By Shirley Kumar, Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson

Envoy praises e-government progress

The government is progressing in its use of technology to improve the delivery of public services, according to outgoing e-envoy Andrew Pinder.

However, the public sector is still lagging behind the private sector in the use of technology suggesting ministers still have a long way to go before it can implement some of the key recommendations from the Gershon efficiency review.

Source:- Financial Times, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 2

Battle intensifies on anti-social activity

The government is drafting in experts to encourage under-performing councils to make more use of anti-social behaviour orders.

The drive by Home Secretary David Blunkett is an attempt to maximize the use of statutory powers to curb minor offences such as graffiti and littering. Blunkett has pledged to cut anti social behaviour by 15 per cent by 2008.

Source:- The Financial Times, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 4

Inquiry as NHS patient records go online

The National Audit Office is investigating the government’s £6.2 billion programme to give 55 million patients in England an electronic record that can be consulted by doctors anywhere in the health system.

The audit office stepped in after a series of IT fiascos. A survey of doctors this month showed that two thirds were seriously worried about patient confidentiality.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 1

Rightwing think tank’s school aims to teach traditional culture

Civitas, the Institute of Study of Civil Society, has written to ministers urging them to fund a New Model School to protect the British traditional culture.

The right wing think tank promotes leaflets opposing immigration and asylum.

Source: The Guardian, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 1

Underage, underdressed and on the town: problem of Glasgow’s teeny clubbers

News analysis on children spilling out on the streets of Glasgow city centre after attending under-18 discos.

Many are causing a nuisance, reveals Strathclyde police commander of the Glasgow city centre division chief superintendent Louis Munn.

Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 6

Migrant ban lifted

Migrants from Bulgaria and Romania will not be automatically banned from re entering the country even if they had entered illegally, according to the Home Office.

The changes were prompted by the row over immigration rackets which led to the resignation of immigration minister Beverley Hughes.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 4

Four charged with baby theft

Two British citizens were among four charged with suspected baby smuggling by Kenyan police yesterday.

The move follows an investigation into a suspected baby smuggling ring between Britain and Kenya. The four are linked to Peckham-based evangelical pastor Archbishop Gilbert Deya.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 5

Widow, 93, kept six months on ward in wait for care plan

A 93-year-old woman has spent six months on Great Western Hospital in Swindon because there is no room for her in local nursing homes.

Mary Braybrooke has become a bed blocker so far costing more than £14,000.

Source:- The Daily Mail, Tuesday 31 August 2004, page 19

Scottish newspapers

Catholic Church under fire over sex education

Several Labour MSPs and trade unionists have criticised the Catholic Church for attacking the Scottish executive’s proposals around sex education before they have even been published.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the leading Roman Catholic in Scotland, last week branded the executive’s plans for a new sexual health strategy as “state-sponsored sexual abuse of minors”.

O’Brien claimed the executive had plans to give children as young as three sex education lessons and warned that teenagers would be given access to contraceptives without their parents’ knowledge.

The Scottish Trade Union Congress insisted first minister Jack McConnell should stand firm against the pressure being exerted by the Church.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 31 August


Shake-up call for system of vetting Scottish nurseries

Radical changes to the way Scotland’s nurseries are vetted were urged by childcare experts after it emerged that only a third of inspectors are qualified to do their job.

Insiders claim that staff at the Care Commission are out of their depth because they are inspecting areas in which they have no formal training.

Critics claim inspectors are overwhelmed by the volume of work and blame a lack of resources for the failings at the Care Commission. There are 312 inspectors to cover more than 14,000 registered care services.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 31 August



Girl, 15, faces battle in bullying test case

A teenager aiming to claim compensation for years of alleged bullying at school will have to go through a court battle after it emerged yesterday that her local council is to fight the case.

Natalie King, 15, claims she has been subjected to years of traumatic bullying and hopes to make legal history in Scotland by claiming £20,000 in compensation for the abuse.

But Aberdeen Council has instructed lawyers to fight the case, dashing hopes of an early settlement.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 31 August



Community drive to cut the number of suicides

A pilot community project has been launched in a bid to reduce the number of people taking their own lives.

Staff from NHS Greater Glasgow, Glasgow Council and several voluntary organisations will run the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training sessions.

Last year 122 people committed suicide in the Glasgow area.

Source:- The Scotsman  Tuesday 31 August

Welsh newspapers

School year to cost more than £130

Parents are collectively set to spend more than £1.3bn on essential items for their children ahead of the new school year, new research reveals.

The average parent will spend around £132.84 on a school uniform, PE kit and footwear for their children according to research from Capital One.

Source Western Mail Tuesday 31 August page 6

Prison workers strike today

Ancillary staff in Welsh prisons were due to begin a 48-hour walkout today.

Members of the trade union, Amicus plan to take strike action from 6am in a long running dispute over pay. The union says that 4,000 maintenance workers, plumbers, chefs and other industrial grades will walk out as part of a campaign against what they describe as a derisory pay offer.

Source Western Mail Tuesday 31 August page 15