18/01/2012 Look East - East

Unemployment in the East is up by 18,000. We've been speaking to

people who have lost their jobs. Realistically, if things don't

change in the next two to three months we will have to think about

selling the house. Hello and welcome to Look East.

Also tonight: The changing face of our health

service. Getting out to patients before they pitch up at hospital.

Plans to build an incinerator in King's Lynn get a multi-million

pound boost. We're live at the site. And the Olympic dreams of two of

First, another big rise in unemployment for our region, as the

economy continues to struggle. The jobless figure in this region

now stands at 220,000, an increase of 18,000 on the previous quarter.

If we look back over the past 20 years, this graph shows the jobless

total, he can see it hit a high of 246,000 in 1993. There were a few

low points in 2001 and 2003, when it dropped below 100,000, but since

then it has been going up. Today we are at 220,000. This means that

across the region, people are looking for work. Many are also

thinking about becoming self- employed. Groups are springing up

to help them. Pay attention. Your future may

depend on it. Every month, these unemployed people meet in Ipswich.

They want to set up their own business. This enterprise club

gives them advice. Carl Bennet was made redundant by an electrical

wholesaler last year. He is setting up as a UK distributor for an elite

the lighting company until she makes sales. With a wife and three

young children to support, the pressure is on. Realistically, if

things do not change in the next two or three months, then we will

have to think about selling the house. We have to think about

relocating caught doing something different. It is not through the

want of trying. The Enterprise Club helps a mixed bunch. Everyone from

a former librarian to an ex-convict. Curtis Blanc is the ex-convicts. He

wants to start a sound recording business. It is about watchable and

who you know. There are a lot of people out there who want to

support people. If you are interested and venture out, and get

that support, do not be too ignorant about it and think you can

do it yourself, it does not work like that.

Kate Byford is the former librarian, her business will teach older

people computer skills. It is all different after all of these years

of the Labour government. How well you know when you have succeeded?

When I can sign of jobseeker's and know that I have enough money

coming in to pay the bills. They come from all walks of life, and

that is what is so interesting about it. It goes to show that

anyone given the right encouragement has what it takes to

start a successful business. club has only been going for one

year, but already claims to have sport 37 businesses and 730 jobs.

Much depends on every job. We saw 246,000 in the early 90s, to

London 20,000 now, are we going back to that high? We are within

spitting distance. It may be that we have reached that total. Even if

we do, I would argue that the situation is not, even though it is

serious, it is not as serious as the early 90s. Our population has

grown. In 1983, when it was to under 46,000, the unemployment rate

was a high percentage of the population. Today it is not quite

as high. Our population has gone up and the workforce has also

increased. That makes a big difference to the unemployment rate.

The Prime Minister has been saying that more people are in work this

month, and that matters was you're saying. In part, it does. Some of

that number could be that there is more part-time work rather than

full time. Next, views of a �0.5 billion plan

to redevelop one of our new towns. Basildon says it wants to

completely redesign its town centre. It will take up to 20 years, but it

should create jobs in the long run. Some light relief today in Basildon.

It needs it. The vibrant and exciting it is not. Even locals

turn their backs on the town to unwind and relax. We have to travel

to the West End, Romford, everywhere around here is closed.

You need better restaurants round here, fancier restaurants. Close

down a few pubs and get rid of the drunks and you'll be all right.

A few are in a hurry, the weekly groceries can be gone in safely.

The advertisement for the new town offered so much, but at night,

Basildon MPs. Even this Macdonald's shuts up shop by the evening. This

man has a �0.5 billion plan. would like a town centre at

operating 19 our day. I would like the town centre to close at one or

two in the morning. I also once the housing to work too. Through a

private partnership, the council plans to remodel the square,

complete with a 12 screen cinema and restaurant. The new college for

2,000 students, and there would be up to 2,000 town centre homes. Sena

and's Square would house the new market. Will the private sector

find the 1/2 billion pounds needed? The rewards are potentially very

great if they do pull it off. And so, I think there is enough

incentive for the business community to pull together.

dizzy 20 you plan, one of the biggest plans for redevelopment in

the country. If they pull it off, there really will be reasons to be

cheerful. Meanwhile, another written by the

Government could have a huge impact on the future of this region, its

economy at airports. Ministers want to consider building a completely

new airport with the Thames estuary. Opinion is very divided over

whether it is really good idea. Depending on your point of view, it

is either a very ambitious or a totally foolhardy plan. The �50

billion airport in the tense, the biggest in the world, with four

runways and the potential to handle 150 million passengers per year.

