29/03/2012 Midlands Today

Welcome to Midlands Today. Give us the right to strike. The

call for police cool are angry about proposed reforms.

escarpment seems to delight in kicking ass in the teeth time and

time again -- this government. Hectic times on the forecourt, how

they are coping at petrol stations. Royal approval as unemployed

youngsters trained for a job in forestry.

And how pedal-powered could net �100,000 as two of our finest plant

to cycle the event of Britain. is going to be tough. If I can get

through it and raised the amount of money we are hoping to raise, I

Good evening. Welcome to Midlands Today. Tonight, we have had enough.

The angry message for David Cameron and his government from the men who

represent more than 12,000 police officers in our region.

The chairman of four police federation branch is said they felt

kicked in the teeth by plans to reform the service. It follows a

review into police pay and recruitment between them, these

four men represent 12,500 police officers across the West Midlands.

Those officers are telling them that they have had enough. What

concerns our members, a our professional members, is that this

government seems to enjoy and delight in kicking us in the teeth

time and time again. The police service according to the Police

Federation is under sustained attack from budget cuts and reform.

Out of 7005 ended officers, the West Midlands is losing 1200.

Warwickshire has eight and about 50 police and is cutting 200. There

are 2000 officers and former Diprose will go -- Warwickshire has

850 police. Their anger is directed at this man, Tom Winsor, who was

recruited by the government to do the review. It suggests enabling

forces to make officers compulsorily redundant. A our

members are saying that if they are to be treated as employees, they

deserve the same rights and legal protection and that includes the

right to strike. Police officers are currently a -- banned from

striking and any change to the rules would have to be voted by the

MPs. They are now asking officers what they think about industrial

action. Within 24 hours of opening a poll, 92% of officers were in

favour of seeking the right to strike action. They have come to

the point where enough is enough. A my personal hope is that the

government will realise the strength of feeling in the UK and

in police officers across the country and will change what they

propose. The federation say they want the government to reject the

review and set up a royal commission to investigate the

future of policing. The Home Office declined an offer

to be interviewed on Midlands Today but they have issued a statement

from the Policing Minister and Nick Herbert.

It reads, the proportion of the police were forced on this front

line is in fact increasing with some 25,000 officers in backroom

post. There is therefore plenty of scope to make savings while

pretending -- protecting frontline policing. By cutting bureaucracy,

we are increasing one doesn't 500 officers on the beat. A later, --

increasing 1500 officers. How more and more companies are

using social media for marketing. It has been a glorious week, but it

will turn cooler and cloudier. Make the most of the sunshine tomorrow.

Full forecast later in the programme.

Queues have formed at petrol stations as demand for fuel shot up

after ministers called for people to top up in case of a tanker

drivers' strike. Some carriages ran dry but

retailers said they were coping and normal deliveries would ensure that

supplies were replenished. Ministers said that they have not

caused panic buying. We have been finding out what it is like to run

a garage to date. Feast of famine, that old saying

was turned on its head today. This forecourt began on empty after

forecourt panic-buying yesterday. We will have fresh petrol since.

Then, there was a queue of customers who were ready to feast

on the fresh delivery they had followed in. I sort beak again and

I followed it here. -- I saw the wagon and I followed it. George

Osborne and David Cameron are completely out of touch. They have

caused panic buying. I think it is a fuss about nothing. A strike has

not been announced yet so what is the point in ticking off yet?

strike has not been officially declared so why is everyone

panicking? David Cameron should have kept his Clapp shrub. 40,000

litres of diesel and petrol have come in but 15,000 went straight

back out again -- he should have kept his clapped shut. It says the

next available date... I am not a happy chap. The petrol station

owner has just found out that his next tanker will not be back until

Tuesday which is a worry. This delivery usually lasts five days

but at this rate his palms will be empty again by tomorrow. -- his

pumps it looks busy but you do not sell any more. After that, you are

sitting around doing nothing. strike date has been set and there

would be seven days' notice in any event. The advice to top up as a

precaution and not panic is proving a hard sell.

