19/09/2013 South Today

Good evening. Sitting on a fortune. And millions of pounds of

developers's money destined for communities and lying unspent by

councils. I think they should get spending and not keep it in bank

accounts and put it back into the communities.

Week, confused and unproductive, Portsmouth's children's agencies are

under fire for the lack of support given to children. You'll mark we

would like to apologise for the quality of the service.

Complaints over ten mile tailbacks as people living on the A303

complain that things have been made worse.

A BBC says investigation has revealed that hundreds of millions

of pounds of cash from developers is lying unspent in Council bank

accounts. Figures gathered under the Freedom of Information Act assured

that local authorities in our area have accumulated more than £400

million. The money is to be spent on roads, schools and other community

projects but more than a third of it currently remains on allocated to

specific projects. Some authorities have been hanging on to

developers's money for so long they have had to give £2.2 million back.

The place to have fun, paid for by developers. When negotiating

planning agreements, councils insist that developers give money towards

nuclear areas, schools, roads and other projects. The greater the

impact of the new buildings, the more the developer has to pay. It is

important that the use the money wisely to make the residents happy.

They should get spending. The developers here had to pay £1.5

million to build a new health centre on this derelict site to build all

—— to serve all of the new residents. At when the plan was

abandoned after a health centre was opened a few males away, residents

were angry. I have got the backing of my local councillors and MPs so I

am hoping that the money will be spent here in Battle Ward. Rumack

the important thing is that the council spends the money. If it is

not spent then it will have to be refund it. If it has to refund money

then it has been incompetent. Reading has not had to give any

money back, but other councils have. A section of the Millennium Walkway

here simply did not get built. In Chichester, money for improvements

to the canal basin had to be returned. The district council here

says that it is no monitoring money from developers much more closely.

Elsewhere it was money for bus stops and a woodland that had to be

returned. What does the government have to say about the hundreds of

millions of pounds our councils have in the bank and a large chunk that

remains unallocated? The planning minister, Nick Boles, told us that

local people we'd be surprised to hear that local councils were

reporting millions of pounds. The councils made these agreements with

developers for the development of the community and councillors should

not be pocketing the cash. Local authorities all insist they are not

sitting on this money unnecessarily and that it will be spent. But a

number of builders and developers have told us that they believe that

some of the councils are holding them to ransom, with the threat of

turning down council applications as a bride. You are taking all of the

profit up front, the small builders will not take the risk any more. The

government is encouraging challenges to this, in the hope of speeding up

development and economic recovery. Our business correspondent is with

me. What are the government planning to do? Developers have always had to

play for projects, but the old rules are being phased out which means

that councils can do more with the money and that gives them more

flexibility. This is the community infrastructure Levy, it is supposed

to be more transparent, but it is proving controversial. Why is it not

going down well with the home builders? In future the money can be

used to fund much wider capital projects, not necessarily linked to

a specific project. This is essentially getting the private

sector to pick up for a cut in funding to the public sector.

Quarter councils looking to charge? There is no consistency. There are

wildly different sums. In Southampton a developer could be

charged £70 per square metre, but in the Berks that goes up to £220 and

in walking up to £265. Huge variation the region.

Our three—week—old baby died after agencies failed to work together to

support her family, according to a report will lease today. The girl's

for half siblings were already subject to protection plans and in

the care of relatives when she was born. She was put into the care of

her grandmother but died in her sleep of natural causes in 2011. The

council has apologised for its failings.

As you say, this small baby was living with its grandmother. That

was an arrangement that was approved by the courts, but on the night she

died she had been left in the care of her aunt, who had herself been

described as vulnerable. The baby died of natural causes, and

infection. The council is clear that her death could not have been

prevented, but does admit that she was not left in safe circumstances.

