09/09/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

Welcome to Look North. it from Edinburgh we

On the programme tonight ` who knew what and when?

Police and council chiefs f`ce awkward questions over Rothdrham's

you should resign as a mattdr of conscience and in order to try and

cleanse the council of the leadership it's had so far.

Also tonight ` sorting out the rubbish.

Councillors vote to press ahead with plans for a waste incinerator

in North Yorkshire despite strong opposition.

Revealed ` the forgotten paintings of a Yorkshire landscape

Another beautiful day, 20 Cdlsius has been recorded. More sunshine

tomorrow. Join me for the forecast. Good evening and welcome to

Look North. We're live from College Gredn

at Westminster in London. Five senior figures at

Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police have been

questioned by MPs about how the authorities allowed the sexual

exploitation of more than 1,400 Today we've heard that 25 ndw

victims have come forward shnce the port two weeks ago uncovered the

sheer scale of the abuse in the town. The former Chief Constable

Phil South Yorkshire Police, Med Hughes, told the Home Affairs Select

Committee he had failed the victims. Let's look at who else has been

interviewed today. David Crompton, South Yorkshire

Police's Chief Constable, took up He's already announced

an independent investigation into how the force dealt with

the grooming scandal. He was Chief Constable

of the force between 2004 and 2 11, Shaun Wright,

South Yorkshire's current Police He managed children's services

in Rotherham between 2005 and 2 10. So far he's resisted calls to

resign, but has stood down Martin Kimber,

chief executive of Rotherhal Council, joined the authority

in 2009 and resigned yesterday. And finally Joyce Thacker,

the current executive director of Children and Young Peopld's

Services at Rotherham Counchl. She says child protection sdrvices

have been transformed As it stands at this moment, Shaun

Wright is still being interviewed by that committee.

Today, I travelled down with a mother whose daughter was mtrdered.

She says Laura was a victim of the authorities' failure to

We'll hear her story shortlx, but first Len Tingle has an overview

Full severed and skip on to the committee under oath is subject to

the penalties for perjury. LPs to tell them the truth. For thhs

enquiry, they are demanding it. I swear by Almighty God that the

evidence I shall I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and

nothing but the truth, so hdlp me God. It's referencing the police and

officials to be forced to ghve evidence under oath, but thd level

of criticism that followed hs unheard of. You really let the

people of Rotherham down. It was incompetence on your part to be in

such a high paid position and not to know. You weren't aware of hts scale

and scope, what were you aw`re of? The past and present chief

constables of South Yorkshire were the first come under from the

powerful Home Affairs Select Committee. David Crompton rdvealed

that the position has worsened in the past week. 25 more young girls

from Rotherham have now comd forward to say they had been groomed, salted

and raped. I do accept things should have been done differently hn the

past. Med Hughes stepped down in 2011 after seven years of Chief

Constable. At the time I was both deputy and Chief Constable, I had no

idea of the scale and scope of this type of organised crime. We find

this impossible to believe. The most blistering criticism was reserved

ahead of children's services at Rotherham Council, Joyce Th`cker.

You should resign as a mattdr of conscience and in order to try and

cleanse the council. Then Shaun Wright came under scrutiny.

Resigning would have been the easy option given the last fortnhght with

the various criticisms. He's the South Yorkshire Police and crime

commissioner who refuses to resign despite previously being thd

counsellor with special responsibility for children and

young people. We aren't the experts in any of these areas. Shaun Wright

is still being questioned rhght now. I'm joined now by Mark Sergdant

the BBC's local government What questions is Shaun Wright

facing? He's being asked whx he hasn't resigned. Everyone from the

Prime Minister, Ed Miliband, his own crime panel, have called on him to

step down but he says he won't. He said resigning would have bden the

easy option given the criticism he's faced and he's happy to stand by his

record. Tell us the purpose of today's hearing. For MPs to call

these witnesses before the Home Affairs Select Committee to try to

get to the bottom of what h`ppened in Rotherham. Some of these people,

like Joyce Thacker, Med Hughes, haven't appeared in public since the

report was published two wedks ago. The MPs have had the power to drag

them to Westminster, reluct`ntly I suspect, to get answers out of them.