They could be very expensive, and I'm usually very strongly against

the government spending our money. But the cost of this airport could

be a little bit less than the cost of holding that 16 belong sporting

event known as the Olympics. If we can afford the Olympics, we can

afford to give ourselves the sort of airport that would allow us to

remain competitive as the country. The idea has been around for years,

but now it is being taken more seriously. There are concerns from

those who would be living across the water. They would be in

fighting a traffic noise on good residents who are currently living

any tackle part of the world. The other is, how would our

infrastructure called? This is Hong Kong's airport, into the sea. Proof

that such a project can work. It could have a big impact on our

other airports. Southend, which is starting to grow, would struggle to

compete. Any plans for a new runway at Stansted would be gone for good.

Environmental groups are also worried. This will be very bad news

for the people of Essex. We're talking about huge amounts of

traffic. Huge amounts of noise pollution. Why is this run may be

great here when it was refused at Heathrow? The backdrop to all this

is that despite the current downturn, there is no demand for

the aviation industry for not demanding the south-east. Heathrow

is full, something else is urgently needed.

All the talk has been about Boris Ireland. This consultation will

look at airport capacity across the south-east. Luton, south-east and

Stansted will all be in the melting pot. If Boris Ireland is not

approved, they will have to the expansion somewhere else.

They later in the programme, the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley on

why prevention is better than cure. Cost, wheelchair can, the any

prospective as to athletes from our region battle for a place at the

Paralympics. The government has approved the

funding for a multi-million pound waste incinerator in King's Lynn.

Campaigners have been fighting the plan for really two years.

This is the area of King's Lynn where the plan -- plant waste

incinerator could be built. Just down the road is the speedway track,

and we are around half a mile from the town centre of King's Lynn,

which is what campaigners are particularly worried about. If the

incinerator gets the go-ahead, Norfolk county council say it will

burn three-quarters of his older's always been awful, and provide

enough power for 34,000 homes. This is what Norfolk County Council had

to say earlier about the decision. Waste is an enormous problem, and

best, hope for is going TB at the moment, we're spending tens of

millions of pounds sending rubbish to landfill, which is not

sustainable. This plant will generate electricity, reduce the

amount of land fell and is something that Norfolk really need.

Richard Burton has been campaigning against this incinerator and trying

to be now. How do you feel about this decision? I think it is

tearing up the localism agenda. We had a local poll here, and 65,000

people voted against it. That is 92%. The most overwhelming vote in

British electoral history. When the county council took its own

consultation, only 37 people were in favour. Why do you feel so

strongly about this? Gate is a democratic issue. If you look at

some of the effects of the incinerator, it is the worst option,

apart from landfill. It will have a bigger car run footprint than any

alternative, and is likely to cost a lot more. Clearly, campaigners

planning to fight on. The police have confirmed one of

the men found dead in Braintree had previously threatened to kill

another neighbour. Richard Wright had a list of previous convictions

dating back more than ten years. Garreth George is in Charles for

now. Alan Taylor and Richard White were

neighbours. They live at number seven and number eight Eagle Lane

in Braintree. The bodies were discovered to on Sunday evening and

ever since, police have been trying to find out exactly what led to

their two deaths. This morning, the results of the post-mortem

examinations came through. They confirmed that Mr White died from

stab wounds, and that Mr Taylor, according to a post mortem, died

from natural causes, of a heart attack we understand. Police say

they are not looking for anyone else in connection with these

deaths. We understand that the two had been involved in neighbour

disputes. What became clearer today is the extent of the problems that

Mr White had been causing a needle in. A string of court appearances

and convictions in 2001. He was convicted of threatening to kill a

neighbour. In 2004, he was convicted of assault. There have

also been convictions for public order offences and harassment. At

least two of those involved Alan Taylor. Police are still trying to

find out exactly what led to this tragedy. Forensic tests are still

going on. Mr White's car is one of the first items that forensic

experts took away from Eagle Lane. One suggestion is that he arguments

had involved parking, so a further examination of that car could be

extremely useful to them. In Braintree over the past few weeks

and buts, there have been a number of unexplained deaths and today the

council moved to reassure people ability in Braintree that it is a

safe area and crime is relatively low.

