The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) today issued a policy statement setting out for the benefit of local authorities the case for Shopmobility. Shopmobility schemes loan equipment such as manual wheelchairs, powered wheelchairs and powered scooters out to anyone with limited mobility for use within a town centre or shopping mall.
A test will be established so schools for children with special needs are not closed unless better alternatives are available, the government says. Schools Minister Andrew Adonis said "strong guidance" would be issued to local authorities in England.
The closure of special schools is "disastrous", the leader of the Conservatives, David Cameron, has said. Mr Cameron called for a moratorium on special school closures.
Fraser, the four month old son of Chancellor Gordon Brown, has been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. He is one of 7,500 people in the UK with the genetic disease.
For the first time since star ratings were introduced, no council in England has been zero-star-rated for adult social services this year.
A Cornwall MP is calling for a rethink of a council panel's decision to stop free transport for a pupil whose blind mother cannot drive her to school. Ann-Marie Storer said her daughter would have be home-schooled without free travel to her choice of school. The council said parents were responsible for all transport costs if they attend schools not designated for their home address.
