:00:11. > :00:11.Good evening. for the news where you are.
:00:12. > :00:14.There were angry protests in Somerset today as councillors
:00:15. > :00:19.gathered to set the biggest council tax rises for more than a decade.
:00:20. > :00:21.Services will be cut and jobs will go.
:00:22. > :00:24.But bills will still rise by four per cent, that's more than double
:00:25. > :00:39.the rate of inflation. Paul Barltrop reports.
:00:40. > :00:47.It is a time for difficult decisions. This morning in Somerset,
:00:48. > :00:51.that power had arrived. Anyone sitting in his position would have
:00:52. > :00:57.to make the same tough decisions. The devil is in the detail.
:00:58. > :01:04.Controversy over ?80 million of cuts to spending. And outside, from
:01:05. > :01:10.unions and service users, worried about what is happening. We have
:01:11. > :01:13.service users really suffering and start making impossible choices
:01:14. > :01:21.about how to do their job to keep our services and communities safe.
:01:22. > :01:24.The situation is quite poor and the situation we have with the budget is
:01:25. > :01:30.there is no indication of the detail as to any of the cats falling. The
:01:31. > :01:35.people that need our care, the children, the adults, it is balance.
:01:36. > :01:39.It's something for everyone, it's not perfect, we had six years where
:01:40. > :01:42.we were able to freeze council tax, we are proud of that, we did
:01:43. > :01:50.something for the whole of Somerset but it's getting more difficult
:01:51. > :01:58.going forward. No bailout is expected. So cuts, including the
:01:59. > :02:01.loss of 120 jobs, will go ahead. Our political editor is with me. I
:02:02. > :02:07.suspect this is the first of many unpopular council tax rises this
:02:08. > :02:12.year. It's a time of year when all council said their budgets, over the
:02:13. > :02:17.next fortnight all of the top authorities across the south-west
:02:18. > :02:21.will be doing just that. Tomorrow, Devon and Dorset County Council 's
:02:22. > :02:29.will be finalising their budgets, they are aiming to increase council
:02:30. > :02:34.tax by 4.99%, 1% more than we are looking at from Somerset today. What
:02:35. > :02:43.is the government perspective on this? It's not that many years ago
:02:44. > :02:47.when the Conservative lead coalition government was ordering, pleading,
:02:48. > :02:53.bribing councils to do anything to stop increasing castle tax. Now it
:02:54. > :02:56.seems to have gone out of the window and the government is allowing
:02:57. > :03:01.councils to increase council tax by more than the previously could
:03:02. > :03:04.without triggering a referendum, asking everybody whether they wanted
:03:05. > :03:10.their bills to go up, that's mainly to counter the rising cost and
:03:11. > :03:15.social care so councils can increase an extra 3% to pay for social care.
:03:16. > :03:20.That isn't solving the problem and there is also a lot of unhappiness
:03:21. > :03:23.across the south-west and elsewhere, in several parts of the country, the
:03:24. > :03:28.government is in providing enough money from its side to fund the
:03:29. > :03:34.services and next Wednesday the government will have a final vote on
:03:35. > :03:35.that particular issue that it's safe to say they are given to the rumble
:03:36. > :03:37.on. Staying with cuts and in Torbay
:03:38. > :03:40.tonight, controversial cuts in bus Local Link is cutting 17 routes
:03:41. > :03:45.because of increasing costs. The company says part of the problem
:03:46. > :03:49.is a drop in the amount it gets for providing free
:03:50. > :03:50.travel for pensioners. Torbay council is trying to find
:03:51. > :03:54.a new operator to see if anyone can Charities in Cornwall say they're
:03:55. > :04:04.seeing a steady rise in the number of people contacting them
:04:05. > :04:06.with money problems. Men are said to be
:04:07. > :04:09.particularly vulnerable. A police sergeant broke down today
:04:10. > :04:13.as he told a court that the death of a 32 year old man in his custody
:04:14. > :04:16.in Exeter was the "worst nightmare". Caretaker Thomas Orchard
:04:17. > :04:18.was restrained at Heavitree Road Police Station and died
:04:19. > :04:34.from a heart attack. The judge told the jury this was a
:04:35. > :04:39.significant moment in this trial, the persecution case was over, now
:04:40. > :04:46.it was the turn of the defence. The Sergeant probe down in the witness
:04:47. > :04:49.box as he told the jury doesn't about his realisation of the
:04:50. > :04:54.seriousness of what happened. He said, our death is the worst thing
:04:55. > :05:04.that can happen commits the worst thing that can happen to him but
:05:05. > :05:09.also to me, is. Here's a custody Sergeant for eight and a half years
:05:10. > :05:14.at the time of the incident. As Thomas Orchard arrived, he was
:05:15. > :05:17.described as an angry men who needed to calm down. He said he shouted
:05:18. > :05:22.words to the effect, I'm going to bite your face off, and a number of
:05:23. > :05:27.occasions. The Sergeant described that as unusual which made it stick
:05:28. > :05:32.in his mind. Mr Orchard, who had been arrested for a public order
:05:33. > :05:35.offence in Exeter city centre, of mental health issues but they were
:05:36. > :05:40.not flagged up on the police computer. Built was held around the
:05:41. > :05:45.space for five minutes to prevent him biting. The Sergeant told the
:05:46. > :05:48.jury he had seen the belt used this way on around 50 previous occasions,
:05:49. > :05:56.it was a method of restraint he had been trained in. He also denied
:05:57. > :06:00.knowing Mr Orchard was in trouble. "I Thought he was asleep. I would
:06:01. > :06:10.never leave an unconscious person in a cell. " The Sergeant said that he
:06:11. > :06:16.would have stopped the use of the emergency response felt Eddie felt
:06:17. > :06:20.it wasn't needed and had he seen there were only four offices lifting
:06:21. > :06:24.him even stopped that and told to find another so that one could
:06:25. > :06:28.specifically look after his head. The jury was also told of Devon and
:06:29. > :06:31.Cornwall police has been investigated for corporate
:06:32. > :06:35.manslaughter in this case and it has also been an investigation into the
:06:36. > :06:40.health and safety, those investigations are substantially
:06:41. > :06:43.complete and decision made on what happens next is due in the next few
:06:44. > :06:46.weeks. Trial resumes tomorrow. Devon has been highlighted for its
:06:47. > :06:49.work in helping young offenders. But the right support can help cut
:06:50. > :07:12.re-offending as Lee Madan reports. In any month, with the 17th come...
