23/11/2017 Look East (West)

That's all from the BBC News at Six.

Hello and welcome to Look East.

In the programme tonight:

Not qualified enough to deal

with complex crime -

the police forces cutting

community support officers.

I need warranted police officers

doing things that PCSOs aren't

legally entitled to do.

Bitter disappointment in the Budget.

Councils campaigning for fairer

funding ask why they were ignored.

I'm in the control room

at Bury St Edmunds, as security

is stepped up for the region's

biggest Christmas fair.

And a total transformation -

how life has changed

for Simon Dobbin thanks

to his DIY SOS.

First tonight, the shift in

policing which could spell the end

for community support officers.

15 years ago, PCSOs were hailed

as the way to put more

bobbies on the beat.

But they were controversial.

Lacking the powers of

arrest or interrogation,

critics called them "plastic police"

- a cheap alternative.

Now, the force in Cambridgeshire

says with a rise in complex crime,

what they actually need is 50 more

fully trained police officers -

but it means losing 46 PCSOs.

Emma Baugh has the story.

PCSOs were originally brought

into have more visible policing,

with officers on regular patrols.

But now all that is changing.

With pressures on budgets,

in Cambridgeshire, they say

the money is better spent

on regular officers.

We are really focusing on recruiting

police officers next year.

We have the highest number we've

recruited into the force for many

years, that's really good news.

And PCSOs, we will obviously need

to revisit that at some

stage in the future.

But at the moment, our

focus is on recruiting

warranted police officers.

So was it a mistake to have

so many in the first place?

It was absolutely right thing to do

to bring them in then.

Crime changes and people

and societal issues change.

We need, I need, warranted police

officers in some parts of the county

now to do things that PCSOs aren't

legally entitled to do.

Community support officers

like these aren't much cheaper

to employ them regular police

constables, but unlike them,

they can't make arrests,

investigate crimes respond

to incidents in the same way.

But in Huntingdon today,

some are not convinced

that the plans are good idea.

I think it's really sad

because they're always helpful.

My brother has been lost a few times

in town and they helped

bring him back to us.

I think it's a good idea,

because obviously, the PCSOs

can't enforce anything,

whereas police can.

Solving the crimes is

what I'm looking for,

rather than a visible presence.

The Police and Crime Commissioner

says they have to prioritise.

If we had more funding,

we can tackle criminality.

It's the low-level stuff,

sometimes, that people feel

really passionately about,

the things that affect them

that are becoming less

of a priority for policing.

And I think, again,

you will see less of that,

perhaps, in the future,

because of the funding constraints.

From April next year,

you will see fewer of these PCSOs

patrolling town centres,

but more officers

investigating serious crimes.

Cambridgeshire isn't alone

in starting to reverse

this trend for PSCOs.

Over the border in Norfolk,

the plan is to scrap all of them.

So what's the picture elsewhere?

Sam Read's in Kettering tonight.

You've been looking at the numbers -

is this a trend?

It is, Jenin, right across the

region. The peak PCSO numbers were

around the turn of the decade after

they had been introduced by the

former Labour Government. But since

then, we have seen a fall, in

Northamptonshire, numbers have

fallen wire on half since 2009,

though the force says the 87 that

remain are important. In

Bedfordshire, the number has fallen

by around half over five years. In

Thames Valley, that cover is not

thinking, before hasn't been as big

and they say to show how important

the role is, they have been

recruiting. But ask MPs, this comes

at a time when Chief Constable say

they gave more money and there was

nothing for them in the budget

yesterday. They are trying to

balance solving complex crimes like

child sexualised location that is

hidden away in offices with a public

demand to see offices on the streets

that PCSOs were meant to deal with.

That balance is difficult when the

future funding still is not totally

clear. We should learn more from the

Government next month on a longer

term funding formula and then it is

hoped you constables will be able to

plan better for the future.

Thank

you very much.

Next tonight, the councils

criticising the Chancellor for

ignoring them in yesterday's Budget.

Leaders in Northamptonshire,

Peterborough and Cambridgeshire had

been campaigning hard

for fairer funding,

to take into account the huge surges

they've seen in population

and demand on services.

They were hoping that the budget

would bring them good news.

But it brought them no news at all.

In a moment we'll hear

from the Government minister

responsible, but first,

here's our political

reporter Tom Barton.

