Jack Straw, the justice secretary, yesterday backed plans to help inner city black youths avoid the temptations of crime by providing them with successful black mentors, including army officers.

Millions of pounds of lottery funding will be spent on environmental schemes to tackle youth crime and other social problems. The Big Lottery Fund, which distributes lottery cash, has announced £47 million worth of “green” social regeneration projects.

Serious concerns have been raised in a new report into the use of a London court’s cells during the prison overcrowding emergency this summer. The courts and prisons watchdogs criticised the use of “inadequate” cells to hold prisoners.

Older people are being left housebound and disabled by a lack of NHS foot-care services in England, Age Concern says. It cites Office of National Statistics figures from 2001 suggesting a third of over-65s cannot cut their own toe-nails and struggle to access NHS services.