:00:12. > :00:22.the programme tonight: Thousands of people are threatened with bailiffs
:00:22. > :00:28.
:00:28. > :00:32.for failing to pay council tax. Many blame changes to the welfare system.
:00:32. > :00:36.Police appeal for a mystery caller to come forward in the hunt for the
:00:36. > :00:39.killers of a family man. ?NEWLINE to use or not to use - why drivers who
:00:39. > :00:42.abuse the hard shoulder are breaking the law.
:00:42. > :00:52.And what a difference a year makes. Olympic champion Greg Rutherford
:00:52. > :00:54.
:00:54. > :00:57.fails to qualify at the World Good evening. Thousands of people
:00:57. > :01:02.who are struggling to pay their council tax have been threatened
:01:02. > :01:05.with bailiffs by Peterborough City Council. It follows a change to the
:01:05. > :01:09.welfare system which means families on benefits who in the past were
:01:09. > :01:13.exempt from council tax now have to pay a proportion of the bill. The
:01:13. > :01:22.Citizens Advice Bureau says it's seen a big increase in the number of
:01:22. > :01:27.families getting into debt. It is the sign of the times for the
:01:27. > :01:31.changing benefits system. A steady stream summoned to court in recent
:01:31. > :01:36.weeks for not paying council tax. Some receiving bills for the first
:01:36. > :01:40.time. Some say it is not that they will not pay, it is that they
:01:40. > :01:45.cannot. People are really struggling. The law says you have a
:01:45. > :01:49.certain amount to live on. Out of that, some people are paying �60 in
:01:49. > :01:59.council tax, leaving them next to nothing. I am really struggling. I
:01:59. > :02:14.
:02:14. > :02:16.am lucky because my dad helped me out sometimes but not everyone has a
:02:16. > :02:19.dad like mine. Before April, those on benefits did not have to pay
:02:19. > :02:22.council tax but now the Government no longer covers the full amount.
:02:22. > :02:25.The council here says it is getting �2.4 million less and like others it
:02:25. > :02:27.have to recoup the money. For those who did not make it to court or
:02:27. > :02:30.attempt to pay, the council is taking action. This is a copy of the
:02:30. > :02:32.letter that has gone out across Peter Brooke. It says they have
:02:32. > :02:35.already received a court summons for nonpayment and now the council had
:02:35. > :02:37.secured a liability order, meaning further action will be taken. It
:02:37. > :02:45.urges you to contact the council and the next seven days or the account
:02:45. > :02:47.will be referred to a bailiff company for collection. This is the
:02:47. > :02:50.fifth letter that people have had, including a summons to court. I
:02:50. > :02:56.think the council will bend over backwards to try and be helpful.
:02:56. > :03:00.people have not got the money, where can they get it? Come and talk to
:03:00. > :03:05.us. There are options about. We can give them advice. Or probably they
:03:05. > :03:09.are not claiming all the benefits they are entitled to. 200 people
:03:09. > :03:12.came forward in 24 hours after the bailiff letters went out but
:03:12. > :03:19.thousands more have yet to pay. The council says it wants to hear from
:03:19. > :03:22.anyone affected. We asked the Local Government
:03:22. > :03:25.Minister Brandon Lewis about the changes. He told us that the last
:03:25. > :03:28.Government spent more on benefits than on defence, education and
:03:28. > :03:31.health combined and that their reforms are a way of ending the
:03:31. > :03:35.something for nothing culture and making work pay. But the Citizens
:03:35. > :03:42.Advice Bureau in Cambridge told me earlier it's also seen many people
:03:42. > :03:47.left confused and distressed. have. In fact, I was working with
:03:47. > :03:51.the client an hour ago who had had that exact problem. It varies from
:03:51. > :03:58.council to counsel. In Cambridge city they have held the council tax
:03:58. > :04:03.benefit at 100%, where as in South Cambridge there is an 8% reduction
:04:03. > :04:09.and I believe in Huntingdon it is a higher reduction. What this is doing
:04:09. > :04:13.is taping people who are struggling just about to make ends meet over
:04:13. > :04:19.the edge and into debt. One of our big worries is if they turn to
:04:19. > :04:23.payday lenders, then the debt spiral can rapidly get out of control.
