Daily roundup 21 December: Christmas spirit, maternity, and Sunderland

Young people in Runcorn have been praised for their Christmas spirit after donating more than 30 hampers and 10 bags of food for the area's needy. Halton Borough Council said its social care teams will distribute the items collected by Year 7 pupils at St Chad's School in the town.


The Department of Health is to make £2.2m available to fund new equipment that will support the NHS maternity workforce cut England's high child mortality rate. NHS maternity trusts can bid for between £5,000 and £30,000 under the programme. Last month, the government announced plans to reduce the rate of stillbirths, neonatal, maternal deaths and intrapartum brain injuries in babies in England by 20 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2030.


It could take up to three years for Sunderland City Council’s children’s services to become a good standard, a senior official has said. The Sunderland Echo reports its interim director of children’s services, Steve Walker, has said a recruitment campaign for long-term social workers is underway and the department has already advertised for four new directors.  


Hull and East Riding Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are investing more than £320,000 in a new eating disorders service for young people aged eight to 18. The CCGs' investment follows a rise in the number of young people from the area admitted to hospital for eating disorders anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating, the Hull Daily Mail reports.


The number of children classed as homeless or living in temporary accommodation in Scotland has risen by 1,000 over the past year, latest figures show. In total, 10,695 people under 18 presented as homeless on Christmas Day 2014, up from 9,665 on the same day in 2013. The figures were released after a freedom of information request from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, reports the Scotsman.