Paterson’s victims fell into two camps – those who underwent unnecessary surgery, and those who did need operations but were left prone to cancer returning because of the untried technique he used.
The Bishop of Norwich, the Right Reverend Graham James, is chairing the inquiry and said he wants to hear what issues patients and families would like it to consider, before he finalised the terms of reference.
More detailed evidence will then be taken from patients and families at a later date.
Image copyrightRICHARD T HARRISImage captionIan Paterson was found guilty of wounding patients at Spire private hospitals
At Paterson’s trial the court heard from nine women and one man who were treated in the private sector at Little Aston and Parkway Hospitals, run by Spire Healthcare, in the West Midlands between 1997 and 2011.
However, up to 750 victims are expected to be paid compensation from a £37m fund with payments from Spire, Paterson’s insurers and the Heart of England NHS.
The government has said the inquiry is likely to consider:
responsibility for the quality of care in the private sector
information sharing between the independent sector and the NHS
the role of insurers for independent sector healthcare providers
It is not intended that it will revisit evidence that led to his conviction.
The inquiry is expected to deliver a report to the government by the summer of 2019.
Defra has said that the outbreak, which is the largest in England this year, will not lead to a cull of the birds.
Wendy Hermon from Swan Support is leading the clear up and said she is still seeing more birds becoming ill.
“It seems to take 48 hours from the start of them not looking very well to when they die,” she said.
Image captionA sign of the illness is if swan’s necks are not entirely straight, and some of it is bent backwards.
Ms Hermon and her team are collecting dead birds “as quickly as they can from the water” in an effort to minimise the risk of the virus spreading.
She told the OP’S NEWS “following advice from the [Health and Safety Executive], we are bagging them up and spraying them with disinfectant on site, so there is no risk of spread.”
She explained that the team leave sick, but living, birds in situ to avoid contaminating other areas.
Professor of virology at the University of Reading, Ian Jones, said he is hopeful that the outbreak can be contained.
He told the OP’S NEWS : “We are not in the situation that we were in last year when chickens were being kept indoors, we are a step before it.
“The outbreak is only in wild birds so far, which is where we would like to keep it till the end of the season.”
Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe Queen has previously visited the ‘Swan Upping’ count on the Thames
David Barber, the Queen’s Swan Marker, said experience from other places suggests “it will gradually burn itself out in two to three weeks.”
Mr Barber, who is responsible for the centuries old tradition of carrying out the annual swan census, said: “The flock have been at Windsor for many hundreds of years”
“We don’t want them [tourists] to see the dead birds on the bank,” he added.
Image captionNorthamptonshire County Council overspent by £43m
Northamptonshire County Council has said it is in financial trouble and is banning all new spending, raising questions about the financial health of local authorities across England.
Analysis by the BBC England Data Unit has found that around one in every three local authorities spent more on services in 2016-17 than they expected to.
At the start of the financial year Northamptonshire County Council said it would spend £706m on providing services such as education, social care, public health, street lighting and running rubbish tips.
Yet the authority ended up spending £749m on these services, which is 6.1% more than in its budget.
Across England of those councils that overspent, the average overspend in 2016-17 was 3.1%.
Away from day to day spending Northamptonshire council says it currently has £608m in outstanding loan debts and £194m in Private-Finance Initiative liabilities.
The means the council’s combined debts of £802m are greater than its planned budget spend of £706m.
Over the past five financial years the council saw on average a 35% overspend on children’s social care and an average of seven per cent overspend on adult social care services.
Northamptonshire County Council says it has faced “unprecedented demand for local services for a number of years, coupled with reducing levels of funding from central government”.
“The reliance on agency staff in social care is an issue faced by many local authorities across the country,” a spokesman said.
He said heavy investment in children’s services came following an “inadequate” Ofsted rating in 2013 and that spending on agency staff had dropped after recruiting more social workers.
Are other councils in financial trouble?
Northamptonshire is the first council in nearly two decades to issue a section 114 notice, which effectively stops all new expenditure. Only statutory services for safeguarding vulnerable people are exempt. The last one was Hackney in 2000.
The body that speaks for local councils, the Local Government Association (LGA) says money for local councils “is running out fast” and that local authorities face a funding gap of £5.8bn over the next two years.