:04:23. > :04:27.you think part of the problem is that because councils are very much
:04:27. > :04:32.doing their own thing with this, people do not know where they stand?
:04:32. > :04:38.I think that is very true. With any change in benefits it takes a while
:04:38. > :04:43.before the letters go out and are understood. Particularly for people
:04:43. > :04:48.with mental health problems, or reading and writing difficulties.
:04:48. > :04:52.And it does make people very worried. So we get more clients
:04:52. > :04:59.coming in with these letters, particularly when the additional
:04:59. > :05:03.bedroom tax came in. Do you think the Government needs to rethink
:05:03. > :05:08.these benefit changes? I am not sure I can answer that because I am an
:05:08. > :05:12.adviser here. What I would say, from what they know about the universal
:05:12. > :05:16.benefit that is coming in over the next couple of years, one of the
:05:16. > :05:20.things that really needs to be thought about again is the idea that
:05:20. > :05:26.all the benefits are going to be lumped together, and they are going
:05:26. > :05:29.to be paid in one lump every month. And people are going to be expected
:05:29. > :05:35.to budget. The Citizens Advice Bureau cannot pay council tax bills
:05:35. > :05:40.for people. You don't have money for that. What can you do to help?
:05:40. > :05:50.first thing we can do to help is try and get a clear picture of a
:05:50. > :05:53.
:05:53. > :05:55.client's debt situation, so that a payment plan is set up. Very often
:05:55. > :05:57.that includes owning up and negotiating with predators, very
:05:57. > :06:05.often with local councils on council tax arrears, but also on occasion
:06:05. > :06:09.negotiating with bailiffs to calm things down. -- with creditors. Then
:06:09. > :06:12.we can get an agreement in place to help the client out of the debt
:06:12. > :06:15.situation. If you've been affected by the
:06:15. > :06:18.changes to council tax benefits, particularly if you've received a
:06:18. > :06:23.bailiff's letter we'd like to hear from you. The details are on the
:06:23. > :06:27.screen. "We're closing in on them." The
:06:27. > :06:30.words today of detectives hunting robbers who killed a man in his own
:06:30. > :06:34.home. Sharif Demirsay was stabbed in front of his family in Kempston back
:06:34. > :06:37.in May. Today police were back in the area to make a fresh appeal for
:06:37. > :06:43.witnesses, in particular a mystery caller who contacted them shortly
:06:43. > :06:47.after the murder. Three months on, and Sharif
:06:47. > :06:52.Demirsay's home in Kempson remains boarded up. It was here on May the
:06:52. > :06:56.14th that the 65-year-old grandfather was stabbed to death by
:06:56. > :07:02.a gang of robbers. CCTV recorded that night shows three men calmly
:07:02. > :07:05.walking towards the house, then just minutes later, the same men are
:07:05. > :07:11.captured running away. Police say they have had a good response to
:07:11. > :07:16.public appeals but need one call in particular to contact them again.
:07:16. > :07:20.have had some calls but we do need people to come forward with more
:07:20. > :07:23.information. Some of those calls, I believe, are the same person. And
:07:23. > :07:28.the information is crucial that they are giving and I really want to
:07:28. > :07:33.encourage that person in particular to call us back and have the
:07:33. > :07:38.confidence to talk to us in person anonymously. The gang stole gold
:07:38. > :07:42.jewellery and �1000 in cash. The murder weapon has not yet been
:07:43. > :07:46.found. From the information that we have started to get in, people do
:07:46. > :07:50.know who is responsible for this. The net is closing in and we have a
:07:50. > :07:55.number of names of people that we are looking at closely but we need
:07:55. > :07:59.people to be brave enough to come forward and do the right thing, so
:07:59. > :08:03.we can get these people charged and locked up. A man arrested when they
:08:03. > :08:08.after the murder has been released without charge. Three other men
:08:08. > :08:12.remain on bail. The �10,000 reward has been offered for information
:08:12. > :08:19.leading to the killers. And today police have returned to the scene in
:08:19. > :08:23.the hope of cleaning vital new information.