Do you need to take your inhaler?

Yes.

Margaret and Ted Walton

are both 87 years old.

Ted has lung disease and recently

spent time in hospital with sepsis.

Most couples in their position

would get daily help at home.

But Margaret provides almost

all of Ted's care herself.

She is able to do so because after

he was released from hospital,

Cambridgeshire County Council

provided support designed

to help her look after him.

It's confidence, I suppose,

to know that you can do it.

Because it's a very worrying

thing, really, at first,

when you think about...

the responsibility you have.

Very important.

COUGHS.

Because I have got utter faith

in Margaret, which you can't

have with a stranger.

If you know what I mean.

It's a service that can be good

for older people but is also

good for the council.

Instead of having a care

package and that care

package being maintained,

we take an enabling approach.

So, as Margaret explained,

we listen to individual people,

we work with them and actually

manage to reduce the amount

of care that they receive.

Cambridgeshire County Council says

it wants to provide more

of this sort of support.

But the demand for care services

is growing faster than funding.

And they don't have the resources to

grow innovative services like this.

But there was no solution

for council leaders

in yesterday's budget.

I was disappointed by

the fact that we didn't

move towards announcing

a new needs-based formula.

This is the way that our funding

will be rectified in the future,

it's desperately overdue at this

present point in time.

It cannot be fair that

a resident of inner London has

£1190 spent on them,

when I have to make do with £650.

Back in Burwell, Margaret is working

with Ted to get him fit again.

As for the councils

which support older people,

their finances aren't so healthy.

The big question they face

is where the funding

will come from in future.

Well, after yesterday's budget

announcement, Tom sat down

with the Communities Secretary

Sajid Javid and asked him

what the Budget had done to help

local authorities screaming out

for more cash.

Well, there was actually a lot

of new investment in this Budget

that has been announced

for across the country,

and much of that will be

for local authorities

or the new combined authorities.

And of course, in Cambridgeshire,

with James Palmer, they're already

doing an excellent job.

He was also able to secure more

investment, for example,

in local infrastructure,

into local housing, and that's

the kind of investment

in people want to see.

When you look at finances, though,

take Northamptonshire County

Council as an example.

They say, even with changes

that you've announced,

they are so hard up they're having

to axe all bus subsidies,

potentially close most

of their libraries.

Is that something that

you support as a Government?

I don't want to see any local

authority cutting those front

line services that you,

me, everyone relies on.

But I think what people do expect

from their local authority,

whoever it is, is that they make

the best use of taxpayers' money

and where they can find savings,

that they look in sensible places

to do that.

So, that's in the sort of back

office functions, some of their...

But they say they've made

all of those cuts already and now

are having to look to frontline

services, and they're crying out

for help from central Government.

I would say to any local

authority that, first of all,

please make sure that when you're

finding savings, you really look

to see what you can do perhaps

with other local authorities,

sharing some of the services,

like many have successfully done.

And then, when you do need

to look at the front line,

you're right to work

with Government, as your partner,

and where we can provide that extra

support, so adult social care,

the extra 2 billion of support

in local infrastructure,

there was billions of new investment

in roads and rail across the country

which many local authorities,

particularly the upper tier

authoritaries, the

unitaries, will provide.

So there's a strong

partnership there.

And the areas where it works best

is where people work

together in a partnership.

Just finally, councils particularly

in our region are calling for fairer

funding to be introduced,

for a redistribution

between councils so that

hard-pressed rural counties

get more money.

Is going to be any movement on that?

There wasn't in this week's budget.

We are committed to fairer funding,

it's something that I have talked

about and later this year,

actually, I'll be publishing what's

called a draft local government

financial settlement,

you can think of that as a sort

of budget for local councils.

I will be saying more

about the pathway to fairer funding.

I think it's a perfectly reasonable

request from local councils.

This hasn't been looked at,

how funding is distributed,

hasn't been looked at by governments

for more than a decade.

It's about time we looked

at it again and I will...

The process has already started

to get us there and one

of the things I will be publishing,

for example, in the next few weeks

is a consultation on cost drivers

for local authorities,

making sure we're really looking

at the costs and seeing

how they are different

in different areas.

And there'll be more on fairer

funding for councils on this

week's Sunday Politics.

That's at 11am on BBC One.

A man from Luton who planned

to fight for Islamic State in Syria

has been jailed for 6 years.

