Including Saturday and Sunday.
By Clare Jerrom and Reg McKay.
Ruling forces prisons to relax policy on jail babies
Mothers may now be able to keep their babies in prison after the current 18-month cut off age, the court of appeal ruled yesterday. The age may increase to three or four, according to the ruling.
The test cases arose after two mothers convicted of drug offences argued that separating them from their children breached their right to family life under the European Convention of Human Rights.
Last May, the high court ruled that the prison service was allowed to run its inflexible policy. But yesterday (Friday) Lord Phillips, Lord Justice Brook and Lady Justice Hale allowed the appeal of one mother known as Q. The service must now reconsider her case, although the appeal from prisoner P was rejected on the grounds that a reconsideration was unlikely to find another outcome.
The judges said the home office and the prison service were entitled to a policy, but to enforce it rigidly defeated the policy’s aim of promoting the welfare of the child.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 21 July page 7
Bulger killers go to halfway houses
The two killers of toddler James Bulger have left secure care and moved into halfway houses as part of their planned reintegration to society.
Robert Thompson and Jon Venables moved after each one was allowed to go on a short holiday to disclosed locations in Britain. Both have been held in local authority secure units since being convicted of murder in 1993.
A source said yesterday: "They will probably have less privacy in the halfway house than in the secure unit. These houses are not palatial and the boys will be under 24-hour supervision, at least in the initial stages."
The home office refused to comment about the move or holiday.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Saturday 21 July page 8
Brixton mob ransacks shops after gun demo
Three police officers have been injured after stone throwing youths took to the streets of Brixton in south London on Friday.
The violence broke out after a demonstration over the shooting of a man carrying a lighter in the shape of a gun.
Although the demonstration was peaceful, youths smashed windows and threw stones after it finished at the estate where Derek Bennett was shot.
A police spokesperson said: "There have been isolated incidents of criminal damage and sporadic incidents of public disorder by small groups of youths."
Source:- Daily Telegraph Saturday 21 July page 8
Ministers fail to spend £7bn meant for public services
Public services were denied funding of £7 billion as the government failed to reach its spending targets, according to a report from the Treasury.
Whitehall departments are estimated to have spent £190.5 billion in the year to April 2001, 3 per cent less than their agreed limit of £197.4 billion.
The shortfalls were in education and health.
Dan Hodges of the GMB union said the report raised questions over the need to introduce private sector input to public services.
The doh spent only £44.8 billion of its £45.5 billion limit.
Source:- Independent Saturday 21 July page 2
Adopted woman wins court fight to reveal her past
Adoption agencies could be forced to be more open with their records, following a landmark case involving a woman adopted in the war.
Linda Gunn-Russo had taken high court action against the agency involved in her case, which refused to divulge details about her early life. The Nugent Care Society were told to review its decision document by document by Mr Justice Scott Baker.
Catholic run children’s society NCS insisted its policy was to withhold records that either the birth or adoptive parents wanted kept confidential. But the judge said the agency had not exercised the "wide discretion" it had under the adoption regulations to disclose information on an individual case.
The NCS promised to review its policy on disclosure and will reach a fresh decision about Gunn-Russo.
Source:- Independent Saturday 21 July page 12
Eurotunnel faces £2m fines over rail stowaways
An aggressive crackdown on illegal immigrants could leave Eurotunnel facing fines of £2 million per month.
Ministers have ordered the company to sort out the security mess at the French terminal, which allows an estimated 1,000 stowaways a month to smuggle themselves into Britain.
A source close to the home secretary said the company had been issued with a formal compliance order that could lead to it being forced to pay millions of pounds in fines, if security is not improved.
Source:- The Sunday Times 22 July page 14
Job rule to be eased for asylum seekers
Asylum seekers can seek work on entering Britain, according to proposals being prepared by the home secretary.
Ministers hope the new rule would enable Britain’s staff shortages in areas such as health, education and engineering to be improved, and the move would save the Treasury money in social security benefits.
Currently asylum seekers are prevented from seeking employment until their residency claim has been processed and they have been in the country for six months.
Unemployment is at a 25-year low and falling. The moves should also reduce the 25 per cent of asylum seekers thought to be working on the black market.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph 22 July page 6
Government to announce £300m for childcare
A £300 million expansion of childcare will be announced by Estelle Morris this week.
The secretary of state for education will announce a major package designed to help working families with children.
There will be 45,000 new childcare places in 900 neighbourhood nurseries. Money from the European social fund will be invested in extra training for childcare workers.
The plan is part of the government’s strategy to place children at the heart of the second term.
Source:- Independent on Sunday 22 July page 10
Kilshaws to adopt third baby and leave Britain
The couple who shocked the nation by paying for twin girls in America through a baby broker, plan to adopt again and move to Turkey.
Judith and Alan Kilshaw lost the high court battle to keep the American girls, whom they bought for £8,200. They intend to approach the Californian agency again and move their family to Turkey in a bid to evade Britain’s adoption regulations.
The couple smuggled the girls into Britain in December last year and spent three months battling for custody with Flintshire social services. Twins Belinda and Kimberley were made wards of court and eventually returned to Missouri, their birth state.
