John Reid wants to call in the army to deal with young offenders to “provide structure to their lives”, according to leaked internal Home Office emails. He also believes that offenders sentenced to community punishments should demonstrate their “penance and contrition” and be put in uniform so they can be seen to be repaying the community. The leaked emails reveal the new home secretary’s highly punitive agenda and the fact that he wants to go even further than the 24-point “get tough” criminal justice package he unveiled on Thursday.

Care homes are being urged to prepare early for potential heatwaves so they can help protect older people from the effects of high temperatures. Actions such as making sure windows can be opened and shaded, checking there are enough fans, making sure cold drinks are available and ensuring you know who is most at risk, can help to reduce the risk of older people getting heatstroke.

The home secretary, John Reid, yesterday launched a 24-point “get tough” criminal justice package which marked a clear return for Labour to the “prison works” policy of Michael Howard’s Home Office. In the face of a record prison population in England and Wales of 78,000 and climbing, Mr Reid became the latest in a long line of home secretaries to try to build his way out of a prisons crisis by announcing the provision of a further 8,000 prison places and longer sentences for the most serious criminals.

Residents at Sunnybank House care home in Weymouth, Dorset, were left without care after two staff members got locked in a kitchen and another injured herself plunging into a light

Oxfordshire’s social services are creaking at the seams because of the NHS funding crisis, councillors claim. Conservative county councillors are set to complain to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust that changes to its services are putting the social care department under extreme pressure. Members of the Tory-run council’s cabinet have called for a halt to cuts in community-based NHS services.

A new fee-paid fostering service has been launched in Suffolk in a bid to tackle a shortage of foster carers for older children. Suffolk County Council says there are not enough “in-house” foster carers for adolescents or children over eight, which means many have to be fostered out of the county and away from their friends and family. The council has now developed a scheme where it will pay a fee related to the number of youngsters the carer fosters in addition to children’s allowances and paid respite. The combined amount could add up to between £340 and £950 per week.

A hospital which was criticised in a report for “widespread institutional abuse” of patients is to close. Fourteen people with learning difficulties at Budock Hospital, near Falmouth, will be rehomed by December, the BBC has been told. Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust is also handing over the care of nearly 170 people in 46 community homes. The closure follows inspections by the Healthcare Commission and Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Thousands of elderly people will still be denied their legal entitlement to free long term nursing care despite proposed changes to the system, according to a lawyer fighting for free care. The government has published proposals which aim to clarify who should receive free care in nursing homes in England and started a consultation. But Nicola Mackintosh, who represented Pauline Coughlan in a test case to keep NHS care free, says that 1999 ruling will continue to be ignored by the NHS.

{mosimage} A documentary about manic depression made by Stephen Fry will be one of the highlights of BBC2’s autumn season unveiled today. Fry is making two films for the channel

Money is being diverted away from mental health trusts to cover NHS deficits in England, a survey finds. The report reveals nearly two-thirds of mental health trusts have been asked to cut their budget to cover overspending in other areas of the NHS. The survey was carried out by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. But Health Minister Rosie Winterton said there was “no evidence” the trusts were being affected by the current funding problems. Nearly a third of NHS organisations failed to balance their books in 2005-2006, leaving the NHS with a deficit of £512m.