:00:00. > :00:00.Sunday. Make the most of Saturday because Sunday looks pretty filthy.
:00:00. > :00:17.Thank you. Good evening and welcome to BBC Look
:00:18. > :00:25.North. The headlines tonight. Demands for flood protection for the
:00:26. > :00:26.land that grows our food. I think the Environment Agency and
:00:27. > :00:31.politicians need to take it seriously. The biggest fall in
:00:32. > :00:34.unemployment for 15 years ` the Government says thousands more are
:00:35. > :00:41.in work in this area. Short taxi trips for council staff
:00:42. > :00:44.labelled an absurd waste of money. With three Yorkshire B voted
:00:45. > :00:56.among the best in the world, we find out what makes a good one. That
:00:57. > :01:01.detailed forecast comes up in 15 minutes.
:01:02. > :01:06.Farmland in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire should be protected from
:01:07. > :01:09.flooding in the same way as homes ` that's according to local farmers
:01:10. > :01:13.who believe food security should be given higher priority. The
:01:14. > :01:24.Government has said that protecting houses will come first when flood
:01:25. > :01:28.defences are repaired and improved. But experts have told BBC Look North
:01:29. > :01:31.that the salt water which flooded onto fields in December could have
:01:32. > :01:41.caused long`term damage. With more, here's Linsey Smith. This was Paul
:01:42. > :01:44.Martinson's land in Yokefleet last month. Lying beneath the salt water,
:01:45. > :01:47.winter crops he thought would perish. But as he takes soil samples
:01:48. > :01:51.today, there are positive signs. I think the winter crops will
:01:52. > :02:00.survive, it's just the effects of the salt and total progress through
:02:01. > :02:04.spring. But they look fine the moment. But experts at Bishop Burton
:02:05. > :02:12.College say salt can cause untold damage. We have simulated salt water
:02:13. > :02:21.flooding here. We have topped it up with saltwater, which caused this to
:02:22. > :02:29.disburse. The structure is ruined. Your crops do not grow. How many
:02:30. > :02:33.years can it affect it? It could be five years or even longer.
:02:34. > :02:37.That's a concern because over 15,000 people are employed on the land in
:02:38. > :02:40.East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The country's larder, it produces 30% of
:02:41. > :02:44.the nation's vegetables and salads. Which is why some argue it should be
:02:45. > :02:50.given a higher priority in flood plans. There is more the Environment
:02:51. > :02:57.Agency could do to help farmers would flood defences. It is a
:02:58. > :03:01.two`way stream. It needs to be caught about. The Environment Agency
:03:02. > :03:04.told as they do not decide where defences out bills. That is based on
:03:05. > :03:11.a points scoring system set down by the government. It's something on
:03:12. > :03:16.Bruce Rowle's mind. He watched salt water saturate 450 acres of his
:03:17. > :03:22.family farm in South Ferriby. The tide was three feet higher than in
:03:23. > :03:29.1953. They were the most damaging floods in history and killed 300
:03:30. > :03:34.people. It had less effect. Flood defences have been improved in that
:03:35. > :03:37.time, but the messages, we have to keep improving them because these
:03:38. > :03:44.events happen. It will be some time before salt as return their results.
:03:45. > :03:58.In the meantime ` farmers are hoping this was a freak event ` rather than
:03:59. > :04:07.a taste of things to come. I asked and Macintosh what the priorities
:04:08. > :04:13.should be. The Labour government and in 2005 and made sure that life,
:04:14. > :04:19.people and property at the first line of funding. It is clearly
:04:20. > :04:24.unacceptable if we lose that tracks of land to tidal coastal surges in
:04:25. > :04:29.this way. I suppose the question is, is their money there to protect
:04:30. > :04:34.fields and land and defend them from the saltwater? I think we have to
:04:35. > :04:43.look at new sources of funding, possibly insurance companies. Is it
:04:44. > :04:48.not a government job? Every single department has to look at its
:04:49. > :04:52.budget. What we are looking to do is factor in partnership funding. There
:04:53. > :05:00.is a possibility of farm funds under the new budget. There are a number
:05:01. > :05:05.of funds we can look to. A lot of this land is very close to the
:05:06. > :05:13.scene. Maybe we can afford to do anything. I look at food security
:05:14. > :05:18.and take it very seriously. If we are going to lose farmland to the
:05:19. > :05:28.same, obviously the landowner must be compensated. I believe we should
:05:29. > :05:33.become more self`sufficient. Our self`sufficiency needs to be
:05:34. > :05:37.increased. I take the loss of food production through these floods very
:05:38. > :05:41.seriously. We are not going to be out of the Jews food if we do not
:05:42. > :05:50.have fields and plan to do it on. `` we are not going to be able to
:05:51. > :05:55.produce food. I believe there is a way we can work with farmers to make
:05:56. > :06:00.sure if they repeatedly lose land, there has to be some form of
:06:01. > :06:09.compensation for them. I believe there are new funds we could look
:06:10. > :06:13.out for that purpose. Another story we will continue to follow.
