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Consumer affairs with Shari Vahl. New energy use figures show power stations and industry are doing well. They are more efficient than ever and emitting fewer tonnes of greenhouse gases but the same cannot be said for our homes where carbon output remains at 1990 levels, despite twenty years of improved insulation and more efficient appliances. Scientists and Engineers usually present a common front when it comes to funding and supporting each others endeavours but the Royal Society has reacted angrily to the Royal Academy of Engineering's plea to the government to show funding favour to the 'doers' rather than the 'thinkers'. Small firms of solicitors say they are struggling to cope with increases in compulsory professional insurance premiums and warn that the high street solicitor could become endangered, leaving the consumer with less choice and inevitably higher fees. Children's services have been hit hard by cuts and in the latest of his reports on how local authorities are coping with constrictions in their budgets, Greg Wood highlights the crisis in fostering where the numbers of children in need of placement are rising year on year.