1 People are to be bribed to vote in local elections by being entered for a “prize draw” if they turn up at the polling station, ministers have announced. Televisions, iPods or supermarket vouchers will be won by voters.

2 Women giving birth are being admitted to maternity wards short of doctors, midwives and basic facilities, the Healthcare Commission said. Its review of 150 English NHS trusts found “significant weaknesses” in maternity and neonatal services.

3 Councils with directly elected mayors will be given automatic new powers over the police, Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, has announced.

4 Thousands of England's monuments and historic sites are at high risk of decay or neglect, according to research by English Heritage. England has lost one archaeological monument a day since the Second World War.

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5 Blackburn has become the first UK local authority to offer free leisure services. The council launched a three-year scheme, which includes free swimming in its pools, in response to figures showing that its residents had one of the country's lowest rates of physical activity.

6 Gordon Brown told families to stop wasting food, as a government report said that Britons were throwing away groceries worth more than £1 billion a year. The cross-Whitehall study into higher food costs identified waste as a factor.

7 Almost half of all military personnel are ready to quit, according to the first survey to assess attitudes across the Army, Navy and RAF. The research by the Ministry of Defence involved more than 24,000 military personnel and revealed concerns over equipment, morale and pay.

8 Children with HIV are being turned away from schools in the UK, the National Aids Trust said. It uncovered six cases of discrimination against children as young as four after their HIV status was disclosed or discovered.

9 A 14-year-old boy became the youngest victim of knife crime in London. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said that young people should be deterred from carrying knives by forcing them to visit hospitals to see “gruesome” stab injuries.

10 A third of all public services are delivered by the private and voluntary sectors, according to a government sponsored study. The market is said to be worth £79 billion.

11 Councils could be banned from selling edited versions of the electoral register, following a review into personal data commissioned by Gordon Brown. It called for an overhaul of the handling of personal information by companies and the Government.

12 Sats results may not be accurate because of the chaos surrounding the marking of papers this year, head teachers have warned parents. Results of the tests taken by 1.2m pupils will be delayed by problems with the marking system, being administered by a new company ETS Europe for the first time this year.

13 School meals will soar in price and vanish without extra government funds, the Local Authority Caterers Association has warned. School meal provision is not sustainable because of the credit crunch, rising fuel prices and declining number of children eating them.

14 Children being held in secure units are still subjected to restraining techniques designed for adults, according to the prisons inspector.

15 A new website allowing patients to judge the competence of their GPs online will expose them to abuse and vendettas. The site, iwantgreatcare.org will help the public choose which GP they go to, said the hospital doctor who set it up.

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