22-year-old Mubashir Jamil was

arrested after a raid

at his home in Belmont Road.

The former straight-A student had

also considered carrying out

a suicide attack in the UK.

The judge said a mental health

disorder was only partly to blame

for his actions, but he will be

treated in a secure hospital

until he's fit for prison transfer.

The lives of a disabled man and his

family have been transformed -

thanks to a team of volunteers

led by the BBC's DIY SOS programme.

Simon Dobbin was left brain damaged

after being attacked by a gang

of football hooligans

after a Cambridge United game.

Since then his wife has

become his full time carer,

but their home wasn't fit to deal

with his complex needs.

This morning, though,

that changed.

Kim Riley reports

Day ten of the big build,

and some last-minute touches.

More than 100 volunteers have gutted

then transformed the small terraced

house in Mildenhall for

Simon Dobbin.

The Cambridge United fan was left

with severe brain injuries

after being attacked by football

hooligans in Southend in 2015.

After leaving hospital,

his bed has been in the dining room,

a wet room part of the makeover.

We can't show you the end

result, that must wait

until the programme show next year.

But presenter Nick Knowles

led the way as Simon's wife

Nicole and daughter Emily,

eyes firmly shut, had

their first glimpse.

This family's plight has

been very widely publicised

by yourself and other media.

And so I think that the whole

of Suffolk has taken it

to their hearts, and we have

had enormous goodwill.

Here come the heroes

who have made it all happen.

Firms have donated materials,

builders, plumbers, electricians

and others given their labour free.

I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

The feel on the build

was absolutely fantastic.

It...

I'm privileged to be a part of it.

The amount of people

you get here is unreal.

You know...

What's going on in the world

today and you still get

all these good-hearted

people, it's great.

After their first viewing

of their new-look home,

Nicole and Emily emerged

to wowed applause.

The designer of their new abode,

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, looking on.

Everything is perfect.

Nothing is going to be changed.

Good old Laurence.

Good old Laurence, you know, he's

done a cracker of a job in there.

Simon is in Addenbrooke's hospital

recovering from a chest infection.

But DIY SOS and hundreds of good

people have ensured his home is now

somewhere he can live with dignity.

Milton Keynes won't be

the European Capital of Culture

in 2023, after a decision

by the European Commission.

They say after Britain

leaves the EU, they'll

no longer be eligible to enter.

Milton Keynes Council said it's

disappointed by the decision

and won't withdraw voluntarily.

The council has already spent around

£150,000 getting the bid

together.

And we'll have reaction

to that story on tonight's

late news at 10:30pm.

But for now, we can join Susie

for more of Look East.

Still to come on the programme

tonight - Alex will be

here with news of a chilly weekend.

And we are live at the Bury

Christmas Fayre where armed police

are on patrol after a year

overshadowed by terrorist

attacks at public events.

This week we've been telling

the story of Paul Chamberlain.

He's from Norfolk

but spends his time

in charge of a boat called

spotted on a flimsy boat.

On the so-called deadliest

migration route in the world.

The good weather and calm seas has

encouraged them to risk their lives

before the winter storms set in.

Take our time, no rush.

Let's make sure we count people on.

Let's make sure we count people on.

Paul briefs his crew

on the latest situation.

It's a simple humanitarian act

and now to die at sea, really.

For me, it's as simple as that.

This is the second

rescue in as many days.

This time, we think there

are about 80 people on board,

we're not sure at this

stage if it is wooden

boat or an inflatable.

There are in fact 95 on board.

They've been unable to move

from here for nine hours.

Tensions are running high.

Many of these are

from Ghana and Libya.

Fleeing persecution and civil war,

looking for a better life.

My baby, my mama.

Silent, the baby is crying.

They can only be rescued

if the Italian maritime rescue

coordination centre gives

permission to do so.

We've just been informed by MRCC

in Rome there was another boat that

and we are making speed,

to save time when we get

there, we've kept our

rescue boat in the water.

This time, they are from Gambia,

Nigeria and Morocco.

They welcome the helping hand

and the friendly faces.

For one man, it is just too much.

He falls unconscious.

Sean, my cameraman,

puts his camera down,

he helps to bring him round.

Good work, Sean, good work.

Many have travelled hundreds

of miles to be here.

