21/03/2012 South Today

Hello, I'm Sally Taylor. Welcome to South Today. In tonight's

programme: Hitting homeowners. Changes in

child benefit and an income tax boost for the lower paid. How has

the budget affected you? And we'll be live in a market town

to hear what businesses think of today's news.

Also tonight: The brothers orphaned in the Boxing

Day tsunami vow to honour their parents by helping others. They

sacrifice themselves to get the little ones out of the rumour, make

sure they got out of their because they would have been locked in the

room, the water was so high a. And reading, writing and the family.

The new book club helping to tackle literacy for all. For you not to be

able to enjoy it and read it with them is a problem, so I thought

myself, right, it is bad for me, but for them as well, so I can give

The South is home to some of the wealthiest people in the UK. And

today the Chancellor George Osborne said he would tax rich property

owners and give more money to the lower paid. Mr Osborne has also

eased the withdrawal of child benefit from higher rate taxpayers.

Tonight, we'll have reaction to more on the budget from families,

businesses and public sector workers. But first here's our

Political Editor Peter Henley who has been looking at some of the

detail. According to the Government,

180,000 of the lowest paid people in the south of England should be

celebrating tonight. That's how many people will no longer have to

pay income tax. But put those figures in context. It's 104,000

people in the south-east out of a population of 8 million. And 73,000

in the south-west out of 5 million save about �220 a year. And Labour

points out that it doesn't kick in until 2013. And what about the

millionaires? Lib Dems are boasting that they got their tycoon tax, a

whacking new rate of stamp duty, 7% on properties above �2 million in

value. And in the South that's not just mansions. The five-bedroom

properties, the smaller ones, they are �1.5 million, they are not

mansions that we would have not thought of them as a mansion before.

A place with more than a few seafront palaces, Brighton and Hove,

has missed becoming a super connected city but gets extra money

for ultra-fast broadband. Tax breaks for digital industries will

go down well there, and in Surrey where they're growing the video

games industry. The Government's saying this is a budget for growth.

Labour say only millionaires have really prospered.

So, one of the key themes the Chancellor talked about was helping

the less well off. He said with his changes some of those workers would

have an additional �170 in their pockets. The Health Service has

many thousands of staff earning just above the minimum wage. Our

Health Correspondent David Fenton has been to meet some of them.

Cleaners are among the lowest paid workers in the Health Service.

Daisy earns �7.10 an hour for a seven hour day. It is hard because

the prices go up everywhere, so coffee and everything, petrol, all

of the bills as well. So it is quite hard. I am struggling. They

used to earn less. A ten month dispute over back pay at

Southampton General has now ended. Unions say many low paid workers

will still feel far from well off despite the Chancellor's tax breaks.

I think the working man and woman will see through the glass the

Chancellor will put on this. They know the pressures they are under.

They have been squeezed on to pay freezes, jobs cuts and this will

not make much difference to them. Some of these cleaners will benefit

from today's budget. Whether they feel any better off, with rising

fuel costs and food bills, is another matter.

While the Chancellor gave back money, he also took it away.

Thousands of parents in the South will have lost child benefits. The

Chancellor told the Commons it was a difficult a decision. But there

will be relief for others as Alex Forsyth has been finding out. For

mum have to Rhoda, today's budget brought good news. She works part-

time and she will be one of those no longer paying any income tax.

Every penny counts for us. It will make �150 difference, which has a

lot. For some parents at this playgroup, the Chancellor's

announcements were not so welcome. He has raised the threshold at

which higher earning parents will lose child benefit but Emily's

family is still a kid to lose out. All these bills, electricity, tax,

they are going up, so it is hard. We have lost tax credits. We will

be losing child benefit at some point as well. Others say there was

little in today's budget to helps - - to help the squeeze. I have got a

budget, a strict budget, and if I go over, something has to fall by

the wayside. I had Oscar for the first two years of his life every

day because if I didn't my daughter would not have been able to work.

So I think she patrolled care for them. -- cheaper child care for

them. So, what mood are people who run

businesses in this evening? Well, the Chancellor said his budget

unashamedly backs business with a cut in corporation tax and a new

scheme to boost bank lending to small and medium sized firms.

Tonight, Steve Humphrey is in Alresford in Hampshire to get some

reaction from the business community.

Yes, this evening, we are at the Swan Hotel to get that reaction

from a group of local business people. This town has a population

of 5,500 and a wide range of businesses. It is very famous for

the watercress steam railway line, and for the local watercress beds.