Her death has prompted a review of the authorities in this case and has

found feelings for which the council has apologised today. We did not

provide the right support and I wish to apologise. We put in place a

number of changes in terms of our services, we strengthened our legal

services, we now have experienced advisors, and we have improved the

recruitment of our social workers. What exactly went wrong here? This

family had a long history of contact with the police, NHS and the

council. There had been previous investigations into serious

unexplained injuries that the baby's holders have siblings had

sustained, including fractured ribs and a broken bone. Some complaints

were not followed up. Social workers were assigned to this case. The

investigations were weak and was no plan in place ahead of the birth of

this new child. But those who oversee social work in Portsmouth

say that improvements have now been made. Social workers complex, staff

are pressured, people work hard to deliver a good service, nobody sets

out to do a bad job. In this situation mistakes were made, some

things could be improved, but it is about strengthening practice, moving

forward and having a stronger, more robust service overall. This is the

second set report to be least about Portsmouth this year. Some say

lessons still need to be learned to prevent mistakes in future. This is

not good enough, there is a long way to go, we need to tighten

procedures, we need to support the staff in this building who really

need that support to ensure that the most vulnerable in our communities,

the elderly and young children taken into care, are properly looked

after. In a week when child protection failings have been in the

spotlight we hear that mistakes will not be repeated. But it is unlikely

that this will be the last time that authorities are forced to consider

how they can best protect the most vulnerable.

The parents of a toddler who died on Christmas Day last year have

criticised the actions of the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth in

the days before her death. Anabelle Shepherd, who had a rear genetic

condition, died several days after being transferred from the Queen

Alexandra Hospital. Anabelle Shepherd's parents arriving

at the inquest today. Their highly critical statements are read aloud

by the coroner. They described how well their daughter seemed following

the bone marrow transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital. They were

excited for the future. But six months later they took her to Queen

Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth worried that she seemed lethargic.

Mr Shepherd was highly critical of the care that she received there. In

particular that staff had not taken on board her suppressed immune

system following the transplant. I feel completely wet down, he said.

—— Whetstone. Mrs Shephard described how she had to continually prompt

nursing staff to carry out basic observations and take samples from

her daughter. I feel that she was badly let down by her hometown and

we were robbed of our daughter. Not a day goes by when I do not cry for

her. One of the consultants were then questioned. One of the doctors

described that a new protocol is now in place to deal with children with

suppressed immune systems. He described that he simply did not see

many children with those needs, and admitted that there was a gap in

service. The coroner will give his verdict next month.

Still to come: The schoolboy who designed a corgi in honour of the

Queen's great—grandson. Have improvements to the main road

through Wiltshire actually made the traffic jams worse? It seems that

they may have done. Back in June English Heritage closed the road

next to Stonehenge and dug it up as part of a plan to return the ancient

monument to its original setting. Traffic was diverted. But this

summer has seen record traffic jams, sometimes stretching for ten miles

or more. A public meeting is about to get underway in the nearby

village of Shrewton and our transport correspondent is there for

us tonight. A special planning meeting of

Wiltshire Council is about to get underway in the village hall here

and there are, as you see, plenty of people lining up to complain. They

believe that closing the road past Stonehenge and pure design of the

roundabout not only brought bad traffic jams but reverted traffic

onto narrow rat runs —— poor design. Coach driver started using this old

track to bypass it. I pass every day and from my experience traffic has

got dramatically worse. As well as this meeting, there is a petition,

website campaign and plenty of people calling for urgent action.

This act now for tell you when there is a queue ahead, you then

rescheduled where you are going and it dumps everybody into Shrewton and

the surrounding villages. —— the satnav will tell you critical.

People are stressed and out of their comfort zone. This needs to be made

a jewel carriageway throughout its length, for the economy and for two

is. I am working with several bodies and people to bring that forward. A

feasibility study has been agreed with the government. What is the

authority saying? Wiltshire Council has acknowledged that there has been

significant delays this summer and that there are some issues with a

local road network. The Highways Agency says it is monitoring the

changes. It declined our request for an interview but said that changes

that are deemed necessary will be carried out as quickly as possible.

