plastic packaging from its own—label brand products within five years, using paper instead. british tennis number onejohanna konta has begun her australian open campaign with a comfortable 6—3, 6—1win against american madison brengle. this is bbc news. it's tuesday, 16january. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the cabinet is meeting this morning as the fallout from the collapse of the building giant carillion continues. top executives face investigations after the collapse of the firm put thousands ofjobs at risk. however, the compa ny‘s private sector workers, who provide a range ofjobs for organisations such as the nationwide building society, bt openreach and centrica, will not get the same protection, and government protection will end tomorrow, leaving thousands ofjobs in doubt. kevin mcloughlin runs a painting and decorating firm which he says has lost money and orders. monday morning, people turned up for work. 30 people got sent home. we hadn't been advised in the office so obviously people are looking for work to place them within our workforce. it's a very difficult situation. no one had told us it was going to happen. we had just finished battersea power station and a big residential, two blocks in kings cross, so we had no one there. we still had the google building in kings cross and another in the city and the impact is we have lost that money, and lost a forward order book of approximately half a million pounds. let's talk to andy bradley, the managing director of flora—tec, a landscape firm in cambridgeshire, who says they're owed nearly a million pounds by carillion. thank you forjoining us. very worrying times have you, tell us what situation you find yourself in? the situation is as a business we we re the situation is as a business we were a contractor to karelian mainly in government departments, prisons, schools, hospitals, court services, providing grounds maintenance, snow clearing. making sure the government places of work are safe for people to work, children to get to school. this is the busiest time for us. we sent a very large built into karelian at the end of december which has no chance of being paid. between november and december, about £1 million. we are not a big enough business to trade through that. have you had to lay off staff? ten people left yesterday. non—essential people, people who are not mission—critical. the marketing department, some admin some management. because of the uncertainty. pwc say it is business as usual, we will be paid for carrying out works, from yesterday, that gives us encouragement, but the problem businesses will have is the massive debt we have two trade through. ican make debt we have two trade through. i can make a political point, the government had to be called to account. when carillion put out their first profit warning injuly, we we re their first profit warning injuly, we were prudent, we thought we would have to assess this. the government gave them contract after contract. worth billions. the message that sends out to companies like us is the government must have done due diligence, carillion must be a sound proposition, otherwise why would the government give those contracts? and consistently. that message they never thought of the impact that would have in the wider supply train. you feel you were given a full sense of security? absolutely. i could not have put it better. as pa rt of better. as part of the government procurement process, they are actively wanting smes to get involved in government contracts. carillion is part of the tender package, and have to demonstrate they use a fair proportion of sme businesses which have now been let down massively by the government. a lot of them will go to the wall, full working on government contracts, for a company that quite frankly was not fit for purpose and the government should have known that well in advance. it is not impossible you will get your debt paid back to you. you worry is you won't get it in time? that is the exact point. we don't have time. i had people i need to pgy- by have time. i had people i need to pay. by law, iam insolvent if have time. i had people i need to pay. by law, i am insolvent if i cannot meet my bills when they become due. i am left with £1 million black hole in my accounts. we are unlikely to survive this. i had 90 people yesterday, a key today. it is unlikely we will survive. the government needs to be called to account, they gave eve ryo ne called to account, they gave everyone in the supply chain confidence carillion would survive. the government should have done it due diligence. let's get some more political reaction to this now from our assistant political editor norman smith. some very heated thoughts. this has exposed some fault lines in westminster. it has been seized on by labour for more public ownership, jeremy corbyn last night in a video talking about the dogma of outsourcing, saying carillion was a watershed moment because his argument is services are better run in—house by the public sector than handed out to the private sector. a fundamental change from what we have seen in the past 25 years where there has been a consensus that bringing in the private sector is good news. they attract private capital, they are often more innovative, they have different ideas, they can be more efficient. a view it is good news. jeremy corbyn is saying what carillion demonstrates is the risks of private sector involvement, and coupled with the bailing out of private sector companies involved in east coast main line and the siphoning off funds from the nhs to pay for private health providers, he believes the mood is turning. people 110w believes the mood is turning. people now are thinking, do we really want to hand over so much of our public services to mega— private contractors? it has opened up a fundamental political divide. there is a comment in the newspapers about the payoffs and salaries that have been agreed with directors of carillion, and criticism of those. has there been talk about that at westminster? there certainly has. the difficulty is carillion seem to have changed the rules within the company regarding the bonuses and payoffs that company directors could take. david lidington has said there would be penalties if it was found directors had behaved unethically. i am not sure what the legal pros and cons are reclaiming bonuses. that has played tojeremy corbyn's narrative of fat cat lining their own pockets when many people are set to lose theirjobs. day one of this crisis was to an extent and easier day because the government could offer words of reassurance. day two, they are tackling the real uncertainty people are facing whether they will have a job by tomorrow. the government said yesterday it will try to protect those working in public service but others they will only get 48 hours guaranteed pay which ends tomorrow at seven. for many, they simply do not know whether they fall in the public sector or private sector side of contracts. for them they are facing a huge anxiety i would guess about whether they will still have a job this time tomorrow. much more throughout the day here on bbc news. 13 brothers and sisters between the ages of two and 29 have been discovered in a malnourished and dirty state at their home in california. some of them were chained to their beds. their parents have been charged with torture and child endangerment. 0ur north america correspondent james cook is at the scene. they look like a big, happy family. the children a little pale, perhaps, but smiling. photographs on facebook show the turpins visiting disneyland, and in las vegas, as their apparently proud parents renewed wedding vows. now david and louise turpin are under arrest, charged with torture and child endangerment. their children are in hospital. our staff is used to taking care of people who are quite ill, they are used to compassionate care, and so we pull out all the stops, so to speak, to make sure that their privacy is dealt with, that they get the appropriate care and that they are treated with dignity and respect at a time when they need it the most. the horror on muir woods road was uncovered early on sunday morning when a 17—year—old girl escaped with a mobile phone and called the police. at the home, officers found 12 siblings and were shocked to discover that seven were adults — the oldest, 29. the captives were dirty and malnourished, say police, shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul—smelling surroundings. as reporters arrived at the quiet suburb east of los angeles, neighbours said they were stunned. they were the type that you didn't really get to know anything about them. they were very to themselves, in a sense, clan—ish, so they only kept to themselves. and the only time you would see them, you would never see anyone visit, you would never see anyone come outside, all you would really see is that they would go out and maybe make a grocery run and that was about it. conditions inside this home. the questions about what happened are mounting. not least, how long were the siblings held captive and why? james cook, bbc news, perris, california. french president emmanuel macron will shortly arrive in the port side city of calais — his first visit to the city since taking office. mr macron is seeking to subdue tensions over the large numbers of migrants who are congregating around the city, hoping to reach britain. the so—called jungle refugee camp was demolished 15 months ago, but the migrants continue to camp around calais. emmanuel macron will meet with uk prime minister theresa may on thursday — it's expected he will ask for more assistance with the issue. paul adams is in calais. president has made no secret he wa nts to president has made no secret he wants to renegotiate the agreement britain has had with france over the keeping of migrants in calais. he talked about that during his election campaign last year, about revisiting the agreement reached in 2003 which put british immigration officials on french soil, and involved a lot of british money being spent on security in this part of france. he had a problem, he said last year that no migrant would be sleeping out in the open during this winter time. well, in the calais area, there are hundreds doing just that in miserable conditions. he also is about to unveil a new immigration policy which will include a streamlining of the asylum process , include a streamlining of the asylum process, causing disquiet amongst human rights groups and embers of his own centrist political party. he is coming to calais to say he will get a grip on the situation, certainly in this area, and we believe that will involve when he moves to the uk on thursday asking for more british money to address the security situation in calais, and he will ask britain to take in more migrants particularly the unaccompanied vulnerable younger migrants, and people with family connections in the uk. how much is this linked with brexit and negotiations? i suppose everything is linked with brexit and it is hard to imagine this isn't. some, notably in the british press, have already been saying he will be leaning on theresa may and suggesting that his cooperation in the future brexit negotiations and the trade relationship after brexit will depend on her willingness to help out in calais. maybe, maybe not. it is hard to see how those things get separated. but it is clear from the rhetoric we have heard from his ministers that they do want britain to do more, and that revisiting the 2003 agreement is part of his agenda. the headlines on bbc newsroom live. calls for employees working on private sector deals for failed construction giant carillion to have their jobs protected. a californian couple are arrested on suspicion of torture after police found their 13 emaciated children some chained to their beds. inflation