Communities left ‘terrified’ by rise in shootings

The recent growth in gun crime on the streets of Britain’s inner-city areas is “terrifying”, police have admitted, following a spate of shootings in London and Manchester on Thursday night, which left three teenagers injured.

In Manchester, detectives denied they were losing control of the Moss Side area after a 16-year-old girl was shot in the street in an attack which some have linked to the murder of Jesse James, 15, earlier this month. At the same time in London, community leaders said the shooting of two black teenagers in a McDonald’s in Brixton had left people in a state of shock.

The shootings come in the wake of a series of violent incidents this week. In Nottingham, Nathan Williams, 17, was shot dead while cycling through the city in Tuesday, while four unconnected shootings in London over the past week have left four people seriously injured and one man, aged 22, dead.

According to the British Crime Survey, around 15 per cent of young men aged between 16 and 24 have experienced some kind of violent crime.

Independent Online Edition > Crime

Two out of three ASBOs breached

THE Government’s drive to curb yobbish behaviour was dealt a serious blow yesterday as it emerged that rising numbers of ASBOs were being flouted.

Two out of three antisocial behaviour orders obtained by councils in areas where the Home Office pioneered the policy were being breached, it was revealed.

Two out of three ASBOs breached – Britain – Times Online

NHS criticised over mental health therapy

Health inspectors criticise the NHS in England in a report today for failure to provide talking therapy for the mentally ill, as an alternative to medication.

The Healthcare Commission said the government recommended counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy for all patients with schizophrenia or suspected schizophrenia. But the inspectors’ first national review of mental health services found only 50% were given access to it.

They also discovered that mental health patients living in the community cannot rely on getting NHS help in a crisis. Just over half are not provided with an out-of-hours number of a mental health worker who can be contacted in an emergency. Anna Walker, the commission’s chief executive, said: “For care in the community to work for the mentally ill more access is needed to talking therapies and out-of hours crisis care.”

SocietyGuardian.co.uk | Social care | NHS criticised over mental health therapy

September set for weather record

This month is set to be the hottest September on record across the UK, the Met Office has said.

The average figure for the month has been 15.4C (59.7F), which is 3.1C (5.6F) above the long-term average.

Weather forecasters have put the high temperatures down to warm winds and mild nights but warn the good conditions are about to break.

The previous record high for September had been 14.7C (58.5F), which was set in 1949.

BBC NEWS | UK | September set for weather record

Prison damned as ‘vermin-ridden’

London’s busiest jail is “overrun with cockroaches” and has an “unusually high” number of assault allegations against staff, a report has said.

The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Anne Owers, published her findings into Pentonville Prison following an unannounced inspection in June.

Ms Owers also accused the jail of “institutional disrespect” of inmates.

BBC NEWS | England | London | Prison damned as ‘vermin-ridden’

UK still borrows most in Europe

People in the UK are still borrowing more money than citizens of any other European country, a report has found.

According to business research firm Datamonitor fresh unsecured lending in the UK totalled £316bn euros in 2005.

That means the UK accounted for more than a third of all new non-mortgage borrowing in Europe last year.

BBC NEWS | Business | UK still borrows most in Europe

Retirement on hold for one in seven homeowners

Around one in seven homeowners will be forced to delay retirement so they earn enough to meet their mortgage repayments.

New research shows that 14 per cent of mortgage borrowers anticipate that they will still be paying off the loan when they are over 65.

More than 20 per cent say they will not make their final payment until they are aged between 60 and 65.

But even those who have paid off their mortgage may be forced to work into old age. More than 40 per cent of homeowners say paying their monthly mortgage bills prevents them from saving for their retirement.

Younger homeowners are also being hindered by the financial strain of meeting their mortgage payments, according to The One Account, the mortgage lender. Nearly 20 per cent of 25 to 29 year olds said the financial pressure of paying their home loan was forcing them to put their plans for a family on hold.

Retirement on hold for one in seven homeowners – Money – Times Online

Credit card issuers raise rates

Many credit card firms have increased their interest rates in the last three months to offset enforced cuts in their default fees, a report shows.

Financial data firm Moneyfacts said 19 leading credit card issuers have put up their charges.

Earlier this year, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) told them to halve their typical default fees to £12.

These are the charges users have to pay for failing to meet the minimum monthly payment on their credit card.

The list of credit card companies that have increased some of their charges includes not only American Express and Barclaycard, but also most of the UK’s biggest banks, such as the Halifax, HSBC, NatWest and Lloyds TSB, plus a host of other major card issuers.

BBC NEWS | Business | Credit card issuers raise rates

Private centres ‘waste NHS millions’

PRIVATE health centres are being paid tens of millions of pounds by the NHS for operations that are not happening.

Hardly any of the independent centres set up under generous contracts are meeting their targets, an investigation by Health Service Journal has found.

But they still get paid, unlike NHS hospitals, which are paid on the basis of how many operations they do.

The 20 centres were open by March. Information gathered by the journal from public documents, freedom of information requests and parliamentary answers indicates that so far they are doing only 59 per cent of the operations for which they are contracted.

Private centres ‘waste NHS millions’ – Britain – Times Online

Homes under water in flash floods

Homes have been left under water and schools and businesses forced to close after heavy rain brought flash flooding to parts of Suffolk and Norfolk

More than 90 properties in Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk and Lowestoft, in Suffolk, have been affected, with some areas under 5ft of water.

BBC NEWS | England | Norfolk | Homes under water in flash floods