27/01/2017 South Today - Oxford

Good evening.

It's claimed an independent inquiry should be held

into how a business set up by Buckinghamshire County Council

to run adult social services lost millions of pounds -

and was criticised for the quality of its care.

Healthwatch Buckinghamshire wants answers as to how it was run -

and how vulnerable people were affected.

Brennan Nicholls has this exclusive report.

Damning report after damning report - Buckinghamshire Care was supposed

to look after some of the most vulnerable members of the community.

The company was set up by Bucks County Council back in 2013.

It had an ?8 million a year contract to run

services cross the county - in people's homes, a network

of community centres, a farm near Milton Keynes

and a respite care home in Beaconsfield.

Its managing director was paid ?140,000 a year.

The Council said the firm would save taxpayers more

than ?2 million over five years.

It didn't.

The financial accounts of Buckinghamshire Care makes

pretty grim reading.

Over the last three years the business has lost

just under ?2.5 million.

What makes even worse reading, though, is this

from the Care Quality Commission.

A report into Seeleys Respite Care in Beaconsfield,

which was rated as "inadequate".

And the combination of these two means that

Buckinghamshire County Council pulled the plug on the business

and brought it back in-house.

It's now trying to learn the mistakes of what is contained here.

When we began to identify that things weren't going right,

both in terms of finances and the quality of care,

at that point the governance had to be ramped up and began to take

a much closer interest.

But it was really only when the report on Seeleys came out

that the full extent of the failings became clear.

The Council took decisive and quick action which was

recognised by the CQC.

Not everyone though is convinced by the Council's approach.

Healthwatch Buckinghamshire want's more, much more.

The public don't know what's going on.

They just think it was just another care home contract

that was withdrawn.

They don't realise that it was wholly owned by the County Council.

The County Council has now taken full control

of Buckinghamshire Care's services once again.

It believes all services are running well.

The council says it will work with Healthwatch Buckinghamshire

to reflect their concerns.

Around 200 workers have lost their jobs at the Manor Formula

One team in Banbury - after the firm ceased trading today.

The firm was placed in administration earlier this month -

with the hope a new buyer could be found.

Staff were sent home this morning.

Manor began in 2010 as Virgin Racing - backed by Sir Richard Branson.

The team was later renamed Marussia and became Manor in 2014.

A man's died after a two-car crash near Banbury.

It happened in Cropredy on Tuesday morning.

No arrests have been made.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Services have been held to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

In Oxford there was a ceremony at the town hall, marking

the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

John Fieldsend, who now lives in Thame, remembers Hitler coming

to his home town in 1935.

Zoe Curtis reports.

People of all faiths gathered at Oxford Town Hall

for Holocaust Memorial Day.

It has been more than 70 years since the genocide which claimed

more than six million Jewish lives.

John Fieldsend witnessed this first hand.

As a young Jewish boy living in Germany he heard

Adolf Hitler address a rally.

I can still remember that voice...

That memory.

It's firmly locked in the back of my head as I can't

find the off switch.

John now lives in Thame.

During the Second World War he and his brother fled to Britain

from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.

But their parents were taken to Auschwitz.

John still has the final letter they sent him.

"We want to say farewell to you who were our dearest

"possession in the world.

"And only for a short time were we able to keep you.

"Don't forget us and be good.

"I too thank all the good people who have accepted you so nobly."

Today photographs from the Holocaust went on display at the Town Hall.

Victims of genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia were also

remembered, along with those still being subjected

to racism and intolerance.

The actor and activist Russell Brand has been talking

about his experience of growing up with mental health problems.

He was in Aylesbury launching Buckinghamshire Recovery College.

It wants people who've experienced difficulties in their past to mentor

those in need of help.

Matt Graveling reports.

"We can't help everyone but everyone can help someone."

A famous saying which encapsulates the ethos of a brand-new institution

launched in Aylesbury this morning.

Buckinghamshire Recovery College holds classes for people

struggling with mental health.

And at today's event one man who has openly struggled

with his was keen to lend his voice.

Mental health is nothing if not a disease of perspective.

It is a different perspective to what is required.

I think it is impossible for a person to attain that

perspective in solitude, that they require support

and community from people that understand it.

The idea here is simple.

Health professionals work alongside tutors who have

had their own personal battles with mental health.

They then share their experiences to help others overcome the issue.

The college took on its first students in September and now have

nearly 200 people enrolled in workshops and courses

all tailored to improve their well-being.

I'm now working in supporting people in mental health who need that

support and understanding.

And for me my passion is creativity and it has helped me get back

on the road to recovery.

Today's event was the start of what the college hope will be

a long, successful journey, helping thousands of people overcome

mental health one by one.

That's it from us.

The weather forecast is next.

Goodnight.

Hello, good evening.

Today was a bit of a change from recent days.

Milder conditions and the arrival of some rain.

And that rain will stay with us overnight tonight

with the possibility of hill fog where we have a lot

of low cloud in places.

Temperatures tonight will fall away to around three or four Celsius.

The rain will be with us first thing tomorrow morning.

It's a slow improving picture, the rain slowly clearing its way

north and eastwards.

Once it does we will see some bright and sunny spells

through the afternoon.

But still the risk of the odd isolated heavy shower.

Temperatures tomorrow reaching a high of seven or eight Celsius.

A good deal of cloud around and outbreaks of rain

through the course of the day.

Brightening up through the afternoon.

Sunday is a day of rain.

Rain also on Monday, but now here's your national forecast.