:00:00. > :00:00.Adebowale show nod remorse. That is all from us. Now we join our news
:00:00. > :00:15.teams where Stranded in hospital for months `
:00:16. > :00:19.the little boy caught up in a row over the funding of his care.
:00:20. > :00:22.good evening. Alex Dieterle could have left hospital in September, but
:00:23. > :00:32.the authorities in Cornwall can't agree who should pay to help look
:00:33. > :00:35.after him at home. It is not acceptable for any child to be in
:00:36. > :00:43.hospital over Christmas when they are well. I do not know how long my
:00:44. > :00:50.son will be with me for. It is a horrible and unacceptable situation.
:00:51. > :00:54.A shake up for child protection in Devon ` the new man in charge says
:00:55. > :00:57.it'll take a year to turn the failing service around.
:00:58. > :01:01.And this will only hurt a bit ` the dentist who was called in to help a
:01:02. > :01:04.lion with toothache. Tonight the NHS in Cornwall has
:01:05. > :01:07.apologised to a family whose son has been stranded in hospital for
:01:08. > :01:10.months. Alex Dieterle, who has cerebral palsy, was admitted to
:01:11. > :01:13.Derriford hospital for treatment in the summer. Doctors said he was well
:01:14. > :01:17.enough to leave in September, but since then he's been unable to go
:01:18. > :01:22.home because the health service and the council in Cornwall can't agree
:01:23. > :01:25.who should fund his ongoing care. His mother has described the
:01:26. > :01:29.situation as unacceptable. As John Henderson reports, it also means a
:01:30. > :01:38.bed is being tied up which could be used by another patient.
:01:39. > :01:41.Alex has just celebrated his 10th birthday in hospital and he could be
:01:42. > :01:46.spending Christmas in Burford, too. He has been well enough to go home
:01:47. > :01:50.for ten weeks but there is a problem, he has cerebral palsy and
:01:51. > :01:55.his mum needs help looking after him at home. The discharge dates have
:01:56. > :02:00.been missed because health services and social services have been
:02:01. > :02:07.arguing who pays for us to go home with support. Alex and his mother
:02:08. > :02:13.lived in Ghana slick. They arrived there because Alex had a chest
:02:14. > :02:16.infection. They are now taking up a bed in the children's ward. We are
:02:17. > :02:21.taking up a bed and other child could use. Surely the cost of
:02:22. > :02:26.keeping a child in bed for the amount Alex has been, it can't be
:02:27. > :02:31.cheaper than getting him home, it just can't be. In a statement, NHS
:02:32. > :02:35.Colonel said they have apologised for the length of time Alex has been
:02:36. > :02:42.in hospital and said they have been working closely with the family,
:02:43. > :02:46.consultants and nurses as well as Cornwall Council to put in place an
:02:47. > :02:53.appropriate package of care to ensure Alex returns home as soon as
:02:54. > :02:57.possible. His mother wants to make sure it does not happen to anyone
:02:58. > :03:01.else. It is not acceptable for any child to be in hospital over
:03:02. > :03:05.Christmas when they are well, but particularly when I do not know how
:03:06. > :03:16.long my son will be with me for. It is a horrible and completely
:03:17. > :03:21.unacceptable situation. The NHS say they understood how upsetting it is
:03:22. > :03:25.for Alex's family, but added, due to patient confidentiality, they were
:03:26. > :03:27.unable to comment on the specific details of this very complex case.
:03:28. > :03:30.Spotlight has learnt of a wide`ranging shake up of child
:03:31. > :03:34.protection services in Devon following a highly critical report
:03:35. > :03:38.from the regulator, Ofsted. The head of Child and Adult Protection has
:03:39. > :03:41.left his post. We've also been told it'll take a year to turn around the
:03:42. > :03:44.failing service. In his first interview, the expert brought in to
:03:45. > :03:48.improve child protection says progress is being made, but it's a
:03:49. > :04:01.slow process. Our home affairs correspondent Simon Hall reports.
