Monday 17 November 2003

By Clare Jerrom, Natasha Salari and Alex
Dobson.

Summer camp for all children
Places at American-style summer camps are to be offered to millions
of children under government proposals to inject enthusiasm about
school into pupils.
Every pupil in England will be guaranteed a week at a residential
centre under plans being developed by David Miliband, the schools
standards minister.
He believes the plan would broaden pupils’ horizons and make
them more confident and ambitious.
Source:- The Times Saturday 15 November page 1
Abuse victim accepts apology but still wants minister to
quit
A child abuse victim agreed to drop his threat of legal action
against Margaret Hodge yesterday after the children’s
minister apologised to him.
Demetrius Panton, who was abused while in a children’s home
in Islington in the 1970s welcomed Hodge’s apology as a
“step in the right direction”, but said he would still
like to know why the minister had described him as “a
seriously disturbed person”.
Panton said he would let matters drop if Hodge publicly apologised,
made a contribution to a children’s charity of his choice and
paid the legal costs he had incurred. However, at a news
conference, Panton said he still thought the minister should quit
her post.
Hodge labelled Panton “disturbed” in a letter to Gavyn
Davies, the BBC chairperson, in a bid to discourage the corporation
pursuing an investigation into her role in the aftermath of the
1970s Islington child abuse scandal.
Source:- The Times Saturday 15 November page 2
Asylum assessment doctor may be bogus
A thousand successful refugees may have their asylum cases reviewed
after it emerged that crucial evidence in their hearings was
provided by a suspected bogus doctor.
Many of the applicants could have been allowed to stay in the UK on
the basis that they were given a wrong diagnosis of post traumatic
stress.
Immigration officials were given the warnings after a police
investigation began into whether a psychiatrist who gave evidence
in asylum cases was not a doctor.
Barian Baluchi is under investigation for allegedly stealing the
identity of a Spanish psychiatrist.
Source:- The Times Saturday 15 November page 5
Tory island deserted
The Conservative party’s plan to place asylum
seekers in a far off island are to be dropped by Michael Howard, a
senior Tory figure revealed last night.
John Bercow, shadow secretary of state for international
development, said the policy was not sensible and would not happen,
when asked about the policy on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Any
Questions’. Bercow confirmed that the policy had been dropped
but refused to elaborate.
Source:- The Times Saturday 15 November page 5
Drop foundation plan, says BMA
The government was urged to drop its plans for foundation hospitals
when the health bill returns to the Commons on Wednesday, by the
leader of Britain’s doctors yesterday.
According to James Johnson, chairperson of the British Medical
Association, the foundation scheme would be “divisive,
exacerbate inequalities in the NHS and encourage competition when
there is an overwhelming need for cooperation and
collaboration”.
Johnson wrote in a personal letter to John Reid, health secretary,
that foundation trusts pose a real threat to the equity and
fairness that the NHS has always been based on.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 15 November page 7
Brixton stays at bottom of jail performance
table
Brixton jail was officially rated as the worst performing prison in
England and Wales for the second time in four months
yesterday.
The Home Office ranked the jail as the only prison “failing
to provide a secure, ordered or decent regime”, and falling
short of all its targets.
Source:- The Guardian Saturday 15 November page 8
40 years on, ex-pupils accuse the head. But a judge says
it’s too late
A bid by five former pupils of a leading prep school to prove they
were sexually abused by their headmaster almost 40 years ago has
been blocked by a judge.
Judge Connor ruled that the alleged acts happened such a long time
ago that the accused would not be able to defend himself.
The five former pupils of Caldicott Prep School in Buckinghamshire
have greeted the ruling with dismay, and claim that the shame of
being abused often makes victims reluctant to confront their past
until many years on
The defendant in the case which will now not be heard is Peter
Wright, head of the school between 1968 and 1993 when he
retired.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Saturday 15 November page 3
Fury over asylum amnesty
The home secretary came under fire yesterday after he said
thousands of illegal foreign workers could stay in Britain
providing they came forward and agreed to carry his proposed new
identity card.
