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The Hansard Society interviewed new politicians and revealed what life is like when they first ‘climbed the greasy pole,’ as former Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli put it. A dozen members of the Welsh assembly were asked in July 2011 and seven more during the following April. Eleven of them took part in interviews.

The coalition at the weekend unveiled proposals that will allow new parents to choose how they share a year’s worth of leave after the birth of their child. All employees will have the right to request flexible working under the children and families bill, not just parents and carers.

A dispute raged on Tuesday (February 5, 2013) over plans to introduce charges at public conveniences in a city centre. Councillors want to bring in a 30p fee for Edinburgh – the first time the council has made people pay for ‘spending the proverbial penny’.

A National Union of Teachers (NUT) representative did not think it was a good idea to fine parents or guardians if their children miss too much school. Owen Hathway from the NUT remarked the idea would fail because: “That’s going to cause a huge rift between them and the parents.

Plans to restore a Grade II-listed Victorian mansion may have been wrecked by metal thieves causing damage. The building was surrounded by locked gates that prevented the criminals from taking away the lead they were seeking. Instead the thieves dumped their swag taken from the porch roof, which left it open to the elements. Campaigners say the damage caused could add tens of thousands of pounds to the restoration bill at the Insole Court located in Cardiff.

Health service strikers set fire to their dismissal notices while they protested outside their bosses’ headquarters. The NHS workers committed the act on the fourth day of a five-day strike over proposed jobs losses and pay cuts in Wakefield. NHS chiefs in the region need to make cuts of £24 million by April, and in November the trust sent redundancy letters to 74 members of staff.

Raiders used an axe to smash and grab diamond rings and necklaces from a jewellery store. The two thieves ransacked the premises in Edinburgh on January 15. The raiders are both described as being 20 to 30 years old, and wearing jogging bottoms and hooded tops. Both perpetrators had their faces concealed in the £1 million raid. Officers went back to the scene in a bid to trace potential witnesses who may have been in the vicinity at the time.

A survey says starting salaries for university leavers will grow this year. Graduates will look likely to earn £26,500 on average in 2013, up from £26,000 last year, and £25,000 in the three years from 2009 to 2011, predicts the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR).

A masked duo stole a four-figure sum from a shop. The two men are described as between 5ft 2in and 5ft 6in and of heavy build. They threatened with a blunt weapon the two members of staff, an 18-year-old man and a woman aged 26 who had been left traumatised, in Inverclyde, Scotland. Police are anxious to trace a small, light-coloured vehicle which they believe the men involved in the attack made use of when leaving the robbery scene.

Youth unemployment has almost reached one million and the fitness industry is being used to combat the problems the 16 to 24 age group is experiencing in finding work. The industry’s skills body SkillsActive is at the centre of this effort by creating a programme called ActiveAmbition which engages with employers. SkillsActive pointed out that the take-up of personal trainers is increasing 15 per cent year on year. Many of these jobs go to the 16 to 24s.

Unemployment in the UK has gone down again during the last quarter. The number of unemployed adults fell below 2.5 million, according to the latest official figures released this week. Furthermore, the government-backed Workplace Employment Relations Survey revealed that three-quarters of employees were happy in their job. The WERS interviewed more than 20,000 staff and managers during 2011-12.

The government has just launched a scheme to help employers cut down sickness absence at work. The service will support workplaces with no access to occupational health. Sick leave and similar forms of absence cost employers and taxpayers an estimated £9 billion a year in sick pay and other associated costs.