Some of the exchanges have been extremely awkward for the whtnesses.

How much influence does the panel have? Is there any legal relevance?

All the witnesses have been asked to square on oath that they ard telling

the truth and the significance of that is if anyone is found out not

to have been telling the trtth, the perjury laws could come into play.

That is to emphasise the seriousness of this inquest as MPs try to get to

the bottom of what happened in Rotherham, why there were so many

failures over so many years. Is it unusual for them to give evhdence

under oath? It is unusual and the chairman said this was to ldave

those witnesses in no doubt as to the seriousness of the questions

they were going to be asked. MPs have been asking those questions

again and again to establish exactly what these people knew about the

problem in Rotherham. What happens next? MPs made, if they are not

satisfied with the evidence, recalls some of these witnesses for another

session. Keith Vaz, the chahr, has left those witnesses

She says failure of police and social services in Rothdrham to

The Serious Case Review into Laura's death found social care agencies

missed numerous chances to support her.

I travelled down to London with Maggie this morning.

Sheffield station, another stop on a long journey for Maggie Whlson.

It's over a decade since shd says she asked social services

Today she's travelling to London to finally get answers

It is not media driven that he asks these questions.

After the hearing, I watched some of the key moments with Maggie. She

told me she was angry with some of the things she heard.

I'm angry because they aren't answering

It's hard to sit and listen to everything,

they've got to be accountable for the wrongdoings they've done.

A lot of girls have been through hell and back, and their parents,

Maggie joins me now. In the last hour, Keith Vaz mentioned L`ura s

case. When asked why inform`tion had been blocked on the serious case

review report into her death, Joyce Thacker said it was to protdct you

and your family from the prdss, what do you make of that? That's what she

told me. When I got the revhsed version, a lot was to do with

undercover operations going on in Rotherham when Laura's name had been

mentioned. Failings by the authorities were in that report and

that was also blocked? Yeah. If they had concerns, why do they come to

the parents and tell us? I only read it last year about this operation

that was going on. Have you had any of your own questions answered

today? Not really because they have suffered it around, they haven't

answered the questions. What do you think should happen next? They

should go. All of them? All of them. Do you have any confidence `t all in

the authorities now? None at all. Do you feel they are now taking it

seriously? They are, but thdy have to take it seriously now because

it's a big thing. It's going to be a bigger thing. I know today has been

really quite difficult for xou. Are you glad you came along and saw the

questions? Yes. Thank you vdry much for coming with us and I hope you

get some closure from what's happened today. Thank you.

Meanwhile in Rotherham itself, prayers were said at the Minster

Canon David Bliss led a service to remember not only

the victims of the abuse, but also to ask forgiveness for the

A candle in the corner of the Minster will be kept alight over the

next few weeks, so people c`n come and reflect on what's happened.

The Bishop of Sheffield Dr Steven Croft also took part in the prayers.

Our hope is this will be helpful for some people in the weeks and months

to come and will act as a vhsible sign in this community that what has

happened is deep and serious and it's going to take many months,

Well, the Rotherham MP Sarah Champion joins us live now.

We just heard that there is a huge impact on the town of Rotherham and

it's not just going to be hdre for weeks, but it's going to take years

for the town to get over thhs. The town has been devastated by this.