Opponents warned that the suggestion of an amnesty would encourage
more and more foreigners to try their luck.
Source:- Daily Mail Saturday 15 November page 1
Blunkett in threat to quit on ID cards
David Blunkett was poised to resign from the cabinet if he had not
got his way over identity cards.
The home secretary told Tony Blair that he believed so strongly
that ID cards were necessary to combat terrorism that he would not
back down.
Source:- Sunday Times 16 November page 13
British parents face losing right to smack
children
The government is planning to outlaw physical punishment within the
home in a bid to ban parents smacking their children.
The government is expected to include new laws on protecting
children from abuse in the Queen’s speech next week in
response to the death of Victoria Climbie.
Labour MPs are planning to make an amendment to the Child
Protection Bill which would outlaw smacking, following warnings
that too many abusive parents cover up ill treatment by insisting
that marks and bruises are a result of ‘normal’
discipline.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 16 November page 1
Crack ‘creating fear on mental
wards’
Crack cocaine is being sold and used in Britain’s acute
psychiatric wards, creating a culture of violence and leaving
patients afraid for their safety, an inquiry report will warn this
week.
Patients have bought guns into London wards, according to medical
staff, while patients described the hospitals as becoming
‘frightening places’ rather than refuges.
The report from the King’s Fund think-tank on the
capital’s mental health services is expected to outline the
emergence of a new phenomenon of mental health problems coupled
with drug habits, affecting up to half of all acute patients and
increasingly difficult to treat.
The warnings come as mental health tsar Louis Appleby admitted that
the pressure on psychiatric beds in some parts of the country was
‘unacceptable’.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 16 November page 7
Women’s crime wave linked to battering
Woman are increasingly turning to serious and brutal crimes because
they have experienced violence against them, according to a report
to be published this week.
Home office figures published last week show that the majority of
female prisoners re-offend within two years of being released,
suggesting they are becoming hardened criminals.
The Commission on Women and the Criminal Justice System will argue
this week that the criminal justice system is failing to tackle the
problems these women face.
Some were being forced into drug dealing by abusive partners they
feared while others were offending because of a history of violence
against them.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 16 November page 9
Tory split fear as Davis seeks death penalty
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, called for the
reintroduction of the death penalty last night, in a move likely to
re-open old divisions within the Conservative party.
Michael Howard is opposed to capital punishment but Davis, who was
given the post after ducking out of the Tory leadership contest,
said it was justified in cases of ‘clearly premeditated and
cold-blooded murder’.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 16 November page 11
Bid to curb paedophile sex tourists
A campaign to clamp down on paedophile sex tourism in the
European Union has been backed by Downing Street.
The NSPCC has urged the European Commission to impose a minimum
standard across Europe for regulating sex offenders. Currently,
paedophiles can use the different legislation across Europe to prey
on children.
The children’s charity has been invited to Downing Street to
discuss its concerns about ‘haven states’ for
paedophiles.
Source:- The Observer Sunday 16 November page 12
Baby murder inquiry
A murder inquiry has been launched after a toddler died following
an alleged assault in Bradford.
A man and woman have been arrested.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph 16 November page 2
How doctors turned Julie into a twitching, bloated
wreck
Two weeks ago we reported how a man suffering from Asperger’s
Syndrome, a mild form of autism, was being held in Broadmoor as a
result of misdiagnosis. Many other cases have since been
discovered, but none more disturbing than that of Julie
Eldred.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph 16 November page 8
In the hands of strangers
With only one hour’s training, Fran was sent out to care for
the elderly in their homes. What she found, as she recorded a video
diary for BBC TV’s ‘Panorama’ was shocking.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph 16 November page 20
Inspectors attack failing Broadmoor
Britain’s most high-profile psychiatric hospital will be
branded “unsuitable” for providing psychiatric care, in
a damning official report this week.