We will have more on the fuel panic buying tomorrow. Plenty of comments

on our Facebook age. The body of a soldier from

Wolverhampton who was killed in Afghanistan last week has been

blown back home to the UK. Captain Rupert Bowers from 2nd Battalion

The Mercian Regiment was killed by a roadside bomb. His body along

with two other British servicemen was flown into RAF Brize Norton in

The repatriation of Captain Rupert Bowers this afternoon at Brize

Norton. The shadow of a compact and

secretary Liam Byrne is to resign from Ed Miliband's front bench to

stand for mayor in Birmingham if the voters vote Yes in main's

referendum. -- maid's referendum. Computer problems have led to

delays at Birmingham airport's immigration desk. A UK Border

Agency spokesman said that a survey malfunction had been caused by a

power cut. Bass said the priority was to maintain security of the UK

border at all times -- they said. Business leaders in Coventry say

they are angry after Liam Byrne confirmed it is closing a clothing

warehouse with the loss of 500 jobs. It is planning to transfer the work

it does for Sainsbury's to a larger depot in Bedford. The site in the

Walsgrave area of the city will close next year.

Stafford hospital bosses have approved plans to reopen the A&E

Department it at night in June. The department has been closed from

10pm until 8am until last December because of staff shortages. It will

fully reopened on 11th June provided targets for staff,

training and waiting times a map. Small companies in the West

Midlands have been given an opportunity to boost their

businesses. One of the world's largest banks is funded a programme

to help firms to grow. The money is being used by business

experts from Aston University to help entrepreneurs flourish and

more importantly create jobs. We have visited one company which

is benefiting. Goldman Sachs, the world's most

powerful investment bank, is lending a hand to businesses across

the West Midlands. It is paying for entrepreneurial experts from Aston

University to run programs on business growth. The purpose is to

ensure that the Midlands benefits from building a power port of

businesses who are able to deliver a significant growth into the

region creating jobs and wealth for these companies. The key aspect is

that we will work intensively with the businesses. It is a unique

offer. So far 60 companies are benefiting among them Jenvey

Dynamics which makes mortar -- motor sport components. They had a

business plan before but I did not have the detailed about how to

achieve it. I have no formal business training so the Goldman

Sachs programme has really helped me put some detail behind my

business plan and given me a bit more formal business training and

help to me significantly on the financial side. Small businesses go

through a rigorous application of to get on the Goldman Sachs

programme. It is aimed at established firms who have survived

the recession and are ready to grow. Three weeks ago, a production

manager started here. This firm plans to recruit six workers as a

result of the programme. It is very good for the company. Hopefully,

the company will feel the benefits and the staff well. The programme

is already proving successful in other parts of the country and this

small family firm now has plans to expand as a direct result.

Staying with business, more and more companies are turning to

social media networks to help with marketing and get important

messages across to customers. One train company in the region has

even won awards for its use of Twitter which it uses to tell

people when they are delays. Experts say it is something all

companies will have to do eventually. It our business

correspondent is in our newsrooms. Whether you have one of these

smartphones of a tablet computer or a laptop or desktop machine, there

has never been an easier time to use social media. It has been

estimated that what attracts nearly 500,000 new users every day --

Twitter attracts. In the past, delays on the

railways... He was lazy defy doubt about the cause. Now greater use of

social media like Facebook and Twitter, passengers waiting at the

station have never had so much information literally at their

fingertips. For regular travellers like Ben Whitehouse, it has made

commuting by train so much easier. A London Midland are one of the

industry standards that everyone is aspiring to and it is good to have

lots of companies using Twitter and Facebook to engage with passengers.

