19/08/2014 Look East - West

Hello and welcome to Tuesday's Look East.

Rail fares are on track to rise again in the

New Year but are commuters darning enough to afford the hike?

What the British taxpayer and commuter faces is a botched rail

privatisation that has left us pay more for a worse service th`n

anywhere else in Europe. The postcode lottery

for dementia care. How some families are having to find

the money themselves to covdr We'll be here later

in the programme. As the curtain falls on MotoGP at

Silverstone, the Northamptonshire circuit says it's hopeful this

year's meeting won't be its last. And making hay while the sun shines

and it's all in a good causd. Price rises won't

put passengers off. How the rail industry has rdsponded

to fare increases announced today. From January,

season ticket holders in thhs region will have to pay hundreds

of pounds more for their regular journeys as costs are expected to go

up by an average of 3.5%. In fact,

fares have risen by 24% since 2 10. In a moment,

we'll hear from the Rail Delivery Group, which represents

the train companies, but first this These are the train companids the

crisscross our region. Come January, the cost for travelling on

all of them will be a lot more. The region's newest train station and

commuter said prices were too high. It cost me ?50 to go one wax to

London this morning. They are expensive enough already. If I

bought an open`ended return from here in Corby to the capital, it

would cost me ?105 50. With a 3 5% rise, that there will go up to just

over ?109. The town's MP saxs rail travellers are being ripped off

What the British taxpayer and commuter faces is a botched rail

privatisation that has left is paying more for a worse service than

anywhere else in Europe. We need to look at the example of the Dast

Coast in our region where wd have had a not`for`profit operator doing

well to improve services. There is a different way of providing rail

travel in this country. A 3.5% rise would see a season ticket from

Huntingdon to King's Cross climb to more than ?5,000, an increase of

?169. From Corby into the c`pital, 12 months travel would cost nearly

?7,700. Commuters have to p`y these prices. But if you are paying that

sort of money, and you have worked hard on the Friday, what yot want is

to get home on time and get a seat. If you are paying that monex, you

want to ensure you're getting a good journey. Passengers once ag`in face

an annual train fair race: Higher ticket prices fast approachhng while

wages are standing still. So when you buy a rail tickdt,

where does your money actually go? Well, the largest part, 26%,

goes to investment in the ndtwork. Staff costs and track maintdnance

are next snd the smallest portion But the Rail Delivery Group,

which represents the industry, says it does understand why

passengers are angry. I know that nobody likes to pay more

for their train travel but the money that we get from fares

is helping to pay for the f`ster journeys, the better stations,

the nicer carriages that passengers And those improvements

are happening. We're transforming our railway

into the best railway in Europe But there are a lot

of people who say rail fares are increasing across England

and the investment only seels to be happening in very small are`s

and small pockets and they don't Well, I can tell you that

in your region, there's going to be ?20 million spent by Greater Anglia

on improving its InterCity fleet. In other parts of the country,

we're electrifying lines, Across the country, we're ilproving

the railway and passengers `re telling us, independent surveys are

telling us that we've got Have we got one of the most

expensive railways in Europd? I don't think that's entirely fair.

The issue with fares is one of two sides. There are regulated fares and

governments have decided to increase those above inflation. We also have

unregulated fares were train companies control prices. What they

are keen to do is want to gdt more people to travel by train. We don't

think it will price people of the railway. If it is all about

passenger satisfaction, let's take these statistics. A transport

charity says that since 2010, rail fares have risen by 24%. Has

passenger satisfaction risen by as much? I don't know how much

passenger satisfaction has risen since 2010. The passenger w`tchdog

survey said satisfaction in 199 was 76% now it is 82%. We have 600

million more journeys a year now. The Chancellor intervened in the

Autumn statement and said, we will not allow fares to rise above a

certain level. A lot of people are calling for him to intervend yet

again. Forward that do to your plans for investment? We would be able to

continue investing. Investmdnt is committed for the next five years.

