19/01/2017 South Today

The top stories this evening. Helping roughly this get off the

shelter. A 15% rise in council tax shelter. A 15% rise in council tax

being put to the vote. And drama only water as a fire breaks out on

board a very. -- ferry. Government figures on homelessness

show the numbers of people sleeping rough have more than doubled

in the last six years. In times of austerity services

which support some of those However in Hampshire,

one council has taken the initiative to try to reduce the number

of people sleeping rough. Basingstoke has just won government

funding for specialist psychologists to work with homeless people -

to try to turn their lives around. Pete has been sleeping rough

in Basingstoke for as long as he can He will use the emergency night

shelter that's been provided by It is getting the rough

sleepers in, offering them Crowdfunding helped

raise ?14,000 to open a For the volunteers, it

has become obvious many rough sleepers have

mental health problems. We can start to focus

in on the mental health, getting that sorted,

then that in ables them and

equips them to move on. The Government has awarded

Basingstoke ?250,000 to fund specialist psychologists to work

with homeless people over To get someone to the point

where they can live independently support is needed and we know

there are real issues around mental health support at the moment,

so they need If help was offered,

with you take it? I won't say I would,

I'd say probably. Figures show that the number

of rough sleepers rose to 26, but the council,

health services and volunteers despite financial

pressures they are facing. We can cross to Steve now who is out

in Southampton at a hostel for young, Ross leaders. Steve. -- rough

sleepers. Yes, the Society of St James

runs a couple of night shelters here in Southampton

and another in Portsmouth. And on a freezing night like this

they can be life savers. But they have been under

massive financial pressure. Trevor Pickup from

the society is with me. What numbers are we seeing? Yes,

quite a lot. Resources are not an offer us to resolve this issue. Was

unique? Funding. We would like more property as well. We need to address

health issues, mental health issues, health issues, mental health issues,

to address it in the first place. In Basingstoke they're going to get

psychologists to work with rough sleepers -

is that going to be Yes, I think that is a good idea.

We've tried ourselves a number of years ago. Lots people really rather

have got underlying issues that they have experienced, traumatic

childhood and so on. Psychological help is very useful.

What is your message to the government?

A lot of emphasis on Brexit and a union American president. This is

not a knot and will issue, I'm sure you want them to address it as well.

They just need more property. We need specialist intervention from

people who have underlying issues to help address the problems that they

are facing. Thank you very much indeed. From the apostle here in

Lambton, back to uni should give. -- from the possible here, back to you

in the studio. Across the south, council budgets

are being set for the coming year, and many local authorities

are facing difficult choices. In Surrey, residents

are being asked if they're prepared to have their council tax put up

by fifteen percent. The Conservative controlled county

council is going to hold It says it needs the extra

money because of the A short while ago I spoke

with our reporter Tim Yes, Surrey County Council

has to make savings of about ?21 million,

which could mean an average of ?190 multiple sclerosis and is in a care

home in Thames Ditton Surrey. This afternoon, she told me how

she'd used up all her savings and has now recently got

help from Surrey County Council. It costs ?6,000 per

month to care for her. I think the people of Surrey do need

to dig into their pockets, as much as it pains me

to come a begging bowl and I don't like to do so,

but I'm doing it on behalf of all the disabled and

vulnerable people in Surrey. No income tax rise looks

to be planned by the Government at the moment but,

of course, Surrey is now proposing this quite dramatic

measure on council tax. What do the people in Thames Ditton

didn't think about that? Social care is very important

and I think, possibly, we should So, Tim, this is quite a decision

for a council to take, isn't it? It's only happened once before that

a council, Bedfordshire, has held a referendum

about a council tax A lot of pressure on new

leader, David Hodge. Will they trust me,

and the Conservative council, to make this

hugely difficult decision? Will they trust us and put

their confidence in us? Because we cannot do

anything else about it. The Government haven't

got money, it will not The Government, of course,

says it is providing some instant relief, making ?900 million

available across the country. A lot of people far

beyond Surrey will be Meanwhile, County councillors

in West Sussex have been trying to decide how to close a 41 million

pound hole in next year's budget. The plan is to raise council tax

by nearly 4% and cut spending by almost ?17 million,

though the council says many of the cuts are being

offset by other measures. Nine million pounds will also be

taken from the council's reserves. An investigation's underway

into the cause of a fire 50 passengers were on board

when a fire broke out on the bridge of this morning's nine o'clock

Wightlink crossing, It was extinguished within minutes,

before continuing into dock. I didn't see it actually

start, but soon after. It was quite a small fire and then,

within a few seconds, there was 18 feet of flames and huge

black smoke next to it. A third day of talks between

Southern and Aflef will be underway tomorrow. The two sides are said to

have made good progress. They are nanograms union Mill stole held its

strike on Monday. -- Aslef. -- RMT Union.

Plans for a controversial beach-front tower block have been

passed by councillors in Worthing tonight.

This 21-storey building on the Aquarena site

was rejected last year but developers returned

with proposals for a 15-storey building with 141

Opponents reject claims it'll regenerate the area saying its too

high and will set a precedent for other seafront sites.

Gosport sailor Alex Thomson has had to settle for second

in the Vendee Globe round the world yacht race.

The Frenchman Armel Le Cleach crossed the finish line off

the coast of France just before four o'clock this afternoon.

Just over 100 nautical miles ahead of Thomson,

who had pushed him all the way in his bid to become the first

Very happy for him, because he did a very good race.

It was very, very difficult with him.

I'm very happy to win and it's the best...

That's all from the South Today news team this evening.

We're back tomorrow with bulletins in BBC Breakfast and there's more

It'll be another cold and frosty night to come with

perhaps some freezing fog patches in the usual prone spots.

During the early hours of the morning, the

Temperatures will drop away to minus figures

in the countryside and even in our towns and cities.

low in the countryside of minus seven Celsius,

Cold and frosty with perhaps some freezing fog patches

for areas north of Berkshire, which may linger through the morning.

Otherwise, it's another glorious day.

Barely a cloud in the sky and, as a result, temperatures will

There will be a good deal of sunshine on offer.

Tomorrow night, once again, another widespread frost,

particularly widespread, coastal counties.

Cloud thinking southward and a high from the west, during the

Saturday really is an east-west split.

The further east you are, the more sunshine.

The further south and west you are, more cloud.

But there are sunny spells in between.

more cloudy day with some bright and sunny

spells here and there, but do

enjoy the sunshine there tomorrow and Saturday.

Those days will start on a frosty note.

looks as though we can, a bit more cloud on Sunday. Now the national

picture. Good evening, it will gradually get

colder in the UK in the next few days, something we don't have to

worry about in Australia at this time of year. Of course it's the

Australian tennis open at the moment and there's a big storm moving

through Melbourne at the moment. Hopefully it will have cleared

through by the time of Andy Murray's match. We have high withers and

light winds and some interesting contrasts despite things being very

slow moving, with the sunshine to the south of the weather zone but

stuck underneath the weather zone, it's been another miserably grey

day. No doubt quite dreary with some patches of drizzle. This is how it

looked in Staffordshire, under the weather front. In the sunshine,

despite the Frosty start, a sparkling day and a fantastic sunset

here in the Isle of Wight. Some areas, in parts of Northern Ireland

that haven't seen much sunshine this week, actually saw