out of that a walljust evaporates. out of the £501 coins we are given out family people decided to save? 148 would save but 352 would spend them. statistics show we are a nation of spenders. the average household has £14,000 worth of non—mortgage debt. and one in three households in the uk has no savings whatsoever. getting out of debt isn't easy. i should know, i've been there. but a unique project in london could have a solution. i'm in the london borough of newham which has the highest level of problem debt in the country. one in four people here is behind on a bill or credit commitment. morning. since money works opened two years ago, they've

seen over 3,500 newham residents use the service. money works was set up by the mayor of newham. clients had gone into his surgery and had a financial crisis. they ended up going to loan sharks. he thought what can i do for the residents to offer more affordable crows it. -- cred i —— credit. offer more affordable crows it. -- cred i -- credit. let's see what happens? a good sum, about 200. what's special is that money works a lot of customers come to those...

it's an eye—opener to them. a lot of customers come to those... it's an eye-opener to them. it's just ridiculous, all that money. michael was given practical advice alongside a loan to pay off his debts. we... we offered him alone and he was £1213 better off. michael is now debt free. it worked wonderfully. money works is proving so wonderfully. money works is proving so successful, other councils are looking at doing the same. now is the time to cut up that credit card. fantastic. we have had

people burst into tears because of the emotional hold that the idea of credit has got with someone. the emotional hold that the idea of credit has got with someonem might come as a shock to most of us, but by seven years old children have already formed their financial habits. i have come to this school in lincolnshire to meet an expert tea m in lincolnshire to meet an expert team of super savers. hello, please mayl...| team of super savers. hello, please mayl... lama team of super savers. hello, please may i... lam a bank team of super savers. hello, please may i... i am a bank manager. i look after everyone's money and make sure that nothing goes wrong with it.|j am the assistant bank manager. i have two supervise all the cashier 's and make sure no one is misbehaving. when we first started the project we ask children where they think money comes from. they think itjust comes from a cashpoint redhill. they didn't understand

which is why we introduced the idea that you need to work for your money and you are rewarded. children can earn by doing well in spelling and times tables, working in the bank and for special achievements. can i deposit them please. it is worth about 3p but it is worth more to these children. they can deposit it in the bank of take some out and spend it in this store next door. i'm going to look and see what i can get. children often save for over a year before they buy anything. they say over year i will get extra money. it is clear to these children

that saving big rewards. is that that teddy? lovely, shall we buy it? yeah. what we're hoping is that children are actually understanding and experiencing the process of saving and learning to wait for things. i'm going to call him tom. back at the road show, and the day is coming to a close. how's it been today? we're seeing lots of debts, but the most important message is don't sit on it. get help. there's no debt we've yet seen that can't be sorted. now then, still to come on tonight's show, if you look at the impact of all those people starting their own businesses, who are aged 55 is this approach too heavy—handed?

for centuries it bars held traitors, thieves and debtors. for debtors the only way they would walk free was to pay up only way they would walk free was to pay up in full. but how to do that behind bars? the rat man, unable to pay, it wraps until he died. this is a grim place so why is it that the leading london barrister thinks that

councils are using similar tactics? this problem is growing. some local authorities are going down the road of bankruptcy, making people insolvent which hugely multiplies theirdebt insolvent which hugely multiplies their debt with the consequences that they lose their homes, businesses. it is utterly devastating. in some ways it is worse than being jailed for council tax default. i lose sleep i am anxious, i have a lot of anxiety. some people have actually committed suicide. after killing himself on the railway. his home had been taken away for failing to pay £1350 over council tax debt. peter was mentally

ill. nobody realised this at the time. he was literally hounded to death over what was a relatively small amount of money £1350, which was inflated to over £70,000 by the time of his death. it was all cost. he had paid his council tax. this was all cost. i'm seeing this kind of stress repeated every week now around england and wales. my court case. contact us now to avoid further action and costs. in the past two years, court action for council tax debt has risen 40%. use of bailiffs is also up. notice of removal action, that means we're coming to get you. that's your copy there. we've not received any payments whatsoever. i'm struggling at the same time. ijust payments whatsoever. i'm struggling at the same time. i just want to feed my child. ijust want at the same time. i just want to feed my child. i just want to at the same time. i just want to feed my child. ijust want to eat.|j require payment today. you've got just over £1,000 to pay. what are

