The Government’s commitment to children’s safety is being backed with a grant of £30 million to the NSPCC to make sure every child has someone to call on for help and advice, the newly formed Department for Children, Schools and Families announced today.

{mosimage}The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) will get £30M over the next four years to strengthen its ChildLine Service – the free helpline for children and young people in the UK. As part of the partnership with the Government the NSPCC will also be putting more money into its helplines. The money will also help expand the NSPCC’s other helpline services, including those provided online, and the NSPCC Child Protection Helpline which allows adults to report concerns. In future children will also be able to access services via text message.

Ed Balls, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said: “Children are our most precious resource and we want to give them the best possible start in life. We can’t do that unless they are safe.

“One of my priorities as head of the new department for Children, Schools and Families is to make sure we help the most vulnerable – including those whose childhood is being ruined by abuse or bullying. That’s why I’m delighted to say we are putting £30M into the NSPCC’s vital services.”

Beverley Hughes, Minister of State at the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), said: “The money we are announcing today will allow the NSPCC to expand their services significantly and improve them so that more children can be given the advice and help that can be so important. We all know that children are most familiar and comfortable using modern methods of communications – for example on-line or text messages – and this funding will help the NSPCC develop this.”

Health Minster Ivan Lewis and mental health tsar Professor Louis Appleby both welcomed the final stages of the parliamentary passage of the Mental Health Bill as a vital step towards modern community services.

{mosimage}The Bill, which completed its passage through Parliament on 4 July, will allow psychiatrists to require patients to take treatment following discharge from hospital if they are a risk to themselves or others.

It will also strengthen patients’ rights by providing advocacy support for anyone who is detained, and create new roles for experienced non-medical professionals. Health minister Ivan Lewis said: “The Mental Health Bill makes mental health law fit for purpose in the 21st century.

“We will consult publicly in the autumn on the Code of Practice and on regulations to underpin the legislation, and a comprehensive implementation programme is in place. As Minister with responsibility for Mental Health, I look forward to implementing these changes within the wider framework of investing in and improving mental health services. We will look to do this in partnership with the many stakeholders in mental health services, and with service users and their representatives.”

Professor Louis Appleby says: “I am delighted the Mental Health Bill has been passed with all the main government proposals intact, and that we were able to reach agreement with the MPs and peers who expressed concerns about aspects of the Bill.

“These new measures will enable some people with serious mental health problems to be treated in the community under supervision, so that their condition can be properly monitored and steps taken to prevent relapse. This is good for the patients, their families and for the public generally. The Bill will also make it easier for patients with personality disorder to get the treatment they need.”

An immediate review of NHS recruitment will be carried out following the attempted bomb attacks in London and Glasgow, the prime minister says. Gordon Brown revealed the review as eight suspects with links to the health service were being held by police.

The proportion of black and Asian judges recommended for appointment last year under a new system was just 5%, it has been revealed. The Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) said three lawyers from a list of the 58 names put forward to the Lord Chancellor for appointment to the bench were from ethnic minorities.

The NHS must urgently address failings in dementia care if it is to cope with future demands, a watchdog has said.

Eight people arrested in connection with failed car bombings in Glasgow and London all have links with the National Health Service, the BBC has learned.

Pregnant women are being denied antenatal care by the NHS because of their immigration status, endangering mother and baby, a medical charity has found.

A toddler choked to death on a drawstring after a nursery ignored “well-recognised risks” by hanging a cloth bag from her cot, an inquest was told.

More than a quarter of people in the UK do not use contraception when they lose their virginity, a survey has claimed. The poll by condom makers Durex of more than 26,000 people in 26 countries puts the UK in the bottom half of the table for practising safe sex.

Safety will continue to be the top priority for the Healthcare Commission when it carries out its annual performance ratings of NHS trusts next year. This message is outlined in the Commission’s newly published plan for the 2007/2008 annual health check.