:00:09. > :00:18.Welcome to Look East. Education bosses are called to a meeting with
:00:18. > :00:22.the government on the days schools in Norfolk receive more critical
:00:22. > :00:28.Ofsted reports. Also in the programme, the farmer ordered to pay
:00:28. > :00:34.£5,000 after he allowed his arm to be turned into a rubbish dump. Can
:00:34. > :00:39.smaller roads cope after their A14 is closed?
:00:39. > :00:46.If people think they are getting a reasonable deal, they will use it.
:00:46. > :00:49.And the project to restore East Anglia's lack gold.
:00:49. > :01:02.—— black gold. Hello. After months of poor results
:01:02. > :01:05.and low Ofsted ratings, education leaders in Norfolk were summoned to
:01:06. > :01:07.Westminster today to tell the minister how they're planning to
:01:07. > :01:12.improve schools in the county. This week, Ofsted announced its
:01:12. > :01:18.findings from inspections at 18 schools in Norfolk. 14 require
:01:18. > :01:21.improvement. Only three have improved since their last
:01:22. > :01:25.inspection. North Walsham Junior, Ditchingham Church of England
:01:25. > :01:31.Primary and the Cliff Park High School. So how did we get to a point
:01:31. > :01:34.where the Government is asking questions about the quality of
:01:34. > :01:36.schools in Norfolk? This report from Debbie Tubby.
:01:36. > :01:44.These are year 11 English students at Hethersett High. It is one of six
:01:44. > :01:48.schools put into special measures in March. Four months later, Ofsted
:01:48. > :01:54.criticised Norfolk's LEA. The Local Education Authority. It said its
:01:54. > :02:00.arrangements for supporting school improvements were ineffective. I
:02:00. > :02:05.would like each and everyone of you to say, let him have it, Chris. In
:02:05. > :02:09.June, John Catton, a headteacher with 20 years experience, was
:02:09. > :02:14.brought in by the LEA to turn around Hethersett High. Since its GCSE
:02:14. > :02:18.results, it's now classed among the most improved in the county. John
:02:18. > :02:20.Catton credits the staff and pupils and can't fault the LEA's support.
:02:20. > :02:25.The local authority have really pitched in here and done a
:02:25. > :02:29.substantial job of work and they are continuing to do so, data up to the
:02:29. > :02:33.point when it becomes an academy on the 1st of November. It was in
:02:33. > :02:38.March. Ofsted blitzed 28 Norfolk schools in a week. Three out of five
:02:38. > :02:43.were falling short. Some slipping backwards. In June, the director of
:02:43. > :02:47.Children's Services stood down following MP's calls for her
:02:47. > :02:51.resignation. I don't think I'd have failed, and I do not thing the
:02:51. > :02:55.system has failed. The LEA itself was assessed by Ofsted the same
:02:56. > :03:00.month. In July, it revealed the LEA needs to get tough with failing
:03:00. > :03:05.schools. And fast. Today, the Schools Minister, David Laws, has
:03:05. > :03:08.held a meeting with the LEA. And all nine Norfolk MPs are meeting with
:03:09. > :03:12.Ofsted. As a group of Norfolk MPs, we are determined to do all we can
:03:12. > :03:17.to work with the council, government, Ofsted to do what we all
:03:17. > :03:21.know needs to be done to improve the situation for all of Norfolk's
:03:21. > :03:25.children. John Catton says Ofsted was right to place Hethersett High
:03:25. > :03:29.in special measures. But it believes, in the next three years,
:03:29. > :03:38.it will be among the top performing schools in the county.
