this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. these are the top stories developing at 11. fewer police and falling arrest rates — the home office is accused of failing to undestand the impact of police cuts in england and wales. more than a million people are ordered to leave their homes on the west coast of america as hurricane florence approaches. north carolina is taking hurricane florence seriously and you should, also. get ready now. wages rise faster than expected — and continue to outstrip inflation labour promises more rights to workers on temporary contacts in the gig economy. also coming up — waging war games. russia begins the biggest military exercises in its history — and chinese troops willjoin in for the first time and the worms wriggling their way into space to help scientists find out why we lose muscle. good morning.

it's tuesday, the 11th of september. i'm joanna gosling. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the home office is accused of failing to understand the impact of cuts to the police service in england and wales. the public spending watchdog, the national audit office, says forces have been cutting staff to save money, while arrest rates have fallen. the home office is spending £8.6 billion on the police service this year. but since 2010, there has been a 19% reduction in government and local funding, meaning the size of the police force has shrunk by 18%. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. what do our cops cost, and do they provide value for money? important questions

but ones the home office is struggling to answer. that's the main finding from a report by experts who examined government spending — the national audit office. the report on police finances says the home office is spending £8.6 billion on the police service this year, but it says there are significant gaps in the department's understanding of costs and demand, and it criticises the home office for relying on a formula for funding forces which is ineffective and detached from the changing nature of policing. the funding formula they've used to allocate money is out of date, and the home office told parliament in 2015 that the formula was ineffective. here we are three years later, and there hasn't been an update of that formula, and so it's unlikely that the money is going to the right places. the report says since 2010, when budgets were cut, police have carried out less proactive work like breathalyser tests.

it says there are fewer arrests and it's taking longer to charge suspects. the home office denies it doesn't understand the demands on policing. it says it's increased overall police funding this year, and sajid javid, the home secretary, will fell superintendents later at their conference that he is doing all he can to support front—line officers. danny shaw, bbc news. earlier, danny spoke to chief superintendent gavin thomas, president of the police superintendents‘ association, at their annual conference, and began by asking him if the nao report chimed with their own observations about police cuts. very much so. i think the report confirms two key thing is the first is this is a funding formula assessed in 2015 by the government and is not fit for purpose yet we are still using the formula which effectively places an emphasis on locally raised money to deliver policing in communities. that is

fine, but we know policing is facing new demands in this century, which do not respect force boundaries, nor national jurisdictions. do not respect force boundaries, nor nationaljurisdictions. this money is not going international strategic priorities policing desperately needs. the second thing the report says to me and something i will speak about a conference is it emphasised the fact the home office have not got an overview. there is no one in the policing system with a strategic overview, what i would call the wiring diagram of policing in terms of where the funding is the consequences of dexterity measures. why does that matter? the home office says it is putting more money into policing this year and says police and crime commissioner ‘s are responsible for budgets and setting priorities. why do you need an overarching strategy? it matters. if we a cce pt overarching strategy? it matters. if we accept the report, policing is a

critical service. we have powers given by parliament to take your liberty, go into your property when we investigate crime, and we are with keeping citizens safe from harm so with keeping citizens safe from harm soi with keeping citizens safe from harm so i like to think we are a critical service for our communities and it is important the government have an overview of the risks, threats and opportunities policing faces, particularly around the funding required to get the job done. the national audit office said in some areas, policing is struggling to provide an effective service and you have gone further, saying in some areas policing is on the verge of crisis. the national audit office does not quite see it like that, perhaps we should trust them as independent in this? what they have said is, when i read the report, that there are a number of forces that there are a number of forces that are now i think the euphemism is stretched in terms of viability.

my is stretched in terms of viability. my interpretation of that is if we carry on as we have the past five yea rs, carry on as we have the past five years , we carry on as we have the past five years, we will see more forces start to degrade their ability to serve the public in terms of keeping them and protecting them from harm. the consequences of that what? police forces going bust effectively?” think the consequences are a continual degradation of the service to the public, a loss of trust with the public and something which i find very sad. the bedrock of the policing model is neighbourhood policing. we have seen that eroded. it has been said, degraded across the country. these are things that area the country. these are things that are a concern. i the country. these are things that are a concern. i am the country. these are things that are a concern. i am using the word crisis. last year i use the term perfect storm and i hold to that statement. in many areas we are now facing a crisis. many watching would say you would say that, you are the

leader of an organisation representing over 1000 of the most important people in policing, the superintendents but the reality is the government run your side because they push the treasury for more money. i do not doubt that. i am talking to the home office and government and government are also charged, as well as the home office, in terms of keeping us safe. that is the first duty of any government. i would hope the government will take these messages seriously when we look at the next spending review. that was the president of the police superintendents association and later i will speak to the chair of the home affairs select committee, labourmp the home affairs select committee, labour mp yvette cooper. more than a million people in the american states of south carolina, north carolina and virgina have been told to leave their homes ahead of the arrival of hurricane florence. it's feared the storm, with winds of up to 140 miles an hour, could bring widespread flooding and devastation these are pictures from inside the eye of the storm.

on its current track, florence is predicted to make landfall near wilmington, north carolina, late on thursday. our north america correspondent, peter bowes reports. a monster storm that could bring catastrophic levels of rain and flooding. hurtling towards the us east coast with growing wind speeds, the authorities fear hurricane florence could have a deadly impact on several states, with the carolinas and virginia the hardest hit. it'll be dumping water on us in north carolina, all of which will flow through south carolina, much of what's in north carolina, so we're liable to have a whole lot of flooding, particularly in the pee dee area. an estimated one million people are fleeing to safety, not sure whether they'll have homes to return to. we do have a plan to perhaps evacuate. we want to watch it through today and see what's happening. see what happens and hopefully we have a business to come back to. the authorities are

taking no chances. this could be the most devastating storm to hit north carolina since hurricane hugo ravaged the state and claimed many lives almost 30 years ago. north carolina is taking hurricane florence seriously, and you should, too. get ready now. the white house says the us government is preparing to offer whatever help it can. lines of communication remain open and the federal government stands ready to assist. these tropical storms and hurricanes are very dangerous and we encourage anyone in the path to keep the warnings of state and local officials, who have the expertise and knowledge of their communities, to provide the best on ground information. close on the heels of florence, two other storms are expected to increase in ferocity in the coming days. the atlantic hurricane season is proving relentless. peter bowes, bbc news. unemployment fell by 55,000

in the three months tojuly to 1.36 million, according to new figures released by the office for national statistics. wages, excluding bonuses, grew by a faster—than—expected 2.9%, compared with a year ago. the ons says employment remained "robust". let's get more on this with business correspondent, andy verity. it sounds like a good picture. relatively good. we had a dip in pay rises, not rising as fast earlier in the year but we have been this high before with a 2.9% rise in pay early this year. you have not had 3% and you have to go back to 2015 for back. the interesting thing is to work out whether this has anything to do with the fact we have a slightly tighter labour market which means if there are fewer available to work, people have to compete harder to hire people with higher

pay, for examples. it is not only the low unemployment figure that indicates the labour market might be getting tighter, it is also the fact there are fewer migrant workers from there are fewer migrant workers from the rest of the eu in the uk's and that figure dropped for the first time recently. indicating the supply of workers from the accession states such as poland and the czech republic, overall that supply of workers on average, there is an outflow now. the other place where we we re outflow now. the other place where we were getting the rising employment, extra people added to the workforce is people working into retirement, people who might have retired at 60, 65, working on. that is the interesting change, we no longer have a big inflow of new workers. if you stop a steady supply of anything and in this case workers, then you tend to increase its price. that is a law of

economics and if you increase its price would it means for labour is higher wages. i thought stapp showed that while migration from eu states is falling migration from countries outside the eu is increasing. the net effect is a drop in the number overall of migrant workers, not a vast amount, so you cannot set too much store on it, but if with brexit we are in for more of this with fewer coming from the rest of the eu, we will either have to make up for it with workers from elsewhere, or the price of labour will increase which is what the bank of england have said for a long time and part of the reason for the rise of interest rates in august was a feeling that is likely to happen. public health england has compiled what it calls the most comprehensive picture of the nation's current health and future fitness. it's warning that the number of people with type 2 diabetes will increase from 4 million to 5 million in the next 20 years.

obesity, dementia and mental health issues are also on the rise. here's our health correspondent james gallagher. our health is changing rapidly. a million more people will have diabetes in 20 years' time, dementia is on the cusp of becoming the biggest killer of men. it already causes the most deaths in women. while the chances of dying from a heart attack, stroke or cancer keeps falling. public health england says the nhs will have to adapt faster than at any time in its history in order to cope. the report highlights the opportunity for prevention, and the role the nhs can play there, but it also shows the changes in the nature of illnesses, which the nhs will need to respond to. and it also highlights the importance of addressing social inequalities. smoking, which is a major cause of cancer and heart problems, is one reason for the changing picture of our health. the smoking ban, plain packs and vaping have all led to more of us kicking the habit. 15% of adults in england were smokers last year. the report predicts that figure

could fall below 10% in the next five years. public health england hopes to achieve a smoke—free society, defined as less than one in 20 smoking, by the end of the next decade. the glaring gap between rich and poor is also highlighted in the report. the richest in society are enjoying nearly two more decades of good health than the poorest. the findings of this report will be crucialfor the nhs, as it prepares its new long—term plan for the health service. james gallagher, bbc news. the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, will warn today that workers' rights are as bad as they were during the 1930s. in his speech to the tuc congress, he'll say the government has stripped back employment rights to a level not seen since the economic depression 80 years ago. he'll promise new rights for workers in the so called gig economy. lots of people now are concerned about insecurity in employment, and we need to address that.