eased slightly from its six—year high in december falling to an annual rate of 3%. in sport, johanna konta is through to the second round of the australian open, beating madison brengle in temperatures approaching 40 degrees. roger federer had a win over aljaz bedene who is now representing the country of his birth slovenia. has a brilliant says manchester united haven't given up after producing the lead at the top of the league thanks to a win over stoke. more on this story is just after 1130. inflation eased slightly from its six—year high in december. the consumer prices index slipped to an annual rate of 3%, down from 3.1% in november. across the eurozone, inflation stood atjust1.4%. ben thompson is here to tell us more. what has driven this slight change? a slight change. good news because wages we have been told until now aren't keeping up with how quickly prices are rising. prices are going up prices are rising. prices are going up less quickly but still going up, just not as fast. the last figures for november showed it was rising at a six year high. that meant we had a squeeze on income because we weren't earning as much and prices were going up. it meant we had less money in our pocket. a marginal change driven by cheaper clothes, cheaper toys, cheap air fa res, clothes, cheaper toys, cheap air fares, these figures look at everything we buy. there has been an easing off in terms of the weaker pound. after the brexit boat, the pound fell in value which meant things imported from overseas we re which meant things imported from overseas were more expensive. that is starting to drop out of the figures. the bank of england said it expected it to go up before it goes down, and we are expecting it to fall closer to that 2% target at the end of the year. the question is how quickly oui’ wages year. the question is how quickly our wages will go up, will they match? we will find out next week. one of the world's greatest 0lympic gymnasts simone biles has claimed she was abused by a former doctor who worked for the united states' team. she is the latest athlete to accuse larry nassar of sexual abuse. he's already been jailed for 60 years for possessing indecent images of children and has admitted assaulting female gymnasts. he'll be sentenced this month. andrew plant reports. she is a four—time 0lympic champion with 19 combined world and olympic medals, she is america's most decorated gymnast. now, in a statement, the star of the rio games has said she was sexually abused by the former team usa gymnastics sports doctor larry nassar. nassar has already been jailed, sentenced to 60 years for possessing indecent images of children, he has also been accused by other gymnasts of sexual abuse, has admitted assault in two criminal cases and will be sentenced for those this month. her talent clear from a young age, simone biles is regarded by many as the greatest to ever perform in her sport. team—mates have said nassar‘s abuse came under the guise of medical treatment. in her statement, biles said she won't allow the former team doctor to steal her love and joy. the 54—year—old was jailed in december after child pornography was found on his computer. simone biles said she was not afraid to tell her story any more and adding, "it is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences, and it breaks my heart as i work towards my dream of competing in tokyo 2020, i will have to continually return to the same training facility where i was abused." andrew plant, bbc news. a blast has brought down a residential building in the belgian city of antwerp, killing at least two people and injuring more than a dozen. the origin of the explosion is not clear but police said they did not believe it was related to terrorism. three people have been removed from the rubble, including a child. belgium has been on high alert since three coordinated suicide bombings in brussels killed 32 people in 2016. police say they are not treating the death of the cranberries' singer dolores 0'riordan as suspicious. the 46—year—old was found dead in a hotel in london's park lane yesterday. the irish musician, originally from limerick, led the band to international success in the ‘90s with singles including linger and zombie. members of the band have paid tribute to their lead singer dolores. the supermarket chain iceland has said it will eliminate plastic from its own—brand products within five years. the retailer said plastic would be replaced with paper which could be recycled. the move has been welcomed by environmental campaigners and comes amid growing concern over plastic pollution in the world's oceans. joining me now is nigel broadhurst, joint managing director of iceland this is an ambitious target you have set yourselves, can you do it? absolutely. what we are announcing today... if you take a ready meal with a black plastic tray, we sell 100 million black plastic trays, we will replace those immediately this year with cardboard, a number of initiatives to take plastic out of the supply change. and board is just the supply change. and board isjust as good? for the product, no problem at all, it isa for the product, no problem at all, it is a good substitute. what about fresh fruit and vegetables, a point has been made perhaps they would last as long. take the example of oranges which come ina take the example of oranges which come in a net but apples come in a plastic bag, there is no reason for that. we could put them in a green net. there are lots of opportunities and ways to get around the plastic problem. not everything is sold but we are working hard and have been 18 months to find new substrates and forms to package. you don't worry it might lead to more on bad fruit and vegetables in aisles? freezing food is nature's paul's button. it is a good place to start. we don't believe it will increase waste and we do believe sensible management of packaging is the right thing to do. what has driven you to do this now? we have been working on this fact 18 months, looking at different substrates, packaging formats. the key thing is now things are available. there are paper—based and plant —based derivatives which are 110w plant —based derivatives which are now much more environmentally friendly and readily available and thatis friendly and readily available and that is getting better. while many will be congratulating you, some will say why have you done it sooner? it hasn't been practically possible. it hasn't been practically possible. it isa it hasn't been practically possible. it is a big issue around the world, 18 million people looking at the blue planet programme will realise how serious a problem this is. we have been working in the background and decided now is the right time to put a statement out to say this is what we will do. how quickly will customers notice the change? infour the change? in four weeks, early february. thank you so much. the white goods manufacturer whirlpool hasn't done enough to deal with defective tumble dryers which have caused hundreds of fires, according to mps. the commons business committee says the firm's response to the problem, discovered in 2015, has been "woeful". our business correspondent emma simpson reports. a flat in a tower block in west london engulfed in flames. the smoke rising more than ten stories. the blaze itself damaging five floors. it started in this property, and london fire brigade believe the cause was a faulty tumble dryer made by whirlpool. it has had a problem with defective and potentially dangerous tumble dryers since 2015 when it discovered a defect which could cause them to set fire. today, mps described whirlpool‘s attempts to fix things as slow and inadequate. their evidence was woeful. since 2004, they admit there have been 740 fires in homes caused by these tumble dryers, and yet still today, in 2018, there are a million of these tumble dryers in people's homes. they need to take much stronger action to get those out of people's homes. her parliamentary committee has looked into the safety of electrical goods. among its recommendations, it wants whirlpool to deal with any faulty machines within a fortnight of being contacted by customers. all manufacturers should make risk assessments available as soon as defects are identified. safer materials to replace plastic—backed fridge freezers, which appear to be a significant risk. and it wants the government to actively explore the creation of a single national product safety agency to improve a system which the mps claim is fragmented and under—resourced. whirlpool says it has helped the vast majority of customers who have come forward so far, and promises it will now serve customers' problems with faulty machines within a week. the government says britain's product safety requirements are among the highest in the world and it has already taken steps to improve the current regime. time now for the weather. the weather has taken a turn for the worst, we have some heavy snow in the forecast, in fact, across southern parts of scotland and northern ireland, we do have an amber warning northern ireland, we do have an amberwarning in northern ireland, we do have an amber warning in place, northern ireland, we do have an amberwarning in place, we northern ireland, we do have an amber warning in place, we could see up amber warning in place, we could see up to 25 centimetres of rain on higher ground, some treacherous driving conditions later this afternoon and tonight. further south and east, it is drier and brighter, the potentialfirst note in the midlands and wales, and it is feeling cool with temperatures feeling like minus four. we continue with snow tonight. tomorrow, fewer snow showers, they will ease through the afternoon but we still have strong winds, temperatures up to eight, feeling less cold. heading into wednesday, we have a deep area of low pressure bringing strong winds and also a band of rain, sleet and snow, so first thing on thursday there could be problems on thursday there could be problems on the roads with trees down and power lines. keep an eye on the forecast. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: companies working on private sector contracts for the failed construction company carillion have been told that they will only receive two days of government support. we're expecting the chancellor to answers questions on carillion in the commons on this later today. police in california have arrested the parents of 13 children on charges of torture and child endangerment after their children were found shackled to beds and malnourished. there has been a slight fall in the rate of inflation, which has fallen slightly to 3%, for the first time sincejune. the office for national statistics has said that it's too early to predict a longer term rate reduction. british number one johanna konta is through to the second round of the australian open. her win over madison brengle took place in temperatures of almost 40 degrees, although konta said she really enjoyed the heat in melbourne and tried to absorb the atmosphere. she certainly looked comfortable out there, dropping only four games in a match that lasted a little over an hour. afterwards she seemed more concerned with what she's called "the blueberry debacle". i went to the supermarket to buy blueberries. i only bought blueberries. i only bought blueberries. two pilots of blueberries. two pilots of blueberries. i left to ponder itself blueberries. i left to ponder itself blueberries there. it is $5 that i will not get back, but it is more than betrayal of male mind that i am upset about. i was so sad. heather watson couldn't join konta in the second round. she lost in straight sets to yulia putintseva. it was close throughout, but watson couldn't hold on in the second set after being a break up, losing it in the end on a tiebreak. defending champion roger federer had a fairly