:00:00. > 3:59:59the cold side. That is it. Thank you, Tomasz. That is all from
:00:00. > :00:09.the News At Six, Hello and welcome to Midlands Today.
:00:10. > :00:22.The headlines tonight: Parents tell us the whole system has failed. We
:00:23. > :00:29.are collectively determined to make sure we get the leadership we need.
:00:30. > :00:41.Parents tell us whole system has failed. Also tonight... Blown up in
:00:42. > :00:45.Afghanistan. Readjusting to life. The Royal Marines who say sport is
:00:46. > :00:48.key to recovery. Why Keith the seal is being moved on, a year after
:00:49. > :00:59.swimming up the River Severn Good evening. It is very much isolated
:01:00. > :01:04.somewhere on its own. No let up from the cold this weekend with frost and
:01:05. > :01:12.freezing fog to come. We should manage to stay dry. Your fall
:01:13. > :01:16.forecast coming up. The headteacher at the centre of a row between staff
:01:17. > :01:20.and Governors at a Birmingham School has resigned from his job. It
:01:21. > :01:22.follows an Ofsted inspection which found relationships between the head
:01:23. > :01:27.and management had become dysfunctional. In May this year, a
:01:28. > :01:32.pupil allegedly threatened others with a knife. He was expelled, but
:01:33. > :01:35.later reinstated by the governors. Then, in September, staff at the
:01:36. > :01:39.school voted to stop teaching the boy. Now, a letter has been sent to
:01:40. > :01:46.parents saying the head, Balwant Bains, has left the school. Saltley
:01:47. > :01:54.School in East Birmingham, a school with leadership problems. This
:01:55. > :01:57.building will not be refurbished. Until last week, the head teacher
:01:58. > :02:01.was Balwant Bains, who appeared on Midlands Today three years ago, when
:02:02. > :02:04.he worked in Coventry. But, in a letter to parents, he's announced he
:02:05. > :02:07.has quit, saying he feels unable to carry out his role and
:02:08. > :02:12.responsibilities. A group of parents spoke to us anonymously, their words
:02:13. > :02:15.voiced by others. I can't see any future for my child in that school
:02:16. > :02:18.because the whole system has failed.starting with the governing
:02:19. > :02:21.body. If they're weak, the roots are weak, the head teacher and the
:02:22. > :02:25.governors have got no trust together and it's affecting my child's
:02:26. > :02:28.education. This is the school where earlier this year Mr Bains excluded
:02:29. > :02:34.a pupil for allegedly threatening another with a knife, only for the
:02:35. > :02:38.governors to reinstate him. The education part of it is fine. My
:02:39. > :02:41.child is learning but the safeguarding is my main concern,
:02:42. > :02:44.about the knife side. The governors let the child back in.I dont think
:02:45. > :02:48.they dealt properly with the knife incident. A report from the school
:02:49. > :02:50.inspectors Ofsted following a visit three weeks ago highlights a
:02:51. > :02:54.dysfunctional relationship between the governors and the head teacher
:02:55. > :02:57.resulting in no cohesive drive or shared vision governors they say are
:02:58. > :03:00.not fulfilling all their statutory duties because policies to ensure
:03:01. > :03:03.the safeguarding of all its students have not been reviewed The local MP
:03:04. > :03:14.says the ball is now in the governor's court. They have to
:03:15. > :03:19.respond to that. If they do not do this adequately, Ofsted go back in
:03:20. > :03:24.and consequences follow. People are watching this like hawks. They are
:03:25. > :03:27.doing it by the book. We are all collectively determined to make sure
:03:28. > :03:38.that sultry gets the School leadership that it needs. An earlier
:03:39. > :03:40.report rated the school as good. And there are positive findings. But
:03:41. > :03:43.Ofsted also say the council's attempts to resolve the problems
:03:44. > :03:46.here has been unsuccessful. In a statement, the Chairman of Governors
:03:47. > :03:50.told us he and his colleagues are working very hard in developing an
:03:51. > :03:52.effective action plan to address the issues raised by Ofsted and to
:03:53. > :03:56.ensure good relationships between all staff, senior leadership and the
:03:57. > :03:59.Governing Body. A new head is being recruited. Challenge number one, to
:04:00. > :04:12.restore confidence. Coming up later in the programme...
