In Today's Papers

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.
Slavery fear as 200 children a week arrive alone at Heathrow
Each week around 200 unaccompanied children arrive at Heathrow Airport it was revealed after a six-month police operation last night.
Many of the young people come from West Africa, the Caribbean and Russia and aim to either "join their families" in the UK or claim asylum.
The youngsters are sent over by their families, but when they get here they are forced into prostitution or to work in illegal sweatshops.

The police's investigation aimed to work out the scale of trafficking at the airport.
Source:- Daily Mail Saturday 1 November page 7
Huntley in court to face trial for Soham murders
The trial of Ian Huntley for the killing of the two Soham school girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman  is set to begin at the Old Bailey on Monday morning.
Huntley's former fiancée, Maxine Carr, will also appear accused of attempting  to pervert the course of justice.
Huntley, the 29-year-old former caretaker at Soham Village College, denies murdering the girls in August last year.
The case is expected to last three months and involve 170 witnesses.
Source:- The Independent on Sunday 2 November page 18
Scandal of asylums that lock up the sane
Up to 60 people are being held in hospital prisons for the criminally insane despite recognition that they have Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism.
Despite Asperger's syndrome not being an illness and being unresponsive to drugs the patients, who were initially declared to be schizophrenic, are incarcerated in Broadmoor, Rampton and Ashworth.
Piers Bolduc was supposed to be moved to a non-secure unit over two years ago, but is still waiting to be transferred. He was sent to Broadmoor after one incident of violence that he committed while on heavy doses of prescription drugs for schizophrenia, a condition he did not have.
Source:-The Sunday Telegraph 2 November page 1
Piers is not a criminal and he's not insane: so why is he in Broadmoor?
Piers Bolduc suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism. Daniel Foggo discovers the terrible sequence of events that has led to him being held in Britain's most notorious hospital - where he says he was sexually abused by other inmates
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 2 November page 16
Drinking ignorance fuels calls for alcohol health warning
Alcohol Concern has backed a campaign to place government health notices on cans and bottles of alcohol warning that excessive drinking can seriously damage your heath.
The leading campaigner for safer drinking has joined over 1,100 UK doctors who are concerned about the lack of clear information on alcoholic products.
The group is also calling for alcohol providers targeting of younger audiences, such as through sponsorship of television programmes, to be banned.
Source:- The Observer 2 November page 5
Court order ignored
Over 40 per cent of antisocial behaviour orders given out to young offenders are being broken according to a report being broadcast on BBC1 on Wednesday.
Source:- The Sunday Telegraph 2 November page 2
Move to cut delays in Children Act cases
Measures to shorten court cases where children are taken in care, which have a reputation for commonly being drawn-out, will take effect today.
At present, Children's Act cases normally take almost a year to go through the courts leaving children confused about their future.
Source:- The Financial Times 2 November page 2
Granny who took care-home battle to Blair has a stroke
An eighty-seven-year-old who went to Downing Street to complain about the planned closure of her care home has suffered a stroke.
Clara Dudley was being forced to leave council-run Moreton Centre in Hastings, East Sussex, where she had lived for the past eight years, despite warnings from her family that it would damage her health.
She suffered the stroke after five days after she had been taken to see her new home.
Source:- Daily Mail 2 November page 19
Overseas adoption to be speeded up
Adopting a child from abroad will take half the time under an overhaul of inter-country adoption being announced by ministers this week.
The reforms will cut costs, reduce bureaucracy and reduce current waiting times of up to three years for couples who want to adopt children from overseas.
Government officials are in talks with the main countries that children are adopted from by Britons - China, India and Guatemala - about ending Foreign Office and embassy involvement in the process.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph 2 November page 6
Primary school children to be given lessons in talking
The government is to encourage children to learn the art of conversation. The move follows warnings from educationalists that parents are merely sitting their children down in front of the television rather than talking and playing with them.
Every primary school child will be given lessons under the Primary National Strategy launched this summer.
The children will also be taught how conduct a formal debate, disagree politely and tell interesting stories.
Source:- The Independent Monday 3 November page 7
Scottish newspapers
Bonus for lone parents
A new government scheme is to help lone parents in Edinburgh looking for employment.
Those who have been claiming income support or job seeker’s allowance for more than a year, but would like to start a job are to be helped with the new funding.
Lone parents actively seeking work under the scheme will get £20 a week for up to six months in addition to existing benefits, and those that find work on the scheme will be paid £40 a week throughout the first year of employment.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 1 November
£23,000 for project to do IT by book

