:00:12. > :00:13.Health and social care managers are tonight
:00:14. > :00:15.assessing the likely impact of new government
:00:16. > :00:16.money to help ease the
:00:17. > :00:19.In today's budget, the Chancellor announced an
:00:20. > :00:21.extra ?2 billion nationally over the next three years.
:00:22. > :00:28.It saying that is easing the pressure on our
:00:29. > :00:31.hospitals, but how much of a difference will it make?
:00:32. > :00:33.Well, I'm joined now by our health correspondent Jenny Walrond.
:00:34. > :00:35.Jenny, what kind of reaction have we seen
:00:36. > :00:40.Only a couple of weeks ago, the councils in the
:00:41. > :00:42.south-west were criticising the government for not giving them
:00:43. > :00:44.enough funding to address what they described
:00:45. > :00:53.Today, some of them said that there were clues that the government
:00:54. > :00:55.has listened to their concerns but warned that
:00:56. > :00:56.a long-term solution is
:00:57. > :00:58.required, and we're likely to find out what that
:00:59. > :00:59.long-term solution is
:01:00. > :01:02.likely to be later in the year when the government its proposals in a
:01:03. > :01:04.green paper, which is a consultation document.
:01:05. > :01:07.We've also heard today from Sarah Wallace an MP who is a
:01:08. > :01:15.She said that she's been assured that this is new funding,
:01:16. > :01:18.it's not being raided from other budgets, but ?2 billion over three
:01:19. > :01:24.Well, one think tank, the Local Government Information Unit,
:01:25. > :01:27.And briefly, Jenny, any other big announcements
:01:28. > :01:37.Well, the Chancellor has promised an extra ?100 million to put more
:01:38. > :01:39.GPs in accident and emergency department
:01:40. > :01:40.to ease the pressure for next winter.
:01:41. > :01:42.That's something that's already happening in some of our
:01:43. > :01:44.hospitals, and also ?325 million for sustainability
:01:45. > :01:48.Now, these are the reorganisations of health services
:01:49. > :01:50.that have been causing a loss of anxiety in
:01:51. > :01:54.closure of commutable hospital beds, the possible loss of some services
:01:55. > :02:05.such as maternity, and this funding will go to set up different
:02:06. > :02:08.services, things such as services that care for you in your own home.
:02:09. > :02:11.Jenny, we'll have to leave it there, thank you.
:02:12. > :02:12.Elsewhere the budget brought some relief
:02:13. > :02:15.But there'll be hikes in National Insurance
:02:16. > :02:18.Our business correspondent Neil Gallagher is live
:02:19. > :02:23.in Tavistock for us tonight. Neil.
:02:24. > :02:26.I reckon if you had to pick a proper south west market
:02:27. > :02:28.town to do business in, you might well choose
:02:29. > :02:32.But even here it's a low wage economy built around small
:02:33. > :02:33.businesses with a lot of self employment.
:02:34. > :02:36.So the raise in National Insurance Contributions for self employed
:02:37. > :02:42.FSB locally described it as a good way to put people off
:02:43. > :02:49.West Devon is one of those places that feels it's in danger
:02:50. > :02:57.Some previous chancellors have had more to say about our transport
:02:58. > :02:59.links here than Phillip Hammond did, and that point wasn't
:03:00. > :03:01.lost on one customer of the Cornish,
:03:02. > :03:05.who represents the business community.
:03:06. > :03:09.As you say, lots about north and Midlands, lots about Wales,
:03:10. > :03:12.Scotland and Ireland, nothing about the south-west at all, and given
:03:13. > :03:15.that we had assurances previously, we were really hoping to get those
:03:16. > :03:26.firmed up in terms of some commitment to both rail and road.
:03:27. > :03:29.Lots of rises in business rates had been looming.
:03:30. > :03:32.Today the Chancellor said small and medium sized pubs would get
:03:33. > :03:34.a ?1,000 discount on the rates they were expecting...
:03:35. > :03:43.Going forward, I see there needs to be a
:03:44. > :03:46.full review of the way business rates are dished out, really,
:03:47. > :03:48.because it's quite archaic, especially businesses by gas on the
:03:49. > :03:51.high Street which have got bricks and mortar, they're going to be
:03:52. > :03:59.severely punished in comparison to the big guys in the new digital age.
:04:00. > :04:02.Somewhere that had been fearing some of the biggest rises in business
:04:03. > :04:09.Today the Chancellor's moves to soften these seemed
:04:10. > :04:13.We have to pass on so much of the price increases
:04:14. > :04:15.to our customers, or absorb the price rises ourselves.
