Hundreds of projects providing vital help to Britain’s hidden army of young carers are under threat because the £334m government grants that fund them are due to end within months, charities warn. Schemes offering support such as counsellors and after-school groups to help young people who look after disabled, mentally ill or drug-abusing parents, are at risk despite growing concern at the struggles facing the estimated 175,000 carers aged under 18 in the UK.

{mosimage}Children as young as five are helping at home, taking on housework and cooking and even nursing care for family members, in some cases spending 20 hours a week or more on such activities. Charities fear that a move to end the central grants that pay for many young carers projects, and to give the money to the local authorities instead, could see the cash diverted to other needs.

The children’s commissioner for England, Al Aynsley-Green, warns that child carers barely feature in the plans published by councils covering priorities for young people. “These young people are in danger of falling through the gap between adult and children’s services, as few authorities have protocols to help children’s and adults’ teams work together.”

The carers grant and children’s fund are central government pots of money that fund a range of projects for carers and disadvantaged children, and include schemes backing young carers. The carers grant is worth £185m in England this financial year, while the children’s fund will provide £130-£149m. Both are due to be wound up next March. The children’s fund will go directly into councils’ children budgets, but the future of the carers grant will not be clarified until the comprehensive spending review in October. Charities fear all the money will simply be absorbed into local government funding, with no guarantee that help for young carers will be protected.

The controversial childcare expert Gina Ford has dropped her threat to sue the parenting website Mumsnet after a year-long dispute was settled out of court. Lawyers for Ms Ford agreed to halt legal action after the website agreed to pay a contribution of her costs and prevent ‘personal attacks’ on the site.

A woman who lured girls as young as 12 by getting them hooked on drugs before offering them for sex has been jailed. Fiona Walsh, 33, groomed them with clothes and other gifts before introducing them to Class A drugs.

The Justice Secretary has pledged that the new Ministry of Justice will deliver better results for the public. But Lord Falconer refused to answer detailed questions about the steps he will take to reduce prison overcrowding which is already at crisis point.

The case of whether drugs used to treat mental health problems like Alzheimer’s disease should be made available on the NHS will be heard in court on June 25th. Bringing the case against the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) is the Alzheimer’s Society.

The UK has one of the worst records over access to cancer drugs as stark inequalities exist across the world, a Swedish study has found. Researchers ranked the UK in the bottom group for its “slow and low” uptake of drugs after analysing the sales of 67 treatments in 25 countries.