TUESDAY 6 DECEMBER

School troubleshooters to tackle unruly behaviour in classrooms
Schools in inner-city areas will be given £20 million a year to hire counsellors to work with unruly pupils and their parents, the education secretary Ruth Kelly said. Social workers would also be based in schools to help troubled families as part of an experiment in up to ten local authorities.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 11

New cash to peg council tax rises at five per cent
Council tax rises are likely to run at five per cent or below next year after Gordon Brown offered an extra £1.1bn to bail out the town halls.
Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 11

Police diverted from monitoring sex offenders
The movements of high-risk sex offenders are not being monitored because police surveillance officers are too busy keeping watch on terror suspects, a joint report by police and probation inspectors says today.
Source:- The Guardian, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 6

Kids with ADHD losing out on education
Children with behaviour problems are increasingly diagnosed with ADHD. But their parents often struggle to get them the education they need.
Source:- Education Guardian, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 1

Pregnant with my second child…at 15
A girl who became pregnant at 12 is expecting a second baby – at 15.
Source:- The Daily Mirror, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 7

Speeding boy of 12 tagged
A boy of 12, from Wisbech, Cambs, was yesterday ordered to be tagged after he led police on a four-mile car chase at speeds of up to 80mph.
Source:- The Daily Mirror, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 6

One in ten “starve”
One in ten kids in England, Scotland and Wales live in homes so poor they cannot afford a hot meal, according to charity Save The Children.
Source:- The Sun, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 12

Prison report
Sex offenders and former police officers detained at Dorchester prison are being held with other inmates due to a lack of space. Tony Holt, the chairman of the prison’s monitoring board, said that the inability to separate vulnerable prisoners from other inmates could have serious repercussions.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 6

Vicar faces child porn charges
A senior vicar and key adviser to the Bishop of Oxford appeared at Didcot Magistrate’s Court yesterday accused of child pornography offences.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 21

Slash charge
A 12-year-old schoolgirl has been charged with wounding after an alleged attack on a fellow pupil who was slashed across the face. The girl will appear at Sheffield youth court.
Source:- The Times, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 26

“Third sector in a third term”
Stuart Etherington, chief of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, says that Labour’s reduced majority creates a climate ripe for lobbying
Source:- The Times, Public Agenda, Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 9

Plans to increase stocks of affordable homes met with caution
The chancellor pledged to help more people onto the housing ladder yesterday with measures designed to help key workers and increase the supply of new homes. But some experts questioned whether the schemes went far enough.
Source:- Financial Times Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 5

Judge attacks government for downgrading marriage
Former president of the High Court Family Divison Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss called for a new approach to the way courts dealt with domestic violence and warned separating parents they underestimated the effect of divorce on their children.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 1

Toddlers left to cry at busy nurseries, says Ofsted
Babies and young children dropped off at nurseries by parents are sometimes left alone to cry because there are not enough staff to look after them, Ofsted will say today.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 6

Teacher jailed for sex with girl
Teacher Cfyn Markwick-Day, 46, from Chichester, who had sex with a 15-year-old pupil was jailed for two years yesterday after a judge described him as “manipulative and deceitful”.
Source:- Daily Telegraph Tuesday 6 December 2005, page 11

Social worker’s fury at dyslexia job reference
Social worker Judith Windross told an employment tribunal she failed to get a senior post after being discriminated against by Hampshire Council, who provided a reference, and Wokingham Council, who failed to offer her the job, because she was dyslexic. The hearing continues.
Source:- Daily Mail Tuesday 6 December 2005 page 21

Welsh news

Man admits murders
A 30-year-old Welsh man admitted murdering his girlfriend and her six-year-old daughter at the Old Bailey yesterday. Mark Nicholas, from Pembroke Dock, had earlier denied murdering 34-year-old Nicole Batten and her daughter Ukleigha Batten-Froggatt at their flat in Camden, north London, but changed his plea to guilty. The pair’s bodies were found after social services became concerned that Ukleigha had been missing from school for a week.
Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday 6 December

Baby case mother plans to sue hospital
The mother of a sick baby who died after the High Court granted doctors’ permission to withhold treatment is planning to sue the hospital. Luke Winston-Jones, who had the rare genetic disorder Edwards Syndrome, died at Alder Hey children’s hospital in November last year after doctors told the court that it was not in his best interest to keep him alive through aggressive medical intervention. Luke’s mother, Ruth Winston-Jones, from Holyhead, north Wales, believes that more could have been done to save her son.
Source:- icWales, Tuesday 6 December

Scottish news

Council pair win race fight
Two council managers who were discriminated against on race grounds have won their cases after going to the Court of Session. Kuldip Dhesi and Clarence Bvunzai had had an original employment tribunal ruling that they were discriminated against overturned.But the Inner House of the Court of Session confirmed the initial tribunal ruling after both men failed to get jobs with an asylum seeker project and residential care home.
Source:- The Record, Tuesday 6 December