Local Democracy Reporting Service

More social workers in Wolverhampton say their caseloads are not manageable, a survey of the council's workforce has revealed.

Following an annual health check to assess how social workers in the city are feeling, a report to the council has revealed a rise in the number saying they are "just about" managing.

Image source, Google

A report to the council’s Adult and Safer City Scrutiny Panel, which is due to discuss the findings on 16 March, added the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic were likely to have had an impact on the outcomes.

The report said full-time workers were working an average of 4.2 hours over their contracted hours, compared to 2.4 hours in 2019, but part-time workers were working an average of 2.4 hours over, a decrease from 10.3 in 2019.

Stress levels were slightly higher, with just over 50% of respondents saying they always or often felt stressed compared to 45% in 2019, it stated.

A council spokesman said: "Covid has had an impact on the overall health of the workforce, as evidenced by stress levels reported. Senior managers are aware of the impact this has on workers and continue to support the wellbeing of the workforce in balancing their work and personal circumstances."

Robin Olsen and his family were confronted in their home by an armed gang of masked burglars.

BBC Midlands Today

Nearly 1,000 extra people have been recruited, external to help deliver vaccinations in Shropshire.

The drive has been led by the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) near Oswestry.

New staff will work across vaccination centres throughout the county, including Telford and Wrekin.

The roles include vaccinators, healthcare assistants, administrators and car park marshalls.

Bosses said it came at a key time as teams geared up for their busiest period yet with staff set to administer second doses of vaccine while continuing to give first ones to different age groups.

The scheme has made offers to more than 800 people. In addition,125 staff who recently left the NHS have joined the vaccination programme.

Sarah Sheppard, Director of People at RJAH, praised the "can do" attitude of everyone involved.

"Recruiting so many people, so quickly, really is a stunning achievement," she said.

BBC Weather

We are forecast rain today, some of it heavy, and temperatures up to around 11C (52F).

And tomorrow, with temperatures due to drop to close to freezing, that could turn into hail.

Children at the secure training centre are locked up for more than 23 hours a day during the pandemic.

Det Insp Dave Knight says officers are treating the matter as an "isolated incident".

Rotherham United are forced to postpone a third Championship fixture due to three positive Covid-19 results at the club.

He has been bailed ahead of a court appearance following Isabelle Boshell's death in October.

Kenneth Andrew McDermid is due to be sentenced in April over Wendy Morse's death.

The family of one of the first people to have died of coronavirus in the UK have marked the anniversary of her death.

Image source, Family handout

Carol Barclay, 73, died on 8 March last year at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.

The mother of two from Wednesfield was the fourth person in the UK to die of the coronavirus, said The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

A retired catering supervisor at the trust, Mrs Barclay worked for the organisation for 30 years.

Daughter Katherine Westbury, who also works for the trust said: “She was lovely – she was caring and funny and she idolised her grandchildren and her great grandchildren, and they idolised her in return,”

"She is greatly missed by all who knew her.”

Drivers licensed in Wolverhampton but not living there cannot get a £2,000 payment, a union says.

Richard Avery appears in court over the deaths of Will Henry and Brian McIntosh.

Stoke-on-Trent Live

Here are some of the stories featured by Stoke-on-Trent Live today:

• Groping Stoke-on-Trent taxi driver jailed after grabbing mum's breast, external
• Man, 24, arrested after three-car collision on Stoke-on-Trent street, external
• 'Nuisance' banned from Stoke-on-Trent is jailed after visiting dad, external

A nurse at Queen's Hospital in Burton was one of a number of motorists to have their catalytic converters stolen in a spate of thefts last Thursday.

She told police she was briefly visiting the site at 18:00 when she saw three men she thought were acting suspiciously in the car park.

Image source, Google

There were also thefts and attempted thefts in Stoke-on-Trent, Tamworth, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Uttoxeter on the same evening.

Staffordshire Police warned people not to approach the thieves because they usually carried tools which could be used as weapons.

Coventry United's Hayley Crackle scores a stunning strike to help her side beat London City Lionesses 1-0 in the FA Women's Championship.

A man has been arrested for drug and driving offences after police saw the vehicle being driven in excess of 100mph.

West Mercia Police said officers, external were on patrol on Saturday at the A49 in Ludlow when they saw the car speeding towards the direction of Clee Hill.

Image source, West Mercia Police

They followed the driver and stopped him where he was issued with a warning for careless driving.

A search of the car reealed cannabis, cocaine, further drug paraphernalia and cash.

The man, aged 20 and from Herefordshire, was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class B drugs with intent to supply and possession of Class A drugs.

He has since been released under investigation.

A driver, who was stopped on the A500 in Stoke-on-Trent, had no insurance or driving licence, police said.

Staffordshire Police Response tweeted, external the driver then "couldn’t explain" why there was "55,000 cigarettes in his vehicle", which have now been seized for proceeds of crime.

Image source, Staffordshire Police

A picture showing Basil and Thelma Barnett holding hands is described as a "proper look of love".

Activist Malala Yousafzai has signed a multi-year deal with Apple TV+, to produce programming including documentaries, dramas, comedies and films.

The Nobel Prize laureate, who says Birmingham has become her second home, said she wanted to inspire women and girls to "make the change that they want to see happen".

The 23-year-old arrived at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham more than eight years ago, after being shot by Taliban gunmen while on the bus to school in Pakistan's Swat valley, for saying that girls should be educated.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

More than a third of coronavirus related deaths in Herefordshire have been among residents of care homes, according to official figures.

Most county care homes had at least one outbreak of Covid-19 and a disproportionate number of deaths have been among their residents, according to a report by the county's acting director of public health Rebecca Howell-Jones.

The report says 36% of all coronavirus related deaths in the county have been among care home residents, all aged 69 or above.

Image source, Getty Images

Nine out of ten died in care homes. Of all care home residents who have died of Covid-19 to date, two-thirds did so in April and May.

Ms Howell-Jones said most deaths in the first wave happened in care homes while there has been a shift towards more hospital deaths in the most recent wave.

The report says that while data on cases are distorted by testing policies throughout the pandemic, 70% of people with Covid-19 in Herefordshire hospitals have been aged over 65.