Monday

About £15 billion will be spent on hospitals and schools in an attempt to boost the ailing economy. Whitehall officials said that the spending of billions in NHS surpluses and other capital projects would be brought forward, with details to be disclosed next week in the Pre-Budget Report.

University students are demanding improved services in return for their £3,000 annual fees. Access to the latest technology, cleaning staff and essays being marked on time are some of the most common requests, British academics told a conference at Princeton University in the US.

Tuesday

Police have ordered officers working on child abuse cases to take a much tougher line with social workers after the death of Baby P. Senior officers from the Child Abuse Investigation Command have been urged to take a stronger approach if other agencies do not heed their warnings.

Wednesday

Men who have sex with prostitutes controlled by pimps will face prosecution under new laws. Legislation announced by the Home Secretary will make it a criminal offence to pay for sex with a prostitute “controlled for another person's gain”. Other measures will help to ensure that kerb crawlers can be prosecuted on a first offence.

Arithmetic-themed coffee mornings for parents and family maths classes could help to improve standards in the subject in primary schools, the government spending watchdog said. A report on maths performance in primary schools by the National Audit Office found that nearly a quarter of 11-year-olds did not reach the expected standard for their age in 2007.

Thursday

Up to four children die each week in England from abuse or neglect. A report from Ofsted, the children's services regulator, found that 282 vulnerable children, many known to social services, died in the 17-month period to the end of August. A further 136 suffered serious harm or injury.

Councils are to be barred from using anti-terrorist surveillance laws to deal with petty offences such as dog fouling and dropping litter, the Policing Minister said. Vernon Coaker told a House of Lords committee that snooping undermined support for the Regulation of Investigatory Powers.

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