Wednesday 14 April 2004

By Natasha Salari, Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

A generation of mentally ill ‘have been
forgotten’
More than 50,000 people who have medically stable mental health
problems, but have a poor quality of life, have been “forgotten” by
government health ministers, according to a new report.
The study, by mental health charity Rethink, said that government
reforms focus on the young and the acutely ill leaving behind a
generation of people.
It adds that as a result older family carers are left to cope with
no advice about what will happen to their relative with mental
health problems when they died.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 14 April page 9
Thousands strike in civil servant pay row
A strike by nearly 100,000 civil servants over pay left benefits
agencies, Jobcentres, parts of the prison services and the Office
for National Statistics at a standstill yesterday.
Staff in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Prison
Service are due to go on strike for a second day today.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 14 April page 2
Websites that impede disabled users face legal
action
The 81 per cent of British-based websites that fall foul of
accessibility standards for disabled web users have been warned to
comply or face legal action.
The warning comes from the Disability Rights Commission whose
survey of 1,000 websites found that the average internet homepage
did not work with software and hardware systems used by disabled
computer users.
The Disability Discrimination Act requires all businesses to have
equal physical access to their products and services or be in
breach of the law.
Source:- The Times Wednesday 14 April page 4
Gangmasters in cockle tragedy may escape
trial
The alleged gangmasters arrested over the deaths of 20 Chinese
cockle-pickers may never stand trial for manslaughter, it has been
revealed.
Police have been forced to drop manslaughter allegations against
all but two of the six men and women arrested since the drownings
in Morecambe Bay in February.
Detectives dropped their manslaughter allegations after discussions
with the Crown Prosecution Service.
Source:- The Daily Mail Wednesday 14 April page 28
£400 short of life
An investigation into the lives of offenders in a London court
uncovers the simple secret of a homeless man and the effective
collapse of attempts to cut crime by helping criminals.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 14 April page 7
Vetting blunder to cost £150m
Taxpayers are facing an extra £150 million bill for a
disastrous contract with an agency vetting people working with
children and the vulnerable.
A National Audit Office report earlier this year revealed the Home
Office had accepted the cheapest quote from Capita, but ended up
paying more than the dearest for the Criminal Records Bureau.
New figures from the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee
suggest that costs will now overrun by £150 million.
Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 14 April page 8
Centre of attention
It cost $87 million and there are 30 more on the way, paid for by
the world’s largest charity donation. Yet how is this lavish
community centre, run by the Salvation Army, helping the poor? A
report from San Diego, California.
Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 14 April page 2
Direct results
A new report recommends that public services should be personalised
to fit each individual’s needs. What could choice mean for
both service users and patients?
Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 14 April page 6
Going undercover
Andy Rickell has long attacked Scope for misrepresenting disabled
people. Now he has taken an executive post at the charity and plans
to instigate change from the inside.
Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 14 April page 8
Divided and spoiled
A critical report into a neighbourhood renewal project has raised
concerns over the future of the New Deal for Communities.
Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 14 April page 10
Stress minister
It’s politicians who take the flak when things go wrong. But
perhaps overwork and badly structured departments are to
blame.
Source: Society Guardian Wednesday 14 April page 14
Scottish newspapers
Reliance staff on trial as case backlog grows
Police officers were forced to return to their old duties of
guarding and transporting suspects to court yesterday as problems
continued for the private security firm which allowed a convicted
murderer to escape from court last week.
As delays continued, Strathclyde police were forced to process
prisoners from Glasgow sheriff’s court’s cells,
announcing their names to the sheriff and dispatching them on bail
or remanding them into custody.
Last week, Reliance Custodial Services, which has a new £11
million contract to escort prisoners, allowed James McCormick to
walk free from Hamilton sheriff court.
Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 14 April
Scotland’s population crisis set to
deepen
Scotland’s population is set to decline sharply reducing the
national headcount by 285,000 over the next 25 years.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the
population will stand at 4.77 million by 2030.
Poor diet, high levels of smoking and high levels of urban poverty
have been blamed for dragging back Scottish life expectancy
improvement.
Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 14 April
Horrific attack on autistic city man
A severely autistic man has been left with a broken nose and two
black eyes after he was attacked on a quiet footpath near his home
in Gilmerton.
Police are appealing for witnesses to the attack on Stuart
Carmichael which happened in Edinburgh around 4am on Sunday.
Source:- Evening News Tuesday 13 April
Welsh newspapers
Family is ‘thrown out’ on streets
A mother of four from Newport in south Wales said she fears that
she and her family will end up sleeping rough, after she was
evicted for anti-social behaviour.
Housing association landlords, Charter Housing, evicted Louise
Elliott, aged 31, from her home following disputes with neighbours.
Elliot had also failed to meet a 2002 ‘good behaviour’
injunction.
She has now been classed as voluntarily homeless, and is living
apart from two of her eldest children.
Source:- South Wales Argus Tuesday 13 April page 5
Violence at home ‘myths persist’
New research has found that myths and taboos around domestic
violence still persist.
The study found that many women were surprised by who is affected
by domestic violence, and did not expect it to happen to
them.
The research is part of a new government campaign to raise
awareness of the new freephone 24-hour national domestic violence
hotline, run by Women’s Aid and Refuge.
Source:- South Wales Argus Tuesday 13 April page 8