:08:23. > :08:27.Now, do you know when it's safe to use the hard shoulder? In the last
:08:27. > :08:31.year the Highways Agency introduced a new system on a stretch of the M1
:08:31. > :08:35.allowing motorists to use the hard shoulder as an extra lane at certain
:08:35. > :08:38.times. But using the lane incorrectly is against the law and
:08:38. > :08:45.could land drivers with a fine or points on their licence as Fae
:08:45. > :08:49.Southwell explains. The hard shoulder is intended for breakdowns
:08:49. > :08:54.and emergencies only. It is a dangerous place, as this dramatic
:08:54. > :08:58.footage shows. Luckily the family in this broken down car were behind the
:08:58. > :09:02.safety barriers. On the M1 through Bedfordshire the rules are not so
:09:02. > :09:07.rigid. In peak periods, traffic is allowed on the hard shoulder to ease
:09:07. > :09:11.congestion, but only when the signs indicate that it is safe. At other
:09:11. > :09:21.times the usual rules apply but it seems not all motorists are getting
:09:21. > :09:58.
:09:58. > :10:01.the message. We recently had a vehicle that drove down the hard
:10:01. > :10:03.shoulder and struck a broken down vehicle. When the police arrived and
:10:03. > :10:05.questioned that driver, it was a taxi and he thought it was a
:10:06. > :10:08.dedicated taxi lane that he could drive down. In the control centre,
:10:08. > :10:10.they monitor the flow of traffic. Technology allows them to open and
:10:10. > :10:13.close the hard shoulder remotely using signs on the overhead signals.
:10:13. > :10:16.A Red Cross means it is closed but some drivers are ignoring the signs.
:10:16. > :10:19.You are putting your life at risk and the lives of other motorists. If
:10:19. > :10:21.we have not told you to do it, there will be a reason why not. That could
:10:21. > :10:24.be because there are emergency vehicles, are broken down vehicle,
:10:24. > :10:26.or daybreak on the hard shoulder that is not allowing you to drive
:10:26. > :10:29.down it. Tony has been patrolling the M1 for eight years and he
:10:29. > :10:31.remembers one near miss that nearly killed him. I was working in a
:10:31. > :10:34.section of motorway that is managed motorway. We were on the hard
:10:34. > :10:36.shoulder, which was closed at the time. A lorry literally came right
:10:36. > :10:39.up to the taper, squashed one of the traffic cones, which went flying
:10:39. > :10:41.into the air and we literally ran for safety. Police are now planning
:10:41. > :10:43.to get tough. Anyone caught driving illegally on the hard shoulder faces
:10:43. > :10:46.points on their licence and �50 fine.
:10:46. > :10:49.A warning has been issued to swimmers after a 14-year-old girl
:10:49. > :10:52.from Northamptonshire was swept 50 yards out to sea. The teenager was
:10:52. > :10:55.caught in a riptide at Sea Palling in Norfolk yesterday afternoon.
:10:55. > :10:59.Lifeguards had noticed her walking with a friend along the sand bar
:10:59. > :11:02.near a flagged swimming zone and managed to pull her to safety.
:11:02. > :11:07.swam out as fast as they could, obviously. A man immediately got the
:11:07. > :11:11.girl off him because he was being pushed under water. I through her my
:11:11. > :11:20.tube, clipped on from behind, reassured her, told her she would be
:11:20. > :11:23.OK, and that we would get back to shore as quickly as possible.
:11:23. > :11:26.Luton station is the latest in the region to install electric car
:11:26. > :11:29.charging points to encourage commuters to charge up while they're
:11:29. > :11:33.on the train. Two charging points costing �28,000 in total are now
:11:33. > :11:36.available at the multistorey car park. Half the cost has been met by
:11:36. > :11:39.train company First Capital Connect. Charge points have been installed at