School Summer Holiday: Six-Week Break Could Go

State schools are to be allowed to set their own term times, under plans that could signal an end to the traditional six-week summer holiday.

The new Deregulation Bill means local councils will no longer be able to tell their schools when terms should start and end.

It paves the way for individual schools to introduce longer terms and cut the length of school holidays.

The move was announced just weeks after Education Secretary Michael Gove suggested the current school year is out of date and that children should have shorter holidays.

Under the current system, state school pupils usually get two weeks off at Christmas and Easter, six weeks in the summer, and three week-long half term breaks.

School days usually run from around 9am to 3pm, or 3.30pm.

If the proposals are passed, the changes affecting local authority-run schools would come into effect in September 2015.

Michael Gove says shorter school days and term times harm British pupils

Academies and free schools - which are semi-independent schools that are not under council control - already have the freedom to set their own term dates.

All state schools will still be required to open for at least 190 days of the year, the Department for Education (DfE) said.

But the decision is expected to face opposition from some teaching unions, who argue teachers and pupils already spend long hours in the classroom.

A DfE spokesman said: "It is heads and teachers who know their parents and pupils best, not local authorities.

"So it is right that all schools are free to set their own term dates in the interests of parents and pupils."

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: "Deregulation shouldn't be a major issue as a large proportion of schools already have the ability to set their own term dates.

"Most schools choose to follow the local authority calendar because they know that it's better for parents who have children in different schools and teachers who want their holidays to coincide with their children's.

"The problem will come if no one is responsible for creating a co-ordinated calendar for an area and it turns into a free for all.

"Somebody needs to take the lead locally on deciding term dates and it makes sense for this to be the local authority, even if schools aren't required by law to follow it."

In a speech in April, Mr Gove called for longer school days and term times, claiming pupils are at a "significant handicap" compared to youngsters in East Asian nations who benefit from extra tuition and support from teachers.

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Organ Donation: Wales Set To Approve Opt-Out

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky News Reporter

Wales is expected to become the first part of the UK to bring in an opt-out scheme for organ donation.

The Welsh Assembly will hold the final vote on the Human Transplantation (Wales) Bill later, which if enacted would bring in a system of "presumed consent" for organ donation.

Under the proposals, people in Wales will have to clearly indicate that they do not wish to give their organs when they die in order to be excluded from the donor register.

Kidney Wales Foundation (KWF) has campaigned for the proposed change in the law for the last five years and believes that donor organ availability could be boosted by up to 35% if it goes through and many more lives could be saved.

"The UK is one of the lowest donor rate countries in Europe," said Roy Thomas, KWF chief executive.

"The new Bill is new progressive law. We are proud to have led the debate in favour of this law.

"When introduced in Belgium only 2% opted out, currently only around a third of the Welsh population is on the organ donor register and this is around the same for the UK as a whole."

Those against the proposals claim it will cause extra distress for bereaved families and could put medical staff in a difficult position.

The UK currently has one of the lowest donor rates in Europe

Laura Raffour's four-year-old daughter Ava was born with a life-threatening liver condition and underwent heart surgery and two liver transplants before her first birthday. In total she has undergone over 60 operations.

Ms Raffour, who is now on the organ donor register, said: "Ava has been given a second chance at life and I want other people, young and old, to also have a better quality of life.

"For us, organ donation comes down to the premise that if you're willing to take, you should be willing to give. Simple as."

In 2004, Gaynor Taylor from Barry, South Wales, lost her 23-year-old champion skater son Richard in a freak accident.

They had never talked about being an organ donor but Ms Taylor eventually agree to donation.

She only later found out that Richard put his name on the NHS Organ Donor Register without telling anybody.

"While we were in favour of organ donation, knowing his wishes made the whole process a lot easier to accept and meant we had done the right thing by him," she said.

"Making a decision on whether to allow donation is a very difficult decision at the most traumatic time.

"Six people's lives were saved as a result of donating Richard's organs and the recipient of Richard's heart went on to win gold at the Transplant Games which is an incredible story and proves something positive can sometimes come from tragedy."

If the legislation is passed, a two-year public information campaign will follow in Wales to ensure members of the public are fully informed on what the changes will mean and how to make their wishes known through a single organ and tissue donation register.

Yet a group of faith leaders and senior health professionals in Wales have issued a joint statement calling for a soft opt-out option, which would take into consideration the views of bereaved families.

The signatories, who include the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, and the Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff, George Stack, said: "The law must be amended in this way if it is not to be inhuman, unfeeling before the suffering of relatives, and a danger to the public trust and support which are necessary for the practice of organ donation to flourish.

"Without this there is a real danger that the law could backfire."

One person dies every week in Wales waiting for an organ transplant. The figure for the UK as a whole is three people a day.

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Child Sex Abuse Live Streaming 'On The Rise'

Child sexual abuse streamed live online through services like Skype has been highlighted as an emerging threat by experts.

Figures show an increasing number of offenders have been targeting vulnerable families overseas to set up live access to children over webcams in exchange for payment.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre's (Ceop) annual report also warned that fears were growing of child sexual abuse in Brazil ahead of the country's influx of visitors for the World Cup and Olympic Games.

In 2012, Ceop received 8,000 reports of indecent images of children being shared - with a two-fold increase in the total number of images and videos on previous years to 70,000.

Ceop chief executive Peter Davies said: "Our assessment shows that, sadly, there are still too many children at risk and too many people who would cause them serious harm.

"We should all practice zero tolerance to child sexual exploitation and abuse."

The report said live streaming emerged as a key method of producing and distributing indecent images last year, a tactic that it said presents a particularly high risk in the developing world.

Sex offenders are targeting families and children in areas with extreme poverty, rising levels of access to the internet and poor child-protection policies, the centre said.

Concerns were also raised about the use of the so-called hidden internet - heavily encrypted forums and pages that allow abusers to cover their tracks when accessing indecent images online.

The number of UK users connecting to secret or encrypted networks each day increased by two thirds, one of the largest annual increases globally, the report said.

A total of 20,000 daily UK users of such networks are expected by the end of this year, although not all of these will use the hidden internet for criminal means.

Ceop found that there has been a 70% increase in the number of female victims under 10 years old.

The report comes shortly after five members of a seven-man sadistic paedophile ring found guilty of grooming vulnerable underage girls were given life sentences at the Old Bailey.

Two other defendants were both jailed for seven years.

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Police Pensions May Be Cut For Misconduct

Police officers should have their pensions docked for misconduct to clean up corruption in the service, a group of influential MPs has said.

In a report on policing standards, the Home Affairs Select Committee has recommended that a scale of fines should be established to tackle corruption.

The Committee has also called for a new code of ethics to be established and for all new officers to obtain a Certificate in Knowledge of Policing.

The report comes after fresh allegations were made against the Metropolitan Police that undercover officers spied on the family of murdered Stephen Lawrence.

Undercover officers allegedly 'spied' on the family of Stephen Lawrence

And there are currently at least eight investigations underway as a result of police failings, the MPs said, which have so far cost £23m.

Keith Vaz, Home Affairs Select Committee chair, said: "Broken systems of accountability and a patchwork of police standards and training, have allowed a minority of officers to get away with corruption and incompetence which is blighting an otherwise excellent service with dedicated officers."

He added: "The days of Dixon of Dock Green are over. The new landscape of policing requires a new type of police officer ready to meet the new challenges.

"Honesty, integrity and transparency are essential components of the policing DNA."

Police have been accused over the Plebgate affair involving Andrew Mitchell

Among the ongoing investigations is Operation Alice, into the so-called Plebgate affair, involving former chief whip Andrew Mitchell MP.

Others include Operation Elveden, into alleged corrupt payments between police officers and journalists.

One officer told the Committee that colleagues tempted with corruption often looked at what they could lose.

The pension was seen as a huge financial incentive to "keep your nose clean", the officer said .

But the group of MPs heard of numerous cases where police officers retire to avoid disciplinary proceedings, with no further repercussions.

Among them was Sir Norman Bettison, former chief constable of West Yorkshire, who stepped down while facing a disciplinary investigation over Hillsborough.

Simon Harwood, the officer dismissed for gross misconduct after the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 riots, had previously served with the Met.

But he retired on medical grounds in 2001 despite an unresolved disciplinary proceeding and was later re-employed.

The report said there is no way for chief officers or police and crime commissioners to stop officers from resigning to avoid disciplinary proceedings.