:04:13. > :04:20.The search for Keith the seal in the River Severn. She may not be the
:04:21. > :04:27.only seal in there. That was an exclusive! And the latest news, she
:04:28. > :04:30.may not be alone. It's just over a year since Harper Adams Agricultural
:04:31. > :04:33.College in Shropshire became a University. And it's celebrating a
:04:34. > :04:36.record number of former students getting jobs. Of the first group of
:04:37. > :04:39.graduates, just 4% were unemployed six months later. The national
:04:40. > :04:45.average is double that. And, today, a Royal guest was made its new
:04:46. > :04:50.Chancellor. The Princess Royal has been a frequent visitor to the
:04:51. > :04:55.university near Newport. 96% of graduates here got jobs last year.
:04:56. > :05:00.Students studying mainly at cultural and rural courses. Do you think you
:05:01. > :05:06.have higher than average badgered employment because of the type of
:05:07. > :05:12.jobs? There is a pulled from industry. They want highly qualified
:05:13. > :05:22.and experienced people. There are many agricultural students around.
:05:23. > :05:27.The installation of the Princess Royal as Chancellor was relayed to
:05:28. > :05:32.students on the screen. Among them, Rebecca. She is studying for a
:05:33. > :05:40.degree on animal health and welfare but is spending a year out working
:05:41. > :05:45.on the university 's own dairy farm. I am trying to get a wide range of
:05:46. > :05:49.experience. I have not done anything with dairy cows before. I thought I
:05:50. > :05:57.would do something different and learn something new. Elsewhere,
:05:58. > :06:00.another student is spending her third year working for Natural
:06:01. > :06:07.England. She is restoring natural peat bogs. Amanda helps her work
:06:08. > :06:18.here will help her get a similar type of job when she graduates. ``
:06:19. > :06:23.Emma. I have learned so much. Back on campus, she spent time meeting
:06:24. > :06:28.students and staff. This is the first visit by the Princess Royal
:06:29. > :06:33.Saint it became the first and only university a year ago. It is
:06:34. > :06:38.estimated this university contributes ?40 million to the
:06:39. > :06:40.regional economy. Future students could now have their degrees
:06:41. > :06:46.conferred by the new Royal Chancellor. Plans have been revealed
:06:47. > :06:49.for what could be a major expansion of a Ministry of Defence base in
:06:50. > :06:52.Shropshire, making hundreds more jobs. Telford and Wrekin Council
:06:53. > :06:56.hopes the proposals for MOD Donnington could ultimately create
:06:57. > :06:58.up to 700 posts. The base provides logistics support for the army,
:06:59. > :07:06.handling military equipment and weapons. Human remains have been
:07:07. > :07:11.found near a pub in the Cotswolds, during work to build a new car park.
:07:12. > :07:15.The skeleton of an Iron Age man has been unearthed on land bought by the
:07:16. > :07:28.owners of the Horse and Groom at Bourton`on`the`Hill. A former health
:07:29. > :07:33.minister and senior Birmingham MP is warning that pressures on the health
:07:34. > :07:35.services could lead to more disasters like the Stafford Hospital
:07:36. > :07:42.scandal. Gisela Stuart's constituency includes the Queen
:07:43. > :07:45.Elizabeth Hospital. She told our Sunday Politics programme that she
:07:46. > :07:48.was worried the Government wasn't dealing with staffing problems that
:07:49. > :07:51.could lead to a repeat. Our political editor is here now.This
:07:52. > :07:53.comes only days after Jeremy Hunt delivered the Government's formal
:07:54. > :07:58.response to the Stafford Hospital report. He enshrined one of the
:07:59. > :08:04.central recommendations of Robert Francis, QC. It is a duty of
:08:05. > :08:10.candour. Staffing numbers on the boards are to be published monthly,
:08:11. > :08:15.to restore confidence in the NHS. He gave no guarantees of minimum
:08:16. > :08:20.staffing levels. This is one reason she said she thinks the government
:08:21. > :08:26.is failing to learn the lessons of history. We have promise of
:08:27. > :08:31.increasing care. We have lost many nurses. The quality care commission
:08:32. > :08:39.says it has found no improvement. There are no actions which gave any
:08:40. > :08:44.confidence it will be delivered. Campaigns to defend hospital
:08:45. > :08:46.services in places like Stafford continued to gather momentum.