there have been recent think—tank reports, last week the ippr and the archbishop of canterbury, expressing their concerns about insecurity of employment in what we call the gig economy. we've got to tackle that and that means giving those workers basic rights — rights to sick pay, maternity and paternity leave, the right to protection against unfair dismissal, in terms of ensuring they get proper termination notices if they are told their job will be going. those sorts of things. the second thing is a new idea that is often implemented across other european countries, which is shared ownership schemes, so that when a company is making its profits, it distributes some of those profits in shares to its employees in a collective form and in that way you build up for the workers themselves a stake in that company. they become stakeholders. and all the research even coming out from the government's treasury says that means the company then becomes more productive and, long—term, stable as well.

colletta smith is at the tuc congress in manchester for us. tell us more about the message from labour at the tuc today. the speech is due to kick off at 4pm with the shadow chancellor addressing congress and the message you heard him explaining is something that will go down well here with the union members. issues they have campaigned for, trying to look at for a long while, about insecure workers, zero—hours contracts, people who do not necessarily have long—term contracts, the idea of the gig economy. john mcdonnell says those individuals should have the same rights as people on more secure contracts in longer term jobs, that they should have the right to sick pay, maternity pay, that a lot take for granted. although the unions

represent 49 different organisations and sectors of the economy, many of those individuals are not represented by unions. we are talking about almost 3 million working in the gig economy and often they are not members of unions because they work in such flexible contracts, often switching industries. often they perhaps are in less secure and represented areas, which is something john mcdonnell wants to address with his speech. this is likely to go down well with his audience. he is a sta lwa rt well with his audience. he is a stalwart at the tuc, having been here for years and years but not necessarily in the role he is in now, shadow chancellor, and someone looking to set out an agenda for government when labour say they want to bring it in, ifand government when labour say they want to bring it in, if and when a general election is called. thank you. the headlines on bbc news: the public spending watchdog accuses the home office of failing to understand the impact of police cuts in england and wales. a large—scale evacuation is under way in the united states as the east

coast braces for hurricane florence. wages rose faster than expected in the three months tojuly, continuing to outstrip inflation. in sport, kimi raikkonen will leave ferrari at the end the season. the 2007 world champion has announced a return to sauber. charles leclerc will replace him. he needs one more wicket to surpass glenn mcgrath‘s record. india resumed the final day chasing 464. justin rose has become only the fourth british golfer to reach number one in the world rankings. it is after he finished second at the bmw championship in philadelphia. i will be back with morejust after half

philadelphia. i will be back with more just after half past. russia has launched the largest military exercise in its history. the five days of war games in eastern siberia will involve 300,000 soldiers, more than 30,000 military vehicles, 1000 planes and 80 warships. a number of troops from china and mongolia will also take part. with me is our correspondent in moscow, sarah rainsford. also i'm joined by stephen mcdonnell our correspondent who's in beijing. sarah, why this scale and why now? having exercises like this is regular, a routine exercise, but it is the scale that is extraordinary and russia has been stressing the size of this exercise pointing out it is the biggest in 37 years and since soviet times. some 300,000 troops involved, something like

36,000 armoured vehicles and over 1000 planes. and also taking place over a week in eastern russia. it is obviously meant as a show of strength at a time when relations with the west are tense and i think it isa with the west are tense and i think it is a chance for vladimir putin to showcase the military he has spent a lot of money and time and resources in modernising it. it has been his priority and this is a chance to showcase it and i think the timing is not insignificant, nor the scale. almost a third of the russian military will be out in these exercises, 1 million personnel in russia's armed forces, a huge show of strength and ultimately what does russia want to achieve with it? we asked the kremlin about that. especially at a time when russians are protesting about pension reform and cuts in social spending. was

this exercise justified or necessary? the spokesman was firm and said at a time when russia sees what he calls aggressive and hostile policies from the west, focusing on defence like this was critical. that is the russian perspective. it is a show of strength but another thing thatis show of strength but another thing that is important is who else is there. 3000 chinese troops taking part. for the first time, partly to make sure china does not think the focus is china, being this is in the east of russia close to china, but also sending another signal to the west that, at a time when relations between russia and washington and china and washington are difficult, it is perhaps a sign, warning even to washington where isolating these countries could lead. we can go to our correspondent in beijing. how is it seen there? what is the message

china wants to send? it is quite incredible. we saw images on chinese television of tanks crossing the border into russia. we have just heard there are thousands of chinese soldiers participating, as well as fighterjets soldiers participating, as well as fighter jets and the soldiers participating, as well as fighterjets and the like. decades ago, they were building bomb shelters in this city because they we re shelters in this city because they were worried about nuclear war with russia and now we see this significant geopolitical shift with chinese and russian soldiers participating in these fast war games and you can bet western military intelligence officers are watching the footage coming out of those war games, trying to see how the chinese and russian forces operate, that is how could they work together in a conceivable battle? chinese and russian tank side by

side and for china, it is an economic and military connection taking place because xi jinping is sitting down with vladimir putin as we speak as a separate economic co nfe re nce we speak as a separate economic conference in vladivostok. a lot to think about in terms of these ties between russia and china. think about in terms of these ties between russia and chinam think about in terms of these ties between russia and china. it is a small number of chinese troops, 3000, but the message is loud and clear, the potential of the two vast armies coming together. yes, absolutely. most analysts would think it is a long way still to go before china would become an ally with russia, along the same lines as those countries which are formally within the soviet bloc. however, this is a very big step, to be having these major war games involving this first country which

is not part of the soviet bloc, china, and who knows where it will lead? the inquest into the deaths of five people killed in last year's westminster terror attack has entered its second day. four people died when khalid masood drove at high speed along the pavement on westminster bridge before crashing. he then stabbed pc keith palmer to death outside the palace of westminster on 22nd march last year. our correspondent helena lee is at the old bailey. what have you heard this morning? i'm afraid we have some technical issues, i think, i'm afraid we have some technical issues, ithink, with i'm afraid we have some technical issues, i think, with hearing her. we will try to fix them and go back as soon as we can. space exploration has led to countless ground—breaking discoveries and now a team of british scientists wants to send worms

to the international space station to help us understand how our muscles can waste away. we've been given special access to the scientists as they prepare to launch the worms into space. john maguire went to see them at their laboratory in switzerland. when tim peake spent six months on board the international space station, regular exercise was vital. floating in zero gravity means astronauts stop using their muscles to stand and those muscles then start to waste away. now, a team of scientists from british universities is working to find out more. they've come to switzerland and, on the shore of lake lucerne, this lab that specialises in space biology. we're hoping to prevent muscle loss with astronauts when they go into space, so this will allow them to undergo really long space flight and then this will translate to people on earth. as well, so if we can prevent muscle loss in astronauts we could potentially prevent muscle loss in the elderly population.

this will be the first uk—led experiment on the space station. these bags contain thousands of microscopic worms suspended in fluid. they're called sea elegans and, by sending them up into space, the research team can determine how their muscle structure is affected. perhaps, surprisingly, the muscle of a worm that keeps a worm moving in a line is very similar structurally at the molecular level and in the metabolism of the way it functions very similar to a human. of course it doesn't mean it's directly translatable, but an idea of what might be causing the same sorts of changes in humans. some of the worms will be treated with a drug in an attempt to slow down their muscle wastage. the long—term strategy, we're looking at years to decades, is if we can find out the exact molecular reasons why worms lose muscle mass in space, when we test some of the potential therapies such as drugs for that, we can then apply that to larger organism such as humans to try and prevent that loss and that then allows exploratory space flights such as mars missions for the future.

the test here in switzerland is essentially a dress rehearsal. the preparations have to be absolutely meticulous because the next time the team do this will be just ahead of launch in florida. the pressure is really on. this is an opportunity to refine and practise the techniques to make sure that everything goes according to plan when the worms are prepared for space flight. if something doesn't work, there's no fix. there are other facilities on board where you can say, ok, something doesn't work, we will repeat or we do a change or something like this. for cubic, we can't do that. the experiment will only last six days, but that equates roughly to around 20 years of human life. they will then be frozen and returned to earth for analysis. one microscopic step or wriggle for the worms, or wriggle for the worms that it's hoped could provide a giant leap in understanding of how our bodies age, notjust in space, but also back down here on earth.

