By Haroon Ashraf, Amy Taylor, and Derren Hayes

Home Office says national ID scheme will cost double estimates

The cost of introducing identity cards will be almost double the government's original estimate of £3 billion pounds, the Home Office has admitted.

The extra costs will be for services and hardware applications used to run the scheme.

The Home office said the scheme would cost £5.5 billion over 10 years -- the £3 billion estimates was made three years ago.

Source:- Financial Times, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 1

Three nurses struck off for neglecting man in care home

Three nurses were struck off yesterday after a man in a nursing home became so ill from neglect he was admitted to hospital where he later died.

The 75 year old man was admitted to the nursing home in Bradford 4 years ago for 1 week while his wife had cataract surgery.

When the week was up he was covered in bedsores, which were almost too painful to touch.

He died three months later in hospital from bronchopneumonia.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 27

ID cards will cost £100 each

Compulsory identity cards could cost every adult £100 each, the Home Office said.

Failing to register for one will mean a £2500 fine , according to the identity cards bill published on Monday.

Ministers have said they will wait for 80 per cent of people to register for a voluntary scheme between 2010 and 2012 before making the scheme compulsory.

Source:- Daily Mail, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 2

Government cracks down illegal travellers' sites

Tough powers to force travellers off unauthorised land have been announced by the government.

"Temporary stop" notices will allow councils to remove unauthorised developments or building work from a site and move on caravans.

If travellers refuse to move, they can be taken before a magistrate who can impose daily fines.

Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 2

Revised custody laws to give fathers' better access

Fathers are to be given better access rights to their children in the event of family break ups, the government has said.

New plans for custody arrangements will be drawn up with the help of counsellors.

The proposals, welcomed by moderate fathers' rights groups, are contained in the government's green paper on parental separation.

Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 16

Government plans crackdown on immigrants

The government is planning a fresh crackdown on immigrants to counter Tory plans to put a strict quota system on immigrants.

The plans, announced by Tony Blair at his monthly press conference, would restrict the numbers coming over to work to those actually needed for the economy.

The Home Office said 139,675 people were granted the right to stay in the UK in 2003.

Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 16

Young offenders still slopping out

Young offenders are still slopping out eight years after the practise officially ended in England and Wales, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has said.

Inmates at Portland young offenders institution in Dorest still have to throw excrement from their cell windows because of inadequate sanitation.

Source:- The Independent, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 18

Expert testimony system should be reviewed

The head of the public watchdog which investigates alleged miscarriages of justice has called for an overhaul of the rules governing expert testimony.

Professor Graham Zellick, chairman of the criminal cases review commission, said new regulations would enable the courts to better assess the credibility of expert witnesses.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 9

Government looks to US firm for plans to care for older people

Independent researchers have cast doubt on government plans to put NHS resources into a US company's scheme to keep older people out of hospital, which is being promoted by  former advisor to Tony Blair.

United Health is piloting its Evercare programme to identify older people at risk of hospitalisation in nine primary care trusts.

Even though the pilot has not been completed, the government has told every trust in England to introduce something similar.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 30 November 2004, page 9

Government to make funding of charities more cost effective

Radical changes to funding for charities will allow improvements to services for the public, announced Labour election coodinator Alan Milburn.

Milburn will say, in a speech to launch a Home Office funded report by the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, that charities are held back by wasteful contracts with the government.

The report suggests a range of measures to stop exploiting charities  through poor contracts so they can provide services that are better value for money.

Welsh newspapers

Fate of the quangos hanging in the balance

The first minister is set to announce the fate of 13 quangos today including the body for registering social workers in Wales.

Staff working in the Assembly sponsored public bodies are waiting to hear if they will keep their existing employer or if they will become civil servants.

The Care Council for Wales along with all of the bodies are against being brought under direct government control.

Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 30 November 2004

Scottish newspapers

Man faces jail over 'web sex'

In the first case of its kind in Scotland, a man who exposed himself to a schoolgirl via a webcam could face a jail sentence.

The man admitted in Alloa Sheriff Court using an internet webcam link to transmit live pictures of himself performing a sex act to the 14-year-old girl.

He is the first person in Scotland to be convicted of committing lewd and libidinous behaviour while being in a different room to his victim.

Source:- The Scotsman, Tuesday 30 November 2004

Net pervert lures girl, 13, into cybersex

A man has made legal history after pleading guilty to having 'cybersex' with a 13-year-old girl.

The 31-year-old pretended to her that he was 19, and the pair struck up a cyber-relationship over the internet that lasted for nearly five months between October 2003 and March 2004.

The man faces up to five years in jail.

Source:- The Daily Record, Tuesday 30 November 2004

Campaigning fathers bring fight 4 justice to Scotland

Fathers 4 Justice has launched its first official network in Scotland promising a campaign of stunts and protests to highlight their cause.

Campaigners are threatening direct action on major landmarks in response to the "massive demand" they claim to have received from Scottish fathers after two years of profile-raising escapades south of the border.

Source:- The Herald, Tuesday 30 November 2004