Sex offence suspects' DNA 'deleted'

30 July 2013 Last updated at 19:00 ET

Thousands of DNA profiles of suspected sex offenders are being deleted from the national database because of Home Office incompetence, Labour claims.

A ban on police in England and Wales indefinitely holding the DNA of people not charged takes effect in October.

The Home Office has ordered forces to delete such records ahead of the change, even though an appeals system is not in place, Labour says.

However, the government said it is "restoring common sense to the system".

A Home Office spokesperson said: "In the past, DNA was kept from innocent people, but not taken from prisoners. We are taking samples from the guilty and getting rid of them when people have done nothing wrong."

The records include DNA of 18,000 people held but not charged with rape.

Biometrics commissioner

Although police will be required to delete most profiles from people who are not charged under the new law, chiefs will be able to ask the biometrics commissioner for permission to hold a sample for three years where the individual is suspected of a serious offence, such as rape, and officers have grounds to do so.

The changes to the National DNA Database came in 2012's Protection of Freedoms Bill, following a major defeat for the police at the European Court of Human Rights.

That 2008 judgement said England and Wales should mirror the Scottish system under which DNA profiles taken from people who are never charged with an offence should be destroyed.

Previous to this judgement, Police in England and Wales could previously hold profiles indefinitely.

Continue reading the main story

• Adult offender: Indefinite
• Under-18 serious offender: Indefinite
• Under-18 minor offence: Five years
• Arrested and charged with serious offence: Three to five years
• Arrested on serious charge but released: Three years on appeal to commissioner; indefinite if previously convicted

The process is designed to allow detectives to hold on to the records of individuals they strongly suspect of serious offences which can be difficult to bring to court, such as rape.

But that appeal process is not yet in place - and Labour says forces are following a Home Office order to delete records in preparation for the legal changeover.

Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the Home Office was guilty of "shocking incompetence" .

Ms Cooper said: "It is appalling that DNA evidence from thousands of rape suspects is now being destroyed contrary to the promises made by the prime minister and home secretary.

"The prime minister assured Parliament that if someone was arrested but not charged with rape, the police would be able to ask to retain the DNA of the suspect. Yet because of Theresa May's incompetence the police are powerless to retain it."

As of May, 1.1 million DNA profiles had been destroyed under the programme to remove innocent people from the database.

The biometrics commissioner, Alastair MacGregor QC, recently said police could hypothetically ask him for permission to retain 60,000 DNA records a year relating to serious crimes, each of which could involve a legal battle.

It is not clear whether all forces are completely following the order or whether some are trying to hold on to profiles ahead of a later appeal.

A Home Office spokesperson added: "Forces will be able to retain DNA from someone arrested and not charged for up to three years, but only with permission from the Biometrics Commissioner. And all DNA samples taken by police are checked against the national database before deletion."

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Stafford Hospital's future revealed

31 July 2013 Last updated at 00:06 ET

A report by administrators running the scandal-hit Stafford Hospital into the future of services there will be published later.

The Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust went into administration on 16 April after a report concluded it was not "clinically or financially sustainable".

A public inquiry, led by Robert Francis QC, was triggered by a higher than expected number of deaths at the trust.

The Trust Special Administrators' (TSA) report will be published at 14:00 BST.

The administrators were initially given 45 days to design new patient services, but health regulator Monitor granted them an extra 30 days.

The consultation on the draft report will start on 6 August and end on 1 October.

'Fragile offering'

Conservative-controlled Staffordshire County Council, which took on the public health remit in April, said a single trust should be created to provide health and social care for Staffordshire.

Council leader Philip Atkins said: "Instead of looking to break up an already fragile offering we need to look at creating a stronger, single Staffordshire NHS Trust offering integrated health and social care as a basis for a sustainable NHS."

The Mid Staffordshire trust, which also runs Cannock Chase Hospital, was the first NHS foundation trust to be put into administration.

Mr Francis's inquiry, into one of the biggest scandals in the history of the NHS, looked at why the problems at Stafford Hospital, where hundreds of needless deaths were caused by abuse and neglect in 2005-08, was not picked up earlier.

The report concluded patients had been "betrayed" because the NHS put corporate self-interest ahead of patients.

It argued for "fundamental change" in the culture of the NHS to make sure patients were put first.

Continue reading the main story

"Practically ignored by nurses"

Find out more about the victims of the Stafford Hospital scandal

The inquiry ran for a year between 2010 and 2011, and took evidence from more than 160 witnesses over 139 days, at a cost of £13m.

The findings of the Francis Report prompted a separate review of 14 NHS hospitals in England with high mortality rates.

As a result of that review, 11 of the hospitals were placed in "special measures" for "fundamental breaches of care".

On Thursday 25 July, two Stafford Hospital nurses who falsified A&E discharge times were struck off the nursing register.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council panel found that Tracey-Ann White and Sharon Turner had brought their profession into serious disrepute.

On Tuesday 23 July, it was announced the director of nursing at the hospital, Colin Ovington, was to leave and become the new chief nurse of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust.

He was recruited in 2010 to help improve the quality of care at the Mid Staffordshire trust.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Sandwell Hospital and City Hospital in Birmingham, has said Mr Ovington was expecting to take up his new post later this year.

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Third 'SAS' training soldier dies

31 July 2013 Last updated at 02:17 ET

A third Army reservist has died after taking part in an SAS selection training exercise in the Brecon Beacons earlier this month.

Edward Maher, 31, and Craig Roberts, 24, died after collapsing during a 40-mile (64km) hike on 13 July when temperatures reached 29.5C (85F).

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Tuesday a third reservist had died.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has announced a full inquiry into what happened.

In a statement on Tuesday, the MoD said: "It is with great sadness that we can confirm that a third Army reserve soldier injured during a training exercise in the Brecon Beacons has died of his injuries.

"The family have asked for a period of grace before he is named and request that this is respected by the media."

Right to life

The soldiers had taken part in a four-week trial for the Territorial Army's SAS reservists ending in the hike over the Brecon Beacons in Powys.

An inquest in Brecon, which opened and adjourned last week, heard the cause of Mr Roberts' and Mr Maher's deaths remains "unascertained".

Powys coroner Louise Hunt warned that the MoD could face investigation under the Human Rights Act.

She said "right to life" will play an important part in the inquest.

"The state has a duty to protect an individual's life," she said.

"The importance of looking into the wider circumstances of these deaths is that Article Two of the Human Rights Act will come into play."

Before adjourning proceedings, she said a full inquest would examine all the circumstances leading up to the deaths, and any failings.

The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said "lots of serious questions" would be asked about the day and it was an issue that would concern MoD lawyers.

Aptitude test

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The soldiers were among six men rescued during the hike.

A witness on the day described coming across two soldiers "clearly in distress" who pleaded with them for drinking water.

The soldiers were understood to be taking part in the aptitude training element of the course to become SAS reservists.

L/Cpl Roberts, 24, of Penrhyn Bay, Conwy, had served with the Territorial Army for about five years and is understood to have served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Brecon Beacons is home to the Infantry Battle School and makes up one of Britain's largest military training areas.

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Profits rise at British Gas owner

31 July 2013 Last updated at 03:30 ET

British Gas owner Centrica has reported a rise in half-year profits, after the unusually cold winter boosted gas consumption.

Centrica's adjusted operating profit rose 9% to £1.58bn for the six months to 30 June, up from £1.45bn for the same period in 2012.

British Gas' residential arm saw profits rise 3% to £356m, up from £345m a year earlier.

It attracted criticism after raising energy prices by 6% in November 2012.

Centrica said "significantly higher environmental and commodity costs" had affected British Gas Residential's operating profits, despite gas consumption rising 13% compared with the same period last year.

Centrica chief executive Sam Laidlaw said: "With our customers using more gas to stay warm during the unusually cold winter, we're doing everything we can to help them keep their energy costs under control and make bills simpler and clearer."

British Gas has introduce a Tariff Checker to help its customers work out if they are on the cheapest tariff, but rising profits are still likely to attract criticism from consumer groups.

Centrica said it expected British Gas Residential's full-year operating profits to be "broadly in line" with 2012's figure of £606m.

The company said the cost of complying with the government-imposed Energy Company Obligation (ECO), aimed at helping low-income households with their heating bills and reducing carbon emissions through insulation, would be £1.4bn by the time the scheme ends in 2015.

Acquisitions

On Tuesday, Centrica announced that it had bought the energy marketing business of Hess Corporation in a $1bn (£657m) deal that makes its Direct Energy subsidiary the largest business-to-business gas supplier in the eastern United States.

