Scientists have pinpointed a possible reason why pancreatic cancer is such an aggressive disease. A University of Liverpool team found a family of proteins involved in controlling cell movement could be key. The study, which appears in the journal Gut, could offer a new lead on a disease which is hard to treat.

More than 1.5 million local government workers are expected to ask for a 5% pay rise in the new year. Three trade unions are set to begin talks with the Local Government Association (LGA) in January – when the final claim will be submitted.

Thousands of pensioners could be in line for a new year income boost thanks to a pioneering new partnership between central and local government. Norfolk County Council has teamed up with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Pension Service to help the elderly get the benefits they are entitled to in a scheme aimed at boosting living standards.

A husband has won his fight to get the NHS to fully fund the care of his Alzheimer’s Disease sufferer wife. Pensioner John McIndoe was originally refused full funding to pay for round-the-clock care for his wife Christine – because regional health chiefs said her condition was not deteriorating rapidly enough.

A devoted elderly couple who were split up after half a century of married life, have been given the best Christmas present they could possibly have wished for. Geoff and Margaret Jones have been happily reunited after council bosses in Trafford found a way of bringing them back together under the same roof.

Schoolgirls as young as 12 are to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted disease linked to cervical cancer, under controversial plans being drawn up by the Department of Health. Millions of girls would be immunised at school against human papilloma virus (HPV) before they become sexually active.

New ways of tackling crime must be considered, a minister has said, after a report warned crime rates could rise for the first time in 12 years. The leaked Downing Street strategy unit report says crime could rise if there is a slowdown in economic growth. It says prescribing heroin and alcohol rationing could help cut crime.

Four out of five adults of all ages expect help from their council if they have basic care needs when they reach old age – even though all of these services could be withdrawn completely by 2009, a new report has revealed.

{mosimage}The Local Government Association commissioned Ipsos/MORI to ask people what kind of financial assistance they would expect to receive from their local authority for basic care that will help them live independently in their own homes. The results reveal a startling gap between people’s expectation of what care they will receive and the actual reality.

Only 10% of respondents said they would expect to pay for all their basic care – although 100 per cent of people with low and moderate needs could have to do that within the next three years if current trends continue. Basic care needs include help with shopping, cleaning and getting dressed.

Without a care? – the LGA’s new report – shows central government funding has not kept pace with the needs of an ageing population and older people’s increasingly complex needs.

Support for services such as social care through the general grant has increased by just 14% in real terms since 1997/98. This is in stark contrast to the NHS, which has seen a 90% rise over the same period. Half of local authorities with social care responsibilities received a government grant increase below inflation this year.

A charity supporting homeless people has called on the government to provide £300m for education to help prepare them for employment. The call came from the charity Crisis as it opened seven hostels across London for Christmas.

A premature baby has died and five others have contracted the PVL superbug on the neonatal ward of a hospital in East Anglia. It is the first outbreak of the PVL bug ever seen on the 28-cot unit at the Norfolk and Norwich University NHS Trust, the hospital  has said.