With its proximity to Winchester, it is an expensive place to live,

so people will feel the impact of that extra stamp duty around here

of houses costing more than �2 million. With me is an estate agent.

Is that stamp duty going to have a large impact? We will see an

initial pause for thought amongst buyers and some thinking to spend

�2 million will then spend under that bracket. Above all, if you

find your dream house in the country, if you want to live around

here, you will probably absorb that additional percentage. Jane, you

are from a lavender growing distilling business. We have seen

some help for small businesses and medium-sized businesses,

particularly with more access to loans. Will that be helpful?

were quite excited when we heard about this because �20 billion

sounds a lot of money. The critical thing is how easy it is going to be

to access that finance and if the banks will keep the same criteria,

it is still going to be tricky to access. James, you are from the

well-known food and coffee shop chain. Is the Chancellor doing

enough? I think so. It is his starting point. The reduction in

corporation tax, that is good news. We have to work very hard to get

customers through the door, but you've got to look at the cost side

and the Revenue, so it is still tough times ahead, but the green

shoots are there. So, a little bit of optimism? Yes. Jane, what else

can the Government do for you to make things easier? We were keen to

see the changes in seek planning law, which we understand is on its

way. 1,000 pages of planning policy will be reduced to 50, and we are

keen to see that, because planning constraints are a big issue for

small businesses. Claude was telling if there is some up to it

in the property market, so things going well? Yes, a good start to

the year. Thank you all very much. And from the Swan Hotel, back to

you. In transport, most people were

waiting to see if fuel duty would go up. But, as expected, it was

left unchanged, but not for long. Let's go live to our Transport

Correspondent Paul Clifton. Fuel duty will go up in August as

planned. That will put 3p on a litre of petrol. In old money,

another 16p a gallon, taking it well past �7 a gallon. We pay some

of the highest fuel taxies in the world, and petrol and diesel

reached record prices this month. But passengers coming off the ferry

here this afternoon found that prices in France are within a

couple of pence of prices here. The AA, which is based in Basingstoke,

says that yet higher prices will force drivers off the road and

could bring a summer of discontent. It says the increase makes no

allowance for car-dependent, rural or disabled drivers. Taxing

motorists brings in about �45 billion a year, yet only �10

billion goes back in road maintenance. The number of potholes

is growing. But think about this - the greater fuel efficiency of

modern engines means the Treasury's income per vehicle is actually

falling. So cutting petrol duty was always unlikely. We did have

reaction from small and medium- sized businesses and with me is

David Tipple. Just a quick overview. Was it a Budget for business?

was a Budget to encourage business. A lot of encouragement, but not a

lot of practical things. Only 10% of businesses will be positively

affected. You want to talk about infrastructure. Will we benefit in

the South or not? Most of these projects will be in North.

South is a victim of its own success. There is the Hastings link

road, but that is the only project. Broadband. He promised at �50

million for small cities. He didn't say where, though. He announced a

Brighton by default simply because Brighton was pushing for it. If

Brighton is one, there is nine to go, and let's hope one of them is

down here. And what about the soul of being a powerhouse to get the

economy running. Does this Budget help it? It doesn't discourage it.

There is a lot for businesses to do. The access to money has to be made

easy. There are red tape reductions, but they have got to be substantial

and we cannot get locked in red tape. The South can be the

powerhouse and can lead us out of the economic trouble, but the South

has got to for opportunities to make business really work. Thank

you. Let's return to our Political

Editor Peter Henley to get an overview and some reaction from our

politicians. Last night, we were talking about

the implications of the Chancellor scrapping national pay agreements,

and it looks like that's going through.

Yes, starting from next month for some Government departments, the

TUC says it will widen the North South divide. They call it complex,

costly and inefficient and say it could lead to skills such as

teachers or nurses chase higher rates. The Conservatives who say

it's part of the push for growth, but first here's Labour who say

it's all wrong. We saw this in Southampton when the council tried

to slash council -- pay. Everyone in Southampton went and got jobs in

Hampshire and Bournemouth. It is harder to do than they save. I am

encouraged about what is happening in Reading. Although last month we

had a tiny rise in unemployment, youth unemployment in recent months

has fallen. There also looks set to be a real

row over the National Roads Strategy. It's not quite the vision

of private toll roads. More, the system used in Portsmouth, shortly

to be rolled out on the Isle of Wight, of a private company taking

over responsibility for road improvement, and paid a fee based

on performance, but maybe it's not the answer to beating notorious

bottlenecks like the Arundel by- pass, the A34 north or the A303 to

the West Country. Thank you. More information on our website.

