Supported housing in England on brink of financial crisis, charities warn

More than 150 organisations, including Age UK and Refuge, have warned the supported housing sector is on the precipice of a financial crisis that could plunge tens of thousands of vulnerable people into homelessness.In a letter to the government being delivered on Friday, public bodies, charities and housing associations called for urgent action to save the sector, which provides homes for 500,000 people across England with complex needs.They said funding cuts and rising costs had pushed providers to breaking point, and that organisations providing nearly one in five (18%) of all supported homes are on the verge of closing down services – which would lead to the loss of 70,000 homes.The National Housing Federation (NHF) found that a third of providers in England said they may have to stop providing supported housing altogether due to financial pressure, and 32% have closed homes down in the past 12 months.These included homes for young people leaving care, older people and veterans, people with learning disabilities, survivors of domestic abuse and people who had been homeless

Drug that cuts risk of breast cancer returning is approved for use in England

Thousands of women with early breast cancer could be offered a drug to stop the cancer returning, after the medicines watchdog approved its use in England.Up to 4,000 patients a year could be given ribociclib alongside hormone therapy, for hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer, which despite initial treatment has a higher risk of returning.Globally, one in 20 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, with cases up 38% and deaths up 68% over the next 25 years, according to analysis by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).In the UK, breast cancer rates are expected to rise a fifth to 71,006 cases a year in 2050. The most common type of breast cancer – accounting for about 70% of cases – are hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative tumours

Wales and north of England face disability cuts ‘double whammy’

A £5bn programme of disability benefits cuts planned by the UK government will disproportionately hit people living in Wales and northern England “entrenching deprivation”, according to new analysis.The consultancy Policy in Practice has looked at how the proposed changes would affect individual regions and local authorities, and found the impact across the UK starkly uneven.The research shows that north-east England, north-west England and Wales would be the hardest hit, suffering three times the economic impact and with twice as many affected residents as London and the south-east.The 10 most affected councils, including Blaenau Gwent, Hartlepool and Blackpool “face economic costs around five times the national average”, the analysis contends. In all three of those places, nearly one in 10 of the population will be affected

Use of pepper spray authorised at young offender institutions in England and Wales

Children as young as 15 face being incapacitated with pepper spray after Shabana Mahmood on Thursday authorised its use at young offender institutions [YOIs].The justice secretary for the first time signed off the use of Pava spray, a synthetic form of pepper spray, for use across three of the four YOIs in England and Wales.The plan, first reported by the Guardian and announced in parliament, has dismayed prison reformers, who say it will create further divisions between staff and minors in their care. The Howard League for Penal Reform said it might challenge the decision in the courts.In a written statement, Mahmood told MPs: “I have decided to authorise the issuing of Pava to a specially trained and selected group of staff in the three public sector YOIs (Feltham A, Werrington and Wetherby) for a 12-month period

Violence and abuse against UK ambulance staff at highest level ever recorded

The number of violent assaults, acts of aggression and incidents of abuse against ambulance staff in the UK has risen to the highest on record, according to data health leaders described as “horrendous” and “truly shocking”.There were 22,536 incidents of violence, aggression and abuse directed at paramedics and other ambulance workers in 2024-25, up 15% on the 19,633 in 2023-24, figures from the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) show.It means that each week on average those responding to 999 calls are the victims of 433 attacks, include kicking, punching, slapping, head-butting, spitting, sexual assault and verbal abuse.Senior ambulance officials said they believed the true toll was even higher, with many incidents not reported or recorded. Female paramedics and ambulance workers are the most likely to be targeted by the public

Global study on Covid vaccine safety falls victim to Trump cuts

The largest ever global study into the safety of Covid-19 vaccines has been terminated just 13 months shy of completion, after becoming caught up in the Trump administration’s sweeping funding cuts.The Global Vaccine Data Network, which was established in 2019 by the New Zealand-based vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris and the US-based vaccinologist Steven Black, has already produced some of the world’s most comprehensive studies on vaccine efficacy and safety, based on data from more than 300 million people.The University of Auckland hosts the network, which collaborates with institutions and experts across the globe.The groundbreaking five-year project to evaluate the safety of Covid vaccines across hundreds of millions of people received more than NZ$10m from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021, but after a recent funding review by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), it can no longer finish the project, Petousis-Harris said.The network looks at data from millions of people to evaluate the effectiveness of vaccines, analyse risk and benefits and respond to issues such as vaccine hesitancy