By Clare Jerrom, Nicola Barry and Alex Dobson.
Britain is chastised by UN over law on smacking children
The laws in Britain which allow parents to smack children in their care are a violation of human rights and should be scrapped immediately, according to the United Nations yesterday.
The government was criticised by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child for "taking no significant action" to ban smacking. The 10-member committee "deeply regretted" the government’s refusal to update English law on corporal punishment, which is based on a statute from 1860, and allows "reasonable chastisement".
The report welcomed moves from Wales to ban childminders from smacking, but was "extremely concerned" that no similar measures existed in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
It called for the creation of an independent human rights institute for children or a children’s commissioner for England, and said there should be a public education programme to emphasise the negative effects of corporal punishment as well as a system for statutory child death inquiries.
Source:- The Times Saturday 5 October page 16
Home office set to rewrite Geneva refugee agreement
The government is planning to rewrite Britain’s commitment to the 1951 Geneva convention on refugees in a bid to reduce the numbers of unfounded asylum seekers reaching Britain.
Downing Street is believed to be looking again at proposals first floated by Jack Straw when he was home secretary two years ago. These would provide European-wide temporary protection programmes for genuine refugees, without them needing to travel thousands of miles to Britain illegally in cross-Channel trains or on the backs of lorries.
The home office is working on a scheme that would allow those whose lives were at risk to have their claims considered before they reach Britain, and so travel to the UK safely and legally.
It would allow ministers to be tougher on those entering Britain with an unfounded claim.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 5 October page 6
Death leap may prompt reforms
An inquiry called for more robust ways of giving help to families struggling with disabled children after a devoted mother leapt from a viaduct with her autistic son.
Social services agencies and individuals were cleared of failing to prevent the deaths of Helen and Mark Rogan in the independent report, but it called for stronger support for families struggling to cope.
The inquiry commissioned by County Durham child protection service had nothing but praise for Helen Rogon, a single parent.
The inquest into the tragedy last year heard how she had been privately terrified of losing her son to care as he grew older, and more difficult to handle when distressed.
She gave Mark and herself an overdose of pills and after failing to cut their wrists, she leapt 180 feet from the viaduct with the 11-year-old.
The North Durham coroner Andrew Tweddle recorded verdicts of suicide and unlawful killing.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 5 October page 10
Refugees’ hotel ship opposed by council
Thurrock council has strongly opposed government plans to house asylum seekers in a barge moored in a port.
Bibby Progress, a former Foreign legion "hotel ship", could accommodate up to 620 people and would be docked permanently at Tilbury , Essex. But Thurrock council has put forward criticism to David Blunkett’s plans.
"We’re doubtful we could cope with the impact of a large number of refugee families in one area," council leader Andy Smith said.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Saturday 5 October page 11
Union leader denounces Blunkett’s bill on asylum seekers as ‘apartheid’
The government’s plans to educate the children of asylum seekers separately from mainstream schools was condemned by trade union leaders, children’s charities and refugee groups as "educational apartheid" that would "make a mockery of tolerant Britain".
After complaining that local schools had been "swamped" by children of asylum seekers, the home secretary’s Asylum and Immigration Bill included plans to educate children of asylum seekers separately in accommodation centres.
Launching a report, Asylum City, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union, Bill Morris, said the centres were "detention camps", and said segregating children for educational purposes was "morally repugnant".
Source:- The Independent Saturday 5 October page 6
Huntley to be protected by 100 police at hearing
More than 100 police officers are to protect a court this week where Ian Huntley will appear, accused of kidnapping and murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman from Soham.
Huntley, a former school caretaker, will be driven from Rampton high security hospital on Tuesday morning in a convoy of police vehicles for the 65-mile journey to Peterborough crown court.
Uniformed police with powers of arrest will replace the normal security guards inside the court, and a police helicopter will give warning of any flashpoints outside.
The precautions are aimed at preventing previous scenes of violence when Huntley and his girlfriend Maxine Carr, who is charged with perverting the course of justice, have been in court.
Source:- The Sunday Times 6 October page 7
Camelot underfunds good causes
Camelot will fall £6 billion short of the sums it pledged to raise for good causes following a slump in ticket sales, the government has warned.
Culture secretary Tessa Jowell has warned heads of various grant-issuing boards to scale down their spending plans on education, health, charities and arts.