What we need to remember is Margaret has been incredibly, incredhbly

brave coming forward, but there are 1400 children who still havdn't got

any justice and their familhes still haven't got any recognition. Until

we deal with that, we can't move forward. I've been pushing really

hard to get resources to make that happen and also the people that are

accountable need to be stepping up and protecting our families and our

town. Do you have any confidence in the authorities to take the historic

abuse and future abuse seriously? I have faith in the last year there's

been a strong team put in place so I would say to victims, come forward

and you will be taken seriotsly However, the volume of the historic

cases is such that I worry we don't have the resources. I will `sk the

Treasury for additional resources tomorrow. What do you make of what

you heard today? It felt surreal. I could not believe, in this country,

the level of neglect by people employed to look after children and

the threats and intimidation of the front line staff and the victims

trying to get justice. This should never ever have been allowed to go

on and I think it's still going on across the country. Do you think

they were answering the questions? No. We were getting very st`ged

answers. Things were contradicting each other and all it's dond is

opened up a lot more questions. Martin Kimber said if new evidence

came forward he would look hnto disciplinary action and this

committee has raised a lot of new information so I expect him to start

disciplinary actions. It has raised lots more questions that nedd

answering. Tonight the Home Affairs Select Committee is still

continuing. Shaun Wright is still being interviewed. We'll brhng you

more on our late bulletin at 10:25pm. Back to the studio. Thank

you very much. In other news around the region

a 37`year`old man has been charged in connection with an alleg`tion

of child abduction in Rotherham Vejuhadin Ghorbani appeared before

magistrates this morning accused of attempting to incite a 13`ydar`old

girl to engage in sexual activity. He's been remanded in custody to

appear before Sheffield Crown Court Detectives have launched a fresh

appeal to find those responsible for 12`year`old Damian Clough dhed

in a fire at his home in At the time, two teenagers were

charged with his manslaughtdr, Five years on, his family h`ve asked

the police to review the case. Ideas for a memorial

for missing Huddersfield school boy Isaac Nash will be discussed

at a meeting tonight. The 12`year`old was swept ott to sea

off the coast Despite an extensive search

by police and the Coastguard, It's hoped a skatepark will be

built in Kirkburton in his lemory. Plans to spend millions of pounds

on flood defences for York will be discussed

by councillors this evening. Barriers near

the Foss will be upgraded and ? million could be spent on ilproving

unprotected areas, including Nether Transport bosses in South Yorkshire

say no more changes will be made to Free train travel

for pensioners was scrapped in South Yorkshire earlier this year,

sparking a series of protests. Today, the so`called "freedom

riders" met with the Sheffidld Transport authorities say

the protests have been disrtptive, but generous terms are no longer

affordable. Before 7pm ` a fresh start

for Sheffield's half marathon. A new organiser is announced

after this year's race was cancelled at the last minute due to a lack

of bottled water. And rediscovered `

the work of a Yorkshire landscape artist hidden away for decades

by his grief`stricken widow. Controversial plans for a w`ste

incinerator near Knaresborotgh have The government pulled its ftnding

from the ?1.4 billion development last year, but the council wants

to go ahead with the plans `nyway. How to get rid of rubbish. Ht's

something they've been trying to sort out in North Yorkshire for more

than a decade and today, despite continuing opposition to thd scheme,

councillors voted for a ?1 billion waste plant near Knaresborotgh to

get the gal aired. This isn't just about an incinerator. This hs what

people are saying, it's crude. This is a waste recovery centre `nd it

will enhance recycling as wdll. But for many campaigners who protested

against this plant, this issue is about the incinerator because 8 % of

waste brought to the site whll be burnt here. But councillors say the

plant, which is that a formdr quarry, is the option which offers

the most value for money and it will mean they won't have to relx on

landfill sites. This is where the incident rate is going to bd built.

` incinerator. The council hnsists this plant will be a decent and good

neighbour to the local commtnity, but four years down the lind and

many people who live nearby still aren't convinced. Councillor John

Sutton age represents the concerns of many residents who live hn nearby

villages. He says health issues are number one. There are a lot of

worries about what will comd out of the chimneys. I want all my people

here to breathe fresh air. This think I can't guarantee to `nybody

that we will breathe fresh `ir. This isn't yet a done deal, it h`s to go

before a full council meeting this month, but even protesters today

admit it's looking very likdly that in the near future, nestled in the

countryside will sit a wastd incinerator.

Onto the cricket and Yorkshhre have started well in their bid to clinch

the County Championship down at Nottinghamshire.

The opening pair of Alex Leds and Adam Lyth dominated

the opening session, putting on 118 before lunch.

Lees was the first to go, though, for 86, but Lyth went on to get

a century, his sixth of the campaign, and follows on from his

Gary Ballance took up the m`ntle and despite losing a couple

of late wickets, Yorkshire will be happy with the day, ending

Jane Tomlinson's Run For All has been announced as the new organiser

Jane raised nearly ?2 million for charity,

taking on huge physical challenges, before she died from cancer.

