some forces are beginning to take officers out of neighbourhood policing to focus on other areas, and we're saying absolutely that erosion of neighbourhood policing cannot be allowed to happen. we'll be looking at why police forces are cutting the number of detectives, and how it's affecting crime rates. also tonight: i have not met with any russians at any time to discuss any political campaign. president trump's attorney—general is accused of lying to the senate about his meetings with the russian ambassador. the head of british cycling apologises for failings, following allegations of bullying and sexism. hello! anyone home? trying to help the rising number of people sleeping rough. and how the death of gordon and sarah brown's premature baby helped save the grandchild of another labour leader. and coming up in sportsday on bbc news: there's a tougher match for andy murray at the dubai championship, as he faces the german philipp kohlschreiber for a place in the semifinals. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six.

cuts to policing in some areas are putting the public at risk — that's the warning from the police standards watchdog. it says there are now too few detectives, leaving a third of police forces in england and wales in a "potentially perilous" state, with victims being let down, criminal cases not investigated and suspects not followed up. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. from bedfordshire police, raiding the home of a suspected drug dealer this morning. on a day that inspectors graded the force as inadequate, the worst place in england and wales, a grading the chief constable blames on chronic underfunding. this grading is not correct grading for bedfordshire. if you are going to talk about inadequate, talk about inadequate resources and funding, which has been the case in this force for ten yea rs been the case in this force for ten years now. among the many failings, the inspectors found that anti—social behaviour, like this motorbike riding in a park in

dunstable, has soared, while shannon mcmahon told me she was assaulted on boxing day and has had an inadequate response. the police said they would send somebody out and nobody turned up send somebody out and nobody turned up until three days later, then the quy up until three days later, then the guy and an leave and i haven't heard back. while bedfordshire police was the only force branded adequate national inadequate, inspectors said they were raising a large and red flag that other forces, saying that they were arresting fewer people, shelving crimes without investigating properly and failing to track down suspects relentlessly. while two thirds of forces were rated as good or outstanding, inspectors found that in some places local policing is being eroded. there is a national crisis in a severe shortage of detectives and a lack of grip in tracking down suspects. with that erosion of local policing the greatest concern. some forces are starting to take officers

out of neighbourhood policing to focus on other areas, and we are saying that erosion of neighbourhood policing cannot be allowed. despite the years of austerity, the policing minister insisted this wasn't about forces being under resourced. this is clearly about how forces used resources , is clearly about how forces used resources, how they are able to adapt, and we are seeing some of the really good police forces judged as good or outstanding. some of their per capita funding is lower than those that are falling. crime has been falling but police are grappling with issues like cybercrime and a wave of historic allegations of sexual offences. as other services like mental health have shrunk through austerity, the police have become the service of last resort. with money short, inspectors found some forces had been quicker to adapt to the new environment. with me is our home editor, mark easton. what's at the heart of the problem here?

is it funding orfailing to adapt? theresa may once said the mission of the police was to cut crime, no more oi’ the police was to cut crime, no more or less, and if that's true, they've done pretty well. budgets have been cut around 20% by 2010 but since that time crime has fallen by a third. but we expect the police to do rather more than that. of the priority and emergency calls they receive, less than a quarter are directly crime related. police work has shifted from arresting villains, yes, they do that, but it is more about protecting victims. other agencies have seen their budgets cut. once, detectives might have turned up at the front door and arresting a husband who has hit his wife, but now they are also thinking about safeguarding issues for the woman and children. so domestic violence, cybercrime, fraud, child sexual abuse, complex crimes that have become much bigger priorities, and that is perhaps the real

question you should ask, are the police getting it right when it comes to 21st century priorities? one of donald trump's closest advisors — the attorney—general, jeff sessions — has been accused of lying under oath to the senate after he failed to disclose, when asked, that he'd had two meetings with the russian ambassador during the presidential campaign. senior democrats are now demanding he resign and have called on the fbi to launch a criminal investigation. our north america editor jon sopel reports. well, that didn't last long. the afterglow from president trump's acclaimed joint address has now been taken over by claims that the newly installed attorney—general lied under oath during his confirmation hearings over his contacts with the russians. and that's brought calls forjeff sessions to resign and the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate links between the administration and vladimir putin's government. the fact that the attorney—general, the top cop in our country, lied under oath, to the american people, is grounds for him to resign. is grounds for him to resign.

