak to some young people who are Can I interest you in a leaflet?
:02:47. > :02:51.Philip is handing out leaflets for a charity shop. He is volunteering
:02:51. > :02:56.to try to improve his chances of finding work. He was expelled from
:02:56. > :02:59.school at 17 and hasn't had a job in the two years since. I have had
:02:59. > :03:03.a couple of interviews, but they have turned me down because I had
:03:03. > :03:09.no experience. How are my supposed to get experience if you don't give
:03:09. > :03:15.it to me? Leaving the JobCentre in Lowestoft, Terry is looking after
:03:15. > :03:19.her knees. She claims jobseeker's allowance, �106.90 every fortnight,
:03:19. > :03:24.by she told me she does want the job because life without work isn't
:03:25. > :03:31.exactly much fun. Seeing family, seeing friends, trying to find a
:03:31. > :03:37.job. It is all I can do. Is it boring? Vary. I would rather be
:03:37. > :03:42.working and earning money and doing something with my life. 19-year-old
:03:42. > :03:47.Kelly is also a board. Her partner works, but she doesn't and she goes
:03:47. > :03:51.to the shops just for something to do. She has a ten-month-old
:03:51. > :03:57.daughter and when it comes to interviews, she says childcare is
:03:57. > :04:00.an issue. I say I have a little girl and they must think, can she
:04:00. > :04:04.come to work every day? She will have to rely on people to look
:04:04. > :04:10.after her daughter and I think that puts them off a little bit. What do
:04:10. > :04:16.you think a job would do for you? It would improve my life completely.
:04:16. > :04:23.I would be working and getting paid, earning my own money. At the end of
:04:23. > :04:27.the week I will have my own money. I can enjoy myself, by my own stuff.
:04:28. > :04:34.Philip is on his way to sign on. He admits he has had a chequered past
:04:34. > :04:40.but is hoping for a better future, with a job and some money. A future
:04:40. > :04:43.without JobCentre plus. The economy is still the number one
:04:43. > :04:46.issue in politics so what are our MPs saying about it and when do
:04:46. > :04:53.they expect things to get better? Our political correspondent Andrew
:04:54. > :05:00.Sinclair is here. How worried are the MPs? And they are all concerned.
:05:00. > :05:04.One MP told me he was terrified and privately I think they will all
:05:04. > :05:07.admit they think things are going to get worse before they get better.
:05:07. > :05:11.But MPs in the government keep pointing out that compared to other
:05:11. > :05:14.parts of the country, we are doing OK and they keep pointing out that
:05:14. > :05:19.because we have these high-tech industries and green technologies,
:05:19. > :05:22.we are in a good position to take advantage of the recovery. The
:05:22. > :05:29.problem is there's not much of a recovery going on at the moment.
:05:29. > :05:32.The Government's strategy is to use what little money it has for grants
:05:32. > :05:36.to high-tech companies in the hope these will grow jobs. There's also
:05:36. > :05:41.a lot of money going into creating apprenticeships. You have to put in
:05:41. > :05:45.place things that will work at the root cause of the problem. I want
:05:45. > :05:49.to see more apprenticeships, higher skills made available, and young
:05:49. > :05:53.people taking those up so that they are ready to take on the jobs that
:05:53. > :05:57.are out there. There are vacancies in the private sector, but we have
:05:57. > :06:03.to help people to get into them. Labour say that is not good enough.
:06:03. > :06:10.They want a Plan D, which does involve spending money. The Shadow
:06:10. > :06:14.Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, was in court today. We set out an
:06:14. > :06:17.alternative five-point plan for jobs and growth and that includes
:06:17. > :06:22.Labour's proposal to have a banker's bonus tax that could put
:06:22. > :06:27.billions of pounds into youth jobs. That would create jobs for these
:06:27. > :06:31.young people so we don't have a lost generation again. Are there
:06:31. > :06:35.any signs the government is considering a plan B? There is a
:06:35. > :06:39.bit of that week going on but they will never call it a Plan B. We
:06:39. > :06:44.have recently seen a lot of talk about investing in infrastructure
:06:44. > :06:47.projects. And then the next few weeks we will hear more about
:06:47. > :06:51.infrastructure projects, but the government doesn't have much to
:06:51. > :06:53.play with. This uncertain picture will continue for some time. Thank
:06:53. > :06:56.you. Travellers have moved back on to
:06:56. > :06:59.the illegal part of the Dale Farm site in Essex, claiming they have
:06:59. > :07:03.nowhere else to go. They were evicted last month and bailiffs
:07:03. > :07:06.have finished clearing the plots where they lived. But now families
:07:06. > :07:16.have taken their caravans back. Let's go live to Dale Farm and Alex
:07:16. > :07:19.