you offering now? 9796 of us pay our council tax bill but debt campaigners claim over 200,000 bailiff visits were made in london to those who don't. the figures show if you look at boroughs across london and, in fact, across england and wales, there's very different practice in different boroughs, it's a postcode lottery. westminster council send bailiffs out over 18,000 times. while havering was a tenth of that. in less than a decade government's grants to councils have been cut by a third. whoever you're looking for it's not me... westminster and several other councils declined to be interviewed. they insist they avoid targeting the vulnerable, only using bailiffs when payment plans have failed. i'm asking a simple question. single, unemployed mum michelle is watching her £86 council tax debt spiral.m

escalated to £608. 75 from 86. 75, yeah i don't know how that happened. it's bad enough to pay that debt and then they've chucked that on. i'm thinking if i can't pay that, how am i supposed to pay that on top? what is it you want from me? it's the councils who decide if dave the bailiff comes knocking. is there any difference in the way you work between can't pay or won't pay? that's not my business. the system does not distinguish at all now between the can't payers and won't payers. the council tax has become a kind of frankenstein's monster. for all intents and purposes, the local authority is now taking over in terms of council tax by its computers. it's the computer which calculates your bill and is in charge of every step of the way. one exceptional week, franklin earned £170 on his zero—hour contractjob.

so the council computer cancelled his council tax benefit. they sent me an assessment saying i earned £170 a week so i can afford to pay it. i said £170 a week so i can afford to pay it. isaid no i'm not. some weeks £170 a week so i can afford to pay it. i said no i'm not. some weeks i earned £20 a week. franklin says he couldn't afford the full council tax 110w couldn't afford the full council tax now being charged. and the bailiffs are knocking. i'm trying to better myself. i'm diagnosed with heart failure and kidney failure. i have multiple organ failure. i thought let me go and get a job for the last yea rs let me go and get a job for the last years and try to better myself, you know. this is the obstacle why people don't want to work because of the hassle. not because they're lazy, but because of the hassle that they get from the government. the letter box is jammed they get from the government. the letter box isjammed up. in some cases it's impossible to get the money back, then there's nothing else we can do. are you finding that more and more? yes. yes. people haven't got the means to pay. mike thompson was a book seller until a devastating illness meant he could

barely work. his council tax debt would take his home and lead to recovery costs 30 times the original arrears of2,900. recovery costs 30 times the original arrears of 2,900. the council forced sale of the house. i got my share of the procreeds. the other £86,000 was swallowed up in the local authorities themselves in the great scheme of things lose out big time. snvm at hammersmith and fulham council they've begun to wonder if bankrupting seizure of homes and use of bailiffs is working. they claim bailiffs only recover 30% of council tax debt and

are getting rid of them from april. ifafamily are getting rid of them from april. if a family is trying to keep the bailiffs away and prioritises the bill for council tax, they then might miss their rental payment and then you're level with a homeless family being traumatised. but then presenting the public sector with a huge bill in terms of housing and the problems with homelessness. first credit are in charge of hammersmith's ethical new debt collection. we don't add any interest or charges... like tv money advisors, they set up a payment plan. we would never look to pursue any bailiffs... i'm hoping for hammersmith they will end up with the same amount of money collected or more, which they can get back to the residents. i'm already seeing on cases they've given up on, i'm already collecting money on the cases they'd given up on. i know that will give them more money back for their residents, which is a win—win. for their residents, which is a win-win. are you worried some people might go out and buy a telly rather than pay the council tax if you're

ethical? i'm optimistic this will work. we are not stopping debt collection. we're just doing work. we are not stopping debt collection. we'rejust doing it in an ethical way. the bailiff industry warn this experiment will back fire. the enforcement industry has collected around £650 million worth of local authority debt. to dispense with the enforcement service will come at a price. i think that in two or three years' time, the coffers will be looked at and the question will be looked at and the question will be looked at and the question will be asked: where's the money? they come up with all sorts of excuses. you can normally read them, whether or not they're lying or not. well, i can any way. now ethical debt collection in hammersmith is about to show whether or not the bailiffs' knock might, like the climate change, become part of debt collecting history. we hear about baby boomers and how lucky they are compared to younger, less well off generations. not all