:06:14. > :06:15.A young mother from Hull who had post`natal depression when she
:06:16. > :06:19.killed her five`week`old baby should have been offered more help for her
:06:20. > :06:22.condition, a report has found. Natasha Sultan, on the right, was
:06:23. > :06:29.given a three`year supervision order for infanticide. A serious case
:06:30. > :06:32.review by the Hull Safeguarding Children Board, found the death
:06:33. > :06:35.could not have been prevented or predicted but extra support for
:06:36. > :06:41.post`natal depression would have been beneficial.
:06:42. > :06:49.The number of people out of work has fallen again. The latest figures
:06:50. > :06:53.from the Government show that thousands more people are in work in
:06:54. > :06:55.the Yorkshire and Humber Region and also in the East Midlands which
:06:56. > :06:59.includes Lincolnshire. Tim Iredale has been looking at the figures.
:07:00. > :07:01.The latest figures show the largest quarterly fall in unemployment since
:07:02. > :07:06.1997. The jobless total in the Yorkshire and Humber region fell by
:07:07. > :07:10.8,000 to 235,00. Meanwhile, unemployment in the East Midlands
:07:11. > :07:15.region ` which covers Lincolnshire ` fell by 28,000 to 149,000. The
:07:16. > :07:19.Employment Minister says that means fewer job`seekers in our area are
:07:20. > :07:29.having to get on their bikes to look for work elsewhere. They should not
:07:30. > :07:38.have to leave the area. Employment has gone up, so it shows there are
:07:39. > :07:41.opportunities. There is work across a spectrum of jobs.
:07:42. > :07:44.With an unemployment rate of 6.4% the East Midlands is below the
:07:45. > :07:47.national average of 7.1%, but the Yorkshire and Humber region still
:07:48. > :07:51.has a unemployment rate of 8.4% and there are pockets of our area where
:07:52. > :08:09.the jobless total remains stubbornly high, such as East Hull. There's not
:08:10. > :08:13.many available jobs in the area. A lot of people have applied and there
:08:14. > :08:17.are no vacancies. I think they're right jobs available. I think a lot
:08:18. > :08:22.of people are stalking the benefits trap. I think a lot of people are
:08:23. > :08:27.brought up to think that sometimes it is easier to stay at home and get
:08:28. > :08:32.benefits, but they're right jobs if people are willing to put themselves
:08:33. > :08:34.out. `` there are jobs. All the main political parties have
:08:35. > :08:36.welcomed today's news. However, senior Labour figures have expressed
:08:37. > :08:39.concern that unemployment in Yorkshire and the Humber isn't
:08:40. > :08:42.falling as fast as other regions in the South.
:08:43. > :08:45.Since last October, we've been following these four ` Teri, Stefan,
:08:46. > :08:54.Josh and Jess ` who're all hoping to find employment. Gemma Dawson has
:08:55. > :09:01.been to find out if the New Year has brought new opportunities.
:09:02. > :09:04.It's a new term, and Jess is back in class. We're playing a game adding
:09:05. > :09:17.numbers together and testing children's mental arithmetic. As
:09:18. > :09:21.part of her traineeship she has been helping out at this primary school
:09:22. > :09:25.for the last few months. I have realised I want to work with
:09:26. > :09:27.children of an older age, but I may start working with children younger
:09:28. > :09:30.and then work my way up, because there are not many teaching
:09:31. > :09:34.assistant jobs available. At college, Jess and Josh are preparing
:09:35. > :09:38.for work. Josh is studying for a skills exam next week and is hopeful
:09:39. > :09:49.he will be able to find a job soon. I'm feeling slightly more confident.
