Beliefs on ageism revealed

Beliefs on ageism revealed
Many people believe businesses are unwilling to employ older workers in spite of new moves aimed at outlawing age discrimination, research by Help the Aged has revealed.
Source:- Financial Times, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 4

Parents plead for Asbo to control son, 10
The parents of a 10-year-old boy who is terrorising a neighbourhood are backing a move that would make him one of the youngest to be given an antisocial behaviour order
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 4

Labour unveils plans for BBC-style charter for NHS
A constitution for the NHS similar to the BBC Charter, is to be proposed in a radical package backed by Tony Blair.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 1

Victims of 7/7 bombs were not given enough help, ministers admit
The victims of the July bombings in London last year were let down by the authorities, with many left feeling forgotten or unimportant on the day and in the weeks that followed the attacks, ministers admitted yesterday in the official report on the emergency response to 7/7.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 11

400,000 children are given ‘good behaviour’ drug
Almost 400,000 children were last year prescribed Ritalin, a drug almost unknown in Britain in the early 1990s, according to a former Leeds University lecturer and mother of two.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 4

Ritalin and counselling
Inept schools and parenting are failing youngsters.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 4

Nursery children to be fingerprinted
Children as young as three are to be fingerprinted by a nursery school to make sure they return their library books.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 4

Asylum seekers to get Di fund
The Diana Memorial Fund was under fire last night. Accounts reveal the late Princess’s charity gave £715,000 to refugees last year. The fund also donated £545,000 to prisoners and their families.
Source:- The Sun, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 7

Ex-council leader is sentenced
Kenneth Leadbeater, the former Tory leader of Dartford Council, in Kent, pleaded guilty to 14 counts of making indecent images of children between 1997 and 2006. He was given a 36-month community rehabilitation order, during which he must attend the Thames Valley sex offenders group.
Source:- The Times, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 29

Paedophiles may be named over murder of girl in 1957
Members of an alleged paedophile ring said to have been involved in one of Britain’s most notorious unsolved murders — the killing of Moira Anderson — could be identified under Freedom of Information laws.
Source:- The Times, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 27

Isle of Wight Council buys ‘thinking caps’ to aid cost cutting
A council faced with budget cuts has spent almost £2,000 to issue staff with “thinking caps” and puzzles to help them come up with money-saving ideas.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Saturday 23 September 2006, page 2

Experts left killer Stone free to strike
The psychopath Michael Stone remained free to kill because those supervising him were divided about his psychiatric condition, according to a report to be published tomorrow.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 24 September 2006, page 7

Satanic abuse key witness says: I lied
A key witness in one of Scotland’s most notorious child abuse cases has admitted lying to the police, The Observer can reveal. Angela Stretton, whose evidence was vital in bringing a case of satanic sex abuse against eight people on the island of Lewis, has written to police confessing that some of the allegations she made were false.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 24 September 2006

Councils may get right to levy more tax
Town halls should be free to set their own levels of council tax without being “capped” by Whitehall, an official review conducted by Sir Michael Lyons is to recommend this December.
Source:- Sunday Times, 24 September 2006, page 2

Reid to restrict rights for new EU workers
A “points system” is to be imposed on workers from Romania and Bulgaria in an attempt to stem the growing tide of immigration to the UK.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, 24 September 2006, page 7

Taxpayers foot huge bill for ‘quango state’
Taxpayers’ money spent annually on quangos and other public bodies has soared by 50 per cent, to £123.8 billion, in only two years.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, 24 September 2006, page 13

Growing up in care
Young people in care face a grim future, a report said last week. The poet Lemn Sissay managed to build a better life.
Source:- Independent on Sunday, 24 September 2006, page 54

Police cells ready as jail crisis looms
Emergency plans to house convicted prisoners in police cells are being drawn up by the government as jails in England and Wales come close to overflowing.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 24 September 2006, page 9

Foreign prisoners squad is disbanded
The hunt for more than 1,000 foreign prisoners who were freed without being considered for deportation has been quietly wound down, even though hundreds are still on the run.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, 24 September 2006, page 1

Childhood analysed: young offenders, smacking and the age of criminal responsibility
By imposing unrealistic and punitive regimes on them, we are letting down our young.. Source:- The Observer, Sunday 24 September 2006, page 33

Call for Saturday classes
Alan Johnson has set out radical education reforms, including plans for state school children to go to classes on Saturdays.
Source:- Sunday Times, 24 September 2006, page 1

Courtroom battle for Molly threatens to turn bloody
On Tuesday, the legal fight over 12-year-old Molly Campbell begins in Pakistan, when her mother will ask for her return after she disappeared from her Scottish home.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 24 September 2006, page 39

Anger as gay fathers post pictures of their children on dating site
Britain’s first gay surrogate fathers have provoked concern after posting photographs of their children on an explicit gay dating website.
Source:- Mail on Sunday, 24 September 2006, page 40

Asylum seeker’s ultimate sacrifice.
The story of Manuel Bravo, the man who killed himself so his son could stay.
Source:- Sunday Times, 24 September 2006, page 16

