DS Daily - 5th January 2012

Figures show drug and alcohol addictions' heavy toll on benefits bill

Hundreds of people in Tayside and Fife are receiving incapacity benefits because of their drug or alcohol addictions | The Courier, UK

And baby comes too: rehab for mothers in crisis

Where do you turn when you’re a young mother who has lost everything – children, dignity, your home – through drugs and prostitution? | Telegraph, UK

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge becomes patron of Action on Addiction

Her Royal Highness recently paid a private visit to one of Action on Addiction’s treatment centres and spoke at length to a number of clients about their addiction and personal journeys to recovery | Action on Addiction, UK

Southampton cemetery vandalism blamed on 'new legal high'

Vandalism at a Southampton cemetery could be evidence of a form of substance abuse | BBC, UK

Industry fury at Cameron’s pricing plans

British Prime Minister David Cameron has risked the ire of the drinks industry by suggesting he could follow Scotland’s lead and introduce a minimum price for alcoholic drinks in England | The Drinks Business, UK

PQ - Young People needing hospital because of alcohol

Just before Christmas Diane Abbot, Labour's shadow minister for public health, asked a Parliamentary Question about the number of young people needing hospital treatment as a result of their use of alcohol | Drug Education Forum, UK

Families with children will be worst affected by falling incomes study finds

Grim predictions for UK family finances up to 2015 revealed in new evidence produced by| the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) for the Family and Parenting Institute (FPI)

Shared Accommodation Rate Q&A

A brief guide to the Shared Accommodation Rate and the new rules which apply from January 2012 | Homeless Link, UK

Last Christmas with the kids

Changes to local housing allowance could block separated parents from having access to their children | Inside Housing, UK

College of Social Work gets off the ground

The College of Social Work has finally gone live despite a turbulent and protracted launch and a long-running dispute with the British Association of Social Workers | Children & Young People Now, UK

65% rise in drud deal arrests RISE

There has been a worrying increase in drug dealing on the streets of Balbriggan in 2011 with an appalling 65% increase in the crime recorded in the first ten months of the year, according to Garda figures for the area which have been seen by the | Fingal Independent, Ireland