hello. good morning. this is breakfast, with louise minchin. too many young carers are going "under the radar" and don't get the support they need. a study by the children's commissioner for england says four out of five young people don't get the help they should from local authority social services. good morning. it's tuesday the 27th of december. also this morning: some voters in england will have to show photographic id before casting their vote as part of efforts to reduce electoral fraud. his private life was very much public knowledge, but details of george michael's quiet generosity begin to surface after his death on christmas day. good morning. in sport: chelsea extend their winning run to 12 games as they go seven points clear at the top of the premier league. and carol has the weather.

good morning. it is a frosty start for some of us this morning with patchy fog as well. for most, dry with hazy sunshine, except in the north and west, where we have more clout and spots of rain. further details in 50 minutes —— cloud. good morning. first, our main story. the children's commissioner for england says the vast majority of young carers receive no support from local authority social services. anne longfield says four out of five are "going under the radar". the local government association said funding cuts meant councils were being forced to make difficult decisions. helena lee reports. this is daniel, one of thousands of young carers in england. he's ten and lives with his mum, florella, who has a brain tumour. daniel is her main carer at home. when he's not at school, he helps around the house, but he constantly worries about his mum when he isn't there.

i started becoming more responsible and i started doing the cleaning. started doing cooking better. i started paying more attention to what my mum was doing. then, because i wasn't around, i was always worried about how she was. today's report by the children's commissioner found of the 160,000 young carers in england, just over 128,000 children aged 5—17 may not be known to local authorities. and councils identified 160 young carers in england who are under the age of five. this is often systematic support for vulnerable family members who may have mental illness or physical disabilities. they need to be able to flourish at school, they need to be able to enjoy childhood and grow up, whilst they're still offering

the familial support that you would expect. the local government association says funding cuts to children's services means councils have been forced to make difficult decisions about what support they are able to provide. but it says all young carers should receive an assessment to find out if they need help. helena lee, bbc news. in just over an hour, i'll be talking to children's commissioner anne longfield, and to a teenage girl who looks after her mum. england's chief nursing officer has urged the nhs to invest more in caring for people at home to reduce the amount of money being wasted keeping elderly patients in hospital unnecessarily. jane cummings says the health service has a responsibility to change "outdated models of care" and ensure patients don't "fall into cracks" between different parts of the system. some voters in england will have to show photo id before being allowed to cast their ballots vote as part of a new trial. it's one of a number

of efforts being introduced to tackle electoral fraud. our political correspondent tom bateman is in our london newsroom. tom, why has the government decided this change is needed? who will be affected? this came after allegations that there had been fraud during the vote back in 2014 for a mayor in tower hamlets in east london. the electoral commission after that said they had been election fraud, and that former mayor was then stripped of office. the former conservative minister, sir eric pickles, was asked by the government to look into this, and said there should be some sweeping changes to the law around voting in england. one of the things he is recommending or has recommended is that voters should show some sort of identification when they are on their way into the polling booths. that could include things like a

passport or driving licence, but also perhaps a bus pass or even a bank statement or your bank card. the government this morning has said it is accepting the majority of those recommendations. in 2018 at the local elections in england, it will trial some of these ideas, especially those around having to show identification. we do not know the exact areas that will take place, but certainly, it will be piloted. the labour party say they welcome ideas such as these, but are accusing the government of trying to break the system, saying business more about getting votes for the conservatives than anything else, and they want the government to look at the issue of how we registered to vote in the first place. thank you very much. the magistrates association has expressed concern about plans to allow people to go online to enter guilty pleas and pay fines for some minor offences. it says an internet—only system could lower public confidence. details are emerging

of george michael's charity work, as tributes continue to pour in since his death on christmas day. for years the singer had donated money to organisations, and worked undercover at a homeless shelter. nick quraishi reports. he was a huge personality whose life played out in the headlines. but behind this onstage persona, details of george michael's charitable donations are now emerging. he had volunteered to work in a homeless shelter, provided it was kept quiet. he paid for a game show contestant to have ivf treatment. and gave sport relief £50,000 and david whalley ‘s son the english channel in 2006. children, cancer patients and many other charities also received donations —— them out. last