boomers are secure enough to put their feet boomers are secure enough to put theirfeet up boomers are secure enough to put their feet up and let their pensions ta ke their feet up and let their pensions take care of everything. a record numberare funding their take care of everything. a record number are funding their retirement by setting up first time business ventures. i'm 62 and i'm still working, whether hosting my radio show on bbc radio london or presenting films like this. i started work at 16. i'm freelance, so i don't have a pension. but i often wake up at night with a fear of was going to happen when i'm no longerflavour the month? living off a state pension hardly fills me with glee. i realise at some point i'm going to have to change my life. i'm not the only one. there's a lot more like me. i'm 61 now. you're getting older and you're getting less employable. i would like to work for quite a few more years. i was unemployable i think because of my age. everyjob i

we nt think because of my age. everyjob i went for, i was turned down flat. like many others in our age group, linda and louise need the money to keep coming in. they decided to take matters into their own hands and started up a small business, for the first time in their lives. # the best things in life are free # the best things in life are free # but you can give them to the birds and bees # i need money... down on canvey island, linda is running a small business making designer wear for dogs. i do collars, leads, coats, harnesses, carrier bags, carseats. sometimes i get up at four, five... 4am or5am? sometimes i get up at four, five... 4am or 5am? yeah, crazy. because there's a lot to do for one person. but it's not financially secure at the moment to employ people or to go the moment to employ people or to go the next steps. it will do. basically, if i've got work to do,

i've got to get up and do it. most of it is online selling. which to a dinosaur like of it is online selling. which to a dinosaurlike me, of it is online selling. which to a dinosaur like me, i've had to learn a lot. how about this, look, it's lined... oh, my goodness. it's so snug. now i'm shipping them out everywhere. i've sent off to las vegas, valencia in spain. sol wasn't only going england, scotland, ireland, wales. it's going. when i started with this, i started with 79p and a sewing machine. that's. it i'm thinking there's no food on the table. yes, i can go to family. yes, ican go table. yes, i can go to family. yes, i can go to friends. it wasn't in my nature. they say, oh, what are you eating tonight, mum? oh, yes, i'm having this and that. and literally living on toast and getting up the next day and making something to sell it. at the end of the day, you've got to rely on yourself. you know, that's the way i am. i'm very, very proud and i was like, i can do

this. # i've been laid off for work, my rent is due #my rent is due # my kids all need brand new shoes # my kids all need brand new shoes #sol # my kids all need brand new shoes # so i went to the bank to see what they could do # they said, sorry, looks like bad luck got a hold on you # money's too tight to mention# there are many like linda starting up there are many like linda starting up small businesses later in life than would be expected. barclays bank have done a lot of research into this growing trend over the last ten years. it's actually really surprising what we found. there's been a huge growth in the number of people in their late sos, even late 60s who are starting their own business. if you think of people in their mid—205, early 30s, we've seen about 23%. but actually for older people, in their late 50s and 60s it's much higher, a 63% growth. we've seen this new trend most prevalent in london and the south—east compared to the rest of the country. actually in london it's up the country. actually in london it's up 89%, higher than anywhere else in

the country. one of the reasons that many of these new entrepreneurs are willing to give it a go so late in life is that people of our age have a whole wealth of life experiences to draw upon. not everyone makes the decision to start afresh because they can't get a job. louise was at the very top a hugely successful career. i've been a magazine editor for three decades, journalist and editor. i've been at magazines like vogue, good housekeeping, i was the editor of sigh couldies magazine. louise noticed things changing and worried that she could become surplus to requirement. in journalism, that she could become surplus to requirement. injournalism, it's not entirely but largely a career for

younger people. it's going through enormous younger people. it's going through enormous changes younger people. it's going through enormous changes because of the internet. i'm from the old school. so five years ago, old school louise decided to take a giant step and get out of the world of magazines but surprisingly, the business she started up is based purely on the internet. what i decided to do was start a site that finds therapists for people, so it's basically using an algorithm to match people with the therapist most suited to them. i don't literally know how to do that. so of course you use tech developers. in this business i employ people. i'm building a business that i hope will be a major force and will make money, obviously, and we can maybe even sell on. are you making money? we do make money, yes. great news then

