In Today's Papers

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Half of all doctors have been asked by patients to aid euthanasia, survey reveals
Half of all doctors in Britain have been requested by patients to help them fulfil their wish to die, according to new research.
The independent survey of over 900 doctors, mainly GPs, by anti-euthanasia group Right to Life also found that a quarter of this group were in favour of a change in the law that would allow them to help terminally ill patients to die. But further findings showed that 60 per cent were opposed to the concept of assisted suicide.

Source:- The Independent Wednesday 14 May page 2
Minor reshuffle fails to hide split in government ranks
The government has strengthened the department  for international development, previously led by Clare Short, by appointing Hilary Benn as an extra minister.
Yesterday Benn was promoted to minister of state at the department with Paul Goggins, MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, succeeding him as the minister for prisons and probation. Goggins also takes on Benn's previous responsibility for young people.
Source:- The Independent Wednesday 14 May page 8 
Britain 'will let Europe decide its asylum policy'
Britain is about to sign away its asylum  policy to Europe, MPs heard yesterday from a leading lawyer.
An EU directive will give Brussels much greater power over what the UK can do to prevent asylum seekers from coming into the country. It will also prevent the UK from being able to pull out of the international conventions governing asylum, a measure the prime minister has been considering for some time.
The warning came from Martin Howe QC, an expert in European and constitutional law, who was giving evidence to a Commons inquiry into asylum.
Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 14 May page 2
Isle of Man in move towards euthanasia
The Isle of Man could soon become a haven for those wanting to end their own lives with members of the Manx parliament voting overwhelming in favour of introducing a bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia yesterday.
If the law was changed on the island it could end the trip abroad for those wanting to partake in assisted suicide.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 14 May page 7
Age bar to curb forced marriages
The age at which a potential husband or wife can be brought to Britain has been raised from 16 to 18 in an attempt to try and prevent forced arranged marriages in the Asian community.
David Blunkett, the home secretary, introduced the new measure on 1 April due to increasing concern about the level of young girls forced into arranged marriages with men from their parents' birthplace.
Source:- The Times  Wednesday 14 May page 2
Guardian Society
RNIB chief takes train route out
Ian Bruce, chief executive of the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), is leaving the position after 20 years to focus on developing academic courses for voluntary sector managers.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 4
Bank's big donation sets up desk jobs
Not-for-profit recycling company Green-Works is currently considering what to do with 7,000 desks they have been given by HSBC, following its move to new offices.
The donation, a part of 3,000 tonnes of office furniture donated by the bank, has created 10 six-month job placements for people who are long-term unemployed or homeless.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 4
About turn
The benefits of simplifying and integrating  public services cannot be underestimated to those who are heavily reliant on them. Martin Wainwright on the councils leading by example
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 5
New horizon
How does a charity that has been working in the same way for 400 years modernise itself?
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 6
Class Action
As a new report intensifies the best way to educate disabled children, Kendra Inman meets a mother spearheading a legal challenge
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 10
From frontline to engine room
Profile: Christine Golden, winner of the public servant of the year award
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 11
Dirty money
Many charities have been slow to adopt socially responsible investment, but pressure is growing, reports Simon Birch
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 12
Up to scratch
Boardrooms are in turmoil, in both public and private sectors, as directors, chairs and executives fight for turf. In the first of a series, David Walker looks at 'governance' in the social housing sector
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 12
Wind of change
Don't complain if the elections shifted the power at your town hall, Barry Quirk advises fellow managers: it's a great opportunity
Executive action
Council chiefs accept  responsibility for child safety
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 127

Loose connections
Unfair treatment of foster carers fuelling shortages
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 127
Closed minds
The Chinese community is suffering in silence because of the stigma that surrounds mental illness
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 14 May page 128
Scottish newspapers
Courts could be swamped by anti-bullying cases
Courts could be swamped by bullying cases bought by victims’ families, even though this is a slow way to deal with the problem, Scotland’s leading bullying expert claimed last night.
Andrew Mellor, who is manager of the Anti-Bullying Network funded by the Scottish executive, said he expects more people to take this step following a landmark case last week where two schoolgirls were warned that they face prison if they continue to bully a fellow pupil.
“I think the courts could soon be swamped if everyone wants to go to court to get an interim interdict. I think there will be more because this has produced an outcome,” Mellor said at a bullying conference yesterday.
Source:- The Scotsman  Wednesday 14 May page 2
Tragedy mum in plea over perv list
The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne was cheered by police chiefs yesterday after she called for the public to be allowed to see the sex offenders register.
But pregnant Sara Payne rejected calls for child killers to face the death penalty saying no-one had the right to take the life of another, at the Police Federation conference in Blackpool.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 14 May page 4
Homeless misery toll up by a third
The number of homeless people in Scotland increased by almost a third last year, according to new statistics.
The number of homeless families with children living in bed and breakfast accommodation more than doubled in 2002 rising from 48 to 99. A total of 155 children were living in B&Bs out of nearly 3,000 living in temporary housing.
The figures are an embarrassment to the Scottish executive, which is committed to ending the use of B&Bs for families with children.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 14 May page 12
Police put me in cuffs and threw me in jail cell after I was raped
A deaf mute mum claims she was locked in a police cell when she tried to tell police that she had been raped.
The distraught woman was handcuffed and kept overnight in a cell before a sign language expert was called and the alleged attack discovered.
The 44-year-old women’s ordeal came to light at the high court in Edinburgh where 17-year-old James Clark denies rape.
The trial continues tomorrow.
Source:- Daily Record  Wednesday 14 May page 13
Welsh newspapers
We are letting our children down again
A third council in Wales has been castigated for crucial failures in the systems set up to protect vulnerable adults and children.
A damming joint review report from the Audit Commission and the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales has found that Blaenau Gwent in south Wales is not complying with its statutory duties, is not serving people well and has poor prospects for improvement.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 14 May page 1
Owen berated official after ‘obscene’ exams stopped
An examiner told a child abuse inquiry how he was told by alleged paedophile and former drama teacher, John Owen that he would never examine again following complaints he made about inappropriate material contained in a drama practical that Owen had devised.
The Clywch inquiry, chaired by children’s commissioner for Wales, Peter Clarke, is looking into Owen’s activities during his time as a teacher in a south Wales comprehensive school. Owen committed suicide just before he was due to stand trial on charges of sexually abusing boys in his care in 2001.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 14 May page 5
Bill ignores Welsh patients
Hospitals in England will have no legal duty to treat Welsh patients under the government’s sweeping health service reforms.
Currently tens of thousands of Welsh patients receive treatment in England each year, but the controversial Health and Social Care Bill that will create foundation hospitals, offers no protection for Welsh patients.
The first clause of the bill describes foundation hospitals as providing goods and services for the purpose of the health service in England, but omits any mention of the rest of the UK.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 14 May page 5