you can hear more from simonjack with energy saving tips on thejeremy vine show on radio 2 from midday tomorow. and we ll be in sunderland all day finding out how the rise in the cost of living is affecting you. that s a special day of coverage the cost of living: tackling it together. a bbc investigation has found that maternity care in the east kent hospitals nhs trust remains fraught with problems, despite an independent inquiry into the scandal. a report into the care provided to women and babies between 2009 and 2020 at the trust will be published tomorrow and debated in parliament. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan first reported on the concerns in east kent more than two and half years ago and has followed the story of many families who have been affected ever since. yes? yes. jamie goddard is a healthy, thriving, month old baby. his parents stacey and steve are naturally delighted,
let s take a moment to take a look at one of the main themes that seems to be dividing the party from the cabinet down: benefits and how much they should go up by. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has been looking at the figures. working age benefits cost the government 87.4 billion pounds last year. now, to put that in context, the defence budget is about half of that at 42 billion, and the health and social care bill for england is almost double that at 192 billion. the benefits budget covers a range of payments including personal independence payments, attendance allowance and housing benefit. but the biggest one undoubtedly is universal credit. around 5.7 million people claim this benefit. more than 40% of those claimants are in work. for those who are unemployed and older than 25, they get £77 a week. benefits are uprated each april, usually in line with september s inflation figure which is published later this month.
communication with their peers and not through the screen. we ve already done online schooling because of covid, and we don t want to do it again because of the war. i m more scared of my new teacher than i am of the war, says andriy. the authorities are keen to show that they re ready to welcome back a generation for ever changed by this war. james waterhouse, bbc news in kyiv. the body representing housing associations in england is urging ministers to help around 400,000 households who are not covered by the energy price cap, because their heating is supplied through a communal system. the national housing federation says many people in this situation are elderly or vulnerable, living in sheltered or supported housing projects. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has the details. now it s gone down to 94%. this oxygen machine helps keep maria blamey alive. the 64 year old suffers
ministers say pensioners will get £300 this winter to help with rising bills, as well as the £400 that all british households will receive. it ll help, of course, but not enough, perhaps, to calm this proud man s fears. michael buchanan, bbc news. a government spokesperson said further funding will be available for those using heat networks and confirmed they re giving 0fgem new powers to regulate prices in this sector. in the democratic republic of congo, dozens have been killed after protests against the presence of a un peacekeeping mission turned deadly in the eastern city of goma. the victims include peacekeepers and an 11 year old child. many are calling for the un to leave the country, saying it s not doing enough to protect them. but that could have a devastating humanitarian effect on one of the poorest countries on earth, asjoice etutu reports.
asylum scheme as appalling . his office say he remains politically neutral. police in brazil searching for a missing britishjournalist say they ve found possible human remains in a river. borisjohnson urges ministers to do everything in their power to secure the release of two british men sentenced to death for fighting russian forces. almost one in six people in england, wales and northern ireland used foodbanks or food charities in march, with one in five skipping meals or cutting portion sizes to cope with the cost of living. it s created a perfect storm for foodbanks with increasing demand and falling donations. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has been to meet one woman struggling to keep her community afloat. without mel hudson, hundreds of people each week would struggle to eat. she set up the slade green food bank at the start of the pandemic.