Regeneration in the newspapers: Private sector gender pay gap 'widening'

The Financial Times reports that gender pay gap in the private sector widened by 0.7 points to 28.8 per cent last year, while the public sector gap narrowed by 1 point to 21 per cent. Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality, expressed disappointment that the private sector was falling further behind on pay equality.

Only 92 families have been helped by the Government’s £285 million mortgage rescue scheme since its launch in January. The scheme, which assists homeowners facing repossession, has offered advice to 11,000 householders but rescued less than one per cent of them, according to The Times.

Three months after Scottish reforms that devolve planning responsibility to local authorities came into force, implementation varies hugely by region according to The Scotsman. The newspaper says that the lack of national coordination needs to be addressed so the development industry’s post-recession recovery is not crippled by different approaches to planning across the country.

The latest installment of the Independent crime reporter’s job-swap with his counterpart at the Baltimore Sun looks at the low crime conviction rate in the US city, where police are accused of making arrests that will not stand up in court in order to meet targets. Also examined are the arrest techniques used in London and Baltimore, where DNA is only taken upon conviction for a violent crime and suspects when arrested are given a private cell and access to a drug counsellor.