straight—forward passage into the second round — he beat the former british player alljaz bedene in straight sets. after winning two grand slams last season, federer said he didn't think he'd be able to match that feat this season, as he's another year older, rafael nadal is in good shape and there are other players on their way back. one of those is the six—time champion novak djokovic, who came through with ease in his first action since wimbledon, beating donald young in straight sets. djokovic is seeded 14th, after missing the second half of 2017 with an elbow injury. after the match responded to reports that he had suggested to his fellow players in a pre—trouanemtn meeting that they could boycott next year's australian open to try and increase prize money. you are talking about union, you're talking about boycott, you are talking about boycott, you are talking about boycott, you are talking about radical decisions to make and moves so we can get financial compensation is the way we deserve it, but there was no talks about that. again, i am saying it was subjects that we never get the chance to talk about in such a large group, that's all it was. wales have named two uncapped players in their squad for the six nations — worcester wing josh adams and scarlets flanker james davies are both in. number eight taulupe faletau has been included despite being ruled out of the first two matches with a knee injury. in fact there are fitness concerns throughout the 39 man squad, with george north named even though he is a doubt also with a knee injury. former captain greig laidlaw returns to a 40—man scotland squad. he hasn't played a test for almost a year and is just returning from a broken leg. john barclay will still be skipper. there are four uncapped players included — props murray mccallum and d'arcy rae, full—back blair kinghorn and scrum—half nathan fowles. manchester united's paul pogba sez they still have manchester city in their sights after reducing the leaders' advantage at the top of the premier league to 12 points. pogba inspired united to a 3—0 win against stoke, setting up two goals including this one for anthony martial. new stoke manager paul lambert was watching from the stands. while his opposite number jose mourinho insists united aren't giving up on the title race yet. we know that the distance is a very important distance. i've been there before, and you can control your destiny, and you play relaxed. and, when you play relaxed, the best qualities are coming. so i think they have their destiny in their hands, but we want to win matches, we want to finish the best we can. well mourinho and manchester united are a lot closer to making a major signing and we understand they've agreed personal terms with alexis sanchez. manchester city have ended their interest in the arsenalforward because they're not prepared to meet the fee and wage demands of the player, with chelsea now joining united in the race. the chances of united being successful could rest on whether henrikh mkhitaryan agrees to move in the other direction. we understand there's no agreement yet on an exchange deal with the armenian who's fallen out of favour at old trafford... considering his options. more on carillon going into liquidation. carillon used an extensive network of small firms who are now waiting to learn that they will be paid. alan soady is with me from the federation of small businesses. i spoke a while ago to the managing director of the small landscape firm in cambridge who said that carillon owes them nearly £1 million and he is desperately worried there will not be paid. if that are familiar worry? it is an extremely worrying time for hundreds of small suppliers and would've had a direct relationship with carillon, but then many smaller businesses who supplied the suppliers, if you like. that is why it is important that as many smaller businesses who are owed money by carillon do get paid because otherwise potentially those businesses could be put in jeopardy, as will thejobs of businesses could be put in jeopardy, as will the jobs of those who work for those businesses, meaning the economic ramifications of the carillon collapse goes far beyond them. the results of the issue of why carillon had been taken months to pay those who were supplying goods and services to eight, a problem that is all too common with bigger businesses and how they treat their small business suppliers. were you aware of any problems with carillon before this happened? the federation of small businesses wrote to carillon to express our concerns that small suppliers are being kept waiting up to four months for payment. tyneside, the alarm bells should have been ringing at that stage. the reason they weren't is so many larger businesses do have extremely bad payment practices with their smaller suppliers and do sometimes keep them waiting up to four months for payments. sometimes they forced them to sign agreements to agree to be paid late. so carillon was out of line in a sense? some bigger businesses are better behaved, but some are not. that is why the alarm bells for not ringing is proudly as they should have been. having so many tax payer funded contracts, surely those businesses should be forced to agree to pay their suppliers within 30 days and treat them much better, otherwise the government could say to them, we will not give you any more business. what are your remember saying to you now? i think now people are waiting to see. there are those who may have already invested in next resources, taken on already invested in next resources, ta ken on extra already invested in next resources, taken on extra staff, are worried that in 48 hours any government backing for that will run out. hopefully, the customer who has contracted carillon could go directly to the small business contracted themselves with they could bring in another middle man but asked them to keep the smaller suppliers. that would give them some security and also bring some stability to those imminent contracts as well. thank you for joining us, alan. chancellor philip hammond is speaking in the commons. we can cross there now. i think we are going to move on and will drop back to the commons if we get something from the chancellor. the european council president, donald tusk, has said that the eu is still open to britain changing its mind over brexit. speaking at the european parliament in strasbourg, mr tusk said that hearts on the continent were still open to britain if the country thought again about leaving the eu. but he said brexit would become a reality in 2019, with all its negative consequences, unless the british had a change of heart. u nless unless there is a change of heart among other british friends, wasn't it david davis himself who said if at democracy cannot change each mind, it ceases to be a democracy? we hear on the continent have not had a change of heart. 0ur we hear on the continent have not had a change of heart. our hearts are still open, thank you. adam fleming is in strasbourg, where talks are taking place —— and has the latest. this is donald tusk wearing his heart on his sleeve again. yes, last year donald tusk channeljohn lennon when he said imagine a world where brexit would not happen. that was a signal he amplified today. this is the strongest yet i have heard him making this case that the door is open and britain is entitled to change its mind. he dredged up an old quote from david davis would you just heard there, that democracy is not a democracy if it doesn't have the right to change its mind on big issues. that sentiment was backed up byjean—claude juncker, saying he hoped this message was heard loud and clear in london. what is actually happening here? is at that donald tusk is urging the uk to change its mind and take to your senses, this is a mad idea, stay with us? 0r who is he simply being the master tactician we know him to be an keeping this option on the table, keeping the door open but if there is a change in circumstances that this is not a one—way process and it is a bit of diplomacy, rather than making an appeal to the british public. to people who want the referendum decision to be reversed, this would be music to their ears. to people who wanted to the leave, people like nigel farage, they will be furious about this. they think it isa be furious about this. they think it is a settled subject. the british government would be happy about this because there are messages that brea ks because there are messages that breaks it is going to happen. we will just leave it breaks it is going to happen. we willjust leave it there. thank you. thank you. there are concerns about the support for more than 21,000 children with complex special needs in england. every child with special needs has to receive a fresh assessment for their care by the end of march, but it seems the majority of local authorities are going to miss this deadline. jayne mccubbin reports. it is the biggest reform to special educational needs support in a generation, and since 2014, the clock has been ticking. councils were given 43 months to transfer all children off the old system of statements, to receive new, improved educational health and care plans. so how is that shaping up? it's a mess, a complete mess. it's a complete and utter disaster. rachel's youngest daughter has autism, and has struggled out of school for three years. it was meant to take 20 weeks to assess her for a new support plan. today, they are in week 54, and still no plan or support in place. the medical assessment wasn't done, and the social care assessment wasn't done. you had to crowd—fund to get the right assessment. we did, we did have to crowd—fund to get the right assessment. they have failed her on every level. at every point, they have failed her. walsall council say it is committed to working with councils to meet individual needs and achieve the best outcomes for children. but holly is one of an estimated 21,000 children in limbo, who will still be waiting to receive a plan by deadline day. me too & co is a support group in richmond, the area with the worst delays in england. everyone here has faced delays, everyone here has faced problems. the plan for bill's son, rudy, was missing the support needed. in ten days' time, we'll be in another tribunal. the first was held in may last year. how much have you spent on this fight? richmond are very aware of this — just under £60,000 so far. just under £50,000 so far. sarah has also has to pay for four sons who are all autistic. they changed case officers five times, so we never knew who our case officer was. melanie says her daughter is broken by the delays. she meets with these professionals. she has actually refused now to fill those forms out anymore. she says, i'm not filling them out, because nobody reads them, and nobody actually cares. richmond council tell me they have been working with families to ensure each transfer results in strong, informed, individually tailored plans. even though it has taken 3.5 years to only do half the transfers, they reckon they can the rest done in the next seven weeks. impossible. it is not doable. it won't be quality, and it won't be considered. the quality of new plans is a concern, right across england. do you want the government to scrap this deadline? it would be helpful if they would extend this deadline. having such a ruthless deadline is putting at risk the quality of plans that are being delivered, in order to meet that timescale. not everyone would describe 3.5 years as a ruthless deadline. this letter was sent to local authorities recently, reminding them of the need to hit it. the government say that, with a starting point of 250,000 transfers, councils are making good progress. not words these parents would use to describe their own experiences. pope francis has arrived in the chilean capital santiago at the start of a week—long visit to chile and peru. the trip is aimed at bolstering the catholic church in chile, which has been damaged by scandals involving sexual abuse by members of the clergy. thousands of people greeted him as his motorcade travelled from santiago's main airport into the city, but the crowds were smaller than those seen on the pope's previous visits to latin america. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour, but first the headlines on bbc newsroom live: calls for employees working on private sector deals for failed construction giant carillion to have theirjobs protected. a californian couple are arrested on suspicion of torture after police found their thirteen emaciated children, some chained to their beds. inflation eased slightly from its six—year high in december, falling to an annual rate of 3%. now the business news. average prices are still on the up, rising by 3%, in december according to the latest inflation data. that is down slightly from the six—year high of 3.1% in november. we'll have more on this shortly. thousands of small firms working for failed construction giant carillion are waiting to learn if they will be paid, amid growing fears some could close. carillion used an extensive network of sub—contractors and local suppliers, paying them almost £1 billion a year, according to its latest annual report. german workers are striking over demands to work a 28—hour week and get a 6% pay rise. germany's biggest trade union has now threatened to call for a 24—hour walkout if talks don't resolve the issue. with unemployment low and the german economy performing strongly, striking workers say they're in a strong position to negotiate. more on that small dip in inflation, to 3%, down from 3.1% it means inflation is no longer at a six—year high, as falling prices for clothes and toys helped ease the pressure on household finances last month. it is thought the recent run of higher prices could have peaked, much of that was caused by the slump in the value of the pound after the brexit vote. yael selfin is the chief economist at kpmg. good morning to you. your take on these figures, because many people watching will think 3.1% to 3% sounds like a lot but it is significant? absolutely. n's increase month on month was relatively strong, so it is encouraging to see that december wasn't as strong as it could've been. 0verall, wasn't as strong as it could've been. overall, the higher oil prices, the environment and the earlierfault in the prices, the environment and the earlier fault in the exchange rate that will still take some time to pass through the numbers, so we are expecting the fall in inflation to be relatively gradual. the bank of england has said that it expects prices to have beaten them start falling back to that 2% target by the end of the year. all of these figures are important in relation to others, aren't they? particularly to wages. absolutely. it is interesting that we have a relatively tight labour market, yet we just have now picked up despite that increase in inflation, although we are seeing a bit of movement with the some of the wage numbers and what may happen is that later on this year we will see further increases in wages that would put upward pressure on inflation, but will also believe households are little on one hand, when you look at this these figures it is good news that some of that imported inflation, after the ball of the value of the pound that meant buying things from overseas was more expensive. that is starting to ease somewhat, but we have already had a rise in oil prices that could put up other prices in the shops. yes. but it could take three years for those prices to fall through the entire chain. we could see further polls due to the bolts on the exchange rate to come. thank you for explaining that to us. thank you for explaining that to us. self—driving or autonomous cars have been a big focus for every major auto maker around the world. yogita limaye is at the detroit auto show and she's been checking out what's on offer. this is a self driving vehicle tested by ford to deliver pizzas and it looks pretty much like a normal car, but those spinning things on the top, they are centres. i will ta ke the top, they are centres. i will take you around the card to show you what the car is seeing. look at this here. that little red dot they're behind the car is me, so that is what the card is seeing so it can make decisions on whether to turn, to stop, to accelerate. ford is not the only car—maker talking about ca i’s the only car—maker talking about cars like these, pretty much eve ryo ne cars like these, pretty much everyone at the auto show is, they are investing money into research and development. the government will play a key role, how will they regulated? play a key role, how will they regulated ? the transport play a key role, how will they regulated? the transport secretary of the us government was here yesterday saying they don't want to have a command and control approach, so have a command and control approach, so they don't want to interfere with innovation but safety is a big concern for them. also very much saying that the onus is on car companies to make people feel confident about vehicles like these. general motors has already made a request of the us government to allow them to but this vehicle on the roads as early as next year. no steering wheel or pedals. many other car—makers think the world is not ready for that just yet. these advancesin ready for that just yet. these advances in technology are coming at us advances in technology are coming at us faster than we have imagined, so the question facing governments and all of us is are we ready to concede control to machines and software? in other news, pie and pasty maker greggs says like—for—like sales for the fourth quarter of the year rose by 3% as customers opted for mince pies, hot sandwiches and gluten—free soup. for the full—year, like—for—like sales were up 3.7%. greggs said cost pressures will continue in the year ahead, but expected them to be lower than last year. supermarket chain iceland has said it will eliminate or drastically reduce plastic packaging of all its own—label products by the end of 2023. iceland says the move will affect more than 1,000 own—label products. new ranges will be packaged using a paper—based tray, rather than plastic. remember before christmas when the value of bitcoin was soaring towards $20,000? today, the cyptocurrency is worth $11,850, according to coindesk, after falling nearly 14% following comments from south korea's finance minister that it wanted to clampdown on the online currency. there is a little nervous mr ryan gauld this contracts related to carillon. rbs, one of the lenders to collapsed contractor carillion, is leading the blue chip fallers with its shares down 2.2% at 293.50p. the ftse100 is not doing a lot on the morning. an australian teenager has been found alive in a car wreck after his father made an intuitive decision to search for him in a helicopter. samuel lethbridge, who is 17, was trapped for 30 hours after his car left a new south wales highway on sunday. mr lethbridge said he suspected his son was in trouble because his disappearance was out of character. here's something even the locals don't see every day — a wallaby eludes police in australia, leading them on a low—speed chase in downtown sydney. the marsupial was spotted on the nation's most famous landmark — the sydney harbour bridge. virginia langeberg reports. how is this for a visit to the big smoke? shortly before five a:m., under police escort and avoiding the city rush hour, this opportunistic tourist jumped at the city rush hour, this opportunistic touristjumped at the chance to take an acoustic tour of australia's most famous landmark, the sydney harbour bridge. there was enough time to stop and take in the sights. even say good day to one of the locals dressed in blue. but with lots to see, you know how the saying goes, better hop to it. if lanes of the harbour bridge were brought to a standstill as the curious little swamp standstill as the curious little swa m p walla by went standstill as the curious little swamp wallaby went for his predawn stretch of the legs. that was until the blue and red lights narrowed in the blue and red lights narrowed in the wayward wallaby was apprehended. that's at a nearby zoo are now keeping a close eye on the marsupial at its lengthy and ventured downtown. fortunately, there didn't seem downtown. fortunately, there didn't seem to be any significant injuries. it had some minor grazes on its face and hind legs and i took some x—rays, x—rayed his whole body is to rule out any fractures and things like that and didn't seem to be any major injuries. aussies will often slap and tourist said they expect to see kangaroos hopping across the syd ney see kangaroos hopping across the sydney harbour bridge, but without even realising it, this little walla by even realising it, this little wallaby with a few simple hops and skips has brought a common misconception to live and prove the rest of the world life —— rest of the world right. rest of the world life —— rest of the world right. the headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. in a moment we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two, first we leave you with for a look at the weather. there is so much happening with the weather today, we have rain, sleet, snow and strong winds. this was the scene earlier on today in north yorkshire. we will continue to see more snow and there through the afternoon and tonight. there are some hazardous conditions to deal with this afternoon. there is an amber warning for snow and ice in southern parts of scotland and in northern ireland. for the rush—hour could be treacherous conditions. we could be treacherous conditions. we could tip to 25 centimetres of snow on higher ground. further south and east it is drier and brighter. to ta ke east it is drier and brighter. to take care later. it is cold, the snow showers will continue to ball across northern ireland and scotland. we still have the brisk winds as well taking the edge of the temperatures. some snow showers from northern parts of england and the midlands. isolated showers in wales. he spangly is wondering what all the fuss is about, it has been dry for the morning and should space dry in the morning and should space dry in the afternoon. rain showers for devon and cornwall. temperatures today, if you factor in the wind, it will feel more like —4 celsius. more wintry showers falling in on the wind tomorrow, but few were showers tomorrow compared with the date and they will tend to ease by the afternoon, her brief break. the best of the drier weather in the side that double feel less cold than today with temperatures ranging between two and eight celsius. the storm is making its way in from the west on wednesday night into thursday morning, bringing strong to gale force winds. rain, sleet and snow. back good bring trees or power lines down, so bursting on thursday morning that could be problems on the roads. keep an eye on the forecast and keep listening to your local stations for the latest on that storm. the storm will push its way north and eastwards. strong winds behind it, but gradually the winds behind it, but gradually the winds will ease. more showers will follow on behind. the temperatures will range from between two and 11 celsius. into friday, snow showers in the north, otherwise try with the best of the drier conditions as we head into the weekend with more sunshine on offer. this is bbc news. and these are the top stories developing at midday. firms working for failed construction giant carillion say they're laying off staff and face big losses because they're owed money. 