Still to come in this evening's South Today:

Tony Husband on the chase at the top of the Championship.

And spring is here, Reham has the forecast

An investigation is underway after a man fell from a road above a

railway. It is warm, dry and sunny days. I

will tell you all you need to know. I have all you need to know about

the football. Southampton, the Premier League edges ever closer.

An investigation is under way after a man fell from a cliff in Brighton.

The emergency services and lifted the 43-year-old to the hospital.

Police said officers spoke to the man an hour before the incident and

left him in the care of his brother. Sussex Police has referred the

incident to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The video games retailer, Game, which has its headquarters in

Basingstoke, says it's calling in the administrators. It comes after

their shares were suspended and they admitted the business has no

value. The company operates 1,300 stores worldwide and employs 10,000

staff. Game has 600 stores in the UK, with 6,000 staff, and also has

stores in Europe and Australia. A Winchester woman has died in

hospital eight days after giving birth to triplets. 34-year-old

Isabel Mason gave birth to healthy triplets at the Royal Hampshire

County Hospital on 2nd March but died on March the 10th. The

hospital described her death as a tragedy for the family. An inquest

has been opened and adjourned. The possible cause of death was given

as a rupture of the pericardial sac around the heart, caused by a cut

in an artery. In 2004, the Forkan family from New

Milton in Hampshire were on holiday in Sri Lanka. But on Boxing Day,

the tsunami hit. In successfully saving the lives of their children,

parents Sandra and Kevin Forkan tragically lost their own lives.

Three of their children have now set themselves the challenge of

opening up an orphanage in memory of their parents. Roger Finn has

the story. The Forkan family were adventurers.

In 1999, the parents took their children out of school and off on a

five year journey around India and the subcontinent. They spent

Christmas 2004 on the beach at Weligama in southern Sri Lanka. Rob

and Paul Forkan were just 17 and 15 years old. We were so close to the

beach, our guest room was just like one of those sheds. They were woken

by screams early on Boxing Day. A small wave had come into their room.

We just thought it was normal, just another crazy thing happening on

our journey. Something crazy always happens. A snake in your bedroom or

would have a. We put the bags on the bed. It was so powerful, the

wave took the whole kitchen down off the wall. I didn't know water

could be that strong and powerful. My brother saved my life. Their

mother, father and younger brother and sister were next door. The

parents drowned but not before they'd bundled the other children

to safety. Rob and Paul and the others came back to Hampshire to

live with their older sister. Now in their 20s, the brothers have

just launched a brand of flip flops. We lived in flip flops for years,

from living in Bournemouth, travelling around India, we have

been to India recently and whenever we go there, we go to the slums and

orphanages, so it all fell in place. We are working with a small

orphanage in Goa, and we give 10% of our profits to them. By the 10th

anniversary, we want to open up our own orphanage. That is the dream.

The brothers designed the flip- flops themselves and have sold them

to 30 boutiques. They're now courting the big department store

chains. Good luck to them.

A woman from Southampton is warning drivers to be vigilant if they use

valet parking at airports. Tracey Dilley says after her car was

handed over, she found 70 extra miles on the clock, an engine

warning light on and mud inside. She says she'll take notes and

photos in future as the car valet company said it could not verify

the claim as the issues were reported after she'd collected the

vehicle. I have never had a problem before and I have used various

companies at Heathrow and Gatwick. I never had any problem at all but

it has made me and my friends wary. I am self-employed and without my

car I do not get paid. The man behind a �10 million plan

to bring an ice rink to Southampton says it's now likely the proposed

site will be used to build flats. A funding application was turned down

last year by Sport England, although the council had granted

planning permission. Campaigners have been pushing for a rink in the

city since 1988 when the old Top Rank was closed. It is

disappointing. I had hoped that Sport England would support us on

that, and that would have been sufficient to make the actual

project work. I will not give up on it, but the chances are very slim

now. It's estimated 5.1 million adults

in the UK, that's up to one in six, have difficulty with everyday

reading and writing. In Portsmouth, around one quarter of the adult

population suffers from poor literacy and numeracy. And these

adults usually have few or no qualifications. Gosport and Havant

also have widespread literacy problems, and a high percentage of

adults who have very few GCSEs. Now, new ways of trying to break this

cycle are being launched, including family literacy evenings which are

proving popular in America. A new book club has just opened in Havant

at Park Community School's Dickinson Centre, as Chrissy Sturt

reports. How about this one? Determination. When you were young,

learning to read is hard and it is harder when you're a grown-up.