he has proved that he is unqualified and unfit to serve in that position of trust. republicans aren't going that far, but are backing calls that he should probably withdraw or recuse himself from any investigation into those links. based on what we've read, and the information is not complete, i think the attorney—general should further clarify and i do think he's going to need to recuse himself at this point. what's emerged is that then senator sessions met the russian ambassador at the republican convention injuly. he met him again in september, but at his confirmation hearing this january, he denied any contact with the russians. if there is any evidence that anyone affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government, in the course of this campaign, what will you do? senator frankin, i'm not aware of any of those activities. i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and i didn't have

any communications with the russians and i'm unable to comment on it. today, the attorney—general denied any wrongdoing. i have not met with any russians at any time to discuss any political campaign and those remarks are unbelievable to me and are false and i don't have anything else to say about that. so, thank you. we've now had the national security adviser fired over his links to russia. we've had the attorney—general accused of perjuring himself because of his contacts and the white house is absolutely insisten, there is nothing untoward, and the crowd should move on. but the questions keep piling up. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. the head of british cycling has apologised for "failings" following accusations of bullying and sexism against top—level cyclists. an investigation into the culture of british cycling was launched last year and a report is imminent.

chairman jonathan browning said riders will now be better cared for. he added the organisation would also address concerns raised by mps about doping. he's been talking to our sports editor, dan roan. three years, the story was one of success , three years, the story was one of success, british cycling defined by medals and glory, but now there is an image crisis and a damaging tide of allegations. all are being denied but today the man tasked with salvaging the governing body's authority —— invitation said it was time to say sorry. we have met with groups of riders and staff and made it very clear that, where there has been failings, we apologise. we recognise them, but we are doing something about them and moving forward. said there was a bullying culture in british cycling? there have been well reported instances where it was unacceptable. british

cycling unveiling a 13 point action plan designed to overhaul governance and athlete welfare. it stems to last year, when former sprint cyclist jess last year, when former sprint cyclistjess varnish last year, when former sprint cyclist jess varnish complaint last year, when former sprint cyclistjess varnish complaint about sexism and bullying amid a culture of fear at the sport's high—class performance programme. a decade ago, jenny coquelin or was national mounting boxing national mountain biking champion. i had staff who said to me down the years, especially when i retired, that they supported and held that bad for my situation. they haven't been able to do anything. —— they had felt bad and were not able to say anything. they were worried about their jobs. they were worried about their jobs. the idea ofjob reservation is a joke among riders, in the way that management behave and decisions were made. british cycling's credibility was damaged yesterday when mps heard about a year to keep records of

medical treatment. the man at the centre of the storm, sir bradley wiggins, today refusing to speak about the contents of a now infamous medical packaged and delivered to him in 2011, and those who fund the sport are unimpressed. your best funded funding body is in crisis, isn't it? there is a lot going on around british cycling. a number of fires seem to be going off, and it is difficult for them at this point. i was shocked and disturbed by what i heard yesterday, especially around the area of medical management and medical record—keeping. the area of medical management and medical record-keeping. dark days for the sport and, with publication of what's known to be an explosive report into cycling's culture in coming weeks, lifting the gloom won't be easy. it has felt at times recently like it's been knocked down here at the metals factory, as this place has come to be known, and the

organisation was warned it could be jeopardising millions of pounds worth of public funding unless it gets a worth of public funding unless it getsa grip worth of public funding unless it gets a grip and takes control of its issues. i think there is a lesson for other sports, because british cycling is symbolic, and there is a growing sense that the win at all costs mentality has come perhaps at the expense of standards of behaviour when it comes to anti—doping and attitudes towards athletes, and the challenge perhaps for all sports now is that the welfare act as much of a priority as winning. —— is to put the welfare act as much of a priority. shares have jumped 20%. they jumped act as much of a priority. shares have jumped 20%. theyjumped 25% act as much of a priority. shares havejumped 20%. theyjumped 25% in the towel trading after raising $3.1; billion, despite its 160 million users worldwide. it has never made a profit. the chief inspector of hospitals in england has given a stark warning about the state of the nhs, saying it's standing on a "burning platform", with four out of five trusts needing to improve patient safety.