:04:02. > :04:06.In May, Ofsted get Devon's Child Protection Services the lowest
:04:07. > :04:10.ranking available, inadequate. An improvement panel was set up. It
:04:11. > :04:14.said larger teams of social workers based in local communities should be
:04:15. > :04:18.set up to provide more capacity to deal with cases, and that there
:04:19. > :04:23.should be closed or corporation between the council, schools, the
:04:24. > :04:29.police and NHS to improve early intervention and reduced demand on
:04:30. > :04:32.child protection services. There are already signs that new
:04:33. > :04:35.organisational arrangements will be more resilient than what has been
:04:36. > :04:38.discussed for the last two years. There has been a process of change
:04:39. > :04:48.over a long period of time and it has never quite been embedded. What
:04:49. > :04:52.is now being put in place will be in place for giving a stronger platform
:04:53. > :05:00.to do the job well. The prospects are good. We have learned that the
:05:01. > :05:05.head of child and adult protection has left his post. Devon council
:05:06. > :05:10.says he is leaving to pursue new opportunities and a wishing well. I
:05:11. > :05:13.heard they were making progress in improving children's services. I
:05:14. > :05:20.think we are making great strides. It is positive to have good comments
:05:21. > :05:25.coming back from the person giving us oversight. A lot of the building
:05:26. > :05:29.blocks are in place and come the New Year, we should be in a position to
:05:30. > :05:32.make rapid progress. Professor Jones will provide reports to the
:05:33. > :05:39.godmother on how child protection in Devon is progressing. Child
:05:40. > :05:43.protection services have been under scrutiny in England, in part due to
:05:44. > :05:49.the baby Peter scandal. That has led to an increased awareness of child
:05:50. > :05:52.protection issues in the public and a greater willingness to report
:05:53. > :05:56.them, and that has led to a greater workload for councils dealing with
:05:57. > :05:59.budget cuts. ?5 million is being spent on
:06:00. > :06:03.measures to protect the main rail line in and out of the south west
:06:04. > :06:06.from flooding. Inflatable dams will be used to stop water damaging track
:06:07. > :06:16.and signalling equipment at Cowley Bridge north of Exeter. There was
:06:17. > :06:21.chaos when the line was blocked there last winter. Hamish Marshall
:06:22. > :06:24.reports. When the main railway line became a river. The track at Cowley
:06:25. > :06:28.Bridge was washed away three times last winter. It was closed for 11
:06:29. > :06:34.days. It meant delays, cancellations, replacement bosses
:06:35. > :06:40.and eight diversion on the slow line. That was also affected with
:06:41. > :06:47.speed limits and landslides from under the line. The service to down
:06:48. > :06:50.here is not as good as it is to other part of the country. Last
:06:51. > :06:56.year, the line was down. It is the first time this has been tried in
:06:57. > :07:01.the UK and the solution is being firmed up. Although the dance my not
:07:02. > :07:05.be inflated quite as quickly as this, it normally takes five
:07:06. > :07:10.minutes. They are moved into place and refilled with water to protect
:07:11. > :07:13.the track and vital line side equipment. If the signal gets
:07:14. > :07:22.flooded it will take up to four weeks. But is a delay for passengers
:07:23. > :07:25.and our customers for four weeks. It will block the real way but we can
:07:26. > :07:30.get normal service pack a lot quicker. The clothes line is not
:07:31. > :07:35.just bad for the railway industry. Business leaders who have lobbied
:07:36. > :07:39.for improvements welcomed the plan but want more to be done to stop the
:07:40. > :07:44.water before it gets near the tracks. We need the infrastructure,
:07:45. > :07:48.we need the superfast trains, etc, that will allow people to travel
:07:49. > :07:53.backwards and forwards and we need to encourage business down here. If
:07:54. > :07:57.you have a substandard system, people are not going to want to
:07:58. > :08:02.come. The big problem last year was heavy rain falling on top of already
:08:03. > :08:05.saturated ground. To compare that with this year, Network Rail said
:08:06. > :08:10.despite the torrential rain of last night, they were nowhere near having
:08:11. > :08:15.to put the new plan in place. The three dams can be fully operational
:08:16. > :08:18.within two hours. There was good news for Somerset's
:08:19. > :08:21.helicopter factory today. The Norwegian government signed a one
:08:22. > :08:33.billion pound order for a new fleet of search and rescue helicopters,
:08:34. > :08:41.made by AgustaWestland in Yeovil. We have just heard from Norway that
:08:42. > :08:47.the contract has been signed for 16 101s at just over ?1 billion.
:08:48. > :08:50.Helicopter engineers do not really do ceremony, but for half an hour
:08:51. > :08:56.they paused on the production line to take in the news. We have got
:08:57. > :09:01.superb products, world`class engineering and a superb workforce.
:09:02. > :09:13.And this is what today's Foss is all about, the AW 101. If you get stuck
:09:14. > :09:18.in the Norwegian fjords, this is the difference between life and death.