:03:38. > :03:43.I spoke to Mick Cassell from Norfolk County Council and asked about
:03:43. > :03:48.two—day's meeting. We wanted to tell him we had we were with the
:03:48. > :03:53.improvement programme, what we as a council had done for additional
:03:53. > :04:00.resources, and make it clear to him that we were as committed as he
:04:00. > :04:06.was. Does he think that will do the trick? Part of discussions was
:04:06. > :04:13.external validation for improvement plans. Disappointed that there is
:04:13. > :04:18.another Ofsted reports with so many showing improvement required? I am
:04:18. > :04:22.aware we have a problem that needs addressing, so in some respects,
:04:22. > :04:30.whether it is the report from Ofsted, or exam results, those were
:04:30. > :04:34.not a surprise. You say within three years all schools will reach
:04:34. > :04:40.required standards, or better, but Norfolk has tried so long. How will
:04:40. > :04:45.you do that in three years? We were in the middle of the table in the
:04:45. > :04:49.last few years, only recently that we have sunk to the lower part of
:04:49. > :04:56.league tables, so I am convinced that we have been better in the past
:04:56. > :05:02.and can be better still. Who got it wrong in the past? I was off the
:05:02. > :05:11.Council for a few years. It was not officials? It is always a mixture,
:05:12. > :05:19.resources, choices, you know. Have you got rid of all the people who
:05:19. > :05:23.got it wrong? I do not know.Bite you are confident of getting it
:05:24. > :05:33.right. I know what we have done is right. Someone with a track record
:05:33. > :05:41.of dealing with failing schools, so no qualms about that. Are you
:05:41. > :05:48.surprised MPs from Norfolk have gone to meet Ofsted today? If the ad of
:05:48. > :05:54.goodwill —— if the error of goodwill, we hope we will succeed.
:05:54. > :06:01.They did not be to me beforehand. To me, we have to work together and I
:06:01. > :06:07.think we will. Working together and interfering are two different
:06:07. > :06:12.things. Yes, I have some reservations about the kind of a
:06:13. > :06:21.nascent we have had recently, and it is about the hard work of getting
:06:21. > :06:26.onto the day to day bread and butter issues and important to us that we
:06:26. > :06:31.can take the boxes with some milestones in the road to
:06:31. > :06:36.improvement. Thank you very much. A court's heard how a former BBC
:06:36. > :06:40.Radio Norfolk presenter molested two teenage boys. Michael Souter, who's
:06:40. > :06:42.60, is said to have plied the youngsters with alcohol before
:06:42. > :06:48.indecently assaulting them. He denies a string of abuse charges.
:06:48. > :06:53.Simon Newton was in court. Michael Souter sat in the dock
:06:53. > :06:57.making notes as these two men separately gave evidence from behind
:06:57. > :07:04.a screen. This morning, we heard from man who had a casual job at BBC
:07:04. > :07:08.Radio Norfolk in the 1980s when he was 16. Mike Souter invited him to
:07:08. > :07:13.go round and do odd jobs. One one summer's day, he says Souter offered
:07:13. > :07:16.him alcohol. He drank four or five cans and felt unwell, at which point
:07:16. > :07:21.Souter led him upstairs and have a lay down. Awoke he found his clothes
:07:21. > :07:25.had been removed and Souter molesting him. I said, what are you
:07:25. > :07:33.doing? He said, calm down, don't worry. And what did the other
:07:33. > :07:38.witness have to say? The jury heard how Michael Souter helped set up a
:07:38. > :07:43.scout group in the 1980s. A second man described how when he was 16 he
:07:43. > :07:47.went on a cycling trip to Roughton Mill near Cromer with the presenter.
:07:47. > :07:52.He said Mr Souter brought cans of lager and the pair then slept
:07:53. > :07:55.overnight in the Mill. He said he woke up to see movement in the
:07:55. > :07:59.presenter's sleeping bag. He said, quite quickly, he unzipped my
:07:59. > :08:04.sleeping bag and started to touch me. He said Souter suggested he did
:08:04. > :08:07.the same to him, but he refused. He stayed in the scouts and never
:08:07. > :08:10.mentioned what happened. Largely because of Michael Souter's
:08:10. > :08:17.celebrity status and connections. He didn't think anyone would believe
:08:17. > :08:21.him. Both men refuted claims by the defence that they'd invented the
:08:21. > :08:24.allegations. And denied they'd consented to any sexual activity.
:08:24. > :08:28.Souter denies 19 charges relating to seven boys. The trial is due to last
:08:28. > :08:33.six weeks. Simon, thank you. A former farmer from Essex has been
:08:33. > :08:36.fined for allowing rubbish, which included some medical waste, to be
:08:36. > :08:41.dumped on his land. It cost half a million pounds to clean up the mess
:08:41. > :08:43.on Neil Spooner's farm. Today he was ordered to pay £5,000.
