:00:08. > :00:14.People sleeping rough in Brighton could soon be offered the chance
:00:15. > :00:16.to stay in empty council buildings during freezing weather
:00:17. > :00:20.It comes as new figures show the city has had the highest
:00:21. > :00:55.increase in rough sleeping in the country.
:00:56. > :01:05.And in an almost one in 50, the steepest increase in the country.
:01:06. > :01:06.The number of people has doubled to almost 150, the steepest increase in
:01:07. > :01:08.the country. Bedding down and covering up
:01:09. > :01:11.against the biting January air. Claiming a space in the city
:01:12. > :01:14.is tough - such is the demand that those sleeping rough
:01:15. > :01:16.here daren't even move their belongings, but many say
:01:17. > :01:18.more temporary shelters Temporary solutions are not
:01:19. > :01:21.necessarily the way forward because it doesn't help the individual
:01:22. > :01:23.to move forward. In order to establish any kind
:01:24. > :01:26.of grounds for a future, you have to have a stable base, you
:01:27. > :01:29.know, and some sense of security. Proposed by the Green Group,
:01:30. > :01:31.councillors voted unanimously last night
:01:32. > :01:33.to explore the use of empty council buildings
:01:34. > :01:34.for homeless shelters. A similar scheme's been rolled out
:01:35. > :01:37.in Manchester this winter using a former library
:01:38. > :01:38.and children's home In Brighton, no building has yet
:01:39. > :01:42.been earmarked for the scheme but the council says
:01:43. > :01:44.it is open to options. We don't have as a council
:01:45. > :01:47.lots of vacant buildings, we're obviously going to be putting them
:01:48. > :01:50.to immediate use for housing, etc. If there's a possibility that there
:01:51. > :01:52.might be commercial buildings out there that, you never know,
:01:53. > :01:55.voluntary and charities would be able to work with that commercial
:01:56. > :01:58.provider and open up so we're Those who spent years
:01:59. > :02:01.on the streets though say safety in any
:02:02. > :02:03.new shelter is vital. I tended to avoid them having been
:02:04. > :02:06.in a few times - they were noisy, violent, really rather
:02:07. > :02:09.unpleasant, such that actually even the horrors of sleeping rough
:02:10. > :02:11.were better than some They need to be very
:02:12. > :02:13.closely supervised. Something the council says it
:02:14. > :02:16.acknowledges and also says that with new funding from the Government,
:02:17. > :02:19.it will bring the number of Little comfort, though, for those
:02:20. > :02:25.making their bed here tonight. Meanwhile concerns about the plight
:02:26. > :02:28.of rough sleepers have also been raised in Medway
:02:29. > :02:30.following the deaths The Labour group, supported by local
:02:31. > :02:44.charities, had suggested opening council shelters as soon
:02:45. > :02:46.as the temperature drops to freezing, but this was rejected
:02:47. > :02:49.by a majority vote last night. There is an emergency
:02:50. > :02:51.refuge which is manned They open up whenever
:02:52. > :02:55.the temperature is 0 degrees, but as you can feel it
:02:56. > :02:58.tonight, the temperature is allegedly three degrees but with
:02:59. > :03:00.the wind chill it's freezing. The leader of Kent's County Council
:03:01. > :03:02.says, "The Government needs to get its cheque-book out"
:03:03. > :03:05.as the cost of looking after asylum seeking children after the age of 18
:03:06. > :03:08.is set to effectively double next year, leading to a ?4
:03:09. > :03:23.million deficit. Paul Carter says Kent is already
:03:24. > :03:24.facing a ?2 million shortfall after looking after unaccompanied asylum
:03:25. > :03:26.seeking children. I've suggested that they vow a bit
:03:27. > :03:28.of the foreign aid budget. After all, we are supporting people
:03:29. > :03:31.taking refuge in this country Therefore it shouldn't
