13/07/2011 Midlands Today

Welcome to Midlands Today. They headlines tonight: unemployment

figures for the region are down, but it is tougher than ever for

women to get jobs. I am used to going to work, talking to friends.

Joy for some, despair for others as county schools find out which will

close and which had been spared. The pain and human cost of life on

the front line in Afghanistan. will not get a chance to go back to

the UK for the funeral, so saying goodbye at the service was

important. And tribute to a living legend - the finishing touches to a

statue of the man who transformed the fortunes of Coventry City

Football Club. Good evening and welcome to

Wednesday's Midlands Today from the BBC. Tonight, good and bad news on

the jobs front. Unemployment has fallen faster here than anywhere

else in the country. The number of people out of work between March

and May stood at 226,000 - a drop of 32,000. But the figures also

show that men are finding it easier to get new jobs, with 94,000 women

still unemployed. In Coventry that's an increasing problem, with

women making up 78% of public sector workers. So what is being

done to help women who are out of work?

There are around 35,000 people in Coventry claiming unemployment

benefits and a growing number of them are women. This woman, a human

rights lawyer was made redundant last year after funding was cut for

a project that aims, ironically, to get women back into work. The it

has been nine months. I have been applying for jobs every day. I get

no response, up or do to a high number of applications -- or due to

a high number of applications, I am just not considered. This charity

has seen an increasing number of women coming to them. I knew the

recession was going to make things difficult, but I did not realise

almost a year on I would still be looking for work. It is quite bad

out there. Jane Niven work for years and the banking industry and

sees this as an opportunity to leave the restrictive corporate

world. Every day, answering to somebody else, being kicked when

you do not do something right. I want something different. Sandra

Garlick, an employment lawyer, has urged the Chamber of Commerce to

set up a forum aimed at women. She believes there are distinct

differences between the genders when it comes to unemployment.

Women treat losing their jobs different leaf. They are more

adaptable to change, probably because they have had to juggle

careers with a work-life balance. They tend to look at the fact that

they are losing their job as an opportunity to do something

different. Coventry has a reputation for literally and

metaphorically we building itself over the decades. All the women I

have spoken to today said if someone cannot help them, they are

more than prepared to help themselves and get them out of this

employment crisis. En Westminster Coventry North West

MP Geoffrey Robinson secured a special debate on the issues facing

women in the City, focusing on pay and jobs. Coventry is a suitable

place to use as a further test case for the examination of the impact

of unemployment on women. In Coventry, the pay gap between men

and women is 10 points higher than the national average. Later in the

programme we will be switching from the female workers of today to the

female workers of tomorrow at the Academy desperately seeking female

engineers for the future. False calls in Shropshire had been

recommended for closure as part of a plan to reorganise education in

the county. But three other schools under threat had been reprieved.

Shropshire has nearly 3,000 fewer pupils than went to school in the

county six years ago and that means �10 million less in government

funding. Ben Godfrey is at one of the schools set to close. What has

been the reaction? At this call, along with eight

others, children and staff had been waiting to find out when they will

close. Head teachers have told me the uncertainty has led some

parents to pour their children out, just in case. Today, some clarity

from the council. This school has been at the heart

of the community for 80 years. There are only 41 children, but

they all love it. A everyone knows each other and it is like a family.

I like coming here and meeting my friends. If I went to a different

school I would not be able to see them. This school will close in

20th September 12, along with three others. No-one has been able to

show us how children will gain. A lot of the money will go in

transporting them to this course. Shropshire council say it falling

LINK People numbers and a cut in funding has left it with no

alternative. But a day three is the magic number. Three primaries found

that they are not going to close. They have a future as a federation.

What it does is allow possibilities between the schools. So if you have

a couple of small schools, it could be on one day one of the schools

literally transport some of their classes of children to another

venue and they are taught jointly. Then maybe people watching this,

screaming at the television and saying, closing at a local school

rips the heart out of the community. How do you respond to that? There

is no alternative. We are having to close schools and we will work hard

with them and parents to ensure children get the best deal.

picking up their children, parents at this school were disappointed.

It will be of huge detriment to the village. My son has come on leaps

and bounds since he has been here. But all is not last. There is one

other option - academy status. application has gone in for academy

status. That has gone to one committee and it is now with

ministers, who will make the decision. By the end of turned the

school is hopeful it will know for sure whether this Bell will keep on

bringing. So academy status is a possibility here. Other local

schools are considering free school status to cut ties with local

authorities. They have to take action soon because come 2012, all

these buildings behind the could be vacant.

