内容摘要：The results in 2020 saw the pass rate for Highers jump from 75% to 89%, while the percentage of pupils achieving A grades hit a record high the following year.

The results in 2020 saw the pass rate for Highers jump from 75% to 89%, while the percentage of pupils achieving A grades hit a record high the following year.

The government has rejected proposals to delay county council elections in Warwickshire and Worcestershire.Both areas applied to scrap their current system of county and district councils in January under plans by the government to streamline services.

To allow for the changes to take place, elections set to take place in May could have been postponed.However, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told MPs neither area had been included in a shortlist of six selected for fast-track devolution.Elections will be delayed in East and West Sussex, Essex and Thurrock, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Suffolk and Surrey. Another 24 authorities will go to the polls as planned.

Warwickshire and Worcestershire were among those applying to be part of the first wave of the scheme, which the government says will inject more money into local services by getting rid of two-tier council systems.Despite the delay in some areas, Rayner repeated the government's call for unitary councils right across England by the end of the parliament.

Legal invitations will now be sent out to all remaining two-tier areas, instructing them to submit proposals for new authorities.

"Councillors of all types, including district councillors, tell me the two-tier system isn't working," she said.NHS Humber Health Partnership said feedback from those using the service had been very positive.

The team is hoping to carry out more outreach work with rough sleepers over the next 12 months, the organisation added.A man murdered a 69-year-old man in his own home just two days after being released from prison, a court has heard.

Owen Blades, 27, stabbed retired carer John Connolly to death at his terrace house in Portland Street, Lincoln, with a knife he bought a day after his release.Blades, from Gainsborough, has admitted murdering Mr Connolly on the morning of 13 June 2024.