The quality of youth services is gradually improving according to a new report published by Ofsted. Building on the best: overview of local authority youth services 2005-06 reveals that a greater proportion of youth services were judged as good or better in 2005/06 than in previous years.

The UK has been accused of failing its children, as it comes bottom of a league table for child well-being across 21 industrialised countries. The Unicef report looked at 40 indicators including poverty, peer and family relationships and health. The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland head the list.

{mosimage}Children’s charities have condemned the findings. The government says it has made progress on child well-being through several initiatives.

Unicef – the United Nations’ children’s organisation – says the report, titled Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-being in Rich Countries, is the first study of childhood across the world’s industrialised nations.

Unicef UK executive director David Bull said all the countries had weaknesses that needed to be addressed. “By comparing the performance of countries we see what is possible with a commitment to supporting every child to fulfil his or her full potential,” he said.

Lawyers must take a back seat to policy makers when it comes to counter-terrorism, the Lord Chancellor is expected to warn. Lord Falconer of Thoroton – due to deliver a keynote speech at a major conference on politics and terrorism – will say that counter-terror measures must always be lawful.

A failure to invest in and reform key public sector services will widen inequality and disadvantage Britain’s disabled community, the chairman of the disabled rights commission (DRC) has said.

The horrors some people have faced in Calderdale care homes has prompted Halifax Labour MP Linda Riordan to table an emergency motion in Parlia-ment today to highlight the issue.