Camelot originally set a goal of raising £15 billion for good causes by 2009, but that figure was later slashed to £10.9 billion. It has now emerged the goal has been reduced further.
Camelot is now set to raise £8.8 billion for good causes during the seven-year period.
Source:- The Sunday Times 6 October page 7
Charities in crisis as leading companies cut back donations
Charities are facing a crisis after companies have slashed their donations to good causes.
Other issues affecting charity finances are the facts that they have lost hundreds of millions on the stock market, and the increasingly litigious "compensation culture" imposing extra burdens.
The recent slump in the stock market has caused increasing reluctance among large companies to donate.
The stark effects of the stock market decline on charities was revealed last week when the RSPCA admitted it was putting all capital projects on hold for 12 months after losing £8.8 million on the stock market last year, and a further £7 million this year.
The news came just weeks after The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association said that it had lost £20 million on the stock market in 2001.
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 6 October page 6
Prison does work in reducing offences, researchers claim
Research which found that increasing jail sentences during the 1990s significantly reduced the rates of crime such as domestic burglary, has announced that prison does work.
As the average sentence for burglary increased from around 12 months in 1992 to 18 months in 1998, the numbers of burglaries committed fell by 20 per cent, according to Derek Deadman and Ziggy Macdonald, economists at the University of Leicester.
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 6 October page 12
Mental health tsar pledges to amend bill
The government’s mental health tsar, Louis Appleby has vowed to make changes to the controversial bill governing the treatment of people with mental health problems.
Louis Appleby, the national director for mental health, has admitted that "views have to be listened to" and "changes made" in the draft Mental Health Bill, which he concedes is "complicated" and "hard to read".
The bill includes measures to detain the mentally ill indefinitely without any crime being committed.
Psychiatrists, mental health charities, lawyers and patients have all united against the proposed reforms which they claim will deter the mentally ill from seeking help.
Source:- Independent on Sunday 6 October page 16
Labour’s new iron curtain for refugees
An end to automatic benefit for most applicants for asylum and a halt to thousands of people entering Britain from eastern Europe are among the plans to crackdown on abuses to the asylum system to be announced today.
In an interview with The Times, home secretary David Blunkett explains a series of measures to try and make Britain appear less appealing. The changes are to be added to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill in the final days of it parliamentary passage.
Blunkett has announced a three-prong attack.. Firstly 10 of the countries about to join the European Union will be presumed to be "safe" to stop people applying for asylum in Britain for fear of their lives in those countries. These will include Poland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia and Estonia.
Secondly, applicants applying for asylum inside the UK rather than at airports or ports will have to prove they are eligible for support in the same way British citizens claiming support have to. They will not receive benefits unless they can prove they are applying for asylum at the earliest opportunity.
Thirdly, fresh measures are to be introduced to prevent the soaring growth of those people who are given "exceptional leave to remain".
Source:- The Times Monday 7 October page 1
Prisoners to get £5m legal help over discipline
The government will face costs of up to £5 million a year as prisoners can now have the automatic right to legal representation at internal jail disciplinary hearings.
The move follows a ruling in July, by the European Court of Human Rights that disciplinary hearings in the 138 jails in England and Wales breached offenders’ human rights.
It will be announced today that district judges will visit jails to hear the cases of offenders who are accused of breaking prison rules. The scheme will make prison discipline adjudications similar to full court hearings.
The Prison Service is to announce that in a pilot scheme, four district judges will start hearings in four jails with the worst backlog of disciplinary offences.
Judges will go to Moorland Young Offenders Institution, and Lindholme Prison both near Doncaster, Risley Prison near Warrington and Gloucester jail.
Source:- The Times Monday 7 October page 2
Low earners to get £1,500 incentive to start saving
The government is to help millions of families on low incomes by providing them with £1,500 each to incentivise them to begin saving.
Under the Saving Gateway project, families with an income of less than £15,000 a year can double their money if they deposit cash regularly in a new savings account. Once it is rolled out nationally, the scheme will cover up to 7.2 million people at a cost of around £700 million a year.
The Treasury will match the savings up to a maximum of £25 a month for each account, which could provide a pot of £3,000 after five years.
Source:- The Times Monday 7 October page 5
Pensioners turning heavily to drink
There has been a large increase in the number of older people turning to alcohol, according to research.
