There is deep disappointment again that the Heritage Protection Bill for England and Wales does not appear in the Draft Legislative Programme for 2009/10 announced by the Government this week.

The Programme indicates the legislation likely to be included in the Queen’s Speech for the next parliamentary session. Clearly there is now little expectation of the legislative reforms which the 2007 White Paper promised would place the historic environment at the heart of the planning system.

Parents have been banned from attending their children’s sports day in an extraordinary measure to protect pupils from child abductors and paedophiles.

More than 270 pupils from four primary schools took part in the event – but there were no spectators because the organisers said they could not prevent ‘unsavoury’ characters from sneaking onto school grounds.