Government figures show there were 113 councils in England that spent more than their net current expenditure budgets in 2016-17.
This does not mean all these councils are in financial trouble, but with one in every three councils spending more than was in their budgets, means many local authorities have clearly struggled.
According to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa), councils are allowed to dip into their reserves to prop up their spending and can run a deficit if they have the means to fund it.
“However it is illegal for planned expenditure in the current or a future year to exceed budgeted resources and available reserves,” Cipfa says. “In such cases the chief finance officer must statutorily enforce an expenditure freeze and the council respond and adjust its plans for the year in question.”
What are the main pressures on council budgets?
From the rising numbers of children going to school to a fall in the amount of money councils receive from central government, demands on local authorities are rising, whilst resources are being stretched.
The biggest pressure on council budgets is social care, which involves looking after vulnerable children and a growing older adult population.
Five years ago councils in England were spending slightly less than they had provided for in their social care budgets.
But in 2016-17 local authorities spent £1.1bn more on social care than was in their budgets.
Image copyrightBBC NEWS
What does the government say?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says that over the next four years councils across England will get real terms increases in their budgets.
As the department plans to spend £200bn as part of a four year financial settlement.
And when asked in the House of Commons whether he knew of any other councils in financial difficulty, the local government minister Rishi Sunak said: “It would be inappropriate to give a running commentary on every conversation I have with local councils, but the department keeps in constant contact with councils and we keep the situation in constant review”.
An independent inspector has been appointed to look at the financial situation of Northamptonshire County Council, which is expected to report back by 16 March 2018.
Image copyrightLEICESTER CITY COUNCILImage captionLee Williamson said he pulled in to a bus stop to give a homeless man clothes, food, and to chat to him
A man who was fined after he pulled into a bus stop on Christmas Day to help a homeless man is to have his penalty cancelled by Leicester’s mayor.
Lee Williamson, 43, of Evington, Leicester, said he stopped to give a homeless man a blanket, hat, gloves, scarf, food, and chat to him.
He later received a £70 fine, despite there being no buses on 25 December.
Sir Peter Soulsby, the city mayor, said to punish Mr Williamson for doing a “good deed” was “absolutely crazy”.
Mr Williamson said he was “over the moon” following Sir Peter’s intervention.
“That just the news I wanted to hear,” he said. “Common sense is prevailing. I’m happy with that.”
Leicester City Council had said the camera enforcement was an important safety measure after a cyclist died there in 2016.
Mr Williamson said it felt like he was being punished for helping someone and would never normally dream of stopping at a bus stop. He had also said he would not pay the fine.
It prompted many people to offer to pay it on his behalf due to Mr Williamson’s initial generosity.
Image copyrightLEE WILLIAMSONImage captionWar veteran Mr Williamson said it is normally a busy road and he would “never dream” of stopping at a bus stop
Now, Sir Peter has said he will help overturn the fine, having first stated that “legal parking” had been available nearby.
He told BBC Radio Leicester: “You can take rules to a crazy extreme.
“We should do everything we can to make absolutely certain that Lee is not punished for doing this good deed and his parking fine is cancelled.”
Image copyrightPAImage captionHedgehogs live in hedgerows and gardens
Hedgehogs are continuing to decline in the UK, according to a new report.
Surveys by citizen scientists show hedgehog numbers have fallen by about 50% since the turn of the century.
Conservation groups say they are particularly concerned about the plight of the prickly creatures in rural areas.
Figures suggest the animals are disappearing more rapidly in the countryside, as hedgerows and field margins are lost to intensive farming.
But there are signs that populations in urban areas may be recovering.
David Wembridge, surveys officer for the conservation charity, People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), said two surveys of the number of hedgehogs in gardens and one of numbers killed on roads show an overall decline.
But he said there is “a glimmer of hope” that measures to create habitat for hedgehogs in urban areas are paying off.
“Numbers haven’t recovered yet but in urban areas at least there’s an indication that numbers appear to have levelled in the last four years,” he said.
In rural areas, the number of hedgehogs killed on roads has fallen by between a third and a half across Great Britain, The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2018 report found.
Emily Wilson, Hedgehog Officer for the campaign group, Hedgehog Street, said the apparent decline in the rural population of hedgehogs was “really concerning” .
