July 2008 Archives

Ivan Lewis and a tale of two interviews

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Ivan Lewis has caused a stir among the political commentariat today with an interview in The Independent dubbed the first direct attack on Gordon Brown by a minister since the Glasgow East by-election disaster.


The Welfare Reform green paper was launched this week with work and pensions secretary James Purnell saying how the green paper would "transform lives".

Sounds admirable, but here one person gives their experience of how welfare reform has "transformed" the life of a family member into something far worse.

Why are young men killing each other?

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Daniel-Lombard.jpgBy Daniel Lombard

The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has issued crime safety advice to men for the first time.

All the evidence shows that we need it.

Crime is down, brilliant news. Well done, everybody

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Adam McCulloch 025.jpgby Adam McCulloch

The reduction in crime in the UK is fantastic news and reflects well on the government, police, social workers, probation officers and, yes, car manufacturers (the days of the 'pooled' Ford Fiesta are well and truly in the past it seems). We should also show due respect to garden fences, the use of hawthorn and berberis bushes, padlock producers and tougher cycle locks! 


On the march with London local government strikers

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Keith Hassell blog.jpg      by Keith Hassell

I was not at work yesterday. Instead I got together with thousands of others who were not at work either. But whereas I was on a day off from my desk at Community Care they were on strike.

All political fun and games for children's services

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Bronagh-Miskelly-60.jpg

 

 

by Bronagh Miskelly

 

The collaboration between the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Schools and Families to improve children's services has given rise to a new great double act in the traditions of British comedy it seems.

By Andrew Mickel

News update: the Hutton Report is published; George Bush is re-elected president of the US; and prime minister Blair is hit by a condom of purple flour in Parliament.

Child protection a PC monster, says Esther Rantzen

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Natalie-Valios-small.jpg By Natalie Valios

Yesterday Esther Rantzen sat on the GMTV sofa and said that child protection had turned into a politically correct monster. This from the woman who created ChildLine!

The healing powers of Nintendo

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AUS60.jpg   by Anabel Unity Sale

It's official: playing Nintendo Wii games is good for your health. According to a study by researchers at Newcastle University's Institute of Neuroscience, children with hemiplegia cerebral palsy can benefit from playing specially-designed computer games.

Woolly thinking leaves council services at mercy of vocal minority

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 by Bronagh Miskelly

 

It was with a muted fanfare that communities secretary Hazel Blears launched the white paper on community empowerment - Communities in control: Real people, real power. But then petitions and housing associations probably aren't as grabbing as car tax.

KeithS002small.jpg By Keith Sellick

When I was a lad my dad used phrases like Romany, diddicoy and tinker to describe three different types of people, now the terms would be seen as being pejorative and we would use Roma, gypsies or travellers.

What Happened Next brought back to screen this nomadic way of life by revisiting gypsy families that the BBC's Man Alive programme had featured in 1980 to see what had changed.

Ray Lewis: any regrets?

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Adam McCulloch 025.jpgby Adam McCulloch

Ray Lewis had to go, didn't he? The deputy London mayor for youth turned out to have had a chequered history in the Church of England, resulting in him being barred from any further posts in that institution. But his resignation is a blow, I believe, in the fight against youth crime in the capital and should not make anybody happy, whatever their political hue. 


 
Bronagh-Miskelly-60.jpg by Bronagh Miskelly

As the new editor of Community Care I have a steep learning curve ahead of me - especially when it comes to the veritable dictionary of acronyms in social care.

KeithS002small.jpg By Keith Sellick

Social care writers often portray Scandinavia as some sort of Nirvana (or maybe Asgard or Valhalla). A month doesn't go by without an article appearing that ends with the sentiment: "They do it better in Sweden/Denmark".

But this recent column in the Education Guardian "The Danes have lessons for us all"
undermines that claim.

Registration of personal assistants - the great divide

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Mithran Samuel small.jpg by Mithran Samuel

The General Social Care Council has announced that it will consult on whether personal assistants employed by direct payment recipients in England should be registered.

This is a very difficult area with many in the service user movement likely to suggest that compulsory registration - involving a Criminal Records Bureau check and having to meet minimum training requirements - curtails their freedom to employ who they wish. Against that range those who suggest that there are not only adult protection issues but workforce quality ones to take into account - particularly given estimates from Skills for Care that the number of PAs may increase ninefold over the next two decades and warnings that PAs' current access to training is limited.

About the Social Work blog

   
 

The Social Work blog covers the challenges facing Britain’s 2m-strong social care workforce: everything from pay and working conditions to stress and the latest social work conduct cases.

It is written by workforce editor Kirsty McGregor and senior journalist Vern Pitt.

 

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