john maguire, bbc news, switzerland. the inquest into the deaths of five people killed in last year's westminster terror attack has entered its second day. we can bring you the latest. we had trouble hearing you earlier. bring us up to date. we have been hearing from the wife of kurt cochran, the american tourist killed in that attack on westminster bridge last month. the couple were on the bridge at the time and had been in london ona trip at the time and had been in london on a trip around europe, they had been sightseeing that day. she gave evidence around ten minutes in the witness box. she says she remembers hearing revving and then the car being driven by khaled massoud coming towards them. she went on to

say it was all very sudden, she said, she also then went on to say that she did not remember her husband pushing her out of the way of the car to safety, but she said that was typical of her husband. kurt cochran died at the scene after being hit by the car. we also heard evidence from a teacher called kylie smith, who found it clearly difficult to give evidence. she was on the bridge with students. they we re on the bridge with students. they were visiting london and witnessed the attack. she said she looked over onto the other side of the bridge. she also heard the car revving and said she had seen the couple, melissa and kurt cochran, holding hands before the attack. she said it seems like they were having a good time. she recalls seeing the car mounting the pavement, hearing a lot of revving and seeing kurt cochran

push his wife out of the way to safety. she was then thanked by the judge after giving evidence. she was in tears as she recalls the events from last month and the judge thanked her and said he was sure she had done everything she could to get the students to safety. she described after how there was panic and chaos after the attack and they went down the steps along the embankment to try to get her stu d e nts to embankment to try to get her students to safety. evidence here continuing. we will hear more witness evidence from some of the ambulance staff, a paramedic and nurse who went to attend to kurt cochran, the american man who died on westminster bridge. we will hear evidence from them later. thank you. now, let's catch up with the weather. it was a pretty wet start across

england and wales and the rain has been moving south. it breaks up a bit as it pushes into the midlands and into south—western areas of england as well. quite patchy rain, anywhere from norfolk down towards cornwall. from the south—east it is quite warm and cloudy and further north where it is dry and bright, sunny spells. blustery showers working in with gusts up to 50, 60 miles an hour in the far north—west. these temperatures will be in this afternoon. overnight, rain will continue for southern areas and then we will see another batch of rain moving in across much of england and wales. beneath this cloud and rain, still a mild night. 12 to 15 celsius. further north with the clearer spells, it will be colder compared to yesterday. rain in the south tomorrow. a further north

there will be some sunny spells. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: the uk's public spending watchdog, the national audit office has accused the home office of failing to understand the impact of police cuts in england and wales. it says it's approach to police funding is "ineffective" and "detached" from demands faced by officers. more than a million people are ordered to leave their homes on the east coast of america as hurricane florence approaches. it's expected to make landfall on thursday bringing winds of up to 140 miles per hour. wages rise faster than expected — and continue to outstrip inflation. according to figures from the office for national statistics wages grew by 2.9% in the three months tojuly. labour promises more rights to workers on temporary contacts in the gig economy. the shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell says there are "levels of exploitation" in the job market that britain "hasn't seen for generations."

russia launches the largest military exercise since the cold war involving around 300,000 personnel in siberia. china is also sending troops in a move being seen as a sign of closer military ties between the two countries. let's get more now on our top story and the critical national audit office report on the home office's understanding of the impact of police funding cuts. the labour mp yvette cooper who is chair of the home affairs select committee joins me from westminster thank you forjoining us. do you think it is a correct view to say the government doesn't understand these tax cuts? we have heard repeatedly about police forces being

overstretched and the challenges they face dealing with different types of changing crimes. this report does look very accurate and it is also damning. it shows an irresponsible approach from the home office to have made such substantial cuts in the police budget without appearing to have any clear idea of the impact of those cuts and about the impact of those cuts and about the new challenges facing policing from these changing patterns of crime. it is one thing to talk about making cuts and having an impact and then to say there is a complete of awareness. how can a copy made of 30% to government funding without there being a rational explanation interna leave that that is going to have a detrimental affect? that is exactly right. when you lose over 20,000 police officers across the country, you would expect them to have an impact. we have heard from

politicians over the years saying it isn't having an impact or it is just up isn't having an impact or it is just up to the police to sort it out. it is the home office responsibility to consider public safety across the country and at a time when you see change in demands, more online crime, particularly vile online child abuse crimes, complex crimes which the police need to respond to. across all crimes you are seeing delays to charges, drops in arrest rates, drops in the proportion of cases that come to charge and an increase in the number of crimes being written off. all those things are damaging to public safety. the home office should have a grip of that and not just home office should have a grip of that and notjust be hands. where does it leave public trust? we have heard from the head of the police

superintendents association who have said the police service is in crisis and the impact on that is a lack of confidence from the public. a member of the public will dial 999 and you don't get through, what does that make you think about how the police will be responding? it is deeply damaging. the neighbourhood policing we have had in this country and people seeing the police on the beat and being able to get a response is important to community confidence, to cohesion. and to lose all of that is destructive and you cannot piece it together again easily. that is why it is so damaging. many areas don't see the police on the beat any more, feel they don't get a response and don't get the police investigating serious crimes and we have heard too many cases are victims of crime feeling their crimes were not investigated or it took too long to investigate serious crimes because the police were

overstretched. i think the police work immensely hard and we have seen that a nominal response we have shown is serious incidents, such as the salisbury case, the counterterror work that has been done. we have great expertise in our policing. the trouble is, when it is overstretched you get cracks appearing throughout the system and it is the public and communities who get let down. thank you very much, ever to cooper. let's get the sport now. good morning. the final day of the fifth test between england and india is under way and england are in control, having set india a target of 46a yesterday. james anderson needs one more wicket to become the most successful fast bowler in test history. he'd break glenn mcgrath‘s record of 563 test wickets. india are 811—3, having resumed on 58—3, chasing an improbable target of 464. kimi raikkonen is leaving ferrari at the end of the current

formula one season. the 2007 world champion is joining sauber on a two year deal, returning to the team who gave him his first chance in formula one back in 2001. going the other way, will be charles le clerc, with ferrrari confirming that the 20—year—old will drive alongside sebastian vettel next season. justin rose has climbed to the top of golf‘s world rankings after finishing second at the bmw championship in philadelphia. rose could've won the tournament if he'd holed this putt, but it just lipped out, forcing him into a play—off against keegan bradley. the american went onto to win it, but rose had already done enough to become just the fourth briton to lead the men's rankings, after sir nick faldo, luke donald and lee westwood. a decision will be made on the future of hampden park as scotland's national stadium this afternoon. it's been the home of scottish football since 1906, but the sfa's lease at hampden expires in 2020. they can either renew the lease, buy hampden outright, or there is an option to move out of glasgow to murrayfield

in edinburgh. that's all the sport for now. plans to increase the number of zero—emission vehicles developed and produced in the uk, will be unveiled by theresa may today. she'll promise £100 million for research into new batteries and low carbon technology, as our transport correspondent tom burridge reports. in a couple of decades, the government wants every new vehicle in britain to be one of these — electric or similar technology with nearly no emissions. one of the goals is to improve the air we breathe. like other major cities, birmingham has roads which are heavily polluted. so the prime minister will address a green fiscal summit here. she will argue that britain can be a leader in low emission technology. the prime minister will also set aside more funding for developing green vehicles in britain. creating better batteries is key. one academic i spoke to said britain is not lagging behind but isn't

at the forefront, either. one challenge is to create more public charging points. the number of electric vehicles is on the rise. they still only account for about 5% of new cars bought in britain. tom burridge, bbc news. north korea's leader kimjong—un has written to donald trump, asking for a follow—up to their historic summit. negotiations over north korea's denuclearisation programme appeared to have stalled, after the two leaders' historic summit in singapore injune. now, the white house says it's already looking at scheduling a new meeting after receiving the letter. it was a very warm and positive letter. we won't release the full letter. we won't release the full letter u nless letter. we won't release the full letter unless the north korean leader agrees we should. the primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule under the meeting with the president, which we are open to and already in the

process of coordinating that. this year's most talked—about political comment at the miss america pageant wasn't about world peace, rather — water. miss michigan, emily sioma, didn't get into the final round, but used the pageant to raise awareness of the water contamination scandal in her home state. the deadly water crisis, due to lead piping, has plagued flynn since 2014. its part of a wider problem in the state which has incensed miss michigan. 84% of the us has freshwater but none for its residents to drink. the bbc is to read view the free tv licence for people over 75. the bbc director—general told mps the corporation will consider whether the policy should be reformed. he also spoke about the sir cliff

richard privity case and the bbc‘s decision to drop its appeal against that ruling. there are two issues at the heart here and i am sure you are thinking of them as well. one is the nature of the coverage. my own view on that is, as the judge said, this was a proper case, this was a proper thing... we reported accurately what happened. but my own view is, we overdid it. the helicopter was overdoing it and my own judgments and the judgment on overdoing it and my own judgments and thejudgment on hindsight is already a fine thing, it was something to report, but downed the bulletin. in a moment we'll have all the business news, but first the headlines on bbc news: the public spending watchdog accuses the home office of failing to understand the impact of police cuts in england and wales. a large scale evacuation is under way in the united states as the east coast braces for hurricane florence. wages rose faster than expected in the three months tojuly,