:04:16. > :04:18.It's a great day, but there is still that need
:04:19. > :04:19.for long-term reform for
:04:20. > :04:25.the feature to ensure that doesn't happen in the future.
:04:26. > :04:26.The current business rates just tax business
:04:27. > :04:29.whether a customer walks through the door or not,
:04:30. > :04:31.and I think everybody would say it's fairer to tax on
:04:32. > :04:34.profits, and that makes it more competitive and investment strategy
:04:35. > :04:36.for businesses rather than just having big rises just for actually
:04:37. > :04:42.existing, and opening your door on day one.
:04:43. > :04:44.One final thought from St Austell brewery who own this pub:
:04:45. > :04:47.2p on a pint: "extremely disappointing
:04:48. > :04:53."a real body blow" to the industry.
:04:54. > :04:57.And from Tavistock to Westminster, where our political editor
:04:58. > :05:01.Martyn Oates has been following today's announcements.
:05:02. > :05:04.We've got used to little lists of goodies for the south-west being
:05:05. > :05:07.This time I think the only two specific
:05:08. > :05:08.references were one to the
:05:09. > :05:11.Exeter mathematics school, and the news that the Plymouth MP Oliver
:05:12. > :05:13.Colville will be the government's official representative for the
:05:14. > :05:14.Mayflower 400 centenary celebrations.
:05:15. > :05:17.And I'm joined now by both of the favoured duo, Oliver
:05:18. > :05:23.Colville, and the Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw.
:05:24. > :05:25.Oliver Colville, to begin with, a lot of people have made the
:05:26. > :05:29.point today that there was nothing in the budget today with your other
:05:30. > :05:32.hat on as the leader of the group of MPs campaigning for better rail
:05:33. > :05:35.We've been having serious conversations with
:05:36. > :05:38.ministers, and it's quite clear that the government is very much
:05:39. > :05:41.committed to improving the railways, and indeed at a recent meeting they
:05:42. > :05:43.made it quite clear as well that we are
:05:44. > :05:45.starting to do work on the
:05:46. > :05:48.Dawlish line in a roundabout 2019, and then they'll look at what they
:05:49. > :05:51.can do as far as the Tavistock line concerned probably some little while
:05:52. > :06:08.The top priority is most certainly going to be sorting out
:06:09. > :06:10.that Dawlish line, that we don't ever again
:06:11. > :06:11.see our economy west of
:06:12. > :06:14.Exeter being mucked around in the way in which it was when that
:06:15. > :06:17.Ben Bradshaw, the government is moving to deliver on
:06:18. > :06:21.Oh, it seems to me that Mrs May has quietly dropped those
:06:22. > :06:24.grandiose promises that were made by George Osborne and David Cameron
:06:25. > :06:27.We all remember what they were, big in
:06:28. > :06:28.the structure investment in the south-west
:06:29. > :06:32.we are halfway through the parliament is now and we've seen
:06:33. > :06:35.The governments does seem to have listened
:06:36. > :06:36.and delivered help both on
:06:37. > :06:38.social care and help with the business rates increase.
:06:39. > :06:40.Yes, I'm pleased about what they said on
:06:41. > :06:43.business rate and social care, although I think the social care is
:06:44. > :06:45.a sticking plaster, it's not a long-term solution,
:06:46. > :06:48.it doesn't make up for the big cats we've already
:06:49. > :06:50.suffered, and of course another broken election promise on
:06:51. > :06:51.increasing national insurance contributions will be self-employed.
:06:52. > :06:54.Oliver, that's really interesting, isn't it, for a Conservative
:06:55. > :06:57.You'll know that lots of Conservative backbenchers are cross
:06:58. > :06:59.about this increase in national insurance contributions for small
:07:00. > :07:01.businesses and small business constituencies are one which
:07:02. > :07:12.traditionally the Conservative Party looks to.
:07:13. > :07:15.It most certainly is, it is a very important one and
:07:16. > :07:18.especially in my constituency there is a large amount of small
:07:19. > :07:21.I think we need to remember two things, though, one is
:07:22. > :07:24.that people who are repaying their money through PAYE, they need to be
:07:25. > :07:27.treated on a level playing field I would argue, with the small
:07:28. > :07:31.Secondly, we will have to see the debates that are taking
:07:32. > :07:34.the announcement get made during the Budget Statement, but we
:07:35. > :07:37.do need to see how this is now going to develop
:07:38. > :07:41.number of people who are speaking very firmly on that issue.
:07:42. > :07:44.Are you suggesting that you might be opposed to it and the government
:07:45. > :07:48.No, no, all I'm just saying is that we need to
:07:49. > :07:50.have a conversation about it, that's a bit of a priority.