professor sir mike richards says the traditional model of caring for patients is no longer capable of delivering the needs of today's population. our health editor, hugh pym, has the story. bring your baby across and let you know about the checks we are going to do on him today. a new birth today and a new beginning for this hospital in cambridge. maternity and other services were rated inadequate by the regulator, the care quality commission, in 2015. the trust, which includes addenbrooke's, was put into special measures, but now it's tackled the problems and is rated "good". it was a very big shock for our patients. the boss who helped steer the hospital from the low point of special measures back to where it should be, told me how they went about it. the wider leadership teams invested a huge amount of their time, you know in some cases well over two days a week, in going out to frontline clinical areas and talking to staff and listening to them and listening to patients about what needed

to improve in the organisation. the care quality commission makes clear that while there are successful turnarounds like at this hospital, there are others where there is cause for concern and where care is still falling short. the cqc report said across major hospital trusts in england, 68% were rated as inadequate or needing improvement. 81% was said to need to improve safety but 93% were praised for the caring attitude of staff. but those ratings were done before this winter's extreme pressure in hospitals and the coc says the whole system needs a complete overhaul. of course i have concerns about what has been happening and i think we need to take a long look at that to see what more can be done in terms of improving the acute care model, from emergency admissions, through the hospital, through to discharge. so we need to look across the country at all of those things. but some hospitals are managing it better than others. the system as a whole is under strain but for some hospitals the mood is more relaxed.

those who having had a bad inspection have turned things around and got high marks for patient care. our top story this evening: the police watchdog warns the public is at risk from poor policing in a third of forces in england and wales. and still to come: the love affair and the secret marriage that nearly was between jackie kennedy and a british aristocrat. coming up in sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news: tributes to a lisbon lion, a celtic legend — the european cup winner tommy gemmell has died at the age of 73. homelessness charities are warning that further council cuts in england next year will lead to more rough sleepers. there are around 6,000 rough sleepers in the uk — a figure that's risen every year since 2010.

but one rural county has chosen to increase its funding to tackle homelessness. cornwall has one of the largest populations of rough sleepers in the country and it's doubled in a year. our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, investigates. winter in cornwall can be harsh. more so if you're homeless. ah, well, it'll soon be summer. sheltering in a bus stop, just metres from the sea are two rough sleepers. james has been homeless for eight months follow a benefits sanction. you get a bit cold sometimes but apart from that, just make sure you're dry. darren‘s 30—year marriage broke up in october, due to his alcoholism. they're frozen solid, ill and sleep weary. i used to work in addiction for three—and—a—half years and i got to see people come through it. i never thought i'd

be here, not at 49. but here i am. you are never more than one pay cheque away from being on the streets. true. we head off to the outskirts of town. in the bushes, signs of a life less ordinary. hello. is anybody in here? sorry to disturb you. 0k. in a sodden tent a polish man, yan, who has been sleeping rough for six years. are you going to go back to poland? no. but you might get a house in poland? i'm ten years penzance. me like penzance. you like penzance. yes. more homelessness means more work for outreach worker ian. like many others here, neil and shaun have been left rough sleeping due to addiction and psychiatric problems. waking up to this view is not as enticing if you're trapped far from home.

the older you get, the harder it gets, is what i say. at least in liverpool, if you are on the street in the city centre, you can access places 21w. you can't do anything here. much of ian's time is spent driving, searching for new rough sleepers, offering them help. the large rural nature of the county means people can sleep anywhere and often do. they are in sleeping bags. but the majority of this in here is actually cow excrement. so he is kind of living in pretty sort of hazardous conditions, really. we move on, but often so do the rough sleepers. hello, anyone home? keeping in touch with people who lead chaotic, itinerant lives is not easy.