:09:50. > :09:52.There's a new Tesco, so there will be loads of jobs opening up there. I
:09:53. > :09:55.have heard that many other places are starting recruitment. Stefan is
:09:56. > :09:59.continuing computer training in Lincoln. He has been out of work for
:10:00. > :10:02.17 years due to his epilepsy. He was hoping to launch his own literary
:10:03. > :10:06.company next month, but has just discovered he is not eligible for a
:10:07. > :10:15.government scheme which offers money and support to people starting their
:10:16. > :10:18.own business. It makes it harder. Not impossible, and just makes it
:10:19. > :10:21.that much harder. The difference would be, you would have that safety
:10:22. > :10:25.net. In Bridlington, Teri is packing. She has lived in the resort
:10:26. > :10:34.most of her life, but after four years looking for work, she is
:10:35. > :10:47.moving to Doncaster. Brid has really got me down. The fact that I've been
:10:48. > :10:51.running around trying to find work, and I think doing this move to
:10:52. > :10:55.Doncaster is going to be a hell of a lot better all`round. So the New
:10:56. > :10:58.Year is bringing new challenges for these four people, all hoping they
:10:59. > :11:02.will soon find employment. I've been talking to the Labour MP
:11:03. > :11:06.for Hull East Karl Turrner if he welcomed the latest figures which
:11:07. > :11:09.show that Unemployment is down. We would welcome any drop in
:11:10. > :11:22.unemployment. However, I think this mask the reality of what is
:11:23. > :11:26.happening in places like Hull. This is the biggest fall in unemployment
:11:27. > :11:34.since 1997. That shows the coalition has got it right. Peter, in Hull
:11:35. > :11:37.East, the number has gone down 27 cents last month. I welcome that
:11:38. > :11:42.works I want to know what the judge that, if indeed they are. People
:11:43. > :11:47.coming off benefits does not necessarily mean they are rigged
:11:48. > :11:55.full`time employment. The reality is people on zero our contract, people
:11:56. > :11:58.who are underemployed. Do you agree with M The Who so that young people
:11:59. > :12:02.must be prepared to lower their ambitions and take jobs in coffee
:12:03. > :12:10.shops and they want to get on in life? I think people in my area are
:12:11. > :12:15.lucky to get anywhere. People are desperate for employment. If that is
:12:16. > :12:23.available, I welcome that but I want proper jobs, not zero our contract
:12:24. > :12:27.jobs of part`time jobs. We saw that lad in the film who is excited at
:12:28. > :12:30.the prospect of a job in Tesco in Lincoln. She is saying many people
:12:31. > :12:36.think these jobs are beneath them and don't want to do them. How about
:12:37. > :12:40.is the evidence for that. Certainly not my experience. People I see on a
:12:41. > :12:43.regular basis at desperate for proper work. What they don't want
:12:44. > :12:48.and cannot afford to do is have a zero our contract were their
:12:49. > :12:52.employer is taxing them and expecting them to turn up in an
:12:53. > :12:58.afternoon, work two hours then travel fans. She has also said young
:12:59. > :13:01.Britons are less prepared in the world of like the migrant and need
:13:02. > :13:07.to learn the basics like turning up on time. Our young people let
:13:08. > :13:11.themselves down? I doubt whether there is any evidence. It might be
:13:12. > :13:15.headlined travelling. It proves how out of touch this government is.
:13:16. > :13:23.They are complacent on this issue. There is a cost of living prices
:13:24. > :13:30.they need to address. It's in my area are ?1600 a year worse off as a
:13:31. > :13:35.result of the government policy. Women in my area and ?1900 a year
:13:36. > :13:42.worse off. You the governments are not in touch and they leave to
:13:43. > :13:46.address it. Thank you. We want your thoughts on this story.
:13:47. > :13:52.What are your experiences of the employment situation at the moment.
:13:53. > :13:55.Is Esther McVeigh right when she says young people should be prepared
:13:56. > :13:59.to set their sights lower to get into the jobs market or is it the
:14:00. > :14:19.case that the jobs simply aren't there?
:14:20. > :14:23.Still ahead tonight: Rugby returns ` Hull's super league teams prepare,
:14:24. > :14:47.with more than a dozen new players. Nice clouds at Middleton on the
:14:48. > :14:53.Wolds taken by Nelly Naylor. Oh, yes.
:14:54. > :15:00.Thank you for that. You were putting me off then. Margaret wants to know
:15:01. > :15:05.what has happened to Keely Donovan. She is lying on a beach in
:15:06. > :15:16.Australia, presumably trying to get a tan like yours. She will be back.