night, tributes came from those close to him. his partner said: his former long—term partner kenny paid tribute to an extremely kind and generous man, saying he loved him very, very much. at his home in oxfordshire, friends came to remember their icon. there were emotional scenes at another of his houses, highgate in london, from people struggling to come to terms with his death from suspected heart failure. i know 2016 has been a bad year, and it is very sad for a lot of artists, but it was george michael beck got me. i think we grew up michael beck got me. i think we grew up with him, was the main thing. george michael's career spanned nearly four decades, and these fans will make sure his music lives on. we will be talking about george

michael a little later as well. a search operation is continuing for a russian military plane which was carrying 92 people and crashed over the black sea on sunday. 3000 people, including 200 divers, are involved in the operation near sochi. the defence ministry said the bodies of 11 people and parts of the plane's fuselage have been recovered so far. liz smith, the actor best known for playing nana in the sitcom the royle family, has died at the age of 95. a spokesperson for her family announced she passed away on christmas eve. peter ruddick has been looking back at her life. she's a vegetarian, nana. could you have some wafer thin hand? could she have some wafer thin hand? could she have wafer thin hand, barbara? no! from dottie nana to the eccentric

bakerin from dottie nana to the eccentric baker in the figure of diddley, this smith carved out a niche playing scatty but hilarious older ladies. -- liz scatty but hilarious older ladies. —— liz smith. scatty but hilarious older ladies. -- liz smith. it is chocolate spread! chocolate? you promise? yeah. all right, i will. very unusual taste. i put in a little something extra as well. she had been through a tough childhood, and an even tougher early career as a single mother of two with a series of part—timejobs. it single mother of two with a series of part—time jobs. it was only when she was nearly 50 that she got her breakthrough after being offered a theatre role by mike leigh. breakthrough after being offered a theatre role by mike leighm breakthrough after being offered a theatre role by mike leigh. it was like a wonderful realisation that at last i was being given a chance. it had come, it had come at last. she may have started late, but she made up may have started late, but she made upfor may have started late, but she made up for lost time with award—winning roles in tv and film, resulting in

her being awarded the mbe in 2009. but it will be as nana, the queen of sheba, for which she will be most remembered. the actor liz smith, who has died at the age of 95. only about half of the families in britain own their homes, according to new analysis by the resolution foundation. although official housing figures suggest a much higher number, the think—tank believes the people living in private rented accommodation has been underestimated. andy moore reports. owning a home is something many people aspire to. official figures showed 64% of us are owner occupiers. that is down from a high of around 70% just over ten years ago. but the resolution foundation says those figures don't reflect the true picture. take for example a person who buys a house and then ta kes person who buys a house and then takes in three voters. the official figures would count that as one of

owner occupier. the three people renting would disappear from the picture. we massively overstate home ownership in this country by looking at properties rather than families. it suggests we need to think lots more than we already do about how the other half live, the half of the country that are not in a home owning family. the resolution foundation says the number of people who rent privately has doubled since 1992. in london, that figure has trebled. the think tank also says there are 5.8 million families who are missing from the official figures because they live in someone else's home. the foundation says we should concentrate a little less on home owners and think more about how the other half of the population lives. a number of roads remain closed in scotland after the disruption caused by storm conor. wind speeds in excess of 90 miles an hour were recorded on the island of shetland on boxing day while large parts of the north experienced heavy snowfall.

the scottish transport minister has been chairing extra meetings of the government's resilience team to deal with the situation. the japanese prime minister, shinzo a—bay, is in hawaii, —— shinzo abe for an historic visit which will see him pay his respects at the site of the attack on pearl harbor. he'll become the first sitting japanese prime minister to visit the memorial that honours the hundreds of sailors and marines who were killed in the raid in 1941. a group of conservationists say that the world's fastest land animal, the cheetah, is rapidly heading for extinction. the zoological society of london says cheetah numbers in the wold are falling because of human encroachment onto their habitat. —— world. they say it's "crunch time" for the cats, with only an estimated 7000 left in africa and just 50 in iran. should we have a quick look at the

