Children in poorer areas are twice as likely to have televisions in their rooms as those in affluent areas, a National Consumer Council survey found. Some 550 children aged nine to 13 filled in researchers’ questionnaires.

Unions began balloting nurses on industrial action over pay today as a survey revealed strong public backing for their cause. Three-quarters of people (74%) said they support industrial action by nurses provided it does not affect patient care, according to a YouGov survey for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

Cornwall County Council has welcomed a new report which praises the quality of services provided for older people in Cornwall. The positive report from the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) highlights a number of areas of good practice.

Half a million pensioners live in poverty because the current benefits system is too complex, a leading charity has claimed. Help the Aged said new research, carried out for the charity by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, shows the government has failed to modernise the way means-tested benefits are calculated.

Since the 80s, when raves became as commonplace as a school disco, parents feared their darling offspring would succumb to peer pressure and the vices of a whistle-blowing, pill-popping generation.

BUPA has confirmed that it is to raise £1.44bn from the sale of its 25 UK hospitals to the European private equity firm Cinven and has said it will use the money initially to pay down debt and then to invest in ‘long-term growth’.

Furious residents in some of Bolton’s most deprived areas hit out after learning almost £500,000 will be spent training locals to carry out community audits’. Residents groups say the cash would be better used on facilities for education, training and sport.

Criminals released early from prison because of the overcrowding crisis committed eight more offences within days of the controversial scheme being introduced, it has been revealed.

Justice for Families has released evidence proving that the government was warned that their policies to increase adoptions could result in chidren who could safely stay with their birth parents being instead adopted.

Elderly people are experiencing “unacceptably long waits” for long-term care and have difficulties in accessing their GP practice or local hospital, according to a report from Help the Aged.