Ten thousand previously inadequate childcare places for children are now satisfactory or better as a result of Ofsted inspection and intervention, according to a new report published by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Making a difference: how Ofsted inspections improved inadequate care for children, reveals that the large majority of providers judged to be inadequate between April 2005 and June 2006 had improved by the time of their reinspections. Over those 15 months, 1,100 of the 32,000 providers inspected by Ofsted were judged to be inadequate (3%).

The government could face a legal challenge over sub-standard treatment given by the NHS to people with learning disabilities and long-term mental health conditions, the Disability Rights Commission has warned. The commission conducted an 18-month investigation and says it found that people with learning disabilities and long-term mental health problems die five to 10 years younger on average than other citizens, often from preventable illnesses which were missed because routine checks were not carried out. The commission says the NHS could be in breach of the new disability equality duty, which comes into effect in December, unless the government takes action.

Mental health care patients in Worcestershire are given nearly 700 electric shock treatments a year, new figures have revealed. According to the statistics, the controversial electroconvulsive therapy has been administered 3,400 times in Worcestershire since 2001 – more than any of the 27 health trusts nationwide that have provided figures apart from Leicestershire. The therapy involves electrodes being attached to the head and an electric current being passed briefly though the electrodes to the brain, causing a seizure.

Birmingham City Council has admitted it has no idea of the whereabouts or the welfare of about 200 adults with severe learning disabilities in residential care. The local authority disclosed details of an astonishing mix-up with Primary Care Trusts, which resulted in the council losing contact with highly vulnerable people and failing to fulfil its responsibility to monitor their wellbeing. A social care scrutiny inquiry found the “missing” 200 had not been properly assessed by social workers, were not having their care arrangements properly managed and could be at risk of physical or sexual abuse.

{mosimage} The NHS is preparing a wave of closures of key hospital departments across England in the run-up to the next general election, its new chief executive told the Guardian in his first interview since starting the job. David Nicholson, the man responsible for leading implementation of reforms, said there would be up to 60 “reconfigurations” of NHS services, affecting every strategic health authority in the land.

Some changes will try to squeeze out overcapacity that contributed to the NHS’s £512m deficit in the last financial year.But most will be aimed at redesigning the NHS to improve care by concentrating key services in fewer hospitals.

The home secretary, John Reid, has drawn up far-reaching plans to create “a true mixed economy” in the criminal justice system, including putting entire local probation services out for competition. A “privatisation prospectus” quietly drawn up by the home secretary envisages a five-year programme of “competitions” during which £9bn-worth of probation and prison services – a quarter of the total spent – are to be offered to the private security industry and voluntary organisations.

Children who live in overcrowded housing are up to 10 times more likely to contract meningitis, a report from the housing charity Shelter reveals. It has reviewed research into the effects of poor housing on children. The report warns children in bad housing have up to a 25% higher risk of severe ill-health and disability during childhood and early adulthood.

The government is making £50m available to help refurbish hospices as part of its push to improve palliative care. Marie Curie Cancer Care will receive £10m, with other hospices in England free to bid for a slice of the rest. Ministers said the cash could be used for existing services, but not to build new hospices, over the next two years.

New cases of homelessness have fallen to levels not seen since the early 1980s, Housing Minister Yvette Cooper announced today. National Statistics released today show that just under 19,500 new households became homeless during April to June of this year. This is nearly 30% lower than the same time last year (the biggest such percentage reduction ever recorded) and continues the downward trend seen since the beginning of 2004.

Labour’s nanny state is to spread its reach to make unprecedented inroads into the lives of families and teenagers. Unborn children are to get social workers as part of the Government’s scheme to improve the lives of a million people caught up with unemployment, crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour.