Monday
Police forces have been told to cut spending by £480 million this year after the Treasury raised “efficiency savings targets” from 3 per cent to 4 per cent. The cuts sparked fears that a shortage of officers would not be able to cope with a potential rise in crime caused by higher unemployment.

The cost of pensions for all current public sector workers is £1,200 billion, according to the latest estimates. The British-North American Committee, a group of academics and business leaders, said that the Treasury had greatly underestimated the cost of its generous retirement schemes.

Tuesday
Gordon Brown announced plans to build 30,000 “social” homes, taking the total number to be built over the next two years to 110,000. Plans to raid the health, education and transport budgets to pay for the £1.57 billion scheme caused a stir.

“Fertility tourism” entices hundreds of women to travel abroad each month in search of treatment, according to the first study on the subject. Almost two thirds of the women were over the age of 40 and so would not qualify for treatment on the NHS.

Wednesday
Teachers will require licences and will be retested every five years or face a ban, according to the Government. The radical proposal is being seen as an attempt to weed out incompetent teachers. Experts have estimated that more than 20,000 teachers are not fit to do their jobs.

Hospitals will receive accreditation in a similar way to the Michelin stars awarded to top restaurants, Lord Darzi, the Health Minister, said. The “gold standard” status will recognise the best clinical teams in the NHS and compare their performances with top hospitals in America and Europe.

Thursday
Several major rail projects may be cancelled or held up after the renationalisation of the East Coast franchise of National Express, which exposed a big hole in the rail budget.

Student grants and loans for living costs will be frozen this year, ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said. However, tuition fees will rise by just more than 2 per cent, to a maximum of £3,290 per year.

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