In June, Centrica also spent £44m on a 25% stake in a shale gas exploration licence in Bowland, Lancashire, owned by Cuadrilla Resources and AJ Lucas.

The company has agreed to contribute a further £56m towards future exploration and appraisal costs associated with the project.

Centrica's results come a day after French energy company EDF reported UK pre-tax profits of £903m and said it was pulling out of the US nuclear power market because of the widespread availability of shale gas.

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Law firms linked to convicted PIs

31 July 2013 Last updated at 03:32 ET

Twenty-two law firms used private investigators convicted of illegally obtaining information, MPs have said.

Celebrities, eight financial services firms and 10 insurance companies were also identified as clients of the private investigators by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

The four investigators concerned were given jail sentences last year.

The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca) has refused to name the rogue operators' clients.

Private data

The private investigators specialised in illegally obtaining private information from organisations like banks, utility companies and HM Revenue and Customs.

Because Soca says the list of clients is confidential, the committee has not named them but instead breaks it down by business sector.

The list suggested that private investigators often subcontract work to each other - 16 clients were other private investigation agencies.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "The committee remains concerned that it holds a list that Soca has classified as secret, even though it is evidence given as part of our inquiry."

But the Labour MP added: "This is an important step forward in establishing the facts."

Computers seized

The list summarises clients identified by Operation Millipede, which led to the convictions of Philip Campbell-Smith and Graham Freeman who ran an agency called Brookmans International, and retired Metropolitan Police detective Adam Spears who worked alone.

A fourth defendant, Daniel Summers, was subcontracted by the others to carry out the so-called blagging of private information.

Soca seized computers during raids on the private investigators in 2009.

Continue reading the main story

The committee remains concerned that it holds a list that Soca has classified as secret, even though it is evidence given as part of our inquiry"

End Quote Keith Vaz Home Affairs Select Committee chairman

Evidence from these machines is now being used in another police investigation, Operation Tuleta, which is examining the illegal accessing of private information by journalists and companies.

Soca has refused to name the clients in the Millipede case because it said that could disrupt the ongoing Tuleta inquiry.

The Metropolitan Police said it would not support the naming of suspects in such circumstances.

Soca also maintained there was no proof the clients acted illegally.

BBC home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds said proving that the clients commissioned work knowing it would breach the data protection act - the most likely charge they might face - could be difficult.

One of the clients, a solicitor, told the BBC she hired Brookmans International to track down a fraudster but insisted she did not break the law.

She said she put in writing her request to the private detectives that they do not do anything illegal.

Vital work

Much of the work of private investigators involves finding out where fraudsters have hidden stolen money or tracking down people who owe money so that civil litigation can begin.

Another law firm which uses private investigators said such work was vital because often police will not go after fraudsters.

The client categories published by the committee does not appear to contain media companies.

Our correspondent said critics of Soca argued it had failed to act on the corporate use of private investigators, while journalists who allegedly obtained private information by the breaking the law were subjected to several major police investigations.

The Millipede case is not one of the five detailed in a widely leaked report compiled by Soca in 2008 which warned of the risk of rogue private investigators.

The report was an analysis of cases that all reached their conclusion before it was written.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Theresa May is shortly expected to announce proposals that will require private detectives to have a licence to operate, barring anyone found guilty of hacking or blagging - obtaining information by using a false identity.

The Met Police said it supported the "strong regulation of the private investigation industry and a system that allows for a client to perform due diligence checks on the individual or company they wish to hire".

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Housing benefit cuts ruling awaited

29 July 2013 Last updated at 20:50 ET

The High Court is to rule on whether cuts to housing benefit for social housing residents with spare bedrooms discriminates against disabled people.

Lawyers for 10 families brought a judicial review over the lower payments for people in homes deemed too large.

They say the change - called a bedroom tax by critics - breaches their clients' human rights because they need the extra space for health reasons.

Ministers say it helps control welfare costs and frees up social housing.

About 660,000 working-age social housing households judged to have too many bedrooms have lost an average of £14 per week since their benefit was cut at the beginning of April.

The families, all disabled or the parents of disabled children, challenged the changes during a three-day hearing in May.

The claimants are represented by three law firms and are from various places including London, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester and Birmingham.

Their lawyers argued the benefit cut violated the Human Rights Act and Equality Act.

Continue reading the main story

There are 10 claimants represented by three law firms. They are from various places including London, Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester and Birmingham. Here are the arguments of four of them:

Case one

Lawyers for one London family say they live in a damp, one-bedroom flat infested with mice. One son has autism, the other has Down's Syndrome.

The child with autism sleeps in the bedroom while his mother, father and brother sleep on the floor in the living room.

Due to the changes, they say they cannot afford to move to the larger property authorities say they need.

Case two

Charlotte Carmichael has spina bifida and sleeps in a hospital bed which, she argues, her husband and full-time carer cannot share.

He sleeps in their spare room as there is not enough space in hers for a second bed.

Case three

In 2011, six-year-old Isaac was assaulted by the then partner of his mother, leaving him traumatised. He and his mother were made homeless and assessed as needing three bedrooms because, solicitors say, of Isaac's behavioural and mental issues.

His mother lost £15.52 a week on 1 April when the council judged they were under-occupying.

Case four

A wheelchair user living in a three-bedroom bungalow shared with his stepdaughter who has a rare form of muscular dystrophy says he needs a third bedroom to store equipment including a hoist for lifting him.

He contends there are no suitable two bedroom homes in the social sector.

Ugo Hayter from Leigh Day, which is representing two of the claimants said the legislation was "unfair" and had "disproportionate negative consequences on disabled people and is therefore discriminatory".

The lawyers also said the £25m the government has made available to councils to make discretionary payments to help disabled people affected by the benefit cuts is insufficient.

There has been fierce political argument about the new housing benefit rules, which supporters of the change say withdraws a "spare room subsidy".

The government says the benefit changes were intended to reduce a £21bn annual housing benefit bill and encourage greater mobility in the social rented sector.

The Department of Work and Pensions said it was confident the measures were lawful and do not discriminate against disabled claimants or those with shared care of children.

At the time of the High Court case, a DWP spokesman said it was "only right" to bring back fairness to the system and pointed out there were "two million households on the social housing waiting list and over a quarter of a million tenants... living in overcrowded homes".

The DWP added that an extra £150m in total has been made available to councils' funding for vulnerable claimants.

However, the National Housing Federation said earlier this month that the consequences of the change were worse than feared,

Rent arrears have soared in some areas while larger houses are lying empty as people refuse to move into them, it claimed.

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'Nearly 100 war crimes suspects' in UK

30 July 2013 Last updated at 02:47 ET By Tom Bateman Today programme, BBC Radio 4

The Home Office last year identified nearly 100 suspected war criminals who had made UK immigration applications, figures released to the BBC suggest.

The majority of cases involved people already likely to have been living in Britain for a number of years.

Suspects originated from countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Rwanda, Serbia and Sri Lanka.

The Home Office says it is determined the UK doesn't become a "refuge for war criminals".

Human rights groups are calling for more criminal prosecutions in Britain as the courts commonly block deportation on human rights grounds if suspects face torture or death in their home country.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

I have deep concerns that the Home Office isn't being as forthright as it could be"

End Quote Michael McCann MP

The figures emerged from a Freedom of Information request made by the BBC.

They show that, in the 15 months from January 2012, the Home Office researched nearly 800 cases where individuals were suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It made "adverse recommendations" against 99 people who had applied for British citizenship, asylum or leave to remain in the UK. A further 16 war crimes suspects had applied to enter the UK.

It follows earlier figures suggesting more than 700 suspected war criminals were identified by UK immigration officials between 2005 and 2012.

'Retirement home'

Michael McCann MP, chairman of a cross-party parliamentary group to prevent genocide, says the figures reveal the need for greater transparency from the government in cases where war crimes suspects are in the UK.

"The organisation in the Home Office that used to deal with this - the UKBA (UK Border Agency) - was a basket case. It had failed on so many different levels I've lost count," he said.

"I have deep concerns that the Home Office isn't being as forthright as it could be and I think we should be drilling down into these cases in order to give the public of our country that security."

Of the 99 suspects, three were deported last year, 20 were refused asylum and 46 had their citizenship bids turned down but are likely to have remained in the UK. The fate of the remaining suspects is unknown.

In May 2013, five Rwandan men were arrested in Britain suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide that led to the deaths of an estimated 800,000 people.

Some of them have been in Britain for more than a decade, with one having worked in a care home in Essex.