papers this morning? most of them still talking about george michael. the front page of the times, pictures again. flowers, cards and candles being left outside his home as the pop world pays tribute to george michael. their main story is about the nuclear safety regulator. it is accused of turning a blind eye to d oze ns it is accused of turning a blind eye to dozens of serious mistakes at power plants and military bases. a quick look at the other papers. and need my glamorous assistant, who is currently not here. the front page of the daily telegraph. it is a bank holiday. a lovely picture of george michael. neil mccormick talks about his conflict that made him so compelling. and talking about the nhs as well, it should spend more money on patients in their own homes instead of hospital beds. we have spoken about that on bbc breakfast as well. a couple of the other ones, i willjust get organised. the front page of the sun. you were someone special, george. that is in the

daily mail, george michael again. talking about comments allegedly said by the queen. any front page of the daily mirror, comments by george michael's heartbroken partner. on the inside pages as well, if i can find them, i don't know if anyone of you were going shopping yesterday, but foreign shoppers apparently queued through the night for a bargain. millions of britons breading huge crowds for the boxing day sales. but the pound meant many foreigners came over to take advantage of the prices. i don't know if that lady has bought all of that, but that seems an extraordinary amount of close to buy. —— clothes. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning. a study by the children's commissioner for england says the vast majority of young carers are getting no support from local authority social services. some voters in england are to be asked to provide id before being allowed to cast their ballots. the requirement is to be

trialled as part of efforts to curb electoral fraud. also coming up in the programme — 2016 will be a year astronaut tim peake will never forget. we'll review his space mission in a look back over the last twelve months in the world of science. very glad to say that carol is here with me this morning. in spirit, at least. it is quite cold, isn't it? good morning. yes it is quite cold. frost around if you head out early you may find you need to scrape your windscreen. for most of us today it will be largely dry and there will be sunshine around as well although turning hazy through the day. high pressure in charge of the weather. after the storm moved away from the

scottish shores. not a lot of wind around. shallow pockets of fog that should clear redly and for many parts of the uk we are off to a driver cold start. at the moment it is —5 in bournemouth the temperatures is below freezing. as we move northwards across northern england and northern ireland and scotla nd england and northern ireland and scotland here and there there is a little more cloud around. in the scottish north—west that will be the odd spot of rain but nothing too substantial. the rest of the uk has hardly a breath of wind. once again through the day we will enjoy a lot of dry weather and sunshine. turning the sunshine hazy at times. improving across the north—west as we go through the day as well. temperature— wise if you are heading out for a walk or going shopping it is going to be cold. overnight we

will see some fog developed. high—pressure starting to push away a little bit onto the continent that we have the ridge across us. the other thing we have is a weather front not too far away from the north—west. tomorrow morning we start off with dense fog. it may prove to be disruptive. some of it will lift into low cloud and if you are stuck under it will feel cold. fog across many parts of england. out towards the west it will brighten up and we will see sunshine. the rumour but when we had a weather front not too far away from north—west scotland ? a weather front not too far away from north—west scotland? it all come along and bring more persistent rain throughout the day. as we move from wednesday into thursday more front start to show. look at the squeeze up here. it will become windier and as we go through the end of the week for many it will be cloudy and you will find some spots

of rain across the north—west. temperature wise 11 degrees in belfast by friday. into the weekend it looks very much like it will turn a little bit colder. in some ways i like it like that. thank you, carol. for many of us, it's the time of year to be either sat around the dinner table of in front of the television. but with a rise in streaming services, gone are the days of the whole country watching the same programme at the same time. breakfast‘s sean farrington has been looking at the boom in on—demand. we have been gorging this christmas, not just we have been gorging this christmas, notjust on we have been gorging this christmas, not just on food we have been gorging this christmas, notjust on food but we have been gorging this christmas, not just on food but an we have been gorging this christmas, notjust on food but an dater. we consume hundreds of gigabytes of data each month, the equivalent of 200 episodes of planet earth too. the way we get that data into our households is through broadband and the faster the connection the more likely we are to download our

