Plans by Devon County Council to make 500 job cuts have provoked criticism from opposition councillors, who say there has not been enough advanced warning of the plans. A controversial recruitment freeze and cuts to care home staff were mooted at a cabinet meeting yesterday, as part of a drive to save £20m over two years.

A report, released this week, has revealed that a lack of trained staff and poor equipment were to blame for allowing Croydon to become paralysed by snowfall in February of this year. The report highlights a lack of good quality salt and insufficient notice of weather warnings as contributing factors to the disruption to residents and businesses, which led to poorly trained staff shovelling footpaths with broken shovels.

At a meeting tomorrow Calderdale councillors will discuss alcohol-related health issues, anti-social behaviour, violent crime, car crashes and its effects on families. The discussion kicks of the drawing up of plans to deal with anti-social behaviour in the region, due to be completed by next year.

Rochdale Council has been criticised for paying some agency staff working in the town’s benefits office over £900 for a 36.25 hour week. A spokesman for the council said: "Every council up and down the country uses benefits staff because there's a shortage of specialist people to do the work. This kind of work is classed as highly skilled and takes up to three years training."