The revelations come in a documentary to be shown on Wednesday entitled Meet the Kilshaws.
Source:- The Mail on Sunday 22 July page 41
The asylum ‘stockpile’
More than 30,000 asylum claims have gone astray in a bid by the home office to stop them showing up on statistics, it has emerged.
Asylum claims that have been rejected are being hidden by officials as opposed to being passed on to an appeal tribunal, which would rule on whether to grant refugee status.
The secret stockpile is a desperate bid to please ministers that asylum claims waiting for an initial decision have been slashed.
Last night the Tories accused the government of fiddling the figures.
Immigration minister Angela Eagle defended the delays: "For every appeal lodged, the immigration and nationality directorate has to review the grounds advanced and may as a consequence need to reconsider all the circumstances of the case.
"Appeals are not forwarded to IAA until this consideration has been completed, and appeal papers have been prepared," she added.
Source:- Daily Mail Monday 23 July page 29
Care homes use ‘chemical cosh’ on the elderly
Sedative drug prescriptions for older people have almost doubled in the last year, according to a report today.
There is a 70 per cent rise in prescriptions of anti-psychotic drugs for the over 60s between 1999 and 2000.
The report prompts fears that older people with dementia are being drugged to the state of zombies and stripped of their dignity.
The drugs such as Clozapine, Olanzapine and Zotepine are used to control disturbed behaviour in patients, especially those suffering dementia. It is widely believed the increase in these drugs has happened as a result of staff shortages in residential and nursing homes.
Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for older people, said the figures were "very frightening", and the government had failed to act on the Royal College of Physicians’ call four years ago for a national review of prescribing guidelines.
"Older people are the victims of a chemical cosh," he said
"With a chronic shortage of specialised staff to support older people with dementia and other mental health problems, these figures show that care homes are turning to a chemical cocktail of drugs to keep people quiet and easier to manage," he added.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Monday 23 July page 7
Passport for patients
Thousands of National Health Service patients could be sent abroad for treatment.
Britain has the longest waiting times for surgery in Europe, and a ruling earlier this month from a European court of justice means the government cannot refuse to pay for Britons to be paid in other EU countries, unless the NHS can provide the same treatment without undue delay.
Former minister Frank Field has called for health secretary Alan Milburn to cut waiting lists by allowing patients to be treated overseas. Last year he proposed the set up of NHS International to co-ordinate sending Britons abroad for quicker, cheaper surgery.
So far the government has refused to use this method to cut waiting lists and the department of health said last night this option was not one being considered.
Source:- Daily Mail Monday 23 July page 19
Underage sex linked to single parent families
Teenagers in families whose parents remain together are less likely to have underage sex, than victims of divorce, according to a report.
The study, based on responses from more than 2,250 young people makes direct links between teenagers’ home environments and attitudes towards sex.
The report will be presented to the Lords and Commons family and child protection group tomorrow, and will suggest that there needs to be a strong emphasis on marriage as the ideal type of family unit for raising children, as married couples in a good relationship have offspring less likely to have underage sex.
Source:- The Guardian Monday 23 July page 12
Scottish newspapers
New approach to domestic abuse
People who abuse their partners and children may face counsellors rather than criminal prosecution in a ground-breaking proposal planned for Edinburgh. Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration have drawn up proposals for the initiative in consultation with the Scottish executive.
If successful, the pilot project will start with low levels of domestic abuse where successful prosecutions are rare due to the reluctance of family members to stand as witnesses against each other.
The announcement comes as latest figures indicate that domestic abuse in Scotland has increased by more than 100 per cent during the last 20 years.
Source:- The Herald Saturday 21 July page 1
Hospital reopens in private care crisis
A former hospital has been reopened in preparation to accommodate older people refused admission to privately owned residential or nursing units in the ongoing dispute over care home fees.
Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride was closed in March and staff and equipment were moved to a new £67.5 million hospital built on an adjacent site. Lanarkshire Health Board has now set up 25 to 30 beds in the old hospital in anticipation of an escalating crisis over the private care dispute.
Scottish Care, representing most of the private home owners, has warned that no new council-funded residents will be admitted after next Monday if they do not receive an additional £50 per resident per week
Source:- The Herald Monday 23 July
Youth crime down in Strathclyde
Youth crime is significantly down in Strathclyde, covered by one of the largest police forces in Europe. Comparing 1999/2000 with 1996/97, the number of children responsible for robbery and assault was 4.6 per cent compared with 15.3 per cent. The number of juvenile housebreakers fell from 15.5 per cent to 2.3 per cent over the same period. Strathclyde has attracted controversy by introducing schemes such as night time curfews focussing on those under 16 years.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 23 July page 8
Police hunt delinquent for death of woman of 91
Tayside police are hunting an attacker who may have caused the death of a 91-year- old woman in sheltered housing by smashing a window in her flat. Police are working on the theory that she may have died of a heart attack as a result of the trauma of the incident.
If caught, the attacker is likely to be charged with culpable homicide. The attack took place at Ashgrove Court sheltered housing complex in Blairgowrie, Perthshire.
Source:- The Herald Monday 23 July page 1
