More than 600 drug offences are now being committed every day, it emerged yesterday. Labour’s soft stance and its downgrading of cannabis are being blamed for a 14 per cent rise in narcotics crimes as Gordon Brown faces fresh pressure to reclassify the drug.
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Homelessness in parts of rural Scotland is increasing while targets to help eradicate the problem is leaving council housing officials struggling to meet demand for accommodation.
{mosimage}In Argyll and Bute, where almost 1000 people have applied as homeless, the number of households in temporary accommodation has risen by 25% in a year.
More than 200 households are in council-managed temporary accommodation, and in Oban families can wait two years before a permanent home becomes available.
Local authorities, which have been charged with reducing non-priority cases by 50% before 2009, say the policy is creating extra workload for councils as more people need to be found somewhere to live.
In a report to councillors, Malcolm MacFadyen, head of community regeneration at Argyll and Bute Council, said: “The number of households which the council will have a statutory duty to accommodate in temporary accommodation is likely to increase over the next five years as the move to eradicate priority need is implemented.
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The children’s charity Barnardo’s has called on the government to increase the family incomes of the one in nine children in Ireland living in consistent poverty.
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Justice Minister Brian Lenihan has tinkered with controversial laws being proposed on immigration to avoid a major political row over human trafficking.
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The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has reported a significant increase in the number of people presenting to the sexual assault treatment unit at the Rotunda Hospital.
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Council staff in Swansea will meet next week to decide whether to take industrial action in a row over fair pay.
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A woman who had been the victim of domestic violence has been cleared of murdering her long-term partner. Wendy Ellis, 40, denied murdering former soldier William McAuley, 38, at the couple’s home in Blaenau Ffestiniog, on April 10th this year.
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A retired North Wales nurse has been denied vital treatment in England because a Welsh health body will not pay for it.
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Drug crime in Wales rose 11% over the past year, according to Home Office figures released yesterday.
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Tributes have been paid to a tireless supporter of the Dorothy House hospice charity who helped raise £500,000 over more than 20 years.
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