SAVILE HOSPITALS PROBE PUBLISHED
Findings of a series of major investigations by NHS hospitals into allegations of abuse by disgraced presenter Jimmy Savile will be published today.
The inquiries were prompted after a review by the Metropolitan Police revealed a number of shocking claims relating to Jimmy Savile sexually abusing victims in a number of hospital settings, including within the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust area and the high-security psychiatric Broadmoor Hospital.
Kate Lampard, who was appointed by the Department of Health to oversee the investigations, chief investigators and chief executives of NHS trusts will present the findings at a press conference in London this morning.
MONARCHY COSTS TAXPAYERS £35.7M
The monarchy cost the taxpayer £35.7 million in the last tax year - or 56p for each person in the country, Buckingham Palace accounts have revealed.
The Queen’s official expenditure increased in actual terms by £2.4 million from the previous year, while the real terms rise was £1.9 million or 5.7%.
More than a third of the sovereign grant - the system of finance given from the public purse to support the official duties of the monarchy - was spent on maintaining palaces.
BARCLAYS TAKING CLAIMS ’SERIOUSLY’
British bank Barclays is taking allegations “very seriously” that it misled large institutional investors and other clients in the United States by falsely telling them it was taking measures to protect them from predatory high-frequency traders, it said today.
The claims were made against the banking and financial services firm in a securities fraud lawsuit announced by New York’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman.
A Barclays spokesman said: “We take these allegations very seriously. Barclays has been co-operating with the New York Attorney General and the SEC (Securites and Exchange Commission) and has been examining this matter internally. The integrity of the markets is a top priority of Barclays.”
MORTGAGE LENDING CURBS EXPECTED
Curbs on mortgage lending to make it harder for borrowers to take out riskier home loans are expected to be recommended by the Bank of England today.
Speculation has been mounting that the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which oversees stability, will announce measures to rein in the way some loans are handed out, following a string of strong surges in house prices and fears over their impact on the recovering economy.
The Bank has previously dropped hints that it could use some of its tools to calm the market down, with its deputy governor for financial stability, Sir Jon Cunliffe, recently describing the housing market as the “brightest” of the blinking warning lights that the Bank monitors.
TOO MUCH TV ’DOUBLES DYING RISK’
Watching three or more hours of TV a day can double your risk of dying young, say researchers.
Scientists studied 13,284 healthy volunteers with an average age of 37 to investigate links between different kinds of sedentary behaviour and premature death.
Over a period of eight years, they recorded 97 deaths from heart disease, cancer and other causes.
’TAX AVOIDANCE INDUSTRY’ CONDEMNED
The Government is continuing to create dozens of new tax reliefs - opening up fresh loopholes for the tax avoidance industry to exploit, MPs have warned.
The Commons Public Accounts Committee said that despite promising to simplify the tax system, the coalition had added to the complexity by creating almost three times as many new reliefs as those it had abolished.
While the committee welcomed the fact that HM Revenue and Customs was taking more tax avoidance cases to tribunals, it questioned whether there were sufficient sanctions available to prevent tax advisers from promoting “aggressive” avoidance schemes.
NHS BLUNDERS ’LED TO BOY’S DEATH’
A string of blunders by NHS workers led to the death of a three-year-old boy, a review has found.
Sam Morrish died from a treatable condition because four separate health service organisations made repeated mistakes in his care, the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said.
Sam died of severe sepsis in December 2010 following a “catalogue of errors” by the Cricketfield GP Surgery, by NHS Direct, by the out-of-hours service Devon Doctors Ltd and by the South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
EU LEADERS HEAD FOR YPRES CEREMONY
European Union leaders including David Cameron are gathering to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in a memorial ceremony at Ypres, site of some of the conflict’s bloodiest battles.
But the event, designed to mark the 28-nation bloc’s success in helping the continent overcome past enmities, risks being overshadowed by a furious row which has split the Prime Minister from almost all his fellow leaders.
Mr Cameron has vowed to fight “until the end” the nomination as president of the European Commission former Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker, who Britain regards as an arch-federalist and roadblock to reform.
WATSON BIDS FOR WIMBLEDON GLORY
British number one Heather Watson will continue her bid for Wimbledon glory on Centre Court today.
The Guernsey-born 22-year-old is set to play Angelique Kerber from Germany.
Watson is scheduled to play after Rafael Nadal, while the match lined up after her clash features Roger Federer.
SPECIAL MEASURES FOR HEALTH TRUST
A beleaguered health trust has been put into special measures.
The action has been taken against the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust after inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) ruled the quality of care provided was “inadequate”.
Inspectors found the trust lacked a clear vision for its staff and its lack of clarity about the trust’s future left employees feeling “disengaged and remote” from the executive team and the board, said England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards.
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