:09:19. > :09:23.For Beth, it is a good job. She is one of over 3000 staff here. It
:09:24. > :09:27.means she can carry on her job. There is nothing better than
:09:28. > :09:33.watching at flight, bringing it back in, the delivering it to the
:09:34. > :09:38.customer. It is a huge deal, but what really matters is that this is
:09:39. > :09:44.not a military aircraft but search and rescue. This company is trying
:09:45. > :09:49.to wean itself off Whitehall, being less dependent on the MoD and more
:09:50. > :09:54.open to overseas sales. It is part of a move away from purely UK
:09:55. > :09:58.military. We are moving towards the three pillars. We have civil,
:09:59. > :10:02.international and UK Ministry of Defence. It is terrific news. There
:10:03. > :10:07.is still plenty of work for the Army and Royal Navy but the fortunes of
:10:08. > :10:11.factories that this often hang on a few key contracts. What really
:10:12. > :10:16.matters is the ability to export and also to get into the market for
:10:17. > :10:21.search and rescue helicopters. This could be the best company in the
:10:22. > :10:25.world because there are innovations are ahead of anything else. And it
:10:26. > :10:29.was back to work after the speeches. But everybody here and in the dozens
:10:30. > :10:36.of supply firms will have a much happier Christmas with this deal in
:10:37. > :10:39.the bag. Two Plymouth`based Royal Marines who
:10:40. > :10:42.were acquitted of the murder of an injured insurgent in Afghanistan
:10:43. > :10:45.have been named for the first time today The High Court has lifted an
:10:46. > :10:47.anonymity order preventing publication of the identities of
:10:48. > :10:50.Corporal Christopher Glyn Watson and Marine Jack Alexander Hammond. They
:10:51. > :10:53.were serving with 42 Commando alongside Sergeant Alexander
:10:54. > :10:59.Blackman, who was sentenced to a minimum of ten years by a court
:11:00. > :11:02.martial earlier this month. There's been a mixed reaction in the
:11:03. > :11:05.South West to the government's decision to move 12% of direct
:11:06. > :11:08.payments for farmers into environmental schemes instead. The
:11:09. > :11:12.Environment Secretary Owen Paterson made the announcement on the Common
:11:13. > :11:15.Agricultural Policy today. It means ?3.5 billion will be invested in the
:11:16. > :11:22.environment and rural development schemes over the next seven years.
:11:23. > :11:28.But farmers say they will be the ones losing out.
:11:29. > :11:35.The worrying part about it is there is no justification for this. 9% was
:11:36. > :11:41.enough to cover the bills. What they are planning to do with the extra
:11:42. > :11:42.three or 6% is a bit of a boiled it, really.
:11:43. > :11:45.Later in the programme, we'll be remembering the loss of the Penlee
:11:46. > :11:48.lifeboat crew 32 years ago. Also still to come...
:11:49. > :11:52.A surprise encounter with the Prime Minister for a group of children
:11:53. > :11:55.from Cornwall. And paying the piper ` how one
:11:56. > :12:03.musician has raised ?10,000 for charity.
:12:04. > :12:07.There's new evidence from a jail in Dorset to suggest that playing sport
:12:08. > :12:10.significantly reduces re`offending. A study at the Portland Young
:12:11. > :12:13.Offenders Institution shows activities like football and rugby
:12:14. > :12:18.can cut the number of inmates returning to prison by more than
:12:19. > :12:21.30%. Professor Rosie Meek, who carried out the research. Found
:12:22. > :12:32.tension and conflict while still in custody was also lessened. Here's
:12:33. > :12:35.our Dorset reporter, Simon Clemison. The Victorians who built a present
:12:36. > :12:40.on the Isle of Portland Selt Jail should be an unpleasant place to
:12:41. > :12:44.deter people from breaking the law. What would they have made of a game
:12:45. > :12:49.of rugby? Well, they did see the value of exercise. When the current
:12:50. > :12:53.government came to power, it felt prison should be a punishment, but
:12:54. > :13:00.that there should be more emphasis on stopping offenders of committing
:13:01. > :13:05.more crimes. It seems sport is having an impact. Researchers say it
:13:06. > :13:08.build better relationships between inmates and officers, which helps
:13:09. > :13:12.off the pitch when men in their late teens and early 20s look at how to
:13:13. > :13:17.lead a new life. Rules and referees also teach self`control. Here are
:13:18. > :13:24.the results. The study found that average reoffending rates were 53%
:13:25. > :13:30.across the country, with Portland coming in below that at 50%. If
:13:31. > :13:36.those taking part in the sport programme, only 21% were back in a
:13:37. > :13:40.gear. This is by no means a soft option. Some of these sports `based
:13:41. > :13:46.programmes can be quite challenging. They are not seen as kicking a ball
:13:47. > :13:51.about, they are structured programmes. They can be a
:13:52. > :13:58.challenging form of educational and social intervention. There are
:13:59. > :14:02.changes to our prison estate. Dorchester closed this week and
:14:03. > :14:06.there are hopes that Portland can become a resettlement Jail. That
:14:07. > :14:12.would mean Portland would only house local prisoners before their release
:14:13. > 0:07:17to make links for the outside world. `` with the outside world.