toiletries down there. there is a sleeping bag. as a society we are not dealing with the problem. we are just moving it around. you know there will be another site like this, you know. that's the thing about the countryside, there can be another site like this 200 yards that way and you wouldn't know. as night falls over truro, we head out of the city. bedding down in a small, brick shelter is 71—year—old brian pesk. on the night we meet, he tells me he's been sleeping rough for precisely five years, four weeks and one day. cold, you can defend yourself against just with extra blankets and stuff. wet is impossible because it takes days to dry. you know, sleeping bags and blankets and things get soaking wet and you are just in serious trouble. back in penzance, the rain has stopped, so james and darren begin their search for sleep.

with no homeless shelter in town, their nightly hunt exacerbates their grim reality. i don't know. what can i do? just have to struggle. struggle to survive and then one day something good will come. their refuge, this time, is a public lavatory — two grown men sharing a toilet cubicle. their refuge, this time, is a public lavatory — two grown men sharing a toilet cubicle. they may, of course, be kicked out by morning and tomorrow night, well, who knows? michael buchanan, bbc news, cornwall. a brief look at some of the day's other news stories. theresa may has told bbc scotland that the scots don't want another independence referendum. speaking before her speech to the scottish conservative party conference tomorrow, the prime minister said the snp have "tunnel vision" about independence and they should "get on with the day job" of reforming schools and growing the scottish economy instead. voting has been taking place in the second election

to the northern ireland assembly in ten months. 228 candidates are competing for 90 seats across 18 constituencies. polling will close at 10.00pm tonight. the bbc has learned that almost 4,000 motorists a day are fined for driving in bus lanes in england, with the most lucrative camera on a street in newcastle — making £6,000 every 2a hours. in total the cameras earned local authorities around £31 million last year. when the former prime minister, gordon brown and his wife lost their baby after she was born prematurely, sarah brown set up a charity to help premature babies. now, 15 years later, she says it is very uplifting to discover that the charity's research has helped save the grandchild of another labour leader, john smith. our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, reports. there we go, that's better. two—and—a—half—year—old ella, happy and a picture of health. but the little girl was born 12 weeks premature. at birth, she weighed 1lb10oz

and was the size of an adult‘s hand. i wasn't sure she was going to survive at all. my husband was more upbeat than i was but, to me, it seemed impossible. but she's alive today, as her mother says, thanks to research done at a laboratory set up in memory of the daughter of gordan and sarah brown. they lost their daughter, jennifer, when she was just a few days old. what i really treasure is the ten, very, very precious days that we had with our daughter because, thanks to the care of the doctors, nurses, midwives around us, we were able to have an extraordinary amount of time, you know, really being able to be with our daughter and all of that i have inside of me and all that love you have for your daughter, it's still all there. she received 13,000 letters after her daughter died, many from women who had suffered a similar tragedy. sarah and gordon brown went on to have two sons.

a rare glimpse here of the family together as they left number ten. the memory ofjennifer remains strong. yeah, jennifer's a really important part of both of us and lives inside, you know, both our hearts and always will. i think for us as a family, with our two amazing sons, jennifer's a part of that family in her own way and for us, in our own way. as to ella, research done here at the lab into the oxygen levels given to premature babies helped save her life and she is now doing well. she's now been signed off from her consultant. they've told us not to darken their door with a child quite so well as ella. so we are, literally, the luckiest people in the world. it's thought that up to a quarter of babies born in the uk need extra care, the research that helped save ella will continue to help others survive and thrive, just like her. lorna gordon, bbc news, edinburgh. a series of lost love letters, detailing the blossoming relationship betweenjackie kennedy