:07:19. > :07:22.The council had to wait 10 years. They were victorious. The illegal
:07:22. > :07:26.travellers were moved on. But tonight it seems that victory was
:07:26. > :07:31.short-lived. Just as the clean-up operation
:07:31. > :07:34.draws to a close, they have returned. Basildon council has
:07:34. > :07:38.spent the last four weeks and millions of pounds a evicting
:07:38. > :07:42.illegal travellers from the site at Dale Farm. It is easy to tell which
:07:42. > :07:46.were the legal plots, they are marked by these craters. They were
:07:46. > :07:51.aimed to prevent them from coming back. They have failed. On this
:07:51. > :07:58.stretch of road alone, there are now 11 caravans. This access road
:07:58. > :08:02.is owned by Patrick again. He has welcomed others back, inviting some
:08:02. > :08:06.and to his front yard. The council were told to provide other places
:08:06. > :08:14.to go and the council would not do it. Even a temporary place, the
:08:14. > :08:18.council would not do it. Now they have got nowhere to go. Before the
:08:18. > :08:24.28 day notices are Iraq, they will have to pull into car parks in the
:08:24. > :08:28.area, or fields in this area. They are not leaving Basildon. So given
:08:28. > :08:32.their return, was this the eviction or the money did cast to carry out
:08:32. > :08:37.a wasted effort? There have been many threats made by the travellers
:08:37. > :08:42.that they would move back, move into Tesco car parks and so forth.,
:08:42. > :08:47.and move into my garden, where a parody I live in a mansion! News to
:08:47. > :08:52.my wife. Up until today those threats have not been carried out.
:08:52. > :08:55.We can't condone any more breaches of the criminal law. Local
:08:55. > :08:58.residents in the settled community despair. People like Christine who
:08:58. > :09:05.has run this neighbouring garden centre for the last 25 years.
:09:05. > :09:09.just think it is horrendous. The money that has been spent. It gives
:09:09. > :09:13.the area a bad name. If tonight, from those travellers who have
:09:13. > :09:17.returned, a threat. They are only the first, they promise more will
:09:17. > :09:22.follow. Tonight they have been more
:09:22. > :09:26.developments. Four of the caravans were part further up the road in an
:09:26. > :09:29.area subject to that original injunction. It meant the owners
:09:29. > :09:34.could have been arrested. The authorities could have moved
:09:34. > :09:38.quickly. Where they are mean -- now means if the council wants to move
:09:39. > :09:42.them on, they have to restart the entire legal process. It seems
:09:42. > :09:47.these travellers are playing a canny game of cat and mouse and the
:09:47. > :09:50.council are playing catch-up. Still to come tonight:
:09:50. > :10:00.If you want to cut the fuel bills, get on your bike.
:10:00. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:05.And more on the metal thieves - the The police in Suffolk are cutting
:10:05. > :10:09.300 jobs, including 100 police officers. They are trying to save
:10:09. > :10:12.�13.5 million over the next four years. And the county council has
:10:12. > :10:22.announced plans to save �50 million from its budget, including �15
:10:22. > :10:24.
:10:24. > :10:28.A pledge from the Chief Constable. Community and neighbourhood
:10:28. > :10:33.policing our say. But a 20% cut in government funding means jobs will
:10:33. > :10:37.go. Among those at risk, traffic police, senior officers and
:10:37. > :10:40.civilian staff. Today we were told �10 million in savings will be made
:10:40. > :10:45.by sharing resources with neighbouring forces, notably
:10:45. > :10:49.Norfolk. What we are looking to do is join up all have our support
:10:49. > :10:53.functions so that we can drive out costs and that area as well as a
:10:53. > :10:57.number of our operational functions, things like major crime, policing
:10:57. > :11:03.the roads and our firearms teams, so we have a strong programme of
:11:03. > :11:07.collaboration. Other savings will come from closing and relocating
:11:07. > :11:10.stations like Ipswich and Woodbridge, and sharing premises
:11:10. > :11:15.with local councils. Of course it's not just the police taking the
:11:15. > :11:19.strain. A 28% cut in government funding means the county council
:11:19. > :11:23.behind me are going to after make �50 million in savings over the
:11:23. > :11:28.next two years. That is on top of a �43 million and cut their budget
:11:28. > :11:32.this year. Some savings will be within the council itself. But
:11:32. > :11:38.adults social care and children's services will be realigned, they
:11:38. > :11:42.say, saving more than �18 million. It is a realignment so that early
:11:42. > :11:46.intervention can provide a better service. Not a cut? Definitely not.