This is where the engagement happens. They monitor Twitter feeds

and sent out information about delays. They even talk directly to

passengers. This gentleman here is asking about compensation and I am

just explaining when he can claim full back. For staff in the London

Midland customer-service team, says the media has revolutionised

communication with passengers. we are getting from complaints and

correspondence through the post is completely different to what people

might be concerned about on their journeys into work. We are getting

real-time feedback to allow us to make changes we need due to make

journeys better. London Midland has set out 55,000 tweets and has

15,000 followers. I am just calling you regarding some feedback we have

had on our Facebook age. Have you got a few minutes to discuss it?

This is another organisation embracing social media. Bromford

Group use Facebook to advertise properties. We are bringing in a

whole raft of different ways for customers to communicate with us.

We want to embrace that and bring it on board rather than push

people... We want customers to use the contact channels they are keen

to use. Clearly it is market-driven and aspects and social media say it

is fast becoming an essential tool for any growing company. Any large

organisation will be taught about on Twitter and face but so if you

want to do something about that, it to is the only place you can take

part in the conversation and you will have to join it. As a large

business, you have got a choice, do you get defensive or do you be

helpful? It appears that most companies are acting for the latter

choice hence the growth in social media which are too many seems

unstoppable. You can interact with Midlands today on the internet.

There are 8000 fans on our Facebook age. You will also see lots of

photographs and films that have appeared on the programme. Twitter

is also a good place to find out what we are up to. We have $8,000.

I am a bit short of the 8000 figure, but I am on Twitter too. -- we have

80,000 followers. I would love to Plenty still to come this evening,

including: Memories of 25 years ago and Coventry City's epic Cup win -

do you have any memorabilia for a The Prince of Wales has praised a

scheme aimed at helping unemployed teenagers in Herefordshire into

jobs and training. 13 young people have been taking part in a three-

week course on Prince Charles' Hereford estate allowing them to

get the qualifications they need to work in forestry Well our reporter

Ben Sidwell is in Herefordshire for us this evening. Ben, what exactly

have these teenagers been up to? is a beautiful evening here in

Herefordshire. This would belongs to the Prince of Wales. Many of

these youngsters who have been unemployed for well over a gear

have been on this Prince's Trust forestry course aimed at getting

them a job in one of the oldest trades known to man. Learning the

skills deep in the timber line would in Herefordshire 13th young

unemployed people are gaining skills in forestry. I have been

unemployed for over a year. I have been constantly looking for jobs.

It is very frustrating. I have not heard anything back from the jobs

that I have applied for. We are responding to the high levels of

unemployment. One in five of the young people in the West Midlands

are unemployed. In this area we are looking at the rural crafts. It is

the estate of the Prince of Wales, we have 1,500 acres here and he

wanted to support this with it. is the forestry staff who are

trying to transfer their skills to a younger generation. Hopefully

they will go away with these skills in mind and think we have had a

good three weeks here and learned a lot and it has opened our eyes so

let's see it through. This course is the first of its kind here in

the UK and is giving hope of bacteria to people like best. --

hope of a career. I have really enjoyed it and I am hoping to get a

young apprenticeship or something out of it. It has been really good.

The Prince's Trust say they hope to be able to run at similar course

again soon. The course does end tomorrow. Speaking to a lot of the

young people are here today many of them are saying they are now

seriously considering going into a career in forestry. They will be

given six months of mentoring by the Prince's Trust after this

course ends tomorrow. The hope is that they will go on to training or

a job. Stoke City's Manager Tony Pulis has climbed mountains and run

marathons for charity. But he's about to take on his toughest

challenge yet. Along with comedian Nick Hancock, he'll be leading a

team in a 24 hour non-stop cycle ride from John O'Groats to Lands

End. And as our Staffordshire reporter Liz Copper explains, it's

all in aid of a children's hospice in Stoke on Trent. Pedal power from

the Potteries. Tony Pulis and Nick Hancock are about to begin training

for a four-day 24-hour cycle relay. They'll be covering 960 miles. And

it's all in aid of the Donna Louise Childrens Hospice. It will be tough

but I think the fact it is being done for such a good cause and it

is only 1.5 miles from the stadium. The hospice is absolutely fantastic

and there is a lot of great work for young children. For me to be

able to help out his a privilege. It was two years ago the pair

climbed Africa's hightest peak Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds

for the charity. Kilimanjaro was very tough because the weather was

threatening. It is different from that. Mental strength I can kind of

Handel but I am worrying about the physicality! Benefitting from all

this fundraising will be the families who regard the hospice as

a lifeline. Owen's been coming here since he was six months old.

the whole family it is a break. Looking after my son is hard work.