0ther lot of them will go to the wall for working on government contracts for somebody, a company that quite frankly was not fit for purpose. a californian couple are arrested on suspicion of torture, after police found their 13 emaciated children in their home, some chained to their beds. they were the type that you didn't really get to know anything about them. they were very to themselves, in a sense, clannish. so they only kept to themselves. inflation eased slightly from its six—year high in december, falling to an annual rate of 3%. the four—time olympic champion gymnast simone biles has said she was sexually abused by the usa team doctor larry nassar. also this hour. is your tumble dryer safe? mps conclude there are failures in the uk product safety system exposed by the saga of millions of whirlpool tumble dryers that posed a risk of fire. british tennis number onejohanna konta has begun her australian open campaign with a comfortable 6—3, 6—1win against american madison brengle. good afternoon. it's tuesday, 16january. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the cabinet is meeting today, amid the fallout from the collapse of the building giant carillion. the tuc is calling for the creation of a national taskforce involving unions and businesses to examine the wider implications of the company's failure. carillion employed 20,000 people in the uk and sub—contracted work to thousands of small firms. the company had 450 government contracts, from work on the hs2 rail link to cleaning and maintenance contracts for schools, prisons and hospitals. these will be protected by the government. however, the compa ny‘s private sector workers who provide a range ofjobs for organisations such as the nationwide building society, bt 0penreach and centrica will not get the same protection. government protection will end tomorrow leaving thousands ofjobs in doubt. kevin mcloughlin runs a painting and decorating firm which he says has lost money and orders. monday morning, people turned up for work. 30 people got sent home. we hadn't been advised in the office so obviously people are looking for work to place them within our workforce. it's a very difficult situation. no one had told us it was going to happen. we had just finished battersea power station and a big residential, two blocks in kings cross, so we had no one there. we still had the google building in kings cross and another in the city and the impact is we have lost that money, and lost a forward order book of approximately half a million pounds. another business severely affected by carillion's collapse is flora—tec, a landscape firm in cambridgeshire. their managing director andy bradley explained how much money they are owed. the situation is as a business we were a contractor to carillion mainly in government departments, prisons, schools, hospitals, court services, providing grounds maintenance, gritting, snow clearing. making sure the government places of work are safe for people to work, children to get to school. this is the busiest time for us. we had a very large bill sent into carillion at the end of december which has no chance of being paid. between november and december, about £1 million. we are not a big enough business to trade through that. have you had to lay off staff? ten people left yesterday. non—essential people, people who are not mission—critical. the marketing department, some admin, some management. because of the uncertainty. pwc say it is business as usual, we will be paid for carrying out works, from yesterday, that gives us encouragement, but the problem businesses will have is the massive debt we have to trade through. i can make a political point, the government have to be called to account. when carillion put out their first profit warning in july, we were prudent, we thought we would have to derisk our position. the government gave them contract after contract. worth billions. the message that sends out to smes like us is the government must have done due diligence, carillion must be a sound proposition, otherwise why would the government them those contracts? and consistently. that message, they never thought of the impact that would have in the wider supply chain. you feel you were given a false sense of security? absolutely. i could not have put it better. as part of the government's procurement process, they are actively wanting smes to get involved in government contracts. carillion as part of their tender package, have to demonstrate they use a fair proportion of sme businesses which have now been let down massively by the government. a lot of them will go to the wall, for working on government contracts, for a company that quite frankly was not fit for purpose and the government should have known that well in advance. it is not impossible you will get your debt paid back to you. your worry is you won't get it in time? that is the exact point. we don't have time. i have people i need to pay. by law, i am insolvent if i cannot meet my bills when they become due. i am left with a £1 million black hole in my accounts. we are unlikely to survive this. i had 90 people yesterday, 80 today. it is unlikely we will survive. the government needs to be called to account, they gave everyone in the supply chain confidence carillion would survive. the government should have done its due diligence. ina in a moment we will get some political reaction to this. let me tell you the department of business has put out this release, greg clark is asking for an investigation into the directors of carillion to be fast tracked, and extended to include former directors. a lot of comments in the newspapers and elsewhere about the salaries and bonuses given to directors of carillion, the business secretary asking for an investigation to be fast tracked. let's get some more political reaction to this now from our assistant political editor norman smith. thank you. interesting that greg clark talking about fast tracking investigations into whether former directors at carillion should be able to keep those sizeable bonuses, given that many carillion staff face potentially losing theirjobs, one of the key areas people are trying to get to the bottom of today. the government has guaranteed the pay and jobs of those working in the public sector, there is ambiguity as to what happens to those thousands of employees who are not working in the public sector because their pay is only guaranteed until tomorrow. joining me is the deputy general secretary of the tuc. it really is a pretty uncertain position. i feel for those thousands of korean workers going into work today not knowing what the future holds. —— carillion. ringing together our unions, we want to identify where we have people working, what they have been told, and understand those fears on the ground. it is important the government as a matter of urgency pulls together a national task force involving representatives, people in the supply chain, to get to grips with these issues. the collapse is too important for ministers to deal with behind closed doors. how manyjobs behind closed doors. how many jobs could behind closed doors. how manyjobs could be at risk? carillion had 19,000 employees, how many might be regarded as working in the private sector and not guaranteed? i don't want to put my finger in the wind. the government has said they have contingency plans which means they do have access to that information. it is important they share that with the unions. what is really important is the government carries out a risk assessment of the other big multinational outsourcing companies. this isn't the first problem with the private sector delivering public services. in the health sector, numerous contracts have been handed back. and east coast main line, the taxpayer picking up the bill. it is time for the government to take stock of what is happening across public services. you may have heard greg clark suggested the government will fast tracked an investigation into whether some of the former top bosses at karelia and should walk away with their bonuses and sizeable salaries —— carillion. how important is that in terms of the views of many employees who feel they are being sold down the river? lam afraid being sold down the river? i am afraid it is a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. when theresa may became prime minister she talked about shining a spotlight onto board rooms. if we did have workers on the board would we have seen the changes to the bonus arrangements? and dividends continuing to be paid out at the same time as profit warnings? seen them bidding for ambitious contracts when they are overstretched? i contracts when they are overstretched ? i hope contracts when they are overstretched? i hope this prompts the government, the way we do business. it is not good enough for workers. how would you characterise the government response? we had the cobra meeting yesterday after which david lidington seemed relieved most public services were continuing and 90% of people had turned up for work as usual. i will expect hard—working public servants to turn up but the key thing is the government needs to widen the conversation and talk to unions and the supply chain. those small firms will face going to the wall. it is not enough for ministers to talkjust for themselves they need to open up the discussion and talk seriously about public service contracts. if the private sector can't run them, bring them back in—house. the pressure really is on. david lidington told mps yesterday while public sector workers would be safe, those in the private sector only have until tomorrow when they can be sure of being paid. the clock is ticking. 13 brothers and sisters between the ages of two and 29 have been discovered in a malnourished and dirty state at their home in california. some of them were chained to their beds. their parents have been charged with torture and child endangerment. 0ur north america correspondent james cook is at the scene. they look like a big, happy family. the children a little pale, perhaps, but smiling. photographs on facebook show the turpins visiting disneyland, and in las vegas, as their apparently proud parents renewed wedding vows. now david and louise turpin are under arrest, charged with torture and child endangerment. their children are in hospital. our staff is used to taking care of people who are quite ill, they are used to compassionate care, and so we pull out all the stops, so to speak, to make sure that their privacy is dealt with, that they get the appropriate care and that they are treated with dignity and respect at a time when they need it the most. the horror on muir woods road was uncovered early on sunday morning when a 17—year—old girl escaped with a mobile phone and called the police. at the home, officers found 12 siblings and were shocked to discover that seven were adults — the oldest, 29. the captives were dirty and malnourished, say police, shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul—smelling surroundings. as reporters arrived at the quiet suburb east of los angeles, neighbours said they were stunned. they were the type that you didn't really get to know anything about them. they were very to themselves, in a sense, clan—ish, so they only kept to themselves. and the only time you would see them, you would never see anyone visit, you would never see anyone come outside, all you would really see is that they would go out and maybe make a grocery run and that was about it. there is no hint at all here of the grim conditions inside this home. the questions about what happened are mounting. not least, how long were the siblings held captive and why? james cook, bbc news, perris, california. inflation eased slightly from its six—year high in december. the consumer prices index slipped to an annual rate of 3%, down from 3.1% in november. across the eurozone, inflation stood atjust1.4%. earlier, i spoke to our business presenter ben thompson, and asked him what has driven this change and how it will affect us. wages we have been told until now aren't keeping up with how quickly prices are rising. prices are going up less quickly but still going up, just not as fast. the last figures for november showed it was rising at a six year high. that meant we had a squeeze on income because we weren't earning as much and prices were going up. it meant we had less money in our pocket. a marginal change driven by cheaper clothes, cheaper toys, cheap air fares, these figures look at everything we buy. there has been an easing off in terms of the weaker pound. after the brexit vote, the pound fell in value which meant things imported from overseas were more expensive. that is starting to drop out of the figures. the bank of england said it expected it to go up before it goes down, and we are expecting it to fall closer to that 2% target at the end of the year. the question is how quickly our wages will go up, will they match? we will find out next week. french president emmanuel macron will shortly arrive in the port side city of calais — his first visit to the city since taking office. mr macron is seeking to subdue tensions over the large numbers of migrants who are congregating around the city, hoping to reach britain. the so—called jungle refugee camp was demolished 15 months ago, but the migrants continue to camp around calais. emmanuel macron will meet with uk prime minister theresa may on thursday — it's expected he will ask for more assistance with the issue. 