alison holt, bbc news. this evening's vote in the commons approving the new levy breaks a conservative manifesto commitment not to increase taxes. some conservatives mps are known to be unhappy, and labour says the change will not only hammer working people but it could also fail to clear the nhs waiting lists made worse by the pandemic. 0ur deputy political editor, vicki young, reports. a significant moment for borisjohnson — making it clear where his priorities lie. the ayes to the right, 319. the noes to the left, 248. with barely a murmur, conservative mps backed billions of pounds in tax rises to raise money for the nhs and social care, while labour mps voted against. it feels like a distortion of the political landscape, and it brings risks for the prime minister and the labour leader. borisjohnson�*s overriding some tory anxiety. he believes voters are prepared to pay for better funded public services. in order to deal with the problems of the nhs backlogs, you also have to fix social care. we're

alison holt, bbc news. scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has warned that the scottish ambulance service and nhs are facing the most challenging winter in a lifetime. the military have been called on to help support ambulances with long waiting times. from glasgow, alexandra mackenzie reports. the scottish ambulance service helps people when they are most in need, but lillian briggs lay in pain on her kitchen floor for eight hours. her son thought she was going to die. i held my mum's hand, she had a couple of bruises, a bashed face so i wiped her face, reassured her. eventually, seven hours, i called them. she says to me, we know about your mother, she's not a priority. i says, well, hopefully you'll be here before my mother dies, because my mum's in a bad way now. at first minister's questions, opposition parties raised other examples of long delays. this morning we all read in shock and horror about 65—year—old gerard brown, who died after a 40 hour wait for an ambulance. when the paramedics r

our social affairs correspondent alison holt is here. do we expect tomorrow's plan to be based on this? that is certainly what we are expecting, and if that is confirmed tomorrow, then the big question is going to be, what level will that cap be set at? we know there have been arguments going on about weather it should be around £50,000 or £80,000, and the smart money at the moment seems to be pointing to that higherfigure. and we know the moment seems to be pointing to that higher figure. and we know from those past proposals that if someone is in residential care, then it is the care costs that count towards that cap or limit, it is not the accommodation costs. but so far, so much of the discussion has been about how we pay for these reforms, with relatively little focus on what they need to do. we have also heard a lot about selling houses and whether or not that is the right thing for people to be doing, but to concentrate on that is an over sympathy occasion. it is worth saying that at the moment, if you have more than £23,250 in

here's alison holt. keira bell's experience of how teenage decisions shaped her life led to the original court case. at 16, desperate to transition from female to male, she was prescribed drugs to delay puberty, the male hormones. now in her 20s, she believes it was a mistake. last year she told me she should have been challenged more. the discussions were very brief and there was no real investigation into why i had gender dysphoric feelings and how i'd got to that stage. i spoke briefly of depression and anxiety, but again it was kind of assumed by everyone that transitioning would alleviate that. she was treated here at the tavistock, the uk's only gender identity clinic for children. last december, the high court ruled that someone under 16 could not fully understand the implications of taking puberty blockers, so the nhs stopped prescribing them to younger people. 0verturning that, today's court of appealjudgment found the high court was not in a position to give guidance that generalised about the

alison holt, bbc news. for the next three years, most of the extra money will go to the nhs. the department of health will get around £10 billion a year over the next three years. from that, around £6 billion will go to nhs front line services in england each year. it comes as a record 5.5 million people are now waiting for routine nhs treatment in england, and the prime minister warned today it will get worse before getting better. 0ur health editor hugh pym has more details. james, who's from halifax, in happier times. this was his wedding day with his family in 2015. four years later, he had a heart infection which damaged a valve. an operation was planned for may last year, but during the pandemic, it was cancelled five times. thank you, mr wilkinson, forjoining us... itjust so happened he was giving evidence to a committee of mps this morning. every day, sat at home for three months, i was isolating for. not hearing anything, not knowing anything, every day feeling worse, every week getting worse and worse with the health and the anxiety. it would've had a huge emotion

alison holt, bbc news. a blue plaque has been installed at the former london home of the muppets creatorjim henson. henson bought the home in hampstead in north london at the peak of the muppets' success at the end of the 1970s. english heritage unveiled the plaque ahead of what would have been the puppeteer�*s 85th birthday. rowlf the dog is the first muppet that worked with jim. he told my colleague, christian fraser, about his fond memories of time he spent withjim in london. we went big walks together in hampstead, especially the heath. we often shared a new leash on life, afternoon tea at edgerton house, he would have the scones and clotted cream and i would watch. lam i am lactose intolerant! christian was enjoying that! you can get me on twitter, i am lewis vaughanjones, this is bbc news, goodbye. —— christian vaughanjones. very quiet on the weather front out there right now and quite warm too, after a hot tuesday for some of us. here's a reminder of the temperatures we had on tuesday in a sele