favourite programmes. the better the connection, 30 or 40 megabits a second, the more likely we are then to use online video like sky tv, amazon prime, i play or netflix. to use online video like sky tv, amazon prime, i play or netflixlj watch netflix and youtube. i watch mine craft. i want to binge. i want to start at the beginning, watch it all night. i watch on the computer and sometimes on my phone. in the evening i will sit here and watch netflix with my husband. i will do something on my phone and my daughter will be upstairs with her laptop and occasionally, not every night, and occasionally the youngest will be in this bed with this best babysitter, the ipad, and he may just watch a bit of youtube. although there has been a big improvement on 2015, the regulators is that large parts of the uk are still not able to get a decent

broadband connection. over 1 still not able to get a decent broadband connection. over1 million homes not able to download fast and offer a modern family's needs. band is so important now to families, particularly younger families where every body wants to be online at once doing their own thing. it is now is important to them as electricity and isn't running water. the problem is that there are still frowned a thousand homes cannot strea m frowned a thousand homes cannot stream one video will own two or three videos. it is important because the availability of faster broadband has met were taking more control of what we watch and more particularly when it suits us. the number crunchers at the bbc‘s i play things they see traffic on their website increased by 36% around the christmas period. whether it's christmas period. whether it's christmas time you watch more together. because there is nothing else to do. i don't mean that. you are around each other more. you don't go to school, you have no homework. as we enter 2017 we notice

that the children spaces underserviced at the moment so we will invest heavily in high quality content that does not patronise young audiences. on average we watch over what hours of television a day. mostly through the familiar tv channels. still lots of room for growth for the likes of amazon and netflix with a particular talent for 2017- netflix with a particular talent for 2017— can they get the whole family together in the same room to watch something online? tell us what you've been watching and whether you've been watching and whether you've been watching and whether you've been able to watch coming together of christmas. a survey of gps has suggested that almost half of them don't believe that it's in the best interests of dementia patients to know that they're suffering with the disease. they say many support services are poor, and the diagnosis can cause further distress. joy watson was diagnosed with early—onset alzheimer's disease two years ago. i feel i have ifeel i have benefited i feel i have benefited from

knowing. and i can walk around —— work around my relationships better. ican work around my relationships better. i can inform my grandchildren so that they know what is going on. they have gotten used to the idea that nanny says silly things and gets ina that nanny says silly things and gets in a muddle. many needs a couple. and it is adapting, i think. it isa couple. and it is adapting, i think. it is a confusing illness so if you do not have the diagnosis it does not open doors that are vital that i have support networks for myself, carers groups, support groups that i need but if i didn't know that chua had alzheimer's, i would not have access to those. joining me now is kathryn smith from the alzheimer's society and fari ahmad who's a gp. good morning to you both. thank you for joining good morning to you both. thank you forjoining us. the alzheimer's society has done the research. you shocked or surprised?”

society has done the research. you shocked or surprised? i would not say i was particularly surprised because this is the kind of information that we hear from the people who speak to is on the helpline that they found it difficult to get a diagnosis and we have had stories of people who have known something is wrong for five yea rs before known something is wrong for five years before they could get a diagnosis. so while it is shocking it does back at some of the anecdotal evidence that we have are from people we work with. other doctors you think that are not trying to have a diagnosis or passing one on? not at all. as doctors, i think, passing one on? not at all. as doctors, ithink, the passing one on? not at all. as doctors, i think, the diagnosis is almost like the endpoint. everyone can look and see it. but a patient, when people have trouble or worries you have to help them and help them get to the right place and get the right diagnosis. sometimes you have to do what suits them and when it is the right time for them. sometimes you will have people who do not want to pursue an active diagnosis and

you need to back off sometimes. you try really hard to get a diagnosis that you cannot get them into memory clinics or secondary care. it is far better than that is certainly, doctors are not... something interesting fare about some people not wanting the diagnosis. tell us about these conversations. have you even start a conversation like that? it isa even start a conversation like that? it is a difficult conversation. a diagnosis of dementia is... it is a fairly serious life changing diagnosis not only to yourself but for your loved ones and people around you. there are people who do not want an answer. and i'm sure you probably see this. you sometimes have family or carer 's probably see this. you sometimes have family or carer '5 come in being worried and sometimes you have to come if you have a chance to meet them and discuss that from different points, they do not want to see you all come around to see you.

