Parking Tickets: Five-Minute Grace Period Plan

By Tadhg Enright, Sky News Reporter

A five-minute grace period for motorists who overstay their parking is on a list of proposals being considered by the Government to make parking enforcement fairer.

Many councils say they already allow motorists to stay for a few minutes longer before writing a ticket but it is a grey area which would be cleared up if written into law.

Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said: "The Government is committed to reining in over-zealous parking enforcement and unjust parking practices. It is not fair to motorists and needs to stop.

"We have also recently launched a public consultation proposing a number of changes to make sure local authorities are not short-changing motorists and operate in a fair manner.

"These changes could see the end of CCTV being used for on-street parking, unnecessary yellow lines and the introduction of compulsory 'grace periods' at the end of paid on-street parking."

The proposed changes follow a report by MPs on the Transport Select Committee into problems with parking enforcement that give motorists the perception that fines are imposed simply to raise revenue for local authorities.

Chairperson Louise Ellman MP told Sky News: "People get very concerned when they're paying out penalty charges. Sometimes they think that they were misled and that signs were not clear. 

"And often they believe that those charges are levied for the purpose of raising revenue. It would actually be illegal to do that so councils have to be much more transparent about what money they raise."

The Government is also planning to make signage clearer so motorists do not get confused about local parking enforcement rules.

Councils will have to prepare annual reports in which they reveal how much income they make from parking charges and fines.

They will also be reminded that parking fines are not a "cash cow" and should not be used to raise money for council spending.

Cllr David Simmonds, chair of the Local Government Association, told Sky News: "Local councils receive about £500m a year in income from motorists for parking and penalty charges, all of which is spent on roads and transport. 

"The Treasury received about £45bn a year in taxes from motorists, of which about £10bn goes back into transport, so it's pretty clear that the taxpayer isn't getting as great a deal from central government as they are from local government."

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Record Online Xmas Sales Boost Festive Figures

Increasing use of tablets and smartphones and speedy delivery times are the major factors behind a sharp rise in online shopping before Christmas.

Web sales growth accelerated to 19.2% compared with the same month in 2012 - the fastest rate for more than three years.

However, overall UK retail sales grew by just 0.4% on a like-for-like basis.

The data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) survey carried out by KPMG showed online trade represented 18.6% of total non-food sales in December, up from 16.5% the year before.

BRC director general Helen Dickinson said: "More of us clicked into Christmas than ever before, with online non-food sales growth putting in its best performance since March 2010 and accounting for nearly 20% of spending.

"The surge in the use of tablets and smartphones last year, together with the ever-faster delivery times achieved by an increasing number of retailers, has provided a new spur of growth to online shopping."

David McCorquodale, KPMG head of retail, said: "Whilst store sales continue to flatline, online sales remain the main driver of growth for the sector, contributing nearly three quarters of the uptick in non-food sales in the last quarter of 2013.

"The winners this Christmas were those retailers with slick multichannel operations, who could offer consumers the flexibility to shop how, and when, they wanted to."

In clothing, online purchases represented 21.2% of sales in December, up from 18% in 2012, while furniture and flooring products bought on the internet represented nearly a third of all sales, at 32.4% - though this was down a little on 32.6% last year.

The figure for electrical goods and toys was 14.4%, up from last year's 11.9% but a fall on the 15.5% who shopped online for these goods in November.

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Heathrow Slams Price Cap Put On Airline Fees

The operator of Heathrow airport has slammed a price cap limiting how much it can charge airlines to use the west London site.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has imposed a far greater price cap on the amount it can charge airlines than it originally proposed.

From April, prices can only rise by 1.5% below the retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation at Britain's busiest airport.

Heathrow, whose owners include Spain's Ferrovial and the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar, China and Singapore, described the cap as draconian.

Its chief executive Colin Matthews said: "We want to continue to improve Heathrow for passengers.

"We will review our investment plan to see whether it is still financeable in light of the CAA's settlement."

