A bus company has been accused of failing to take action to help passengers with learning disabilities.

Social services chiefs have admitted the future of hundreds of staff is out of their hands after they move into the private sector.

More than 600 drug offences are now being committed every day, it emerged yesterday. Labour’s soft stance and its downgrading of cannabis are being blamed for a 14 per cent rise in narcotics crimes as Gordon Brown faces fresh pressure to reclassify the drug.

Eighty council posts could be lost in the South Hams and Devon due to a proposed overhaul of adult social services.

{mosimage}Staff and unions are currently being consulted over Devon County Council’s plans for a shake-up of its adult and community services department.

The plans, approved by the council’s executive committee, would see changes to the way adult care in the community is assessed.

David Johnstone, Devon County Council’s director for adult and community services, said any reduction in staffing will be handled sensitively, with the authority first looking to natural wastage, redeployment and retraining opportunities for displaced staff.

He said: “There may be some redundancies, but we have a very effective redeployment and retraining policy so would hope to continue to offer employment to any staff who do not opt for voluntary redundancy.”

A council consultation document sent to service staff called ‘modernising our care management system’ describes how a ‘one size fits all’ approach to everyone having face-to-face assessments has led to ‘high travelling times, delay and high carbon footprint’.

A nurse who swore repeatedly at work was sacked after she told a Wirral pensioner: “Talk to the hand, coz the face ain’t listening.”

A baby died of neglect at his mother’s squalid flat despite repeated visits by social workers. Officials called to check on nine-month- old Perrin Barlow a total of 47 times in 50 days because he was officially ‘at risk’.

Cocaine and heroin addicts on a government treatment programme are being given extra drugs as a reward for good behaviour, it was reported today.

Children’s care home workers in Tamworth are celebrating this week, after beating a tough national target.

A Hospital nurse who repeatedly swore in front of colleagues and put cancer patients in danger by making basic drug errors has been struck off.

A jury will decide tomorrow whether a widow left in her bed during the evacuation of a blazing care home died as the result of an accident.