There is an acceptance year of a problem, what realistically can be

done about it? You have heard the calls for a jewel carriageway. In

the long time that is unlikely. —— dual carriageway. But the kid be

other reasons —— there could be other reasons for this traffic

congestion. There has been a good team —— arisen season. The problems

locally are perhaps one part of an increasingly urgent issue. A

contentious issue there. 19 people have been arrested in the

area under operation fortress. All 17 men and two women who were

arrested remain in police custody. Dorset Police have made two further

arrests into their investigation into an attempted murder in report.

Two people were seriously injured in Sea View Road on Monday. One man

arrested has already been released on bail. Officers arrested two other

men yesterday. Idea is to build a controversial

biomass power plant has been dealt a blow today. It was decided that they

would not by energy from company—mac, the company behind the

Western docks. It's means that the company is less viable to be

eligible for government subsidies. Almost a million people are being

expected to be living with dementia by the end the decade.

Britain has decided to make 20 dementia friendly cities and towns

around the country. One of the cities at the forefront of the

campaign at Redding. It was decided to teach people at primary schools

about what happens as we go on grappling with the idea of people

with dementia. The other day I came in, I could not

find my keys. I looked everywhere for my keys. I did not know where

they were. I had left them on the outside of the door.

A failing memory may just be that. I say to them, I know my times tables.

For a growing number of children in the classroom, the dementia drama

will be real life in the coming years.

We hear all the time about people 's experiences and the teacher saying

that they are aware what is going on. It is all about taking that fear

away and saying to the people that it is happening more and more, but

we can understand it and work alongside it. It is like a big

computer... This'll be the generation were more more children

find themselves coping with relatives who have dementia. The

idea is to take the project to every school in Redding and possibly West

Berkshire. Starting the education process at the age of ten may seem

young for some, but then the condition itself makes no such

distinctions. I think I have a relative who has

dementia. She is in a care home. I have learned that you need to

respect everyone and if someone acts like that, then you need to respect

them and is not just run away and be scared.

Excuse me! Grandparents have always loomed large in the lives of

children, and ever so more than today.

Grandparents and children have a close relationship, and it is

important that children learn the signs.

The whole process is is to prepare children and their parents who will

be moving from being carers to those who need caring for. Onto the sport.

Former Redding brass dry McDermott was beaten at his return at the

Madejski Stadium last night. Adam Le Fondre scored a 94 minutes goal last

night. Royston Drenthe's free kick was converted. It means that it is

the successive clean sheet for Nigel Adkins's men.

We try and concentrate on the game. I have a lot of time for this

football club. Our fans were fantastic tonight, I am gutted for

them. The most important thing is to get a result.

AFC Bournemouth has announced that Jeff Mostyn is to be their new

chairman. He was previously chairman in the past, seen the club through

the administration. He told the BBC last week that he would be

interested in the role. He succeeds Eddie Mitchell who stepped down

earlier this month. And Portsmouth has style —— has signed John

Marquis. Meanwhile, Sir Ben Ainslie was back

on the water last night, but unable to prevent Oracle USA from losing to

the New Zealand. It is the America's Cup, the oldest ongoing sailing

contest. He had been drafted into the boat, but it was a difficult

contest. The New Zealand now just need one more win to take the

trophy, it could do so tonight. If you have ever had a bit of unwanted

office furniture, you may have taken it to the second—hand shop.

It may even end up in a skip. That is what happened seven years ago

when Portsmouth Football Club decided that they wanted to revamp

their furniture. However, there furniture was very expensive. Here

is the story. On the Antiques road show, there

will be a set of chairs that'll make many sit up and take notice. They

are a piece of Portsmouth's history, made for HMS Warrior. The chairs

were eventually donated by the Royal Navy to Portsmouth but bookclub. In

2006, they were chucked out as the boardroom was redesigned.

To my horror, bees and the table were in a skip. Literally in a skip.

It is part of the history of the football club.