alison holt, bbc news. even some critics of the government's proposals accept that it is at least trying to tackle the issue of social care, something previous governments have dodged. but in the commons today much of the debate has centred on who will end up paying the new taxes and whether the measures meet boris johnson's own pledge — that no—one will have to sell their house to fund their care. here's our deputy political editor vicki young. no, your eyes aren't deceiving you. the conservative government is about to put up your taxes to raise money for the nhs, and labour will vote against it. it feels like a distortion of the political landscape and it brings risks for the prime minister and the labour leader. borisjohnson�*s overriding some tory anxiety. he believes voters are prepared to pay for better funded public services. in order to deal with the problems of the nhs backlogs, you also have to fix social care. we are taking the tough decisions, mr speaker, that the country wants to see, we

here's alison holt. keira bell's experience of how teenage decisions shaped her life led to the original court case. at 16, desperate to transition from female to male, she was prescribed drugs to delay puberty, male hormones. now in her 20s, she believes it was a mistake. last year she told me she should have been challenged more. the discussions were very brief and there was no real investigation into why i had gender dysphoric feelings and how i'd got to that stage. i spoke briefly of depression and anxiety, but again it was kind of assumed by everyone that transitioning would alleviate that. she was treated here at the tavistock, the uk's only gender identity clinic for children. last december, the high court ruled that someone under 16 could not fully understand the implications of taking puberty blockers, so the nhs stopped prescribing them to younger people. overturning that, today's court of appeal judgment found the high court was "not in a position to give guidance that generalised about the ca

our social affairs correspondent alison holt is here. lots of focus on funding today, but wider issues at stake? you are right. the focus has been on how it is paid for, but we need to know what it is we are meant to be paying for. the idea of the cap, which was outlined as the favourite option, the expected option, the big question will be, where is that cap set '5 there have been arguments about a threshold of 50,000, we hear about a threshold of 50,000, we hear about 80,000 also being put forward. that seems to be where the smart money is at the moment. these are the details we need to know, but when we are talking about a cap on costs, it is care cost, so if you are in residential care it does not cost accommodation costs, just the costs of care. this gets reduced to an over simplification, argument, but selling houses. under the current system anyone us assets or savings of more than £23,250, ends up savings of more than £23,250, ends up taking paid for care themselves, doesn't matter if they are living in a council house that the

alison holt, bbc news. scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, has warned that the scottish ambulance service and nhs are facing the most challenging winter in a lifetime. the military have been called on to help support ambulances after waiting times averaged six hours last week. from glasgow, alexandra mackenzie reports. the scottish ambulance service helps people when they are most in need, but lillian briggs lay in pain on her kitchen floorfor but lillian briggs lay in pain on her kitchen floor for eight hours. held my mum's hand, she had a couple of bruises, wiped herface, reassured her. eventually, seven hours after i called them, she says to me, we know about your mother, she is not a priority. i says, well, you will hopefully be here before she dies because she is in a bad way now. that she dies because she is in a bad way now. �* , she dies because she is in a bad way now. . , ~ , �* , now. at first minister's questions, o- osition now. at first minister's questions, opposition parties _ no

alison holt, bbc news. as we've heard, the lion's share of this extra money — at least in the first few years — is earmarked for the nhs. here's how it will be shared out. the department of health will get around £10 billion a year over the next three years. from that, around £6 billion will go to nhs front line services in england every year. it comes as a record 5.5 million people are now waiting for routine nhs treatment in england — and the prime minister warned today it will get worse before getting better. here's our health editor hugh pym. james, who is from halifax, in happier times. this was his wedding day with his family in 2015. four years later, he had a heart infection which damaged a valve. an operation was planned for may last year but, during the pandemic, it was cancelled five times.- year but, during the pandemic, it was cancelled five times. thank you, mister wilkinson, _ was cancelled five times. thank you, mister wilkinson, for _ was cancelled five times. thank you, mister wilk

alison holt, bbc news. allison girbow is a carer who is set to be dismissed later next month after she decided not to take the vaccine. and not to take the vaccine. match prepared, as much . love and match prepared, as much as i love myjob and am heartbroken to leave that, i am not prepared to stay there commit to have the vaccine to keep myjob. so the stress that we have at work, the pay that we get, i am prepared to walk away and get a cleaning job. less hassle and probably a bit more money. my last meeting was a letter saying that i was getting dismissed on the 10th of november. so i'm just waiting for the 10th of november. and i'm sticking till the end, i'm not walking away right now. i told them that, you know, i don't want them that, you know, i don't want the vaccine, but i may do in the future. a diplomatic row has broken out over a new defence and security partnership between the uk, the us, and australia. the deal will deliver nuclear—powered submarines to the australian navy — as a way to cou

