Before the Icelandic banks collapsed Wiltshire Council 'invested' £12million at interest rates which were literally too good to be true. However thanks to the work of the Local Government Association much of the money lost by Wiltshire and other foolish councils is set to be returned. The county put £9m into Heritable Bank and £3m into Landsbanki.
LIBG's joint forum on Belarus with Liberal Youth on 6 February looked at how proponents of democracy and human rights can seek to engage with Europe's last dictatorship.
Older people are being let down by a social care system in which they are "passed like a parcel" between services, a committee of MPs has said. The Commons health select committee wants local areas in England to deliver "joined-up" care, health and housing. Funding pressures were reducing older people's quality of life, MPs added.
The government has lost a House of Lords vote on its controversial plans to overhaul the NHS in England. Peers backed an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill - demanding mental health is made a higher priority - by a margin of four votes. Several other amendments will be debated on Wednesday.
At least 35,000 people applying for sickness benefit are waiting longer than 13 weeks, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted. DWP officials are privately blaming the backlog of employment and support allowance claims on French firm Atos, which carries out medical assessments. Atos Healthcare said it had recruited additional staff and extended opening hours in response to the situation. One member of DWP staff described the situation as "in meltdown".
South Lakes MP Tim Farron has applauded the achievement of Riverside Bed & Breakfast in Ambleside in gaining 3rd place in TripAdvisor's best Bed & Breakfast in the world and has petitioned Parliament to recognise the exceptional standard of U.K B & B accommodation ahead of the Olypmics.