:07:51. > :07:52.To ensure that this government actually does
:07:53. > :08:00.OK, Oliver Colville, Ben Bradshaw, thank you both very much.
:08:01. > :08:02.The background of this of course politically in the south-west is
:08:03. > :08:04.that all of the MPs, bar Ben Bradshaw,
:08:05. > :08:05.are Conservative MPs, and
:08:06. > :08:08.as they seem to like reminding us they know that there will be public
:08:09. > :08:14.pressure on them to deliver as a lobbying force in Westminster.
:08:15. > :08:17.Onto other news now, and campaigners from the south west have been
:08:18. > :08:19.protesting in London today over changes to women's pension age.
:08:20. > :08:22.They say they've had up to six years added on,
:08:23. > :08:24.with little or no notice, and are calling on the Government
:08:25. > :08:28.They claim the changes to the state pension scheme amount
:08:29. > :08:34.Police searching for a 26-year-old missing woman in North Devon have
:08:35. > :08:38.Lauren Phillips' car was last seen in Woolacombe almost two weeks ago.
:08:39. > :08:47.Devon Councillors are threatening to refer plans to close 71
:08:48. > :08:49.Community Hospital beds to the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
:08:50. > :08:51.They want health commissioners to assure them it's good
:08:52. > :08:54.for the local health service and that the consultation
:08:55. > :09:02.Investigators think plastic packaging accidentally left
:09:03. > :09:04.on a sauna heater caused a major fire in Exeter.
:09:05. > :09:07.The Riverside Leisure Centre was severely damaged in the fire
:09:08. > :09:16.It's not known how long the centre will remain closed.
:09:17. > :09:23.Let's take a look at the weather now - here's David.
:09:24. > :09:28.Hello, good evening. Missed and low cloud causing a few problems for us
:09:29. > :09:33.at the moment, quite extensive and pretty poor visibility out there. It
:09:34. > :09:36.may be that tomorrow the drizzle and Mr Will clear, steadily to the
:09:37. > :09:40.south, mainly affecting the English Channel posts, and the more western
:09:41. > :09:43.parts of Cornwall with somewhat brighter conditions nudging in from
:09:44. > :09:47.the north but for tonight and tomorrow, the Hill and coastal fog
:09:48. > :09:51.is quite thick, and if it is causing problem is on our roads it would be
:09:52. > :09:54.for updates. This weather front for updates. This weather front
:09:55. > :09:59.straight across Cornwall for the middle of the day, and by the middle
:10:00. > :10:03.day on Friday as lot of moist air but it has moved away but I am able
:10:04. > :10:07.there will be bricks on the cloud on Friday. Showers overnight surmising
:10:08. > :10:11.that drizzle and missed and low cloud as I mentioned, poor
:10:12. > :10:14.visibility and a miles 10-11 degrees minimum damage. Tomorrow, along the
:10:15. > :10:18.south coast the drizzle probably continues but further north there is
:10:19. > :10:21.a good chance of some breaks in the cloud, but where that happens we
:10:22. > :10:26.will get some pretty good stab at it,. Always very misty and rather
:10:27. > :10:33.cloudy for the more western parts of Cornwall. On Friday we start the day
:10:34. > :10:37.similarly, lots of cloud of mist, but it will brighten up and by the
:10:38. > :10:41.afternoon clouds holes developed to let the sunshine income of 13 to 14
:10:42. > :10:44.the top temperature. Showers possible on Saturday and Sunday, but
:10:45. > :10:47.turning fresher at the same time. Having at night.
:10:48. > :10:49.Lots more online - breakfast bulletins start from 6.25 tomorrow.
:10:50. > :10:59.Good night though, from all of us here.
:11:00. > :11:04.outlook, staying mild and Nick has the bigger picture across the UK.
:11:05. > :11:11.Hello. Spring is in the air with temperatures reaching 14 or 15 in a
:11:12. > :11:18.few spots today as they will again over the next few days. Very
:11:19. > :11:22.pleasant in the sun. The daffodils were loving that in York. More
:11:23. > :11:29.places under blue sky tomorrow and dry. Tonight heavy showers moving
:11:30. > :11:32.across Scotland on strong to gale force winds, some may clip Northern
:11:33. > :11:37.Ireland. It's a mild night in southern England and South Wales but
:11:38. > :11:46.damp and drizzly, misty with coastal and hill fog elsewhere. Temperatures
:11:47. > :11:52.in between and dry: This damp weather hangs on from parts of the
:11:53. > :11:55.Channel Islands, to Cornwall. Elsewhere, it's getting brighter in
:11:56. > :11:59.South Wales and southern England. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland
:12:00. > :12:00.some sunny spells around from the word go. The