High court threat wins mother full inquest into daugther’s murder
A coroner has reversed his decision to not to hold an inquest into the murder of Naomi Bryant, who was killed by a sex offender nine months after he left jail.
Mid-Hampshire coroner Graham Short’s move came after Liberty, which represents Naomi’s mother, threatened to make a High Court challenge under the Human Rights Act.
Source:- The Guardian, Monday 25 September 2006, page 13

Ministers set for defeat over private sector role in NHS
Delegates look set to pass a Labour conference motion calling for a halt to the outsourcing of health services and a curb on the government’s payment by results scheme, against ministerial wishes.
The motion is proposed by trade unions opposed to the government’s NHS reform programme.
Source:- Financial Times, Monday 25 September 2006, page 2

Britain unlikely to face flood of Balkan migrants
Migrants from Bulgaria and Romania are more likely to go to Italy, Spain, Greece and even Israel than Britain when the countries join the European Union next year, research has shown.
The news follows warnings that Britain would face a huge influx of migrants from the two countries when the joined the EU.
Source:- The Guardian, Monday 25 September 2006, page 4

Pregnancy depression might be more common than post natal
Depression during pregnancy might be more common than after babies are born.
Source: The Daily Telegraph, Monday 25 September 2006, page 7

Scottish news

More drug addicts to warn pupils
Ministers intend to increase the number of reformed drug addicts who visit schools to dissuade youngsters from using illegal substances.
In a speech to a national drugs conference, Cathy Jamieson said anti-drugs education had to be more aggressive.
Jamieson said: “It may draw a sharp intake of breath, but the hard message – hearing the real life experiences from people who have been involved in the drug scene – actually makes a difference to them [pupils].”
Source:- The Scotsman, Saturday 23 September 2006
 
Teacher placed on sex offenders’ register
A primary school headteacher was put on the sex offenders’ register yesterday after being found guilty of grabbing a pupil by the genitals.
Catherine Taylor, 46, was also found guilty at Aberdeen sheriff court of assaulting a girl pupil who had lied about having eaten her lunch.
She was cleared of eight other charges of assaulting pupils aged between four and 11 over a six-year period. Sentence was deferred until 27 October for background reports.
Source:- Scotland on Sunday, 24 September 2006

Desperate asylum seekers go on the run to escape fast-track removal
Failed asylum seekers are increasingly fleeing their homes and going on the run in Scotland in the wake of an escalation in the rate of Home Office removals.  Under a new “voluntary” system of deportation, asylum seekers are being sent letters giving them a time and date to go to Glasgow Airport in order to be flown back to their country of origin.
Asylum seeker campaign groups say that in the past few months at least 70 families have received letters.
Although some have been able to appeal the return, most, they say, have simply vanished. None were aware of any who had returned voluntarily.
Source:- Sunday Herald, 24 September 2006

Charities and clubs under threat from vetting rules
Youth groups, charities and voluntary organisations say they could be forced to close because of new legislation being introduced by the Scottish executive today.
New figures from umbrella body the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations  indicate the new checks on 100,000 paid voluntary sector staff alone will cost more than £2m.
The legislation, which will increase the vetting of those working with children and vulnerable adults following the Bichard inquiry,  is expected to call for retrospective disclosure checks on 850,000 volunteers also.
Source:- The Herald, Monday 25 September 2006

Sporting clubs told to recruit disabled players
Scottish sports clubs have been told to recruit disabled players and guarantee them a weekly game under an equality drive ordered by ministers.
The Scottish executive said it was “important that sports clubs offer opportunities for everyone to play” and has issued guidance on it.
But critics have branded the online publication “control freakery” and even Scotland’s major body for disabled sport appeared to distance itself from the guidance.
Source:- The Scotsman, Monday 25 September 2006

Welsh news

The harsh truth about £6.2m bedblocking backlog
Older people unable to leave hospital after their medical treatment has finished due to their care packages not being arranged is costing hospitals in Cardiff around £6.2m a year it has been revealed. Bosses at Cardiff and Vale NHS trust decided to speak out about the problem after becoming angered by the situation. They accused local councils of not doing enough to support the older people.
Source:- Western Mail, Saturday 23 September 2006

Man accused in grooming case
A 53-year-old man was accused of grooming a North Wales school girl for sexual purposes on the internet at a court in Llandudo yesterday. Gary Scuthings, a married father of two from Leyton, London, is also alleged to have travelled 200 miles to meet the 14-year-old girl.
Source:- Wales on Sunday, 24 September 2006

‘Intolerable bullying at hospital forced nurses to leave’
A group of nurses at one of Wales’ mental health units has claimed staff are suffering from “intolerable levels” of management bullying and harassment.
The nurses, who have declined to be named but work on the acute psychiatric wards at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, in Llantrisant, have complained to the Nursing Midwifery Council  – the profession’s regulatory body.
Source:- Western Mail, Monday 25 September 2006