Plans to open a freeze billion Beccles have been delayed for at

least two years. At instead, the organisers will set up in an

existing building on the outskirts of Lowestoft. One headmaster said

the school was not needed, but some parents say it will give them more

tries. What other ideas to they have? This high school is doing

well. So why, he argues, does Beccles need another one? He

compares it to the choice of having a supermarket or to corner shops.

You have more choice with the corner shops, but you have less

choice in a sense. Two schools will mean less choice. We can put on a

wider curriculum because we have the students and therefore the

funding to do that. What lessons we can offer less in terms of

curriculum choice. The proposed site for the Prix -- for the Free

Schools is due to close under a reorganisation on education in

Suffolk. Jeremy argues that his school had been offered the safer

the past two years. This primary- school six miles away is about to

close. From September, the free school will be placed here with

pupils aged 11 to 16. In 2014, the trust behind it will then move the

whole school to Beccles. Because my daughter is in here eight, who

knows whether it will work you back she could be a guinea pig, we just

don't know. I can understand that there are some issues for parents,

but in our case, they have gone because we have been running the

school for many years and been very successful at it. Free from local

authority control, Free Schools get direct government funding. They

have more control over things like their curriculum, budget and

teachers' conditions. This region already has two Free Schools. There

are proposals to open three more this year. All courses of the Free

Schools are already claiming partial victory, with those behind

it asking about numbers and the school's location. Local people

In football, Norwich City look set to sign the Leeds United captain.

Jonny Howson. The 23-year-old midfielder had six months left on

his contract with the Championship club. Leeds say they have

reluctantly accepted an offer for the former England Under 21.

The motor-racing company Caterham is moving its Formula One base from

Norfolk to Oxfordshire. They want to have the F1 team and sportscar

company under one roof. Last year they changed their name from Team

Lotus after losing a legal battle. Caterham's current base in Hingham

will be retained as the engineering support facility. Heikki Kovalainen

and Jarno Trulli have already been confirmed as the team's drivers for

Yesterday we told you about a new health team in Bedford, which has

reduced the numbers of elderly people being admitted to hospital

by more than a third. They've done it simply by visiting care homes

every week to monitor the health of residents.

In essence, it's the old saying: prevention is better than cure.

Today we report from a second, award-winning project. This one is

aimed at reaching people who might not normally turn up for the normal

health checks. In the business community, they

call it lean management, engaging frontline staff. Apologies, that is

due to follow our report from that award-winning project. We will see

if we can get to that before we hear from the health secretary. The

report now. I'm going to do your health check.

We seem to be having problems! We will get the report and then we

will hear from the Health Secretary. I'm going to do your health check

today. I will be doing your blood cholesterol for which I will give

your results today, your blood glucose and blood pressure and

there we would discuss the results later. It is a fall MoT for those

aged 14 to 74. Today, they are with the Bangladeshi community. They are

busy so they are probably working night shifts. They do not have time

to go to the doctors. They can -- we can advertising and they can

just come when they are available. In it is these deprived groups they

carry the most health risks. Her we are not here to preach. We are

about making them aware and showing them that we care about them. GPs

in Bedfordshire it really do care. When cuts a happen, it is wonderful

that they are enhancing the service rather than reducing it.

Your bad cholesterol is 3.77 and we like it to be less than three.

will be given advice on exercise, diet and further help. We send

people to wait slimming clubs and we have good evidence that these

people stay for longer than other people, lose more weight than

others, and as a consequence, it is reasonable for us to suggest they

are less likely to get tied to die BT's. Ultimately, they want people

to help themselves, so that their health is not a burden to

themselves or the NHS. We would love to hear what you have

to say about that story. You can contact us in the normal way. That

is by phone, e-mail all our Facebook page.

Andrew Lansley is the Health Secretary. When I spoke to him this

afternoon, I started by asking about the work they are doing in

Bedfordshire to keep people out of hospital.

It is what I think in the business community decor lean management,

engaging frontline staff in a driving improvements. What you have

been showing from Bedfordshire is how up frontline staff getting

together in the technical commissioning group have been

designing new ways of delivering better care for their patients.

That is really commendable. They have to do things like this because

they need to save across the service �20 billion by 2014. Over

the course of five years, as you say, we need to save money in the

NHS in order to invest it for the benefit of patients. It is not that

the budget is being cut only in Bedfordshire. Next year, the budget

will go up by a �17 million. But that does not mean it will be

enough to need all the night -- the needs and pressures and demands

that are on us in the NHS if we carry on doing the same things in

the same way. Logically if you push this forward, it will mean that we

will need fewer hospitals. It does have an impact on hospitals.