:08:43. > :08:48.It looks like a rubbish dump, but this is actually a farm near
:08:48. > :08:54.Chelmsford. Strewn with tonnes of plastic, glass and wood from skips.
:08:54. > :09:00.The are even hospital dressings, syringes and plastic langue kits.
:09:00. > :09:08.The former Spooner, was sentenced after allowing waste to be —— the
:09:08. > :09:13.farmer, Neil Spooner, was sentenced after allowing waste to be dumped
:09:13. > :09:19.there. But he said he was duped by people who wanted to turn it into a
:09:19. > :09:26.rubbish table. He got into financial difficulty after buying the farm.
:09:26. > :09:30.The court was told that not long afterwards three men in a Mercedes
:09:30. > :09:34.drove up and offered to fill a slurry pit with mud and soil. Mr
:09:34. > :09:41.Spooner gave permission, because he wanted to use the pit for grazing
:09:41. > :09:42.for horses. His job as an economic consultant took him away from the
:09:42. > :09:46.farm, but when he returned, he realised much more than mud and soil
:09:46. > :09:50.had been dumped. The farm effectively used as a tip. It took
:09:50. > :09:59.£1.5 million of the value of the farm, costing so much to clean up.
:09:59. > :10:06.He was fined £2000 and ordered to pay £3000 costs. A very important
:10:06. > :10:11.prosecution, sending a clear message to landowners that you cannot allow
:10:11. > :10:16.anyone onto your land to deposit waste. He was hoping for a clean
:10:16. > :10:22.soils, but ending up with lots of materials that will cost money to be
:10:22. > :10:33.removed. The farmer is now up for sale. Mr Spooner says he still does
:10:33. > :10:38.not know who the three men were. There is growing hope the Lowestoft
:10:38. > :10:43.Airshow could return next year. It's thought to be worth £13 million to
:10:43. > :10:44.the local economy, but was cancelled this summer because not enough
:10:44. > :10:49.funding could be found. Its displays have thrilled the
:10:49. > :10:52.crowds for 17 years, but the organisers failed to raise enough
:10:52. > :10:57.money this year. Funding really should not have been a problem. It
:10:57. > :11:02.costs about £300,000 to stage. But 400,000 people come to watch it,
:11:02. > :11:07.less than £1 per head. Now businesses are trying to raise the
:11:07. > :11:12.£60,000 reserve needed in case the short makes a loss. —— in case the
:11:12. > :11:16.show. ?? YELLOW We think we have found 40,000, and need another 20.
:11:16. > :11:22.So people and businesses of Lowestoft need to come up with
:11:22. > :11:29.pledges for the other 20,000. Do you think you will make it? Yes.Among
:11:29. > :11:38.those pledging support, this hotel. It believes business will be brisk.
:11:38. > :11:46.It brings lots of people, bringing everyone in. But time is tight.
:11:46. > :11:52.There is just over a fortnight to decide whether the deadline can be
:11:52. > :11:55.met to book the Red Arrows. We have this exciting option. All credit to
:11:55. > :11:59.the seafront businesses for coming up with these proposals. If it was
:11:59. > :12:04.not for them, I would not be talking to you. That is growing confidence
:12:04. > :12:14.that, come next June, the skies will be buzzing once more.
:12:14. > :12:25.Still to come, the project to restore thousands of acres of
:12:25. > :12:28.peatland. And a former commander of forces in Afghanistan says the
:12:28. > :12:31.government is creating a part—time Army as it cuts the number of
:12:31. > :12:42.regular soldiers. All this week, we've been looking at
:12:42. > :12:46.the plan to build a new toll road on the A14 in Cambridgeshire. It would
:12:46. > :12:51.mean part of the existing A14 would be demolished to stop drivers using
:12:51. > :12:56.the old road. So if you don't want to pay the toll, the Highways Agency
:12:56. > :12:59.is suggesting drivers could avoid it by travelling via St Neots using the
:12:59. > :13:04.A1 and the A428. But will those roads be able to cope with the extra
:13:04. > :13:04.traffic? Stuart Ratcliffe did the commute this morning.
