07/11/2013 Look East - East

Chancellor George Osborne made the announcement during a visit today.

Tonight, a promise from the Government ` "We are deadly

in the Keys tonight, protests at the Chancellor comes to Norfolk to

announce faster trains between Norwich, Ipswich and London. Also

tonight, really 20% of schools in Suffolk are still not good enough,

according to Ofsted. We need more really good headteachers and we need

to raise our game. The former consultant at Colchester Hospital

says the cancer scandal there is just the tip of the iceberg.

And the driverless cars of the future, coming soon to Milton

Keynes. Hello. Tonight, a promise from the Government ` "We are deadly

serious about speeding up journey times by train between Suffolk,

Norfolk, and London". The Chancellor George Osborne made the announcement

during a visit today. He wants passengers to be able to get from

Norwich to London in 90 minutes, and Ipswich to London in 60 minutes. But

here's the catch ` there's no more money. On schedule at Norwich train

station, the Chancellor announced he is setting up a task force looking

at ways for speeding up rail services but there is as yet no

money to turn it into a reality. I wouldn't be here supporting this

campaign, this is a priority for the country and for East Anglia.

Regional MPs have campaigned for investment in our train services,

especially faster trains. It is estimated they would Bill `` bring

?2.5 billion worth of economic benefits, and with budget for real

improvements allocated until 2019, we're not expected to run for

several years. The task force will draw up the actions that will get us

to Norwich in 90, I would expect several of those to feature in the

franchise and will expect many to be made expertly clear as to his

possible. At present there are just two trains

a day travelling between Norwich and the capital, most of which take 102

minutes. Most take longer, so Norwich in 90 minutes could save

between 12 to 27 minutes. From its books, the fastest train takes

between 67 and 73 minutes, so Ipswich in 60 could save time.

Brilliant, but what is more Porton is that they run to time. Upgrades

would be needed to the track, level crossings and signalling, and the

trains would need to be replaced or modified. This is the first time we

have had top`level government commitment to upgrade the line and

improve these rails that we in East Anglia have been pushing for. George

Osborne caught the 1730 train back to London. In future, he could get

back to the capital much faster. The Chancellor spent the day in the

region visiting local firms. He was lobbied wherever he went about

transport issues, the lack of decent broadband and the need for more

Government investment. We'll hear from him in a moment, but first,

this from our political correspondent Andrew Sinclair. The

Chancellor is looking for signs of business confidence, so they invited

him to the Birds Eye factory in Lowestoft coming the biggest

employer in the town which has recently increased investment. This

afternoon he was with a construction company in Norwich as he looked at

one of the city 's new free schools. It also employs apprentices, all

staff he likes to hear. Cancers of the exchequer don't come to this

part of the world often, so for the business community, it is a chance

to chew of the region's successes and also to say they need a lot more

investment from the government. Wherever he went, the Chancellor was

told the same thing investment like the A11 upgrade is welcome but for

business to do well, we need more. For a long time we were ignored and

we're catching up to be done, especially rail and broadband

coverage because businesses cannot do them that themselves, they can

find new customers that they need infrastructure to grow. The other

big bugbear, the planned toll road for the A14. It is a geographical

tax on East Anglia. East Anglia is a positive contributor to the

exchequer and businesses are getting tired of the inconsistency of

government transport policies. Protests of another kind at the

Chancellor arrived at a Norwich hotel to address business leaders.

It remind that some people have bound austerity hard. We came here

to make it known to him how angry we are. We represent hundreds of

thousands of North people suffering from cuts. The Chancellor accepts

things have been tough but he says we have turned a corner. The message

from the region, don't forget about us.

