A summary of social care storeis from the national newspapers

By Clare Jerrom and Reg McKay.

Left declares war over Blair reforms

The prime minister will stand by his plans for disability tests
and private sector reforms of public services, despite facing angry
Labour MPs.

Tony Blair has been warned that he will face a damaging
backbench rebellion this autumn over plans to introduce stringent
medical tests every three years for those claiming incapacity
benefit.

Trade unions are already in an open revolt over plans for
increased private sector involvement in schools, hospitals and
other public services.

Disability organisations have already asked to meet Blair for
clarification on the plans.

Source:- The Times Thursday 5 July page 1

I won’t give up Gordonstoun dream, says foster
care girl

A teenage girl in foster care will discover today whether she
will be able to attend Gordonstoun school, after social services
banned her taking the place.

Suzanne Turley says she was banned as social workers disapproved
of private education. She says she will take legal action if
necessary.

Turley applied for one of 40 places, after being attracted by
Gordonstoun’s strong reputation. She was awarded a place, and
her grandparents and the school agreed to pay the fees between
them.

Wrexham Council has banned Turley from attending the school in
Scotland, despite not being required to provide financial support.
It says it would be in her best interest to attend Yale further
education college in Wrexham.

Gordonstoun has described the girl as “very talented”, and has
promised to keep her place open until the decision is made.
Headmaster Mark Pyper has written to social services in support of
her case.

Source:- The Times Thursday 5 July page 3

Contempt hearing over Bulger article

Manchester Evening News could face contempt proceedings over the
alleged breach of injunction protecting the anonymity of James
Bulger’s two killers.

Attorney general Lord Goldsmith wrote to the editor Paul Horocks
last week, giving the newspaper the opportunity to make any
representations it would wish him to take into account when
considering proceedings.

The article, published on 22 June appears to have broken the
terms of injunction granted last year barring Robert Thompson and
Jon Venables from being identified.

The lifetime injunction was granted in January in the high court
to protect the two youths from revenge attacks.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 5 July page 3

NHS in chaos from top down, says consultant

The National Health Service received blistering criticism from
an eminent consultant yesterday, who accused politicians of making
doctors “the fall guys” for a lack of planning and resources.

Michael Gross, a neurologist, said the NHS was in chaos from the
top down, and claimed politicians had lied to cover up
under-funding.

In a letter to the Financial Times, he said: “Politicians have
been dishonest for years about the true extent of under-funding. If
doctor’s were to tell even a fraction of the lies I read from
our elected representatives, they would be rapidly struck off.”

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 5 July page 5

‘Drug driving’ deaths increasing, say
doctors

Doctors warned yesterday that deaths from drug driving are
increasing as fatal drink driving accidents are falling.

Delegates at the British Medical Association conference in
Bournemouth called for a campaign highlighting the dangers.

Dr Dorothy Ward, member of BMA Board of Science and research,
said that according to research, one in 10 young motorists had
taken drugs, usually cannabis or cocaine.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Thursday 5 July page 7

Blair demands major race inquiry

The prime minister yesterday ordered the largest inquiry into
discrimination against Britain’s ethnic minorities in health,
education and the workplace.

Tony Blair’s personal policy unit had been asked to
examine the problem after research suggested the gap between
blacks, Asians and whites was widening.

The project will be unveiled next week and assess the role of
both public services and private employers.

The project will be broad in its remit and ministers are
concerned about the emerging black “underclass” of jobless
youngsters who turn to a life of crime.

Measures will be drawn up to tackle the high rates of
unemployment, ill health and poor academic achievements among the
poorest groups such as Pakistanis and Afro-Caribbeans.

Source:- Independent Thursday 5 July page 1

Scottish newspapers

Children being held in adult prisons

Children in Scotland are still being held in police cells and
adult prisons because local authority social work departments are
failing to provide sufficient residential secure unit places, human
rights campaigners have claimed. Lothian and Borders Police are
also continuing to lock children in police cells in spite of being
told by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary to end the
practice two years ago.

The Scottish Centre for Human Rights claimed the misuse of
unruly certificates allowing young people to be detained elsewhere
when no proper place was available was “letting local authorities
off the hook”. Amnesty International said it was contrary to
international law to detain children in adult prisons.

The Scottish executive and the Convention of Scottish Local
Authorities acknowledged the problem and admitted that no figures
were available since there was no centrally held database on
children detained in police cells. Lothian and Borders Police alone
issue an average of 4.5 unruly certificates every month. The latest
figures show that in 1999, 14 children were also held in adult
prisons since all of Scotland’s 95 secure places were
occupied.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 5 July page 1

Six men on trail for sex abuse

Six men are appearing at Edinburgh high court charged with
sexually abusing a young brother and sister in Ayrshire between
1992 and 1998. The charges include raping and sodomising both
children from the age of three years. The trail continues.

Source:- The Herald Thursday 5 July page 5