i work with care providers in somerset and there is an immediate crisis and urgency, as alison holt pointed out earlier on. because of private care providers across the country, that has been brought out by there not being sufficiently within the system to allow people to purchase care, for care providers to be able to provided and for employers to be able to find staff and hold onto them. so that is the challenge that a universal taxation system needs to deliver. i a universal taxation system needs to deliver. . ., , deliver. iwanted to “ump in, it seems at deliver. iwanted to “ump in, it seems as though _ deliver. iwanted tojump in, it seems as though there - deliver. iwanted tojump in, it seems as though there is - deliver. i wanted tojump in, it. seems as though there is almost universal agreement that the system needs a drastic reform and it needs more money and the question is quite how to go about it. those who are opposing a rise in national insurance contributions to so either because they say conservatives promised not to raise taxes or because they say this is generationally

this report from our social affairs correspondent alison holt contains some distressing details. set in large grounds in the norfolk countryside, cawston park was meant to be offering short—stay assessment and treatment to its patients. but today's report found failings at every level at this private hospital. ben, who had learning disabilities, spent 17 months here. inactivity meant his wait ballooned. and injuly last year, he died after a breathing disorder connected to obesity was incorrectly diagnosed. shortly before his death, in the top corner of these cctv pictures, a staff member is seen roughly dragging and pushing him. today, norfolk police have said they want to speak to this man as part of an investigation into ill—treatment. this is precious family video ofjoanna bailey as a child. she had learning disabilities, autism and later developed epilepsy. in her 30s, she struggled to cope. her father says at cawston park, she wasn't helped with the breathing mask she needed when sleeping. she was meant to be checked regularly, but that didn't happen on the night she die

alison holt, bbc news. let's discuss these proposals in more detail. let's discuss these proposals in more detail. with me is dan archer is the managing director of visiting angels, which provides home care and i'm alsojoined by mark adams, ceo of widnes based community integrated care, a charity which supports around 4,000 people across the country with care needs. lots of governments have ducked this urgent issue of social care. whatever you think of this government, at least they are addressing it.— addressing it. and they are addressing _ addressing it. and they are addressing funding - addressing it. and they are addressing funding for- addressing it. and they are addressing funding for it. l addressing it. and they are i addressing funding for it. and that's a start. it would be wrong for anybody to suggest that more money is not a good thing. we absolutely as a sector need more money coming in. ifirst met absolutely as a sector need more money coming in. i first met alice in ten years ago at the old bbc centre in london, talking about that poi

here's alison holt. keira bell's experience of how teenage decisions shaped her life led to the original court case. at 16, desperate to transition from female to male, she was prescribed drugs to delay puberty, male hormones. now in her 20s, she believes it was a mistake. last year, she told me she should've been challenged more. the discussions were very brief, and there was no real investigation into why i had gender dysphoric feelings and how i'd got to that stage. i spoke briefly of depression and anxiety, but again it was kind of assumed by everyone that transitioning would alleviate that. she was treated here at the tavistock, the uk's only gender identity clinic for children. last december, the high court ruled that someone under 16 could not fully understand the implications of taking puberty blockers, so the nhs stopped prescribing them to younger people. overturning that, today's court of appealjudgment found the high court was "not in a position to give guidance that generalised about the cap

this report from our social affairs correspondent alison holt contains some distressing details. set in large grounds in the norfolk countryside, cawston park was meant to be offering short—stay assessment and treatment to its patients. but today's report found failings at every level at this private hospital. ben, who had learning disabilities, spent 17 months here. inactivity meant his weight ballooned, and in last year, he died after a breathing disorder connected to obesity was incorrectly diagnosed. shortly before his death, in the top corner of these cctv pictures, a staff member is seen roughly dragging and pushing him. today, norfolk police have said they want to speak to this man as part of an investigation into ill treatment. this is precious family video ofjoanna bailey as a child. she had learning disabilities, autism and later developed epilepsy. when she was in her 30s, she began to struggle. her father says at cawston park, she wasn't helped with the breathing mask she needed when sleeping. she was meant to be checked regularly, but that didn't happen on the nigh