The CAA said the -1.5% cap would mean price would fall for passengers and service for customers would be increased.

Heathrow said the CAA's final decision includes "aggressive operational, commercial and passenger forecasts".

The company said it required reductions in operational expenditure by more than £600m and stretches commercial revenue targets by in excess of £100m, which includes revenues from retail and car park charges.

It said the settlement leaves little spare resource available to manage the consequences of potential disruption at Heathrow.

The CAA also released new regulation details for London's other key airports - Gatwick and Stansted.

The regulator said it supports more diversity in what Gatwick offers to its various airlines, so passengers receive a tailored service.

Gatwick was hit by severe delays over the Christmas period

It said travellers would be protected if there was a reduction in service that was not in their interests.

For the first time, there will be a requirement for Heathrow and Gatwick airports to put in place robust plans to ensure they are better prepared for disruption and can manage it effectively when it does occur.

Because Stansted's status is below the other two airports it would not be economically regulated by the CAA from April onwards.

Chair of the CAA Dame Deirdre Hutton said: "London's airports have benefited from substantial investment over the past decade, which has created world-class facilities for passengers.

"But prices have risen substantially in that time, with service quality sometimes failing to match the standards passengers have every right to expect.

"We have focused on putting the passengers' interest at the heart of our decisions and today's announcement means passengers can look forward to lower prices and high service quality from London's busiest airports."

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Experts Demand Drastic Cuts In Added Sugar

A group of health experts want to see a significant reduction in the amount of sugar added to food and soft drinks.

They hope that a cut of up to 30% could help the UK's obesity problem.

Action on Sugar – which is modelled on the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) - wants to help the public avoid products "full of hidden sugars" and encourage manufacturers to reduce the ingredient over time.

Action on Sugar will set targets for the food industry to add less sugar to products over time so that consumers do not notice a taste difference.

The pressure group believes the food industry could achieve a 20% to 30% reduction in the amount of sugar added to products.

Everyday groceries such as bread may contain large amounts of sugar

They say this equates to around 100 calories per day for those who are particularly prone to obesity.

The group says flavoured water, sports drinks, yoghurts, ketchup, ready meals and bread are among the everyday foods that contain large amounts of sugar.

The chairman of Action on Sugar, Graham MacGregor, said: "We must now tackle the obesity epidemic both in the UK and worldwide.

"This is a simple plan which gives a level playing field to the food industry, and must be adopted by the Department of Health to reduce the completely unnecessary and very large amounts of sugar the food and soft drink industry is currently adding to our foods."

Dr Aseem Malhotra, cardiologist and science director of Action on Sugar, said: "Added sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever and causes no feeling of satiety.

"Aside from being a major cause of obesity, there is increasing evidence that added sugar increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver."

Royal College of Physicians registrar Dr Andrew Goddard said: "It is widely acknowledged that sugar is a major factor in both obesity and diabetes, and with many foods, everyday foods such as bread and breakfast cereals, containing high levels of added sugar, it can be difficult for consumers to make healthier choices."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Helping people eat fewer calories, including sugar, is a key part of the Responsibility Deal and our efforts to reduce obesity.

"There are 38 businesses signed up to reduce calories, but we want to go further still, and are discussing this with the food industry."

"As part of the Responsibility Deal calorie reduction pledge, Coca Cola has reduced calories in some of its soft drinks brands by at least 30%, Mars has reduced its single chocolate portions to no more than 250 calories and Tesco has reduced the number of calories sold in its own brand soft drinks by over one billion."

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Third Of Drivers Admit To Nodding Off At Wheel

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

Almost a third of drivers admit to "nodding off" behind the wheel, according to a survey.

A poll by road safety charity Brake and insurance company Direct Line has found that nearly half of men (45%) say they have momentarily "head nodded", compared to one in five (22%) of female drivers.

One in fourteen people overall (7%) have actually fallen asleep while driving -  14% of male drivers and just 2% of female drivers.