The Committee said the recently-formed professional standards body, the College of Policing, should "establish a scale of fines which should be docked from officers pensions in cases of the most grave misconduct".

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Rotavirus: Babies To Get Vomiting Bug Vaccine

By Rhiannon Mills, Sky Reporter

A vaccination programme aimed at protecting babies against one of the most common causes of diarrhoea in young children begins today.

The rotavirus vaccination will be given to all infants aged between two and three months.

According to Public Health England, it will protect more than 675,000 babies from the highly infectious bug which causes diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fever and dehydration.

At the moment, almost every child will have had the viral infection by the age of five and it is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in infants and very young children.

The vaccine is already routinely used in many other countries

Children will receive the vaccine orally as two separate doses of liquid drops,.

Dr Paul Cosford, medical director at Public Health England, said: "Rotavirus is a highly infectious and unpleasant illness that affects thousands of young children each year.

"While most recover within a few days, nearly one in five will need to see their doctor, and one in 10 will end up in hospital as a result.

"Although good hygiene measures can help prevent spread of the disease, the best way to protect your baby from catching rotavirus is to get them vaccinated."

Vaccination experts believe the immunisation programme will halve the number of vomiting and diarrhoea cases caused by rotavirus, meaning fewer children end up going to their GP or to hospital.

Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP, told Sky News: "The vaccination has been routinely used for many years in other countries. Overall it looks extremely safe.

"It's given by a couple of drops in the mouth and it's a weakened form of the virus which you'd be exposed to anyway, but this way you're being exposed to a weakened form so you don't get the symptoms but you do build up an immunity."

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Smethwick Fire: Massive Blaze At Recycling Plant

A blaze at a plastic recycling factory, described by firefighters as one of the biggest ever seen in the West Midlands, is believed to have been started by a single Chinese lantern.

Around 200 firefighters have been tackling the blaze at the site in Smethwick, on the outskirts of Birmingham.

An estimated 100,000 tonnes of recycling material and a factory unit are on fire, and crews have been battling to stop the flames spreading to neighbouring businesses.

Vij Randeniya, chief fire officer at West Midlands Fire Service, told Sky News: "We believe a Chinese lantern dropped onto some bales of plastic and, looking at CCTV, it would appear that was the cause.

"Chinese lanterns have been involved in a number of incidents and firefighters have been campaigning for there to be better controls.

"They look really nice but they do pose a danger."

Two firefighters were taken to hospital and several more were treated at the scene, although their injuries are thought to be minor.

Mr Randeniya said firefighters were tackling "one of the largest fires we've experienced", with intense heat released from the burning plastics.

"These are difficult fires to extinguish and we anticipate being here for a number of days," he said.

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NHS Tourism: Govt To Announce Crackdown

Loopholes that allow migrants to wrongly access free UK health care will be closed under a crackdown on abuse of public services next week, Jeremy Hunt will announce.

The NHS bill for treating tourists, estimated to be up to £200m, will also be tackled as part of reforms being outlined by the Health Secretary on Wednesday.

Ex-pats, who currently face paying for care if they live permanently overseas, are set to be given guaranteed access to free NHS healthcare, but only once they have paid 10 years of national insurance contributions.

The changes are part of a government-wide push to cut down on abuse of British services but doctors warned they feared being turned into a "form of immigration control".

Mr Hunt will launch a consultation on introducing a tracking system that would mean a patient's NHS number is linked to their immigration status.

Plans to charge for GP services for people not eligible for free care are also being considered.

It comes after Prime Minister David Cameron said earlier this year that immigrants cannot expect "something for nothing" in the UK.

The new Immigration Bill, introduced during the Queen's speech in May, outlined plans for incomers accessing NHS services to make a contribution to the cost of their care, either with their own money or through their government.

Mr Hunt said: "No one expects health workers to become immigration guards and we want to work alongside doctors to bring about improvements, but I'm clear we must all work together to protect the NHS from costly abuse.

"We want a system that is fair for the British taxpayer by ensuring that foreign nationals pay for their NHS treatment.

"By looking at the scale of the problem and at where and how improvements can be made we will help ensure the NHS remains sustainable for many years to come."

The proposals include tightening up systems for claiming back the cost of treating thousands of European visitors every year from their home country.

An audit will be launched into how much overseas patients and short-term residents cost the health service.