:13:05. > :13:06.Thrapston, Northamptonshire. Destination Cambridge. And so far so
:13:06. > :13:16.good. We are just approaching the junction
:13:16. > :13:21.for Ellington on the A14 and, in 2019, this is where you would take
:13:21. > :13:25.the toll road cutting through those fields, working through the
:13:25. > :13:31.countryside before rejoining the A14 at the Cambridge services. But we
:13:31. > :13:39.are carrying on on the old A14 to take the recommended diverging
:13:39. > :13:47.route, going down the A14 and across the A428. We are leaving the
:13:47. > :13:53.existing A14, this is the A1 above us and the alternative route if you
:13:53. > :13:59.did not want to take the toll. So down towards St Neots and Cambridge
:13:59. > :14:03.and we have the problems start. And this is what people are worried
:14:03. > :14:12.about. Only a single carriageway at the moment heading towards Caxton.
:14:12. > :14:17.The car has officially ground to a halt. And if it's like this now,
:14:17. > :14:23.people in St Neots are really worried about the future. When the
:14:24. > :14:28.A428 is clogged up with traffic, I have experienced the problems that
:14:28. > :14:34.causes around St Neots, and I do not want to see that regularly. The
:14:34. > :14:40.traffic at St Neots will be horrendous. We will be looking at
:14:40. > :14:49.chaos in time two, they will come down this road, try to get through
:14:49. > :14:55.over little britches. — —— we will be looking at chaos. It is bad
:14:55. > :14:59.enough now. So back to the roads. Even without the toll, how did the
:14:59. > :15:04.government's alternative fare? I guess that was an extra eight miles,
:15:04. > :15:08.taking an extra half an hour, the government's alternative route if
:15:08. > :15:14.you do not want to use the toll road.
:15:14. > :15:19.Philip Gomm is from the RAC Foundation. I asked him what impact
:15:19. > :15:24.he thought an A14 toll would have on other routes. It is a real
:15:24. > :15:29.consideration and potentially a real problem. A lot will depend on
:15:29. > :15:37.pricing. If people think the prices are kept very low, people might be
:15:37. > :15:42.prepared to pay the £1 for what had better be a much better journey.
:15:42. > :15:47.That is not the situation we found on the M6 toll road when unregulated
:15:47. > :15:52.charges mean drivers pay more than £5 per journey and we have seen a
:15:52. > :15:56.lot of existing traffic staying on the old M6 and deciding to take
:15:57. > :16:02.their chances with congestion. The highways agency would say that
:16:02. > :16:08.because of the jams on the A14 there are already diverse as people try to
:16:08. > :16:14.find ways around a serious bottleneck. I remember when the toll
:16:14. > :16:19.was first mooted and this was called a tax on Suffolk. And a lot of
:16:19. > :16:25.viewers again are saying they have already paid for this through their
:16:25. > :16:34.road tax, why pay again? Good point. Drivers contribute billions in fuel
:16:34. > :16:41.duty, before adding VAT, so drivers pay through the nose to use the
:16:41. > :16:46.roads. The irony is this A14 scheme has been around for years. Back in
:16:46. > :16:50.2010, this government cancelled that, now we are going through it
:16:50. > :16:56.all again. They could have taken that taxation money and build the
:16:56. > :17:01.road when it was first mooted. This will be the first ball of its type
:17:01. > :17:06.in the country, but is this the future of road—building? Do you
:17:06. > :17:12.think old roads will have tolls in the future? The government say they
:17:12. > :17:19.are prepared to consider tolls for so—called new capacity. The RAC
:17:19. > :17:25.foundation sees a long—term case for some kind of national road charging,
:17:25. > :17:30.instead of fuel duty, but what we do not see any argument for is this
:17:30. > :17:37.piecemeal approach, essentially creating a postcode lottery. If you
:17:37. > :17:42.use the A14 in East Anglia, with existing taxation, you pay road
:17:42. > :17:48.tolls, something people will clearly be upset about. Thank you.
:17:48. > :17:55.The former commander of British forces in Afghanistan has told Look
:17:55. > :17:59.East the government is creating a part—time army as it cuts the number
:17:59. > :18:03.of regular soldiers. The MOD wants to recruit 11,000 more reservists
:18:03. > :18:07.and has pledged to invest almost £2 billion training and equipping them.
:18:07. > :18:10.Our defence reporter Alex Dunlop has just returned from Croatia, where
:18:10. > :18:15.reservists from the Royal Anglians were on exercise.