:03:32. > :03:35.fall on the ratepayers, The Home Office should be
:03:36. > :03:39.reimbursing us in full, and that's what we expect
:03:40. > :03:42.them to do. A ?6 billion plan to build a second
:03:43. > :03:46.rail line linking the Sussex coast to London will be pitched
:03:47. > :03:48.to the the Transport Secretary The Brighton Main Line 2 proposals
:03:49. > :03:55.would include restoring an old line between Hever and
:03:56. > :03:56.Uckfield, building 20km of new track around
:03:57. > :03:58.Lewes and running trains in to Canary Wharf in
:03:59. > :04:02.London through a tunnel. Plans for two huge communications
:04:03. > :04:04.masts, one taller than the Shard in London, have been rejected
:04:05. > :04:08.by Dover councillors. Two separate companies wanted
:04:09. > :04:10.to build them in Richborough to speed up international
:04:11. > :04:22.high-frequency financial trading. But the council said
:04:23. > :04:24.they would have been an eyesore Turner Prize winning artist
:04:25. > :04:40.Keith Tyson has brought a huge display to Sussex -
:04:41. > :04:42.both in terms of the size of the artworks,
:04:43. > :04:45.and their sheer numbers. Called Turn Back Now, it features
:04:46. > :04:48.twenty years of what he calls studio wall drawings,
:04:49. > :04:50.inspired by events and happenings. Robin Gibson met him
:04:51. > :04:52.at the Jerwood Gallery He's an enigmatic figure - happy
:04:53. > :04:57.to talk about his work, his life and The Jerwood Show
:04:58. > :05:02.is almost a scrapbook So drawn to this one
:05:03. > :05:08.because, you know, you've taken on JMW Turner and all sorts
:05:09. > :05:11.of different styles. Yeah, in there we've got Turner,
:05:12. > :05:14.personal painting, a Lego thing from my child and this is the boat
:05:15. > :05:17.in the background of The Simpsons. But this was to do with
:05:18. > :05:20.the idea of a naval battle He left school at 15 to go
:05:21. > :05:25.to work in his native Cumbria, where the idea
:05:26. > :05:27.of a life in art I was in the shipyard for five
:05:28. > :05:35.years, I wasn't very happy there and I always wanted to go
:05:36. > :05:38.to art college but I was a working-class guy and they said, no,
:05:39. > :05:41.you go and learn a trade, so I became a fitter and turner, tried
:05:42. > :05:44.out nuclear submarines and then I I didn't know I wanted
:05:45. > :05:51.to be an artist, I just It was a right turn -
:05:52. > :05:56.he's had critical acclaim, Just look at all of this, every
:05:57. > :06:04.square inch of wall space covered - the Jerwood has never seen anything
:06:05. > :06:06.quite like it. You get the real impression
:06:07. > :06:13.of an artist who is truly prolific. Keith is someone that we have
:06:14. > :06:15.wanted to work with since before the gallery opened -
:06:16. > :06:19.he's been on our radar. Sussex-based artist, he won
:06:20. > :06:22.the Turner prize in 2002 and has had sort of international fame
:06:23. > :06:23.and exhibitions around Yes, with a home in the Sussex Downs
:06:24. > :06:32.near Brighton, we can An extraordinary show by an artist
:06:33. > :06:36.for whom working is breathing - Take your time -
:06:37. > :06:48.there's a lot to see. Now let's look at the weather
:06:49. > :06:51.for the weekend in the South East Rachel, it's turning
:06:52. > :07:03.milder, but wetter. That's right, yes. It will be less
:07:04. > :07:10.cold but we lose the sunshine, it is wet at times and also very windy. Of
:07:11. > :07:13.course there will be an icy start, lots of clothes during the
:07:14. > :07:19.afternoon. Look at these temperatures, overnight lows of six
:07:20. > :07:23.or 7 degrees, very mild as we start the weekend. Very mild through the
:07:24. > :07:28.day. For Saturday, a good deal of cloud, rain at times, highs of eight
:07:29. > :07:30.or 9 degrees, very wet into Sunday. This is