I spoke to the Chancellor of the Exchequer during his visit and put

it to him that the East was a net contributor to the UK's finances `

unlike most other regions, we give more than we get back from the

government. Was that fair? One of the reasons I am here in Norfolk and

Suffolk today is to make sure that as our economy recovers, this part

of the country benefits, that jobs are created here, but Mrs do well

and that means investing taxpayers' money in infrastructure, whether it

is a rail links or new roads or widening existing roads or schools

like this free school in Norwich, these are essential parts of getting

the ingredients right so it is not just the City of London that

succeeds, as was the case ten years ago, but the whole country. But we

are still behind the curve in this region with things like transport

and infrastructure and businesses are concerned about broadband. We

are putting money into the A11, the North distributor road is going

ahead, this free school in Norwich, the science park at the University,

there is a lot going on, but I want to hear what more government can do

for people, I was in Lowestoft hearing how important the A11 is to

East Anglia, so I want to know what more government can do. Broadband is

very important sees as a rural part of the country and we are extending

broadband to 95% of the population, so we are here to help businesses

succeed, to make sure as Britain turns the corner, jobs and

investment can do. You mentioned 95% but a lot of people watching this

programme we'll be part of the 5% and are not seeing superfast

broadband, and are concerned about the affect it is having on their

businesses. We will not leave anyone behind because broadband is to the

21st`century what motorways and canals were two previous centuries,

a vital part of Britain competing. I have seen businesses here today

competing around the world and sending their designs around the

world on the internet, so whether it is broadband or roads or education,

the government's purity is infrastructure so business can

succeed and we are providing an economic plan that allows this to

happen. You didn't mention the A14, a lot of opposition to the fact it

will be a toll road people feel that as attacks on drivers and businesses

here. I hear a lot of people are worried about the tolls. I will take

that seriously, I am here to listen to people on the A14, but whatever

we do we want that road improved because it is so important for this

part of the world, so it is a top priority, whether we proceed with

tolls, we are listening. The Chancellor.

Nearly 20% of schools in Suffolk are still not good enough, according to

the education watchdog Ofsted. It says not enough is being done to

improve standards of schools in Suffolk. Inspectors went to 33

schools in September, and found that nearly one in five was inadequate.

Who would want to teach in Suffolk was back these new recruits being

train today are training to become teachers and many want to stay. We

hopefully will become teachers so teachers are being trained who will

go on to be teachers. But back to the present, Suffolk is in the

educational slow Lane according to Ofsted. Too many like behind the

national average, at why and who is to blame? I think it is the

council, schools, headteachers across the country that need to work

together supporting each other to make sure things get better for

young people. The blame has to lie with Suffolk County Council and with

councillors who have cut a lot of things that would have helped raise

attainment and standards in Suffolk. We do not yet have the kind of drive

and motivation in our schools to make sure they are copying what some

of the best schools in the country are achieving in very difficult and

challenging circumstances. There is an underlying feeling here that a

lot of government money and effort has been poured into inner`city

schools to bring them up to scratch, and coastal counties like Norfolk

and Suffolk have been overlooked. Results are better than they were

and they are going in the right direction and we have more schools

improving than declining, but we need to pick up the case and

everybody needs to come on board. The head of the school in Bury Saint

Edmunds says the overriding priority must be to recruit and hold on to

recruit and hold onto the best teachers. We are seeing the usual

pantomime of people blaming everybody else but it is about what

happens in the classroom, we need more good headteachers and we need

to raise our game and we need to say good enough is no longer Goodenough.

So many factors have held back local schools but Suffolk, not Goodenough,

must do better. A former consultant at Colchester

Hospital has told Look East he believes the claims that cancer

patients' records were falsified is just the tip of the iceberg. Dr Marc

Aitken says it's a culture he believes exists in other hospitals

too. Colchester General has promised to have a full external

investigation. Gareth George is outside the hospital now.

Ever since that report suggesting staff here were bullied to alter the

medical records of cancer patients, neither have been contacting look

East, concerned about the treatment their loved ones received here and

one of them was Alan Stewart. His brother David died of cancer. Mr

Stewart believes the cancer should have been diagnosed earlier. This

was his reaction to the scandal surrounding cancer care at

Colchester Hospital. Absolute anger that these things were obviously a

problem when my brother was in hospital and are still a problem

now. They haven't changed. The hospital has been under intense

scrutiny since a health watchdog says staff were bullied to alter the

medical records of cancer patients. A former consultant sacked as a

governor three years ago says the intense pressure to meet performance

targets might be the problem. The pressure is there because if you

don't hit the targets, the hospital will be highlighted as a failing

hospital, and that carries penalties. If you don't earn the

money because you are not getting those targets, then you have less

money to spend on the resources you need to hit those targets. So it is

a vicious circle. I suspect this is a culture that does not just belong

to Colchester, it is probably seen elsewhere. This is the Essex County

Hospital, where much of the health trust's cancer treatment takes

place, and it is likely that many Haitians affected by the alteration

of records will have come here are still being treated here. Tomorrow a

group representing patients will meet the trust. We welcome the steps

that have already been taken but we need to know for the patients and

the public that this kind of thing won't happen again. The trust says

it will soon give more details of the investigation it has ordered.

And we have a view more of those details. We know the investigation

will be carried out by people outside the health trust, we know it

will look at the response of senior staff to the concerns of

whistle`blowers, hotline still operating, the number for cancer

patients and their families to ring if they are worried, operating ATM

to 8pm. A secondary school in Essex will

close despite a six`month campaign to save it by parents and pupils.