:08:47. > :08:53.Management say they have no choice but to press ahead with their plans.
:08:54. > :08:58.I was talking to the Liberal Democrat MEP representing the whole
:08:59. > :09:04.West Midlands region. So often it is about individual MPs standing up for
:09:05. > :09:08.constituents. Even though he lives in Staffordshire himself, there is a
:09:09. > :09:14.wide argument about delivering sufficient hospital services across
:09:15. > :09:19.the region as a whole. Stafford Hospital had these problems and it
:09:20. > :09:24.does not remove the need for a hospital in Stafford. The need for
:09:25. > :09:27.that hospital to be there with the services it has, it has not changed
:09:28. > :09:35.by the problems that Stafford Hospital has. Intriguingly, some of
:09:36. > :09:38.the place is right at the forefront of hospital reorganisation plans,
:09:39. > :09:42.Stafford itself, Telford, Worcester, Redditch, they just
:09:43. > :09:48.happen to be marginal party constituencies. This is an
:09:49. > :09:57.intriguing question about how it will play into the general election
:09:58. > :10:01.in over a year and a half time. And Patrick will be back with more on
:10:02. > :10:04.this in this week's Sunday Politics, plus concerns about a possible
:10:05. > :10:07.influx of Bulgarian and Romanian migrant workers when border controls
:10:08. > :10:11.are relaxed in the new year. That's at 11am here on BBC One. There is a
:10:12. > :10:14.chronic shortage of housing in the West Midlands. Local Authorities are
:10:15. > :10:17.under pressure from the Government to build hundreds of thousands of
:10:18. > :10:20.new homes, but plans usually bring councillors into conflict with local
:10:21. > :10:22.residents. We've been inundated with e`mails from people concerned about
:10:23. > :10:30.developments in their area. Holly Lewis has been to meet one group of
:10:31. > :10:35.protestors in South Warwickshire. 5000 new homes could soon be built
:10:36. > :10:39.on this green field site, running alongside the end 14 South
:10:40. > :10:44.Warwickshire. The developers say it could be a Garden Village. Local
:10:45. > :10:49.residents say it is not suitable for housing. I am opposed to a developer
:10:50. > :10:56.and which would result in families living within touching distance of a
:10:57. > :11:01.motorway. `` a development. You are building on a central reservation. I
:11:02. > :11:06.would not want to live in a high traffic area like that.
:11:07. > :11:11.Stratford`upon`Avon District Council has two build 9500 houses by 2028.
:11:12. > :11:16.The residents group says the burden should be shared around the
:11:17. > :11:24.district. We accept that housing is needed. We are more than happy to
:11:25. > :11:28.take our share of that. We would probably working hand`in`hand with
:11:29. > :11:33.the district to get the best out of the scheme. We put forward the
:11:34. > :11:37.evidence `based argument this is not a suitable site. Disbursing new
:11:38. > :11:43.housing is not currently an option on the table. In a statement, the
:11:44. > :11:47.developer said the advantage of one strategic development is that it can
:11:48. > :11:49.deliver the investment in infrastructure and facilities that a
:11:50. > :11:55.number of smaller sites are unable to do. The council is under pressure
:11:56. > :12:00.from the government to find space for housing. The leader says the
:12:01. > :12:05.decision should be made locally. They either allow us to use our
:12:06. > :12:11.current planning policies, instead of having a short cut, and those
:12:12. > :12:16.planning policies will stop development in silly locations. We
:12:17. > :12:21.will identify sensible locations where we can meet our housing
:12:22. > :12:29.targets. Residents will find out in the New Year is the area will be the
:12:30. > :12:32.preferred site for development and the council 's plans for the future.