continuing to outstrip inflation. wages saw faster than expected growth in the three months tojuly, as they continued to outstrip rising prices. earnings have now risen faster than inflation for several months. more on this in a moment. we will bring you more on this in the business update injust we will bring you more on this in the business update in just a few minutes. pakistan s television industry

is receiving global praise for tackling controversial issues through its dramas, despite the country s media regulator calling some content too bold. thousands of british asian fans gathered in london this week to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars at the international pakistan prestige awards. the bbc‘s haroon rashid was there. several pakistani a list stars walked the red carpet at london's o2 arena for the second annual international pakistan prestige awards. the event symbolises the growing population of the country's television dramas amongst british asian audiences. i have seen that the people living abroad are much closer to us because obviously all of us are in pakistan said the crowd is always very, very loving, very welcoming. and all this great travelling because you get all this love from the people living abroad. thanks to streaming services like netflix and digital platforms like youtube, pakistani dramas have reached far beyond south asia, they are now dubbed in several different languages and with english subtitles too. we reach the homes of so many people

and we touch so many hearts and so many lives. i think it's really heart—warming, it's overwhelming, actually. baaghi, which was loosely based on the life of the late social media star, qandeel baloch, is one of several drama series to tackle misogyny in pakistani society. it notched up record ratings and also helped change perceptions of liberal women in the country. if you really want to know the impact that baaghi has had, just go on youtube on the last episode and read the comments actually apologising to qandeel baloch. because these are the same people that really vilified her, turned her into some kind of villain. gender discrimination is not the only controversial theme television producers are addressing. udaari received global acclaim for covering the sensitive issue of child abuse. i do understand we are supposed to entertain people, but it sometimes good to educate them as well. i think udaari has given strength to all the women who were, i don't know, dealing with whatever

kind of empowerment they were not getting, their rights. not everyone is convinced these to subjects should be reflected in dramas. pakistan's media regulatory authority, pemra, recently published a letter warning satellite tv channels that content was becoming too bold. several actors disagree. i think it's the best way to make a statement. you have to touch such subjects which are like, people don't want to talk about them. i feel if you are not sensationalising a certain subject but you are educating people, very, very important to make a drama or a film on that. despite the media regulator's concerns, it seems fans around the world can't get enough of pakistan's more liberal television dramas. haroon rashid, bbc news. the number of vacancies in the nhs

has risen. hugh pym has more. that is quite a statistic, 9000 extra vacancies in three months, what is going on? it is another indication of the pressure on the nhs. these figures for england. bits of data came out people who into a&e units 2.6 million, so more patients coming in so hospitals and other trusts are trying to increase staff numbers to cope with the higher demand. as we have heard, there are 9000 more vacancies, 107,000 vacancies in the nhs, nurses, doctors and others, and thatis

nhs, nurses, doctors and others, and that is up compared with the same time last you. and the fact the nhs regulator improvement says one reason for this is more people are leaving and it does raise the question whether these pressures are proving too much for some stuff you wa nt to proving too much for some stuff you want to get out. there will always be some vacancies but this increase is quite disturbing. is it possible to drill down into the story, the reasons why those people are leaving? is it people retiring, what is it? there is nothing in these figures that tells us precisely why, is it people who want to go off and do something else, retire early or do something else, retire early or do believe the uk. the regulator has mentioned it is a factor and suggests there is a higher rate. you will always get some people leaving and some people joining. will always get some people leaving and some peoplejoining. they are also saying the total deficit of hospitals, ambulance trusts and

mental health and all trusts in england, they think the underlying figure is £4.3 billion. that's the difference of the money they get in to provide the health care through the nhs and the amount they are spending, once you have stripped out the support funding. it is a big figure. we didn't know that before. so all of this is setting up the fa ct so all of this is setting up the fact it is going to be another difficult winter, the new money promised by the government, jeremy hunt when he was health secretary ann theresa may in the summer said the nhs in england would get 3.4% real term increases, but that doesn't kick in until next year. reading between the lines, it is going to be a difficult time in the months ahead for the nhs in england. the uk's water vole population has dropped so drastically over the past few decades that they are now one of the country's most endangered mammals. they haven't been spotted in west somerset for 30 years, but conservationists hope they'll make the rivers their home again, thanks to a special breeding programme as clinton rogers reports. avenue van full of holes. 150 of

them on their way to freedom and a little bit of history. are they ready for it? they are, they are strong animals and they will be happy to get out there and go. they haven't seen a water vole in the rivers of west somerset for 30 yea rs. rivers of west somerset for 30 years. but now the national trust is putting it right. let's go. reintroducing one of the uk's endangered mammals to the rivers that the once their home. although the first did take a little time before deciding to take a dip. the national trust says 94% of the water vole population has disappeared. changes in farming practices, the loss of wetlands and the american mink, which has been a ferocious predator. the vole had no defence

against the american mink, and it cut a swathe through the vole population and it was almost the sole prey of a particular animal for as long as there were voles around. they will be releasing more water vole is over the next four weeks in six, carefully chosen sites, where they have checked there are no mink to be seen. let's catch up with the latest business news. wages grew faster than expected in the three months tojuly, as they continued to outstrip rising prices. earnings have now risen faster than inflation for several months. more on this in a moment. debenhams' chairman has said the firm was forced to rush out an early trading statement on monday to stop "nosy neighbours" gossiping about its future. sir ian cheshire said speculation about the department store chain had become "a circus" and it wanted

investors to know that trading had not collapsed. use of cash fell a further 1% last year and now accounts forjust 22% of purchases, according to the british retail consortium. but the switch to plastic hasn't stopped britons spending — there were almost 20 billion retail transactions over the year. that works out at 54 million transactions a day, or 40,000 a minute. more on those jobs figures. wages grew at a faster rate than expected in the three months tojuly as they continued to rise faster than average prices. excluding bonuses, wages grew by 2.9%, according to figures from the office for national statistics, well above the 2.4% inflation rate for the three—month period. analysts had forecast a 2.8% rise. unemployment continued to fall,

dropping by 55,000 to 1.36 million. the unemployment rate remains at its lowest level for over 40 yea rs. the number of people in work rose by 3,000, taking the total employment level to over 32 million. the ons has also said thatjob vacancies rose 14,000 compared with the previous three months bringing job vacancies to a record high of 833,000. joining us now is ruth gregory, senior economist, capital economics. we have now seen the economy growing ata we have now seen the economy growing at a better rate than it has for a long time, wages are growing, does it mean the cost of living squeeze is pretty much over? yes, pay grade which has been the main sort of bad news in recent months, did gather pace injuly news in recent months, did gather

pace in july and news in recent months, did gather pace injuly and that should be welcome news to households contending with higher living costs from higher energy and higherfuel prices. the suggestion that growing competition for workers will lead to further wage growth later in the year. it sounds like the big number ofjob vacancies is good news for wages because it means employers have to compete to get workers to sign up with them. but the british chambers of commerce said the number of vacancies is alarmingly high and it shows there is a shortage of the people at the right skills for those jobs, is it a concern? we did see in the figures that the recent surge in employment growth has petered out in the three months tojuly. but we we re the three months tojuly. but we were never likely to seek the stellar rates continue indefinitely. beneath the surface the figures were not quite as worrying, firms reduce

their reliance on part—time workers. we don't think that with hiring intentions so robust, it doesn't indicate a stagnation in the labour market ahead. when we talk about wages rising by 2.9%, often when we talk about these stories, people say my wages don't rise by that, but they are averages across the board? they are, and when you look at wage growth prior to the financial crisis, it was growing by 4%. so it is still a lot lower than those rates back then and it is still only just above inflation of 2.5%. so after the year—long pay squeeze that has only been a bit of respite for household so far. that is the comparison the bank of england looks at when it is making interest—rate decisions, the relative speed of wages rising to average prices? yes,

i think the labour market figures will provide encouragement for the monetary policy committee ahead of its meeting this week. however, an interest rate rise in september or later this year still looks extremely slim, given the ongoing brexit uncertainties. there is a chance the bank of england won't move again until after the uk has left the eu in march 2000 and 19. thank you for your take on those figures. let's ta ke let's take a quick look at the markets before we go. devon shares plunged almost 10% after the company confirmed it appointed kpmg to improve its fortunes. they said they we re improve its fortunes. they said they were forced to rush out a trading statement yesterday to stop nosy neighbours talking about its future. that's all the business news.

