News round up: Public sector workers will get rises

Public sector workers will get rises

A series of inflation busting pay rises for millions of public sector workers was given the green light yesterday – at a time when private firms are freezing wages and cutting jobs.
In a sign that Labour is unwilling to take on the unions, the Government has agreed to honour increases of more than 2 per cent a year until 2011.
Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

Call for grandparent leave and tax credits to reward child carers

Working grandparents would be entitled to two weeks of “granny leave” after the birth of a grandchild under plans to be submitted to the government today.

The charity Grandparents Plus says Britain’s 14 million grandparents are helping to keep families afloat by providing childcare worth £3.9bn a year. Nearly a third are below retirement age and many are making an economic sacrifice to look after the grandchildren.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Public blasts social services in damning opinion poll

Baby P’s tragic death has dented public confidence in social services, a poll published today has revealed.
The survey by the Local Government Association found 42 per cent of Brits said their opinion of social workers had got worse since the case.

Read more on this story in The Sun

Social workers’ status suffers after Baby P

The public’s opinion of social workers has fallen in the wake of the death of Baby P, a survey said today.

The ComRes poll for the Local Government Association (LGA) found 42 per cent of people said their view of social workers had got worse since the death of the 17-month-old north London toddler.

Read more on this story in The Independent