Also, 49% of the 1,000 drivers surveyed said they had driven after less than five hours of sleep.

Men (55%) were also more likely than women (45%) to drive after less than five hours sleep.

Vicki Radford's husband died after falling asleep at the wheel

Vicki Radford's husband Andrew, from Shrewsbury in Shropshire, died after falling asleep at the wheel in 2008, just minutes from home.

Mrs Radford said: "Before he lost consciousness he did actually say to the guy who was treating him, the paramedic, he said 'I was so close to home I thought I would be ok'.

"That's why he didn't stop, if only he had stopped the car and been late home, that would have been much better than not coming home."

Dr Louise Reynor, from the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, says people should not be driving if they are "head nodding".

"You first of all start by taking lots of blinks then you have head nods then eventually you fall asleep and that period can last up to 20 minutes ... that's a very dangerous situation to be in when your head is nodding you're on the verge of going to sleep."

The Sleep Research Centre's Dr Louise Reynor

Brake says studies show that tired driving kills at least 300 people on UK roads every year.

Deputy chief executive of the road safety charity, Julie Townsend, said: "The fact that so many drivers - especially men - have head-nodded at the wheel is horrifying, even more so that many don't recognise this means they have fallen asleep briefly.

"Brake urges all drivers to pledge to get a good night's sleep before driving, take breaks every two hours, and never try to 'plough on' when they're tired, because sleep can ensue so quickly."

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Duggan Killing: Armed Police To Wear Cameras

Firearms officers will trial the use of body-worn video cameras to improve public confidence in the wake of the Mark Duggan killing.

Mr Duggan, whose death sparked protests that led to riots and looting across the country, was shot and killed when police stopped the taxi in which he was travelling in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011.

Following a four-month inquest, on Wednesday the jury found that although the 29-year-old had a gun in the cab, he probably threw it onto a nearby grass verge as soon as the car came to a stop.

Senior officers want to use the camera technology from April, to avoid the dispute and uncertainty which has dogged the Duggan investigation.

An aerial shot shows the taxi in which Mr Duggan was travelling

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who will be speaking on Sky News after 9am, said earlier: "There are great benefits to having these incidents on video. Look at the Lee Rigby case - everyone knows what happened.

"We don't need all these different opinions and conjecture - it's much easier to get to the facts."

The cameras are already used by some US police forces.

Wednesday's verdict sparked angry scenes outside the Royal Courts of Justice, which Mr Duggan's family called "perverse", claiming he had been "executed" by the police.

Mr Duggan's aunt Carole Duggan said: "The majority of the people in this country know that Mark was executed. We are going to fight until we have no breath left in our body for Mark and his children."

Their solicitor Marcia Willis-Stewart said: "On August 4, 2011 an unarmed man was shot down in Tottenham. Today we have had what we can only call a perverse judgement.

Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley was heckled as he spoke outside court

"The jury found that he had no gun in his hand and yet he was gunned down. For us that's an unlawful killing."

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said the shooting had led to a "significant reduction in trust" between the capital's black communities and the police.

He said: "I know that we have much work to do with black Londoners to build trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police.

"My officers do not set out to run an operation that results in someone dying. They are brave people who risk their own lives to keep the public safe."

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it was looking at new evidence that had emerged from the inquest, and the Duggan family are now considering whether to try to get the inquest conclusion judicially reviewed.

Mr Duggan was being followed by officers who believed he planned to pick up a gun from another man, Kevin Hutchinson-Foster, and then move on to Broadwater Farm, also in Tottenham.

Hutchinson-Foster has since been found guilty of supplying a gun to Mr Duggan.

:: Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley will be speaking on Sky News after 8am.  Watch it live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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NHS 'Bed Blocking' Reaches Three-Year High

By Adele Robinson, Sky News Correspondent

The number of NHS patients 'bed blocking' has reached its highest level in three years.

Statistics show towards the end of 2013 the amount of "delayed transfers of care" were higher than the same period in 2011 and 2012.