security pictures of an attempted armed robbery in the us state have gone viral, and you're about to see why. the video is from a shop in colorado where a robbery goes badly wrong — for the robber. he drops his gun as he draws it on the sales person. as you can see, she then picks it up and he makes a quick exit. now, the weather... we have had a wet start to the day across northern part of england and wales. but it was a warm start, temperatures this morning around about the mid to the high teens. we will still have rain in the afternoon but it is gradually dissipating. the heavy rain pushes further south through the midlands

and in towards east anglia and the south—west of england. patchy rain in that line be down to the south—east of england but quite cloudy. to the north of that blustery showers in western scotland. these wind arrows indicative of the gusts of wind this afternoon. breezy for many, particularly the north—west. gusts up particularly the north—west. gusts up to 50,60 miles an hour. but still quite warm in the south—east with highs of 23 degrees. tonight, rain will intensify across england and wales and quite a wet night and again, nota and wales and quite a wet night and again, not a particularly cold night. temperatures staying in double figures but with clearer spells across scotland, northern ireland. it will be that little bit chilly. on wednesday, we'll see rain in the south and that will stick around for much of the day. it will feel cooler across the south to today. temperatures dropping down to about 16 celsius. further north,

away from the south where there will be sunny spells, a few showers in scotla nd be sunny spells, a few showers in scotland but for most it will be dry and temperatures similar to today. have a good afternoon. this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. these are the top stories developing at midday. fewer police and falling arrest rates — the home office is accused of failing to understand the impact of police cuts in england and wales. a big increase in nhs vacancies in england — health officials say rising demand and higher leaving rates are to blame. the widow of the first man to die on westminster bridge describes how she saw their attackers car revving as it approached them. the bbc says it'll review the policy of giving free tv licences to people over the age of 75. also coming up — an "extremely dangerous" major hurricane. more than a million people are ordered to leave their homes on the east coast of america as hurricane florence approaches. and russia begins the biggest military exercises in its history —

and chinese troops willjoin in for the first time. good afternoon. it's tuesday, the 11th of september. i'm joanna gosling. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the home office is accused of failing to understand the impact of cuts to the police service in england and wales. the public spending watchdog, the national audit office, says forces have been cutting staff to save money, while arrest rates have fallen. the home office is spending £8.6 billion pounds on the police service this year. but since 2010, there has been a 19% reduction in government and local funding. meaning the size of the police force has shrunk by 18%. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. what do our cops cost,

and do they provide value for money? important questions but ones the home office is struggling to answer. that's the main finding from a report by experts who examined government spending — the national audit office. the report on police finances says the home office is spending £8.6 billion on the police service this year, but it says there are significant gaps in the department's understanding of costs and demand, and it criticises the home office for relying on a formula for funding forces which is ineffective and detached from the changing nature of policing. the funding formula they've used to allocate money is out of date and the home office told parliament in 2015 that the formula was ineffective. here we are three years later, and there hasn't been an update of that formula and so it's unlikely that the money is going to the right places. the report says since 2010, when budgets were cut, police have carried out less

proactive work like breathalyser tests. it says there are fewer arrests and it's taking longer to charge suspects. the home office denies it doesn't understand the demands on policing. it says it's increased overall police funding this year, and sajid javid, the home secretary, will tell superintendents later at their conference that he is doing all he can to support front—line officers. danny shaw, bbc news. let's go live to the police superintendents association met police commissioner cressida cressida dick is speaking. at lunchtime that the counting cars in the car park and they were off for golf at two o'clock. i am sure it was not like that and i am sure your front line staff do not think your front line staff do not think you are doing anything like that but nevertheless, holding your head

there were four of them. the borough of westminster consists now of what was a district and what was c district. and d district as well. four times 12, probably 12. i district. and d district as well. fourtimes12, probably 12. i now have one chief superintendent in charge of the borough of westminster. fast forward, i was not allowed to be a chief superintendent, it was at a time when they did away with them, so i was an area commander superintendent. it seems carefree days. had about 500 staff, we were implementing the new crime disorder partnerships. i had lots of delegated power. we were trying all sorts of things. really, apart from getting the most out of that partnership, myjob was to manage operations and risk. i know i am now

asking my 12 new chief superintendents, who are leading across three, four burrows, two borrowers, but enormous complex borrowers, but enormous complex borrowers, they are managing much more complex risk —— boroughs. in doing that while going through the largest transformation the met has ever been through. the chief superintendents and superintendents form a vital bridge, always between long—term strategic vision and operational delivery and right now i recognise it is a hugejob. i do value them. i do value you. i do value them. i do value you. i do value them. i do value you. i do value the superintendents and co nsta ntly value the superintendents and constantly look at ways i can show i am investing in members of this association. i recognise we are

requiring high levels of personal resilience. i know you have been debating stretch probably throughout the conference. i am not going to spend too long combat. it is of course, as the minister acknowledged, ever present. the increased terrorist threat something likely to go one many years to come. it does not just likely to go one many years to come. it does notjust keeps specialist tea m it does notjust keeps specialist team is busy but it puts all of us under extra responsibility. a greater proportion of the time of every single member of the force, officer and staff, firearms officer, dedicated ward officer, technical support team, planner, public commander, they are all taking on extra responsibilities because of our overriding duty to prevent attacks and prevent our public. we are dealing with higher volumes of

crime and particularly emerging crimes. we have higher expectations and standards and we have is the minister said, i had and standards and we have is the ministersaid, i had said, something i believe of a drift into taking up the slack of other public services struggling to deliver. in places like london the population is growing rapidly. it has high inequalities and increasing proportions of the very young, subject crime and crime generators. the very old, the mentally unwell. demand is more complex and i think this is the biggest game changer. the volumes we are dealing with are more complex, particularly in terms of serious violence and new crimes particularly in terms of the extraordinary volumes of digital material we are now coping with. the stretches are evidenced in the report but also evidenced as i am

sure you have acknowledged, the minister, absolutely has, not in these words, the daily realities of some quite tired front line officers and staff, some of whom are frustrated they are not always providing the service theyjoin the job to do and passionately want to do and some are working longer and harder than they or their families would like and are struggling to ta ke would like and are struggling to take days off and leave when they need it. we are facing this stretch ata time need it. we are facing this stretch at a time of international political uncertainty, of greater scrutiny than ever before, where every action ofan than ever before, where every action of an officer is not only on their body worn video but is also likely to be ona body worn video but is also likely to be on a mobile phone, potentially to be on a mobile phone, potentially to go viral in seconds. at a time when social media and tech companies are literally turning some of our social norms on their heads. these

are as you have said unprecedented times. but the service has risen to extraordinary challenges so many times in its history. last year, i was privileged to give the eulogy at the memorial service for lord imbert, a great commission. it is worth reminding ourselves what he and that generation. width. when he was commissioner, he had wapping, broadwater farm, was commissioner, he had wapping, broadwaterfarm, brixton riots, clapham junction rail crash, cou ntless clapham junction rail crash, countless ira bombings, including baltic exchange, ca nary countless ira bombings, including baltic exchange, canary wharf and bishopsgate. between 1990 and 1992 there were 57 attacks in london alone and in 1990, a bomb was discovered under a lectern just before he was due to speak and he said if he had known, he would've

worn an old suit! he also dealt with extraordinary levels of challenge to the integrity of his force and police evidence and he had to implement real reform and to say to people if you do not like it, you can leave and leave now. faced with our unprecedented challenges, i say andi our unprecedented challenges, i say and i think we all would say, we have a straightforward choice. about how we respond. we can put our heads in our hands, admit defeat, moan, or we can respond with the optimism and determination that has always characterised the best of the service, the optimism, determination and courage, actually, that peter imbert showed. at a time like this i

do not believe the language of reform is useful. i think the service has swallowed the language of reform and i speak entirely for myself at this stage, but it is not a word i use as a leader. reform is pejorative. it implies something is profoundly broken. i simply do not believe that about my service, our service. in the last couple of weeks, i have spent a week, morning, noon and night, doing nothing but being out with my front line teams, with tsg, dedicated ward offices, schools officers, the crime task force, in dispatch centres, on drugs raids, high—tech ops. i spent eight hours walking around, as many of you did, the monday of carnival with officers who worked 16 hours on sunday, came back for another tour, same length probably, some of them

walking next to floats, the hardest challenge of those who do not work in london is the last two hours of that extraordinary weekend, or three hours. this last time it was either very hot or very wet. i have seen as you all did, revealed last week, the jaw—dropping brilliance of our ct teams. and what they have done in the salisbury investigation. i have celebrated 100 years of the flying squad, rather extraordinary lunch! i did not stay long! laughter. honestly, i did not. i have conducted and led the most extraordinary commendation ceremony with people showing courage and professionalism of the highest order and yesterday i attended the westminster inquest which was opening and i met families, family liaison officers, investigators and

i listen to that appalling evidence, that shocking, despicable, futile, horrific, senseless attack. in all the work i have been doing in the past couple of weeks, i have not seen a past couple of weeks, i have not seen a broken force, i saw great people desperate to protect the public, fantastic skills, calm, capable, compassion, courage, integrity, getting fantastic results. i have to say and there are people, i do not mean to be rude, there are people mostly of a certain age in this room, it is not surprising, i am older than any of you, but the service we now lead is, honestly, so much more professional, so honestly, so much more professional, so much more fair and accountable, transparent, so much more competent and diverse, more responsive, it has much better understanding of a wider

range of communities and, in my view, it's integrity has never been higher. that is the met police commissioner cressida dick addressing the police superintendents conference. we say good by two viewers on bbc two. coverage continues on the bbc news channel. our public really do value us. after the inquest, i went back to my postbag briefly and ifound after the inquest, i went back to my postbag briefly and i found there a letter of thanks from the mother of murdered boy. she wrote it as she left for hajj. god bless the met police she said. another person with learning difficulties, reported online with no expectation anything would happen and we came round within an hourand would happen and we came round within an hour and helped stop the