:15:17. > :15:22.I am working this Friday. She will be back next week. We will look at
:15:23. > :15:28.the headlines for tomorrow. Short, sharp bursts of heavy rain around
:15:29. > :15:37.nine o'clock in the morning. That will be out of the way and skies
:15:38. > :15:43.will brighten up from the West. That was the weather fronts that brought
:15:44. > :15:46.the rent from overnight. As it's looks like it will be a fairly
:15:47. > :15:51.straightforward night across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and
:15:52. > :15:58.Norfolk. There will be a few showers pushing in from the west. Watch out
:15:59. > :16:21.for icy patches on untreated surfaces. Roundabout dawn, it will
:16:22. > :16:34.be dry. A very short active weather front. It will last about an hour or
:16:35. > :16:45.two. The afternoon looks quite nice. Sunshine with one or two
:16:46. > :16:56.showers. Highs of six Celsius. Unsettled outlook Friday.
:16:57. > :17:03.Potentially heavy rain later on Sunday.
:17:04. > :17:09.I would love to stay and chat but good night.
:17:10. > :17:11.It's a journey of just 500 feet but it's cost local tax payers ?42,000.
:17:12. > :17:15.Lincolnshire County Council has spent the money on taxis shuttling
:17:16. > :17:19.workers to a call centre from a parking area to a nearby call centre
:17:20. > :17:29.because of safety concerns. But it's been called an absurd waste of
:17:30. > :17:47.public money. Sarah Corker reports. An early morning taxi picks up
:17:48. > :17:50.council workers in Lincoln today. Nothing unusual there you might
:17:51. > :17:54.think. But their journey to the office is just one tenth of a mile.
:17:55. > :17:58.It's because some staff say the short walk is unsafe in the winter.
:17:59. > :18:02.It is intimidating. There are people who come up behind you, you can see
:18:03. > :18:05.they are, on bikes. People have been mugged around here. It is a
:18:06. > :18:08.dangerous, intimidating place. It can get very dark, especially around
:18:09. > :18:11.this area. It is not particularly safe, especially for young ladies.
:18:12. > :18:15.Employees are shuttled 524 feet from the Spa Road car park over the river
:18:16. > :18:19.to a call centre. A service costing ?7,000 a year ` that's been running
:18:20. > :18:23.for six years. Others who use this area, like the rowing club, told me
:18:24. > :18:30.it's a waste of money at a time of council cuts.
:18:31. > :18:37.And the shuttle runs between November and March, morning and
:18:38. > :18:42.night. Maybe they should improve the public transport facilities. I don't
:18:43. > :18:47.know. They are making cuts everywhere else but they are
:18:48. > :18:50.ferrying staff unnecessarily. The problem is, pedestrians are not
:18:51. > :18:55.supposed to use as bridge. There is no footpad. It is a 20 minute walk
:18:56. > :19:00.along an unlit route by the river. The council said it has a duty of
:19:01. > :19:05.care to make sure its employees get to work safely. How can you justify
:19:06. > :19:12.spending less money on taxes when the council has to make savings of
:19:13. > :19:15.?39 million? We do understand that. It was not a decision we made
:19:16. > :19:20.lightly. We looked at lots of options. The difficulty we have is
:19:21. > :19:25.that everyone is different shifts, so they do not all come to work
:19:26. > :19:33.together or leave work together. We had to look at a cost effective way
:19:34. > :19:36.of getting people to. ?? new line As the light fades ` the evening taxi
:19:37. > :19:44.arrives. But there's not much demand for it tonight. The council is
:19:45. > :19:46.looking for a cheaper alternative until improvements to the roads are
:19:47. > :19:50.planned. There could be up to 14 new players
:19:51. > :19:53.on the pitch when Hull FC welcome neighbours Hull Kingston Rovers to
:19:54. > :19:56.the KC stadium on Sunday for a pre`season friendly. You Both teams
:19:57. > :19:59.have recruited heavily in the winter hoping to improve their fortunes.
:20:00. > :20:08.Here's our sports reporter Simon Clark. See when Hull FC and Hull
:20:09. > :20:15.Kingston Rovers meet this week in a friendly, fans will be introduced to
:20:16. > :20:20.a number of new players. They have both built extensively. Key signings
:20:21. > :20:45.include: we had a few friendlies last year.