:12:33. > :12:36.Keith the seal has amassed quite a fan club since arriving in the River
:12:37. > :12:39.Severn a year ago. The misnamed female has two Facebook pages and a
:12:40. > :12:43.Twitter account. But the time has come to move on, anglers claim she's
:12:44. > :12:46.chomping her way through too many fish and she has to be returned to
:12:47. > :12:55.open waters. Our environment correspondent is at Bewdley.
:12:56. > :13:04.David... Have they managed to catch her yet? The thing is, she could be
:13:05. > :13:08.anywhere in this stretch of water. The search is focused between
:13:09. > :13:13.Stourport and Bewdley. The bad news for anglers is that the ?5,000
:13:14. > :13:16.mission to capture the seal was fruitless today. They are hopeful
:13:17. > :13:24.they may find her tomorrow the problem is, she may not be the only
:13:25. > :13:28.seal in the river. These locks outside Worcester. These are some of
:13:29. > :13:37.the deepest locks on Britain's waterways. It is here that he'd feel
:13:38. > :13:47.has most recently surfaced. `` Keith the seal. We saw her about a week
:13:48. > :13:57.ago. She is one of two seals. Two seals! They became a tourist
:13:58. > :14:01.attraction. Keith and any potential friends has certainly become a local
:14:02. > :14:07.celebrity. She is not popular with anglers. It was a novelty value to
:14:08. > :14:11.start with. Unfortunately, it has been cited by many anglers eating a
:14:12. > :14:17.lot of fish and is destroying stocks. It has not gone down well
:14:18. > :14:22.with anglers. The salmon will be returning to the River Severn.
:14:23. > :14:26.Anglers all have stories of catching large salmon with missing tales or
:14:27. > :14:31.big chunks taken out of their backs. They said that is down to the seal.
:14:32. > :14:47.As the big plan to remove Keith once and four all was discussed, some say
:14:48. > :14:53.they will miss her. As long as I am not fishing, it'll be all right. I
:14:54. > :14:58.think it is sad. It is a bit of nature around here. If it will make
:14:59. > :15:03.him safe, all the better for it. Today's search has proved
:15:04. > :15:10.fruitless. It begins again tomorrow at first light. The problem is a
:15:11. > :15:15.lack of daylight. After 3pm, there are not enough hours of daylight
:15:16. > :15:23.left to try to capture him. Hopefully tomorrow they think they
:15:24. > :15:27.should be a bit luckier. She is clearly proving to So, how do you go
:15:28. > :15:36.about catching a seal? Be a slippery customer. English nature have not
:15:37. > :15:41.issued a seal catching licence since 2006. It relies on people spotting
:15:42. > :15:52.her first and early in the day. Tomorrow was set `` is Saturday and
:15:53. > :15:56.plenty of anglers will be about. The inland rescue boats will go out and
:15:57. > :16:00.try to tempt her into some of the public locks on the River Severn and
:16:01. > :16:05.trap her inside. Then divers will go in and try to tempt her into a
:16:06. > :16:10.special seal harness. They will wrap her up, tried to pull her out of the
:16:11. > :16:14.river. They will check her over to see if she is OK. There is
:16:15. > :16:24.discussion about whether it is good for a seal to eat so much freshwater
:16:25. > :16:33.fish. Hopefully she will never bother the anglers again. This is
:16:34. > :16:36.our top story tonight: A head teacher quits after an inspection
:16:37. > :16:41.finds the relationship between him and school governors had become
:16:42. > :16:48.dysfunctional. Rebecca will be along shortly with the weekend weather
:16:49. > :16:51.forecast. Also ahead: I'm at ths Symphony Hall in Birmingham, where
:16:52. > :16:57.there are not one, not two, but three big musical celebrations going
:16:58. > :17:00.on this evening. And you can't get enough of this incredible moment.
:17:01. > :17:06.The fastest goal of the season so far. That's awkward, and it's in.
:17:07. > :17:07.Oh, my word. What's the next challenge for Stoke keeper Asmir
:17:08. > :17:25.Begovic? Two Royal Marines who were blown up
:17:26. > :17:28.in Afghanistan were back in Birmingham today ` the city where
:17:29. > :17:32.they were treated for their injuries. They'd come to open a new
:17:33. > :17:35.facility linked to Fisher House ` the residential home for families of
:17:36. > :17:37.injured service personnel near the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Mark
:17:38. > :17:46.Ormrod and Colour Sergeant Baz Barrett forged a friendship in the
:17:47. > :17:52.darkest of times. Mark and I met for the first time in Christmas 2008.
