A third of parents say they can no longer afford to take their children out to play. The survey was conducted by Play England for today’s Playday annual celebration of children’s right to play and the charity is calling on the Government and local authorities to ensure funding for free play areas and parks is maintained.

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A study published today on bmj.com has found that infant death rates remain high in deprived communities in England and among ethnic minorities. The research says that in spite of Government targets to reduce the gap in infant mortality recent figures show both infant and perinatal deaths remain high in many primary care trusts areas.

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This summary of benefits of the Supporting People programme compares costs of providing services within the programme to meeting needs in other ways. The Programme provides strategically planned housing-related services which are typically parts of packages of support and potentially other services. It is managed and delivered at the local level and decisions about which services to commission to meet local need and priorities are for the local authority to make.

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