Three are still in custody and two have been released on bail. The men deny any involvement in the Rwandan genocide.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The police need more resources to investigate these crimes because it's difficult to investigate them"

End Quote Kevin Laue Legal adviser, Redress

In 2009, an extradition attempt against four of the men failed after High Court judges ruled there was "a real risk" they would not get a fair trial in Rwanda.

Human rights campaigners say the case demonstrates the challenges faced in dealing with international war crimes suspects in Britain, pointing to a lack of successful criminal convictions.

"The police need more resources to investigate these crimes because it's difficult to investigate them," says Kevin Laue, a legal adviser with Redress, a charity which campaigns to prevent genocide.

"That, in turn, requires more political will and commitment at the higher level for them to be given the resources to properly investigate."

James Smith, from the charity Aegis that works to prevent crimes against humanity, said if extradition failed, prosecution could take place in the UK.

"There's a cost and it is difficult to investigate crimes which took place in another country a long time ago. But if we don't pursue those prosecutions, the UK could become known as a retirement home for war criminals," he said.

Beatha Uwazaninka, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, said the thought of meeting a Rwandan war criminal "living happily ever after" in the UK caused her "great pain".

"It is very sad especially for survivors who have gone through so much and yet there is no justice," she told the BBC.

"They (the war criminals) should be sent to where they committed the crimes but if they cannot send them to Rwanda, at least they can be tried to the UK. It is sending a message that wherever you go you will face the consequences of what you have done."

The Metropolitan Police says 56 people in the UK are currently subject to war crimes inquiries, although only nine cases were passed on to them by the Home Office.

Mr McCann says the "disparity" between the Home Office and police figures raises a question over whether immigration officials are wrongly identifying people as war crimes suspects.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Anyone accused of these crimes should be put on trial in their home country and we will always seek to return them to face justice."

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UK 'losing fight' against e-crime

30 July 2013 Last updated at 04:06 ET

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David Edmundson-Bird successfully proved he was the victim of e-crime

The UK must do more to stop online fraud and deter state-sponsored cyber-espionage or risk losing the fight against e-crime, MPs have warned.

The Home Affairs Select Committee said much low-level internet-based financial crime was falling into a "black hole" and was not reported to the police.

The MPs said more officers should be trained in digital crime detection and e-crime experts protected from cuts.

The Home Office said the authorities must "keep pace" with criminals.

Publishing its first report on the subject, the cross-party committee said e-crime took various forms, did not recognise national borders and could be committed "at almost any time or in any place".

It called for a dedicated cyber-espionage team to respond to attacks, many of which are believed to be backed by foreign governments because they are so sophisticated.

Offences range from attacks on computer networks and the use of viruses to steal data to the use of cyberspace to facilitate traditional crimes such as forgery, sabotage, drug smuggling and people trafficking.

'Off the hook'

The committee said it was worried by the evidence it had heard during its inquiry about the UK's e-crime fighting capability.

It said it had been told by Adrian Leppard, deputy assistant commissioner at the City of London Police, that up to a quarter of the UK's 800 specialist internet crime officers could be lost due to budget cuts.

Continue reading the main story

You can steal more on the internet than you can by robbing a bank"

End Quote Keith Vaz Labour MP

This was despite evidence the UK was a prime target for many of the 1,300 criminal gangs specialising in fraud.

A quarter of the gangs, many of which are based in eastern Europe and Russia, use the internet as their principal means of deception.

The MPs said police cutbacks came on top of proposed 10% cuts to the budget of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (Ceop).

"At a time when fraud and e-crime is going up, the capability of the country to address it is going down," the report concluded.

"Ministers have acknowledged the increasing threat of e-crime but it is clear that sufficient funding and resources have not been allocated to the law enforcement responsible for tackling it."

As well as calling for a cyber-espionage team, the report's recommendations include:

• Requiring banks to report all e-fraud, however small, to the police
• Obliging web firms to explain data security tools to new users
• Prosecutors to review sentencing guidance for e-crimes
• Increased funding for European e-crime co-operation
• Mandatory code of conduct for removal of indecent material
• New body to report on and remove online terrorist content

Keith Vaz, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said the UK's response to e-crime was too "fractured".

He told BBC 5 live: "Our country is the number one target for gangs in 25 countries."

He added: "It's much easier and more lucrative to steal on the internet than it is to go out and rob a bank.

"These are real e-wars. At the moment we are not winning the e-wars."

Mr Vaz said the gangs committing e-crimes were "predominantly" from eastern Europe, including European Union countries such as Romania.

The UK's eavesdropping centre GCHQ suggested earlier this year that 80% of cyber-attacks could be prevented by better management of information online.

The Police Federation of England and Wales said the MPs' report was further evidence that recent figures showing a 10% fall in recorded crime last year were "misleading".

Javed Khan, chief executive of the charity Victim Support, called the findings "worrying", adding: "E-criminals cannot be allowed to get ahead of our police and their partners."

The government announced increased funding for cyber-security in 2010, while a single National Cybercrime Unit will be formed later this year as part of the new National Crime Agency.

Deputy Chief Constable Peter Goodman, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police officers on e-crime, said the new unit would bring a "real step change in our response to e-crime".

A Home Office spokesman said: "Crime is at record low levels and this government is taking action to tackle the cyber-threat, investing more than £850m through the national cyber-security programme to develop and maintain cutting-edge capabilities."

He said the new cybercrime unit would "target the most serious offenders and provide enhanced intelligence for Ceop so they can protect even more children from harm".

"But we know we need to keep pace with criminals as they target the web and so we continue to consider ways to ensure the police and security services have access to communications data," the spokesman added.

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Time pressures mean 'rationed care'

30 July 2013 Last updated at 04:25 ET

Nurses in England say they are having to "ration" care because of time pressures, a study suggests.

The paper in BMJ Quality & Safety found areas that suffer include monitoring patients adequately.

The fewer nurses there are, the higher the risk care will be compromised, according to the study which involved almost 3,000 nurses.

The Department of Health said it was down to each hospital to decide staffing levels.

The researchers from the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery in London surveyed nurses from 400 general medical or surgical wards in 46 hospitals across England between January and September 2010.

They were asked about "missed care" - care that nurses deemed necessary, but which they were unable to do or complete because of insufficient time.

The 13 areas covered included adequate patient monitoring through to adequate documentation of care, and pain management.

'Talking and comforting'

The researchers wanted to find out if there was any association between nurse staffing levels and the number of these episodes, and whether these were linked to overall perceptions of the quality of nursing care and patient safety in a ward.

They found 86% of the 2,917 respondents said that at least one of 13 care activities on their last shift had been needed, but not done, because of lack of time.

On average, nurses said they had been unable to do or complete four activities.

Continue reading the main story

These are depressing findings and unfortunately not surprising"

End Quote Dr Peter Carter, Royal College of Nursing

The area that suffered most was talking and comforting patients, cited by 66% of the nurses.

Educating patients and developing or updating care plans were identified as not being adequately performed by around half of those questioned.

And pain management was reported as not being done by 7%.

The more patients needed assistance with routine daily tasks, or particularly frequent monitoring, the more likely staff were to say there were "missed care activities".

Staffing levels varied considerably, but the average was 7.8 patients per nurse during day shifts and 10.9 at night.

'Something has to give'

Jane Ball, who led the research, said: "The study not only reasserts the connection between staffing levels and patient outcomes, but provides an indication of the scale of the staffing problems we face.

"The majority of general medical/surgical wards have staffing levels that are insufficient to meet patient needs on every shift."

Ms Ball said publication of the survey had taken three years because "that's the nature of academic work".

Asked if the situation could have improved since 2010, she said evidence suggested "nothing is better" and "if anything, we have had more cuts to staff posts".

Dr Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "These are depressing findings and unfortunately not surprising.

"When nurses are overloaded with tasks, and have extremely limited time to complete them, something has to give."

A spokeswoman for NHS England said it was committed to ensuring that "all patients receive compassionate and competent nursing care".

"We welcome this report and expect providers to use the evidence available to ensure they have sufficient staff on wards with the right skill-mix to provide high quality services to patients."

She said the new chief inspector of hospitals would work closely with the Care Quality Commission to ensure units met standards of care.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Hospitals themselves must decide how many and which staff they employ.

"But we have been absolutely clear that these decisions must be based on providing the best patient care."

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Barclays to issue £5.8bn new shares

30 July 2013 Last updated at 04:34 ET

Barclays will issue £5.8bn in new shares as part of a move to plug a £12.8bn capital shortfall created by new regulatory demands.

The bank will also issue £2bn of bonds that are turned into shares or wiped out if the bank gets into trouble.