Network Rail will spend ?30 billion over the next five years on building

better railways and I don't think... And I think that investment

will continue. It's recognised

as the biggest health issue Dementia already affects millions

of people but a new report shows they're still struggling to get

the help they need. It's been compiled

by the former Northampton MP Sally Keeble, who says families f`ce

a postcode lottery when it comes to care and many are forced to find

the funding themselves. Alma is 89 and a dementia stfferer.

Last year, she was living at home but then she had a fall on the

stairs and was taken to hospital. She is modelled with the delentia

and within a week, everything had gone. She couldn't do anythhng for

herself. We started the journey looking for care homes in ftnding.

That was when the problems began. Funding is based on a medic`l

assessment and the family h`d been told she doesn't qualify. They are

appealing. She needs turning every two hours, she needs feeding and

changing. She can't do anything for herself. Everybody has got to think

for her. Alma is being lookdd after at this care home. If the f`mily can

prove she had medical needs, the NHS would pay back because she doesn't

meet the criteria, the cost will have to be borne by the famhly and

their assets and that is st`nding at ?700 a week. Across Britain, 80 ,000

people have been diagnosed with dementia but the number getting

funding stands at 59,000. Symptoms... Needs around washing and

dressing was originally unddr social care. Research shows that w`y you

live in the country can affdct whether you get funding. It's really

important that the decision`making processes transparent and that

families don't have this awful feeling that they have got lost in

the process. The commissionhng group that assessed Alma said thex

followed all national guidelines laid down by the government. The

family said they will continue to appeal.

The Health and Safety Executive is investigating an incident

in rural Cambridgeshire tod`y in which a man was critically hnjured.

The emergency services, including a hazardous area response

team, were called to an app`rent gas explosion at the Produce Connection

on the A10 Ely Road in Chittering just before 9am.The

company at Chear Fen is a national potato supplier.

Over the next few months, ?50 million worth

of grants are to be handed out to companies in Cambridge.

The money will be used to encourage small businesses in the hi`tech

cluster so they can invest in growth and hopefully gendrate

The hi`tech industry is already thriving in Cambridge.

In fact, the city has the l`rgest collection of science`based

businesses in the whole of Durope with more than 1,500 companhes

Stuart Ratcliffe has been to one firm set to benefit from a grant.

This company is bursting at the seams. It now employs 30 st`ff from

nothing. We have got boxes `nd files, paper. People are sitting in

cupboards. We are growing f`ster than we can build. But the building

work has started now. The company has developed software allowing

video and film to be archivdd. There are museums. There are sports

federations, broadcasters, BBC, ITN. In total, CAIS will get ?1.4

million. The money is coming from here. All new job creation xou see

in the economy comes from early`stage businesses as they grow

rapidly. We are here to try to keep these promising businesses. We want

to help them grow but stay hn a cluster and create employment and

upscale people for the next generation of jobs. Where ever you

look, it's clear this clustdr is booming. We have even thought about

opening facilities in San Francisco but fundamentally, the software is

as good as the people who ddvelop it and this is where we are finding the

right people so this is where we have decided to be.

A decision on whether a controversial development ndar Corby

The Brookfield Recovery Park is earmarked for woodland near Gretton.

The developer claims it could create 3,000 jobs over 10 years

but the plans for the waste recovery plant have received more th`n 3 0

Time now to join Stewart and Susie for the rest of the programle.

Lovell, are drowned out by the two litters. I have a constant sound of

aircraft roaring through my head every day. It is not quiet. It is so

loud that the Cochlear impl`nt hardly works because the two litters

`` tonight 's is masking it. Peter can now lip read his wife btt the

The scale of violence in prhsons in this region has been revdaled

in a confidential document leaked to BBC East.

Today, the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling

denied the service was in crisis. But prison officers are reporting

a surge in attacks and suicides behind bars.

Recent examples include Chelmsford Jail, where staff had to withdraw to

safety after losing control of a wing.

A squad of specially trained officers were called in.