:11:46. > :11:49.It is a change in the way you spend money and if you can save money but
:11:49. > :11:53.provide a better service that improves people's quality of life,
:11:53. > :11:57.it is a very good thing. Realignment means changes in the
:11:57. > :12:01.way adults social care works, but there is this transition period in
:12:01. > :12:05.which we don't know what is needed in the community. We don't know
:12:05. > :12:09.what organisations like ourselves will need to do you. I'm very
:12:09. > :12:13.concerned that people may drop through the cracks. Such cuts are
:12:13. > :12:23.not confined to suffer, police forces and councils across the East
:12:23. > :12:29.
:12:29. > :12:35.have some very difficult decisions A school bus and a car have crashed
:12:35. > :12:39.at 4:30pm this afternoon. A 25- year-old man was heard. Three of
:12:39. > :12:49.the children were placed in neck collars and all are being treated
:12:49. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:52.at Colchester General Hospital. A decision on whether to base the
:12:52. > :12:56.RAF's new Joint Strike Fighter at Marham in Norfolk will be made in
:12:56. > :13:04.the spring of next year. The new date is far earlier than was
:13:04. > :13:09.expected. This decision will be confirmed next spring. The day it
:13:09. > :13:14.emerged after a meeting was held this afternoon. In that meeting was
:13:14. > :13:22.the MP for South West Norfolk, alongside the minister for defence
:13:22. > :13:31.equipment, support and technology. This decision will be key to the
:13:31. > :13:36.future of Marham. This time last year, a successful campaign to save
:13:36. > :13:41.it was lodged. When the tornado is eventually phased out, it is hoped
:13:41. > :13:45.the base will be home to the Joint Strike Fighter instead. It is seen
:13:45. > :13:55.as a direct replacement to the Tornado. That should be phased out
:13:55. > :13:56.
:13:56. > :14:03.by the year 2020. If it is based in Marham, it will secured the best's
:14:03. > :14:07.long term future. The MP is trying to persuade ministers of the
:14:07. > :14:10.importance of citing this new aircraft in Norfolk.
:14:10. > :14:13.BBC East and Norwich City have settled a dispute over a transfer
:14:13. > :14:16.story on the Late Kick Off football programme. The BBC has apologised,
:14:16. > :14:21.saying it accepted that aspects of the story should have been handled
:14:21. > :14:24.differently. A contract has been awarded to
:14:24. > :14:29.remove asbestos from the former nuclear power station at Bradwell
:14:29. > :14:31.in Essex. The work will start in the next few months. It's part of a
:14:31. > :14:41.�300 million project to clean up the first generation of nuclear
:14:41. > :14:44.power stations across the country which are being decommissioned.
:14:44. > :14:47.Villagers have stepped in to save a country post office in Essex. The
:14:47. > :14:49.customers have agreed to pay for the post office at Henham near
:14:49. > :14:57.Bishop's Stortford rather than see it close. They'll pay monthly
:14:57. > :15:01.direct debits towards the running costs. This woman has been post
:15:01. > :15:05.mistress here for 13 years. The posters was closed three years ago
:15:05. > :15:08.but reopened with the help of council funding. Now, the threat of
:15:08. > :15:14.closure has resurfaced. This time, villagers have put their hands in
:15:14. > :15:19.their pockets to save it. Families pay a subscription of a minimum of
:15:19. > :15:28.�1 above. I think it is a brilliant idea. It is not always about money.
:15:28. > :15:34.It is providing a service for people. We do a lot of custom for
:15:34. > :15:38.eBay people. They come in with many parcels. The nearest other poster
:15:38. > :15:42.this is a bus ride away, making life difficult for pensioners and
:15:43. > :15:47.those without transport. But the service costs �12,000 a year. Today,
:15:47. > :15:57.Royal Mail said it was to be used the local community had identified
:15:57. > :15:57.
:15:57. > :16:02.a local -- a solution. It shows a level of interest and concern in
:16:02. > :16:06.the village to retain its posters. But it is not satisfactory, really,
:16:06. > :16:11.that a local community should have to find all the money to pay for
:16:11. > :16:18.the privilege of being linked to the national postal system.
:16:18. > :16:22.Post Office is the Henham's second success story. The village store is
:16:22. > :16:32.run entirely by a college -- volunteers. Now, the Post Office
:16:32. > :16:38.