The size of the rights issue is much larger than analysts had expected.

Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins said the plan would not reduce the supply of vital loans to small businesses and households.

Last month, Mr Jenkins had argued against the fresh capital requirements, warning that if Barclays had to meet this tough measure it could be forced to scale back its lending to small businesses and households.

"I am certain the decisive and prompt action we are taking will leave Barclays stronger," he added.

The share sale will be done as a rights issue, giving existing investors the opportunity to buy new shares so their stakes will not be diluted.

The bank will also reduce the level of risky assets on its balance sheet by between £60 to £80bn.

Continue reading the main story

Barclays was widely regarded as one of the UK's strongest banks. It is remarkable that its regulator, the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority, has ruled that it needs to fill a hole in its capital resources. "

End Quote

Barclays' move comes after the banking regulator - the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) - issued tough new capital requirements aimed at ensuring banks are protected from the risk of investment losses, even in the event of a fresh financial crisis.

The PRA requires all banks to have a minimum leverage ratio - a measure of financial health indicating the amount of capital held by the bank relative to its gross lending - of 3%.

Under the new requirements, Barclays was found to have a capital shortfall of £12.8bn.

Performance

Meanwhile, Barclays said adjusted second quarter pre-tax profit fell 17% in the second quarter to £3.6bn.

Mr Jenkins said performance indicated "good momentum". The £3.6bn adjusted pre-tax profit figure excludes a higher-than-expected additional £1.35bn charge for PPI Payment Protection Insurance misselling costs and £650m for interest rate hedging compensation. In total, these two issues have cost Barclays £5.5bn.

Payment protection insurance (PPI) was designed to cover loan repayments for policyholders who became ill, had an accident or lost their jobs.

Mr Jenkins said the bank's plans would help it in its bid to transform itself into what it calls a "Go-To" bank. The transformation project, announced earlier this year, aims to improve the bank's image.

Barclays has come in for much criticism in recent years, following a series of scandals.

Shares in Barclays fell 6% in early trading.

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Fees for employment tribunals begin

28 July 2013 Last updated at 19:14 ET

People bringing employment tribunals must now pay a fee for the first time since they were created in the 1960s.

Under the new UK rules, they will have to pay £160 or £250 to lodge a claim, with a further charge of either £230 or £950 if the case goes ahead.

The higher charges will cover cases like unfair dismissal, the lower ones issues such as unpaid invoices.

Employers welcomed the fees as a way of "weeding out" weak claims, but one union said the move was "draconian".

The Unite union said the measures would make British workers "some of the worst protected in the EU".

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The FSB hopes the introduction of fees will curb the number of speculative claims and help reduce the perceived risk of taking on staff. "

End Quote Federation of Small Businesses

Another union, the GMB, will stage a protest outside an employment tribunal in central London later.

Those claimants unable to pay may apply to have the tribunal fees reduced or waived.

Justice Minister Helen Grant said: "It is not fair on the taxpayer to foot the entire £74m bill for people to escalate workplace disputes to a tribunal.

"We want people, where they can afford to do so, to pay a contribution.

"It is in everyone's interest to avoid drawn out disputes which emotionally damage workers and financially damage businesses. That's why we are encouraging quicker, simpler and cheaper alternatives like mediation."

From Monday, workers in the UK will be charged a fee to bring a claim, a fee if the claim is heard and a further charge if they want to appeal against the decision.

In the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the fees are £400 to lodge an appeal and another £1,200 for a full hearing.

Costs are reduced in instances of multiple claims, where two or more people bring claims against the same employer.

Employers' organisation the CBI welcomed the fees, saying they were a good way of "weeding out weak claims".

"Fear of the costs of fighting a tribunal - even when you are in the right - is a massive confidence killer. With firms and employees waiting over a year for a tribunal at the moment, something has to be done to speed things up," the CBI added.

A legal challenge to the introduction of fees has been made, and HM Courts and Tribunals Service said it would refund people if the bid was successful.

'Throwback to Victorian times'

The number of tribunal claims rose by 81% between 2001 and 2011, with the administrative costs being borne by taxpayers up until now.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the plans in 2011. "We are ending the one-way bet against small businesses," he said at the time.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

What we are seeing today is injustice writ large as this worker-bashing government takes a sledgehammer to workers' rights"

End Quote Len McCluskey General secretary, Unite

A spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses said: "For an employee, an employment tribunal can be seen as a 'no cost' option."

"The FSB hopes the introduction of fees will curb the number of speculative claims and help reduce the perceived risk of taking on staff."

Unite estimated that this would affect 150,000 workers a year and pledged to pay the employment tribunal costs of its members.

"What we are seeing today is injustice writ large as this worker-bashing government takes a sledgehammer to workers' rights - this is a throwback to Victorian times," Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said.

"Seeking redress for unfair dismissal and discrimination and other injustices in the workplace is a fundamental human right - but now ministers are putting up insurmountable financial hurdles for working people in pursuit of justice."

Andy Prendergast of the GMB, said: "The imposition of such fees represents the latest in a number of attacks on employment rights by the government.

"Bad employers are being given the green light to continue exploiting their staff."

Some in Scotland welcomed the move. Eilidh Wiseman, a partner at law firm Dundas and Wilson, said: "I believe anything which helps reduce frivolous claims and speeds up the tribunal system will be welcomed by employers

"One of the effects of the new system should be a rise in the value of settlement offers for low-value claims. Offering £500 as an economic offer to settle is not likely to be attractive to a claimant who has paid £1,200 to bring a claim."

There were 186,300 claims accepted by employment tribunals in the year to March 2012, according to the Ministry of Justice. Of those, 31% were for unfair dismissal, breach of contract and redundancy.

Twenty-seven percent of the 186,300 claims were withdrawn - but employers in those cases still had to pay legal fees in preparing a defence.

In 2011-12, the Employment Appeal Tribunal received 2,170 appeals.

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Testicular cancer survival 'soaring'

28 July 2013 Last updated at 20:57 ET By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

The overwhelming majority of men with testicular cancer are now surviving for at least 10 years, figures released by the charity Cancer Research UK show.

They show survival rates in the UK soared to 96% in 2009, much higher than in the early 70s when 68% survived.

The organisation said attention needed to be focused now on the remaining 4%.

Experts said that changes in treatments offered as well as a growing awareness of testicular cancer could explain the improved survival figures.

Around 2,300 people are diagnosed with the cancer each year in the UK. The main symptom is a lump or swelling in the testicles.

Survival rates have made significant progress since the 70s and reached 90% by the start of the 90s.

'Success story'

Dr Harpal Kumar, the chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: "A clear success story in cancer research has been the drug cisplatin, which our scientists helped to develop.

"This is helping almost all men with testicular cancer to beat the disease and is a shining example of what we can achieve through dedicated research.

"For some types of cancer, the word 'cure' is almost a reality - 96% of men with testicular cancer are now cured. But it's important we recognise the four per cent who aren't surviving the disease, as well as the fact that we still need treatments to be kinder to patients in the future."

Katherine Mutsvangwa, from the male cancer charity Orchid, said earlier diagnosis was a important part of falling death rates.

"There has been a lot of awareness of testicular cancer in the time. Men are presenting earlier, before it has spread to other parts of the body."

She said the 4% of patients who were not surviving tended to be diagnosed much later or with "much more aggressive" testicular cancer.

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'Lads' mags' given cover-up deadline

29 July 2013 Last updated at 02:27 ET

The Co-operative has given so-called lads' mags six weeks to cover up their front pages with sealed "modesty bags" or be taken off sale in its stores.

The 4,000-outlet retailer said it was responding to concerns by its members, customers and colleagues about images of scantily-clad women on covers.

Titles such as Front, Loaded, Nuts and Zoo have been given a deadline of 9 September to act by the Co-op.

One campaign group called for Co-op to stop selling such titles altogether.

The Co-op, which is owned and run by its more than seven million members, introduced opaque screens for lads' magazines on some shelves earlier this month.

Steve Murrells, retail chief executive for the Co-operative Group, said: "As a community-based retailer, we have listened to the concerns of our customers and members, many of whom say they object to their children being able to see overt sexual images in our stores.

"Whilst we have tried to mitigate the likelihood of young children seeing the images with a number of measures in store, the most effective way of doing this is for these magazines to be put in individual, sealed modesty bags."

'Like wallpaper'

Cathryn Higgs, a policy manager at the Co-op, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the group was currently "in dialogue" with the magazine publishers.

"I've got every hope they will take what we believe is the responsible approach and put them in a bag," she said.

