Wednesday 2 October 2002

By Clare Jerrom, Shona Main and Alex
Dobson.

No pain, no gain Blair tells Labour
doubters

Tony Blair told the Labour party conference that party members
and unions would have to ditch more of their traditional
beliefs.

The prime minister ignored the defeat the party inflicted him on
Monday, and insisted that he would not only continue but expand his
plans of private finance for public services.

The party had to keep faith with New Labour’s reforming
instincts, he said. The alternative was self-destruction.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 October page 1

Racket smashed

A gang that is believed to have smuggled hundreds of illegal
immigrants into Britain from India with doctored passports have
been caught by the police.

Detectives from the National Crime Squad arrested seven men in
Birmingham and London following a nine-month investigation.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 October page 4

Women, 91, sued for giving her home to son

A local authority is taking a 91-year-old woman to court to
decide whether she can be forced to sell her home to pay for her
nursing care.

Suffolk council claims Emily Youngman gave her home in Lowestoft
to her son, John, to put it beyond the council’s reach.

The council is asking the high court to set aside
Youngman’s declaration of trust giving the property to her
only son.

The case could have ramifications for thousands of older people
who are seeking to preserve their homes for their children to
inherit rather than selling them to pay for nursing care.

Councils have a duty to assess people’s assets when they
go into residential care and charge them accordingly.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 October page 7

Blunkett to disclose new policies on sex
offences

The home secretary’s tough approach to asylum and crime is
not right wing but part of a balanced approach to creating a fairer
society, David Blunkett will tell Labour delegates today.

He will say that his uncompromising approach will be reserved
for bogus asylum seekers or the worst offenders. It is balanced by
enlightened schemes for criminals who are not a menace to society
and a new programme of managed migration for those with skills the
country needs.

Two new measures to tighten the law on sex offenders will be
unveiled by the home secretary. Those convicted of sex offences
abroad will have to register their crimes on the sex
offenders’ register when they return to Britain or face up to
five years in jail.

The 18,500 already on the register will have to report to the
police annually rather than every five years as it currently
stands, to reconfirm their details.

Home office ministers believe the changes, which will feature in
sex offenders legislation early next year, are needed to plug
loopholes in the way the register currently operates.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 October page 11

Refugee body gets Lotto grant

A £340,000 lottery grant is to be paid to a controversial
group fighting the deportation of asylum seekers despite attempts
by minister to have it withdrawn.

The body which allocates lottery handouts to charities and good
causes, the Community Fund, admitted yesterday that it would most
likely be obliged to give the money to the National Coalition of
Anti-Deportation Campaigns.

The group, which calls for an end to all immigration laws, had
its funding frozen by the home office amid concerns that it was
involved in political campaigning, making it ineligible for a
grant.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 2 October page 12

Grandparents ‘juggle career and
caring’

People in their 50s and 60s are facing growing pressures to stay
in work, which could divert them from helping their children with
childcare, according to a report today.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation found a shortage of young people
in the population – confirmed by the national census on
Monday – would make employers do their utmost to keep older
staff.

The number of retired people would therefore be reduced, meaning
a fall in the amount of people able to care for their grandchildren
or frail older relatives, the researchers from the Institute of
Education in London found.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 October page 7

Mental patients given evening meal in
afternoon

Patients in a mental health hospital built in the
19^th century are forced to eat their evening meals at
4:30 in the afternoon because of staff rotas, government inspectors
have found.

People suffering from a range of mental disorders are given
their meals on the wards and have to order their dishes up to a
week in advance, according to a report which criticises the example
of “institutional culture” at Fairmile hospital in Cholsey,
Oxfordshire.

The hospital, which is due to be replaced next year under the
government’s private finance initiative, by the Prospect
hospital in Reading, Berkshire, does have a “pleasant dining room”,
which could be used by patients, but none was seen using it,
according to inspectors, and it is labelled as a staff dining
room.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 2 October page 7

Samaritans aim to cast net wider than
suicide

The Samaritans have launched a new image in a bid to persuade
people that it is not just for the suicidal.

The charity has dropped “the” from its title and is now known as
“Samaritans” and has a new logo.

Chief executive Simon Armson said: “We need to be part of
mainstream life and less of an emergency service. We are not
disowning suicide, but if we are going to be really successful, we
have to reach people sooner.”

The charity will be sending text messages to students worried
about their exams following this year’s A-level fiasco.

The messages will inform students that they can contact the
24-hour helpline and include supportive slogans.

