By Clare Jerrom, Shona Main and Alex Dobson.
Shift parenting leaves fathers most deprived
Many British fathers barely see their children during the week because of working hours, according to research.
Forty five per cent of fathers returned home from work after their children had gone to bed, while 41 per cent left the house before their children got up.
When both parents working hours were taken together, research showed that only a minority of families have both parents working a nine-to-five shift.The result is a parenting shift where one parent cares for the children while the other works.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation study said some parents saw shift parenting as beneficial, as it allowed them to maximise the time they spent with their children.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 25 September page 4
Boy, 12, is cleared of killing refugee after football row
A 15-year-old boy was convicted of manslaughter yesterday after he asked his younger cousin to fetch him the "biggest, sharpest knife" he could find, and then used it to stab another boy to death.
The younger cousin, aged 12, was cleared of manslaughter and murder, while the convicted boy was told by the judge that he faced years in custody for killing the Somalian refugee.
The youth, who stabbed Kayser Osman in the heart outside a youth club, was cleared of murder on the grounds of provocation.
The court heard how the killing was the result of a six week dispute between the 15-year-old and Osman, which came to a head following a game of football last March.
The younger defendant, who was 11 at the time, accepted that he had "dutifully" fetched the knife but told the jury he thought it would be used just to scare the victim.
Osman fled Mogadishu with his family in 1989.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 25 September page 5
Cherie Booth attacks government’s record on children’ rights
The government was criticised by the prime minister’s wife last night for being "half hearted" about children’s rights, and failing to live up to its obligations under the UN convention on the rights of a child.
Cherie Booth QC called on the government to set up a children’s rights commission to safeguard the rights of vulnerable children and give them a voice.
She predicted the UN committee on the rights of the child, which is due to report next month on the UK’s compliance with the convention, would "find the government wanting in a number of respects, including juvenile justice, education, asylum seekers and refugees".
Tony Blair’s wife said children from the poorest families in the UK were among the unhealthiest in the developed world. The UK had "one of the worst records in Europe for locking up children", and conditions in young offender institutions were "far from conducive to effective development".
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 25 September page 10
Guardian Society
For love or money
With top salaries lagging way behind the private sector, it seems that much more money is needed to attract quality chief executives to public services. But is it just a question of cash?
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 25 September page 2
Life’s no holiday
The letter of the law is making people homeless in Cornwall
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 25 September page 4
Balanced view
Union welcomes staff code revisions
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 25 September page 4
Sent to Kent
Inconsistencies in the national provision of fostering mean that many children end up living far from home and without access to schooling
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 25 September page 10
Vicious victims
Wendy Wallace on why many experts believe the only way to solve the problem of child abuse is to help the perpetrators
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 25 September page 120-119
Giving with one hand…
New care payments guidance adds to disability inequalities
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 25 September page 119
Scottish newspapers
Accusations fly over homelessness rise
The Scottish executive has been accused of "fiddling the figures" of Scotland's homeless.
The number of homeless people in Scotland has risen 3 per cent over the last year. The executive said the rise was due to a better awareness of new procedures.
The SNP's shadow social justice minister Kenneth Gibson claimed the new methods of calculating the number of homeless as a "fiddle". He said: "To make matters worse, rather than addressing the problem, New Labour have adopted the old Tory trick of fiddling the figures by changing the way they are assessed."
A bill was introduced to the parliament last week that proposes to widen the definition of priority need for housing to include the homeless.
Source:- The Herald Wednesday 25 September page 6
25 per cent of Scots admit racism
A survey carried out by the executive has revealed that one in four Scots are "slightly racist", while more than half of those polled admitted they would be concerned if more people from ethnic minorities arrived in Scotland.
The findings of this survey were announced as the executive launched its £1 million advertising campaign to tackle racism and value diversity.
The adverts, which will appear on television, cinema and radio, seek to challenge commonly held racist attitudes, behaviour and speech.
Dharmendra Kanani, head of the Commission for Racial Equality Scotland, welcomed the campaign.
He said: "For too long, the anti-racist debate has focused on the size of the ethnic minority community and that complacency must end. This wide-ranging campaign aims to challenge overt and subtle forms of racism as well as to underline a positive message about the benefits of tackling racism and embracing diversity."
Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 25 September page 11
Welsh newspapers
‘I firmly believe that there was a cover-up job’ says father
The father of a man who claims he was abused at a school in south Wales has accused former governors of a ‘cover-up’ to protect the reputation of Welsh education.
He told the Clywch inquiry, which is looking at the circumstances surrounding alleged abuse by John Owen, a former drama teacher at the school, that senior management had covered up allegations of abuse when they surfaced in 1991.
He said that this might have been to protect the good name of the school and of Welsh education.
Owen resigned from the school, Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen in Pontypridd in 1991 following allegations from a parent that her daughter had been asked to perform a sex act with a boy during a drama workshop.
Another parent had made similar claims that governors at the school had not taken any action following allegations of abuse, and she said in her evidence to the inquiry that she suspected a ‘whitewash’ had taken place.
The inquiry chaired by Peter Clarke, children’s commissioner for Wales, heard evidence yesterday from the parents of three of Owen's alleged victims.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 25 September page 1 and 5
Man faces four more sex charges
The former head of a network of children’s homes in north Wales who faces a series of sex charges has been charged with four more offences.
John Allen, formerly of Wrexham, appeared at Flintshire magistrates court at Mold yesterday afternoon.
He faces two charges of an illegal sex act and two charges of indecent assault on a boy under 16 that date back to the 1960s. He has already indicated not guilty pleas to a total of 21 offences that occurred over a period of 34 years.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 25 September page 3
Big Issue Addicts Crisis
A survey of sellers of the Big Issue in Wales has found that many of them are addicted to drugs.
Big Issue Cymru director Su West said that the organisation had carried out research and found that many of its vendors had addiction problems. She said that the research had also shown that the majority wanted to receive treatment and that the real problem was a lack of services to help sellers come off drugs.
But she warned that anyone who was suspected of dealing would be reported to the police and sacked.
Source:- South Wales Echo Tuesday 24 September pages 1 and 11