:17:53. > :18:01.What a superb inspiration to see him walking! Fisher House didn't exist
:18:02. > :18:04.then, today they're back to see what's been built just next door.
:18:05. > :18:16.Sporting facilities they could only have dreamed of. You spend a lot of
:18:17. > :18:21.time in your hospital room watching countless DVDs. This does a hell of
:18:22. > :18:26.a lot for your physical and mental well`being. It is about doing what
:18:27. > :18:29.you can do. Just because you are built differently doesn't mean it
:18:30. > :18:37.should not allow you to do what everyone else can do. The beauty of
:18:38. > :18:46.this is it is feet away from Fisher house. Laura Brown has been living
:18:47. > :18:51.here on and off for three whole years to be near his husband 's
:18:52. > :19:00.bedside. Their hope of him using the facilities at any time soon. `` no
:19:01. > :19:11.hope. Maybe one day I can give it a shot. He thinks it is a great idea.
:19:12. > :19:18.It has been paid for by the Royal Marine Association. It is tough to
:19:19. > :19:41.get into the Royal Marines anyway. He says goals and schools goals. Is
:19:42. > :19:46.there anything that Asmir Begovic cannot do? He has produced a string
:19:47. > :19:50.of man of the match performances and scored that wonder goal against
:19:51. > :19:57.Southampton. He wants to raise money for sports facilities in
:19:58. > :20:03.Staffordshire and Bosnia. This is the site Stoke City fans love and
:20:04. > :20:08.opposition forwards hate. Tempt macro `` Asmir Begovic revealed a
:20:09. > :20:13.new side to his character. He believes in giving young people the
:20:14. > :20:19.chance to play sport. He has launched a charity foundation to
:20:20. > :20:24.provide facilities to do so, both in Staffordshire and in Bosnia. We can
:20:25. > :20:27.do a lot of things in Bosnia. It is something to look forward to. They
:20:28. > :20:35.are trying to make the country grow and get better as time goes on.
:20:36. > :20:41.Everyone is trying to look forward to the future. His international
:20:42. > :20:46.team`mate has pledged his support, along with Mark Hughes and the club
:20:47. > :20:54.captain. Here's a brilliant keeper and a great guy. `` he is a
:20:55. > :21:01.brilliant keeper. It will help a lot of people. Tomorrow he will be fully
:21:02. > :21:04.focused back on the pitch. They face a vital home match against
:21:05. > :21:15.Sunderland. This is what happened the last time Stoke played at home.
:21:16. > :21:24.It is in! Oh, my word! It was great. I took the manager literally about
:21:25. > :21:28.scoring goals. Great that it happened and great that it helped us
:21:29. > :21:32.to get a point. He probably will not score again this season but on and
:21:33. > :21:38.off the pitch, Asmir Begovic is hoping to make a big difference.
:21:39. > :21:43.Stoke play Sunderland tomorrow and West Brom host Villa on Monday.
:21:44. > :21:50.Today there has been more reaction to the dubious penalty decision
:21:51. > :21:56.which cost Albion two points. We know what happened. Ramirez comes
:21:57. > :22:04.into the box in injury time. It looks a dubious penalty. This week,
:22:05. > :22:09.Mike Riley has written to Albion apologising for the decision. This
:22:10. > :22:12.is the reaction from the head coach. It is nice if somebody has made a
:22:13. > :22:20.mistake and you get a phone call to say sorry. It is still nice that
:22:21. > :22:31.people recognise they have made a mistake. Of course it is. Two events
:22:32. > :22:34.taking place at the weekend. Some artistic gymnasts are heading to
:22:35. > :22:40.Stoke on Trent. At the weekend at Worcester, real drive to push
:22:41. > :22:45.Paralympics bought. A sports fest will encourage people to have a go
:22:46. > :22:52.and take up Paralympic sport. The spirit of London 2012 goes on.