In November last year 4,190 people were stuck in hospital despite being well enough to leave.

The main reasons are delays in patient assessments or after care provisions such as nursing home placements, or care at home packages.

Two new Medically Fit For Discharge wards (MFFD) were opened last year by Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust.

Local GPs make regular visits to the wards which provide 50 extra beds for patients who are waiting for extra after care.

There are delays in after care provisions such as nursing home care

Justine Irish, matron of one of the wards at Rowley Regis Hospital, said: "There is always somebody waiting for an acute bed unfortunately, and one of the soul destroying things for a nurse or a medic, or anybody working in healthcare, is to see patients in accident and emergency waiting for beds.

"The difference this ward makes is that you know you are our top priority and as such we can look at what the problems are with getting you out, why is it that we couldn't get you out sooner, and what can we do to change that."

Frances Farmer, 90, was admitted to the ward on Christmas Eve.

She said: "I was admitted to hospital at the end of last month, and I went home for a few days, then I was brought back into the hospital, into this ward, and I've been here ever since. It's described as, well, when you come in here you're going home."

In November 2013 more than 20% of NHS patients bed blocking were waiting for "non-acute care".

Another 20% were waiting for assessments to be completed by the NHS or social services.

Just under 14% were still there because they, or their families, did not want them to leave.

The number of "acute" patients staying in hospital despite being well enough to leave is increasing.

Ruth Williams, manager of Integrated Care at Rowley Regis Hospital, says patients should not be admitted to hospital as a knee-jerk reaction and the answer to bed blocking lies in better community care.

She said: "We aim to work to something called a care triangle where most of the population are at the bottom of the triangle self-managing and self-caring.

"At the moment we are admitting far too many people who aren't acutely ill at the top of the triangle ... if we can find the solutions in the community with social services for the middle of the triangle we can avoid people getting to the top of the triangle and then needing to be admitted."

:: All this week Sky News will have live coverage examining the crisis in the NHS. Watch 'A Matter Of Life And Death' on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

We also want to hear your experiences of the NHS - the good and the bad - tweet us using the hashtag #NHSlifeanddeath

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Sheffield: Family Jailed Over 'Slave' Beatings

Three members of a family have been jailed for keeping a vulnerable man as a "slave" and subjecting him to daily beatings.

Ice cream man David Rooke, 44, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail after admitting falsely imprisoning and assaulting 34-year-old Craig Kinsella.

The family had used him like a "punchbag", said the judge at Sheffield Crown Court.

Disturbing CCTV of the family beating Mr Kinsella was shown in court.

The abuse took place over a six-week period between May and July 2013 and the court heard how Mr Kinsella was kept in "grotesque" conditions in a garage, had to use a bucket for a toilet, and scavenged for food in bins.

David Rooke admitted false imprisonment and five counts of ABH

Rooke's wife Donna, 40, was jailed for four months for battery, while their son Jamie, 19, received four-and-a-half years for five counts of actual bodily harm and affray.

"He was just your punchbag, all three of you. If you were in a bad mood you would just go and kick and punch Craig Kinsella," said Judge Kelson.

"It is staggering that this is happening in our society, absolutely staggering. It is almost unbelievable."

Police found Mr Kinsella in a shocking physical state after responding to reports of a man being abused outside the Rooke house on July 6 last year.

David Rooke's son, Jamie, was jailed for more than four years

He had a broken right arm, a fractured rib, extreme bruising to his back and around his kidney, a fractured chin and cuts, as well as lumps and bruises on his head and legs.

Prosecutors said Mr Kinsella was beaten with weapons that included a pick-axe handle and crowbar.

They said he was so scared of the beatings he would work from 7.30am to midnight for no money, cleaning the family's garden and vans.

Mr Kinsella had learning difficulties, and had first worked for the family a number of years ago, receiving £40 a week so he could keep claiming benefits.

Donna Rooke admitted a charge of battery and received four months in jail

David Rooke was also ordered to pay Mr Kinsella £15,000 that police found in his home.