Continue reading the main story

The so-called 'modesty bags' they are demanding are designed to allow the Co-operative to continue profiting from sexist, harmful lads' mags - but just a bit more discreetly"

End Quote Sophie Bennett Lose the Lads' Mags

The Daily Sport newspaper has already agreed to comply with the Co-operative's new policy.

Women and Equalities Minister Jo Swinson said the Co-op's move was "very welcome".

"Many parents aren't comfortable with the way sexualised imagery has become like wallpaper - everywhere from the bus stop to the corner shop," she said.

"Adults should be left to make their own decisions about what legal sexual images they look at, but the place for these is not next to the sweets at children's eye-level. I hope other retailers will follow the Co-operative's lead."

But campaign group Lose the Lads' Mags said the Co-op was not going far enough.

Spokeswoman Sophie Bennett said: "The so-called 'modesty bags' they are demanding from publishers are designed to allow the Co-operative to continue profiting from sexist, harmful lads' mags - but just a bit more discreetly."

Gender equality groups UK Feminista and Object joined forces with lawyers to launch the Lose the Lads' Mags campaign earlier this year.

They warned that retailers could face legal action if they continued to display the magazines or require staff to handle them.

This, they said, could amount to sexual harassment or discrimination in breach of the Equality Act 2010.

The British Retail Consortium has said its members do not sell anything illegal and have long followed industry rules.

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Energy watchdog 'failing consumers'

29 July 2013 Last updated at 04:16 ET

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John Robertson, MP: "When we ask for figures they don't give it"

Energy regulator Ofgem is not doing enough to ensure that energy company profits are transparent, MPs say.

The Energy and Climate Change Committee (ECCC) report said the watchdog was "failing consumers by not taking all possible steps to improve openness".

The committee said that "working out exactly how their profits are made requires forensic accountants".

Ofgem said it had made energy companies produce yearly financial statements and they had been reviewed by accountants.

Sir Robert Smith, on behalf of the committee, said: "At a time when many people are struggling with the rising costs of energy, consumers need reassurance that the profits being made by the 'big six' are not excessive."

The big six are E.On, SSE, British Gas, Npower, EDF and Scottish Power.

They have different divisions to deal with the different functions of their businesses: generation, trading and supply.

The committee said that the divisions sometimes bought and sold services and energy from each other, making it difficult to work out how much money was being made overall.

"Greater transparency is urgently needed to reassure consumers that high energy prices are not fuelling excessive profits," the committee said.

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Angela Knight, Energy UK: "The profit an energy company makes is not big but households are concerned"

Poor communication

The MPs criticised Ofgem for having a "relatively light touch approach and for not fully implementing the recommendations of the accountants it commissioned to improve how energy companies report their profits".

"Ofgem needs to use its teeth a bit more and force the energy companies to do everything they can to prove that they are squeaky clean when it comes to making and reporting their profits," said committee member John Robertson.

Ofgem agreed that the energy suppliers had been "poor at communicating with their customers".

"Ofgem has made energy companies produce yearly financial statements, which have been reviewed twice by independent accountants and found to be fit for purpose," said Ofgem's senior partner for markets, Rachel Fletcher.

Continue reading the main story

The committee believes that Ofgem should force energy companies to:

• Standardise their bills to make it easier for consumers to compare the value for money of different energy providers
• Break down the total cost of the bill into its components, i.e. wholesale energy prices, supply costs, the cost of implementing government energy policies, operating costs, and profit
• Give consumers details of price changes in pounds and pence, and not just in percentages

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said that the public would not feel that they were paying a fair price for energy until prices were simplified and the costs that went into generating them were as transparent as possible.

"We want the government to introduce simple energy pricing and a clear ring-fence between generation and supply businesses, so consumers can see exactly what they're paying for and be more confident that there is effective competition in the energy market," he said.

Angela Knight, the chief executive of Energy UK, the body that represents the energy companies, said the industry had come a long way on transparency.

"There are fewer tariffs and the new deals are clearer so it is easier to compare, bills have been simplified so they are easier for customers to follow and it is simple to switch from one supplier to another," she said.

Ms Knight told the BBC that "profit was a good thing and a very important thing", because of the investment the energy companies need to make in generation and infrastructure.

She added that the energy companies provided Ofgem with all the necessary information.

"Energy companies all publish annual accounts and, in addition, both the generation and supply parts of the business provide Ofgem with all the information about revenues, costs and profits for which the regulator asks," she said.

Fuel poverty

The Energy and Climate Change Committee also reprimanded the government for not doing enough to help low-income families struggling with fuel poverty.

The committee argued that the use of levies on fuel bills to raise funds for social and environmental programmes could end up hitting those on low incomes.

Instead, they recommended such funding be raised through direct taxation.

Sir Robert said: "Tax-funded public spending is a less regressive mechanism than levies on energy bills, which can hit some of the poorest hardest. Shifting the emphasis from levies to taxation would help protect vulnerable households."

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UK complains about Gibraltar delays

29 July 2013 Last updated at 04:22 ET

The UK government has raised "serious concerns" with Spain about long delays at the border with Gibraltar caused by a rise in vehicle searches.

Gibraltar said Spain had created "deliberate" delays of up to six hours for vehicles travelling to and from the British territory since Friday.

Foreign Secretary William Hague called the Spanish foreign minister on Sunday.

Gibraltar said the delays were "linked" to an artificial reef created to block fishing, but Spain has not commented.

The weekend's delays were not repeated on Monday morning. The Royal Gibraltar Police tweeted there were no queues to leave Gibraltar and a "normal queue" to enter.

Spain disputes UK sovereignty over Gibraltar, a limestone outcrop on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, which has been ruled by Britain since 1713.

'Freedom of movement'

Gibraltar's Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said Spanish border officers were "just trying to create a delay by pretending to search" vehicles.

He told the BBC Spain was "bullying" Gibraltar in response to the creation of the artificial reef, which was made by placing concrete blocks in the sea on Wednesday and Thursday.

There has been tension between Spain and Gibraltar over fishing rights, and Mr Picardo said the reef had been built to "prevent Spanish fishermen fishing in a manner that is contrary to our law".

Spanish newspaper ABC reported that the Spanish government had made a formal complaint to the British about the work, saying the several dozen spiked concrete blocks could tear fishing nets, scare fish away and cause environmental damage.

On Friday and Saturday, Spanish customs officers stopped thousands of vehicles trying to leave Gibraltar for Spain. On Sunday the delays switched to traffic trying to enter the British territory.

There were delays of nearly six hours for those leaving Gibraltar on Saturday in temperatures of 30C (86F).

A resident of Gibraltar, David Gibbins, told the BBC Saturday's delays had meant the territory - which has a population of under 30,000 - had been "gridlocked".

He said border guards had been "checking every bit of paperwork", which he said did not normally happen.

Gareth Gingell, a member of the activist group Defenders of Gibraltar, said the Guardia Civil had been "only letting one car through about every 30 minutes" on Sunday.

"It's taking about four hours for people to get through," he said.

The Gibraltar government said the delays had affected tourists and thousands of people who go in and out of the territory every day to work.

On Sunday evening, the Foreign Office said that as well as the call between the two foreign ministers, the British ambassador in Madrid had raised concerns with the Spanish deputy foreign minister, and Britain had "registered our protest" with the Spanish ambassador in London.

"Our main concerns at the moment are restoring people's basic right to freedom of movement, and we want to work towards a speedy solution that will help to ease the very difficult situation and humanitarian issues at the border and enable a return to normal operations," said a spokesman.

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Theresa May diagnosed with diabetes

27 July 2013 Last updated at 18:44 ET

Home Secretary Theresa May has revealed she has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes but insists it will not affect her political career.

The condition means her body does not produce insulin and she must now inject herself with the hormone at least twice a day for the rest of her life.

She told the Mail on Sunday that the diagnosis "was a real shock" and had taken a while to come to terms with.

But it was a case of "head down and getting on with it", Mrs May added.

'Blood test'

She said: "The diabetes doesn't affect how I do the job or what I do. It's just part of life.

"'It started last November. I'd had a bad cold and cough for quite a few weeks. I went to my GP and she did a blood test which showed I'd got a very high sugar level - that's what revealed the diabetes.

"The symptoms are tiredness, drinking a lot of water, losing weight, but it's difficult to isolate things. I was drinking a lot of water. But I do anyway.

