Tuesday 27 April 2004

By Amy Taylor, Clare Jerrom and Alex
Dobson.

Blair to crack down on immigration abuses
Tony Blair will announce new measures to crack down on the number
of “economically inactive” immigrants trying to come to
Britain today at a time when the EU is on the brink of
expanding.
Blair’s comments will be part of a speech to the CBI
employers body, and aim to allay concerns that the expansion on 1
May could open the door to a new wave of migrants.
Source:- Financial Times Tuesday 27 April page 2
Pope lets archbishop quit to end paedophile priest
scandal
The Pope has attempted to create closure on sexual abuse scandals
in the Roman Catholic Church by accepting the resignation of an
archbishop who admitted neglecting the issue.
The Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, offered his
resignation in 2001 when he reached 75, the retirement age for
bishops. However, the Pope did not accept the resignation at the
time apparently to prevent increasing controversy when the
paedophile scandal was surrounding the Catholic Church in
America.
Cardinal Connell, asked “forgiveness” for his neglect
of the scandals in a letter read out at Mass in Dublin in October
2002.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 27 April page 7
Samaritan sacked for solving a murder
A volunteer with the Samaritans was made to leave the
charity because he told police about a caller who told him he had
murdered someone.
Ray Osborne breached the code of confidentiality, but his
information enabled police to solve the brutal murder of Amanda
Champion. James Ford strangled Champion as she walked on a woodland
footpath in Ashford, Kent.
Last August, he told Osborne that he had killed the girl. Osborne
told the police, and the Samaritans allowed the police to trace
Ford’s next call. They arrested him in October.
Source:- The Times Tuesday 11 April page 11
Nine children a day go to hospital for alcohol
abuse
Nine children a day are admitted to hospital for binge drinking, it
has been revealed in Department of Health figures released
today.
The figures show that 3,322 children aged between 11 and 15 were
admitted to hospital with problems related to alcohol.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 27 April page 6
Race training for all mental health staff
All of the 40,000 strong mental health workforce are to be put
through a national retraining programme in “cultural
competence” to root out racist attitudes, it was revealed
yesterday.
The training is an acceptance of the recommendation of the inquiry
into the death of David “Rocky” Bennett.
Bennett, who was a Jamaican-born Rastafarian, died at the Norvic
secure centre in Norwich in 1998 after being held on the floor for
28 minutes by at least four staff.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 27 April page 6
Half of foster parents unpaid
Half of Britain’s foster carers receive no payment for their
work, according to the first survey of income from fostering out
today.
The Fostering Network research also found that fewer than 10 per
cent of the foster carers get as much as the national minimum wage
for a 40-hour week.
Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 27 April page 8
Scottish newspapers
Prison ruling paves way for costly claims
A prisoner was awarded more than £2,000 in compensation
yesterday in a landmark legal judgement which ruled that the
practice of “slopping-out” was a breach of human
rights.
Robert Napier was awarded £2,450 after taking the Scottish
executive to court for making him slop out during his time at
Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow.
Lord Bonomy ruled at the court of session in Edinburgh that the
executive had breached Napier’s human rights by imposing such
a “degrading” and “abhorrent” practice on
him.
The ruling could pave the way for thousands of compensation claims
over the practice which was banned in England nine years ago.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 27 April
Reliance gets £22m subsidy
The Scottish taxpayer is subsidising the private security company,
which mistakenly released a convicted murderer from custody, to the
tune of £22 million, it emerged yesterday.
The massive start-up costs from the Scottish executive to Reliance
Custodial Services were described as a “sweetener” by
critics.
Justice minister Cathy Jamieson was forced to address parliament
last week after the company suffered a string of embarrassing
episodes since the escorting contract was taken out of the public
sector earlier this month.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 27 April
Home help ‘sacked after elderly asked for female
carers’
A home-help is claiming he was sacked because older patients said
they preferred female carers.
David Johnstone claims he lost his job with Fife Council because
some of his female clients started asking for women to care for
them. He is claiming unfair dismissal and sex discrimination at an
employment tribunal in Edinburgh.
Managers told the tribunal yesterday that Johnstone’s
reduction in working hours was part of a scheme which affected all
1,500 home-helps employed by the council and denied allegations of
sex discrimination.
Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 27 Aril
Tsar’s alert on children’s
punishments
Scotland’s first children’s tsar challenged the growth
of “punitive” measures towards young people, in her
first speech in her new role as children’s commissioner for
Scotland.
On her first day in office, Kathleen Marshall demanded a “sea
change” in attitudes towards young people from those charged
with addressing their needs.
She said her main areas of concern were the impact of antisocial
behaviour policies, and the effect of the UK asylum policy on
children.
Source:- Evening News Monday 26 April
Youngsters get to art of the issues
Young people’s artwork dealing with issues from
underage drinking to mental health will be displayed from today in
a city gallery.
Dozens of works created through youth projects throughout Edinburgh
feature in the exhibition at the City Arts centre.
Source:- Evening News Monday 26 April
Public forum for overhaul in hearings
People in Edinburgh have been urged to have their say in a
review of Scotland’s children’s hearing system.
Minister for Young People Peter Peacock and Euan Robson, the deputy
minister, will hold public meetings in the coming months to hear
views on what changes should be made to the system.
Meetings will also be held with local groups in other areas across
Scotland.
Source:- Evening News Monday 26 April
Released murderer back in court
The convicted murderer who was mistakenly released from prison
appeared in court again yesterday.
James McCormick was brought before Hamilton sheriff court 18 days
after he absconded from the same building while in the care of
Reliance Custodial Services, the private company awarded the
contract with the Scottish executive to escort prisoners.
During a private hearing he was charged with attempting to defeat
the ends of justice. He made no plea or declaration and was
remanded to appear next week.
Source:- The Herald  Tuesday 27 April
Welsh newspapers
Minister pledges speed-up-action
The government has pledged to speed up processing of compensation
claims for ex-miners following warnings that some are dying before
they receive their payouts.
Bleddyn Hancock of NACOD met Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI), minister Nigel Griffiths to highlight the problem. Hancock
described the meeting as very constructive and said that the
minister had promised to look into ways of speeding up the
process.
Source:- South Wales Argus Monday 26 April page 9
Nurse grabbed patient, hearing is told
A nurse has been accused of misconduct against frail residents at a
care home in north Wales.
Jacqueline D’Ormain denies 10 accusations of misconduct that
include roughly handling a woman patient with dementia at the home,
Bryn Mel Manor, in Menai Bridge, between 2001 and 2002.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 27 April page 2
Search for social workers abroad
Denbighshire social services has launched a recruitment drive in
Canada in an attempt to fill six out of nine vacancies in its
children and family services department.
The authority’s cabinet member for social inclusion, John
Smith, said that services to children in care had suffered because
of the staffing crisis. He added that the situation in Denbighshire
reflected a national shortage of qualified social workers.
Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 27 April page 3