:18:15. > :18:21.As the dawn mist rises, a platoon commander urges his men to focus.
:18:21. > :18:25.Pass it down, guys. Part—time soldiers from across the Eastern
:18:25. > :18:30.region on exercise near the Serbian border. The enemy, marked with
:18:30. > :18:43.orange tape, won't give up without a fight. 50 metres! Pass, pass, pass!
:18:43. > :18:48.Doug Farthing, a paratrooper for 23 years before he became a reservist,
:18:48. > :18:54.has done it all before. This his day job now, a professional artist. We
:18:54. > :18:58.do see ourselves being used, as much as already used both in Afghanistan
:18:58. > :19:02.and Iraq. We will be integrating with regular battalions more. And
:19:02. > :19:06.deploying not only on operations, but on overseas exercises as well in
:19:06. > :19:11.the future. The student hopes this will give him an edge, before
:19:11. > :19:16.joining the Army Air Corps. I need something that puts me about the
:19:16. > :19:24.rest. Just the life experience I get from this will hopefully put me
:19:24. > :19:27.above everyone else applying. A soldier to be and are now
:19:27. > :19:33.professional welcomed into the ranks. The vast bulk of the 11,000
:19:33. > :19:38.reservists the army needs by 2020 will be civilians. And so far, not
:19:38. > :19:43.enough people are signing up. The government is investing £1.8 billion
:19:43. > :19:47.into reserves like these. That includes centres for lawyers. But
:19:47. > :19:49.critics say that is a cynical move by making full—time soldiers
:19:49. > :19:55.redundant and effectively hollowing out the army. —— centres for
:19:55. > :20:02.employers. This ex—colonel turned analyst says replacing with
:20:02. > :20:08.reservists is short—sighted. We have seen a crisis in reservists before
:20:08. > :20:15.the government decided to do that. What will that do to the Army? What
:20:15. > :20:19.is behind this is a false edifice. We are increasingly moved towards a
:20:19. > :20:24.part—time army, and civilian army. And an army made up in that way
:20:24. > :20:28.cannot function in the way the British Army has functioned since
:20:28. > :20:30.time immemorial as one of the most respected and professional Armed
:20:30. > :20:36.Forces in the world. A more flexible or more constrained Army? Either
:20:36. > :20:45.way, reservists will have a key role on and behind the front line.
:20:45. > :20:49.This afternoon, I spoke to the Defence Minister and Essex MP Mark
:20:50. > :20:55.Francois, who was a reservist with the Royal Anglians himself. I put it
:20:55. > :20:58.to him that Colonel Kemp believes we could end up with a part—time army.
:20:58. > :21:02.I do not accept that, because reserves will get high—quality
:21:02. > :21:08.training, equipment on a par with the regulars and we will peer
:21:08. > :21:15.reserve units with regular units. You have been looking at Royal
:21:15. > :21:20.Anglian reserve in creation who have been exercising with the 2nd
:21:20. > :21:25.Battalion of the regulars. There is a good example of what we will be
:21:25. > :21:30.doing across the Army of hearing reserve units with regular units,
:21:30. > :21:36.working more closely together, and more capable combine. But we will
:21:36. > :21:41.not be able to carry out the role the British Army has traditionally
:21:41. > :21:48.carried out so many reservists? I do not accept that. Territorial Army
:21:48. > :21:53.units in the Second World War have a proud history. Supporters one thing,
:21:53. > :21:58.but more than one in three soldiers will be reservists, a high number
:21:58. > :22:03.and people high up in the Army concerned about it. There is a high
:22:03. > :22:10.your ratio than that in other armies. Isn't this just about saving
:22:10. > :22:16.money? No, we are be balancing the Army, and the Ministry of Defence
:22:16. > :22:22.has had financial challenges, this is to expand the reserve part of the
:22:22. > :22:27.Army and integrate them more closely with regulars. But not going into
:22:28. > :22:33.the hottest of hot spots, doing back—up work? I do not accept that,
:22:33. > :22:37.we have had some reservists in Afghanistan, in some hotspots, and
:22:38. > :22:46.unfortunately some killed serving their country, just like regulars.