A £23,000 Scottish executive grant is to help around 80 people in one of Edinburgh’s most deprived estates to access computer training.
Students at the Craigmillar Community Information Service will be helped to learn new skills over the next six months with the Social Justice Change Fund money.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 1 November
Scotland’s nurses under spotlight at health event
A conference in Edinburgh yesterday focused on Scotland’s experiences as the European pilot for family health nurses.
The scheme is designed to help families in their communities by offering care to a wide range of groups. Scotland has been the lead site for the World Health Organisation Europe pilot project since 2001.
Source:- The Scotsman Saturday 1 November
McConnell tells private schools: open your doors to less well-off or lose charity status
Private schools are to be challenged by Jack McConnell to prove their worth to their communities or face being stripped of their tax-exempt charitable status.
The first minister will introduce a “public benefit” test to private schools and to pass it, they will have to show that they provide a significant number of places for less well-off children and open their sports facilities to local people.
Source:- Sunday Herald Sunday 2 November
Top doctor calls for single vaccinations as worried Highland parents boycott MMR jabs
Single vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella on the NHS should be introduced, according to a leading doctor who is concerned that the number of parents shunning the triple vaccination in the Highlands has risen to dangerous levels.
Funding single vaccines would prevent an outbreak of serious illnesses, according to Dr Iain Johnston, chairperson of Highland Local Health Care Co-operative professional committee and non-executive member of Highland Health Board.
Source:- Sunday Herald Sunday 2 November
Advice clinics ‘increase sexual diseases’
Family planning clinic are encouraging the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, according to new research.
Areas where contraception and advice on sex is made more widely available are the same areas where sexually transmitted infections rise, the research into the government’s sexual health policy has found.
Source:- Sunday Herald Sunday 2 November
Prince’s Trust warning over youth crime bill
The government’s attempts to crack down on young people who hang around street corners could irresponsibly demonise them and aggravate their sense of isolation, the Prince’s Trust has warned.
The trust’s Scottish director Euan Davidson made the warning just days after the Scottish executive announced plans to tackle antisocial behaviour by extending electronic tagging and antisocial behaviour orders to under 16s and introducing powers to disperse groups of young people.
A new survey to be published by the charity tomorrow will warn that 93 per cent of disadvantaged young Scots think that there are gaps in basic services for them while almost one in four says they have nobody to turn to for help.
Source:- Sunday Herald Sunday 2 November
Council incentives fail to woo new social workers
Controversial schemes to incentivise social workers to take up posts with local authorities are failing as increasing numbers of staff are seeking early retirement and fewer graduates join the profession.
Councils trying to woo staff with £5,000 “golden hello” payments and extended holiday entitlements are losing the battle to fill vacant posts.
It is believed there are more than 400 unfilled vacancies in social work departments around Scotland, with the worst hit being Glasgow where there is an estimated 30 per cent shortfall within the city’s children and family services unit.
Source:- The Scotsman Monday 3 November
English work delays checks by Disclosure Scotland
The organisation established to protect vulnerable people across Scotland is failing to cope after taking on extra work from England.
Disclosure Scotland’s processing times are in chaos after accepting work from England which has nothing to do with its core function.
Demand is such that vacancies for unsupervised jobs with children in Scotland are not now being filled in good time.
Source:- The Herald Monday 3 November
Welsh newspapers
Adverts aim to lure England’s social workers
Services for vulnerable clients in Wales are being compromised because of a lack of social workers.
The principality is suffering a severe recruitment and retention as local authorities poach valuable staff from each other or rely on expensive agency staff to fill the gaps.
In a bid to fill its 13 social worker vacancies and move away from poaching neighbouring staff, Vale of Glamorgan Council is advertising in English newspapers in London, Birmingham and other English urban areas.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 3 November page 8
Branch opens in Adoption Week
National Adoption Week is being launched today in Wales with the opening of the British Association of Adoption and Fostering Cymru’s, Carmarthen branch.
The new office will extend the services offered by BAAF in the principality and the launch of National Adoption Week in Wales will focus on widening the pool of local people who want to become adoptive parents.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 3 November page 9