:20:46. > :20:59.We are missing one with Sean Gleeson. We will play whoever
:21:00. > :21:08.performs the best will be there. We are carrying a decent sized squad
:21:09. > :21:11.this weekend. When they say Hull Kingston Rovers and Hull FC are
:21:12. > :21:15.neighbours, it is quite literally true. When come to the league
:21:16. > :21:23.campaign and to this friendly match at the weekend, will they be close
:21:24. > :21:26.together far apart? Peter Stevenson was once a leading Everton player
:21:27. > :21:32.until serious injury robbed of his career. He has graduated as a
:21:33. > :21:40.journalist. Who better to offer an objective view of the Derby? Is the
:21:41. > :21:54.body needs to get prepared for that sort of contact. New blokes have
:21:55. > :22:01.never experienced it. Whoever wins on Sunday, don't read too much into
:22:02. > :22:02.it because there is a long way to go until now and the end of the super
:22:03. > :22:06.league. The annual pantomime performed by
:22:07. > :22:14.BBC staff in the region looks set to reach a fundraising milestone of
:22:15. > :22:18.?100,000. His This year, people from BBC Look North and BBC Radio
:22:19. > :22:20.Humberside donned wigs and glitter for Mother Goose, their 12th festive
:22:21. > :22:24.production. All the money raised from ticket sales and donations over
:22:25. > :22:28.the years has been given to local charities and Children in Need.
:22:29. > :22:35.A bed and breakfast just over the East Yorkshire border has been named
:22:36. > :22:39.the second best in the world. First place went to a B in Dorset in the
:22:40. > :22:43.Travellers' Choice awards by the website, Trip Advisor. But what
:22:44. > :22:46.makes a B so special and do we have the competition in the East
:22:47. > :22:49.Riding to rival it? Simon Spark has been finding out. So here we are in
:22:50. > :22:53.Filey, North Yorkshire looking at the second best Bed Breakfast in
:22:54. > :22:57.the world, apparently. You'd hardly know, except for the peppering of
:22:58. > :23:08.five star awards outside, and its perfectly presented frontage. I
:23:09. > :23:14.don't think we need to plug it more than that. If this has got world
:23:15. > :23:21.attention now, we need to capitalise. So come on, East
:23:22. > :23:24.Yorkshire. Pull your socks. But first we need to know how and for
:23:25. > :23:32.that market research in nearby Bridlington. We can be better. What
:23:33. > :23:37.would make the world's best bed and breakfast? A good breakfast. A
:23:38. > :23:46.comfortable bed. Value for money in this day and age. Good food and good
:23:47. > :23:50.bets. The attitude of people who own it and how clean it is. When we put
:23:51. > :23:52.all these ingredients together we think we've found a suitable
:23:53. > :23:58.sparring partner for Filey. The Wolds village in Bainton. This is
:23:59. > :24:05.the main staircase. We have been put forward to the finals for visit
:24:06. > :24:09.Britain. It means we are in consideration for one of the top B
:24:10. > :24:16.and bees. I will take you to the Gothic Victorian room. For a long
:24:17. > :24:23.time, North Yorkshire has been the destination. We I think we have
:24:24. > :24:28.proved we are perhaps the best in the walls and we need to go on to be
:24:29. > :24:36.the best in the world. So the gloves are off. Watch out, Filey!
:24:37. > :24:39.It is not just East Yorkshire but Lincolnshire as well. If you have a
:24:40. > :24:42.story you think we Let's get a recap of the national and regional
:24:43. > :24:44.headlines. Should know about, let others know.
:24:45. > :24:47.The biggest fall in unemployment for more than 15 years.
:24:48. > :24:50.Tests to see if tidal floods have seriously contaminated some of the
:24:51. > :24:55.most productive farm land in this area.
:24:56. > :25:05.I believe we should become more self`sufficient. I'd take the loss
:25:06. > :25:07.of food production through these recent floods very seriously indeed.
:25:08. > :25:26.And Macintosh. The weather tomorrow: big response on the subject of jobs.
:25:27. > :25:31.John says, I am not on job`seekers but the agency I am with have only
:25:32. > :25:36.give me one day was of work this week, and that does not pay the
:25:37. > :25:41.rent. Steve says, I think people are happy to be on the dole. I was made
:25:42. > :25:48.redundant today at one o'clock and by four o'clock I had got a new job.
:25:49. > :25:51.Jordan says, I am 17 and will take any job because I am not going to
:25:52. > :25:59.achieve my ambition is due to the lack of jobs available here in Hull.
:26:00. > :26:21.Thank you for those. We read and listen to them. Good night.
:26:22. > :26:23.We all have hopes and fears for the future
:26:24. > :26:27.and for the lives our children and grandchildren will lead.
:26:28. > :26:31.I want to build a Britain where everyone feels secure,
:26:32. > :26:35.so our long-term economic plan is building a stronger,
:26:36. > :26:40.more competitive economy and securing our country's future.