0ur correspondent in calais paul adams told me that president macron has made no secret of wishing to renegotiate the agreement with britain to keep migrants in the french port. he talked about that during his election campaign last year, about revisiting the le touquet agreement reached in 2003 which put british immigration officials on french soil, and involved a lot of british money being spent on security in this part of france. he had a problem, he said last year that no migrant would be sleeping out in the open during this wintertime. well, in the calais area, there are hundreds doing just that in miserable conditions. he also is about to unveil a new immigration policy which will include a streamlining of the asylum process, causing disquiet amongst human rights groups and members of his own centrist political party. he is coming to calais to say he will get a grip on the situation, certainly in this area, and we believe that will involve when he moves to the uk on thursday asking for more british money to address the security situation in calais, and he will ask britain to take in more migrants particularly the unaccompanied vulnerable younger migrants, and people with family connections in the uk. how much is this linked with brexit and negotiations? i suppose everything is linked with brexit and it is hard to imagine this isn't. some, notably in the british press, have already been saying he will be leaning on theresa may and suggesting that his cooperation in the future brexit negotiations and the trade relationship after brexit will depend on her willingness to help out in calais. maybe, maybe not. it is hard to see how those things get separated. but it is clear from the rhetoric we have heard from his ministers that they do want britain to do more, and that revisiting the 2003 agreement is part of his agenda. the headlines on bbc newsroom live. calls for employees working on private sector deals for failed construction giant carillion to have their jobs protected. a californian couple are arrested on suspicion of torture after police found their 13 emaciated children, some chained to their beds. inflation eased slightly from its six—year high in december falling to an annual rate of 3%. time now for the sports news. british number one johanna konta is through to the second round of the australian open. her win over madison brengle took place in temperatures of almost 40 degrees, although konta said she really enjoyed the heat in melbourne and tried to absorb the atmosphere. and she certainly looked comfortable out there, dropping only four games in a match that lasted a little over an hour. and afterwards she seemed more concerned with what she's called "the blueberry debacle". i went to the supermarket to buy drew brees, i only bought blueberries, two punnets, i left them that, $5 i will not get back but it is more the betrayal of my own mind that i feel so upset about —— to buy drew brees. she has since been able to replace them, you will be pleased to note —— to buy blueberries. heather watson couldn't join konta in the second round. she lost in straight sets to yulia putintseva. it was close throughout. but watson couldn't hold on in the second set after being a break up, losing it in the end on a tie—break. defending champion roger federer had a fairly straight—forward passage into the second round, he beat the former british player alljaz bedene in straight sets. after winning two grand slams last season, federer said he didn't think he'd be able to match that feat this season, as he's another year older, rafael nadal is in good shape and there are other players on their way back. one of those is the six—time champion novak djokovic, who came through with ease in his first action since wimbledon beating donald young in straight sets. djokovic is seeded 14th, after missing the second half of 2017 with an elbow injury. wales have named two uncapped players in their squad for the six nations. worcester wing josh adams and scarlets flanker james davies are both in. number eight taulupe faletau has been included despite being ruled out of the first two matches with a knee injury. in fact, there are fitness concerns throughout the 39—man squad. with george north named even though he is a doubt also with a knee injury. and former captain greig laidlaw returns to a 40—man scotland squad. he hasn't played a test for almost a year and is just returning from a broken leg. john barclay will still be skipper. there are four uncapped players included. props murray mccallum and d'arcy rae, full—back blair kinghorn and scrum—half nathan fowles. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. plans will be announced today for a high—speed rail line across the north of england. it's designed to offer a better connection between major cities, including manchester, liverpool, sheffield and leeds. john prescott has stormed out of the launch in hull denouncing the project. 0ur yorkshire and lincolnshire political editor tim ireland is in hull. many say it is not acceptable transport spending in the north of england lags way behind the south, london in particular, which is why we have a new body called transport for the northbridge for the first time will oversee investment in projects across the north of england, a huge area home to 16 million people from tyneside, cumbria, to the top of the north of england, down to the mersey and humber estuary. most projects we have heard about our long—term, jam tomorrow, things like a high—speed rail link from leeds to manchester, and a new tunnel under the pennines between sheffield and manchester. where i am today is the port of hull, the priority is getting goods in and out of the docks. 0ffshore wind turbine blades used for renewable electricity are manufactured right here. but the rail links and road links are but the rail links and road links a re pretty but the rail links and road links are pretty poor, the a63 is slow—moving and congested. there are plans to upgrade it but it will take time. people would like to see faster rail links to places like leeds and sheffield. there is a lot riding on this new transport body to deliver as it announces its 30 year plan. 0ne transport body to deliver as it announces its 30 year plan. one man who wasn't impressed is lord prescott, he was at a press conference today, he listens to what was being announced but essentially he stormed out, claiming that this new body doesn't have the same powers as transport for london and he wasn't impressed. obviously we know... it said consultation, are we going to talk about hull or humber, yorkshire? this government doesn't believe in regional government. and now they have given us consultation, it says nothing about the humber, nothing about how we will get a real northern body. we have been told it was promised to have statutory powers to let the north decide. now we know, it will have no powers. it can talk to the treasury along with the strategic bodies but can't make a decision. it doesn't get any money, it is a fraud. so, not for the first time, the former deputy prime minister and man in charge of transport under the last labour government not mincing his words. we heard in the commons other mps aren't impressed with this 30 year plan, one suggested by the time some of these transport infrastructure projects had got off the ground by 2050, commercial space flight the tourists will become a reality, that puts it in perspective. thank you. some figures from a&e departments in scotland. in the first week of this year, 77.9% of patients were seen within the target of four hours. it is the worst performance for more than a year. the scottish government target is 95%. the white goods manufacturer whirlpool hasn't done enough to deal with defective tumble dryers which have caused hundreds of fires, according to mps. the commons business committee says the firm's response to the problem, discovered in 2015, has been "woeful". our business correspondent emma simpson reports. a flat in a tower block in west london engulfed in flames. the smoke rising more than ten storeys. the blaze itself damaging five floors. it started in this property, and london fire brigade believe the cause was a faulty tumble dryer made by whirlpool. it has had a problem with defective and potentially dangerous tumble dryers since 2015 when it discovered a defect which could cause them to set fire. today, mps described whirlpool‘s attempts to fix things as slow and inadequate. their evidence was woeful. since 2004, they admit there have been 740 fires in homes caused by these tumble dryers, and yet still today, in 2018, there are a million of these tumble dryers in people's homes. they need to take much stronger action to get those out of people's homes. her parliamentary committee has looked into the safety of electrical goods. among its recommendations, it wants whirlpool to deal with any faulty machines within a fortnight of being contacted by customers. all manufacturers should make risk assessments available as soon as defects are identified. safer materials to replace plastic—backed fridge freezers, which appear to be a significant risk. and it wants the government to actively explore the creation of a single national product safety agency to improve a system which the mps claim is fragmented and under—resourced. whirlpool says it has helped the vast majority of customers who have come forward so far, and promises it will now solve customers' problems with faulty machines within a week. the government says britain's product safety requirements are among the highest in the world and it has already taken steps to improve the current regime. we have received a statement from whirlpool, they say they have had an ongoing modification campaign where they have provided solutions, to 99.9% of all consumers who have registered, and they have managed to repair1.7 registered, and they have managed to repair 1.7 million affected tumble drier is. good afternoon. there is plenty to look at, some pretty scenes across the british isles but challenging ones as well. the met office has gone amber with a warning for snow and ice in scotland and northern ireland. you can see how the showers have clumped together into more persistent spells of snow and at lower levels more showers. a cold feel, subzero across the northern half. sunshine further south