Image captionLoss of their hedgerow habit has hit hedgehogs hard
The loss of hedges and copses to create larger fields has resulted in fewer nesting sites and less protection for hedgehogs, she said.
“This kind of barren one-crop landscape has removed the amount of area that hedgehogs can live in,” said Ms Wilson. “The large-scale pesticide use has reduced the amount of food for them to eat – there are fewer invertebrates.”
Rough estimates put the hedgehog population in England, Wales and Scotland at about one million, compared with three million in the 1950s.
The groups behind the report, the PTES and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society say farming communities can help to halt declines.
Measures to reduce pressures on hedgehogs include providing more field margins, hedgerows and scrubby areas for the animals.
A trial putting wildflowers strips through the middle of fields to encourage insects that prey on crop pests, thereby reducing pesticide use, may also benefit wildlife such as hedgehogs.
And, with the UK leaving the European Union, ministers have indicated that a redesign of the subsidy system could see a shift away from payments for land owned to rewarding wildlife protection.
A Defra spokesperson said: “Hedgehogs are one of the UK’s most treasured animals with an important role in our heritage and natural environment.
“We remain concerned about the decline in their population, and through our 25 Year Environment Plan we’ll be creating or restoring 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat to provide benefits for species such as hedgehogs.”
Householders are also being encouraged to help hedgehogs by putting out wet cat and dog food, leaving wild areas for them to nest and making holes in the fence to enable them to move from garden to garden.
Image copyrightPOUNDLANDImage captionPoundland has been told that the ads must not appear again in their current form
A Poundland ad campaign that featured innuendo and depictions of sexual acts has been deemed “irresponsible” by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The pre-Christmas social media posts featured a “naughty” toy elf and were published on Twitter and Facebook.
One image featured the elf holding a tea bag in a suggestive pose with a plastic doll.
The regulator pointed out that the images were available on “ungated” websites and therefore viewable by anyone, including children.
‘Demeaning’
Some of the posts may also have been seen as demeaning to women, the ASA added.
Poundland’s initial response to the complaints had been to state that the elf campaign was based on humour and double entendres, according to the ASA.
The retailer also pointed out that Twitter and Facebook had policies that were designed to prevent under-13s from creating accounts on the websites.
It also said that a Twitter poll of 12,000 respondents was 82% in favour of the campaign.
“They stated a large number of people found the campaign to be humorous, engaging, and in line with what it meant to be British,” the ASA said.
Image copyrightPOUNDLANDImage copyrightPOUNDLANDImage captionPoundland’s naughty elf was so naughty that it attracted the censure of the Advertising Standards Authority
However, the regulator decided against the retailer in the end.
It said that because the ads had been shared widely on social media, they therefore would have been seen by “a large number of people, including some children” who did not actively follow the Poundland accounts.
A 2017 Ofcom report found that nearly a quarter of eight to 11-year-olds now had a presence on social media sites.
The ads were “irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence”, said the ASA, which also revealed it had received 85 complaints about the Poundland campaign.
At the time, Poundland’s marketing director Mark Pym said, “We’re proud of a campaign that’s only cost £25.53 and is being touted as the winning marketing campaign this Christmas!”
Poundland has been told that the images concerned must not appear again in their current form.
Other new ASA rulings include:
a ban of a Tunnock’s Tea Cakes campaign that featured a female tennis player holding one of the cakes against her thigh. The watchdog said that combining the image with the phrase “serve up a treat” had objectified women and was socially irresponsible
clearing Ryanair to describe itself as Europe’s number one airline. There had been complaints that the claim was misleading in light of thousands of flight cancellations in 2017. But the ASA accepted that travel data for 2016 – the industry’s most recent figures – showed Ryanair carrying more passengers than any other European airline
Spending just 10 minutes a day talking to people with dementia about their interests or family could help improve their quality of life, according to a study.
Researchers carried out a nine-month trial in 69 care homes in England.
One-to-one interaction, combined with personalised care, significantly reduced the residents’ anger and agitation, the study found.
The authors said other homes should try taking a more “personal” approach.
The study, published in PLOS Medicine, involved more than 800 people with dementia across care homes in south London, north London and Buckinghamshire over a nine-month randomised controlled trial.
Staff in the homes were trained to learn about their patients’ interests and abilities and ask them and their families questions about the care they received.