sometimes it isjust giving them the space and knowing that you are there how much difference that diagnosis mate? i appreciate that if somebody does not want to go to a gp then thatis does not want to go to a gp then that is different that if somebody does what go to see a doctor, that means they are worried and stop that something is not quite right. so for somebody to find out that they have a diagnosis, it is not the news they wa nted a diagnosis, it is not the news they wanted to hear but having said that they then at least know what the problem is and that there is an issue and get the right care and support things like a lasting power—of—attorney seek to make arrangements for your own future ca re arrangements for your own future care planning or your financial situation and being able to get information about about your condition about how might affect you. for certain types of dementia there are medications that can help delay symptoms. and then finding out the available support. asking the family to support you. or people who have been worried about their family for quite some time, getting a

diagnosis sometimes gives you a relief, lets you feel you can move on to do what needs to be done next. the diagnosis is not simple as that? what is the process you need to go through? in a way it is a little bit easier if they approach you. that is like one of the big things. there are,| like one of the big things. there are, i mean, there is a huge incentive at the moment for doctors to improve and increase the diagnosis of dementia which they are doing. initially when you probably go and see your gp they do so memory tests with you, they do some cloud tests with you, they do some cloud tests because the research and conditions that are treatable, reversible. but then a formal diagnosis is a whole input from getting scans, getting a psychiatrist's import, plucking people into support services. it is arranging all of that that is important as well. and that is a lot harder to access. thank you very

much for coming tojoin harder to access. thank you very much for coming to join us today. if you're someone who suffers from regular aches and pains, scientists in oxford think they may have found the reason why, and it goes back millions of years. it's all to do with the way humans have evolved, as smeetha mundasad has been finding out. 3-d 3—d printing the bones of our distant 3—d printing the bones of our d ista nt a ncestors 3—d printing the bones of our distant ancestors and imagining how we might look in thousands of years time. an unconventional way to approach an everyday problem. where's that the humans of today get so muchjoy where's that the humans of today get so much joy and where's that the humans of today get so muchjoy and pain? to answer, scientist looked back at hundreds of ancient skeletons and say evolution could be partly to blame. this is a 30,000 —year—old fighter and it is this area he which has changed. we call it the neck of the cyclone. as we have gone through revolution this area is getting sicker and sicker

whereas we know there is a direct link between this area are getting sicker and early arthritis. that is not all. they can nudge their model forward , not all. they can nudge their model forward, having a guess at how humid skeletons made change in 5000 years time. these 3—d printed models show what the bones of the future humid could look like. scientists say by studying them closely this clear that the humid skeleton is changing and they say current trends continue its likely that our riders and pain will get more common. —— arthritis and pain will get more common. consider the shoulder. as we began walking on two legs the shape of the shoulder shifted to compensate for a new gate. look at this space getting narrower and narrower over millions of years. scientists say this leaves less room for tendons attach muscles

to bone to move. leading to more pain as we reach overhead. and if this pattern continues, it is set to get worse in the future. researchers say while abolition may have left us with some an harmful hangovers, physiotherapy and using the right posture can help conquer some of the downsides of our design. they hope that projects like this one might help design the joint replacements and surgeries of the future. very interesting. this is breakfast. coming up we have a review of the yearin coming up we have a review of the year in the world of science. first, however, i would just remind you of the morning's main news stories. england's chief nursing officer has urged the nhs to invest more in caring for people at home. jane cummings says money is being wasted on keeping elderly patients in hospital unnecessarily. four out of five young carers are

going under the radar. funding cuts have meant local councils are forced to make difficult decisions. some voters in england for aftershow photo id before being allowed to vote as pa rt photo id before being allowed to vote as part of a new trial. it is one of a number of schemes being introduced by the government to reduce electoral fraud. the councils involved will use the measure in the 2018 local elections. it comes after a report into photo corruption in tower hamlets last year. details are emerging of george michael's charity work, as tributes continue to pour in since his death on christmas day. he was found dead at home on christmas day. it is revealed he went undercover at a homeless shelter in spent years donating money to different organisations. the actor liz smith has died at the age of 95. she was best known for