More than a million pensioners are drinking too much, figures from the charity Alcohol Concern reveals. In 1988, 13 per cent of men aged 65 or over drank more than the recommended limit, but by 2000, that had increased to 17 per cent.
The number of women drinking unsafe amounts of alcohol was 4 per cent in 1988 and 7 per cent in 2000.
Anne Jenkins of Alcohol Concern has urged there to be more research to discover whether these people have drunk heavily throughout their lives or whether they had taken it up as they got older.
Source:- The Times Monday 7 October page 5
Tory leader risk all on 80s revival
Iain Duncan Smith will pledge to follow in Margaret Thatcher’s footsteps by applying her principles to public services.
The Conservative leader will tell his party's annual conference in Bournemouth that he intends to tackle schools and hospitals with "the same energy as Lady Thatcher tackled the economy".
Reform of the public services was the "unfinished business" of the Thatcher era.
Source:- The Guardian Monday 7 October page 1
Vetting delay drives ‘thousands’ from jobs
Thousands of social workers, nurses and teachers are leaving their profession as a result of severe delays on checks by the Criminal Records Bureau.
Around 5,600 people have been waiting up to seven months to begin work in children’s homes, hospitals and probation services, according to the latest figures.
Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said the rate of departure for frustrated care professionals could leave social and probation services and nurseries crippled.
"Many of the thousands who have been waiting for months will just give up and leave. They cannot live on air or benefits indefinitely," he said.
The bureau is struggling with a backlog of 89,000 applications from its total of 216,000. It faces a shortfall of around 9,000 out of the 40,000 applications it receives each week.
The average waiting time is now six weeks, with only 50 per cent of applications processed within the target three-week timescale.
Source:- The Independent Monday 7 October page 7
Scottish newspapers
Men told: you’re not superman
Long hours, young children, no cash and the trials of keeping that six pack in shape – the pressures of living up to the new man image are making Scottish males miserable.
Source:- The Sunday Herald October 6 page 9
Left tackles poverty
Ministers will lay down a series of targets designed to tackle poverty and lack of opportunity in deprived communities across Scotland, in a bid to put social inclusion at the heart of policy making.
Source:- The Sunday Herald October 6 page 2
Vatican accused of abuse cover-up
Two Catholic priests have accused the church hierarchy in Rome of a cover-up over an attempt to install a priest at the heart of sexual abuse allegations, as chaplain to a Scottish care home.
Source:- The Sunday Times October 6 page 9
Loneliness blamed for rise in elderly drinkers
Drinking too much is a pastime generally associated with the young and reckless.
But, a survey has shown that the problem is growing among pensioners, with a 75 per cent rise in the number of women over 65 drinking more than the recommended safe limit in the last decade.
Source:- The Scotsman October 7 page 3
Row over proposals to ban begging
Homelessness campaigners and civil liberty groups have denounced plans to introduce beggar exclusion zones in Scotland’s cities, saying they may marginalise people living on the streets even further.
A Shelter spokesperson said: "We need to make a distinction between rough sleepers and begging."
Source:- The Scotsman October 7 page 9
Challenge mental health myths
The man charged with improving Scotland’s record on mental health yesterday predicted that the country could emerge as one of the world’s most enlightened nations.
Speaking at the start of Mental Health Week, Gregor Henderson, director of the National Programme For Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing, said he believed a fundamental shift in thinking among ordinary Scots was achievable within a decade.
Source:- The Herald October 7 page 4
Welsh newspapers
Children’s charities attack plans to keep asylum seekers’ children from mainstream schools
Plans to keep asylum seekers’ children from mainstream schools have come under attack again from leading children’s charities.
Seven leading charities have joined forces to gather support for amendments to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill in the House of Lords.
In a separate move, the Refugee Council will today launch a bid to defeat proposals that would see some unsuccessful asylum seekers deported within days of their claim being rejected.
Meanwhile, local people in Newport, south Wales, have expressed concerns that they are being kept in the dark about proposals for an immigration-hearing centre in the area.
Reverend Aled Edwards, a leading campaigner for asylum seekers rights, said that there was nothing to fear from such a centre being opened and that it was unfortunate that the very mention of asylum seekers made people react negatively.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 7 October page 2