There are a lot of hospital appointments. This place gives me a

break and allows me to spend time with my other children. To help

Owen and the other children who depend on the hospice, the cyclists

aim to raise �100 per mile. They may be joking now - but they'll

soon be embarking on serious training for a tough challenge

ahead. A youth choir in Birmingham is taking part in a BBC religious

project, performing a new hymn for radio listeners. The City of

Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's youth choir will be one of more

than 140 choirs across the UK performing The People's Passion

over the Easter Weekend. And this evening Ben Godfrey's had a sneak

preview. The congregation here, the quiet made up of teenagers are a

desperate to sing. All these people have come to see them perform. They

have got a new song which was shown Let's talk to some of the people

who are taking part in this quiet. What was your background in

singing? I did sing before or but I do it in college as well and it is

improving by being in the choir. Has your boys improved to? And what

does it mean to you to be in a quiet, what is the background?

There is no better feeling than being in a choir. There is a sense

of community and all of us working together is really what I enjoyed

most of all about it. I am now the man who tries to conduct it.

Getting all these people together, how well did they do? It has been

fantastic bringing all these different groups of people together.

There are some people who do music in further education and others who

are doing it as a hobby. I will let you go because you have to perform.

On Easter Sunday there will be a performance of the Easter anthem by

the choir as you see now. Thank you very much. That is high pressure,

performing outdoors, live. And there's more information about the

people's passion on our Facebook page. Now it's almost 25 years

since one of the most memorable FA Cup finals ever took place - the

1987 classic between Coventry City and Tottenham. It's widely regarded

as one of the finest to be played beneath the old twin towers, and

now a new exhibition in celebration of the final is ready to kick off.

Kevin Reide's been finding out more. It was a final few can forget - the

underdogs Coventry City playing in it for the first time against a

side who'd won it more than anybody else. Tottenham were packed with

internationals, the Sky Blues an assembly of lower league players

with just a few established stars, but on this day they were all heros.

These are some of the items currently being prepared for the

exhibition. This is the actual match ball. This is my favourite,

the actual Show belonging to be Number 10 striker who scored the

memorable goal. Many of the items have been deleted by those lucky

enough to have been at the game. This man was one of them. It was

wonderful. It was dreams coming true. The whole city just came

alight. Others have brought forward previously unseen home videos of

the celebrations that followed. They reckon there were 250,000

people on the streets. It really captured the imagination of the

public but unfortunately nothing has been achieved since then.

People are really coming together to mark this anniversary, I think

It brings the memories flooding back. Absolutely. I played in a

celebrity charity match the night before. Weather time now. Good

evening. Today is another beautiful bay with lots of sunshine and

temperatures back up to 20 Celsius. There will be a change soon,

tomorrow will be a lovely day again but by the weekend temperatures

will drop of to around 13 Celsius at best. Tonight we still have

clear skies to start the night. There will be a few shallow patches

of mist and fog by tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will start cloudier but it

does look to be another sunny and warm day once again. It does start

of cloudy in comparison to what mornings have been like of late.

But the cloud will lift and by afternoon it will be sunny and warm

again. The temperatures will be just slightly suppressed over parts

of the north-west of the region. For most another warm day with

highs of up to 19 Celsius. Towards the weekend it is turning cloudier,

cooler and it will still stay dry. The high pressure is shifting

westwards pulling in colder here from the north. That will introduce

more cloud on Saturday with highs of just 12 or 13 Celsius. A look at

tonight's main headlines: As fuel sales soar, ministers are accused

of causing panic buying. Long queues appear at petrol stations,