Suicide accounts for more than a fifth of all deaths of young
people, and 80 per cent of them are by young men.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Wednesday 2 October page 8

‘Neighbours from hell’ could lose their
benefits

Housing benefit claimants risk losing their money for
anti-social behaviour under plans to reform the £12 billion
system, Tony Blair announced yesterday.

Proposals would target “anti social tenants and their
anti-social landlords who make money out of abusing housing
benefit, while making life hell for the community”, the prime
minister said.

The new approach will be spelt out in a statement in the House
of Commons in the next few weeks.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Wednesday 2 October page
11

Guardian Society

Whiley’s crie de Coeur

Personal plea to increase funds for learning difficulty
sector

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 2 October page
4

Facts friction

How relevant and impartial is government-funded research that is
intended to enhance our knowledge of social conditions in
Britain?

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 2 October page
10

Trust or bust

Alison Benjamin on a charity law shake-up that aims to reassure
the public by promising tough regulation on fundraising

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 2 October page
12-13

Conditions alert

A liaison service that shares information with the police on
people’s mental health has won respect

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 2 October page
120-119

Secretive shame

Cardiff pledges reform after critical review of social
services

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 2 October page
119

An appealing carrot

Bursaries aim to attract applicants on social work courses

Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 2 October page
119

Scottish newspapers

Weekend drink binge concern for Highlanders

Fewer Highlanders are reaching for a cigarette, but there is a
marked increase in binge drinking.

These are the results of a NHS Highland Board lifestyle survey
that reveals that whilst the message about smoking is beginning to
get through, many, particularly young adults are unaware of the
health implications of binge drinking.

Smoking causes 13,000 deaths each year, costing the NHS
£1.4 – £1.7 billion a year and the Highlands about
£5.3 million annually.

Source: – The Scotsman Wednesday 2 October page 5

Concerns over checks on child group leaders

New proposals to stop unsuitable people working with children
have been given a cautious welcome by volunteer groups.

Concerns were raised as Cathy Jamieson, the minister for
children and young people, launched a Parent Checklist for Youth
Activities, a list of 15 questions a parent should ask when their
child is joining any group or club.

This follows publication of the Protection of Children Bill by
the executive which bans those sacked or moved as a result of their
behaviour towards children – even if they have not been convicted
of a criminal offence – from working with children again.

Youthlink Scotland and Volunteer Development Scotland both seek
“further clarification” as to which groups will be covered by the
new law.

Source: – The Herald Wednesday 2 October page 8

Wanted: immigrants to tackle racism

Scotland needs to attract more immigrants to become economically
viable.

That was the message from Professor Robert Wright at the
University of Stirling.

With the older people population fast outnumbering the young,
Scotland’s skilled workforce also appears to be in decline.

He said: “If we are losing our skilled Scottish workforce, then
perhaps it is time to replace it with immigrants. It is not the
size of the population which matters, it is that Scotland’s
population is getting progressively older and these people are
expensive to take care of.”

Professor Wright warned that tackle racism must be seen as an
economic priority for Scotland.

Source: – The Herald Wednesday 2 October page 4

Welsh newspapers

Fears for children in council’s care

A Welsh charity has expressed fears about the safety of children
in Cardiff.

Voices from Care (Cymru), that represents young people in the
care system, has spoken of its concerns following the highly
critical joint review of social services in the city from the Audit
Commission and the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales.

The report which is said to be one of the worst ever in the UK,
revealed that children in Cardiff had been exposed to “unacceptable
risks” because of inadequate staffing and delays in dealing with
their cases.

Source:- South Wales Echo Tuesday 1 October page 4

Campaigner calls for ‘child abduction’
signs

Electronic motorway signs should be used to publicise child
abductions as soon as they happen so that members of the public can
join the search.

This is one of the proposals that Ian Heffron, of the Campaign
for the Protection of Children, hopes to put forward to the Welsh
Assembly.

Mr Heffron was the uncle of one of the children killed in the
‘Babes in the Wood’ case, and he now campaigns to bring back the
death penalty for child murderers.

Road signs are used in parts of America to alert motorists when
a child goes missing, and Heffron believes that a similar scheme
could work well in Wales.

Source:- South Wales Echo Tuesday 1 October page 10

Kilshaws get another theatre date after sell-out show in
Chester

The couple at the centre of the internet adoption controversy,
Alan and Judith Kilshaw, could be on the verge of carving out a new
career in the theatre.

They have won another booking at a theatre in Chester for their
question and answer show, ‘Meet the Kilshaws’.

The couple adopted twin girls in the United States in December
2000 and brought them back to their home in north Wales. The
children were later removed by Flintshire social services, and the
couple failed in their legal bid to win back custody of the
children.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 2 October page 9