04/04/2017 Spotlight

Charities which run homes for people with learning disabilities

in the South West say many are on the brink of closure

Two homes in Devon that were given a low rating by the regulator

are shutting at the end of the month.

As our political reporter, Anna Varle, explains other groups

which provide services say without more funding,

We had a good place, and I have some happy memories.

Mark has spent most of his life in care, living in this home.

But now he's having to move because the charity that runs

this and next door can no longer afford to keep it open.

And the fear that we're going to be closing down,

I really am quite, how should I say, mad about it?

Many of the residents have found new accommodation,

I don't want to move. I want to stay put, where I am now.

last September, the CQC rated the home as requiring improvement

after four breaches of the Health and Social Care Act.

Recruitment of staff was an issue back then.

HFT, the charity which runs the homes, says that it has

But, due to the location of the zones, and the difficulty

in recruiting staff, it says it's got no option but to close them.

There's guys like us, are big enough,

ugly enough, and clever enough to adapt to change.

Research suggests that more than half

expect to be running at a loss within the next two years.

And with costs set to rise by 50% by 2020, services in Devon

and Cornwall will close unless they get more money

It is hoped the ?2 billion the government is promising to spend

on social care will help prevent the closure of more loans.

But it's too little too late for those like Mark.

I am very upset about it. I was in tears this morning as well.

It is like being put out on the street.

Well, as we heard, the homes which are closing

which has 21 residential care homes across the South West.

Its Chief Executive, Robert Longley-Cook

It is an incredibly difficult decision and

one that we would fight tooth and nail not to let it happen.

It is a national issue. It needs a national solution.

But what you can see is that the people who will be impacted

And I can quite understand why

And actually, we are so sorry about the impact it is having

A six-year-old girl has been seriously injured

in a collision with a pick-up truck in Teignmouth.

The incident happened in Bitton Park Road

The girl was taken to Bristol Children's Hospital.

The road was closed for some time

whilst investigations were carried out.

Tributes have been paid to a junior doctor found dead

Dr Rebecca Ovenden, who was 32, posted on social media

about the pressures of working in A

Colleagues at Derriford and on the Devon Air Ambulance

described her as talented, much loved and much respected.

"A man in touch with the grass roots" and

"someone who has time for everyone".

Just two of the tributes paid today to the Bishop of Truro

as he announced he's leaving his post.

The Right Reverend Tim Thornton has led the diocese,

which covers Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly

and two parishes in Devon, for nine years.

He'll become a senior aide to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

From his enthronement, Bishop Tim was popular.

Mainly because he was keen to mix with his flock.

Brought up in Plymouth, he understood the needs of Cornwall

but today said he had to leave sometime.

I have very much mixed emotions on a day like today.

I have a fantastic team here, and I am very confident

that they will carry on with the good work,

and I am also confident that the diocese is in good heart.

On his watch, it's been one of only three in the country

So his departure has left some sadness.

He will talk to everybody, which is what you want with a bishop.

He is like an ordinary clergyman, at an ordinary church.

If they are not with the people, then

I am quite sad to see him go, but then I think it's a promotion,

I expect, and I'm very pleased for him.

Bishop Tim used his place in the House of Lords

to raise issues of poverty and social injustice.

That has been a real important piece of work for me and for Cornwall,

putting on the map the realities that, actually, Cornwall isn't

as it sometimes is seen around the rest of this country.

And I've had a tremendous privilege of going around and visiting people,

some of whom are really struggling to survive, day by day, so that has

Bishop Tim chaired a parliamentary inquiry into hunger

and food poverty which led to the charity, Feeding Britain,

Don Gardner, who runs a food bank in Cornwall,

says he will miss the support of the Bishop.

Although he may be a bishop, he does know the grassroots.

He has been on the shop floor. He does see the problems.

And, to me, that is important for the work I do.

He takes up his new role as Bishop at Lambeth in September.

His duties will include supporting the Archbishop of Canterbury's

It will be next year before there's a new bishop.

The 75th anniversary of the sinking of two Devonport battle cruisers

by Japanese aircraft in the Second World War

was commemorated during a special service and wreath laying

Hundreds of men were lost when HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Cornwall

were bombed in the Indian Ocean on Easter Sunday in 1942.

It was about as far west as the Japanese came.

Given that we lost HMS Dorsetshire and HMS Cornwall and then Hermes,

the following day, with about 400 people lost in the water, it was

One has to remember the context of when it happened, as well.

Now, how did you learn maths at school?

A school in Cornwall has come up with what they think

is the perfect way to help the children with their sums.

School is simply more fun with a couple of lambs.

They don't know the rules of hopscotch but they are good

This school has adopted Charlie and Titch after

they were orphaned and caring for them is a full-time job.

You put the bottle on top of the lamb's tongue so

that it can suck it down, and it is easier

if you hold it by the Chin so

that it does not mouth its mouth, and they have got teeth,

So they could actually give you a bit of a bite.

They don't use them for biting people.

They are just for biting leaves and plants.

What happens when you were feeding them?

Did it think your finger was a bottle?

The benefits to the children are fantastic.

They have to weigh out the milk powder and the water to

mix with it and get everything in the right ratio and then

they have to weigh the lambs, then you have got

looking after animals and taking care which is good for

So how do you weigh a wriggling lamb?

These lambs are getting bigger every day so when they get

too big for the classroom, what happens?

The head teacher says that the children will make the decision

so they might just be added to the school register, after all.

Time now for the weather with David Braine.

The weather is looking promising for the next few days. Before I go

forward I will quickly look back. March was unusually mild, one of the

mildest since records began in 1910. The average temperature was 8.5

Celsius. It is not particularly warm now. We have the risk of some frost

light winds but we will also get light winds but we will also get

some sunshine. This high pressure will be around for a few days so get

used to the settled weather. At night, quite chilly were some places

getting down as low as three degrees. A nice day tomorrow plenty

of sunshine. Patchy cloud drifting from the North from time to time.

Temperatures around 12, 13 Celsius. It may feel warmer than that in the

sunshine. More cloud around on Thursday. That would block out the

sunshine but sunny spells are still possible. By the time we get to the

end of the week, things start to warm up. Thursday and Friday, more

in the way of sunshine and by the weekend we have warm air and higher

temperatures and staying dry. Have a good night.

That's all from the team here for now.

Our breakfast news is from 6:25am tomorrow. Have a good night.

bit from the south, so we could get to 18 or higher on Sunday. Now the

national focus. Good evening, things are looking good in the next

few days, some pressure drifting in from the Atlantic, bringing some

finance settled with it. Just some questions about the amount of cloud

we will see under that. The cloud we saw the sea links gave rise to a

lovely sunsets are many areas. This is the view from one of our weather

watchers in Cornwall. Look at the tones in the sky in Warwickshire

this evening.