sun being exploited, help the family, he confided in his parents. yesterday afternoon i had one that brought tears to my eyes, a victim of domestic and sexual abuse who had finally found the courage to stand up finally found the courage to stand up against family, cultural norms, against her husband, who was assaulting her, purely, she said, because of the support and kindness of the young male officer. there was a homophobic assault victim, did not get anyjustice, a homophobic assault victim, did not get any justice, nevertheless wanted to write to say how exceptionally kind and honest the officer was. and the widow of a serving officer who told me that the colleagues who helped her in the past few weeks we re helped her in the past few weeks were so helped her in the past few weeks were so professional and tactful, so compassionate, you should be proud of what the net represents. i look at that and my yesterday postbag and look at what i have seen in the past two weeks and i am reminded of what

an observer said to me last week. this is not a service that needs reform, this is a service that needs support and needs resources. we do need resources, of course we do, and the nag need resources, of course we do, and the nao report shows this. i am not going to talk about that now, i might geta going to talk about that now, i might get a question on it, i understand that. if we do not get more resources, and even if we do, we have other choices. we can reduce the scope of the mission, we can embrace more risk, we can seek greater productivity. in my view we should of course do some of all of the above and get more resources, we should focus on what matters best, and we must evidence as well as we can why we need more resources and what the public and the government will get for their money. to do that we need to put, boring though it is,

even more effort into understanding costs a nd even more effort into understanding costs and what works. probably not boring to some of you, but it is ha rd boring to some of you, but it is hard grind. it may surprise some of you to know i used to be an accountant. not a good one, not for very long but i was and counters, no disrespect, know the cost of everything and the of nothing. of course some parts of good policing arejust course some parts of good policing are just not only invaluable, as in the citizen would not be without them, but they are also very hard to value, let alone to cost what it ta kes to value, let alone to cost what it takes to provide. it's complicated. what value does anybody put on feeling safe? on getting justice, on being diverted away from crime? what value do we, as a society, put on knowing our police will be

motivated, fair, impartial, operationally independent, use minimum necessary force? all things people take for granted, all things if you travel around the world who often do not see in policing, what value do you put on that? we must not take them for granted, they are ha rd not take them for granted, they are hard won, built on years of history, co nsta nt hard won, built on years of history, constant learning, strong values and caring, thoughtful leadership. effective governance and public who ca re effective governance and public who care about and are involved in their police and they depend on continuing to have brilliant people. we have brilliant people. in the met a few months ago, welcoming as we did the extra money that was made available just before the financial year, although i have to say, i continue to be frustrated by the constant

twists and turns of ever—changing one year financial settlements, which is difficult when you are trying to run a £3.2 billion organisation and plans to ten, 20 yea rs' organisation and plans to ten, 20 years' time, and frustrated also by the lateness of decisions, but we have set about, as the minister has said, reversing the plan for a reduction in officer numbers, not just to meet the normal churn but to go back up to about 30,750 people. we are ramping up huge recruitment campaigns, we have diversified our offer. direct entry detectives, i could go one. we work in a region with record low unemployment and it is undoubtedly getting harder to find the right people. we will not lower standards, we have to work harder to find right people. in that context i want to say a little bit

about recent police pay award. earlier this year, the met made the case for a 3% award, our arguments and detailed supporting evidence we re and detailed supporting evidence were accepted by the independent pay review body and we presented it to the government. i fully respect the government's right to make a decision will stop but, on this occasion, the government chose to ignore the recommendation of the pay review body and chose, as you know, instead to impose the 2% consolidated award. that feels like 196 consolidated award. that feels like 1% to officers. and i am extremely disappointed by that outcome. i understand the government have to ta ke understand the government have to take into account a wide range of factors and we have worked tirelessly with the home office and prb to build the case for what i

believe is fair pay for officers. i do regret the decision. it is a matter of principal officers must have confidence in an independent body deciding on their pay. it is worth looking, i am sure some of you have, at the rhetoric when the pay review body was set up. officers cannot strike, that is quite right. but it is unlike other front—line workers. of course, the military cannot live and there is a good reason for that also but other front—line workers can, and that puts an obligation on the government to respect the carefully developed arguments and recommendations of the pay review body. this is the second yearin pay review body. this is the second year ina pay review body. this is the second year in a row the government rejected the body's recommendations in favour of a lower award and i think as you have probably seen, i think as you have probably seen, i

think it is wrong in principle because it leaves the prb process in tatters, undermines the careful balance that protects officers' rights, wrong in practice because in my view, it flies in the face of evidence and rational argument. and wrong because although i accept any final decision is one for the government, it has not been explained very well yet and we have heard no proposal about how to rebuild confidence in the prb and i look forward to that. i am sorry to say i think that decision will have affected morale and will affect recruitment and will perhaps affect retention. as many of you know, i do not want my service and we are miles from this, i do not want my service to be reduced to what some of you remember as pre—edmund davies days. ido remember as pre—edmund davies days. i do not want to wait for the police

to be struggling like the prison service with chronic understaffing. we are looking at how we can recruit, recruit, recruit, and i am looking at how i can retain. i have been concerned about the expertise walking out of my service and i will not go into great detail here, but i am announcing today a new return scheme that will open up for pcs to inspectors, higher than that if there is a critical skill shortage, will apply to anybody approaching retirement in the next three months or who has gone are the last two months and i hope it will be an attractive offer to keep people close to the service that many of them laugh and did not actually wish to leave. i know this because i do retirement ceremonies. back to language and language of reform, i do not like it but i do not like the

language of transformation which is management—speak. i mention it because i say it all the time. i cannot think of a better word. we need to transform. do not get the impression i am stuck here. we have to hang on to our essence, core mission, identity, our reputation, hang on to what the public value us for, hang on to values, but we have to speed up change for the future and as senior leaders we need to lead for the future. my friend jimmy, the commissioner, has said several times, and he said it first to me 18 months ago, in his view there is only one think that officers like less than change. that is the status quo. we all know the story of pc 001 in 1829 who said to

pc 002,... story of pc 001 in 1829 who said to pc 002, . .. laughter. one of the great strengths of policing is its expertise, people know what works, they know how to do it, they'd know how to get on with it. i often say the management board of the met could all go under a bus, the met would roll on for months and nobody would notice. laughter. true, major incidents, unprecedented weather, the met, the police service turn up and get on with it, dogged determination and know—how, the great machine rolls along. that sense of purpose, the strength, pragmatism, has perhaps in my view lead us on occasion to be less open to change. less open to the outside world. less open than we should have been and to focus too much on today

and last night and yesterday and not enough on the future. the world is changing fast, we need to change fast with it. and so i say we must become more permeable, more diverse, much less hierarchical, we must lead ina much less hierarchical, we must lead in a different way. we have got to nurture the talent and fast track some of it. we have got to identify su ccesses some of it. we have got to identify successes quickly and we need to make the very most of the opportunities in the digital age so it becomes more of an advantage to us than it is to the criminal. that means we need to become effective digital leaders and for me, that is genuinely in my view the great leadership challenge of our generation. the digital age will and must change, is changing, our culture and our leadership. ifirmly

believe that a spin off of the extraordinary changes happening in people's digital personal lives is that when i leave the met i will leave behind the service more used to change and more up for change, where changes seem repeatedly as more positively than it was by pc 001 and 002. meanwhile, the public have legitimate questions about our current work and crime levels, about violent crime in particular, and about standards of service, about the things we get wrong. as peter imbert said, we should respond to criticism with a willingness to change. our staff have questions. they want to know what we are doing to support them, how well are we advocating for them, what are we doing to create an environment in which they can thrive, feel trusted and empowered, in which they have

reasonable workloads, and which they feel is one lead, equipped and safe. it is not the time, as perhaps many have said, so forgive me, for hand—wringing, endless discussions of the problem, it is a times as strong, ethical and thoughtful leadership. whatever sometimes critics may think, policing is not a straightforward business. today's hero is tomorrow's villain. there are some of you in this room who know that feeling. as olivia pinkney once said, i think, the fire service and ambulance heroes and angels, the police service, of course, the people who do policing, they are daily heroes and angels but they also have to use force and bring people to justice and take children

into protection, have to referee between warring parties, keep angry protesters apart. they will not be popular all the time and their world is ever more scrutinised and proscribed uncontested and ethically challenging and that means their leaders, us, need to know the business better than ever. and did a world of disinformation and false news, we need to be able to be authoritative, attentive, quick, calm and ethically crystal clear. i would say policing is getting ethnically more challenging. i will finish by talking about violent crime. although i do think strategically the great challenges the future, today's overwhelmingly important challenges violent crime, which has been my highest

operational priority. i will mention a few things about street, knife and gun crime. it has been increasing in england and wales in 2014. the met, london, possibly less than some places, but some ghastly events, some horrible homicides involving very young people, vivid, awful, frightening. we have our new violent crime task force. we have a lot of help from people including innis run beyond the met from the national crime agency and lots of partners. i think the herculean efforts of all parts of the met, flexing, surging, trying new tactics, having more presence, it is definitely printing results. the homicide rates we saw in the early part of this calendar year are down. i do not take that lightly.