They suffer from a lot of pain

so the man usually suffers

from malnutrition so they all have

abdominal pain and because they

haven't eaten for a long time,

they haven't had a shower for a long

time, so they have infections.

I'm from Gambia.

And you've been travelling

for three years?

Yeah.

I want to work in this place.

And the suffering in my

country is too much.

Are you hoping for a better life?

Yeah.

I need to have a better life.

There are many children on board.

This baby boy, literally

born overnight on one

of the inflatable boats.

Oblivious to the world

he would have had at home

or the one that he now faces.

The boats are destroyed,

slashed or set on fire to stop

the people smugglers

from everusing them again.

The ship is almost at

full capacity, the crew

working night and day.

262 migrants safe, for now,

believing Europe opened

them a better life.

We hope to have more

from Debbie tomorrow.

Armed Police are on patrol

at the Christmas Fayre in

Bury St Edmunds for the first time.

Organisers say it's not in response

to a specific threat

but it follows a year

overshadowed by terrorist

attacks at public events.

Bury Fayre attracts more

than 100,000 people

and was named the best

in the country in an

online poll last year.

Alex Dunlop is there now.

In the last 14 years, this Christmas

Fayre has grown from 30 stalls to

more than 300, it really is that

popular. But with that comes huge

crowd as you can see. In a very

densely packed area, which does make

it a potential target and so the

decision to step up security in a

very physical way.

The front line against terrorism

in the heart of Suffolk.

A ring of steel and

concrete installed around

the centre of Bury St Edmunds

to stop anyone using a vehicle as a

weapon.

Great shame.

Particularly in a lovely

market town that we live.

To see these precautions

that the authorities had to take.

Just before 2pm, a final

security briefing.

And then the barriers

are closed around Angel Hill.

As one of the country's biggest

Christmas Fayres gets underway.

For the next three days,

colour and carnival take over

the town, attracting more

than 100,000 visitors.

And for the first time, this.

Suffolk Police patrol openly

with guns and sidearm.

Out of sight, undercover officers

mingle with the crowd.

Among the 300 market stalls, Dennis

and Theresa from Hertfordshire.

We do over 100 shows a year up

and down the country.

Definitely this year,

there has been a higher

presence of security

since all the terror alerts, really.

Armed police?

Definitely, armed police.

Behind-the-scenes, Martin heads up

the team that monitors everything.

We've got the hostile vehicle

mitigation that's going on in three

locations to protect the higher

crowd density areas.

How's the operation shaping up?

It's early yet, we've built

everything, everything

is up and running.

Everything is operational.

Last year, a lorry smashed into a

crowded market place in Berlin

killing 12 and injuring 50 more. The

threat is even closer to haul

killing a good home,

-- from this pop concert, it is

becoming more normal.

We are taking

even more trouble than normal to

make sure people feel so to enjoy

the Christmas Fayre.

As the

traditional lantern parade gets

away, visitors except heightened

security is set to stay.

We saw

police as he went out, but it makes

you feel more secure.

We know it's

our safety so it's good.

Its

hometown, still got to come out, you

can't let anybody get away with what

they are getting away with.

A few

minutes ago, I had a chat with the

local police chief inspector who

assured me that Bury St Edmunds is

not a specific

target for terrorists but with the

international thread at severe, the

second-highest level, they say they

cannot afford to take chances.

Certainly the message tonight is

that Bury St Edmunds is a safe town

in a safe county and as you can see,

anyone and everyone is welcome to

visit this really spectacular

Christmas Fayre. Alex, thank you.

When Jared Carpenter joined

City College Norwich five years ago

he was so anxious he couldn't go

into classrooms or walk

around on his own.

The college helped him

through Phoenix Purple,

its specialist centre

for people with autism.

And he flourished.

He's currently doing his Masters

in Mathematics at the University

of East Anglia and has been chosen

as a finalist in the National

Student of the Year Awards.

This afternoon Jared

came into the studio

with one of his teachers,

Gemma Burton.

I asked him how he felt

about getting this recognition.

Gobsmacked.

Totally, utterly gobsmacked.

I was speechless when I first heard.

Let's see your certificate,

hold that up to the camera so we can

see.

You've achieved so much

at City College.

What difference has it made,

how they helped you?

It's changed my life, really.

Not just academic of

course, emotionally.

Before I attended there, I couldn't

really do anything on my own.