County councillors took a final vote on its future this morning. They say

the Deanes School at Thundersley is not attracting enough pupils. A

final report by council officers said the school was not viable.

Still to come, we are the biggest online retailer Amazon as they

prepare for the Christmas rush. And the cars of the future for the

pavements of Milton Keynes. A vast new port has begun operating

today in Essex. London Gateway can take ships carrying 22,000

containers. To make the super`port, they dredged a channel 100 miles out

into the North Sea. So what does that mean for Felixstowe, currently

the busiest container port in Britain? Unloading today, London

Gateway's first paying customer, a cargo ship from South Africa

carrying wine, fruit and car parts. The first scheduled vessel to dock

at the region's new super port. London Gateway is a ?1.5 billion

investment by DP world on the north bank of the Thames. Only its first

phase open today but when complete it will be able to unload sex of the

biggest container ships at the same time. It is a threat to Felixstowe

up the coast, but so far none of Felixstowe's customers have been

persuaded to move. You have to remember we are not the finished

article yet. We could only handle one ship at a time so we have to

make sure we don't bite off more than we can chew. We have 1 million

containers on our doorstep. We have 15 million consumers living within

50 miles of us. We have your's biggest logistics park here was that

the proposition you have here in the UK market is unique. Goods entering

Britain through Felixstowe travel to warehouses in the Midlands and are

then distributed throughout the UK. London Gateway will allow ships

direct access to the south`east. London Gateway is known to have been

targeting Felixstowe's customers. It really wants to sign up one of the

big Asian shipping lines, but for now they seem to be sticking with

what they know and trust here at the `` here at fixed though. Much rests

on them continuing to do so. Nearly 10,000 jobs depend on fixed though,

including 15 at this local Hollier. Felixstowe will remain a premier

port, that won't change. London Gateway will bring something new to

the region and the East Coast and I think that is fantastic. I'm sure

fixed though will cope with the additional competition. Felixstowe

have superb facilities, many years of experience, superb road and rail

links, the best hub for UK ports. Felixstowe declined to comment.

Sources within the industry say the big shipping lines are waiting to

see how London Gateway's first few months ago. If it works well, some

business will be shifted at Felixstowe's edition close to the

main giving roots of Europe counts for a lot.

Every year we hear about the number of people being employed to make

sure our Christmas presents reach us in time. Usually it's the Royal

Mail, but right now the online retailer Amazon is at it as well.

Little else will be very busy soon. So what happens after you fill your

basket and proceed to checkout? Anna Todd has been inside the company's

distribution centre in Peterborough. Chances are everything on your

Christmas list is in here, 100 million items under one roof. Amazon

people don't work in years but in peaks, and Christmases, when daily

orders go from thousands to millions. Unit is a big increase.

There are trolleys everywhere, there are thousands of people standing

there. December the 3rd last year became known as cyber Monday with

orders for over 3.5 million items, packed at a rate of 41 per second.

Trucks leaving every two minutes and ten seconds, hardly surprising they

need over 1000 extra staff to help out. But there has been criticism of

how the company treats its seasonal tents. We don't take someone on and

then drop them, from the moment they start in peak they go through until

the end of peak. We have had some complaints they get taken on over

Christmas and then dropped like a stone, what would you say? I would

say that may have been through a couple of years ago before we had

more sophisticated recruiting systems, so there were a couple of

instances, but we have more submitted planning and we can be

very exact. We didn't have that issue last Christmas and don't

expect to have it this year. So what happens when you place your order? A

scanner at a sat`nav did a paper to a tower. They locate your product

and that is delivered to the backing team, who thought it in a box and

send it off to the address. What I find weird on this corridor is the

randomness in everything. You have take children's headphones next to

baby ointment next to a Harry Potter box set, but this is because not

only is there amazing human technology, but by putting things

different next to each other, there is less room to ever. `` less room

for mistakes. There are no zero are contracts for staff. Amazon says

it's best of machine is not only slick but fair. That is a great

fight. `` a great fact. When it comes to public transport,

lots of us go by bus and train every day. But how about jumping into a

space age pod that drives itself? Well, that's how you'll be able to

get around in Milton Keynes in two years' time. The Government's given

?1.5 million to the project. Milton Keynes will be the first place in

the country to test out these driverless vehicles. Is this the

future of public transport? Holds that can carry two people shuttling

back and forth. Jump in and the pod will drive itself to where you want

to go. Let's say you've just arrived at the train station. Using software

on your phone, you can summon a pod and paid for it. Then, you will be

able to travel about a mile into Milton Keynes to businesses and

shopping centres. From here you can take a bus or a taxi, but will

people travel by pod? It is a good idea, I guess it is eco`friendly.

Would you use it? I think so. No, because I would rather walk. I would

be safer. I love technology so I would be up for it. Away from the

cars, powered by Eckersley, the polls will travel along the medieval

ways. You can check e`mails and catch up on news while special

centres mini review away from obstacles in your path. Will they be

nervous? Will be nervous? Weatherby issues about children running

around? How do we make sure everyone is comfortable? That is part of the

pilot process, testing how people deal with the new technology and new

opportunities. Can we be confident it is safe? In the US, Google cars

have already clocked up 300,000 miles. The first trial pods will

have drivers but by 2017, 100 are planned here, all driverless. A lot

of technologies that the pod will have, you can start to see current

day cards in different forms, so satellite navigation, adaptive

cruise control that can work out where the cars in front are, even

self parking. By 2015 they will have arrived. Milton Keynes, testing new

ways we get around. Looks good, doesn't it? I would like

my car to do that. The Suffolk artist Marc Brown goes

for a swim in the sea most mornings. But last year, Marc went swimming

every morning, and every morning he took a photo of himself. Now he has

turned all those photographs into a video which is being shown at an

exhibition in Southwold. Mike Liggins, who very rarely swims in

the sea, has been to find out more. The beach at Southwold, and artist

Marc Brown strips off for a dip in the sea. He was born in the town and

the coastal landscape is what he paints but swimming in November, I

was cold watching. But he loves it. Perfect! What the light? Wonderful.

So wonderful that last year, Marc went into the sea every day and took

a further grab. Now put together as a 30 minute film, the result is

men's `` mesmerising. The film is on show at the gallery he shares with

his fiancee, I say on show because you wouldn't want to take a coach

party to this exhibition. It is a small space but the film is worth

seeing. Is it art? I wouldn't put the Tiger of art on it. It is more a

personal project for me. I would call it an experiment. This is what

Marc Brown paints, coastal landscapes with a photo realist

element. His studio is an old squash court where he spends hours blaring

each painting and yes, he does use photography for research. I need to

rely on photographic material such as birds, birds in flight. Can't get

them to sit that long, so things like that.

Marc now plans to sell his video to help raise money for breakthrough

breast Cancer. His mother died as a result of breast cancer. She would

have been proud of her son's experiment, a little eccentric

perhaps but also rather wonderful. You shivered just watching him go

when. I know! Amazing photos, though. Tonight, a nice forecast?

Well... A few changes and amendments.

though. Tonight, a nice forecast? Well... A few changes and But today

everything went to plan, the rain cleared away to the south`east,

drier sky is falling behind, that the guest cloud producing a queue

showers and that the guest in the West could produce some in the next

few hours. Then the showers by away and that cloud tends to clear, and

we are left with largely cloudless skies for much of the night, and

that means it is a chilly one with a touch of ground frost in places.

These are the lows in built`up areas, rural spots around to reading

breeze, with light safety Southwest Lee winds. Tomorrow there is a bit

of a change because it looks like this area of rain could come up from

the south and in fact part of our region, so this is how it looks but

it is still subject to change, so keep your ice and ears on your local

forecast, so it looks like chilly, bright start to the day, then we

will see clouds increase and we expect rain to start pushing in from

the side. We expected to be here around 2pm. Temperatures tomorrow

around ten or 11 degrees with life south`westerly winds. This is the

track of the rain, this is what we think will happen in the afternoon,

some of this heavy and thundering, perhaps 20 millimetres in places,

and that could mean an awful rush`hour home for some of us

although not everybody, and then that rain to clear away and we

should see dry sky is behind for everybody. On Saturday, it looks

like sunny spells and showers, but it now looks like for a time some of

those showers could merge to give a longer a spell of rain, and

Remembrance Sunday, yesterday I talked about rain turning up but it

now looks like that rain has told by 12 hours and Remembrance Sunday will

be chilly but bright sunshine and Monday looks miserable, blustery

weather rain which could stay with us for most of the day. Chilly

nights on Friday and Saturday, ground frost and possibly icy

patches of though it is a small chance. Just before I go, it is

barometer night, so in the north of the region, around 1006 millibars

and in the south, 1007. That is all from us. Enjoy your evening. The

night. `` good night.