Continue reading the main story

• People with Type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin. No-one knows exactly what causes it, but it is not to do with being overweight and it is not currently preventable. It usually affects children or young adults, starting suddenly and getting worse quickly. Type 1 diabetes is treated by daily insulin doses, a healthy diet and regular physical activity.
• People with Type 2 diabetes do not produce enough insulin or the insulin they produce does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). They might get diabetes because of their family history, age and ethnic background. They are also more likely to get Type 2 diabetes if they are overweight. Type 2 diabetes is treated with a healthy diet and increased physical activity.

"There was weight loss but then I was already making an effort to be careful about diet and to get my gym sessions in.

"Tiredness - speak to any politician and they will tell you the hours they work. Tiredness can be part of the job. It is full on."

Initially doctors thought Mrs May had Type 2 diabetes but two months ago it was revealed to be Type 1 diabetes.

There had been media speculation that Mrs May losing two stones in weight over 18 months was linked to a potential Conservative Party leadership bid, but she said this had been partly down to the illness.

Asked if her diagnosis would prevent her from one day replacing David Cameron, she told the newspaper: "There is no leadership bid. We have a first-class prime minister and long may he continue."

She added: "It doesn't and will not affect my ability to do my work. I'm a little more careful about what I eat and there's obviously the injections, but this is something millions of people have. I'm OK with needles, fortunately.

"There's a great quote from Steve Redgrave who was diagnosed with diabetes before he won his last Olympic gold medal. He said diabetes must learn to live with me rather than me live with diabetes. That's the attitude."

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UK migration figures 'a best guess'

27 July 2013 Last updated at 19:24 ET

Official UK migration figures are "little better than a best guess", a group of influential MPs has said.

The Public Administration Committee said the statistics were "not fit for purpose" and did not accurately assess how many non-UK residents were entering and leaving the country.

The MPs recommended finding new ways to gather migration information.

The government rejected the committee's conclusions, saying net migration was at its lowest level for decades.

In the year to June 2012, immigration was estimated at 515,000 while emigration was estimated at 352,000, putting net migration - the difference between the number of people entering and leaving the country - at 163,000.

'Blunt instruments'

The coalition government has set itself a target to reduce the net migration figure from non-EU countries to under 100,000 a year by 2015.

But the MPs warned that current net migration statistics produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Home Office were "blunt instruments" and were "not adequate for understanding the scale and complexity of modern migration flows".

In particular, the MPs criticised the main source for producing migration figures - the International Passenger Survey (IPS).

It was designed in the early 1960s to examine tourism trends - something it is still used for today - and is based on "random interviews" with travellers at ports and airports, they said.

Continue reading the main story

Most people would be utterly astonished to learn that there is no attempt to count people as they enter or leave the UK"

End Quote Bernard Jenkin Committee chairman

The Public Administration Committee said just 5,000 migrants a year were identified through the survey and it had a "large margin of error".

It said the migration estimates based on the IPS were "too uncertain" to accurately measure progress against the government's net migration target.

And the IPS fails to gather the type of information needed to work out the social and economic consequences of migration, such as demand for the NHS or schools, the MPs said.

Committee chairman Bernard Jenkin said: "Most people would be utterly astonished to learn that there is no attempt to count people as they enter or leave the UK.

"As an island nation, with professional statisticians and effective border controls, we could gain decent estimates of who exactly is coming into this country, where they come from, and why they are coming here.

"As it is, the top line numbers for the government's 100,000 net migration target are little better than a best guess - and could be out by tens of thousands. Clearly these statistics are not fit for purpose in the longer term."

'Dodgy statistics'

The committee said migration figures could be considerably improved if the Home Office and ONS properly recorded and linked the data they already gathered.

They also called for the e-borders system - which once operational is expected to collect details from passenger lists of all people entering and leaving the UK - to be implemented as quickly as possible.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We disagree with the report's conclusions. Government reforms on immigration are working and the statistics do show that net migration is at its lowest level for a decade.

"The government is determined to build a fairer system and to address the public's concern about immigration.

"We are committed to getting net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands, and we want to be judged against the very best available evidence."

Shadow immigration minister Chris Bryant said the report cast doubt on the government's claims to have cut net migration.

"People want a bit of honesty on immigration, so the home secretary should look at how to measure immigration more accurately as a matter of urgency," he said.

"Grand speeches, gimmicks and dodgy statistics don't cut much ice, especially when the government still don't even have a plan to count people in and out of the country."

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UK soldiers assist Afghan operation

28 July 2013 Last updated at 00:09 ET

British soldiers have returned to an area of Afghanistan for a week-long operation to clear Taliban insurgents.

Afghan military commanders requested assistance in Sangin district, an area British forces defended from the Taliban until 2010, earlier this month.

About 80 members of 4th Battalion The Rifles, based at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, were involved.

The Ministry of Defence said some insurgents were killed or captured but there were no British casualties.

Weapons seized

According to the Sunday Times, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond had personally authorised the return to the area for British forces.

It said 106 British personnel were killed in fighting there between 2006 and 2010.

The paper said the threat to the troops was considered so great that, at the MoD's request, it delayed reporting the operation until it had finished.

The British involvement was part of a major operation by 215 Corps of the Afghan National Army (ANA) to clear insurgents in the Sangin district of Helmand Province, in the south.

The operation saw troops from the UK-mentored 3/215 Brigade move north into Sangin, clearing compounds and seizing insurgent weapon stashes alongside soldiers from 2/215 Brigade.

The Brigade Advisory Group, made up of 4th Battalion The Rifles, provided support to 3/215 Brigade.

During the operation, more than 30 improvised explosive devices were found and destroyed by the ANA, and two insurgent vehicles were seized along with ammunition and weapons.

'Challenging area'

The Ministry of Defence said UK personnel occasionally operated outside of the usual British area of operations in central Helmand in an advisory capacity.

"These out-of-area operations have been a long-standing element of the UK mission in Afghanistan and are completely in line with our current role of providing training, advice and assistance to the Afghan National Security Forces," a spokesman said.

"Between 2006 and 2010, UK forces provided vital security for the population of Sangin, disrupting the insurgency in an area the Taliban had considered its heartland, preventing the spread of violence elsewhere, upholding the authority of the Afghan government in the area and enabling economic development to take place.

"Much was achieved then and has been since. It remains a challenging area and it is now for the Afghan forces to deal with the residual insurgency."

Brig Rupert Jones, Commander Task Force Helmand, said the operation had demonstrated further how effective 3/215 Brigade of the ANA had become.

"Operating in Sangin over the past week, they have moved to another level of performance and independence," he said.

"It has been a very impressive demonstration of what the Afghan National Army can be capable of."

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Three arrested over stabbing death

28 July 2013 Last updated at 00:18 ET

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a man who was stabbed to death in Gloucester.

The victim, who has not been named, was found just before 20:00 BST on Saturday at Park End Road.

The road borders Gloucester Park where the city had been holding its annual carnival which includes a procession.

Police said two men and a woman were being held on suspicion of murder. Det Insp John Thompson said "this type of incident is extremely rare".

He added: "The investigation is ongoing and three people are currently in custody.

"However, we would still like to speak to anyone who was in or around Gloucester Park at the time and who might have seen what happened."

A cordon remains in place at the scene.

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Further warnings of heavy rain

28 July 2013 Last updated at 03:01 ET

Heavy rain is falling across parts of England and Scotland as the hottest July in seven years ends on a wet note.

Weather warnings for Sunday morning have been issued by the Met Office.

An amber "be prepared" warning covers north-west England, north-east England, Yorkshire and Humber, and the West and East Midlands.

A number of flood warnings and alerts are in place. There has been flooding in the High Street in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

The average rainfall for the whole of July is 78mm (3in) but on Saturday evening, there was more than 60mm of rain in parts of the county.

There are also yellow warnings of heavy rain - meaning be aware - for the East of England, London and the South East, Strathclyde, south-west Scotland and Lothian and Borders.

The Environment Agency has three flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and more than 30 flood alerts in place in England, meaning flooding is possible.

The warnings relate to the River Spodden, at Whitworth, Lancashire; and Blackburn Brook and Charlton Brook, in South Yorkshire, and Hilton Brook at Sutton on the Hill and Uttoxeter Road, Hilton, Derbyshire.

There are 21 flood alerts in north-east England, 11 in the Midlands and one in the Anglian region.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued seven flood alerts in central and southern areas.

Flood alerts mean flooding is possible and "be prepared".

The Met Office says there will be some short duration, torrential rainfall, during the day and some areas could see 50mm to 75mm of rain.

It warned people of the risk of disruption mainly due to surface water flooding.

BBC weather forecaster Ben Rich said heavy downpours would occur across parts of the northern England in the morning and continue in Scotland for much of the day.