I was stuck at home a lot

of the time, I didn't interact

with many people so when I first

arrived at the college,

I was only in one day a week and had

to be constantly supervised.

By members of staff.

I was too frightened even walk

to the classroom down the hall.

I can now navigate a whole

university by myself.

Fantastic.

And Gemma, you are part

of the course that help

these young people.

What do you do to make

that difference, that

you have made to Jared?

It's very much about giving young

people a fresh start for education.

A lot of the students who come to us

have had a very negative

experiences at school,

they've struggled to

communicate, deal with the social

interaction and some of them

have been quite bullied.

So when they come to us,

it's very much about creating

an environment which is nurturing,

so we do things like developing

independence skills,

we do things link to understanding

autism, actually where

you are coming from, and celebrating

it and being comfortable

with that fact.

When you see a success

story like Jared, how

does that make you feel?

It's highly rewarding.

We have lots of students who come

through our particular course.

It's really great to see how far

someone can travel from day one,

when we were escorting students

to get lunch and even

entering the building,

right through to several years down

the line, going on to university

and studies and things

they want to do in the future.

And Jared, you found that you have

a particular ability for maths?

Was that something that you knew

before you went to City College?

No, really.

I found that and developed it.

As Gemma said, the timetable was

based on what you want so I wanted

to do a couple of GCSEs,

so English and Maths,

but while doing it I found

I loved it.

Thanks to my teachers I was able

to get onto a full-time A-level

programme and I could not have done

that straight from my

last specialist school.

And now you're doing

a Masters in maths at

the University of East Anglia.

I might quite like it though.

You must be very good at it as well!

I love spending time with academics

and you get to have these wonderful

conversations about maths,

and uncapped level, you must say.

I want to see which area of maths

really takes my fancy so it could be

scientific, I've always been

interested in whether,

that kind of thing.

I've also always been

interested in financial stuff.

So maths could take

you anywhere, really.

I'll go anywhere they will take me.

Well, huge congratulations,

what a fantastic award to get.

And thank you both so much

for coming on the programme.

Thank you for having us.

Thank you.

Jared needs to come in and talk to

you.

Jared needs to come in and talk to

you. We are now starting to swap

mild and windy weather for colder

conditions and it will continue into

the weekend. But at the pressure

pattern, you can see we've got this

weather front of the scene. That

will bring some outbreaks of rain

tonight. We are starting to bring a

cold northerly wind in and you can

see from the chart, all this cold

air mass waiting to push down from

the north, that mild air squeezed

out the way. By the tomorrow, it

will be blue by the cold air

establishing itself across the

country. -- this part of the

country. Fantastic photographs today

because there was lots of fine

weather and windy. A good photograph

with the leaf on the lens. The blogs

are go and sunshine, clear sky to

start this evening but as we go

through the evening and night, more

cloud from the south and the weather

front will bring some outbreaks of

rain. Not for everyone, some parts

will stay dry, parts of North

Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, and

parts of Suffolk and Essex will see

some of this rain. It will clear

quite swiftly. It will be quite a

chilly night though so colder than

last night, three or four Celsius

potentially, coldest temperatures

across the region tonight. Into

tomorrow, we have largely high

pressure dominating, that

north-westerly wind establishing

itself in a cold fail to things,

reasonably light winds that they

will freshen by the weekend. Long

spells of sunshine but there could

be some showers. These are more

likely to affect southern parts of

the region that they could be a

little bit further north sake you

might get a shower but also sunshine

around. It will fill quite chilly,

6-8dC are expected high. On the

afternoon, they will fade away so it

looks like it will stay dry to end

the day then a sharp frost follows.

Tomorrow night, many parts of the

region below freezing. A sharp frost

for Saturday morning. The pressure

pattern is bringing high-pressure

income and low pressure in the North

grating is squeezed on the ice

above, the north-westerly wind will

make things really feel quite cold.

During the weekend. There will be

some swells of sunshine for our part

of the country, a chilly wind and

some frosty nights back. The outlook

is looking a little bit like this.

5-7dC are expected high over the

weekend, factor in that

north-westerly wind, feeling colder

and it looks like it might start to

get a little milder

and it looks like it might start to

get a little milder to start next

week again. I love that picture of

the falling leaves, it was

beautiful. That's all from us. Have

a good evening, goodbye.