A SHELTERED housing boss has admitted conning a disabled resident out of thousands of pounds.

Young people are unlikely to benefit from a big inheritance from their parents who will need the money to pay for care in their old age, research showed today.

Two care workers have been suspended after being accused of falsely logging reports that they visited an 83-year-old woman at home – when she was said to be in hospital.

Britain’s 190,000 registered charities were thrown a £90m-a-year lifeline thanks to the chancellor’s last-minute decision to maintain current rates of tax relief on Gift Aid donations.

These will be maintained for at least the next three years, instead of being cut in line with the new lower basic rate of tax.

Gift Aid boosts charitable donations because the government adds back the basic rate of income tax paid by donors.

Charities had braced themselves for a loss in revenue. With a 22% rate, each £100 donated becomes £128, but with a 20% rate, £100 becomes £125.

The chancellor says charities can claim “transitional relief” for three years, allowing them to retain the 22% relief rate.

John Low, chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, which helps individuals donate in a tax-efficient way, said: “This is fantastic news for charities. It is a huge relief as we feared charities were going to lose in excess of £90m a year when the basic rate of tax comes down next month.

The budget’s package of measures for families and children has been welcomed as a important step towards the government’s 2010 target of halving child poverty. But more investment is vital if that target is to be met, say anti-poverty groups.

The hardest part of caring for loved ones with dementia is not the everyday practical challenge, but rather the emotional impact of losing the patients’ support and companionship as the disease robs them of their faculties, according to new research.

Millions of parents accept that their children will be denied an inheritance because they are likely to be forced to spend their savings on care in old age.

A Looming elderly care crisis has forced a major shake-up of council-run services.

Carers faked a log claiming they had continued to check an elderly woman in her home for a week after she had been admitted to hospital, it was alleged yesterday.

Wilhelmina Dart, 83, was rushed to hospital by her daughter after she found her on the floor having suffered a stroke.

Not realising Dart was in hospital, carers, who were paid to spend half an hour with her on weekdays, let themselves into her home and signed the log saying they had seen and checked her, it was claimed. Had they gone upstairs they would have realised she was not there.

Dart’s daughter, Patricia Handford, said yesterday that had she not visited her mother, Dart could have lain on the floor for more than a week. “It is disgraceful,” she said. “I wonder how often this has happened all around the country?”

Two carers have been suspended while the Devon agency that employs them, 1st React Healthcare, investigates. Devon county council and the Commission for Social Care Inspection have been informed.

A MOTHER who owes her son’s life to a Tyneside special care baby unit said she is disgusted a decision has been made to close the service.