08/11/2013 Look East - East

In Look East tonight: in Chelmsford, a little boy forced to sleep in a

cupboard after social services urges more families to take in problem

children. Poppy sales up, but membership of

the Royal British Legion is crashing. What's the future for the

ex`servicemen's charity? And Vodafone promises to raise its

game after the regulator complains about its poor coverage of Suffolk

and Norfolk. And I will have news of a chilly weather forecast.

Hello. First tonight: a couple from Essex who've been asked to look

after problem children, with no help from social services. It follows a

similar case in Norfolk. The couple, who live in Chelmsford, contacted

Look East after they were asked to look after two young children they

know through family connections. But they already have two children of

their own and they live in a house with just two bedrooms. One of the

children is now having to sleep in a cupboard. So far, they say, social

services have given them no support. Leanne and Dave have two children of

their own. Six months ago they were told a relative's children would go

into care if they did not look after them. Now they have four crammed

into a two bed house. Being married with two children was

normal and I was coping with that. But now I am having to cope with two

children who have come from a different situation, who have been

raised differently. They have different views about what they are

supposed to do. It's very different to having four children of your own.

The couple contacted Look East after Anthea McKee told us she felt she

was being blackmailed by Suffolk social services. She was given the

option of taking two children in or watching them go into care. Leanne

and Dave say that social services have promised to offer support but

have not given any. They were told they were breaching their tenancy

agreement by converting a cupboard into a bedroom.

This is the cupboard that we have had to sleep the little boy in.

Why do you have to put him on year? For the safety of the other

children. Because of his behaviour. A full`size bed would not fit in

here so he is using a toddler bed to make it feel like a proper bedroom.

The couple have struggled financially, even using a food bank.

They say the only help they have had in six months was a ?20 voucher to

buy school uniforms. It's really devastating to see the

effect that this has had on everyone. My other daughter is now

struggling at school whereas before she was top of the class. The

children are struggling because of the whole situation and it is just

so hard for everyone. The family say they need a bigger

house. The council say they can now apply to move but for the moment

they are stuck in a situation that six months ago they had no idea they

would be in. We asked Essex social services for

an interview but they declined, saying they were not responsible for

placing the children with the couple in Chelmsford ` that was a decision

made by a judge. But they did say they will be helping the family "in

the next week or so". Look East can reveal tonight big falls in

membership of the Royal British Legion. In Essex, Suffolk and

Norfolk, the ex servicemen's charity has lost more ten thousand members

in the last ten years. The Legion says this is mostly down to people

dying. Let's get the story now from our chief reporter Kim Riley. I have

come tonight to the Suffolk Regiment Museum. A very good place to reflect

on past sacrifices. The regiment disappeared back in 1964. As that of

the Royal British Legion is concerned, members are dropping but

there is some good news. Let's start in the Suffolk town of Beccles.

In the Suffolk market town of Beccles, the Royal British Legion

charity shop is still going strong. While others around the country have

closed, this is the last man standing thanks to the determination

of local volunteers. The shop contributes about ?12,000 a year

towards the ?30,000 collected locally for the Poppy Appeal. The

national charity, concerned over health and safety and possible

breaches of its Royal Charter, gave it a summer deadline to close but

the volunteers fought back. I think it is important that we do

get it right because otherwise it will bring the RBL into distribute

and we cannot afford to do that. It is a fantastic organisation and does

a lot of good work for ex`service personnel and obviously we are a

small cog in the wheel. More than a dozen volunteers open

the shop six days a week and the membership of the local branch seems

to be holding up well. We're currently stable at about 333

members. Year`on`year we have a cycle where we lose a few and we

gain a few. For the last five or six years, around the 300 mark is our

strength and it is good. But over the last ten years across

the region, membership numbers have been falling: from 17,000 in Essex

to less than 14,000 now. In Suffolk from 10,000 to around 6000, and in

Norfolk from almost 8000 to under 5000.

In Norwich, campaigners are fighting plans by the national charity to

close the local branch's Jubilee Hall headquarters. Branch membership

as plummeted amid much bitterness. A lot of people are very bitter

about the British Legion and how they are being treated due to past

events where they actually came in and shut the place and a lot of

people said they will never walk into the hall again while the

British Legion's name is above the door. But in Norwich city Centre

this afternoon. Strong support for the Poppy Appeal. All these people

gave so much she for this appeal. Everybody should be thankful for

what they did for us. The Royal British Legion said a lot of its

members have died but are not being replaced by similar young members.

Let's now meet the Mayor of Barry Saint Edmunds.

Hello. We will be visiting the Cathedral and marking our respects.

