The Home Office is facing a call to address a dramatic fall in the number of prison visits by family members and friends in spite of the record numbers of people held in jail. 

A new web-based system has been launched to make data on regeneration progress more accessible. 

Job prospects for the public sector are forecast to grow despite the announcement by the Chancellor of a cut of some 40,500 civil service posts by 2008. A survey by Manpower, a leading recruiter of permanent, temporary and contract workforces, found that 20% of employers in the public sector intend to increase staffing levels for the quarter ahead. This result is higher than the second quarter average for the sector over the last 13 years.