A daily summary of social care stories from the main newspapers

By
Clare Jerrom and Alex Dobson.

Blair’s
crime crackdown won’t work, says law chief

The
Lord Chief Justice warned the government yesterday that a string of measures
designed to tackle crime will not restore public confidence in the justice
system’s ability to curb lawlessness.

Lord
Woolf said ministers should concentrate on solving problems such as getting
prisoners to court on time before producing rafts of proposals to curb crime.

His
comments come after the home secretary has announced a number of measures in a
bid to tackle the rising tide of crime, particularly street robbery.

Woolf
said: “You can have initiative after initiative to improve the criminal justice
system but if you don’t touch the basic problems you will never achieve public confidence.”

Source:-
The Times  Friday 17 May page 1

Gay
adoption go-ahead leaves Tories in disarray

Legislation
to allow unmarried and gay couples to adopt children was overwhelmingly backed
by the Commons last night.

A
number of shadow cabinet members refused to obey orders to oppose the measure
designed to help more than 5,000 children waiting for adoption to find families.

The
Tory leadership had imposed a three-line whip summoning its MPs to vote against
proposals that opponents say will lead to vulnerable children being cared
for in “unstable relationships”.

The
decision sparked an argument at last week’s shadow cabinet meeting and later
amid rumours of at least one threatened resignation, Tory leader Iain Duncan

Smith
agreed a compromise under which a number of his team were given permission to
stay away from the Commons for last night’s vote.

Those
given “licensed absence” include shadow culture secretary Tim Yeo, shadow
education secretary Damian Green and shadow Treasury chief secretary John
Bercow.

Source:-
The Times  Friday 17 May page 1

Adoption
agencies hail victory for children

Adoption
agencies have warmly welcomed last night’s announcement that unmarried couples
should be allowed to adopt, as a significant victory for children’s rights.

Chief
executive of BAAF Adoption and Fostering, Felicity Collier said the move would
encourage more people to put themselves forward as prospective adoptive
parents.

“This
is a very significant vote and gives a clear message that this is the will of
the elected House,” she said. “We recognise that it is a complicated issue and
we will be taking time to discuss it thoroughly with members of
the House of Lords.”

Philippa
Morrall of national support and information service Adoption UK said the move
would be invaluable to children adopted by unmarried couples, by enabling
them to have two legal parents instead of one, thus boosting their sense of
security.

Organisations
representing traditional family values said, however, that they were
disappointed by the vote. Deputy director of the Christian Institute Simon Calvert
said the vote demonstrated how out of touch MPs were with the views of ordinary
people.

Source:-
The Times  Friday 17 May page 13

Lawyers
set to lose fees for appeals on asylum

Proposals
to stop payments to lawyers taking unsuccessful asylum appeals were announced
by the government last night in a clampdown on asylum legal aid.

Barristers
and solicitors could face not being paid for any work on asylum appeals which
the court rule have no merit to support them.

The
move is designed to cut the £129m asylum and immigration legal aid budget and
reduce the tens of thousands of applicants who automatically appeal when their
case is rejected.

The
proposals were included in amendments to the Immigration and Asylum Bill and
announced by the government last night.

Source:-
The Times  Friday 17 May page 2

Scottish
and Welsh newspapers

Teachers
call for support to tackle violence

Scottish
teachers face violence and indiscipline in the classroom regularly and are then
blamed for causing the problem by not keeping control, a union claimed yesterday.

The
National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers in Scotland
passed a motion calling for an end to an acceptance of disruptive pupils as
“part of the job” and insisted head teachers should provide more support.

Union
members from education authorities across Scotland gave their overwhelming
support to the motion at the meeting in Ayrshire.

Source:-
The Herald  Friday 17 May 2002

More
addicts may be given methadone

The
Glasgow methadone programme is set to undergo a massive expansion under a new
alliance of the city’s social work and medical services.

The
£6m a year service provides liquid heroin to just under 4,000 recovering
addicts.

But
under a joint plan drawn up by Glasgow Council and the city’s NHS service, that
figure is expected to rise by 29 per cent to around 5,150 by March next year.

The
increase would be tied to more rehabilitation services and training for
employment.

The
plans are to be debated on Monday by city councillors on Monday.

Source:-
The Herald  Friday 17 May 2002

260
calls to helpline after HIV scare

A
helpline, that was set up after it emerged a former Highlands doctor was found
to have HIV, has received a lower than expected response, according to health chiefs.

Staff
at Highlands NHS board had fielded about 260 calls over the past two days,
according to consultant in public health medicine Cameron Stark.

“Callers
are, by and large, looking for factual information that concerns them. We have
had fewer calls than we expected based on experience of incidents like this
in other areas,” he said.

The
helpline number 0800 652 2699 will remain open today from 10am until 6pm and
from 11 am until 4pm tomorrow and Sunday.

Source:-
The Herald  Friday 17 May 2002

Views
invited on care home

Former
staff and residents of a controversial home for older people in Cardiff are to
be asked to give their views on how the home was run.

The
Welsh assembly has appointed a team to look into the troubled background of the
Hazelcroft residential home, after staff made hundreds of complaints against
one another and there were a number of disciplinary hearings.

Minister
for health and social services Jane Hutt who launched the inquiry said that the
examination team would be writing to staff and residents to get their views.

The
police are also making inquiries into some of the allegations surrounding the
running of Hazelcroft but stress that they are not carrying out a “full
criminal investigation”.

Source:-
South Wales Echo Thursday 16 May page 19

London
dashes hope of free care for elderly in Wales

Westminster
last night rebuffed proposals by the Welsh assembly to provide free personal
care for older people in Wales.

The
government ruled out the possibility of giving the extra cash that would allow
Wales to follow in the footsteps of Scotland by introducing care support packages.
The assembly had voted unanimously for the principle of free personal care
yesterday, but does not have the power to make the policy a reality for older
people in Wales.

Source:-
Western Mail Friday 17 May page 1