I think this is interesting because you're standing in your finery and

this is very emotive but you regard this as a military town. Yes, of

course. We must have remembrance services like this and keep doing

this. I think support is based wrong for this here. `` support is very

strong. Thank you for joining us. The red poppy is still such a

powerful emblem and the Royal additionally Jim has so much work

still to do. The mobile phone company Vodafone has promised to

improve its coverage in Norfolk and Suffolk following pressure from

Ofcom. The regulator says the company has failed to meet its

targets for signal coverage in some areas. Vodafone says things will

improve by the end of this year. Most of us have 3G or

third`generation mobile phones. Better signals and quicker access to

the Internet when we are at home or out. But for some users that has not

been the case. It keeps going in and out signals so I cannot send text

messages as easily as I would like to. I have had terrible service at I

have a contract so I feel unable to move. We have stopped advertising

board a phone because of so many complaints. The Mac hundreds of

customers have contacted the local MP about the poor Vodafone

coverage. That is where of, have had to step in and they have said that

Vodafone have failed to meet targets. They should be getting a

signal for 90% of customers. These providers have persuaded people that

they can give them a good service at a good rate and many people have

given up their landlines in order to do this and it is not functioning.

The headlines: across the region later Fuquay sees that receive good

3G reception. They still need to roll out more 3G.

Of con will review the case in January so that if Vodafone does not

get it sorted by then they could receive a heavy fine and stop. This

afternoon I spoke to William Burton from the Countryside Alliance, which

is campaigning for better mobile phone coverage in rural areas. I

started by asking how bad the situation is.

Everybody now lives by a mobile phone or using Skype or other forms

of social media. If you live in a rural area and you have got bad

connectivity you are missing out on what people in open areas have. At

the end of the day, we all pay the same for our mobile telephones. If

we're getting a worse deal, then it needs sorting out. The countryside

Alliance is running a campaign called "sick of no signal" . Would

you like to see done Mr Mark we could have no receivers. `` murder

receivers `` mail receivers. We want to present your case to the

Government and asked them to do something about it as soon as

possible. Mac some might say that this is one of the facts of life of

living in the countryside. I do not accept that. We pay the same and why

should the rural economy suffer? We have a lot to offer the national

economy. Many businesses rely on mobile phones and the Internet now

will stop I should they suffer? Thank you. Waiting lists at hospital

for cancer patients will now be checked on a weekly basis.

The number of Armed Forces personnel based in the region has fallen by

almost 4000 over the last three years. The figures reflect the

impact of the Government's attempt to slim down the armed forces.

Colchester still remains the largest military base in the region.

Still to come: A clear out of the loft in Suffolk which uncovered

precious wartime memories. News is coming in tonight of a

climb`down by one of our new police commissioners over his expenses. BBC

Online News revealed this morning that the Norfolk Commissioner

Stephen Bett had been claiming expenses for his journey to work.

That drew a response from the Justice Minister, who said he wanted

the matter settled quickly. Mr Bett said his expenses were above board,

but admitted some people might think it was wrong. Today's revelations

come a year after the commissioners were elected to run our police

forces. Our political correspondent, Andrew Sinclair, reports. Stephen

bet is the region's only independent Police and Crime Commissioner,

something he has always been very proud of. He cares about the

reputation of the force. This is why he has moved so fast to end this

controversy. An investigation for the Sunday Politics programme

reveals he claimed more than ?3000 in the last nine months for mileage

between his home and his headquarters. No other Police

Commissioner in the region claims for such mileage. He says he regards

his main base at his home so he is therefore doing nothing wrong. I am

very happy that what I do is my job wherever that is in the county.

Critics have questioned whether this is OK. They pointed out that the

Inland Revenue does not recognise, to work mileage. If they are not tax

allowable I cannot see why they should be reimbursed by the Police

Commissioner either. The justice minister said this controversy must

be resolved quickly so as not to damage public confidence. At the

same time, Mr Bennett says he will be paying back the money and no

longer claiming mileage. All of this comes on the anniversary of PCC 's.

Many people are still unsure about this role and the controversy on

expenses will do nothing to improve confidence in the public.

He said that I am very aware that headline such as these could easily

tarnish the reputation of police in Norfolk and that is the last thing I

would want. So, he is not happy about having to pay back this money.

But he is putting the job first because it is a job he really likes

and he thinks that he is making a difference and wants this to go away

quickly. The subject of police commissioners

is one of the topics being covered on this weekend's edition of Sunday

Politics. It's on Sunday, on BBC One at the later time of 12:25. In the

sport a lot of small teams are hoping for a bit of luck.

It is a nail`biting time for Kenny 's fans.

He's the man under the microscope. Chris Hughton's future is in sharp

focus, with Norwich in the Premier League relegation zone. He made the

point at yesterday's press conference that they've had a tricky

run of games, making the rest of November crucial. This is what's in

store: West Ham tomorrow, followed by Newcastle away, then Crystal

Palace at home. But the manager's keeping calm.

