Thursday 30 January 2003

By Amy Taylor, Nicola Barry and Alex
Dobson.

Rising childcare costs force mothers to quit
work

The cost of formal childcare has increased by 7 per cent in the
past year, according to a study by the Daycare Trust.

The increase is believed to be due to the shortage of registered
nursery and childminding places. The study found that the cost of a
nursery place ranged from £6,650 to £8,700 a year,
preventing many mothers from working.

Stephen Burke, director of the trust, said that the government
needed to invest in new childcare places and provide subsidies
otherwise their childcare strategy would fail.

Source:- The Times Thursday 30 January page 11

Blunkett to tighten rules on citizenship

The home secretary, is to introduce stricter laws making it
easier to remove people from their British citizenship next
month.

The laws will come under the new Nationality, Immigration and
Asylum Act, allowing him to strip citizenship from anyone who he
believes is “seriously prejudicial to the vital interests” of
Britain.

Source:- The Times Thursday 30 January page 5

Tory leader attacks asylum policy ‘mess’

Yesterday Iain Duncan Smith called for tougher powers to deport
suspected terrorists branding government asylum policy as a
“mess”.

The Tory leader made the remarks at prime minister’s questions,
focusing on reports that over 1,000 Britons knew of terrorist
techniques they had learnt at Al-Qa’ida camps.

Source:- The Independent Thursday 30 January page 8

‘Grooming’ outlawed in abuse crackdown

A measure under the new sexual offences bill outlawing the
“grooming” of children for sexual abuse has come under criticism
that it forms the creation of a “thought crime”.

The bill, published yesterday, also includes other measures
designed to stop the commercial exploitation of children.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 30 January page 6

Fuel relief for vulnerable ‘underfunded by
£1.5bn’

A report warning that the government will fail to give 2.3
million of the most deprived households enough money to pay for
heating in winter unless they increase funding by half over the
next seven years, has not been published by ministers.

The report from a government advisory body was given to the
environment minister, Michael Meacher, and the energy minister,
Brian Wilson, two months ago. It warns that only 800,000 people
will have enough aid by 2010, going against a government pledge
made in November 2001.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 30 January page 6

Bradford riot sentences ‘too harsh’

Twelve Asian men jailed for taking part in the Bradford riots
appealed against their “excessive” prison sentences yesterday.

Speaking at the court of appeal, they said the judge who
sentenced them did not consider that they were worried and their
communities would come under attack from white racists.

Source:- The Guardian Thursday 30 January page 9

Embassy official faces inquiry on refugees
e-mail

A racist email containing a poem that referred to immigrants as
“trash” and implies that they avoid work and have too many
children, was forwarded by a British embassy official causing
embarrassment for the foreign office yesterday.

David Arkley, deputy head of press and public affairs at the
embassy in Moscow, sent the email to nine of his friends using an
FCO email address.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 30 January page
2

Labour ‘forces’ council tax rises in south

The new government formula for sharing grants among councils
announced last month is causing councils in the south of England to
plan tax rises of up to 20 per cent in April.

This is due to the formula transferring money to Labour
‘heartlands’ in the midlands and the north.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 30 January page
10

Scottish newspapers

City sex workers at risk of attack

Prostitutes in Glasgow are at a higher risk of meeting a violent
death, and are more likely to be attacked than their counterparts
in Edinburgh.

Strathclyde Police say their figures highlight the success of
Edinburgh’s prostitution tolerance zone which operated in the
capital for 10 years but was ended in 2001.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 30 January page 10

Ministers split over payments for virus
victims

Westminster and Holyrood were last night at loggerheads over
payment of compensation to Hepatitis C sufferers infected through
contaminated blood products.

Health minister Malcolm Chisholm wanted to make a sizeable
package available, but he is now on a collision course with
Westminster which has ruled out making payments south of the
border.

Source:- The Scotsman Thursday 30 January page 4

What would you do if 23 young offenders moved in next
door?

A military-style boot camp in South Lanarkshire could help keep
young offenders out of prison. But the 400-strong community of
Braidwood tried but failed to buy the mansion, in the most
organised ‘NIMBY’ movement ever seen in Scotland.

The Airborne Initiative, a Scottish executive funded project,
runs courses for persistent, low-tariff offenders caught in the
revolving door at the lower end of the prison system.

Source:- The Scotsman S2 Thursday 30 January pages 2
and 3

Welsh newspapers

Owen pupil ‘driven to brink of
suicide’

A former pupil has told how she was driven to the brink of
suicide after reporting a teacher for asking her to perform a
sexual act on a boy in a drama practical.

Giving evidence to the Clywch inquiry – being held by Welsh
children’s commissioner Peter Clarke into the allegations of
child abuse by teacher John Owen – she said she was ostracised by
pupils and teachers who supported Owen before he killed himself a
year ago.

She added that she told no-one about an alleged indecent assault
by Owen during a drama class because she thought she would not be
believed.
Source:- Western Mail Thursday 30 January page 1

Welsh health plan isn’t working

One in 10 people in Wales are in a queue for hospital treatment
as waiting lists reach a record high. More than 80,000 of them have
been waiting for longer than six months.

“Quite simply, no matter how much effort and passion the health
minister and her team are putting into their waiting list policy,
their plan simply can’t be working,” comments the paper.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 30 January page 1

Childcare plan ‘second rate’

In Wales, the average cost of a nursery is now more than
£100-a-week, and an after school club typically costs around
£34 for 15 hours.

A Welsh nanny costs around £7 an hour, and most working
parents get no help with costs. With average wages in Wales well
below the national average, families are increasingly finding that
they cannot afford the childcare they need. Unless, that is, they
work for BBC Wales, which operates a subsidised crèche at its
Cardiff HQ.

Source:- Western Mail Thursday 30 January page 3