While at Peterborough Prison, officers and inmates were injured

in six outbreaks of violencd in recent weeks.

In a moment, a campaigner for prison reform.

That's after this from our home affairs correspondent Sally Chidzoy.

Overcrowded and understaffed, presents have been under motnting

pressure for years. In Chellsford error this month, former prhsoners

climbed onto netting to encourage other inmates to join in. Sdrious

assaults on prisoners and staff have shot up by over one third in a year,

with self harm and suicide cases also rising. It can be hard to get a

detailed picture of what is going on behind the walls but these detailed

reports shall just that. `` show. In Peterborough, and offer was scolded

and earlier this month a prhsoner was slashed from ear to most. ``

mouth. The Justice Secretarx admits the service is under pressure but

says it is not as bad as it was Violence today is that a lower level

than it was five years ago. We have challenges from an increased

population and we are meeting those challenges and recruiting more stuff

but I am clear that there is no crisis. The errors pressure but no

crisis. Experts on prisons say the government cannot ignore wh`t is

happening, the high level of assaults and the number of prisoners

self harming. Let's hear from Juliet Lyon,

director of the Prison Reform Trust. The report highlighted worrxing

levels of violence. What do you think the reason is? We are seeing

not only a rise in violence, which is very worrying, but a redtction in

staffing levels. It is no coincidence that prisons ard under

such a high degree of presstre. You have to have enough high qu`lified

staff to run them. The Justhce Secretary has admitted that they are

under pressure but he says ht is not a crisis, do you agree? It depends

upon how you define a crisis. We have a public service that hs there

to hold people securely and safely and in many places it seems not to

be doing so. Around half thd people that leave are convicted ag`in, and

you have this rise in violence and suicide, and massive budget cuts,

and the Justice Secretary who is driving a reform programme that I

would suggest is befitting tndue pressure on public services. `` is

putting. We should expect them to try to reduce reoffending, `nd

simply hanging onto the reshdent population and trying to reduce

deaths. We really need to look ahead much further and ask serious

questions about what prisons are for and who should be behind bars? Why

do we not make sure they'd hs not adequate staff in prisons across the

country? In the short`term hs at all about money funding? `` mondy and

funding. It is not all about money but it plays an important p`rt. The

benchmarking process the costs down to the lowest private prison costs,

and that has meant losing staff and changing conditions of servhce and

making equipment for diffictlt. It is also about morale. A decdnt

person runs not only on this plan `` on discipline but enabling people to

learn skills and do jobs within the present, and about prisoners and

staff working together to m`ke sure it is a decent place. That hs hard

being cut back and people are being cut back and people are

feeling anxious. Silverstone, the home of thd

British Grand Prix, is getthng ready for the biggest motorcycling event

in this country, the Moto GP. But there is now a big question

mark over the future of the event. The race promoters have signed

a contract to switch the GP to a new circuit in Wales.

But the venue isn't ready ydt and Silverstone is confident this

month's racing won't be the last at the Northamptonshire circuit

Our sports editor Jonathan Park has spent the day therd.

Britain's fastest on two whdels promoting the world's biggest bike

race. It is claimed this ye`r's might be the last for some time and

it is heading to a field in Wales. Britain's top riders are not

convinced. It is not easy to build the racetrack and all the associated

things so until we see something concrete it will be hard to say It

could be anything. The layott looks pretty good but we have to see how

it is in real life. I will be sad to miss Silverstone itself. Thhs is

still only a computer`gener`ted image with no financial backers yet

found, but the developers are looking for government financial

support. Representatives today visited Silverstone. We are the only

ones qualified to run the r`ce. Donington came up with investment

and the circuit in Wales dods not yet exist and they need to raise the

money to build that circuit. If the race cannot be run in 2016 hn Wales

then it could be up for grabs again. Silverstone want to keep thd race

but were not prepared to agree to the financial terms offered in the

new contract. The margins are tight and despite well over 100,000 fans

paying to watch the race, it is not a big moneymaker for Silverstone.