Is why did they end up in a skip? Apparently, the club's wealthy

Russian owner, Sacha Gaydamack, wanted time —— wanted a more modern

boardroom. It was a frantic exercise. I had a

phone call to say that I must get down in the next hour, because the

team of builders were about to manage the boardroom. If it had been

taken out, it would have been disposed to.

This is what the owner wanted to recreate. The boardroom lost its

history, but the chairs have been stored away for years.

It was as a prize when we heard about them appearing on the show,

but will we were aware that these table and chairs had been missing

for some time. Under previous ownership, eggs have disappeared. We

are in the recess of trying to recover these things. We will be

interested in what the club have to say about these things.

It was said that Churchill used one of these chairs when the set was

moved during wartime. A distinguished Derry air in these

chairs with a long history. We can't tell you how much those

chairs are worth. What you think? I think £500 each. I will go higher,

particularly with the reference to Churchill. I was a £1000 each. If

you want to know, you can find out on the antiques programme on Sunday

at 8pm. We will move to the weather.

I have to say, a national newspaper said that it would be a 75 degrees

weekends, an Indian summer. An Indian summer is more likely later

in October and in November. Not now. We are looking to a warm

weekend. Martin Curtis took this picture of seagulls waiting for a

ferry in Southampton today. And Sloes destined to make the

Christmas gin work photographed by Andy Blakemore. And rain drops on a

rose in the garden in Surrey. It was a soggy day, but the rain did

disappear. Some evening sunshine, with skies

staying quite clear. There will be increasing cloud for northern areas,

but in the countryside, cold temperatures. It will be five or six

Celsius. These are the temperatures in the towns and cities, nine or 12

degrees. There will be some sunshine on offer tomorrow. I can't promise

wall to wall sunshine, but in the sun, temperatures will be higher

than today. We will see highs of 15 to 17 Celsius, and the winds will be

lighter than today. So a lovely end to the day tomorrow, some late

evening sunshine. And high pressure continues to build in from the

Atlantic. The gig uses, it will be dry and settled. There will perhaps

be more cloud than sign at the weekend, although there will be

sunny spells in the south. There will be an East West splits on

Sunday, with the wind is quite light. For eastern areas, they

warfare better. You will see more sunshine in these places and the

wind coming in from the consonants. So, for events taking place this

weekend, the weather will not be too bad. Here are two of the events

taking place. The first, Old Skool Dayz, one of Britain's biggest

skateboard events. I am told that some over 50s are taking part. Also

on, is SO:FEST this Saturday. For the rest of the week and the

weekend, we can expect sunshine. After a cloudy start, there will be

slightly more cloud on sunshine on Saturday. We will see some breaks

appearing in the cloud, more likely the further east you are on the Isle

of Wight. And then Sunday is the best day of the weekend. The warm

conditions, temperatures will stay with us until next week. We have a

good story to finish with. Toy cars, they were a favourite of

many boys growing up. But one boy has got a special vehicle in his

collection. Yes, pupils at Saint Andrews school

where the Duchess of Cambridge was a pupil were asked to design a car to

commemorate the birth of Prince George.

The Royals are fond of corgis, and the pupils here have made sure that

this one will be no different. When I was walking with my mum, I

saw a car. I thought that maybe we could do that.

The Duchess of Cambridge was a pupil at St Andrews. She even returned for

a hockey match before Prince George was born. After looking through

hundreds of designs, the company chose James's pram.

We have 500 of these minis. We as a company have sold out.

As well as the toy that will be rolling out from the production

line, Corgi have presented James with this, the preproduction model.

It is the prototype. In car collection terms, it is very

valuable. James chose the colours, too.

Now his work has been appraised by the toughest of critics, his

classmates. It looks very small. Did you do

one? Mine was a rabbit. I like the wheels.

So, a new carriage for royal appointments. But surely a

seven—year—old boy will not leave a car in its box? I will keep them in

nice. You're not being to race them? No.

He is a bright boy. A very good job. That is it from us for today. An

update at 10:25pm. We will be back tomorrow goodbye.