Friday 13 December 2002

    By Amy Taylor, Shona Main and Alex Dobson.

    Councils threaten rankings challenge

    The Audit Commission is facing a legal challenge from three
    local authorities over its league tables ranking Britain’s
    best and worst councils.

    Both Torbay and Salford councils are seeking a judicial review
    of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment which they believe gave
    them a lower rating than they deserved.

    Ealing Council is in the process of challenging its position and
    if the ranking is not improved, will also take legal action.

    The league tables rank councils as excellent, good, fair, weak
    and poor. If the legal action is successful the government may have
    to introduce new legislation giving it powers to enforce
    assessments.

    Source:- The Times  Friday 13 December page 2

    Fears for fresher who vanished on mission to talk to the
    homeless

    A mother gave an emotional appeal last night for her daughter to
    come home for Christmas after the 19-year-old disappeared after
    going to interview homeless people.

    Victoria Stephenson was last seen on Tuesday lunchtime when she
    told friends she was taking a bus to the city centre to talk to the
    homeless for her community studies coursework.

    Last night police, who are passing photographs round soup
    kitchens, said they were extremely concerned about the first-year
    student at Manchester Metropolitan University.

    Source:- The Times  Friday 13 December page 1

    Call for TB and HIV tests on all immigrants

    All immigrants should be given a medical test before they are
    allowed into the country, according to the former head of the
    government agency responsible for controlling diseases in
    Britain.

    Lord Turnberg, who retired as chairperson of the Public Health
    Laboratory Service in July, said that measures were needed to
    combat the spread of tuberculosis and HIV, where the recent surge
    in cases is largely the result of increased immigration from
    countries with high levels of the infections.

    Source:- The Times  Friday 13 December page 6

    Hauliers have £12m asylum fines waived

    Lorry drivers will be let off fines totalling £12m imposed
    for bringing illegal immigrants into Britain.

    The home office will no longer collect the outstanding penalties
    handed out as a result of a scheme aimed at curbing the number of
    asylum seekers entering the country. But it is not to refund the
    £2m of fines already paid.

    Source:- The Times  Friday 13 December
    page 6

    Caning at school ‘not a human
    right’

    A group of independent schools failed yesterday to have the cane
    brought back into use.

    The Christian Schools Trust representing 40 schools argued that
    parents’ human rights were being infringed because they could
    not sanction staff to beat their children.

    Lord Justice Buxton at London’s appeal court rejected
    claims that the ban conflicted with the European Convention on
    Human Rights.

    Source:- The Times  Friday 13 December page 14

    Parents of truants face fines from heads

    Parents of persistent truants could be given “fixed
    penalty” fines by headteachers as part of a new package of
    measures to improve bad behaviour and attendance in schools, the
    government announced yesterday.

    Teachers leaders and education experts said the proposals were
    dangerous and inappropriate and would make it even more difficult
    for schools to build more positive relations with the parents of
    unruly youngsters.

    Source:- The Guardian  Friday 13 December page 10

    Councils give refugees cheap leisure passes

    Asylum seekers in Birmingham are to be given discounts at the
    city’s Premiership football grounds, fitness centres and golf
    clubs.

    Refugees are to be offered a special pass that allows them a
    range of discounted leisure activities in an extension of
    “The Passport to Leisure” scheme.

    This is usually free to those aged over 70 but is being
    introduced because Birmingham believes the city’s 6,000
    asylum seekers have little to do during the day.

    Source:- Daily Telegraph  Friday 13 December page 8

    FA issues rules on videos of children

    Parents will have to sign a form from the Football Association
    if they want to take photographs or video footage of their children
    playing football.

    The form will say that the images will not be used for
    inappropriate purposes such as pornography.

    The move, which the FA describes as “commonsense”
    comes after headmistress Sue Stokes from Luton banned parents from
    filming the school nativity play in case images ended up in the
    hands of paedophiles.

    Source:- Daily Telegraph  Friday 13 December page
    15

    Scottish newspapers

    Plan to cut student suicides as study finds one in five
    is depressed

    Universities across Scotland have been issued with guidelines on
    how to tackle the risk of suicide among students.

    A report by Universities UK claims that one in five first-year
    students are depressed.

    Diana Warwick, chief executive of Universities UK, said,
    “I hope this document will help to raise awareness of the
    issues, build on existing good practice and help the sector to take
    appropriate steps to reduce the risks.”

    Source:- The Scotsman Friday 13th December page 6

    Big rise in Britain’s ethnic population

    Britain’s ethnic minority population has risen by almost
    1.5 million in the last decade, according to the Office of National
    Statistics.

    Nearly 4.5 million people from ethnic minorities were living in
    Britain in 2001–2.

    In England ethnic minorities make up 9 per cent of the
    population, while in Wales and Scotland, only 2 per cent of the
    population are ethnic minorities.

    Source: The Herald Friday 13th December page 10

    Welsh newspapers

    Evicted family spend winter nights in car

    A single mother claims she has spent several nights sleeping in
    a car with her four children following eviction from her home.

    Toni Gale was evicted from her Cardiff council house after it
    was claimed that she had caused serious damage to the property and
    harassed neighbours.

    But since she was evicted, she says that she and her four
    children, the youngest of whom is only 18 months old, have been
    sleeping in the family car.

    Source:- South Wales Echo Thursday 12 December page
    2

    Interpol joins hunt for lovestruck girl, 14

    Interpol were last night helping search for a teenage girl from
    north Wales who has run away to Turkey to marry a man she met on
    holiday.

    It is believed that Rachel Lloyd from Wrexham may have forged
    documents to wed 24-year-old Mehmet Ocack, despite being under
    age.

    Wrexham social services are working closely with the police and
    Rachel’s family to ensure her safe return.

    Source:- Western Mail Friday 13 December page 1

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