This led to care that was more personalised and incorporated an hour a week of social interaction.
This could range from conversations about a patient’s family, or interests such as sport, to helping them take part in activities like gardening or music.
The study found improvements in quality of life, agitation, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, with the greatest benefits for people with moderately severe dementia.
Prof Clive Ballard, of the University of Exeter medical school, who led the research, told the BBC: “Often there’s a lot of nihilism around dementia, that people think that it’s really awful, which it is, but think there’s nothing you can do about it.
“I think what this is suggesting is that actually relatively simple things, if implemented robustly, can actually make a real difference to people’s quality of life.”
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESImage captionIn the absence of a cure for dementia, researchers said, it was important to find cost-effective treatments for the illness
Prof Ballard said in many care homes residents receive as little as two minutes of social interaction a day.
He said in many care homes social activities were done in groups, such as with bingo, which often left a number of residents unengaged.
Interacting with them, and learning about their interests and abilities, not only improved the quality of their lives but also made them easier to deal with, he said.
Prof Ballard said this could ultimately help reduce costs, both in care homes and the wider social care system.
However, the study also highlighted problems with training in the care sector, Prof Ballard said.
He said there were currently 170 carer training manuals available, but only four were based on evidence that really worked, with manuals often used because of their cost, rather than efficacy.
“That is simply not good enough – it has to change,” he said.
Dr Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This study shows that training to provide this type of individualised care, activities and social interactions can have a significant impact on the wellbeing of people living with dementia in care homes.
“It also shows that this kind of effective care can reduce costs, which the stretched social care system desperately needs.”
Researchers said future work should look at how sustainable the treatment would be for care homes across the country.
Dr Sara Imarisio, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “With 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK and that number set to rise, it is important that research into new drugs is coupled with other approaches that can help transform people’s lives.”
Image copyrightPAImage captionMr Gormley’s contract was due to expire at the end of this year
The chief constable of Police Scotland has resigned with immediate effect.
Phil Gormley had been on special leave since September amid a series of ongoing investigations into claims of gross misconduct.
The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) is currently investigating four complaints, while three are being assessed internally.
Mr Gormley has always denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement, he said he had come to the conclusion since “events” in November that it would be impossible to resume his duties in any meaningful way ahead of his contract expiring at the end of this year, regardless of the outcome of the investigations.
Mr Gormley had been told by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in November that he could return to work, but the decision was subsequently reversed after Justice Secretary Michael Matheson expressed concerns about it.
Mr Gormley said the past eight months had been difficult for him and his family, and thanked his wife for her “love and loyalty”.
Health and wellbeing’
He added: “I now need to prioritise the health and wellbeing of my family on whom these events have taken a significant toll.
“The support of colleagues from across the UK with whom I have served during the last 32 years has been a source of great strength.
“As chief constable of Police Scotland I have had the privilege to meet and work with some exceptional people, I wish them well for the future and it is in their interests that I feel it is right to step aside.”
Image copyrightPAImage captionJustice Secretary Michael Matheson has faced questions over his role in the SPA reversing its decision to allow Mr Gormley to return to work in November
Mr Gormley was named as the head of the Police Scotland in December 2015, before being sworn in the following month.
The single national force is the second-largest in the UK behind the Metropolitan Police, with about 17,000 officers.
Mr Gormley had previously been deputy director of the National Crime Agency, and had served as the chief constable of Norfolk Police.
‘Challenging period’
The SPA, which oversees Police Scotland, said he would not be required to work his contractual notice period.
It said he would receive a payment in respect of his salary for his three month notice period, and for his outstanding annual leave entitlement.
But Mr Gormley will receive no other settlement or severance payment from the SPA.
SPA chairwoman Susan Deacon said Mr Gormley had made a “significant contribution to policing in Scotland”.
She added: “I would like to thank him for this contribution and wish him well for the future.
“This has been a challenging period for all concerned, and in the interest of policing in Scotland we now need to move on”.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said it was clear that relationships at the top of Scottish policing had been “damaged to such an extent that it became impossible for Phil Gormley to return”.
But he said Mr Gormley’s resignation should not lead people to believe all of the problems in Police Scotland were now solved.
He added: “The rate at which chief constables and SPA bosses have come and gone points to a much deeper issue. Problems are hardwired into the structures they are operating within.”
