News round up: Child prostitutes ‘left in danger by councils’

Escaped child prostitutes say councils left them in danger

Trafficked children who have escaped enforced prostitution in the UK say they were left in danger by social services departments that housed them in unsafe accommodation close to their abusers.

Victims from China and Uganda who got away from gangs who had raped and drugged them told the Guardian that they were placed alone in B&Bs and flats where they lived in fear of recapture by the gangs.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

Investigation into employment conditions for care homes in residential homes

Who will care for older people in the future … experienced council-employed staff or poorly-paid migrants in cash-starved independent homes?

Read more on this story in Society Guardian

Teenage pregnancies rise despite £6m government campaign

An attempt to repeat the success of an American programme that cut teenage pregnancies has failed in the UK, leading to an increase rather than a drop in the number of girls getting pregnant, according to an evaluation published today.

The UK project, which cost £5.9m and involved 2,500 youngsters aged 13 to 15 across England, also failed to delay drinking and cannabis use.
Read more on this story in The Guardian

Migrants ‘not given housing priority’

Claims that immigrants are given priority access to social housing were dismissed yesterday as a myth by the equalities watchdog.

A study for the Equality and Human Rights Commission found that social tenants who had moved to the UK within the past five years accounted for only 1.8 per cent. Some 87.8 per cent were UK-born and 10 per cent were foreigners who had lived in Britain for more than five years.

Read more on this story in The Independent

Peers reject relaxing law on assisted dying

A move to relax the law on assisted dying was thrown out by the Lords on Tuesday night.

Peers voted by 194 to141 to reject a proposal to allow people to help someone with a terminal illness travel to a country where assisted suicide is legal.

All three major parties allowed peers a free vote on the amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill.

Read more on this story in The Times