Footage of four women goading toddlers to fight has “stunned” police and social services in Devon. The seven-minute footage, filmed at a house by one woman, was shown in a case at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court.

A home which provides care for 87 elderly people is under investigation by police over allegations of assault. Two people at the Ringshill Nursing Home in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, were under investigation, police said.

Patient safety could be improved if hospitals tagged people with barcodes, the Government said on Thursday. Lord Hunt, the minister for quality, urged the NHS to consider the technology after trials showed that the number of errors could be cut.

The death of the first child ever to die in a privately run secure unit was “a disaster waiting to happen”, the head of the Youth Justice Board at the time of the incident said yesterday.

Tory leader David Cameron has called for more powers to “compel” fathers to look after their children in an effort to tackle gang culture. He told the BBC he backed tax breaks to help families stay together and promoting a “culture of responsibility and respecting authority”.

{mosimage}Mr Cameron’s comments follow the shootings of three London teenagers in less than a fortnight. The Tory leader called for a “complete change in our values”. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I believe in marriage. I believe in people making a commitment to each other and staying together and trying to bring up their children properly.” Children were often attracted to gangs if they lacked a father figure, he said.

Mr Cameron said: “It’s not just about passing a law or getting a bit more money. We have got to sit up and realise we are running things by the wrong values. We need to support families.” The Child Support Agency was “meant” to collect money from fathers to pay for raising their children, but men in other European countries faced “tougher rules and had to stand by” their families. Mr Cameron said: “Part of it is social pressure.”

The General Social Care Council (GSCC) has welcomed today’s announcement by the Government to open the Social Care Register to domiciliary care workers and managers.