but still cold. showers across southern counties. this evening, a spell of heavy snow. ice could be an issue first thing. strong winds, blizzard conditions for a time. wednesday, the wind is lighter, the showers are fewer but another cold day. on wednesday night, a deep area of low pressure brings heavy rain, snow, and damaging winds. be prepared for disruption particularly if you are travelling on thursday morning. this is bbc newsroom live. our latest headlines: companies working on private sector contracts for the failed construction company carillion have been told that they will only receive two days of government support. police in california have arrested the parents of 13 children on charges of torture and child endangerment after they were found in an emaciated condition, some shackled to beds. there has been a slight fall in the rate of inflation, which has fallen slightly to 3% for the first time sincejune. the office for national statistics has said that it's too early to predict a longer term rate reduction. a former friend of the newsnight presenter emily maitlis has been jailed following a 20—year campaign of harassment. edward vineshas been given a 45—month sentence. edward vines has been given a 45—month sentence. the supermarket chain iceland has said it will eliminate plastic from its own brand products within five years. the retailer said plastic would be replaced with paper which could be recycled. the move has been welcomed by environmental campaigners and comes amid growing concern over plastic pollution in the world's oceans. nigel broadhurst is thejoint managing director of iceland. he told me that advances in technology means that changing the way ourfood is packaged is now possible. we sell in the ready meal category, we sell 100 million black plastic trays so we are going to replace those immediately this year and that will be the first of a number of initiatives we are doing to take plastic side of our supply chain. we have been working on this for about 18 months and we have been looking at people —— had people looking at different packaging formats really. things are now available to replace packaging. there are paper—based and plant —based derivatives which are now much more environmentally friendly and much more readily available and that is getting better all the time. louise edge is senior oceans campaigner at greenpeace uk and joins me now. this must be a move that you welcome. yes, the reality is that we are basing a real crisis in oceans. there is a truckload of plaster gone into religions every minute. it is impacting everything from the smallest plankton up to the great whales. we need to see urgent action and what is becoming clear is we should simply stop using plastic which is a material that is designed to persist for hundreds of years. it stays in our oceans, gradually breaking down into small pieces. very much welcoming this announcement by iceland today, which is about going packaging free in all of their own brand products within five years and we are calling on other retailers, other uk supermarkets to urgently follow suit, so to put energy and focus on to going plastic free. how long have you been tracking the problem of plastic in the oceans? we have had an active campaign here in the uk for the past two years, but greenpeace is an organisation has been tracking this is due for over a decade and we were encouraged to see how it is really taking off. we are not ina how it is really taking off. we are not in a situation, thanks to things like blue planet, we have overwhelming public support for action to tackle this problem. we have the government stating they wa nt to have the government stating they want to see action and today we have one of the big uk really —— uk retailers pledging to cool plastic packaging free, which is where we need to get to. what we would also like to see is clearly retailers can do this alone, they need the government to help them. we are calling on the government to get behind these moves by retailers. we need to act urgently on this so we need to act urgently on this so we need to act urgently on this so we need to see bands on some of the worst plastics, so things like plastic straws, plastic cutlery that are easily replaced, we can do that tomorrow. they need to put bands on problem plastics like pvc, polisario. we think we can see real changes within this five year timescale, not the 25 years that government announced last week. new welcoming iceland's move, and you wa nt welcoming iceland's move, and you want others to follow them. iceland sets it will replace some of the packaging ofjuice is now with paper and put other plant —based materials. is there a danger that we could move from one problem to another because if there is greater use of paper, then we have issues of deforestation? of course. this will bea deforestation? of course. this will be a complex task, which is why iceland are saying it will take five yea rs iceland are saying it will take five years to complete. we need to make sure was of alternatives, and they are environmentally friendly. we totally believe that this can be achieved, which is why we are welcoming retailers getting behind it and saying they will help put it into practice today. one of the world's greatest olympic gymnasts, simone biles, has claimed she was abused by a former doctor who worked for the united states' team. she is the latest athlete to accuse larry nassar of sexual abuse. he's already been jailed for 60 years for possessing indecent images of children and has admitted assaulting female gymnasts. he will be sentenced this month. andrew plant reports. she is a four—time olympic champion with 19 combined world and olympic medals, she is america's most decorated gymnast. now, in a statement, the star of the rio games has said she was sexually abused by the former team usa gymnastics sports doctor larry nassar. nassar has already been jailed, sentenced to 60 years for possessing indecent images of children, he has also been accused by other gymnasts of sexual abuse, has admitted assault in two criminal cases and will be sentenced for those this month. her talent clear from a young age, simone biles is regarded by many as the greatest to ever perform in her sport. team—mates have said nassar‘s abuse came under the guise of medical treatment. in her statement, biles said she won't allow the former team doctor to steal her love and joy. the 54—year—old was jailed in december after child pornography was found on his computer. simone biles said she was not afraid to tell her story any more and adding, "it is impossibly difficult to relive these experiences, and it breaks my heart as i work towards my dream of competing in tokyo 2020, i will have to continually return to the same training facility where i was abused." andrew plant, bbc news. danish inventor peter madsen has been charged with the murder of swedish journalist kim wall who went missing following a trip onboard his private submarine last august dismembered parts of ms wall's body were found at sea, shortly after she interviewed him on his homemade submarine. mr madsen has denied killing her but previously admitted dismembering the 30—year—old writer's body. his trial will begin in march. a man fixated by the tv presenter emily maitlis has beenjailed. the judge said that he had for mental torture on her and herfamily. let's return now to the collapse of carillion. we can talk to the general secretary of the rmt, mick cash. thanks very much indeed forjoining us, mr cash. so the government has given guarantees to workers who were on public sector contracts. what is your reaction to the government approach? they are not saying what those guarantees are. i spoke to the special manager appointed by the administrator yesterday and tried to find out who is going to keep their job and who will not. it is not clear to me or to my members who is going to have a job by the end of this week. what those guarantees looked like, the devil is in the detail. ourfocus as looked like, the devil is in the detail. our focus as a trade union is to find out what the future employment prospects of members are, and to make sure they get paid. it beggars belief that the government has known about the problems with carillon ford literally months yet we are still asking these questions about who will be impacted. it is pa rt about who will be impacted. it is part of the practical problem sorting out what is a public sector contract and what is a private one? yes, but you would have thought they would have sorted that out by now. there is a big issue around outsourcing in general. you would have thought they would have known what is public and what is private in the circumstances. we have members who cleaned stations, maintained stations for a riva real north and london, are they public or private? nobody is clear with us at this moment. if you are defined as public, going forward your contract would be maintained and the best way of doing that is for those contracts, because it is work, that work should be brought in house while we solve these problems because they are doing work ina problems because they are doing work in a contract that needs to be done. in some respects the way the government and the lack of preparedness for this is shocking and it is not helping us address the real detailed issues here. your concern for individuals and their work and their livelihoods is of course understandable, but there are people who are saying that the government can't privatise the profits and nationalise the depths. the lib dems are saying why should the government step in and rescue what was effectively a dud company? they did it for the banks, didn't they? just recently chris grayling, they? just recently chris grayling, the transport secretary, has been about east coast and southern rail, so about east coast and southern rail, so they can find the money to look after the private sector if it suits them and we are at saying you should be doing the same here because the reality and all this is that a lot of the work that we are seeing on the railways, and i'm talking about our members, is work that has to be done, there are contracts associated with that and in those circumstances evenif with that and in those circumstances even if they on a temporary basis, that work should be brought in house. i spoke to the chief executive of network rail yesterday and asked him if he would bring that work in house and they are looking at it. the government will make this decision. if they bring it in house, that work is guaranteed. but you also have to make sure that people get paid. quite a lot of the contractors used by carillon are self—employed. will they get paid? we don't know the answer. people like network rail have been telling us they are paying for the work to be done. if they are paying for the work, that money should end up in the pockets of the workers who are facing an uncertain future. there are solutions to this. i come back to this point, these questions, they could've been predicted. the government has known for months that this company was in trouble, yet nobody sat down and worked through what to do if they had to go this road. that tells me that the government has been as sleep on their watch, either too busy talking about brexit, or worrying about their own cabinet reshuffle. it is a disgraced the way this thing has happened. we should not be arguing about what is public and private, we should be saying that that work is there, let's get paid for and let's keep those in employment. thank you very much for your time. we will take you over to the capital of chile, santiago, where the pope is. he is on a visit to latin america. he will be in chile and the roof. he has just america. he will be in chile and the roof. he hasjust in america. he will be in chile and the roof. he has just in the last 30 minutes or so apologised for the abuse of children by members of the country's roman catholic clergy. he told a gathering at the presidential palace that he felt pain and shame for the irreparable harm caused to victims. most of chile's population are catholic but it has been noted that despite these scenes of crowds and flag—waving, there are fewer people there to greet the pope then there has been on previous visits to latin america and part of the reason has been because of anger over the issue of child abuse by catholic clergy. the latest news there is that pope francis has apologised for the abuse of children by members of the abuse of children by members of the clergy in that country. