The government’s Technology Strategy Board has announced £11m funding for telehealth and telecare projects, to take the technology to the next level.

At least 7,000 seriously abused children received help last year after concerned neighbours alerted the NSPCC, the charity has revealed.

Policymakers have today set out where more than 10,000 care places for Norfolk’s rising numbers of older people are needed in the next decade as it emerged that upgrading the existing residential homes would cost £60m.

More children are being locked up in England and Wales, according to the charity Barnardo’s. There has been a five-fold surge in the use of custody for 10 to 14-year-olds from 1996-2006, said the charity.