I speak with the Chief Executive and the Board on a regular basis and

they're very supportive because we're all pushing in the right

direction and what we musn't do is set the alarm bells ringing. The

value of winning a couple of games can see a League position change

quite dramatically and when that happens it's a completely different

picture. So we're very much looking at the positives here.

Fair point. Victory at Carrow Road could see Norwich move as high as

15th, above tomorrow's opponents, West Ham, and Fulham and Stoke.

Norwich are far from cut adrift. The players say they're right behind the

manager. Every game we go out and want to do

well and pick up wins. It's been unfortunate with the result last

week and there's been a bit of backlash on the manager and on the

players, but at the end of the day we are the players that go over the

white line and it's down to us to put in a performance and do right by

him. The region's non league clubs have

the chance to make the headlines this weekend in the first round of

the FA Cup. Eight sides are still in it. Northamptonshire's Daventry Town

are one of the lowest ranked teams left. They're at Chesterfield `

playing a league side for the first time.

MUSIC PLAYS This is a timely reminder that

football is not just about millionaires in the Premier League.

All of these plays have done a day 's shift before coming here tonight.

Daventry are a club on a roll. The going into uncharted territory in

the FA Cup. It is the first time we have been with properly opposition.

It is a first since 1886. Daventry are indebted to local businessmen

who saved the club after a fire. Underdogs always do it in the FA

Cup! Nothing can faze them. This is the skipper, who leaves tarmac by

Dave. We have made money for the club so if we can win this week

could earn some serious money. The chairman has invested a lot of money

in the club. I don't think we will get to Wembley but I am looking

forward to it. They are ready to stand up and be counted. It is not a

time for the week. It is a time for strong characters because this will

be tough. Anything can happen. The players have a lot of confidence. A

cheque for ?18,000 is at stake for the winner. It is a chance to play a

giant which makes this so special. The rest of our league sides are in

Cup action except Ipswich Town, who've today signed former Reading

midfielder Stephen Hunt until January. The move sees him re`united

with his former Wolves boss Mick McCarthy. Hunt is available for

tomorrow's trip to Blackpool in the Championship.

Now a third of the England squad facing Argentina in the rugby

tomorrow are from this region, the majority from Northampton Saints.

Ben Foden's called up on the wing, Lee Dickson at scrum`half plus

hooker Dylan Hartley. Lawes and Wood keep their places with fit`again

Alex Corbisiero on the bench. Cambridge's Alex Goode and Tom

Youngs from Norfolk make it eight players in all.

They are a very good team, a very passionate and strong team. Yet seen

in the Rugby Championship they have pushed through all those teams very

close. So you can't look past any of these games, we know it's going to

be a real tough game. That's it. Full previews to all this weekend's

games on the BBC Sport website and much more too.

When Steve Skinner from Suffolk had a sort out in his loft recently, he

came across an old suitcase which belonged to his late father. When he

opened it up, he was astonished to find it contained a treasure trove

of old letters and poems. It also included his father's war`time

diary. In a carefully written hand, he detailed the futility of the war

and his hope that his own son would never have to fight. On the weekend

when Britain pauses to remember, Kevin Burch reports on one man's

innermost thoughts when the country was at war.

One day he just walked into the house and said I have joined up.

That was 1944. And of course, war broke out. He decided to do his bit.

Steve Skinner remembers sales that his father told about North Africa

in 1844 will stop but it was only when the suitcase was found that all

those stories became very real. Moments of humour like the time his

patrol sought cover overnight in a bar in. `` in a barn. 30 million

Germans couldn't find him but one spider gave him a hard time in the

garden! He jotted down his thoughts in this book. They are brilliant and

beautiful, especially those dedicated to his wife. On that

glorious Armistice Day we will be together and enjoy yourselves. It

makes me sad, happy and proud. How deadly the sound of a reeking done.

And B Spitfire two. I wonder if the millions of people

who have died, do their families have memories like I do here? These

are priceless. Let's get the weather now.

Good evening. You may well get caught in the rain if you are

heading out tonight. For the eastern parts of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex

there is no rain to come this evening. It will look dry after

midnight. Temperatures will drop fairly low. It will be quite a

chilly night. We might see some grass frost. It should be bright and

dried to start with two morrow. Some heavy pulses of rain will move into

the afternoon. It will be cold tomorrow. A light to moderate

south`westerly wind. It is looking dry overnight. A cold night for

tomorrow night with widespread frost for the region. It will be a

glorious autumn start to Remembrance Sunday. Beyond that, we will see

more rain overnight, Sunday into Monday. A wet start to next week.

Julie for the weekend but dry and sunny for Sunday. Temperatures may

start to bounce back. The night might not be quite so chilly on

Monday. More information on our website.

I am going to Shanghai on Monday for a special programme. For now, have a

good weekend. Goodbye.