British forces have been fighting in Afghanistan for almost a decade

with 300 serviceman and women paying the ultimate sacrifice. At

the moment there are 9,500 service men and women fighting the Taliban,

including many from other region. Louise Brierley is at Camp Bastion

with the Mercian Regiment. This is Camp Bastion, the main

place for troops. 20,000 people live here. It is here that I met

soldiers from the Mercian Regiment just before they were about to

board a plane to go home for three weeks. Tragically, one of them

would not be joining them. Private Gareth Bellingham was shot dead by

the Taliban was on patrol. I am gentamicin a lot. He was a good

friend to me. We used to love to have a drink together. He used to

come round to my house when we were on leave. I am going to miss him.

For these men, they know the risks only too well, but after losing a

friend, suddenly the reality of war comes crashing home. We were just

gobsmacked. The regiment padre is the Christian minister of the

Mercians. He led a service for Private Gareth Bellingham. In helps

the grieving process, which is important for everyone out here.

They will not get a chance to go to the funeral, so it is important to

say goodbye at the service. British personnel have died since

the war started in Afghanistan. 32 from out of region. This is where

serviceman and women from Afghanistan pay their respects. It

is the ultimate tribute for those who have sacrificed their lives for

their country. But for now, these men and women have to put death

behind them and get on with the job. And there will be more from Louise

tomorrow on the BBC WM Breakfast Show, and she will be reporting

from the frontline again on Midlands Today tomorrow night.

Brockhill Prison in Redditch is to close. The government's announced

it will shut in September as part of plans to save money. It's one of

three sites that make up Hewell Prison and holds 170 inmates, who

will be sent to other jails. Now, meet the little boy who was

born the wrong way round, quite literally. Kian Hill had all his

major organs on the opposite side and was missing a lung, his spleen

and an appendix. He's spent almost his entire life on wards at

Birmingham's Childrens' Hospital, but he's now made such a recovery,

he's being allowed home tonight for the first time. He has endured

operations and medical procedures on almost a daily basis. To date

there there is cause for celebration. It is a big day for

charred macro and his mum because having spent his entire life in a

hospital bed like this one, tonight he would get to sleep in his own

bed. It will be emotional. I am happy for him. At last, home to

Sheldon. It is amazing to think we can have him here and start to live

a normal family life. It has been a long journey. Last year doctors

gave charred macro a 50 % chance of survival. He suffered two cardiac

arrests and was clinically dead for 30 minutes. They said it bit happy

-- they said if it happened again, there was a slim chance of him

pulling through again. Lunch is and will be for some time in liquid

form and given through a tube, and there is a cocktail of drugs to be

administered. Hopefully he will grow up to be a normal toddler, a

teenager, but no-one knows how that will pan out. They don't know

whether he will always be Osidge in dependent on his ventilator in the

evening. Next week, charred macro should be able to come home for

good. Just in time for his birthday. Welcome home to Kian. Still to come

- a legend cast in bronze. A fitting tribute to Coventry's Jimmy

Hill. And we get a taste of summer tomorrow, but could it turned sour

by the weekend. -- weekend? Find out later.

Earlier, we reported on the lack of jobs for women. Well for some time

now manufacturers have complained about a skills shortage and lack of

engineers. And the problem's especially acute when it comes to

encouraging girls to choose a career in engineering. As the JCB

Academy nears the end of its first year, our Staffordshire reporter

Liz Copper has been to see how a new programme could unearth the

great female engineers of tomorrow. We need to make it as early as

possible. Refusing to conform to expectations, the challenge of

these 11 year olds is to build a crane. They have come to the JCB

academy to get a taste of what engineering is about. Why did they

think that girls are put off? in it is a boy's's job because you

get dirty and it is mechanical. Boys's. This is the end of the

Academy's first year and boys outnumber girls 9-1. Girls have got

great skills and they need to be utilised. Laura Atkins's

aspirations have taken her into leadership. Engineering and

struggles with a skills gap. We do not have enough engineers in this

country, but we have a lot of women who are good at maths at school.

Back at the Crane making, have any of the girls been persuaded that a

career in engineering could be for them? Yes, I would like to be an

engineer. A I might. Now that we have experienced it, it seems like

fun. Yes, I'd definitely be an engineer. As they test their

creations the hope is these girls will not be held down by the burden

of stereotypes and will consider a career in science.

Most of them looked enthusiastic. Results from one of the UK's

biggest trials of electric cars have been announced. It took place

here and involved 50 cars. Although there was much scepticism over

whether they could replace conventional vehicles, results

appear to show that for the majority of journeys they can. Our

Transport Correspondent Peter Plisner joins us now. I am a bit

sceptical myself, Peter. Are we all going to go electric?

These cars will not be ideal for everyone, especially if you are

making a long journey. But a lot of people make short ones and this

trial was designed to see how easy it would be to go electric. They

are small and are becoming a regular sight. A small number of

people were asked to give up their petrol fuelled cars and go electric.

