Teenage Bristol mums to get help raising babies

Bristol's teenage mums will no longer be given keys to a council house but put in a unit and given help to raise their baby, under radical plans announced by Gordon Brown.

The Prime Minister said the problem of "children having children" had gone unspoken for too long.

Instead, the young parents will be given targeted support that will help them learn how to raise their babies "properly".

In his last speech before a General election, he told the Labour party conference yesterday: "It cannot be right, for a girl of 16, to get pregnant, be given the keys to a council flat and be left on her own.

"From now on all 16 and 17 year old parents who get support from the taxpayer will be placed in a network of supervised homes. These shared homes will offer not just a roof over their heads but a new start in life, where they learn responsibility and how to raise their children properly."

Speaking on anti-social behaviour, he said neighbourhood policing teams across Bristol will hold monthly meetings to consult with residents about their priorities and the council will be given the power to ban 24-hour drinking in problem communities.

Mr Brown heaped praise on the NHS as he pledged cancer patients would have diagnostic tests carried out with results given, within a week of seeing their GP – in addition to the existing two week cancer promise to see a specialist.

And he vowed to end the postcode lottery across the county over care for the elderly. A National Care Service will be created to help the elderly get what they need to stay in their homes.

Kick-starting Labour's manifesto, Mr Brown also announced voters could effectively sack their MP for gross financial misconduct if they have not already been expelled from the Commons following the recent scandal.

Mr Brown said the minimum wage would increase every year for five years, and a new law would also be introduced to stop bankers' bonuses putting the economy at risk.