In its first report into Broadmoor, the Commission for Health
Improvement is expected to say that many patients are deprived of
privacy on dirty wards lacking even the most basic amenities.
Source:- Independent on Sunday 16 November page 2
Eton institutes drug rehab programme for
pupils
Eton College will from next month launch a priory style drug
rehabilitation programme for students caught using drugs, who in
the past, have been given their marching orders for using drugs on
the premises.
Source:- Independent on Sunday 16 November page 3
Monitor of immigrants ‘peddles
distortion’
Migrationwatch UK will be accused tomorrow by a former immigration
minister of peddling “exaggeration and
distortion”.
In a lecture to the Social Market Foundation, Barbara Roche is
expected to call for a new independent research organisation to be
set up, charged with producing reliable, academically grounded
analysis to challenge Migrationwatch UK.
Source:- The Times Monday 17 November page 2
Child access disputes could ease
An American-style parenting scheme could reduce significantly
disputes between parents over contact with children.
Under the scheme to be announced by ministers, divorcing parents
would have to draw up a parenting plan before going to court to
battle over contact.
The plan would help to tackle the worsening problems, and also keep
disputes out of court.
Source:- The Times Monday 17 November page 2
Rebels told to stay away from vote
Labour MPs uncomfortable with Labour’s health reforms have
been warned by government whips to stay away from the Commons on
Wednesday rather than vote down the foundation hospitals
bill.
They are concerned that the bill could be lost if all Tory MPs turn
up to vote against the legislation.
Around 30 Conservative backbenchers were not present in July when
the Commons last voted on the bill. On that occasion, it scraped
through with a majority of 35.
Source:- The Times Monday 17 November page 2
Images of violence ‘aid young’
An American expert will claim this week that children need violent
imagery to become healthy adults.
Children use violent stories to meet their emotional and
developmental need, Gerard Jones will tell parents, educationalists
and television executives at the British Academy of Film and
Television Arts tonight.
Source:- The Times Monday 17 November page 8
Heads back summer camps for children
Plans to send children to summer camps were met with
enthusiasm by head teachers yesterday although a parents’
organisation gave only a cautious endorsement.
The National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations said that
parents would need assurances from schools and the government about
the safety of their children before agreeing to send them away to
camp.
Source:- The Times Monday 17 November page 8
Man charged with murder of girl, 2
A man has been charged with the murder of a two-year-old girl who
died in hospital two days after an alleged assault.
A woman who was arrested with the man in connection with the
incident has been charged with child neglect. The pair will appear
before Bradford magistrates court today.
The alleged assault is said to have taken place at a house in
Bradford last Thursday.
Source:- The Times Monday 17 November page 11
Kippers
Millions of twenty and thirty-somethings are still living at home
and are financially supported by their parents.
A survey has found that 6.8 million people over 18, dubbed Kippers
(Kids in parents’ pockets eroding retirement savings) are
living with their parents because they are getting married later in
life and are unable to afford their own property.
Source:- Daily Mail Monday 17 November page 15.
How small, shoddy houses mean noise blight for
millions
Small and cheaply-built homes are to blame for noise pollution,
according to surveyors.
As a result, even a cough or a snore can blight people’s
lives, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors have said.
Today’s houses are only about half the size of those built
before the First World War, but complaints about noise are the most
common reason for calls made to police and councils.
Source:- The Daily Mail, Monday 17 November, page 25
Stem cell jab breakthrough offers hope to paralysed
Scientists have found a way to use stem cell injections to
restore feeling to people paralysed in accidents.
A dozen patients paralysed from the waist down partly regained
sensation in their legs, the scientists reported. They took stem
cells from the patient’s blood and injected them into an
artery supplying the damaged part of the spine.
