A daily summary of social care stories from the main newspapers

By
Clare Jerrom, Reg McKay and Alex Dobson.

Brown
calls for Budget sacrifices to boost NHS

Gordon
Brown is to announce that Cabinet ministers must curb their spending demands to
help put the health service on a sound financial footing.

The
Chancellor is to request “several billions” are cut collectively from their
spending bids for the year 2003-4 and the two following years.

He
will add that there can be no blank cheques and that results will have to be
shown.

Health
minister Alan Milburn will be told that despite the priority given to the
department, he will have to justify his spending demands for individual parts
of his budget.

Source:-
The Times  Wednesday 20 March page 1

Boy,
11, on murder charge

An
11-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of the Somalian refugee
stabbed to death last week during a row over a football game.

The
accused boy is to appear at Brent magistrates youth court this morning charged
with killing Kayser Osman.

Osman,
15, had fled Somalia with his family to escape from civil war in 1989.

He
was attacked on the Church End estate in Willesden, north London last week.

Source:-
The Times  Wednesday 20 March page 4

£70m funds row

Charities
are angry that funding promised to palliative care providers in England will
come from the National Lottery rather than the government itself.

The
government promised £70m to palliative care providers, but charities and
opposition politicians believe hospices would be overlooked.

Source:-
The Times  Wednesday 20 March page 4

Pay
grandmothers for childcare

Grandmothers
could be paid to look after their grandchildren under proposals being
considered by ministers.

More
lone mothers could get back to work under the scheme and family links
strengthened.

Officials
from the Department of Work and Pensions are considering paying single mothers
a “childcare” allowance to move off benefit and back to work.

The
money could cover informal childcare offered by, for example a grandmother, and
be channelled through the child care tax credit by persuading grandparents to
register as childminders.

Source:-
Daily Telegraph  Wednesday 20 March page 8

Tunnel
siege leaves freight near collapse

Freight
services through the Channel Tunnel could collapse completely within weeks, UK
rail chiefs warned yesterday.

The
massive disruption caused by asylum seekers is costing £500,000 a week,
according to England, Welsh and Scottish railways.

Unless
urgent action is taken by French authorities to boost security at the main
goods depot outside Calais, it would have to abandon its services altogether.

The
number of EWS trains running through the tunnel has fallen from 321 in February
2001 to 178 last month, while this months figures could be well under 100.

Source:-
Daily Mail  Wednesday 20 March page 28

Grey
areas

Poor
image hits councils’ recruitment

Source:-
Guardian Society  Wednesday 20 March page 4

Progress
barred

Prisoners
denied chance to volunteer

Source:-
Guardian Society  Wednesday 20 March page 4

Harm
of the law

Glenn
Howard, diagnosed with schizophrenia, died from injuries suffered while in
police custody. Mark Gould on his brother’s long quest for justice

Source:-
Guardian Society  Wednesday 20 March page 6

In
sharp focus

Calls
for better resources to treat autism

Source:-
Guardian Society  Wednesday 20 March page 7

Strong
appeal

Tough
makeover for probation service

Source:-
Guardian Society  Wednesday 20 March page 7

Double
jeopardy

Charities
fear effects on their budgets of VAT and NI rises

Source:-
Guardian Society  Wednesday 20 March page 7

Getting
to know you

A
pilot project to develop social skills which targets children and adults

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 20 March
page 8

Valued
support

For
people with challenging behaviour, a new project offers an alternative to
residential care

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 20 March
page 128-127

Touch
and feel good

How
cushion ‘therapy’ is helping with dementia

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 20 March
page 127

Scandalous
way we treat our old

Betrayed
by governments, treated with contempt by local authorities, Rose Cottle is the
epitome of the neglect and under funding that pervades British care homes. How
can our society look itself in the face when it treats its venerable elders as
if they were expendable?

Source:-
Daily Mail  Wednesday 20 March page 20-21

Scottish
and Welsh papers

Resources
plea for children of drug addicts

The
chairperson of Glasgow’s children panel members, Marian Pagani, has called for
more social work resources to protect the children of drug abusers.

It
follows the conviction of Mark Connolly of the murder of his cohabitee’s
two-year old son. Pagani described current social work resources as “stretched”
and said a “more holistic approach” should be adopted ensuring the protection of
children at all times. 

Sandy
Cameron, social work director at South Lanarkshire Council where the family
lived, said that his department was unaware of the child’s circumstances and
not involved with the family before his death. 

The
Scottish executive has accepted that there is a dearth of social workers
nation-wide and intends to launch a recruitment strategy next month.

Source:
The Herald Wednesday 20 March page
9 

Paedophiles still targeting children on the
internet

Young
people are still at risk from paedophiles using internet chat rooms.

An
investigation by the Western Mail has found that paedophiles are still using
chat rooms to indulge in sexually explicit conversations with children.

A
reporter from the newspaper posed as a 13-year-old girl and was the target of
lewd suggestions online from a number of men.

The
investigation comes in the wake of the conviction last year of Oxford academic
Anthony Gray who was jailed after he travelled to Cardiff to seduce
a 14-year-old boy he had met through the internet.

The
Home Office Task Force on child protection is currently working on legislation
to tackle paedophile "grooming" activity and is compiling a model of
best practice for providers of internet chat rooms.

But
a spokesperson for the Children’s Commissioner for Wales said that much still
needed to be done to bring about change.

Source:
Western Mail Wednesday 20 March page
1 and 5

Childminders banned from smacking

Childminders
in Wales are to be banned from smacking children in their care under
new regulations approved by the Welsh assembly.

The
regulations which are aimed at children under eight, will apply to day care
settings such as nurseries, playgroups and out of school care as well as to
childminders. It will take effect from the beginning of April this year.

Social
services minister Jane Hutt said, "I want to emphasise that child protection
will be at the centre of these standards." She added that children’s
experiences in day care should be safe, enriching and rewarding.

Source:
Western Mail Wednesday 20 March page 8