that louise is already making money. it turns out, though, that she and others like her are also creating good news for the rest of us. if you look at the impact of all of those people starting their own businesses, who are aged 55 or over, that's worth over £7 billion to the uk economy in any given year. so that's really good news for our economic prosperity. it seems that if you can spot a gap in the market, have enough focus and get up and go, then it's never too late to start your own business, become successful and you height even help the economy. her bulldog looked impressed with that designer gear. that's all for this week's inside out. tonight's programme is available on the iplayer. head to our website bbc.co.uk/insideout and click on london. thanks very much for watching. see you again soon. hello after a cold and at times

snowy week, get ready for something very different next week. of course, we've seen some disruptive snow this week, that will be thawing quickly at the start of next week. friday brought some more heavy snow showers, particularly to the west and south—west of scotland. we've added to some of the snow across parts of northern ireland and northern england. in that cold air, gradually through the weekend, more especially into the start of next week, much milder air especially into the start of next week, much milderairwill especially into the start of next week, much milder air will take over the uk for week, much milder air will take over the ukfora week, much milder air will take over the uk for a time. quite a few of us will see temperatures bouncing back into double figures. but as the weekend begins, it is cold, frosty,

icy. we have this weather system just pushing in from the south—west. now still some uncertainty about how far north that will get. could be into northern ireland, parts of north west england. through much of wales, the midlands and the south—east, underneath that it's cold and raw. outbreaks of rain, perhaps sleet, perhaps wet snow at times over higher ground. brightening up a bit in the afternoon, cornwall and devon. milderair afternoon, cornwall and devon. milder air here. sign of things to come. 12 degrees in plymouth. but just two in aberdeen. but far fewer snow showers in scotland compared with recent days. just one or two in the far west and north. the cold, in places icy, frosty night on saturday night. then another weather system coming in. this really is the leading edge of that much milder air. it makes for a wet sunday. outbreaks of rain spreading north and east. in the cold air in places we see further sleet and snow for a time, particularly into parts of scotla nd time, particularly into parts of scotland and northern england. do bear that in scotland and northern england. do bearthat in mind

scotland and northern england. do bear that in mind if you're travelling on sunday, keep up to date with the latest forecast because this is where the cold air will hold on for as long as it possibly can. elsewhere, notice how things are turning milder. once that system clears away into monday, the milderair system clears away into monday, the milder air will reach across most parts. still a trailing weather front giving outbreaks of rain across southern areas for a time on monday. elsewhere, one ortwo showers to be found. but quite dry and bright in places. those temperatures, at this stage, getting closer to average. by tuesday, lock at these south—westerly winds, above average. at these south—westerly winds, above average. central and eastern parts staying mainly dry. weatherfronts close to the west will give outbreaks of rain in places. as we go into wednesday, we are going to bring a cold front south across the uk. that will lower temperatures once again for wednesday and thursday with that band of rain moving through. quite windy with that as well. showers following towards the north—west. though it is going to lower temperatures, not to

where they are this week, just close to average. but notice, yes, a cooler feel to things by the end of wednesday, into thursday. friday begins and another weather system brings milder airfor us by the end of friday and into the following weekend. this is how next week is shaping up: it is going to be much milderfor shaping up: it is going to be much milder for a shaping up: it is going to be much milderfor a time. shaping up: it is going to be much milder for a time. temperatures above average, quite a quick thaw of lying snow. spells of rain and windy weather moving across the uk. but brighter gaps in between. most of this falling as rain rather than snow. maybe just the this falling as rain rather than snow. maybejust the higher this falling as rain rather than snow. maybe just the higher hills across northern britain seeing further snow. by the end of next week, wejust further snow. by the end of next week, we just need to watch this area of high pressure to the south. going into next weekend, not this weekend, next weekend, looks like that may well bulge northwards settling things down across southern areas. that's the weather for the week ahead. the government decides not to challenge the decision to release the serial sex attackerjohn

worboys. his victims have expressed outrage that he will now be freed after eight years. the justice secretary admits he too is concerned. i know this will disappoint the victims in this case and members of this house. given the crimes for which he has been convicted on a personal level, candidly, i share those concerns. worboys is believed to have attacked over a hundred women. some of his victims are challenging the decision to release him. in an exceptional case like this, we think there should be some explanation of the decision, which seems to be at odds with every known fact about the case. we'll be looking at whether the attempts to keep worboys behind bars can succeed. also tonight.... scientists say they're a step closer to one