Source: The Daily Mail Monday 17 November page 35
Teenage girls in 120ft ‘suicide pact’ death
fall
Two girls fell to their deaths from a towerblock yesterday in a
suspected suicide pact.
The victims, aged 17 and 18, were found on top of each other after
falling from the 11th floor of the building in Southend. Initial
inquiries suggest that the girls had been depressed and had wanted
to take their own lives.
Source:- The Daily Mail Monday 17 November page 38
Scottish newspapers
Ex-social work chief blames clock-watching for child
protection failure
Children will continue to die needlessly unless social
work staff end their clock watching culture, the former director of
social work at Edinburgh Council warned last night.
Les McEwan, who quit the post during the wake of the Caleb Ness
tragedy, said it was difficult to recruit staff who were prepared
to ‘go the extra mile’, and did not view child protection as a
‘nine-to-five’ job. The report into the death of Caleb Ness made 35
recommendations to improve the child protection system. But McEwan
said ultimately it was about having the right staff to do the
job.
Source:- Scotland on Sunday 16 November
Criminals to be tagged
Ministers are planning to electronically tag thousands of
offenders on release from prison in a bid to reduce re-offending
rates.
Under the initiative, as many as 16,000 criminals released early
from jail each year will be kept under electronic surveillance to
enforce curfews and limits on travelling. Opposition MSPs accused
the Scottish executive of failing to deal with the root of the
problem.
Source:- Scotland on Sunday 16 November
Ministers told two years ago of risks to children
Scottish ministers were warned two years ago that services
for vulnerable children were under-funded and overstretched,
leaving youngsters facing “unacceptably high levels of risk”.
In a damning report submitted to ministers in 2001, the Association
of Directors of Social Work called for “urgent discussions” to
tackle “extreme difficulties in budget management” faced by
councils in children and families services. “Scottish local
authorities are experiencing unacceptably high levels of risk to
children”, as a result of persistent underfunding from the Scottish
executive, the report warned.
Source:- Sunday Herald 16 November
Social chief praises staff for ‘extra
mile’
The former director of social work at Edinburgh council
denied a newspaper report that said he blamed a “clock
watching” culture among social work staff that could place
vulnerable children at risk.
Les McEwan, who resigned  from his post following a damning report
into the death of 11-week old Caleb Ness, said most social workers
went the extra mile effectively and efficiently.
Source:- The Herald Monday 17 November
Child killer Black linked to three other
murders
Police yesterday refused to comment on a report that claims the
Scots-born child serial killer Robert Black could be charged with
three other murders.
Black is serving life with the recommendation of a minimum sentence
of 35 years for killing three girls and trying to abduct a fourth
in the 1980s.
It was claimed he could now face trial for the deaths of Mary
Boyle, Genette Tate and Jennifer Cardy.
Source:- The Herald  Monday 17 November
Welsh newspapers
Lessons unlearnt, says head falsely accused
A Welsh headteacher says she has become an agony aunt to other
teachers falsely accused of hitting pupils.
Marjorie Evans endured 18 months of courtroom battles before
finally being cleared of slapping a 10-year-old boy at a primary
school in Caldicot. Her case led to teachers across the country
seeking her advice on how to deal with false allegations.
Evans spoke out after another headteacher, Pam Mitchellhill, was
found not guilty of an assault on a pupil last week, and Evans said
that education chiefs have still to learn lessons in how to deal
with allegations against teachers.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 17 November page 3
Let children have say in school selection, say commission
officials
Children’s voices are not being heard when it comes to the
school selection process.
Officers of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales have spoken
out over the problem of young people not being able to attend the
same school as their friends because they live outside the official
catchment area.
Assistant commissioner Sara Reid said that as a matter of principle
children should be heard, involved and asked specifically about the
issue rather than asking adults, and assuming they know what the
child wants. She added that there should be someone within each
local authority that children should be able to contact when there
are difficulties over school selection.
Source:- Western Mail Monday 17 November page 7