Around £33m went on the treatment of foreign nationals in hospitals in 2011/12, of which around £12m was written off.

According to Department of Health research, less than half of overseas visitors using hospitals are identified and only half of their costs are recovered, but officials pointed to a 2003 report by insurers CCI that put the cost at between £50m and £200m.

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Salford Body: Woman Found Murdered In Home

A murder investigation is under way after the body of a woman was found at her home in Salford.

Linzi Ashton, 25, was found dead after police were called to the property in Westbourne Road, in Winton, shortly before 6pm on Friday.

A post-mortem examination has yet to take place.

Detective Chief Superintendent Darren Shenton said: "A young woman has been murdered and our thoughts are with her family and friends at what is obviously a totally devastating time for them.

"While it would not be appropriate for us to comment on how she died at this time, a full and thorough post-mortem examination will be taking place in due course to establish exactly how and when she died and following that we will be in a better position to provide more information.

"I want to reassure her loved ones as well as those in the local community that we have a team of highly skilled detectives already working on this case but if anyone has any information they think can assist please call us.

"There will be extra officers in the area to offer reassurance so please talk to them if you have any concerns or want to provide us with any information."

Anyone with information should call police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Meat From Diseased Cattle Sold By Defra

Meat from cattle slaughtered after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is being sold for human consumption by Defra, the food and farming ministry has said.

The meat is banned by most supermarkets and burger chains, The Sunday Times reported.

Tesco, for example, rejects it because of "public-health concerns surrounding the issue of bTB and its risk to consumers".

But carcasses from around 28,000 diseased animals are sold to caterers and food processors every year.

The meat then finds its way into schools, hospitals and the military, or is used in products such as pies and pasties, the newspaper said.

A Defra spokeswoman said: "All meat from cattle slaughtered due to bovine TB must undergo rigorous food safety checks before it can be passed fit for consumption.

"The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has confirmed there are no known cases where TB has been transmitted through eating meat and the risk of infection from eating meat, even if raw or undercooked, remains extremely low."

Cattle which test positive for bTB must be slaughtered. Unless a private slaughter is arranged, the animals are taken to slaughter by Defra, which then pays compensation to farmers based on the market value.

Compensation ranges from £81 for a dairy calf up to £1,717 for an older breeding bull. Payments for pedigree cattle vary from £639 to £4,471.

Meat from slaughtered cattle is sold with no warning to processors or consumers that it comes from a bTB-infected herd.

Asked whether the public should know whether or not the meat they are buying originated from a diseased cow, a spokeswoman for the FSA said: "The public do not need to know anything more about that meat other than it is fit for human consumption."

If an inspection of a carcass reveals tuberculous lesions in more than one organ or region it is declared unfit for human consumption and destroyed, she explained.

But if only the lymph nodes in one organ or part of the carcass is infected, then that area is removed and the rest is considered safe to enter the food chain.

She added: "Cooking this meat would be an additional safety step, but we would emphasise the risk even before cooking is very low."

The Sunday Times claimed Defra's reassurances contrasted with experts' warnings that rising levels of bTB in cattle are becoming a serious threat to human health.

Such claims have been used to justify a cull of tens of thousands of badgers which are said by some to help spread the disease between cattle.

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Girl, 7, Dies After Falling 100ft From Flat

A seven-year-old girl has died after falling from an 11th-floor balcony, police have said.

The youngster, named locally as Nawaal Sayid, is said to have plunged more than 100ft (30m).

Scotland Yard said officers were called to Emberton Court in Tompion Street, Clerkenwell, central London, at 6.50pm on Tuesday evening following reports that a child had fallen from an 11th-floor balcony.

A spokesman said: "London Ambulance Service attended and treated a seven-year-old girl at the scene. She was taken by ambulance to an east London hospital where she later died.

"The death is being treated as unexplained at this time."

Dr Penny Barratt, headteacher at The Bridge School in King's Cross, where Nawaal was a pupil, said: "Nawaal Sayid, one of our pupils at the primary site, had a tragic accident and subsequently died.

"Nawaal was an extremely happy, bubbly, fun-loving girl who really enjoyed all the activities she got involved in at school.

"She brought a smile to the faces of all who came into contact with her. We will really miss her."

Newspaper reports said Nawaal is believed to have fallen when her mother went to answer the door.

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