More than 1,000 people in South Yorkshire could find themselves jobless due to mental health problems, according to a national charity. The Shaw Trust estimates that as many as 955 people in Sheffield, and more than 400 in Rotherham, could find themselves unable to work in the next six months.

As a young teenager in the East Sussex town of Hastings, Jenny Cross’s life had taken a turn for the worse – she was homeless and having problems with alcohol and drugs. Now at the age of 18, she has turned her life around with the help of the Xtrax young people’s centre.

Toddlers who spend three or more days a week in nursery are more likely to become anti-social, worried and upset, government research has found. The evaluation of a £370m scheme to expand children’s centres found youngsters were more likely to behave poorly the longer they spent in care.

{mosimage}But the report also found 30 hours in care increased children’s confidence. The research comes as teachers warn children are being “institutionalised” by the push to get mothers into work. The study – A National Evaluation of Neighbourhood Nurseries – assessed the neighbourhood nurseries initiative, which was set up in 2001 to provide more childcare in some of the poorest parts of the country.  The Department for Education and Skills report said:

“The ‘tipping point’ for daily attendance appears to be relatively low in relation to anti-social behaviour. When compared with children who attended either one or two days per week, children who attended for three days per week or more were significantly more anti-social.”

Offenders are escaping punishment for breaking their community penalties because probation staff are not following Home Office guidelines, according to a watchdog report.

A Birmingham nurse serving life for murdering her partner by drugging him and injecting him with insulin had her sentence reduced because of her “wholly exceptional progress” in prison.

“Talking” CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour are to be installed in 20 areas across England. They are already used in Middlesbrough where anyone seen misbehaving can be told via a loudspeaker, controlled by control centre staff, to stop.

By 2009 all women would be able to choose between giving birth at home, in a unit led by midwives or under the care of a consultant in hospital. Lives will be at risk under ‘scandalous’ maternity plans which mean that poorlytrained assistants could deliver babies, campaigners have warned.

A seven-year-old boy and his HIV-positive parents escaped deportation last night after a children’s charity warned the Home Office that it was effectively condemning the boy to death if it sent his family back to Malawi.

From 6 April millions more Britons are to be given the right to request flexible working. People who need to alter their working hours to give them time to care for an adult are the beneficiaries. This includes people who, for example, need to get away from work to look after parents suffering dementia or family members who are disabled or ill.

More than 60 public organisations including fire services, local councils, colleges and probation boards have been “named and shamed” for failing to produce a scheme to improve services and job opportunities for disabled people.

{mosimage}The Disability Rights Commission warned that it could take legal action against the organisations after accusing them of breaking the law. The Commission said 65 public bodies had missed a deadline of last December for producing a disability equality scheme.

Under the scheme organisations were supposed to show what measures they were taking to help disabled people get better access to education, facilities such as sports centres, training and jobs.

Among the organisations named were a number of Government services including UK Trade and Investment and the Forensic Science Service. Sir Bert Massie, the Commission’s chairman, said: “The disability equality duty is a real opportunity to transform disabled people’s experiences of the society we live in.