There are some strong, gusty winds along the North Sea coast and thundery showers in south Wales, he added.

The wet weather comes after July saw the longest spell of hot weather across whole of the UK since July 2006 with temperatures exceeding 28C somewhere in the country for 19 consecutive days. The highest temperature - 33.5C - was recorded in west London on 22 July.

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Social workers voice grooming fears

26 July 2013 Last updated at 20:52 ET

Many social workers lack confidence and know-how when it comes to dealing with online grooming and sexual abuse of children, a survey has suggested.

The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) said they desperately needed specialist training.

An online survey of 327 social workers found 74% wanted more support, while half felt concerned about dealing with online sexual abuse or behaviour.

One said social workers were "way out" of their depth.

Warning signs

Almost three in four of those surveyed said they needed more support with child protection cases which involved "an aspect of online and complex sexual abuse".

The survey also found:

• 17% did not know how to "assess the risks" to a child when there was an "online dimension", such as internet grooming, to the case
• 20% said they did not know the "warning signs" of what online sexual abuse looks like
• 43% lacked confidence about the language used by young people talking about the internet, and more than a third said they did not know the right questions to ask in order to identify and assess online abuse

"The number of cases in which the internet plays a part in the grooming and abuse of children is rising," said the BASW's Nushra Mansuri.

"Social workers need to be equipped to recognise the warning signs."

Grasp the basics

One of the social workers, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "I have worked with a young girl who experienced horrendous sexual and violent threats via her mobile phone... and it was very difficult to know how best to proceed."

Another said: "We are way out of our depth and training measures are needed without delay."

The NSPCC charity said it had developed an online training guide for child protection professionals - backed by the BASW - to educate them about the risks the internet posed to children.

Chief executive Peter Wanless said paedophiles were using chatrooms and social networks to groom victims, adding that young people were being "coerced into sharing explicit images of themselves via mobile phone messages and apps".

"It's worrying that the majority of social workers surveyed by BASW are struggling to understand how online child abuse happens," he added.

"We know they are doing a tough job under pressure and shouldn't need to be technology experts but they do need to have a grasp of the basics."

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UK 'complacent' over Arctic drilling

26 July 2013 Last updated at 22:11 ET

The UK is "complacently standing by" as firms start drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic, a group of MPs has said.

The Environmental Audit Committee said this was despite oil companies being unable to prove "they could clean up an oil spill in such harsh conditions".

Members renewed their call for a halt to new drilling, saying it was risky for the climate and the environment.

The government said it was not its place to tell Arctic states which resources they could extract.

Last month, the International Energy Agency (IDEA) warned that two-thirds of existing fossil fuel reserves cannot be burned before 2050 if global temperatures are to be kept within the projected danger threshold of a 2C rise.

'Corporate carve-up'

Exploring for new reserves in the Arctic is therefore "needlessly risky", the MPs argued.

Continue reading the main story

What happens in the Arctic will affect the UK, impacting our weather systems and biodiversity"

End Quote EAC chairwoman Joan Walley

The committee's report follows its call in September for a halt on drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic until safety is improved, citing fears that a spill could caused unprecedented environmental damage.

MPs said they wanted to see a standard pan-Arctic spill response, unlimited liability for firms and an Arctic environmental sanctuary.

"What happens in the Arctic will affect the UK, impacting our weather systems and biodiversity," committee chairwoman Joan Walley said.

"Yet this government is complacently standing by and watching new oil and gas drilling in the region."

She added: "The rapidly-disappearing Arctic sea ice should be a wake-up call for this government to tackle climate change, not pave the way for a corporate carve-up of the region's resources."

A government spokesman said it disagreed with the call for a moratorium.

"We are very aware of the possible environmental impact of an oil spill in the Arctic and support the use of the highest drilling standards," he said.

"However, the UK is not an Arctic state and it is not for us to tell other countries which resources they can and cannot extract from their own sovereign territory."

He stressed that the government believed "our approach to oil and gas exploration in the Arctic is consistent with our commitment to limit average global temperature increase to two degrees".

And he added: "The UK does have strong environmental, economic, scientific and political interests in the Arctic and this summer we will be publishing an Arctic policy framework for the first time."

'Pristine environment'

But Greenpeace UK political director Ruth Davis said drilling for oil in the Arctic was "incompatible with the UK's climate change goals and creates unmanageable risks to a unique and vulnerable ecosystem".

She said that while minsters claimed "protecting this pristine environment is central to the UK's stance on the Arctic" a failure "to face up to the dangers of drilling in the far north suggests its real interests lie in promoting the irresponsible plans" of oil companies.

Earlier this week, scientists said the release of large amounts of methane from thawing permafrost in the Arctic could have huge economic impacts on the world.

The researchers estimated the climate effects of the release of this gas could cost $60 trillion (£39 trillion), roughly the size of the global economy in 2012.

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Weather warning ahead of storms

27 July 2013 Last updated at 03:50 ET

Heavy rain and thunderstorms have been forecast for parts of the UK over the weekend.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning with thunderstorms over France set to move in to southern, eastern and central areas of England on Saturday.

The thundery weather is expected to move further north and and spread into parts of Scotland and Wales on Sunday.

The Met Office's warning puts people on standby for possible travel disruption and surface water flooding.

The yellow rain alert - the lowest of three levels, meaning "be aware" - is for London and south-east England, south-west England, the Midlands, East Anglia, and Yorkshire and Humber on Saturday.

The warning is extended to north-west and north-east England and parts of South Wales on Sunday.

England's south-east is forecast to receive the worst of the rain, with as much as 30mm of rain within an hour, and 50mm within three hours in some places, according to the Met Office.

BBC weather forecaster Ben Rich said torrential downpours were expected to start in the mid-afternoon and by the end of Saturday night would spread into southern and central Scotland.

He said there has already been some thunder and lightening across parts of Kent as the storms pushed northwards from France.

Lightning warning

In its weather warning, the Met Office said: "Thunderstorms and areas of heavy, thundery rain are expected to move north from France during the course of Saturday afternoon and evening.

"The public should be aware of the risk of localised disruption to travel, due to surface water flooding and lightning strikes."

Despite the rain, temperatures will remain warm for most of the country with a high of 24C (75.2F) expected in central and eastern England on Sunday afternoon.

Glasgow and Ayrshire in Scotland, and Antrim and Down in Northern Ireland faced flooding on Thursday.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was called to flash floods around the country and a fire in a block of flats in Greenock, thought to have been caused by a lightning strike.

July has seen the longest spell of hot weather to affect the whole of the UK since July 2006 as temperatures exceeded 28C somewhere in the country for 19 consecutive days.

The highest temperature for seven years - 33.5C - was recorded in west London earlier this month.

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'Record fall' in car insurance costs

27 July 2013 Last updated at 04:05 ET

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Insurance premiums are far higher than they were in 2007

The cost of car insurance is falling at a record rate in the UK, according to the insurance arm of the AA.

The average annual comprehensive car insurance quote fell to £594.84 this month, it said, down 9.8% from £659.53 last July - the biggest decrease since the AA insurance index began in 1994.

It said the dip was thanks, in part, to clampdowns on fraud and restrictions on claims management companies.

Despite the fall, premiums remain much higher than they were six years ago.

Third party, fire and theft quotes also fell between July 2012 and this month - down 4.8% to £820.58 on average, AA Insurance's research suggested.

BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said the 9.8% fall in comprehensive cover quotes follows a 6.4% fall over the course of 2012 - itself a record.

But he adds that the cost of insuring the average car is still twice as much as it was in 2007.

Gender equality

At the start of April, a ban on referral fees was introduced.

They were paid by lawyers and claims management firms to breakdown firms, brokers and the insurers themselves, in exchange for providing information about accident victims.

Continue reading the main story

The news that hundreds of rogue 'no-win no-fee' claims firms have been reined in is welcome and, in part, falling insurance premiums reflect that"

End Quote Simon Douglas, AA

Also, anyone suing for accident damages with the help of a no-win, no-fee lawyer - known as a conditional fee arrangement - now has to pay their lawyer's success fee from their own funds if they win their case.

It was previously added to the bill of the losing party.

This has made claims more expensive to pursue.

And new gender equality laws have lowered premiums of men by far more than expected while women's premiums have remained static, according to AA Insurance's research.

Fraudulent claims - especially for whiplash which is often difficult to disprove - are also down.

AA Insurance director Simon Douglas said insurers previously faced "a fast-widening gap between premium income and claims costs - largely driven by whiplash injury claims and fraud, which saw very sharp premium increases between 2009 and 2011".

