A daily summary of social care stories from the main newspapers

By
Clare Jerrom, Reg McKay and Alex Dobson.

More
social services ‘would ease NHS strain’

The
prime minister and Chancellor have been urged to increase spending on social
services by a joint force of public sector managers.

Sir
Jeremy Beecham, chairperson of the Local Government Association, and Dianne
Jeffrey, chairperson of the NHS Confederation, complain that social services
spending has failed to keep up with NHS spending in a pre Budget letter sent
yesterday.

"Problems
will intensify in the NHS and the modernisation agenda will be slowed" if
this is not put right, they say.

"Immediate
additional funding for local government social services" is needed to
prevent problems such as delayed discharge in hospitals as well as long term
investment.

"We
all agree that the recent instability in the residential and home care sectors
must be removed if we are to maintain the whole system approach to providing
services," the letter continues.

Source:-
The Times Wednesday 10 April page 2

Disability
benefit tests ‘are poorly managed’

The
medical assessment system for disability benefits fails up to 130,000
vulnerable people a year, is poorly managed and inaccurate, according to the
House of Commons public accounts committee.

Thirty
thousand people are called in unnecessarily for testing every year because of
difficulties in obtaining accurate medical information, says the critical
report by the spending watchdog, published today.

A
further 17,000 disabled people are turned away unseen from medical tests for
benefits every year because of a policy of deliberately overbooking, the report
continues.

Ten
per cent of the 1.3 million medical reports submitted each year are
substandard, and can lead to wrong decisions over benefit payment.

The
system overseen by the department for work and pensions and contracted out to
private company SEMA, has resulted in delays in benefits for thousands of
people, the report says.

Source:-
The Times Wednesday 10 April page 2

Refugees
breach Tunnel security

Extra
security measures at a goods yard near Calais failed to prevent 80 asylum
seekers entering England after hiding aboard a Channel Tunnel goods train.

An
estimated 26 asylum seekers were on the run yesterday after fleeing Dollands
Moor freight depot near Folkestone on Monday night.

The
men, who are believed to be from Afghanistan, jumped from the side and roof of
the goods train, clambered over security fencing and disappeared into the
countryside.

Fifty
three were captured around the depot and five in a container where the seal had
not been broken, British Transport Police said.

Senior
directors of rail freight company EWS said that repeated assurances had been
given by the French authorities that security had improved.

Source:-
The Times Wednesday 10 April page 17

Girl,
13, caught with £1m of heroin

A
girl thought to be the youngest ever ‘drug mule’ has been caught at Manchester
airport with almost £1 million of heroin hidden in her suitcase.

The
13-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested in the
arrivals hall after she stepped off a Pakistan International Airlines flight
from Islamabad on Monday afternoon.

Customs
officers seized the drug with a street value of £910,000. The girl is to appear
before Manchester magistrates court tomorrow, charged with illegally importing
a controlled drug.

A
customs and excise spokesperson said the girl had been born in the UK, and was
a British national.

She
is now in the care of Bradford social services.

Source:-
The Guardian Wednesday 10 April page 2

Boy,
11, who ‘steals car a day’ is sent to a new home

An
11-year-old boy, who is believed to have stolen a car a day for the past two
years, has been arrested again hours after his latest court appearance.

The
boy was remanded in local authority care after his 152^nd court
appearance on Monday because he was part of a group of juveniles who forced
their way into a house, stole some keys and drive off in a family car.

He
was arrested again on Monday night for burglary and theft of a vehicle, and has
been placed in alternative local authority care.

The
boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been ordered to observe a
curfew between 7pm and 8am, and not get into a car without an adult’s
permission.

Source:-
The Independent Wednesday 10 April page 8

Guardian
Society

Brand
of fortune

Charitable
giving campaign to be boosted by image revamp

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 10 April page 4

Power
transfer

Reforms
to improve tenants’ rights

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 10 April page 4

Working
model

Somerset
survey positive on the impact of integrated care

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 10 April page 4

Bags
of praise

As
Macmillan Cancer Relief declares its 100^th care centre officially
open, Laura Haydon looks at how the new building is catering to the needs of
the people who are using it

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 10 April page 5

Unholy
mess

Needles
discarded by drug users are a growing hazard, as a vicar in Yorkshire found out
to his cost

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 10 April page 6

Shy
embrace

The
unheralded launch of four pioneer care trusts designed to integrate health and
social care

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 10 April page 120-119

Everyone
included

New
headquarters sets the standard for disabled access

Source:-
Guardian Society Wednesday 10 April page 119

Scottish
and Welsh papers

Getting
women off the streets

A
feature examines the way forward to help women avoid prostitution, to leave
prostitution and to make the streets safer through an interview with Nanette
Pollock a former senior detective in Strathclyde Police.  

Pollock
expresses the view that Glasgow has an unofficial tolerance zone while saying
that she is against "no policing" policies. The men who prey on
prostitutes should be prosecuted instead of the women. Pollock, who is against
legalising prostitution, says that greater efforts should be invested into
schemes to help women leave prostitution – a process that takes three to five
years.

Source:
The Herald Wednesday 10 April page 14

Councils
warned of £2.5 billion spending gap

Local
authorities in Scotland are facing a £2.5b spending gap over the next three
years according to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.  

In
a report to the Scottish executive, Cosla says that between 2003 and 2006,
existing spending commitments will result in inflation and public-private
partnership costs rising by a total of £2.5b. Cosla is asking the executive to
increase funding.

Source:
The Herald Wednesday 10 April page 8

One-boy
crimewave is back in court again

An
11-year-old Cardiff boy has made his 152nd court appearance. The boy who has
been called "the worst car thief in Britain" appeared before Cardiff
youth court yesterday accused of bursting into a schoolgirl’s home and stealing
the keys to her mother’s car.

He
was found guilty of burglary and taking a car without consent but cannot be
locked up by the court until his 12th birthday next month.

The
boy has been remanded into local authority care on condition that he does not
enter a car without the authority of an adult and has been ordered to obey
a curfew between 7pm and 8am.

After
the hearing the boy’s father said: "It is clear my boy needs treatment."

Source:
South Wales Echo Tuesday April 9 page
9

No
camp site for you, gypsies told

Gypsies
and travellers who intend to visit the Royal Welsh Show in mid Wales in July
have been told that there will be no official camp site for them again
this year.

Powys
Council said that it had carried out an extensive advertising campaign to try
to find a suitable location near the show, which is held near Builth
Wells each summer, but none had been found.

Until
1998 there was land near the showground which was used as an official gypsy
site but that is no longer available, and the council has now written to
gypsy and traveller organisations advising them to book pitches on licensed
caravan sites in the area.

A
spokesperson for the council said that considerable efforts had been made to
find a site but that they had been unsuccessful and the authority was not obliged
to provide a temporary site.

Source:
Western Mail Wednesday 10 April page 7