Sophie and christopher both struggled at school and have almost

no qualifications and do not work. Given a chance to get back to

school, to knuckle down, Lerner, because you don't know what you're

going to do when you get older. They want more for their children.

It is a big thing for me just to be able to do it for myself and to

help the kids. They bring books home. For you not to be able to

enjoy it and read it with them I think is a problem. There is a high

proportion of adults here who struggle with words and writing. A

struggle often unwittingly handed down to the next generation. This

session is trying to break that cycle. Do you find reading easy?

a struggle and locked. Tell me about that. I get stuck on words.

Exactly the same as me when I was going through school. But,

obviously, I can change that and help him with his reading. Teachers

in this call welcome these sessions. Sometimes, parents struggled to

walk through the school door because of their experiences at

school. What we attempt to do is to encourage them to feel at ease, and

from the position of their children, we move on to their needs. Today

has gone well. It is lovely to be able to do what and to sing with

Liam, sing out a story, and just to be able to enjoy it with him.

bookworms look like they will be back for more.

And adult literacy is the subject of a daytime drama series showing

on BBC One all next week at 2:15pm. It's called Secrets And Words.

There's more information on the website, details below.

Now, sport. All eyes on the top of the Championship.

Managers say one game at a time, but we do not have to do that. We

can start to think about for Southampton in particular, you are

starting to think, if they are going to get promoted, can they do

what mid- April? Last night, they took on the meanest defence in the

League at Hull. Jack Hobbs own goal at Hull. That gave them the lead.

On the hour defender Jos Hooiveld helped by Jose Fonte. Saints' fans

smell the Premier League now. me, it is a difficult place to come.

We put on a superb defensive display. Our players worked very

hard, and it is a very pleasing three points.

While Southampton march on, Reading's brilliant run of results

came to an end at London Road. They took the lead through Noel Hunt

against Peterborough. So, they were looking good at that point. But

soon after, they conceded the first of two goals from corners.

Peterborough would lead 2-1 going into the second half. With Reading

chasing the game late on, Peterborough got a break away third.

They have played well tonight. We have come to the end overrun.

Nothing changes as far as we are concerned. We look to the next game.

Southampton now have a seven point lead over West ham in third. They

could be around four wins from promotion on current form. Reading

play both Saints and West Ham in their run-in. Brighton have gone

all the way up to fourth. And that's because they bounced back to

winning ways at the Amex last night. Inigo Calderon headed them into an

early lead against Derby. Watch out for the celebration. And then

dedicated it to his wife who's expecting a baby. After half time,

Ashley Barnes sealed Albion's 11th home win of the season midway

through the second half. To the rest of the action now, and

after nine games without a win, Portsmouth did their survival hopes

and the play-off aims of others no harm at all. The action starts with

Pompey's 4-1 win over Birmingham. Portsmouth needed a lifeline in

their fight to escape allegations are going behind wasn't of the

start they wanted. The visitors were put in front in the first half.

Portsmouth levelled in the second half. When Birmingham lost David

Murphy, sent off soon after, the home side took control. David

Norris put them in front on the turn. As Birmingham pressed, Pompey

counted. The players and fans were Bournemouth won their first game in

eight. In League Two, Danny Bormann fired Crawley up to 5th with their

1-0 win at Gillingham and Aldershot won again against Southend.

It is all on the internet. A lot of people are following this, but we

have got synchronised swimming tomorrow.

My car the monitor was showing 18, that is rather high.

It has been a very bright day and very warm. Well above-average.

Because we have had a bright end to the day, there skies remain clear

for the first half of the evening, turning chilly. There is enough of

a breeze to prevent any major frost issues. Generally, for the first

half of the night, lows down to two or 3. We could see some frost

pockets in any shelter, but enough breeze to prevent any frost for

tomorrow. It is a chilly start, but the cloud thins and breaks. The

warmest temperatures in the East, with clouds in the West. Remember

the rain we have been looking for? It is breaking its promise. It is a

whizzing past us. It is giving us the risk of for a few spots of rain

in the air to the West a will try and Dorset, but it is not enough. -

- to the Wester Wiltshire. No rain for Friday. By the small hours, we

could have some patchy rain, but it is bone dry throughout Friday for

most of us. A South easterly breeze as well. On Saturday, the high

pressure it is with us, and it is going to be a very quiet day would

like to winds, more of an easterly breeze. It will improve on Sunday.

For the weekend, staying dry, mild, light winds, and the rain avoiding

the regions. The only potential of some showers is possibly early on