You and Yours - 01/12/2010

Consumer affairs with Winifred Robinson. The government is offering a loan to make homes more energy efficient. It is expected that £6,500 could be spent on heating efficiency make-overs, repayable over 25 years via our energy bills. The Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has invited the likes of McDonald's, KFC and Pepsi-Co to advise on future policy designed to combat obesity and other food and drink related conditions. Careers and life advice to teenagers and young people has become the subject of major savings by local authorities; the careers and guidance industry is worried. Private initiatives are stepping up to the plate but do we have the necessary regulatory in place to ensure quality? Businesses are asking the public for good ideas to help them gain a competitive edge. As so-called 'crowd sourcing' spreads to local government, is it a great idea or cheap exploitation? After decades of agitating to end daylight saving, there's a better than ever chance that it'll happen this time. Government ministers say they won't kill a private members bill that's seeking the evidence to support the case for synchronising our time with Europe. The immigration cap could harm care in the UK which has come to depend on non-EU labour to deliver its services say practitioners; but critics say it is about time we learned how to care for our own.