Wednesday 19 October 2005

By Simeon Brody, Amy Taylor and Derren Hayes

Labour “caves in” over pensions

The government agreed a deal that averted a national strike by public sector workers at the price of leaving new recruits to the NHS, schools and civil service to work more years. Existing workers can still retire at 60, while new workers will have to work an extra five years for a full pension.

Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 1

Plan to outsource more Jobcentre work to private and voluntary sectors

More of the work of the 650-plus Jobcentres will be outsourced to the voluntary and private sectors, according to work minister Margaret Hodge. The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations and the Employment Related Services Association, which includes some of the private providers who hold employment zone contracts, want a total handover of employment services and will meet David Blunkett to discuss it today.

Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 39

Children who have sex advice may be reported to police

Children under 16 would be automatically reported to the police if they seek advice on contraception, pregnancy or abortion, under government proposals drawn up in response to the Bichard inquiry.

Health campaigners said the plans would be disastrous because they would deter many from seeking much-needed help.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 5

Thousands of elderly could die in “big freeze”

Tens of thousands of pensioners could die if Met Office predictions of the coldest winter in a decade are realised.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 25

Ryanair penalised

Ryanair has been disqualified from the National Deafblind Friendly Awards after ordering nine blind and partially sighted passengers off one of its aircraft.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 32

Boy found alone with dead mother

A boy of three spent up to two weeks locked in an Edinburgh flat with the body of his dead mother. The body of the woman, whose death is not thought to be suspicious, was found by police after concerns were raised about the boy.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 2

Nurse trained at taxpayers’ expense will be deported

An asylum seeker who spent three years at university in Britain before graduating and getting a job as a nurse will be deported this morning after being refused permission to stay. Melissa Reid, 30, was denied a visitor’s visa and then asylum when she arrived from Jamaica five years ago to stay with her uncle.

Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 6

Boys arrested in gay murder hunt

A 13-year-old boy and two 17-year-olds were arrested and bailed in connection with the murder of a gay bar manager on Clapham Common, pending further inquiries. They were initially arrested over suspected car crime in nearby Battersea.

Source:- The Independent Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 13

Sex slaves sold at Gatwick

Two teenage girls from Lithuania were auctioned as sex slaves at a Gatwick coffee shop for £3,000 each. Their pimp Serbian-born Tasim Axhami, 19 was yesterday jailed for 21 years.  At least 25,000 girls and women have been smuggled into Britain and sold into the booming vice trade, according to a Mirror investigation.

Source:- Daily Mirror Wednesday 19 October 2005 page 1


No direction home

‘A day with Ryzard is like a journey through a secret city.’ In the first of a three-part series on poverty, Nick Davies encounters a new underclass

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 19 October page 1

Family ties can cut down on crime

The average cost of a re-offender to the public if prison and court costs are taken into account is £110,500, according to a new report by analysts Philanthropy Capital.

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 19 October page 2

Risk assessment

Figures published today reveal there were over 40, 000 attacks on mental health nurses in England last year. One nursing assistant was bludgeoned to death. How can such incidents be prevented?

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 19 October page 3

Heralding a new dawn

At 35, the social care minister is regarded as one of Labour’s rising stars. He talks to David Brindle about the ‘mission critical’ role of social care and its future at the core of the government’s ‘wellbeing’ agenda.

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 19 October page 5

It’s a dog’s life

Assistance dogs are a huge benefit to people who need care, from handling cash to helping with the washing.

Source:- SocietyGuardian Wednesday 19 October page 7

Scottish news

Actor finds the Vucajs out of step in Albania

Two asylum activists have visited the Vucaj family in rural Albania just two weeks after they were deported from Scotland after their asylum claim was turned down despite them living there for
five years.

Their struggle to adapt to their former lives was witnessed by Peter Mullan, the actor and director, who is backing the campaign to bring the family back to Glasgow. Mullan said he was moved by the experience of the children, who spoke of their affection for their adopted home and their fears of reintegrating into Albanian village life.

Source:- The Herald Wednesday 19 October

Fears for the safety of patients after hospital ceilings collapse

Fears were raised today for the safety of psychiatric patients in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital after ceilings collapsed in two wards. Patients had to be evacuated following the incidents and maintenance workers are now surveying ceilings. In two further collapses, patients and staff had to be evacuated as ceilings fell into busy wards in the McKinnon House block of the Morningside hospital.

Source:- The Scotsman Wednesday 19 October

Pusher evicted by ASBO

A suspected drug dealer was kicked out of his home under anti-social behaviour laws.

Ralph Montgomery’s flat will be boarded up and he will not be allowed to return for at least three months.

Police acted against Montgomery, 50, after neighbours in Berryden, Aberdeen, complained of people coming and going at all hours, dangerous driving in their street, and needles and syringes being discarded.

Source:- Daily Record Wednesday 19 October

Welsh news

Child care worries prompt meeting

A meeting has been convened this week to discuss concerns about children’s services at Pembrokeshire Council.

A report by the Social Services Inspectorate for Wales found that the quality of children’s services were inconsistent when it inspected the local authority last year.

Source:-Western Mail Wednesday 19 October

Rhodri no to NHS bail-out cash

The first minister Rhodri Morgan said that financial aid would not be provided to overspent NHS Trusts.

Morgan said that if extra funding was provided it would not be fair to trusts that were operating within their budgets.

The Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust is currently £8 million overspent.

Source:- Western Mail Wednesday 19 October