:07:13. > :07:15.Between the 13th and 19th. Gulliver has been working with speech and
:07:16. > :07:18.language therapist for just three months but says his life it has
:07:19. > :07:25.already been turned around. He spent his childhood feeling out of place
:07:26. > :07:28.but didn't know why. I did feel isolated and I started mixing with
:07:29. > :07:34.the wrong crowd, using cannabis to fit in with people, and I definitely
:07:35. > :07:38.offending. Gulliver has now realised offending. Gulliver has now realised
:07:39. > :07:45.the first time that he isn't stupid or bad, he just has problems with
:07:46. > :07:48.memory which he now manages. I count down from ten, take deep breaths,
:07:49. > :07:53.even having long conversations with people, I will write down notes in
:07:54. > :07:57.my notebook. Techniques like these have helped him avoid getting into
:07:58. > :08:01.difficult confrontations and also means he gets better with others,
:08:02. > :08:04.can hold down a job and make nicer friends, all important factors that
:08:05. > :08:09.make it less likely he will commit crime. It's one of the scourges of
:08:10. > :08:14.this century and I just wish that all councils think this through,
:08:15. > :08:19.this business of lack of communication was the cornerstone of
:08:20. > :08:24.all their problems and the cornerstone therefore of improving
:08:25. > :08:27.their prospects. Most councils in the greater south-west region told
:08:28. > :08:31.me they want to run a full-time service for young offenders but are
:08:32. > :08:36.struggling with limited budgets and a lack of funding. Gulliver's
:08:37. > :08:43.message to them is clear. Spending money on speech therapy works and
:08:44. > :08:46.it's the reason he is confident he would reoffend.
:08:47. > :08:48.There'll be no Royal Navy Air Day at Culdrose this year.
:08:49. > :08:52.In a statement the base says it wants to focus on its military role
:08:53. > :08:59.It says it also has a duty to look after taxpayers' money.
:09:00. > :09:07.It's a chilly night, what is the weather?
:09:08. > :09:13.Turning a bit chilly because we have clear skies overhead but we did have
:09:14. > :09:16.a nice day, some sunshine around and this cheerful chap looks like he is
:09:17. > :09:22.enjoying himself and I think he will approve of tomorrow's weather. We
:09:23. > :09:33.have missed and fork initially but that should clear and we should see
:09:34. > :09:36.some sunshine. As we had through Friday on the weekend, weather
:09:37. > :09:40.fronts trying to push in, that complicates matters, throwing in
:09:41. > :09:46.more cloud, and we may see a bit of rain at times. But I suspect not too
:09:47. > :09:50.much. This evening and tonight, one or two showers but generally dry,
:09:51. > :09:58.starry skies overhead and the risk of mist and fog forming. Maybe a
:09:59. > :10:02.touch of Frost for some cold spots, a bit of a cold start the things
:10:03. > :10:07.tomorrow and we do have dismissed and fog around which could be slow
:10:08. > :10:12.to clear, perhaps not clearing until mid to late morning but in general,
:10:13. > :10:20.some nice weather. Some decent spot for sunshine, light winds, staying
:10:21. > :10:25.dry and mild. Luckily, we could see the teams. Mild the time of year.
:10:26. > :10:32.Some early mist and fog comes to lift, some sunshine but you can see
:10:33. > :10:37.the cloud thickening. Again, and while they and we hang onto this
:10:38. > :10:42.mild theme over the next few days. Some problems with mist and fog,
:10:43. > :11:02.light winds, hopefully feeling nice the weekend. Wouldn't promise you
:11:03. > :11:04.two dry days but you never know, here is Nick with the national
:11:05. > :11:09.picture. Hello. We put that cold weekend well
:11:10. > :11:13.behind us now. Temperatures edging upwards and our weather watchers are
:11:14. > :11:17.seeing plenty of signs of spring. Spending more time looking down than
:11:18. > :11:22.looking up at the skies, we see these early blooms. They are set to
:11:23. > :11:24.continue as we are set to stay mild for several more days to come.