and a british aristocrat and ambassador to the us, are to be auctioned this month. the letters were written after the assassination ofjfk, but ended whenjackie kennedy married the greek tycoon aristotle onassis. bonham's auctioneer, matthew haley, took us through the letters and the story behind them. what these letters show us is the incredibly touching love story between david ormsby gore and jacqueline kennedy and what comes through in these letters is just the touching relationship that they had, that very nearly blossomed into marriage. "dearest david, you are like my beloved, beloved brother and mentor and the only original spirit i know. with my love, dear david, jackie." and draws a love heart. as her majesty's ambassador at washington, he was an incredibly close advisor to kennedy. he was his confidante. kennedy, obviously was assassinated in november 1963 and david ormsby gore in fact

lost his wife, so they were a widow and widower, really sort of supporting each other. ultimately they went on holiday once or twice and clearly romance blossomed. there is a draft letter from david ormsby gore where he talked about plans for a secret marriage and they were obviously hatching these plans and discussing their potential future together and then she went and married aristotle onassis. here we are lucky enough to have a draft really of a letter he wrote to her, "why do such agonising things have to happen? i've tried for hours and hours to understand your explanation, and i suppose i do in a way, without agreeing with it. as for your photograph, i weep when i look at it." i think the letters are heartbreaking in a way. the most gut wrenching thing is she writes back to him,

painfully on aristotle onassis' own stationery from his yacht, and says, "i'll always love you and we'll always have something special together." "you and i have shared so many lives and deaths and hopes and pains. we will share them forever and be forever bound together by them and be, i hope, as close as only people the letters there to jackie kennedy. now a look at the weather with jay wynne. the letters there to jackie kennedy. now a look at wynne. it was a lovely day for many parts of the uk. this was a picture taken bya of the uk. this was a picture taken by a weather watcher in hampton court. it was like that for many but a few showers across the northern half of the uk the last few hours is more cloudy. there has been some rain in northern ireland. notjust rain, snow over the hills and we'll see that mixture in the southern uplands of northern scotland. northern scotland where we see the lowest temperatures, a touch of frost developing. not so further south because we have cloud and rain moving in. nota south because we have cloud and rain moving in. not a great start of the

day across southernmost counties, south wales will be wet and windy. some rain could be on the heavy side. oven the roads, spray and surface water —— on the roads. some rain gets up into east anglia and east midlands. into north wales and northern parts of england slightly dry. fairly cloudy in the morning, but still some rain into northern ireland and to the south of scotland but in northern scotland after a chilly start we should see some sunshine. i think we'll keep the best of the sunshine in northern scotla nd best of the sunshine in northern scotland for much of the day. elsewhere sunshine in short supply. a lot of cloud. the main area of rain drifting northwards. the south—east of england should dry up. . keeping wet in the south—west in the afternoon and further rain for northern ireland and largely dry in southern scotland by this stage. into the weekend and keep the umbrellas handy, there will be rain at times but the heaviest rain will move its way around the country. saturday, the heaviest rain looks like it'll be across scotland and northern ireland. outbreaks of rain for some parts of england and wales

but also some lengthy dry spells. then we swap things around for the second part of the weekend with the wettest weather across wales and the southern half the england. further north, much drier, rain at times. top temperatures, seven in glasgow, ten or so top temperatures, seven in glasgow, ten orso in top temperatures, seven in glasgow, ten or so in london. thank you very much. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. our top story this evening: the police watchdog warns the public is at risk from poor policing in a third of forces in england and wales. but the government says there is no excuses, for rationing services. democrats have asked jeff sessions the attorney general of the us to step down over him meeting the russian ambassador in the autumn. and there are accusations of bullying and sexism at the highest level, of the cycling sport. and the

chief executive of the initial says that it chief executive of the initial says thatitis chief executive of the initial says that it is on a burning platform unable to meet the needs of the population. as us attorney general faces calls to resign over his meeting with the russian ambassador last year during the election campaign, we'll get a bit more with catty cake and christian fraser, and as bidders put their hat in the ring to be the next city of culture, we will ask how all it takes to win. and meeting all the, speaks to the former booker prizewinner harold jacobsen, who talks about his