Image copyrightPETER MACDIARMID/LNPImage captionJohn Worboys was jailed in 2009 for a string of sex attacks on women in his taxi
Two of John Worboys’ victims have been given the go ahead to challenge the decision to release him.
The full judicial review hearing will take place in the High Court on 13 March and Worboys will stay in jail until then.
Sir Brian Leveson called him to appear in person at the Royal Courts of Justice due to video link issues.
His victims were unaware Worboys would be present, but Sir Brian said it was important he was there.
Earlier in the hearing, Worboys agreed that the victims and the Mayor of London should be allowed to see the Parole Board’s reasons for ordering his release.
Worboys – who appeared stood in the caged-in dock in courtroom five – was jailed indefinitely in 2009, with a minimum term of eight years, for drugging and sexually assaulting women passengers.
Media caption‘Fiona’, a victim of John Worboys, tells Today police told her in 2003 she wasn’t ‘believable’
Ben Collins, for the Parole Board, told the court: “The board does not wish to take any step to prevent a review of the decision and does not propose to stand in the way.”
Phillippa Kaufmann QC, representing two of Worboys’ victims, said it appeared something had gone “very wrong” and the victims were “concerned not only for themselves but for the wider public and women in particular”.
The victims were also concerned that the decision was “made entirely in secret,” Ms Kaufmann said.
Sir Brian said it was likely that he and Mr Justice Garnham would be “minded to grant permission” for the review, but they have not yet made a final decision.
Reacting to the ruling Sadiq Khan said Worboys’ victims and Londoners would be “relieved”.
“I’m pleased that there will now be an opportunity for thorough scrutiny of this decision by the Parole Board,” he added.
Image copyrightMERSEYSIDE POLICEImage captionJon Venables was 10 when he and Robert Thompson killed James Bulger
Jon Venables, one of the killers of toddler James Bulger, has been jailed for having indecent images of children for the second time.
He admitted charges of making indecent images of children and one of having a “sickening” paedophile manual.
Sentencing him to three years and four months Mr Justice Edis said Venables was “manipulative and dishonest”.
In 2010 the killer was jailed for two years after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images.
Venables along with Robert Thompson abducted, tortured and killed two-year-old James in Liverpool in 1993 when they were both aged 10.
Image copyrightPAImage captionJames Bulger was two when he was abducted and killed in 1993
They were released on licence in 2001 after serving eight years for the murder and were both given new identities.
Venables, who has lifelong anonymity, appeared by videolink at the Old Bailey earlier.
He admitted having 392 category A images – deemed the most severe – 148 category B and 630 category C pictures.
The court heard when Venables’ computer was seized in November images were found of children, mainly aged between six and 13, although some were younger.
Mr Justice Edis said some of the images found were of babies.
“Given your history, it is significant that a number of the images and films were of serious crimes inflicted on male toddlers,” he said.
Officers also found a “paedophile manual”, described by prosecutor Louis Mably as a “disgusting and sickening document which falls far below any recognisable standard of morality”.
Image copyrightPAImage captionJames Bulger’s mother Denise Fergus was among those in court on Wednesday
Mr Justice Edis said possessing the manual suggested Venables was “at least contemplating the possibility” of committing an actual sexual crime against children.
Along with the jail sentence, the judge made Venables the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and ordered his laptop be confiscated.
He said the Parole Board would decide when Venables would be released.
James’s mother Denise Fergus and father Ralph Bulger were in court to hear the latest guilty pleas.
The judge said he had received a request to delay sentencing so Mr Bulger could make a victim impact statement.
‘High risk ‘
But, in deciding to sentence straight away, Mr Justice Edis said: “I know already how it must be for them when that tragic event is once more brought into the public domain into court and so on because of the offending of one of the killers.”
“I do not think there is very much more that can be said to me that I do not already know that could have an effect on the sentencing process,” he said.
Image copyrightPAImage captionJon Venables, who has lifelong anonymity, appeared by videolink at the Old Bailey
A report found Venables was a “high risk of real harm to children” in the future, the court was told.
It states that he has a “long-term and profound interest in children”.
The court also heard that as he was being taken to a police station, Venables admitted he had “let people down”.
He said: “This is my own fault. I have let people down again.”
PA
RICHARD T HARRIS
OP's News 