Monday

Government IT projects are more than £18.6 billion overspent, an investigation by The Times revealed. Plans for new computer systems are years behind schedule and costs have soared. The NHS IT project is running four years late and its estimated cost has risen from £2.3 billion to £12.7 billion; a Revenue & Customs tax credit system has climbed from £3.5 billion to £8.5 billion in ten years; and a Ministry of Defence project has risen from £2.3 billion in 2006 to £7.09 billion today.

An increase in the number of babies born prematurely in England and Wales is costing the NHS £939 million a year more than if they were born at full term. A study in the journal Pediatrics reported that the cost of additional care for the average premature baby was almost £20,000.

Tuesday

Councils were criticised for their slow response to the snowstorms. Many local authorities said that at the start of the week they had enough salt to grit roads for only three or four days. They had planned for a season of seven or eight days of mild snow or ice. The Association of Chief Police Officers approved new speed cameras that are linked wirelessly and operate in clusters. The digital Specs3 cameras instantly transmit data to penalty-processing centres.

Wednesday

NHS services are to be overhauled to provide better care for sufferers from dementia and for their carers. Measures set out in the National Dementia Strategy include care advisers, specialist memory clinics and a senior clinician appointed to direct treatment in every hospital.

Thursday

Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, announced that he wanted 4,000 teenage apprentices to be trained as lab technicians, cooks, grounds staff and teaching assistants. Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, noted that 16-year-old teaching assistants could not be expected to work with 17-year-old students. Public sector workers are more likely to have points on their licences than average drivers. A survey, by Admiral insurance, found that lawyers, doctors, teachers, police officers and the clergy were most likely to have points on their licences and hairdressers and beauticians the least likely.

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