Friday 1 April 2005

By Simeon Brody, Amy Taylor and Derren
Hayes

Hospitals failing foundation test
 
NHS hospitals are struggling to come to terms with the tough new
financial disciplines needed to become foundation trusts, according
to Monitor, the regulator.
Monitor has turned down 13 of the 43 applications to date for
existing NHS trusts to be turned into free-standing healthcare
businesses.
 
Source:- Financial Times Friday April 1 2005 page 4
 
Teachers attack Tory U-turn
 
The Conservatives have been criticised by the NASUWT
teachers’ union after performing a U-turn on plans to
prosecute children who attack teachers. The party said it was only
examining the possibility of legislation on the issue.
 
Source:- Financial Times Friday April 1 2005 page 4
 
UK “not near to full employment”
 
Some areas of the country still face high levels of worklessness
despite falls in unemployment in recent years, according to the
Institute for Public Policy Research.
 
Source:- Financial Times Friday April 1 2005 page 4
 
Fast-food vans may be banned from schools
 
The government will be urged to impose exclusion zones around
schools to stop fast-food vans selling junk food to children during
break times by Confed, the confederation of education and
children’s services managers.
 
Source:- The Independent Friday April 1 2005 page 16
 
Police chiefs accuse Conservatives of exploiting crime
fears in advert
 
Chief constables have described as misleading Conservative adverts
suggesting steep rises in recorded crime since 1997.
 
Source:- The Independent Friday April 1 2005 page 18
 
We need race minister to fight inequality, say
campaigners
 
Campaigners yesterday called for the introduction of a race
minister as they launched a manifesto demanding equality for black
and ethnic minority communities.
The manifesto, launched by Operation Black Vote, calls for
high-achieving schools, colleges and universities to have
legally-binding intake quotas for low-income black and ethnic
minority children.
 
Source:- The Guardian Friday April 1 2005 page 9
 
HIV risk may rise among minorities
 
The risks of acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases
may rise within ethnic minority groups because of migration, travel
and family ties, a study of sexual lifestyles in Britain says
today.
The study by University College London, the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the National Centre for Social
Research found that one in 13 men from the black ethnic groups
reported an STI within the past five years.
 
Source:- The Guardian Friday April 1 2005 page 10
 
Time to make yobs fear the police again, says
Howard
 
Michael Howard promised to combat a growing “yob
culture” that was turning town and city centres into no-go
areas at weekends.
A Conservative government would end the “defensive
policing” and political correctness that had allowed teenage
yobs free rein.
 
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday April 1 2005 page
4
 
Lack of gypsy sites “breaches UN racial
guidance”
 
Failure to provide accommodation sites for gypsies could breach UN
rules on racial discrimination, according to the Parliamentary
committee on human rights.
The committee called for the restoration of the requirement on
councils to provide accommodation for travellers.
 
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday April 1 2005 page
10
 
Children with lenient parents more likely to use
ecstasy
 
Teenagers are more likely to experiment with ecstasy if they have
grown up with lenient parents, researchers said yesterday. Lack of
parental warmth during childhood was also a factor, psychologists
said.
 
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Friday April 1 2005 page
11
 
Private ownership boost may harm social housing
 
Gordon Brown’s pledge to create a million more homeowners in
five years will provoke concern that it is at the expense of social
housing. Housing organisations have warned that proposals must
include financial protection for the thousands of families now
eligible for a stake in their own home.
 
Source:- The Times Friday April 1 2005 page 4
 
Elderly hit by care home inflation
 
The cost of a care home place for an elderly resident has risen by
a third in just five years, according to Help the Aged. Growing
numbers of older people and their families are facing the prospect
of selling homes to pay for fees.
 
Source:- Daily Mail Friday April 1 2005 page 8

Two held over tot death thirty years ago

A man was being questioned last night after being arrested on
suspicion of murdering a child at her home in Cardiff over 30 year
ago. Two-year-old Tanya Sims died in 1971.
A woman was also arrested in connection with child neglect. The
police made the arrests after getting new information on
Tanya’s death.

Source:- Western Mail, Friday, 1 April

Racism alive and kicking in Wales

Racism is still present in Wales according to the author of a
new book on the issue.
Alan Llwyd compiled Black Wales while researching a TV series which
is on S4C tonight.
The programmes cover the history of Wales’ Black
communities.

Source:- Western Mail, Friday, 1 April

Welsh woman charged with drug offences

A 20-year-old Welsh woman has been charged with drugs offences
in Venezuela, it emerged today.
Leah Pugsly, from Newport, South Wales, been detained in custody in
the South American country and is awaiting trial.

Source:- Western Mail, Friday, 1 April

Bed blocking reduced, but still off-target

Scotland looks set to miss its bed blocking target after
official figures showed the rate of reduction was too slow. Figures
show a continued fall in the number of patients waiting to be
released from hospitals – down 14.4 per cent in the year to
January 2005, and down 6.4 per cent on the previous quarter.
However, to meet Scottish Executive targets, the number needs to
drop a further 20 per cent in a single quarter.

Source:- The Herald, 1 April

Community services credited as fewer young men
jailed

The greater use of community sentences has been hailed as the
reason behind a drop in the number of young men going to prison.
New figures released yesterday by the Scottish executive show that
in 2003 the number of men under the age of 21 sent to prison
decreased by 3400. However, in the same period, the number of women
given custodial sentences rose by 8 per cent.

Source:- The Herald, 1 April

Shock figures show massive scale of Scots teen
drinking

A new government-commissioned report into the drinking habits of
teenagers found that almost four in ten 15-year-olds drink on a
regular basis, as do one in five 13-year-olds. Drinking among
15-year-olds has increased by 10 per cent since 1998 and by 7 per
cent in 13- year-olds. The problem has become so bad that now one
in ten pupils in Scotland admits to staying off school with
hangovers.

Source:- The Scotsman, 1 April

Vice girls fear vigilante attacks under new
law

A support group for prostitutes has warned that plans to tackle
problems caused by kerb-crawlers could leave the door open for
vigilante-style attacks on prostitutes. Scotpep, which offers
health and safety advice to prostitutes operating in Leith, has
rejected the key recommendation of a Scottish executive expert
group that a new law be created to tackle “alarming, offensive or
embarrassing behaviour or conduct” caused by either prostitutes or
clients. Scotpep says sex workers regularly suffer intimidation and
abuse from the public and any new law should cover them too.

Source:- The Scotsman, 1 April

Dealer first to get the maximum sentence
 
Heroin dealer William Burrows has become the first person to
receive the maximum term for drugs offences following changes to
sentencing laws. Burrows, of Cumbernauld, appeared at Airdrie
Sheriff Court on two charges of possession and was jailed for five
years by Sheriff Alfred Vannet. New laws were introduced last year
increasing sheriffs’ maximum sentencing powers from two years.

Source:- The Record, 1 April