:22:46. > :22:53.Reservists at the sure pound —— sharp end for a number of years. So
:22:53. > :23:01.we do not need a regular army? No, a combination of both. We have always
:23:01. > :23:06.had regulars and reservists. In both the second and First World War,
:23:06. > :23:13.Iraq, Afghanistan, both regulars and reservists have formed well, that
:23:13. > :23:17.has been our tradition for a century and we continue it with this
:23:17. > :23:23.reform, and strengthen it. Thank you.
:23:23. > :23:27.Thousands of acres of peatland are to be restored as part of an
:23:27. > :23:32.ambitious project which could last into the next century. The Great Fen
:23:32. > :23:36.Project in Cambridgeshire is part of a national campaign to bring back
:23:36. > :23:39.our wetlands. There is a huge amount of carbon dioxide in peat. So it's
:23:40. > :23:47.important for all of us to save it. Ghostly and silent. Beautiful in its
:23:47. > :23:51.flatness. And underfoot black gold, the precious peat soil. But this
:23:51. > :23:55.rich organic darkness, the living breathing soul of the Fens, is
:23:55. > :24:00.dying. Intensive drainage projects followed by years of arable
:24:00. > :24:11.cultivation has literally sucked the life out of the landscape. Back in
:24:11. > :24:14.1850, this was completely drained and the people behind that
:24:14. > :24:23.controversial drainage project put in this metal pole to show the
:24:23. > :24:29.impact of drainage on peat soil. And ground level was at the very top.
:24:29. > :24:35.Research shows two centimetres of parched peat is lost every year.
:24:35. > :24:38.Known as a Fen Blow, the black dust clouds fill the skies. But the
:24:38. > :24:41.environmental impact potentially devastating. Peatland is a very
:24:42. > :24:50.valuable means of locking carbon dioxide into the soil. When peatland
:24:50. > :24:56.dries out, when peat dries out, it releases carbon dioxide, which is a
:24:56. > :25:00.greenhouse gas. But by re—wetting peatland, we can lock some of that
:25:00. > :25:05.carbon dioxide. From Trundlemere Hide, you can see this vast
:25:05. > :25:10.landscape changing. Islands rise up from the earth. Newly dug waterways
:25:10. > :25:17.rehydrate the soil. Pools and ponds are filling up. It will be one of
:25:17. > :25:22.the most important reedbeds. About 30 hectares. Within five to ten
:25:23. > :25:28.years, this whole landscape will be entirely transformed as far as the
:25:28. > :25:32.eye can see, all the way to the horizon there. And we will get
:25:32. > :25:36.wetland species moving in. It will take a long time to lick the wounds
:25:37. > :25:38.inflicted on this damaged land. Up to a 100 years before it is truly
:25:38. > :25:47.healed. It looked autumnal. Now for the
:25:47. > :25:52.weather. Low pressure and whether fronts is the theme this week.
:25:52. > :25:53.This front has been responsible for a lot of cloud.
:25:54. > :26:06.It has made things quite gloomy. Expect light and patchy rain, some
:26:06. > :26:12.drizzle here and there, but petering out. By the end of the night, we
:26:12. > :26:18.should be largely drive. A lot of cloud of around. —— we should be
:26:18. > :26:31.largely dry. Quite a bit of cloud around first
:26:31. > :26:36.thing, then something brighter, some sunshine perhaps breaking through
:26:36. > :26:45.the cloud. Much warmer air tomorrow, so temperatures climbing. Like
:26:45. > :26:51.south—westerly wind. 18, 19, perhaps 20 degrees in places, then
:26:51. > :26:58.increasing cloud later tomorrow, and the next month, more potent, with
:26:58. > :27:02.more rain. The rain chatting eastwards overnight into early
:27:02. > :27:09.Friday morning, and more persistent and heavy. Some uncertainty for
:27:09. > :27:16.Saturday. Low pressure from the South. Will that mean rain? Maybe it
:27:16. > :27:22.does. But stay tuned, because that is some uncertainty. Overnight rain
:27:22. > :27:29.for Thursday, clearing first thing Friday morning, then not a bad day,
:27:29. > :27:34.quite a lot of cloud, but largely dry for the bulk of the day, the
:27:34. > :27:39.chance of rain on Saturday. Not bad on Sunday, chilly overnight. That is
:27:39. > :27:46.it. From all of us here, thank you for
:27:46. > :27:46.your company this evening. We will see you tomorrow night.