Wednesday 18 June 2003

By Amy Taylor and Alex Dobson.

Tesco to tackle violence against women
Advice and information on domestic violence will soon be provided
on supermarket packets of tampons and panty liners in an effort to
reach more women with violent partners.
Tesco is the first supermarket to take up the scheme and has
already redesigned its own sanitary products to include the
information.
The measures are a part of a wider government initiative to tackle
the problem.
Source:- The Times Wednesday June 18 page 5
Children’s court move
Margaret Hodge, the new minister for children, is to take charge of
the Children and Family Court Advisory Service after their recent
problems.
The service was set up to run all children’s court cases, such as
care proceedings.
Staffing and recruitment shortages have led to delays to the
services, with some children having to wait almost a year for a
court hearing.
Source:- The Times Wednesday June 18 page 10
Asylum seekers face further curbs
Britain will be refusing asylum applications from a selection of
countries that the government has deemed to be safe.
Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, South Africa, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh have been added to a list of 17 countries from which
asylum applications will be assumed to be unfounded.
Source:- The Times Wednesday June 18 page 10
Tories would put 20,000 limit on asylum
seekers
A future Conservative government would restrict asylum numbers to
20,000 a year, under a quota system, it was announced
yesterday.
Oliver Letwin, the shadow home secretary, made the comment in
evidence to the Commons home affairs select committee, and added
that all applications for refugee status would be processed in
centres overseas under Tory rule.
Source:- The Telegraph Wednesday June 18 page 6
Action on unruly youngsters ‘illegal’
The home secretary’s plans to crackdown on youngster’s anti-social
behaviour could breach their human rights, it was warned last
night.
A joint Commons and Lords committee raised concerns about the
legality and practicality of the home secretary’s Anti-Social
Behaviour Bill, which is passing through the Commons.
They highlighted the measure that will allow police officers to
disperse “intimidating” groups of young people.
Source:- The Independent Wednesday June 18 page 2
£5,000 for teen mothers to get them back in sixth
form
Teenage single mums will get £5,000 of free nursery care to
enable them to go back into education.
The girls will receive the money when they go through sixth form or
college.
The scheme could help up to 50,000 girls aged 16 to 19.
Source:- Daily Mail Wednesday 18 June page 2
Survey finds childcare crisis for staff who work antisocial
hours
A new study from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that
nurseries and childminders only operate from nine to five, which
does not help people who work anti-social hours such as nurses and
police officers.
The survey of 600 child care providers showed that less than a
third were prepared to work extended hours.
Source:- The Independent Wednesday 18 June page 5
Abused women get new rights
Government plans to crack down on domestic violence are to be
unveiled today, representing the first changes in the law in this
area for 30 years.
Women victims are to be granted anonymity in any court case to help
them find it easier to testify, and men convicted of domestic
violence will be placed on an offenders register.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 18 June page 9
Police used Friends Reunited to help jail teacher for child
abuse
Police used the Friends Reunited website to contact victims of a
former school teacher who abused pupils as young as eight at two
public schools in Wiltshire and Berkshire in the 1970s and
1980s.
Peter Hamilton-Leggett, of Yelverton, Devon, admitted 54 offences
against boys at Swindon crown court.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 18 June page 5
Guardian Society
Milburn’s medicine
In his letter of resignation as health secretary, Alan Milburn told
Tony Blair: ‘The NHS is now moving forwards. The money is going in
and the reforms that you and I have argued for are making an
impact.’ Blair replied that the health service had ‘clearly turned
the corner’. But has it? To get a closer view of Milburn’s legacy,
we talked to key members of the action teams and taskforces that
were set up to oversee implementation of the government’s NHS
plan.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 2
Children edge animals off the leader board
Children’s charities have taken over from animal welfare
groups in the top three most popular good causes, according to new
research.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 5
Tough line on drug injection principles
The National Treatment Agency has issued tight restrictions in the
first official guidance on providing injectable heroin and
methadone by prescription.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 4
Government talks down reshuffle risk
Education secretary Charles Clarke has reassured social
workers that the move of children’s social services to the
department for education and skills would not be detrimental to
social services.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 4
Foreign aid
Many asylum seekers are being given the opportunity to become
voluntary workers, and in doing so are changing attitudes.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 6
Sold out
Some property companies are blighting areas of low housing demand
with a blatant disregard for residents and landlords.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 10
Running for help
Jo Williams, raising the profile of learning
disabilities
Source:- Guardian Society  Wednesday 18 June page 11
Head start
Businesses can now prove how much they contribute to their local
community.
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 12
Panel games
Councils have a new role monitoring how well they and other public
bodies provide services. But will more scrutiny mean better
performance?
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 13
Room for us all
Matt Weaver on why housing professionals find challenges in the
north just as stimulating as managing expansion in the south
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 14
Double troubles
Fears and anger over rise in fees for criminal records
checks
Source:- Guardian Society  Wednesday 18 June page
135
Screen test
Will the communications bill give disabled people better access to
TV?
Source:- Guardian Society Wednesday 18 June page 136
Scottish newspapers
Cadets major had child porn collection
An army cadet force major who downloaded 338,000 child porn images
from the internet could be sentenced to three years in
prison.
Brian Thomson, who had been downloading material for six years, was
caught by Operation Ore.
Thomson has been suspended from the Army Cadet Force. A
spokesperson said no cadets had made allegations against him, but
he would almost certainly be thrown out of he pleaded guilty.
Source:- Daily Record Wednesday 18 June   
£11m health cuts as funds fall short
New services including palliative care, homelessness and alcohol
projects will be dropped because of an £11 million shortfall
in funding.
Mental health services will lose £1.5 million.
The services in Glasgow have been cut after the Greater Glasgow NHS
Board’s finances dipped because of a drop in population, an
increase in drugs prescribing costs and inflation.
But a planned £1.3 million spend on child mental health and
£1 million on care for older people will still go ahead.
Source: The Herald Wednesday 18 June
Welsh newspapers
Hospital draws on art therapy to heal
children
Children’s own creativity could help to reduce the amount of
time they spend in hospital, recovering from accidents and
illness.
A new initiative from the University Hospital of Wales will use the
power of arts and crafts in a new project aimed at helping young
people through the hospital experience.
They will be encouraged to reward themselves with self made badges
at each stage of treatment to help allay fear and anxiety, and the
scheme is expected to help thousands of children deal what can be a
traumatic time.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 18 June page 3
Mental health nurse encouraged patients’ violence,
hearing told
A nurse has been charged with encouraging dangerous
patients to be violent towards others in a care home.
Shirley Clarke who worked at the Caerlan Treatment and Assessment
Unit in Llantrisant, near Cardiff denies six charges of misconduct,
including allegedly telling one patient with psychopathic
tendencies that she could “make as much trouble as she
wanted”. Clarke is appearing before a Nursing and Midwifery
Council hearing in Cardiff.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 18 June page 8
Making net safe for young
A conference aimed at highlighting the benefits and
dangers of the internet for young people will be held this
week.
Delegates from a wide range of organisations will come together at
‘Safety Net’ on Friday at the University of Glamorgan
in Pontypridd.
John Carr, internet consultant for children’s charity NCH, is
chairing the conference and there will be presentations from a
range of expert speakers.
The Wales office of the Independent Television Commission (ITC) is
responsible for running the event.
Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 18 June page 8