each one is gasly. some crime is down by 50%. knife injury victims under 25 going up consistently over four years, now having plateaued, ithink consistently over four years, now having plateaued, i think and to turn down. many other crime types we would bundle into knife crime, they are stabilising. we have had, as you will have noticed, what gold called one of the smoothest carnivals we have seen. two stabbings, 17 the year before and 19 the year before that. thanks to fantastic, tough policing. we have seized record amounts of weapons, locked up in

record numbers of prolific knife carriers and we will continue to do record numbers of weapons searches. but as we head into autumn, darker nights, that is a time of concern for people in london and i am therefore, as of today, announcing a further 100 officers for a three—month period who are moving from their normal duties, right across to work full—time on violent crime in the task force, joining the task force. because i want to drive those crime figures further down and in the right direction. in doing that, i have been given a huge amount of help from tfl because i am taking them from safer transport teams and support from the mayor. but you all know it is not a long—term solution, enforcement alone is not a long—term solution, so alone is not a long—term solution,

soi alone is not a long—term solution, so i welcome the government's violent crime strategy and i welcome the london mayor's efforts and i welcome the fact social media companies are changing their position. i welcome the work going in local authorities‘ criminal justice system, education, all now thinking about their role in prevention, education and early intervention. i probably shouldn‘t be speaking for all of you, but i will be and my partners in london will be and my partners in london will be and my partners in london will bejudged by will be and my partners in london will be judged by our actions are not our words. so i am incredibly proud of the very hard work that might officers and staff are doing to bear down on this pernicious violence which is affecting our young people and our young people in certain communities. hugely disproportionately. it is very valuable work but we need, they need

the long—term effort against violence and needs resources and support in the broadest sense. it needs determined leadership, in needs determined leadership, in needs the involvement of our public and it needs valuing. thank you very much. applause thank you very much, lots of questions coming in. just to start where you left off with the 100 extras to tackle violent crime, it seems to be an admission that if you throw more staff at the problem, you can solve it. have spending cuts then lead to an increase in crime?” don‘t think it is as simple as that. i think it is a very complex issue. i think it is a very complex issue.

i think there is undoubtedly some change in society. i think there has been a massive stretch on various aspects of the public sector. as the minister said the man‘s have gone up in other areas. i don‘t see a straight equation that says money went down, crime went up. and i think in the history of violent crime you probably will never find that. i have said, iwill say crime you probably will never find that. i have said, i will say and i do say, it has been part of it, of course it has. is it fair to say police are not responding to crimes they might have responded to that in they might have responded to that in the past? i havejust been reminded of the cream of the same never have a glass in your hand when you answer, sesay the question again. a glass in your hand when you answer, sesay the question againm it fairto answer, sesay the question againm it fair to say the police are not

responding to the crimes they might responding to the crimes they might respond to in the past? yellow mark “ we respond to in the past? yellow mark — — we have respond to in the past? yellow mark —— we have always flexed, we have always changed, we have always said this type of crime needs a huge response and that type of crime doesn't appear to be solvable. this one has a very vulnerable person and that one has someone who isn‘t terribly worried about it. we have a lwa ys terribly worried about it. we have always made those kinds of choices, but i do know that some of my officers, some of the time and i know other chiefs have talked about this, do feel some aspects of our service as we go to this massive change, is not the way they would like it to be. studio: that is cressida dick, the met police commissioner. she said the police in need resources and support, not reform. she discussed the use of reform around the police

and said she doesn‘t like the word because it implies policing is broken. she said she is incredibly proud of the work the police are doing. she said the service being led is more professional, competent and diverse and responsible than it has ever been. but she did come back to the issue of resourcing and it follows on from those statistics that showed the funding for the police, both from local and central government has decreased by 19% since 2010. we will get more reaction to cressida dick was saying. some breaking news to bring you, the bank of england governor mark carney has agreed he will stay in his post untiljanuary 2020. that was revealed by the chancellor philip hammond in the commons. he said it is to ensure continuity during what could be a turbulent period for our economy in the early summer period for our economy in the early summer of 2019. it is the second time mark carney has agreed to

extend the term he is serving. he said he would want to serve just five years but now has agreed to stay in the post until early 2020. let‘s hear from stay in the post until early 2020. let‘s hearfrom philip hammond when he made the announcement.” let‘s hearfrom philip hammond when he made the announcement. i have been discussing, with the governor, his ability to serve a little longer in post to ensure continuity to what could be quite a turbulent period for our economy in the early summer of 2019. i can tell the house that the governor has agreed, despite various personal pressures to conclude his term injune, but he will continue until the end of january 2020 in order to help support continuity in our economy during this period. let's go to norman smith who is in westminster. philip hammond saying it is about ensuring continuity through what could be a difficult time, what does

it say about the government‘s concerns about that time? it underlines the fact philip hammond is concerned about the difficulties the economy may face after brexit and his desire to have continuity and his desire to have continuity and stability in the bank of england. i can guarantee they will not be hanging out the bunting in brexit central. mark carney has become a hate figure for many brexiteers in so—called project fear. they said the referendum has matched some of his analysis and projections and again pointed towards a gloomy prediction about what brexit might mean. we have had jacob rees mogg calling for him to be sacked. i imagine they will be at least highly unamused that he will be staying on for another six months. on top of that, i think they

will be similarly knocked that philip hammond suggested the reason he will have to say is because it is going to get difficult for the economy. it will concern their view that mr carney and mr hammond are deeply, deeply sceptical and may be resista nt to deeply, deeply sceptical and may be resistant to brexit. so for them, the announcement is a double whammy. has there been any reaction yet? not yet. all the brexiteers are in a meeting where they were setting out their predictions for the economy in their predictions for the economy in the event of no deal. at the moment they were setting out their vision of how wonderful life might be after we leave without a deal, suggesting for example that the economy will grow by 7%, that will lead to a boost in tax revenues of around 80 billion and average household incomes will increase by 8%, by my calculation, about 2500 grand a

year. just as they are presenting that optimistic outlook, along comes the chancellor and says, by the way, things will look so difficult i will have to hang on to mr carney. all things considered, i imagine relations between mr hammond and the brexiteers have hardly been improved by this announcement. thank you very much, norman. the number of vacancies in the nhs in england has increased by 9,000 in three months between april to june. health officials say it‘s a result of rising demand for care and higher rates of staff leaving the service. our health editor hugh pym explained what the figures indicated. it is another indication on the pressure on the nhs. the figures doubled going into a&e injune, 6.2 million. more patients coming in and hospitals and other trusts are trying to increase staff numbers to

cope with the higher demand. as we have heard, 9000 more vacancies, 107,000 now for all staff, nurses and doctors. that is up on the previous three months compared with the same time last year. and the regulator improvement is saying one of the reasons for this is people leaving does raise the question about whether these pressures are proving too much for some staff, who wa nt to proving too much for some staff, who want to get out. but there will a lwa ys want to get out. but there will always be some vacancies, but this increase is quite disturbing. always be some vacancies, but this increase is quite disturbingm always be some vacancies, but this increase is quite disturbing. is it possible to drill down into what is the story behind is leaving? is it because of the pressures and leaving at the stage when they could very easily carry on or is it people retiring, what is it? there is nothing in these figures that tells us precisely why. busy people who wa nt to us precisely why. busy people who want to go off and do something else, retire early or leave the uk?

you will always get some people leaving and some peoplejoining, but they have highlighted this fact ahead of winter. they are saying the total deficit of hospitals, ambulance trusts, mental health and all trusts in england, they think the underlying figure is £3.4 billion. that is the difference between the money they get in for providing health care to the nhs and the amount they are spending. once you have stripped out all the support funding. it is a big figure and we didn‘t know that before. all of this is setting up the fact that is going to be another winter. the new money promised by the government, jeremy hunt when he was health secretary ann theresa may in the summer said the nhs would get 3.4% real terms increase but that doesn‘t kick in until next year. so reading between the lines, it is going to be a difficult time for the

nhs in england. russia is beginning what it says is the largest military exercise in its history in eastern siberia. by thursday, 300,000 russian soldiers will be involved. and for the first time, chinese troops will also take part. our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford reports. this is a war game intended to impress. russia has been rolling its military hardware into place, ready for what it‘s billed as the biggest exercise since soviet times. all of this is for vostok, or east, a military drill that will run for a week and involved more than 300,000 troops. russia is beginning what it says is the largest military exercise in its history in eastern siberia. the air force and the navy are both involved. it‘s not only for training.