Because we have got an ageing population, and age is the

principal driver of health need, we have got underlying pressures. What

it means is if we manage our services better, we can respond to

all that extra demand. It means in hospitals, they can be more focused

on day-case surgery or diagnostic activity and treatments without

necessarily having quite so many patients in beds to the extent that

we used to have in the past. But the quality overall and the results

we deliver for patients, they can improve. The no more hospital

closures and better service? don't think it is about hospital

closures at all. It is about reshaping the services we provide.

There will be increased support for patients in the community. There

will be a change in the way things are done in hospitals, and there

may be a change in where things are done because sometimes it is

important for patients to access specialist care at specialist

centres. Overall, we should be constantly focused on what is in

the patient's best interests. I want to us to be measured not on

how many hospital beds we have got, but measured on what are the

results we are achieving for patients. Minister, thank you.

One of our best hopes for a medal in this year's Paralympic Games is

the women's wheelchair basketball team. The side will be picked at

Easter, and could include two athletes from our region.

As part of a special BBC East programme, Olympic medalist Gail

Emms from Milton Keynes has been to meet them at a weekend training

camp. Let's go. The Friday session is the

loose enough for a hard weekend. They will train and a 10:00pm. Some

have not stop to eat. By the time they pack up and head for the hotel,

it will be 11:00pm. They will need to be up for breakfast by 8 am. For

Caroline, this will be her 4th games. This 18-year-old is hoping

it will be her first. They are the Norfolk, Suffolk massive in the GB

team and have become good friends. She keeps me going. I'm -- if I'm

ever down, I go to a me because she is just stupid! Amy lost her left

leg to cancer when she was 14. Caroline reacted badly to a polo

doubt as a child. Now entered by Amy -- with a men to, Amy has

become a great player. 2011 was the best year for this

team, they want gold and two bronze medals. But that is so last year,

because what really happens is what happens in 2012. The hardest part

of my job will be to get the teams ready. It will be a tough decision,

but it will be the right decision. There will be a call at the step to

decide the final squad for 2012. Are you prepared? I don't think you

can ever prepare yourself. In your mind, you are always working

towards thinking that you will be selected and you can't think any

difference, but when it comes down to it it is scary.

It will be the perfect story for both players to be picked for the

Paralympic Games. As for their perfect ending, let's hope the

streets of London are paved with gold.

Fantastic. Imagine waiting, all that hard work and you don't know

whether you will make it. It is a great sport.

And that special BBC East programme Today has been an entirely

different day of weather. Much market conditions, temperatures

into double figures, but also cloudy. Conditions, as you can see,

have been different. You can see this weather front crossing through

the day. It brought patchy rain and milder conditions behind it. But

this cold front is the next bit of whether that will cross the region,

bringing further rain, and also cooler conditions behind a. For

this evening, patchy rain possible. Later in the night, it could turn

heavy in places. It stays mild under the cloudy skies with the

rain. Temperatures are not expected to go lower than five, with many

locations around six or seven. The winds are light generally. Tomorrow,

that weather front clears away it swiftly, introducing behind it some

cooler air. The rain will clear first thing and you will see from

the air mass chart that the mild air gets pushed away with this

colder air flooding in across the UK. Tomorrow, expect a cloudy start

with rain clearing first thing. It will start to brighten up with the

cloud breaking up to allow brightness through. In the

afternoon, we will feel cooler and fresher conditions are returning.

Here is the rainfall. In the south of the region, potentially heavy

rain back -- rain, but it quickly moves away from the day. That cloud

breaks up to allow sunshine to break through. In terms of

temperatures, it will not be as mild as today, still above average

for this time of year. Temperatures peaking around seven degrees. It

should stay dry for most of us through the afternoon. A couple of

isolated showers, possible on that Norfolk coast, but most places will

be dry. The next five days is like this: A Friday, a fairly cloudy day.

Most of it should be tried, but later we are expecting rainfall.

That will continue overnight. Potentially a damp start for the

weekend. A lot of cloud on Saturday, above average temperatures, in two

Sunday, a drier with potentially brighter spells. Wins the Cup on

Sunday. -- winds pick up on Sunday. We will be mild tonight, tomorrow

night down to two degrees. A possible touch of ground frost.

Mild on Friday as well, warmer overnight and during the day.

Sunday and Monday could bring low temperatures. Tonight is the last