Babies should be put down for their daytime naps in the same room as their parents to minimise the risk of cot deaths, according to newly published research. A three-year study, part-funded by the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, has found that three-quarters of babies who die have been put down in rooms alone.

A new survey is inviting thousands of older people and their relatives to recount their experiences of choosing a care home. Social care watchdog CSCI wants to find out how much help and information people were given before choosing a care home for themselves, a relative or a friend.

Birmingham’s housing department is in the process of developing a 15-year housing plan for older people. The Commission for Social Care Inspection produced its annual report where projections indicate a rise of 54% in number of older people with a high-level care requirement.

Government proposals to give patients and the public in England more say in the NHS are likely to fail because of insufficient resources, the BMA has said.

Council leaders in 40 new “Respect” areas have been warned they no longer have any excuse for failing to take action against yobs. Home Secretary John Reid said the local authorities were expected to make a major push against anti-social behaviour in exchange for additional resources.

The Government was accused of “criminal negligence” today as judges and magistrates were urged to jail only the most dangerous and persistent criminals in a bid to ease overcrowding. Ministers’ “scaremongering” tactics have blocked prisons with petty offenders, vulnerable women and children, as well as addicts and the mentally ill, according to the Prison Reform Trust.

{mosimage}Director Juliet Lyon said: “Ministers are right to call at last for jails to be used more sparingly, not because they are full to bursting, but because the Government’s own scaremongering tactics have blocked prison beds with petty offenders, vulnerable women and children, addicts and the mentally ill,” she said. “The Government has been guilty of criminal negligence to allow prisons to get into such a terrible mess without intervening earlier in a planned way.”

Her remarks come after the Home Secretary John Reid, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer and Attorney General Lord Goldsmith wrote to judges and magistrates in a bid to try to relieve some of the pressure on Britain’s overcrowded jails. The prison population of England and Wales is hovering around its capacity of about 80,000 places. The Home Office confirmed that a wing with 176 places at Norwich Prison declared “unfit” by inspectors is to be brought back into use from today because of cell shortages.

The Church of England has backed the Catholic Church in its bid to be exempt from laws on adoption by gay couples. Catholic leaders in England and Wales say its teaching prevented its agencies placing children with homosexuals and they will close if bound by the rules.

{mosimage}The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Dr Rowan Williams and John Sentamu have written to the prime minister. They say “rights of conscience cannot be made subject to legislation, however well-meaning”.

The Equality Act, due to come into effect in England, Wales and Scotland in April, outlaws discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities and services on the basis of sexual orientation.

The archbishops said many people who do voluntary work are motivated by religious beliefs. They point out exceptions have already been made for those whose conscience dictates they cannot take part in certain work, such as NHS doctors unwilling to perform abortions.

“In legislating to protect and promote the rights of particular groups the government is faced with the delicate but important challenge of not thereby creating the conditions within which others feel their rights to have been ignored or sacrificed, or in which the dictates of personal conscience are put at risk,” they said.

Pre-menopausal women who eat large amounts of fibre could halve their breast cancer risk, a UK study has suggested. The University of Leeds researchers, who studied 35,000 women, found those who ate 30g of fibre a day had half the risk of those who ate less than 20g.

Judges and magistrates are being asked to jail only the most dangerous and persistent criminals. The home secretary and law chiefs have sent them a letter as the number of inmates in England and Wales hovers around the jail capacity of 80,000.

Thousands of diabetic children could risk losing limbs because the NHS cash crisis is hitting services, according to a new report. Four out of five diabetic children have poor glucose control, putting them at risk of developing complications, it said.