By Clare Jerrom, Reg McKay and Alex Dobson.
Taxman is adding to burdens on carers
Carers who use direct payments to employ helpers to look after their sick or disabled relatives at home are being forced to register as small businesses by the Inland Revenue.
The ruling has left thousands of carers submerged under piles of tax forms and related paperwork, adding to their daily workload rather than reducing it.
Peter Sinclair, who advises carers on behalf of Dorset social services department, said it was not unusual for carers receiving direct payments to end up in this situation.
Source:- The Telegraph, Friday July 19 page 7
Clean slate for young offenders
Children who commit "out-of-character" minor offences will have their criminal records wiped when they reach 18 to avoid damaging their chances of finding jobs in adulthood, under a proposed reform of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
The new scheme, which would apply retrospectively, involves substantial cuts in the length of time that must pass before certain convictions are spent and would offer juvenile offenders and those convicted of minor crimes a clean sheet.
However, for jobs involving a level of trust, such as working with children or vulnerable adults, convictions would never be spent.
Source:- The Telegraph, Friday July 19 page 8
Prescott to slash county control of building houses
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced plans yesterday to accelerate housing growth in four areas in south east England to deal with rising house prices and a shortage of homes.
Prescott promised an extra 200,000 homes in Thames Gateway, Ashford, Milton Keynes, and the London-Cambridge corridor over the next 15 years – on top of the 23,000 a year already promised for London and 39,000 a year in the south east – to help first-time buyers and key public sector workers who can no longer afford to buy.
Source:- The Telegraph, Friday July 19, page 15
"Meltdown" warning given because 13,000 care places were lost last year
More than 13,000 residential care places for older people were lost last year, according to a new report.
During 2001, 9,600 private care home places were lost, compared to 7,200 in 2000, while local authority homes lost 2,300 places. However the Care of Elderly People Market Survey 2002 suggests that demand for care declined at a similar rate.
Source:- The Independent, Friday 19 July page 6
British diplomats turn away boys claiming asylum
Britain has rejected the appeals of two Afghan boys seeking asylum in the British Consulate in Melbourne.
The brothers, aged 12 and 13, arrived at the consulate yesterday morning appealing for asylum. They had been in hiding for three weeks having escaped from the desert detention centre at Woomera in South Australia where they had been for 18 months.
They were taken to a detention centre by Australian federal police officers yesterday evening. Australia has also refused to give them asylum.
Source:- The Times, Friday July 19 page 13
Prisons to stay full until at least October
Prisons in England and Wales will be full until at least October, the head of the prison service told MPs last night.
Director general Martin Narey said the 71,400 jail population was only a couple of hundred short of the "usable prison capacity" and 111 inmates were being kept in police cells yesterday.
He also confirmed that spending negotiations between the chancellor and the home secretary over his bid for 10,800 more prison places have still not been resolved.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday July 19 page 8
Scottish and Welsh papers
Fine dodgers to be excused jail
Offenders who fail to pay fines will no longer be jailed if Scottish executive plans go through in a bid to cut the prison population.
Latest figures show that almost one in four people jailed in Scotland are imprisoned because of non-payment of fines. In recent months Scotland’s prison population has escalated to a new high of 6,666 with some prisons at 40 per cent over capacity. Scottish executive officials are drawing up plans to run pilots at two courts where alternatives to custody will be imposed.
Source:- The Scotsman Friday 19 July page 1
SNP will be tough on young offenders
The Scottish National Party has announced that it will crack down on young offenders doubling the number of secure accommodation places in the country if they gain power.
SNP leader, John Swinney, also pledged to improve youth services around the country in an effort to make young people feel more valued. Labour accused the SNP of "economic illiteracy" and said that the SNP had costed the doubling of secure placements at £20m, while the real figure was £63m in the first year.
Source:- The Herald Friday 19 July page 6
‘Village’ hopes for patients at Grange
Gwent Health Authority and the families of four vulnerable residents of Llanfrecha Grange Hospital in south Wales have reached a compromise over their future care.
Following the withdrawal of the judicial review at the High Court in London, there is now to be a feasibility study into the merits of the hospital’s residents moving into a ‘village community’.
Bob Hudson, chief executive of the health authority, said that he welcomed the settlement and added that a village community might be incorporated into the existing hospital site if the families could form a ‘partnership’ with potential developers.
John Evans, the father of one of the residents, said that he welcomed the decision as a ‘step in the right direction’ for the remaining residents at the Grange but much remained to be done.
Source:- South Wales Argus Thursday 18 July page 7
Face from the past drives rape victim to suicide
A woman killed herself following the trauma of coming face to face with the uncle who had raped her 20 years earlier because she was given no warning of his release from prison.
Following Siobhan Lee’s death her distraught partner Elliot Jones also took his own life because he could not bear to live without her.
After an inquest into the couple’s deaths yesterday, Siobhan’s father John Lee and victim support agencies said the couple would never have killed themselves if more had been done to protect Siobhan from her attacker.
Victim Support spokesperson Andrew Buckingham said: "This should not have happened. There are clear guidelines now which say victims of sex attackers or those deemed to be dangerous should be contacted when perpetrators are about to be released."
Source:- Western Mail Friday 19 July page 1