our social affairs correspondent alison holt is with me now. what more can you tell us about what's likely to be announced? we hope to see the detail scene. we are expecting that a cap will be introduced to limit the amount of money any one person pays towards their care. we know there have been arguments over what level that should be set out, when a 50,000 or 80,000. it would then mean someone would pay for their pair up to the top of the cap on then they could turn to the local authority for help. at the same time we are expecting the amount of money someone can keep to be increased. at the moment, if you have savings or assets of £23,250 or more, then you pay for all your care. we expect you to be able to keep more. if you live in a council has bought under the right to buy scheme or a mansion in surrey, you are likely to have to sell your home if you need residential care, not other sort of care. if you simplify things down to selling houses and a funding mechanism, to some degree it misses the point. the care system which is about people

this report from our social affairs correspondent alison holt contains some distressing details. set in large grounds in the north countryside, cawston park was meant to be offering short—stay assessment and treatment to its patients. but today's report found failings at every level its private hospital. ben, who had learning disabilities, spent 17 months here, in activity and his wait ballooned and injuly last year he died after a breathing disorder connected to obesity was incorrectly diagnosed. shortly before his death, in the top corner of the cctv pictures, a staff member is seen roughly dragging and pushing him. today norfolk police have said they want to speak to this man is part of an investigation into the treatment. this is a precious family video ofjoanna bailey as a child. she had learning disabilities, autism and later developed epilepsy. when she was in her 30s she began to struggle. herfather when she was in her 30s she began to struggle. her father says cawston park she wasn't helped with the breathing mask she needed when sleeping. she was meant to be checked r

alison holt speaking — out of hospital. alison holt speaking earlier. _ a three—year—old boy who went missing in the australian bush four days ago has been found safe after a search. anthony "aj" elfalak was spotted by police helicopters on monday, drinking water from a creek on his family's property in rural new south wales. the little boy, who has autism and doesn't speak, had been last seen at the house on friday. his family had feared that he had been abducted. shaimaa khalil reports from sydney. overwhelmed with emotion, mother reunited with her toddler four days after he went missing. and this was the moment three—year—old ajay was found by rescue teams. he was spotted from a helicopter, drinking from a creek on his family's rural property in the caps idol hunter valley in rural new south wales, an area that was searched several times for the past four days. hundreds of rescue personnel and a police plane, search dogs and divers, as well as ajay�*s family and friends, look for him tirelessly. many feared the

alison holt, bbc news. ministers have made it clear that the lion's share of the extra cash raised by the new taxes will initially go to the nhs — and not the care sector. theyjustify that by pointing to the huge backlog in those waiting for nhs treatment in england, made worse by the pandemic. but speaking to the bbc, borisjohnson refused to set any targets for reducing waiting times. he was speaking to our health editor, hugh pym. you see people come forward... the prime minister was back at the hospital trust where he was treated in intensive care during the first covid surge. he's announced a new three—year funding dealfor the nhs in england to help clear the backlog of cancelled operations. this is a training area at the st thomas' trust with no patients, so no masks required while i asked what impact the new money might have. in england, there are more than 300,000 waiting more than a year for an operation. before the pandemic, it was nearer 1,000. how much is that going to come down? give us an i

our social affairs correspondent alison holt told us more about what might be announced. we hope to see the details soon, but expect a cap will be introduced to limit the amount any one person pays towards their care. we know there have been arguments over what level that should be at, whether it is 50,000 or 80,000, it would mean somebody would pay for their care up to the top of that cap and then turn to the the the local authority for help. at the moment if you have savings or assets of £23,000 or more then you pay for all your care. we expect you to be allowed to keep more. at the moment, whether you live in a council house that you have bough or a mansion in surrey you're likely to have to sell your home if you need residential care. not other sorts of care. if you simplify things down to selling houses and the funding mechanism to some degree it misses the point, the care system which is about people is in crisis, it has understaffing, years of underfunding and needs to be fixed. so things we need to see, will there be investment now in the system? will the staffin

our social affairs correspondent alison holt told us more about the staffing pressure facing the care sector. care homes were really hard hit by covid and at the start of the vaccine will not, take up by staff or slow, but it is a sector that has real problems when it comes to staffing. it entered the pandemic with 112,000 vacancies in england and it is now having the same troubles as other areas like retail or hospitalityjust for recruiting people. wages tend not to be very high, you have to be the right sort of person to do the job, it is difficult to recruit the right people and whilst most people have now had their first dose of the vaccine, there are still 10% who have not and replacing those 10% will be very difficult. from a care provider described it yesterday as being a perfect storm, the mandatory vaccinations add another layer of difficulty. government guidance that came out yesterday has said that for a short period, 12 weeks, people will be able to self certify medical exemptions — that may delay the date for a few people, but it will not solve problems and the care sec