Silverstone said that when they tried to get government support to

keep the British Grand Prix, the government rejected their attempts.

We see a great project going on inside of Wales but we have to be

patient and see what goes ahead Right now we have a great f`cility

and I have some great memorhes from the last format years and I am

looking forward to making others. Conservationists launched a project

today to restore precious whldflower meadows in the Norfolk countryside.

It's being done by cutting green hay and using the seeds to

supply farmland locations, which have seen their meadows decline

Prince Charles has been involved and it's being backed by a number

of local conservation groups. It's already been tried oncd, last

year, and it appears to be working. Wild flowers lining the roads,

unnoticed by drivers but abundant in South Norfolk.

Here we have knapweed, this purple one.

We have birdsfoot trefoil, the yellow one, and this ond, which

has gone to seed, is sulphur clover, and that's nationally endangered.

And it is seeds from this plant they need to create

new wildflower meadows becatse there has been a dramatic decline.

Once upon a time, most of the meadows in lowland England

would be very much like this. In the last 70`odd years,

we have seen massive changes in agriculture and most hay today

is produced from fields of just one or two different species of grass.

They are very productive and they produce fantastic hay

but they do not have the mix of wild flowers you get with this.

Today they are cutting down and collecting what they call green hay.

All across the country, teams of conservationists are doing

exactly that. It is part of the Coronation Meadows

project, to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

From this roadside, it takes a short journey.

We have a handful of farmers who have prepared the ground

and then we bring in the grden hay, and it is essential for the seed

soil contact to have bare ground. Once the hay is covered,

the seed settles and hopefully we will get germination.

Restoring and recreating meadows will provide

rare habitats which insects, small birds and mammals depdnd on.

By next summer, this area of ground will hopefully

be knee`high full of wild flowers, the basis of a new meadow, `nd we

hope for more funding to expand this project right across Norfolk.

Fans of MK Dons queued around the block this morning

for tickets for the Cup gamd against Manchester United.

It's being described as the biggest match in the club's history.

Some fans camped out overnight as 29,000 tickets for the

Capital Cup match at Stadiul MK went on sale this morning.

It's 19 years since United were involved

at this stage of the compethtion. The fixture was sold out

by this afternoon. Big,

big game and we're going to win it. Nothing to do with me but

for my sons, I have been in the queue since :30

for them. I've been up since 6:30.

It means a lot because I both support both teams

and it's for my birthday. I've been here

since half past seven. Why?

Buying tickets for friends. For friends!

Aren't I good? Very lucky friends.

They are. I hope they are watching it too

I deserve a reward. You should not give up on some are

just yet but we had in for ` cooler week. Temperatures remaining below

normal and also showers arotnd and a chilly night West tonight probably

the coldest since the start of the summer. This week whether front has

brought showers across the region and we currently have some of those

showers lingering, but quitd a lot of gaps and sunshine to end the day.

A lot of these showers have been liked but the odd headache one and

currently quite a few around Peterborough. They are clearing so

you can expect them to feed overnight, so any showers whll be

heading out towards the North Sea and a largely dry night but

temperatures may plummet tonight. These are the sort of values we can

expect tonight, but some pl`ces it in the countryside, five Celsius is

possible. `` out in the countryside. Bright with sunshine through the

morning and in the afternoon we will develop more cloud and that could

produce more showers. They will be mostly isolated but the odd heavy

downpour could be possible. Temperatures remaining cool at

around 18 Celsius and a light to moderate north`westerly wind and the

risk of more showers. This hs the pressure pattern for Thursd`y, with

more clouds being introduced and perhaps the odd shower but xou can

see high pressure building from the south`west. This promises some

slightly more settled weathdr for the past part of the weekend, but it

also may mean that temperattres return to normal by the start of

next week. Quite a cloudy d`y expected for Thursday and the chance

of sunshine and showers on Friday, but we start the weekend looking guy

with sunny spells but not bdfore some chilly nights.

That's all from us, have good evening. Good night.