Nothing could have been done by Sheffield care bosses to prevent two mental patients committing violent murders, an inquiry has found. The independent inquiry found no failures in the mental health care given to Louise Giles, who stabbed Helen Hay to death outside a Sheffield pub in 2004 or Joshua Daley, who was under the care of Sheffield Care Trust when he killed his girlfriend Natalie Mellors.

More than 80% of the survivors of the July 7 London bombings are still suffering psychological symptoms of post-traumatic stress, according to the first study of the long-term effects of the attacks. Nearly 18 months after the bombings, health protection officials have released details of the impact on survivors – but they are still searching for up to 3,500 people nearest the four bombs who fled the scenes. Psychologists fear that many are still struggling to come to terms with what they saw.

The public are to be offered the chance to purchase shares in new prisons under a ‘buy to let’ scheme being considered by the Home Office, it has emerged. The idea has been floated in an attempt to overcome the refusal of the chancellor, Gordon Brown, to find the extra money needed for 8,000 new prison places at a time when the service is at breaking point.

Senior union officials are set for crisis talks with the minister charged with overseeing the charitable sector over fears that Supporting People contracts are being lost to private companies. Representatives from Amicus are meeting Ed Miliband this week to seek assurance on the future of the not-for-profit sector, including housing associations and voluntary organisations, in providing supported housing.

Most frail elderly people who need help with washing, cleaning and shopping are no longer getting it, a watchdog has said. Two thirds of the town halls responsible for providing home help to the elderly only provide it to those with the most serious problems, it said. The figures from the Government body charged with checking the standards of care homes and social workers add to growing evidence that growing numbers of older people are losing their home helps and meals on wheels.

The biggest “blind” lobby ever will take place today as 500 angry blind and partially sighted people from across the UK march on Parliament. The action is in support of the campaign3 led by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) for blind people to be able to claim the same level of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) benefit as wheelchair users.

Twenty care home workers who help adults with learning difficulties are to lose their jobs. The agency staff, who all work at the Cherwell Centre in Heywood, Rochdale, have been told their contracts are up and there will be no more work. Rochdale council claims the move has come about naturally as their contract has come to an end. The council says the service will not suffer and it will save taxpayers’ cash.

United Response, a learning disability and mental health charity, has declared that only ten per cent of people with learning disabilities in the UK can find any kind of work. The Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (FPLD) has responded by saying that it is the responsibility of employment agencies to encourage this demographic into work.

Proposed new powers announced in the Queen’s Speech to tackle crime should focus on prevention rather than simply enforcement, according to the editors of the new Chartered Institute of Housing book, Supporting Safer Communities – housing, crime and neighbourhoods. Home Office plans for two new bills to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour should avoid knee-jerk responses to anti-social behaviour and crime and have a greater emphasis on working in and with communities to make them safer.

Sex offenders could face compulsory lie detector tests in future after a pilot project was judged a success. The Home Office will now consult on the scheme, which aims to monitor offenders’ behaviour in the community. The pilot scheme involved about 350 convicted sex offenders in England many of whom gave information that helped probation staff supervise them.