:22:53. > :22:57.Multiple musical milestone has been celebrated at the Symphony Hall in
:22:58. > :23:06.Birmingham. They are marking 30 years. Onstage, they will be
:23:07. > :23:12.celebrating the centenary of Benjamin Britten. Quite a night. I
:23:13. > :23:16.presume will be some Benjamin Britten in the repertoire. Part of
:23:17. > :23:20.the worldwide celebration for the composer in what would have been his
:23:21. > :23:32.100th birthday. He has close collections in the West where `` the
:23:33. > :23:38.West Midlands. There is another celebration. Simon Housley has been
:23:39. > :23:43.in Birmingham for many years. He is giving a preconcert talk. He told me
:23:44. > :23:53.there is a very special relationship between him and the chorus. We begin
:23:54. > :23:58.at Evan p.m. A bit tired. `` 7pm. We leave on cloud nine. They give me so
:23:59. > :24:01.much and I give them something in return. The chemistry is so
:24:02. > :24:07.fantastic. Learning this wonderful music and meeting all these
:24:08. > :24:14.wonderful people is such fun. Let's speak to a couple of people who know
:24:15. > :24:23.him well. It really is rather a special evening, isn't it? It is a
:24:24. > :24:32.special evening. There will be 400 singers on stage. In Japan, they
:24:33. > :24:44.will be banging the drum for Birmingham abroad. The classical
:24:45. > :24:54.music critic from the Birmingham Post says this. Ever since the War
:24:55. > :24:58.Requiem, he has built up a reputation of the chorus and it
:24:59. > :25:09.really now is much sought after all around the world. There are other
:25:10. > :25:16.choruses at 12 `` as well. The doors open at about 7pm. All 400 of the
:25:17. > :25:18.chorus will be on at 7:30pm. How many layers will we need to wear
:25:19. > :25:32.this weekend? It will be rather chilly but it will
:25:33. > :25:39.be dry. There is some beautiful scenery. This is the Jefferson
:25:40. > :25:43.Gardens in Leamington Spa. You can see these pictures on our Facebook
:25:44. > :25:47.page. We will not be seeing much scenery like this tomorrow morning.
:25:48. > :25:54.It'll be a foggy start tomorrow. Some freezing fog to come. It'll be
:25:55. > :26:00.frosty as well. Once that clears, it will turn cloudy. We have had plenty
:26:01. > :26:04.of clear skies. The blue sky does mean we will see a rather chilly
:26:05. > :26:14.night tonight. Where we have holes in the cloud, temperatures will fall
:26:15. > :26:16.away. They are already dropping down freezing and will fall further. We
:26:17. > :26:20.are going to see some freezing fog patches developing and widespread
:26:21. > :26:26.frost. Temperatures down to freezing. That is in the towns. We
:26:27. > :26:32.start off tomorrow with freezing fog. Do bear that in mind if you're
:26:33. > :26:37.heading out on the roads. It will be stubborn to clear. If it does, there
:26:38. > :26:44.will be a brief period of sunshine. Under the cloud, temperatures are
:26:45. > :26:49.really going to fall tomorrow. Still northerly winds. It'll be a cold day
:26:50. > :26:53.tomorrow and it will be a cold night will stop the cloud will stick with
:26:54. > :26:58.us. Temperatures will be helped a little bit. There will be breaks in
:26:59. > :27:08.the cloud and patchy frost will form. Temperatures overnight, two,
:27:09. > :27:12.three. After the frosty start, it'll be another cloudy day and the winds
:27:13. > :27:21.will continue to ease. There could be some spots of rain. It is staying
:27:22. > :27:24.settled for the next few days. The headlines: The couple arrested in
:27:25. > :27:29.connection with the three women believed to have been kept slaves
:27:30. > :27:34.for 30 years had been arrested by police before in the 1970s. A head
:27:35. > :27:37.teacher quits after the inspection finds the relationship between him
:27:38. > :27:43.and school governors have become dysfunctional. That was Midlands
:27:44. > :27:46.Today. I will be back at 10pm with the result of Worcester 's rugby
:27:47. > :27:47.match