This year's half marathon h`d to be cancelled at the last minutd because

Two Jane Tomlinson. Jane Tollinson became a national icon, raising

?1.85 million for charity after she was diagnosed with cancer. While

suffering with the disease, she took on huge challenges. Iron man,

marathons and even cycled across America. Since her death, hdr legacy

has been carried forward by husband Mike, who today confirmed the Jane

Tomlinson Run for All charity as the new organiser for Sheffield's annual

half marathon. When Jane was alive she got some of her best support

from South Yorkshire and whdnever she cycled through the area, lots of

people came out to see her. From our point of view, it's a great

opportunity to raise as much money for local charities as we c`n. The

race made headlines in April when organisers cancelled the run at the

last minute after a mix`up with the water supplier. As a result the

Tomlinson charity has offerdd those who entered this year a discounted

entry for next year's event. Anybody who ran last year, we are offering

discounted entry. To acknowledge some of the difficulties thdy faced

last year. This is a fresh start. Paintings that lay forgotten

for 70 years have been restored and put on display at the Clothworkers

Hall in the University of Ldeds The watercolours

by influential artist Walter Foster show typical Yorkshire beauty spots

and landmarks, as Cathy Killick s Yorkshire at the turn of thd last

century, caught in glowing watercolour by an artist so gifted

he was made a teacher at thd age of 12. Walter Foster was the son of a

printer from Bingley. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of

Art at 16 and painted throughout his youth. But just as he was g`ining a

reputation, disaster struck. Walter was sitting on a windowsill here at

his home in Bingley painting the window frame when he heard his

brother calling from below. He lent out, overbalanced and fell. He died

ten years later ` ten days later. His widow, overcome with grhef,

packed up all his paintings and put them in the attic, where thdy lay

undisturbed for 70 years. They were found by his grandson Dave, covered

in dust and soot, but their quality shone through. That moment when I

went in and there was a portfolio by the side of the tank, a box of

watercolours and various oil paintings. It was a life ch`nging

moment. The colours were zinging right through. Very special moment.

Some of the best loved spots in Yorkshire inspired him. Herd are the

ruins of old and Abbey and the fishermen's cottages at Robhns who

at bay. What a discovery. A wonderful, wonderful artist that

captures the coastline. Absolutely wonderful colours and light. A real

discovery. The artist's famhly hope the show will bring faster's work

greater recognition, allowing his reputation to grow once mord.

They are truly stunning. Thd chairman of the Home Affairs Select

Committee says he will be writing to the Home Secretary to see if there

is a possibility of emergency legislation to remove the South

Yorkshire Police and crime commission Shaun Wright. Th`t's the

breaking news tonight. Paul, a clear night?

I think so, the super Moon will be out. A lovely day across Yorkshire,

20 Celsius. Let me show you a couple of pictures you've sent in.

Something Phil mentioned last night, this was part of the flyover, the

Lancaster bombers. These ard Spitfires or hurricanes. Kedp the

pictures coming. Another be`utiful September day to come tomorrow. Dry

with some sunshine. High prdssure dominating the weather, as ht will

do through the weekend and probably the first half of next week as well.

We've had lots of sunshine, some cloud has come down from thd North

West, but 20 Celsius. Very good for the middle of September. Fine and

bright. Overnight, another puiet night across Yorkshire and the North

Midlands. With light winds, you can expect mist and patchy fog. Five or

six in rear roller areas, in towns and cities, close to double figures.

` rural areas. The sun rises at 6:30am. Beautiful start for many, a

bit of mist and fog to clear, then dry and bright with some good spells

of sunshine. There will be some fairways are cloud bubbling up from

time to time, but it won't spoil what will be another lovely

September day. A gentle easterly breeze means temperatures are little

lower along the coast. It whll be a large part of Yorkshire that reaches

20 or 21 Celsius. Thursday should get off to a bright and sunny

start. Eastern areas will sde more cloud gently pushing in frol the

North Sea. Friday at the wedkend, more cloud across Yorkshire, but it

will remain dry and bright `nd there should be some pleasant September

sunshine. Lovely at the moment. I'll be back

at 8pm and 10:25pm. From all of us, see you later, good evening.