Detective Inspector Vicky Short, who led the investigation, said: "It is hard to understand how any human being could treat an individual in such a grotesque, callous and inhuman manner.

"I am confident that if we had not received that phone call that day last July we would have been investigating a murder."

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Suicide And Bullying Calls To Child Helpline Rise

Calls about cyberbullying, suicidal thoughts and self harm have surged in the last year, according to a children's counselling service.

ChildLine reported an 87% rise in contacts about online bullying in 2012/13 compared to the previous year and a 41% increase in contacts about self-harm.

The 24-hour service allows children 18 or under get in touch by phone, online chat and e-mail, and its founder, Esther Rantzen, said the latest report was a "real wake up call".

"It's so important that we support children to talk about issues and look out for signs that they're not able to cope.

"No matter how hard pressed we are, we must commit to giving children time and space to talk about their lives."

ChildLine, which conducted nearly 300,000 counselling sessions in the last year, said the 24-hour nature of online bullying meant there was "no escape" for young people.

More than 1,400 young people told the service they were experiencing racist bullying in 2012/13, up 69% on the previous year.

A common theme was for young people to be called a "terrorist" or a "bomber" and to be told to "go back to where they came from", ChildLine said.

Self-harm was mentioned in almost 47,000 counselling sessions, up 41% year-on-year, while suicide was mentioned in 4,500 contacts from children aged between 12 and 15 alone.

Peter Wanless, chief executive of children's charity NSPCC, which provides the service, said: "The issues facing children today are very different from those that faced us as children.

"Stranger danger, for example, rarely comes up in contacts to ChildLine but depression, self-harm, online bullying and even suicide contacts are increasing exponentially."

Family relationships remain the main reason children and young people contact ChildLine, with family problems mentioned in more than 86,000 counselling sessions in 2012/13.

:: Childline is a free and confidential service available online at www.childline.org.uk or by calling 0800 1111.

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Hundreds Of NHS Direct Staff Face Job Losses

Hundreds of people working for NHS Direct, a failed provider to the NHS helpline, have been told they face losing their jobs.

NHS Direct announced in July that it was planning to pull out of its contracts due to severe financial problems.

In October it said it would close after projecting a £26m deficit for this financial year.

Some 200 of its 700 staff have already been told their jobs are safe, as they move to other providers.

Of the remaining 500, many may also escape redundancy, with back office staff most likely to lose their jobs.

A spokeswoman said: "NHS Direct has today written to around 500 employees, including around 140 nurses, giving them formal notice that they are at risk of redundancy at the end of March.

"The final number of redundancies is likely to be less than this, since we are seeking to mitigate as many redundancies as possible by supporting these staff to find alternative employment within the wider NHS.

"At this stage we do not know what the final number of redundancies will be as it is dependent on several factors including the number of 'at risk' staff who obtain suitable alternative employment elsewhere."

The 111 line, which replaced NHS Direct as the number to call for urgent, but non-emergency care, has been riddled with controversy since its inception on April 1 last year.

Patients complained of calls going unanswered, poor advice being given and calls being diverted to the wrong part of the country.

A month after its launch, leading medics warned the "problematic" roll-out of the system had left many patients not knowing where to turn.

An investigation was launched by NHS England after a number of incidents, including three deaths, were linked to the service.

NHS Direct originally won 11 of the 46 contracts across England to provide the 111 service.

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, claimed 158 nursing staff at NHS Direct would lose their jobs.

He said: "This is sad news indeed for the individuals affected, and could to lead to patients seeing their NHS 111 service stretched even further.

"After the dismantling of NHS Direct, we've been left with a fragmented, localised NHS 111 service that offers uncertainty and inconsistency across many parts of the country."

:: All this week Sky News will have live coverage examining the crisis in the NHS. Watch 'A Matter Of Life And Death' on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

We also want to hear your experiences of the NHS - the good and the bad - tweet us using the hashtag #NHSlifeanddeath

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