:16:38. > :16:41.have been saved and is open three We had a big response to our report
:16:41. > :16:44.last night on the growing menace of cable and metal theft. It all
:16:44. > :16:48.started with the soaring cost of copper. It's costing us millions of
:16:48. > :16:58.pounds and it's got some of you very hot under the collar. Let's go
:16:58. > :17:01.
:17:01. > :17:05.live to Hertfordshire and Kim Riley. I am in St Ippolitts, alerted by
:17:05. > :17:10.Look East viewer Ted Pay. I am looking for this, a cone. It is
:17:10. > :17:15.marking the spot where they should be a heavy drain cover. Around here,
:17:15. > :17:21.there is not just one: Along the side of the road. They seem to be
:17:22. > :17:26.everywhere. More than a dozen of these drain covers have disappeared
:17:26. > :17:33.into thin air or maybe been hustled into the back of a white van, who
:17:33. > :17:37.knows? Quite the operation as the cones are very heavy. They have
:17:37. > :17:44.been taken from the side, quite busy roads, causing worry to the
:17:44. > :17:48.locals about danger and expense. is terrible. Look what it is
:17:48. > :17:55.costing the ratepayers to replace these. The council tax goes up,
:17:55. > :18:00.just through somebody wanting to be greedy because that is all it is.
:18:00. > :18:06.You've got a lot of children playing on the road on their cycles
:18:06. > :18:16.so it is very, very dangerous. of your stories.
:18:16. > :18:23.John Glenet, from Higham Ferrers. Nigel Richards farms at Moulsoe
:18:23. > :18:29.near Newport Pagnell. He says sentences are far too light. Peter
:18:29. > :18:35.Cottee, from Gislingham in Suffolk. He says they have lost their
:18:36. > :18:41.broadband service because Martin Beale from Dunstable. He bought a
:18:41. > :18:49.pub and twice, it was broken into and copper has been taken Samantha
:18:49. > :18:53.Bryce, from Harleson in Norfolk. A friend had been renovating a house
:18:53. > :19:00.and as a retired police officer, she was shocked the crime of theft
:19:00. > :19:10.was not investigated. We are used to thefts from church roofs but at
:19:10. > :19:10.
:19:10. > :19:18.this church in mental Keens -- in metal bash in Milton Keynes, part
:19:18. > :19:22.of a memorial was stolen. That is the kind of thing these thieves are
:19:22. > :19:27.getting up to day-by-day. Thanks to all of you who got in
:19:27. > :19:30.touch. You can always call with a touch. You can always call with a
:19:30. > :19:36.touch. You can always call with a story. E-mail us. Or go to Facebook
:19:36. > :19:40.and search for bbclookeast. Don't forget to leave a contact telephone
:19:40. > :19:43.forget to leave a contact telephone number.
:19:43. > :19:45.No-one needs reminding how expensive it is to fill up our cars
:19:46. > :19:48.these days, and yesterday we covered the Commons debate led by
:19:49. > :19:52.the Essex MP Robert Halfon which called on the Government to cut
:19:52. > :19:55.fuel duty. But there is a cheaper, healthier alternative. It involves
:19:55. > :20:00.two wheels, not four, and already, we are beating the national trend.
:20:00. > :20:10.Across the country 3% of people cycle to work. Here, it's 5%. And
:20:10. > :20:12.
:20:12. > :20:16.in Cambridge, it's 23%. This special report from Richard Daniel.
:20:17. > :20:22.Jane Thomson used to drive to work but now she has swapped four wheels
:20:22. > :20:28.for two. A six-mile drive from her home in Colchester has become a
:20:28. > :20:32.four mile bike ride on and off road. It is only a chore if it is raining.
:20:32. > :20:38.I did have to bother going to the gym. As a busy mum of two, I don't
:20:38. > :20:43.have the time. So I fit this into part of my working life. She saves
:20:43. > :20:50.more than �3 a day in petrol and parking charges. At the running
:20:50. > :20:54.cost of a car and the real figures are much higher. They call him the
:20:54. > :21:00.cycling champion. In three years, Richard Monk has 3,000 people back
:21:00. > :21:07.on bikes in Colchester. Lottery- funded, his charity organises a to
:21:07. > :21:11.format provides every week, come rain or shine. I've really look
:21:11. > :21:16.forward to coming for my rights. I would really miss it if I couldn't
:21:16. > :21:19.make it. It is not just the health benefits. It is the feeling of
:21:20. > :21:23.confidence people get. The feeling of meeting other people and
:21:24. > :21:28.socialising and the opportunity to open up and stretch out.