testing logistics across this vast country. it‘s also a giant stroke of strength at the time when relations with the west are tense. and, for the first time, some 3000 chinese troops will fight alongside the russians. that sends a strong signal of the two countrys‘ deepening bond. as does this, china‘s president arrived in eastern russia today as the military drill began. he is attending an economic forum and also meeting vladimir putin. as they sat down for talks, russia‘s president said relations with china in politics, security and defence were based on trust. that and these war games are perhaps a warning to washington about where isolating these countries can lead. for years, vladimir putin has made modernising the military is his. the military is his priority. his way of making russia great again. all this then is displayed to the west of the results. a show on a scale not seen since the cold war. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. let‘s go to the us now,

where memorials are being held in new york and in washington to mark the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. nearly 3,000 people died and thousands more were injured when the two world trade center towers collapsed after hijackers crashed planes into them. these are the live pictures coming to us from new york city at ground zero where the world trade center stood. a remembrance ceremony is taking place and it looks like people making rubbings of some of the names on that memorial that bears the names of those who died. a bell of hope will bring out in new york city at saint paul‘s chapel. it will mark the moment the first plane hit the world trade center on september the 11th, 2001. earlier at the pentagon in washington, a us flag was unfurled from the roof to

pay tribute to those who lost their lives. these are the live in images coming to us from ground zero. we will return for more of the commemorations. more than a million people in the american states of south carolina, north carolina and virgina have been told to leave their homes ahead of the arrival of hurricane florence. it‘s feared the storm, with winds of up to 140 miles an hour, could bring widespread flooding and devastation these are pictures from inside the eye of the storm. on its current track, florence is predicted to make landfall near wilmington, north carolina, late on thursday. richard lister reports. meteorologists are keeping a close

watch from the sky as evacuations are ordered on the ground. we've got the hurricane and the surge which may be as high as ten feet, maybe more, maybe less, coming at us from the ocean. then we will have water flooding us. we are in for a real episode here. 1 million people along the coast of the carolinas have been told to leave their homes. the outer banks, a chain of low—lying islands is particularly vulnerable. everybody here have been ordered out. people don‘t understand that when they say it is time to evacuate, there is no emergency services, the restaurants are closed and nothing else is open, you need to get back to the mainland so you have some comforts. before they go they do what they can to make sure they do what they can to make sure they have a home or a business to. hopefully we will have a business to

come back to. the us navy is making a tactical retreat. around 30 ships stationed on the virginia coast have been ordered out to sea. it is thought they will have better chance of avoiding damage by riding out the storm there. even those communities not directly in its path have been told to take precautions. gather up your emergency supplies, food, flashlights, extra batteries, medications and important documents and other items you will need if you have evacuate quickly. around the region, people are taking heed. there have been long lines as people stock up on propane and petrol, based for the prospect of power cuts. i want to make sure my car is full of gas, but also enough for the generator. grocery stores have had a busy week as people prepare for what could be many days of disruption. the forecast models are suggesting

the storm will slow down and meander around and that is a recipe for an inland flooding disaster, much like what we saw with hurricane harvey in texas. the hurricane won't make la ndfall texas. the hurricane won't make landfall until thursday but the atla ntic landfall until thursday but the atlantic surf is up and there are two storms behind florence, also heading west. richard lister, bbc news. the bbc is to review free tv licences for people over the age of 75. the policy was originally introduced as a government—backed scheme, but the bbc is now liable for the cost to 2020. the bbc‘s director general tony hall, told mps the corporation will consider whether the policy should be reformed. in an appearance at the culture, media and sport committee, lord hall also spoke about the sir cliff richard privacy case and the bbc‘s decision to drop its appeal against the ruling. i think there are two issues at the heart here, which i‘m sure you are thinking of too. one is the nature of the coverage and my own view on that is, as the judge said, this was a proper

case, this was a proper thing to — we reported accurately what happened. but my own view is, we overdid it, i think the helicopter was overdoing it. my own judgment and judgment on hindsight is always a very fine thing, is that there was something to report, but down the bulletin. let‘s speak to colin paterson, our arts and entertainment correspondent. first of all, tell us more about what he said about sir cliff richard? i was at this meeting which took place in salford, three floors above where i am sitting. cliff richard made quite a section. lots of questions about how much it cost with the committee suggesting a figure of £1.5 million. lord hall did not confirm that. much discussion as to what had been appropriate. lord hall said he thought the helicopter had been over

the top. he also said he personally approach cliff richard before the case went to court to see if they could have a settlement, but he said the word had come back from cliff richard‘s legal team that they would not agree to any settlement unless the bbc agreed they had behaved illegally and lord hall said the bbc would not do that. finally, lord hall has agreed to write to the dcms committee, a letter asking for clear clarification from parliament in cases like this, as to whether or not the bbc should be covering them. what about over 75‘s licence fee, it is something that is being covered by the bbc at the moment and he said that will be looked at? yes, this was brought in in 2015, the bbc now pays for the tv licence fees for the over 70 fires. this runs out injune 2020, so he was at directly about

this and he said he could not guarantee they would continue because it had to go to discussion and debate. we will know more in the coming years, butjune 2020 is when that runs out and lord hall said he cannot guarantee free tv licences for the over 75 ‘s will continue. cannot guarantee free tv licences for the over 75 's will continue. on questions of pay, chris evans in particular, what was said about that? mps asking questions, they said they knew this would be of great interest to the public and they referenced recent departures from the bbc of both eddie mair from the today programme on radio four and chris evans from the radio two brea kfast and chris evans from the radio two breakfast show. lord hall said the bbc could no longer compete when it comes to mega sums. that was the phrase he used, that could be made available by some commercial broadcasters. he also said he believed chris evans had found it very difficult, the fact his salary had been published. this was part of

the charter renewal agreement that the charter renewal agreement that the salaries of the stars would be published and he believes it was a factor in chris evans‘ departure from the bbc. thank you, colin. the uk‘s water vole population has dropped so drastically over the past few decades that they are now one of the country‘s most endangered mammals. they haven‘t been spotted in west somerset for 30 years, but conservationists hope they‘ll make the rivers their home again, thanks to a special breeding programme as clinton rogers reports. a van full of voles. 150 of them on their way to freedom and a little bit of history. are they ready for it? they are, they are strong animals and they will be happy to get out there and go. they haven‘t seen a water vole in the rivers of west somerset for 30 years. but now the national trust is putting that right. let‘s go. reintroducing one of the uk‘s most endangered mammals to the rivers

that were once their home. although the first did take a little time before deciding to take a dip. the national trust says 94% of the uk‘s water vole population has disappeared. changes in farming practices, the loss of wetlands and the american mink, which has been a ferocious predator. the vole had no defence against the american mink, and it cut a swathe through the vole population and it was almost the sole prey of that particular animal for as long as there were voles around. they will be releasing more water vole is over the next four weeks in six, carefully chosen sites, where they have checked there are no mink security pictures of an attempted armed robbery in the us have gone viral, and

you‘re about to see why. the video is from a shop in colorado where a robbery goes badly wrong — for the robber. he drops his gun as he draws it on the sales person. as you can see, she then picks it up and he makes a quick exit. someonejust someone just told someonejust told me his someone just told me his trousers fell down, i didn‘t see that. in a moment it‘s time for the news at one with ben brown, but first it‘s time for a look at the weather. it isa it is a blustery day and there are sunny spells to be had. scotland and northern ireland and more so in northern england by the end of the day. there is a bit of rain to be had along the strip of cloud all the way across the atlantic and towards the uk we are seeing this. it is gradually moving south through the rest of the day and into this evening. this is where it is sitting. by the afternoon and

evening, this strip of cloud and patchy rain. brightening up in north wales, north of england and you may catch some blustery showers in north scotland. average wind speeds with gusts up to 50 miles an hour or so. windy afternoon to be had. temperatures in the mid to high teens but some have reached into the low 20s. last day of that, it will feel cooler and fresh tomorrow. an area of cloud patchy rain in southern england this evening. another area of rain pushing into wales in north—west england and other parts of england and wales as it feeds southwards later in the night. clear spells in scotland and northern ireland so you will dip into single figures here. the showers will continue in north scotla nd showers will continue in north scotland on the gusty wind. this is the weather front of cloud and rain tomorrow. cooler and fresher air will filter further south across the uk. rain tomorrow morning will be clearing away from wales, pushing across southern england. brighter

skies behind, and for many into the afternoon, dry with sunny spells. showers into northern ireland and scotland, most frequent in the west. across the northern half of the uk, similarto across the northern half of the uk, similar to today but it will feel cooler and fresher to the south. goodbye to that and hello to another frontal system across northern areas on thursday, driven by low pressure to the north. the scotland, northern ireland, northern england on thursday there will be cloud around and a chance of seeing outbreaks of rain or showers. south of that there will be a mixture of cloud and sunshine but it will be mainly dry. not a huge range in oz temperatures. fairly average for the time of year. but the rest of the week, it is at the start of the weekend, chance of rain and a few showers. best of any sunny spells in the east. britain‘s most senior police officer warns against any further cuts in policing. the metropolitan police commissioner cressida dick says she doesn‘t want the police to be as chronically underfunded

as the prison service. i don‘t want the government to wait for the police to be struggling, like the prison service, with chronic understaffing. it comes as the national audit office criticises government ministers for failing to understand the impact of police cuts. also this lunchtime... mark carney agrees to stay on as governor of the bank of england until 2020 to help a smoother brexit. the westminster bridge terror attack: the inquest hears how american tourist kurt cochran lost his life saving his wife. more than a million americans evacuated as hurricane florence heads for the east coast of the united states packing winds