Tuesday 7 June 2005

By Clare Jerrom, Simeon Brody, Derren Hayes and Amy
Taylor

The Times

2.2m elderly live in poverty

An estimated 2.2 million older people currently live below the
poverty line, according to the National Pensioners
Convention.

The group want to see the basic state pension set above the
official poverty line.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 7 June page 2

Parents blamed

Poor parenting has been blamed for antisocial behaviour in a study
by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research at the King’s
College for the Joseph Rowntree Trust.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 7 June page 2

New asylum chief

The chief executive of Birmingham Council Lin Homer has been
appointed to head the Immigration and Nationality Service. Her job
comes as another overhaul of the asylum system is expected.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 7 June page 2

Road killing

A disabled man admitted the manslaughter of Deborah Kerr’s
brother. Eugene Warwood killed Edmund Trimmer in an alleged road
rage accident in Birmingham last August. Sentence was
deferred.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 7 June page 2

Heathrow death

The mother of a man with mental health problems shot dead by police
who believed he was a terrorist told an inquest that she called a
psychiatrist for help hours before his death.

Keith Larkins was killed by officers in 2003.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 7 June page 2

Baby abducted

A woman who may have abducted a baby left abandoned on a street in
west London is being hunted by the police.

The mixed race child was spotted by a 14-year-old girl but before
she could call for help a woman put the baby into her car and drove
off.

Source:- The Times  Tuesday 7 June page 4

Daily Mail

The deadly hangovers

A generation of young people are binge drinking themselves to
death, according to experts yesterday.

Many of the group will die before their parents because of the
damage caused by drinking to excess, a consultant at Norfolk
hospital warned.

Dr Hugh Kennedy’s comments came as it emerged that alcohol
related admissions at the hospital soared by 44 per cent in a
year.

Source:- Daily Mail  Tuesday 7 June page 1

The Guardian

Hoodies from the past prove that teenage angst is nothing new

Concerned specialists will meet at a conference next month to
discuss the insufferable habits of antisocial teenagers, hoodies
and “feral youths” – from medieval times. Respect
was a huge issue in the middle ages, according to historians.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 7 June 2005 page 3

Thousands of pupils bullied by camera phone

Thousands of secondary school pupils are the victims of bullying by
camera phone, research by charity NCH has revealed.
Its poll of 11- to 19-year-olds found one in 10 have felt
threatened or embarrassed by pictures taken by mobile phone.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 7 June 2005 page 6

“Sex stereotypes” deter fathers from childcare
role

Men are deterred from getting involved in childcare as fathers or
workers because playgroups and nurseries are dominated by women, a
report by the Pre-School Learning Alliance says.

The study suggests that fathers are caught in a vicious circle and
would play a bigger role with children if the workforce were more
balanced.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 7 June 2005 page 7

Foster children ask for protection

Children being privately fostered in the UK want tighter checks on
their welfare than safeguards proposed by the government.

A survey of privately fostered youngsters by the Commission for
Social Care Inspection found that they thought a social worker
should visit them every month at first to ensure they were safe and
not every six weeks as planned.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 7 June 2005 page 7

Ministers debate dropping VAT on condoms to encourage safer
sex

Health ministers are in talks with the Treasury about dropping VAT
on condoms to make them more affordable. Around 30p from every
£1.99 pack of three condoms goes to the Treasury and since
some GPs have stopped giving out free condoms, sexual health
campaigners have been calling for the levy to be dropped.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 7 June 2005 page 10

The Independent

Infection expert resigned over hospital’s failure to
control new superbug

An expert in infection control at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, which
has been stricken by a new lethal bug, resigned last month in
protest at managers’ failure to control the outbreak. The bug
causes severe diarrhoea and can be life-threatening and has
resisted all attempts to control it since the outbreak began 18
months ago.

Source:- The Independent Tuesday 7 June 2005 page 1

Daily Telegraph

Code denies youngsters their sporting chance

Guidelines meant to protect children from abuse are threatening the
development of young sporting talent, it was claimed
yesterday.

Roy Case, the chair of the English Golf Union’s boys’
selection committee, claimed that much of the guidance was
excessive and impractical.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Tuesday 7 June 2005 page
3

Scottish news

Child carers to be spotted earlier

There should be more collaboration between social work, health and
education departments in identifying and supporting young
carers.

Delegates at a Princess Royal Trust in Scotland for Carers seminar
in Edinburgh heard that the majority of young carers receive no
help at all. The Census 2001 indicated there are 16,700 young
carers in Scotland. But a poll carried out by the trust indicated
this figure is far higher.

Source:- The Herald Tuesday 7 June

Poorest Scottish families face £161m tax credit
bill

More than £161 million of overpayments in child tax credits
will have to be repaid by Scottish families.

There are calls for an overhaul of the scheme after latest figures
showed 165,400 families throughout Scotland will have to repay an
average of £1,000 to the Inland Revenue.

The government figures show that one-third of families who received
the credit in Scotland were overpaid in the year 2003-04.

Source:- The Scotsman Tuesday 7 June

Welsh news

Sleep-out protest over property

Campaigners slept rough in Aberystwyth to draw attention to the
housing problems faced by local people in Wales last night.

Members of Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Gymraeg say that there is an
increasing housing crisis which is undermining local communities
and needs to be tackled.

They want a Property Act for Wales to solve the problem and are
carrying out a tour across the country to highlight their
cause.

Source:- Western Mail Tuesday 7 June

Children’s service fragile

Not enough money is being spent on children’s social services
in Powys inspectors have warned.

A report from the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales (SSIW)
goes on to suggest that the children’s services at Powys
County Council were underfunded when previous inspections took
places but that this is getting worse.

Source:- Powys County Times Tuesday 7 June