17/05/2014 Spotlight

That's it for now. We're back with the late news at 10. 15pm. Now it's

time for the news where the late news at 10. 15pm. Now it's

Good evening. Hospital workers have been marching through Truro over

plans to privatise some services. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust

has put the contract for non`clinical jobs such as cleaning

and portering out to private tender. Unions fear services could suffer.

Spotlight's John Ayres has more. This protest is about so`called

hotel services in hospitals. That's things like laundry, the switchboard

and security. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, which covers West

Cornwall, St Michael's and Treliske, has put these services out to

private tender. Staff aren't happy. I signed up with the NHS and I want

to retire with the NHS. To me, we all look after the patients. If it

wasn't for the cleaners, there would be no hospitals. No ifs, no buts, no

public service cuts! Three companies have submitted tenders. The trust is

not considering an in`house bid. Staff jobs will transfer to the new

operator. The unions fear both other services and the workers' terms and

conditions will suffer. I worry about infection rates on the ward as

they try and make cutbacks to make profit for shareholders. It's going

to be driven by profits, not what's right for the patients. The Royal

Cornwall Hospitals Trust told the BBC that its focus is on making the

right decision to provide high quality and value`for`money

services. It says that, at this time of extreme pressure on both NHS and

the public sector, it would be irresponsible not to consider all

the options. It says it has freely discussed and shared information the

staff from the outset. `` with staff. The bids will be discussed at

the end of the month. The new contract is expected to start in the

autumn. Official figures show that Cornwall

is lagging behind Poland and Lithuania, despite years of

investment. The Eurostat figures reveal the county is as poor as it

was when it first attracted special European funding. This report from

Tamsin Melville. Since the decline of Cornwall's

traditional industries, the economy has struggled. Despite around ?1

billion of Euro aid since the late 90s, it remains the poorest region

in the UK. This smart building is partly funded by European money.

Today, it's hosting a business fare. Let's go in and find out what people

here think the EU has done for Cornwall. A quick poll of business

fair delegates was almost unanimous ` the EU has been good for Cornwall.

For some businesses, it has been crucial to staying local. I doubt

very much if we would have achieved anywhere near the kind of success we

have. To be honest with you, I think we would have had to move to London

or another part of Europe. There are a number of flagship projects `

Newquay airport, the Eden Project, superfast broadband. But with the

county unable to go it alone, are the EU hand`outs really working? In

Camborne, some are not very positive. I don't feel any benefit

from it. Why not? Well, I just don't. The thing that will improve

Cornwall is, you know, more jobs. On all sides of the EU debate, it's

hoped the next funding round will be the last slice of European aid that

needs to come Cornwall's way. And you can see more on that story

on the Sunday Politics at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning, here on BBC One.

On to sport now and, in rugby, Cornwall's hopes of reaching

Twickenham for the second year running have improved, following a

win against Gloucestershire at Camborne today. It ended 33`27. They

now have to beat Hertfordshire next weekend to reach the final.

Elsewhere, Devon went down to Kent 17`34 at Brixham.

Time now for the weather, and plenty of sunshine for today but will it

stay? Here's Emily. Hello. We do have some more sunshine

to come tomorrow. Fine and dry through the night with some clear

skies and a fine end to the day. A little cloud here and there through

the night. Light winds. One or two mist patches by tomorrow morning but

temperatures in many places now lower than between nine and 12

degrees. `` no lower. We will see some sunshine tomorrow morning. To

the west, some more cloud through the day. Some high clouds turning

the sunshine more hazy. But looks like it should remain dry through

Sunday. It will feel quite warm as well, with temperatures reaching 19

or 20. For Monday, it becomes more unsettled. We see some showers and

longer spells of rain. We continue with unsettled weather for the rest

of the week. Not quite as warm as well.

And that's all for now. We're back again tomorrow at ten to seven.

Whatever you're doing, enjoy your evening.

Good evening. Who needs an expensive holiday? Today at 24 degrees,

Suffolk was warmer than Ibiza and Crete. There was lots of warm

sunshine to be found across England and Wales. Of course, that hasn't

been the story everywhere. Cooler and cloudier