Thursday 8 August 2002

By Clare Jerrom, Reg McKay and Alex Dobson.

Outrage over payoff for disgraced race
chief

The home office was being criticised last night for the payment
of £115,000 made to Gurbux Singh after he was fined £500
for drunkenly abusing two police officers as he left Lord’s
cricket ground.

The chairperson of the Commission for Racial Equality admitted
using threatening behaviour as he left Lord’s after a one-day
international between India and England last month.

Singh had consumed up to seven glasses of wine before
confronting the officers as he left with his wife Siobhan
Maguire.

District judge Nicholas Evans fined father of three Singh
£500 with £55 costs and said: “This was disgraceful
behaviour maintained for a relatively long period of time, quite
out of character and brought on by an excess of drink.”

Singh left the job by mutual agreement with the home office,
which paid a sum of just above the equivalent of one year’s
salary.

Singh had served two years of a four-year contract.

Race campaigners, victims groups and MPs attacked the payment. A
former racial equality commissioner Shahid Malik said he shared the
concern that someone convicted of an offence should get a
payoff.

Source:- The Times Thursday 8 August page 3

Next head of CRE may be the last

A successor to Gurbux Singh will be advertised for in the
autumn, but the next chairperson of the commission for racial
equality could be the last.

Ministers are proposing to establish a single statutory equality
commission in the next parliament if Labour wins the election. This
body would combine the work of the CRE, The Equal Opportunities
Commission and the Disabilities Rights Commission.

The new commission is unlikely to be working before 2006.

Until a new chairperson is appointed, the post will be filled by
Beverley Bernard, the current deputy, who could be a contender for
the job.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 8 August page 4

The nanny state guide to fatherhood

The sum of £73,000 has been spent by the government on a
magazine telling fathers how to talk to their sons.

The booklet is aimed at helping men with sons aged 11 to 14, the
group most likely to under achieve at school in English and
mathematics.

Critics say the information contained is so simplistic it could
be offensive to parents.

The 16-page publication called ‘Dads & sons a winning team’,
is published by the department for education and skills. One
million copies will be distributed nationwide.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 8 August page 7

Conditions in jails ‘close to breaching Human
Rights Act’

Conditions in jails may be breaching prisoners’ human
rights, according to the chief inspector of prisons.

Anne Owers criticised ministers for allowing offenders to be
packed into overcrowded, and cramped prisons without tackling the
issues that led them to break the law in the first place.

In an interview with the ‘New Statesman’ magazine, she said the
rapid rise in the prison population, now standing at a record
72,000, could leave the Prison Service open to a legal challenge
alleging that inmates are suffering “inhumane and degrading”
treatment.

“My feeling, and that of many governors, is that we are much
nearer to breaches of the Human Rights Act than a year ago. It is
something the government should alert the Prison Service to,” Owers
said.

Source:- The
Independent Thursday 8 August
page 2

Scottish newspapers

Drug-related deaths reach all time high

Drug-related deaths have reached an all time record high
according to the latest statistics from the Scottish executive.

The death toll rose by 14 per cent last year to a total of 332
people. Heroin remains the biggest killer by far causing 65 per
cent of deaths while ecstasy and cocaine figures have also
increased.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 8 August page 5

More pupils in line for ban

A landmark legal ruling is set to force local authorities across
Scotland to exclude more pupils from school.

Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell at Glasgow sheriff court ruled that it
had been wrong of Glasgow council to bar a pupil by permanently
transferring him to another school.

While the council are studying the details of the judgement it
looks set to force education departments to exclude pupils from
education entirely. If the judgement is applied across the country
it looks set to work against Scottish executive targets to reduce
the number of children excluded from education.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 8 August page 1

Welsh newspapers

Council take action to tackle crisis in
care

Thousands of workers are being briefed about a shake-up in
Cardiff social services.

Staff are being warned that they face a ‘culture of
change’ following controversy over the way that the service
is handled.

The changes are being introduced prior to what is expected to be
a critical joint review by the Audit Commission and the Welsh
Assembly’s Social Services Inspectorate, which is due to be
published next month.

It is understood that the report will say that services are
“fragmented and inconsistent”.

Source:- South Wales Echo Wednesday 7 August page 4

Assembly ‘has power to run troubled council
department’

The Welsh assembly said last night it had the power to take over
the running of Cardiff’s troubled social services department
if serious failings were identified.

The department has been marred by controversy, and a highly
critical review of the service is due out later this year.

Last week a senior social worker Neil White was dismissed over
claims that he would not discipline a woman who blew the whistle on
abuse at a residential home for older people in Cardiff.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 8 August page 1