:21:28. > :21:33.Cambridge, they are light years ahead. Here, they even text on two
:21:33. > :21:38.wheels. And in the city where even -- where one in four cycle, sales
:21:38. > :21:42.of electric bikes are up. Initially, we were selling to the over-fifties
:21:42. > :21:45.but we have noticed that the commuting market has expanded and
:21:45. > :21:51.more and more people are looking for ways to get to work without
:21:51. > :21:56.getting sweaty. People like Alex frost. Lots of people do the same
:21:56. > :21:59.cycle on a normal bike but I have far too lazy for that so I got
:21:59. > :22:04.myself an electric bike and it makes it easier to get on it in the
:22:04. > :22:08.mornings. After half-an-hour in the saddle, Jane Thompson arrives at
:22:08. > :22:13.work. For her and a growing band of commuters, there is no going back
:22:13. > :22:17.to the car. It's two days to go until Children
:22:17. > :22:20.In Need and all this week, we've been meeting some of the people who
:22:20. > :22:23.were helped by the money you donated last year. Tonight, we have
:22:23. > :22:33.Dan's story. He's a young man whose life has been turned around, thanks
:22:33. > :22:40.
:22:40. > :22:46.Parkour is trying to get around obstacles by the quickest means
:22:46. > :22:51.possible, usually by jumping, climbing or running. It taught me
:22:51. > :22:57.there was more to life than crime. Most people who do crime do it to
:22:57. > :23:02.get a kick out of it, the adrenalin rush. But I gets more of a rush out
:23:02. > :23:06.of parkour because you're constantly testing yourself. Dan's
:23:06. > :23:11.story is typical of many teenagers to get in with the wrong crowd.
:23:11. > :23:16.was in all sorts of trouble, basically. Shoplifting, fighting,
:23:16. > :23:22.general theft. Things reached ahead when he found himself living on the
:23:22. > :23:31.streets. I was 16, I was homeless for three months. Wood has held me
:23:31. > :23:36.develop, it has given me a lot of cobblers. -- parkour. I am in a
:23:36. > :23:41.good place now because I have met a lot of friends beach -- through
:23:41. > :23:50.parkour. I got my job through parkour and this is the first job I
:23:50. > :23:56.have had in over two years. 70,000 -- the �75,000 grant will
:23:56. > :24:05.help people like Dan stay on the straight and narrow. I need a lot
:24:05. > :24:11.of self-control. It has given me a lot of integrity, a lot of respect.
:24:11. > :24:16.Before, I thought that everyone owed me a favour but now I think
:24:16. > :24:22.that I owe everyone a favour. liked to keep fit. You should have
:24:22. > :24:27.a go! I don't think I would be very a go! I don't think I would be very
:24:27. > :24:32.good and bad. Let's get the weather. It has been a chilly start to the
:24:32. > :24:37.dead. What we have got going on at the moment is an area of high
:24:37. > :24:41.pressure centred over Poland that is essentially blocking these
:24:41. > :24:47.Atlantic weather systems that are trying to bring in their wet
:24:47. > :24:50.weather. They are bring in some in to the South West. But it is a
:24:50. > :24:59.little bit cloudier for us tonight. There are clear spells to start
:24:59. > :25:04.with but we will get the odd mist or fog patch. There might be the
:25:04. > :25:12.odd spot or two of light rain or drizzle but for most of us, dry and
:25:12. > :25:17.not as cold. Tempters between four and seven Celsius. -- temperatures.
:25:17. > :25:23.The winds tone more southerly. Around the Norfolk and Suffolk
:25:23. > :25:28.coastline, a moderate breeze. Into tomorrow morning, a gloomy start,
:25:28. > :25:33.some mist to clear up. The cloud could linger for parts of Norfolk,
:25:33. > :25:40.Suffolk and Essex, particularly along the coastal areas. The West
:25:40. > :25:44.will get most of the sunshine. By 2pm, the doubt -- the cloud would
:25:44. > :25:50.have thinned. Temperatures up a little bit tomorrow. The south-
:25:50. > :25:56.westerly wind is working in some milder air. We are expecting a high
:25:56. > :26:00.of 13 Celsius. It stays dry. A bit more sunshine for the east towards
:26:01. > :26:06.the end of the day. Generally, a clear start to denied. For the next
:26:06. > :26:15.few days, it is all about these areas of high pressure that will