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: calls for employees working on private sector deals for failed construction giant carillion to have theirjobs protected. a californian couple are arrested on suspicion of torture after police found their 13 emaciated children, some chained to their beds. inflation eased slightly from its six—year high in december, falling to an annual rate of 3%. there are concerns about the support for more than 21,000 children with complex special needs in england. every child with special needs has to receive a fresh assessment for their care by the end of march, but it seems the majority of local authorities are going to miss this deadline. jayne mccubbin reports. it is the biggest reform to special educational needs support in a generation, and since 2014, the clock has been ticking. councils were given 43 months to transfer all children off the old system of statements, to receive new, improved educational health and care plans. so how is that shaping up? it's a mess, a complete mess. it's a complete and utter disaster. rachel's youngest daughter has autism, and has struggled out of school for three years. it was meant to take 20 weeks to assess her for a new support plan. today they are in week 54, and still no plan or support in place. the medical assessment wasn't done, and the social care assessment wasn't done. you had to crowd—fund to get the right assessment. we did, we did have to crowd—fund to get the right assessment. they have failed her on every level. at every point, they have failed her. walsall council say it is committed to working with councils to meet individual needs and achieve the best outcomes for children. but holly is one of an estimated 21,000 children in limbo, who will still be waiting to receive a plan by deadline day. me too & co is a support group in richmond, the area with the worst delays in england. everyone here has faced delays, everyone here has faced problems. the plan for bill's son, rudy, was missing the support needed. in ten days' time, we'll be in another tribunal. the first was held in may last year. how much have you spent on this fight? richmond are very aware of this — just under £60,000 so far. sarah has also has to pay for four sons who are all autistic. they changed case officers five times, so we never knew who our case officer was. melanie says her daughter is broken by the delays. she meets with these professionals. she has actually refused now to fill those forms out anymore. she says, i'm not filling them out, because nobody reads them, and nobody actually cares. richmond council tell me they have been working with families to ensure each transfer results in strong, informed, individually tailored plans. even though it has taken 3.5 years to only do half the transfers, they reckon they can the rest done in the next seven weeks. impossible. it is not doable. it won't be quality, and it won't be considered. the quality of new plans is a concern, right across england. do you want the government to scrap this deadline? it would be helpful if they would extend this deadline. having such a ruthless deadline is putting at risk the quality of plans that are being delivered, in order to meet that timescale. not everyone would describe 3.5 years as a ruthless deadline. this letter was sent to local authorities recently, reminding them of the need to hit it. the government say that, with a starting point of 250,000 transfers, councils are making good progress. not words these parents would use to describe their own experiences. police say they are not treating the death of the cranberries' singer dolores o'riordan as suspicious. the 46—year—old was found dead in a hotel in london's park lane yesterday. the irish musician, originally from limerick, led the band to international success in the 90's with singles including linger and zombie. members of the band have paid tribute, posting on twitter "we are devastated on the passing of our friend dolores. for the second time in seven months romania is without a prime minister. left—winger mihai tudose resigned on monday after losing a battle with the leader of his own party. bill hayton reports. mihai tudose only took office lastjune, and already he is out of power. the government is very unlikely to fall. it has a comfortable parliamentary majority, but it is becoming harder and harder to find a prime minister who can get along with their party leader. mr tudose told waiting journalists that he was leaving with his head held high and that his deputy would replace him in the interim. last week, mr tudose had a row with his own interior minister, publicly accusing her of lying. he called on her to resign, instead the party leaderforced him out. he is barred from becoming prime minister himself because he was convicted of vote rigging in 2016. it is a year since large—scale protests forced the romanian government to reverse plans to weaken anti—corruption laws. unhappiness with corruption and low standards of living persist, though. one recent poll suggested just a quarter of romanians have trust in the government. here's something even the locals don't see every day — a wallaby eludes police in australia, leading them on a low—speed chase in downtown sydney. the marsupial was spotted on the nation's most famous landmark — the sydney harbour bridge. virginia langeberg reports. music: land down under by men at work. how is this for a visit to the big smoke? shortly before 5.00am, under police escort and avoiding the city rush hour, this opportunistic tourist jumped at the chance to take a tour of australia's most famous landmark — the sydney harbour bridge. there was enough time to stop and take in the sights, even say "g'day!" to one of the locals dressed in blue. but with lots to see, you know how the saying goes, better hop to it. eight lanes of the harbour bridge were brought to a standstill as the curious little swamp wallaby went for his predawn stretch of the legs. that was until the blue and red lights narrowed in and the wayward wallaby was apprehended. staff at taraonga zoo are now keeping a close eye on the marsupial after its lengthy adventure downtown. fortunately, there didn't seem to be any significant injuries. it had some minor grazes on its face and hind legs and i took some x—rays, x—rayed his whole body, to rule out any fractures and things like that and there didn't seem to be any major injuries. aussies will often laugh when tourists say they expect to see kangaroos hopping across the sydney harbour bridge, but without even realising it, this little wallaby, with a few simple hops and skips, has brought that common misconception to life and proved the rest of the world right. astonishing new footage has emerged of the moment a car flew across a road and smashed into a building in california. the vehicle was travelling at high speed and narrowly avoided a bus. amazingly, no one was seriously injured in the incident, which happened in the city of santa ana. tim allman reports. it's around 5:25am, the streets are practically deserted and this bus is driving northbound on 17th street. it's approaching the junction with french street when this happens. what was that, you may ask. well, let's look at it again, this time slowed down. that is a five door sedan flying across the street and burying itself on the top floor of a dental office. we can see it again from a different angle. the car travelling at speed hitting the central reservation and shooting into the air. this was the scene afterwards. nearly 1.5 tonnes of popular family motoring wedged into a two story building. the two people on board, driver and passenger, suffered only minor injuries. and the local fire department, not having much experience with flying cars, had to call in specialist equipment to remove the vehicle. i have been in this agency for 28 years and this is a first. a lot of times we come across cars that have collided into buildings. normally, they enter in on the first floor, not the second. this was a new one for us. police say this was a misdemeanour and no further legal action is expected. officers believe the driver took narcotics. so high in a chemical sense, then high quite literally. in a moment, the news at one with jane hill. first, the weather. there is some very challenging weather set to affect the british isles and the next couple of days. for the rest of today and into wednesday the worst of it is for scotla nd wednesday the worst of it is for scotland and northern ireland —— northern ireland, and there is an amber warning for snow and ice. here is the satellite and you can see those showers have come together into longer spells of snow from many parts of scotland and northern ireland and that is why we are seeing such accumulations. there is more to come. things could even pepped up more to come. things could even pepped up further in the southern half of scotland and northern ireland during the evening rush hour, and the latter part of the rush—hour into the early evening. further south it is more likely to be rain, but there could be a wintry mixture, particularly on the hills. where ever you are it is cold story and windy one. there is strong wind, so and windy one. there is strong wind, so causing blizzard like conditions. at the end of the night ice could be a problem just about anywhere. perhaps some heavy snow in northern england during the small hours. wet and steve, another windy day, perhaps not quite as windy. more showers as well, perhaps not quite as frequent for scotland and northern ireland, but still wintry here. england and wales, a reasonable amount of sunshine. if you add the wind—chill to the temperatures, it will be very cold. then the next system to content with is an area of low pressure that will rule across the british isles overnight weather seemed the into thursday. we are unsure weather worst of this weather will be yet, but there will be strong winds. there could be some further snow. either way, prepare yourself for some disruption to travel early on thursday. that system should move out of the way pretty quickly through thursday, then we are back to a chilly wind of frequent showers to a chilly wind of frequent showers to end the week. so, for the week ahead, it will be cold, stormy overnight wednesday into thursday, and windy with more snow showers. the government orders a fast—track investigation into the directors of the collapsed construction giant carillion. a growing number of businesses who worked on projects with the firm say they are already having to lay off staff. others fear closure. well, accruing debts of about a million pounds, we're not a business of a size who can trade through that without some form of support from the government. we'll be hearing from some of the business facing an uncertain future. also this lunchtime. a couple are arrested after police discover 13 emaciated brothers and sisters, some chained to beds, in a house in california. the four—time olympic champion simone biles says she she was sexually abused by the former team usa gymnastics doctor. hundreds of fires caused by defective tumble dryers.

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