"That gap is closing and premiums are falling again thanks to competition, as well as improved fraud detection by the insurance industry and tightening of the law that is beginning to curb the number of spurious new whiplash injury claims," he said.

'Treated unfairly'

"The news that hundreds of rogue 'no-win no-fee' claims firms have been reined in is welcome and, in part, falling insurance premiums reflect that."

Graeme Trudgill of the British Insurance Brokers' Association said uninsured driving costs the industry £500m, whiplash claims £2bn and fraud £1bn.

But these costs were now coming down, he added, because of a concerted effort by the industry, with "discounts now feeding through to policy holders".

Earlier this month, City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation into insurance companies for overcharging customers when they renew their car and house policies.

The FCA says automatic renewal can lead to customers being treated unfairly.

BBC Radio 4's Money Box revealed in March that loyal customers often pay much more than new ones for insurance.

The insurance industry says consumers can shop around for the best prices in a competitive market.

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Ex-boyfriend held over woman's death

27 July 2013 Last updated at 04:29 ET

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of the murder of his ex-girlfriend in Greater Manchester.

Police had been searching for Michael Cope, 28, after Linzi Ashton, 25, was found dead at her home in Westbourne Road, Winton, Salford on 29 June.

The mother of two had multiple injuries and died after pressure to her neck.

Mr Cope, who was the subject of BBC Crimewatch appeal on Thursday, was arrested at an address on Larch Road in Leigh at around 23:55 BST on Friday.

Police began a manhunt for Mr Cope shortly after Ms Ashton's body was found and a £25,000 reward had been offered for information that led to his capture.

'Co-operation and support'

CCTV was released by police earlier in the week showing Mr Cope buying food in a shop in Wigan.

Officers went to the Leigh property after receiving reports that a wanted man was at the address.

A 28-year-old man handed himself in to armed officers and is now in police custody being questioned.

Det Supt Tony Creely said: "Since Linzi was killed nearly a month ago there has been an intensive manhunt to find and arrest her killer safely.

"Over recent weeks we have received a very positive response from the public, and we thank the people of Salford, Hindley and Leigh for their co-operation and support."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is also investigating the case, as Ms Ashton had reported Mr Cope to police, alleging rape and assault, in the months before her death.

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Equitable savers 'risk losing out'

26 July 2013 Last updated at 00:48

A report by MPs says 200,000 pension savers who lost money in the Equitable Life scandal may miss out because of lack of publicity for a compensation scheme.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee says one in five policyholders might not be traced before what it calls an "arbitrary" deadline of March 2014.

The insurance company came close to collapse in 2000.

The failure created one of the UK's biggest financial scandals.

The Treasury set up a redress scheme aimed at compensating those who lost money on their pension investments.

But the lack of publicity over the cut-off time for claims has left a "real risk" that some might miss out, the MPs said.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said that the Treasury estimated that up to 236,000 people might not receive any money.

An arbitrary choice of March 2014 for the closure of the compensation scheme "increased the risk" of these untraced savers losing out again.

"With less than a year to go before the scheme closes, the Treasury still has 664,200 payments worth £370m left to make. Unless the Treasury and its administrator, National Savings and Investments (NS&I), get their act together there is a real risk that large numbers of policyholders will miss out," said Margaret Hodge, who chairs the committee.

The committee called on the Treasury to publicise the deadline now, rather than waiting until September, which it is planning to do.

'Unacceptable delays'

Continue reading the main story

Hundreds of thousands of conscientious savers are losing out because of the Treasury's failure to get a grip on the payment scheme"

End Quote Margaret Hodge PAC

After years of official inquiries into the scandal, the government agreed to a compensation system in 2010, with the first payments being made by June 2011.

The National Audit Office (NAO) report said that not enough preparation work done by the Treasury and NS&I - a view echoed by the Public Accounts Committee.

Only £168m was paid out by March 2012, rather than the expected £500m.

Meanwhile, the NAO said that only 35% of total payments had been made, but 72% of the £57m administration budget had been spent.

By the end of March this year, some £577m had been paid out to 407,000 policyholders

However, the NAO and the committee said that the government had failed to take on board the lessons of other compensation schemes when the system of redress was set up.

Repetition

The committee said that it had heard evidence of policyholders being sent multiple letters requesting the same information, and individual complaints and queries receiving generic responses.

"Hundreds of thousands of conscientious savers are losing out because of the Treasury's failure to get a grip on the payment scheme," Mrs Hodge said.

"It focused on an arbitrary target for making the first payments at the expense of proper planning and this has led to unacceptable delays and spiralling costs."

She said she was "stunned" to learn that the Treasury destroyed details and addresses of 353,000 policyholders provided by the Equitable Members Action Group in 2011 on data protection grounds.

A Treasury source said: "While Labour did absolutely nothing about the Equitable Life scandal for a decade, this government has allocated up to £1.5bn to help people who suffered a great injustice, with tens of thousands of policyholders receiving around £700m in payments since 2011. We make no apology for starting to get payments out the door a year after the Coalition was formed.

"We do not agree that the government has failed to get a grip on the planning or delivery of this important work. We continue to monitor the progress of the Equitable Life Payment Scheme very closely and are working hard to maximise the numbers of people who will eventually receive payments.

"Instead of scaremongering the Labour chairman of this committee should explain why her party shamefully did absolutely nothing about this scandal for a decade."

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Downgrade for 'outstanding' schools

26 July 2013 Last updated at 01:05 By Angela Harrison Education correspondent, BBC News

More than 100 schools previously rated "outstanding" by Ofsted inspectors have lost their top rankings after changes to the system in England.

The schools have been reinspected since September, after changes aimed at putting more weight on teaching.

In the past, it was possible to be rated "outstanding" even though inspectors judged that teaching and learning was not the highest standard.

But that was changed in September, when other new rules also came in.

Now only schools that are rated outstanding for teaching and learning can get the highest ranking.

The latest figures show that out of 155 schools inspected since last September which had previously been rated outstanding overall but not for teaching and learning, fewer than a third - 44 schools - kept that ranking.

Of the others, 91 schools were rated "good", while 20 were told they needed to improve. Two of this last group were given the lowest rating of "inadequate".

'Close link'

Ofsted says parents expect that outstanding schools should have outstanding teaching.

A spokeswoman said: "The inspection framework introduced from September 2012 raised expectations. Teaching is, of course, central to the life of every school. That is why there should be a close link between Ofsted's overall effectiveness judgement and the quality of teaching.

"It makes sense that outstanding schools should have outstanding teaching - parents expect that.

"This doesn't mean that every lesson needs to be outstanding but, over time, schools must show outstanding teaching is helping pupils make excellent progress."

However, the spokeswoman added that other factors, apart from the quality of teaching, may have contributed to the downgrading of the 111 schools.

Outstanding schools no longer have to be inspected regularly, while schools categorised as "good" are checked at least every five years.

For outstanding schools, Ofsted says it carries out a risk assessment which includes checks on schools' exam or test results, and if there are any causes for concern, inspectors are sent in. A change such as the addition of a sixth form would also lead to a new check.

Overall, 70% of schools in England are rated either good or outstanding.

One in five of all schools was rated outstanding in August last year - about 4,400.

Of those, one in four does not have the top ranking for teaching and learning.

Jan Webber, inspection specialist for the head teachers' group ASCL (Association of School and College Leaders), said Ofsted had made it clear that there was to be a greater focus on teaching quality, so the loss of some outstanding rankings was "not surprising".

"When Ofsted do the risk assessments, it could be that if a school graded outstanding has a two for teaching, they will then dig deeper into pupils' progress and results," she said.

"If there has been a dip in achievement overall or key groups are underachieving, such as students with special needs or on free school meals, that could trigger an inspection."

Moving goal posts

At its Easter conference, the National Union of Teachers called for Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw to resign, saying he was demoralising the profession. It also pledged to continue a campaign for the abolition of Ofsted.

Christine Blower, the general secretary of the NUT said: "By constantly changing the goal posts of what constitutes a good or outstanding school it makes it very difficult for schools to reach the targets imposed by Ofsted and government.

"This is especially the case for schools if they serve in challenging communities as less and less attention is given by Ofsted to the value schools add to their pupil achievements in relation to their low starting point."

Justine Roberts, the co-founder of the Mumsnet website told BBC News: "Many Mumsnet users welcomed the planned Ofsted changes when they were announced last year, hoping it would encourage more competition and loosen the stranglehold of consistently top-ranking 'outstanding' schools in each area.

"That said, others have expressed concern that the new rating system puts too much stress on already hard-pressed teachers."

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