The trial also saw the installation of more charging points. Birmingham

and Coventry now has a network of more than 30 of them. The Midlands

is becoming a centre of excellence for electric cars. The Indian

company Tata has recently set up a new company -- new factory to

produce their car Tata EV. We are told that 77 % of journeys were

less than 20 minutes in duration, which is perfect length for

electric cars. In the survey most of the cars were parked four Oct 23

hours a day and the cost was under �1. I have someone with me he took

part in the trial. It was great. You need to plan your journey

carefully so you do not run out of electricity. With me also it is

Neil Bodger from the CABLED project. These cars can do 70 miles per hour.

They go 100 miles between charges. Well electric cars catch on? They

are more expensive to buy, but they are cheap to run. Vehicle Leasing

will come into play in the future, so they can balance of the purchase

price with the running costs. you want more information about the

results of this trial, there is more information on a website. --

on our website. A small Midlands charity is selling

or water back to us to help the situation in Ethiopia.

This 25-year-old finance train they get stuck into his latest project -

Walter -- bottled water it. -- aid. A percentage of the profits will go

to funding water suppliers in Ethiopia. You can also find out

exactly who you helped. In this case, a farmer who has to travel

for an away up to get clean water. By personalising the bottled water,

we hope people will feel more attached to the people they are

helping. Each bottle sold provides one Ethiopian with clean water for

a year. And the return to his old school to make a pitch to their

fund-raising committee. -- Andy. think it is a great idea. You can

find out exactly who you helped. People can help others instead of

buying the water at they normally buy. It is a hit here and as for

the reception in Ethiopia, they are grateful.

In football, delight for Wolves, but disappointment for Birmingham

City. Central defender Roger Johnson says he has moved to

Molineux from St Andrew's to keep alive his Premier League career. He

has signed a four-year contract after completing the �6 million

deal this morning. Wolves boss Mick McCarthy says he has been waiting

two years to get his man. For me it was all about getting back to the

Premier League. Relegation was heartbreaking, but I had to do what

I needed to do. He plays in the same position that manager Mike

McCarthy played. -- Mick McCarthy. He is terrific, a good defender. He

is vocal on the pitch as a leader. That is what I wanted and that is

what I have got. Before interviews with Roger Johnson and Mick

McCarthy up on Our Facebook page. Stoke City have Sir Stanley

Matthews, Wolves have Stan Cullis and Billy Wright and very soon

Coventry City will have Jimmy Hill. We're talking about statues. In a

couple of weeks time the former Sky Blues manager will officially

unveil his own bronze outside the Ricoh Arena, and Ian Winter has had

exclusive access to Jimmy's statue. Fire up the furnace, turn up the

heat and prepared to pour the molten metal. Deep inside the

Bronze Foundry in London, her Majesty keeps an eye on it football

legend. But before Jimmy Hill was transferred to bronze, he was

enshrined in a clay. Nicholas Dimbleby talks with his hands and

because Jimmy is an old friend of the family, this commission has

been a labour of love. On the stone plinth his name will be carved and

at the base there will be a seat said that the statute he's a

meeting place as well as a tribute -- said that the statue is a

tribute as well as a meeting-place. Under Jimmy Hill of the Sky Blues

was transformed. He got the fans singing and smiling and that is why

so many chipped in to pay for the statue. Joe Elliott ran the

campaign to raise �100,000 of the statue. We talking to see how it

was taking shape. What will Jimmy make of it? He will be delighted.

I've been there will be at Tear in his eye. He loves Coventry. --

Bates here in his eye. I am sure he will be over the moon.

challenge was to make an iconic image and to make it personal to me.

What about Jimmy's Ching? It is not as big as you might think. --

Jimmy's chin. I am not a great football fan. I will leave that to

the critics. Jimmy Hill will be 82 next week, so don't expect him to

be sprinting across the pitch. He will be content to unveil his

statue, welcoming the next generation of Sky Blues fans to his

beloved football club. -- sky-blue. A remarkable man. And now for the

weather. We are going through this transitory phase will we get a

slice up summer and then it is displaced by eight what you would

not want. At least is the - that Tonight, a good deal of cloud. It

will be fairly warm. Temperatures down to 9-12 Celsius. Tomorrow,

fairly dry, apart from the odd fleeting shower were. On balance it

will be quite sunny. -- fleeting showers. We have a light north-

westerly breeze. Friday, things start to turn. It will be cloudier

and rain will arrive from the mid- afternoon onwards. It will be light,

but over the weekend we will have prolonged periods of rain. The

winds will increase. Temperatures will take and knock back by a

couple of degrees. Before we leave, a look at the main

headlines: Rupert Murdoch has withdrawn the News Corporation

bitter takeover BSkyB. And in the Midlands unemployment is down and