Scottish factories will play a major role in a £6.6m Ministry of Defence (MoD) contract to provide protective equipment for British troops. Remploy sites in Dundee, Cowdenbeath, Stirling and Clydebank will help produce 44,000 suits to guard against nuclear, biological or chemical attack. The suits are designed to seal around a respirator and come in woodland and desert material.
The rules governing which elderly and disabled people in England are entitled to social care have been criticised. A Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) report says there are inconsistencies in how councils decide who gets help and how much they get. Social care minister Ivan Lewis has ordered a fundamental review of the rules on eligibility.
Disability campaigners in Devon are warning changes in concessionary fares will make life worse for some people in the county. The local-run Devon-wide pass, which allows disabled travellers' carers free travel on off-peak buses with the person they care for, ends in April. A new national scheme starts on 1 April, but carers are not covered. Campaigners say the change will hit the county's disabled severely if they have to pay carers' fares too.
Work has started to build a £1.9m arts centre in Bradford for young actors with disabilities. Theatre company Mind the Gap is working with Bradford Council to set up its new headquarters in part of Listers Mill, which is currently being regenerated. Formed in 1988, Mind the Gap is one of the UK's leading theatre companies for learning-disabled actors. The Arts Council donated £1.25m towards the cost of the centre, which is expected to open in July.
Families with disabled children in Nottingham are getting more support with more than £7m of government cash. The money will be used over the next three years to provide short holidays for the youngsters - also giving their parents or carers a valuable break. It also means community-based services can be implemented more quickly.
We are entering a new era for public sector reform. Labour's approach - more money and more central control - has reached its limits. 10 years of investment have helped improve our NHS from the desperate state of 1997, after decades of Conservative neglect, but it still isn't good enough.
