FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2006

Equality groups urge crackdown on employers
Pressure is being put on the government to withhold contracts from the 77% of top companies that ignore their legal duty to operate equality practice for people from ethnic minorities or with disabilities.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 17 February 2006, page 7

Head of refugee housing association is suspended
A chief executive and finance manager of a leading organisation for housing refugees from the Horn of Africa has been suspended after three investigations revealed widespread mismanagement, misconduct and severe maladministration. Ron Moodley, chief executive of the ARHAG housing association, who received an MBE in 2003 for his services to refugees, has been banned from the office premises and from visiting the homes or talking to tenants or their relatives. The same order applies to Richard O’Dur, the finance manager.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 17 February 2006, page 10

Alphabet struggle
One in six children cannot say the letters of the alphabet or write his or her name after their first year at school, official figures show.
Source:- The Times, Friday 17 February 2006, page 2

School sex claims
Allegations of sexual abuse made against a former teacher at Sidcot school, in Somerset, believed to date between 2003 and 2004, are being investigated.
Source:- The Times, Friday 17 February 2006, page 4

Watchdog casts doubts on Brown’s efficiency drive
A report from the National Audit Office said the government’s Gershon efficiency savings programme was “high risk” and difficult to measure. NAO chief Sir John Bourn said official claims that nearly £5 billion had already been saved must be treated with caution.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 17 February 2006, page 2

NHS to fund 40pc of private surgery
Nearly half of the work carried out in private hospitals will be for patients paid for by the NHS, the prime minister predicted yesterday.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 17 February 2006, page 10

Prescott upholds social cleansing of 500 homes
The government was accused of giving developers carte blanche to demolish huge areas of Victorian housing after John Prescott upheld plans to knock down hundreds of homes in Liverpool. The homes are being flattened to build a road but supporters say it will also regenerate the area.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 17 February 2006, page 16

London’s health authorities warn overspend of up to £400m likely
Health authorities in and around London are reporting likely overspends of almost £400m when the financial year ends next month.
Source:- Financial Times, Friday 17 February 2006, page 1

Scottish news

Comprehensives not helping working class children, says study
Comprehensive schools are no better at helping working-class pupils climb the social ladder than an academic selection system, it was claimed yesterday.
A report by academics at Edinburgh University found that abolishing grammar schools in Scotland had had “no impact” on helping people move between social classes.
Source:- The Scotsman, Friday 17 February 2006

New centre for rape victims
Scotland is to get its first specialist care centre for victims of rape and sexual assault. The Assault, Rape, Counselling Health (Arch) centre in Glasgow will bring police, social work and health services together under one roof in a three-year pilot.
The aim is to increase the number of convictions by making it easier for victims of sexual assaults to report incidents. The project has been led by Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership, which identified the need for such a unit.
Source:- The Scotsman, Friday 17 February 2006

Welsh news

Patients wait on trolleys once more
Patients at Welsh hospitals are being forced to wait on trolleys in the corridors as they are full up.
Some patients have had to sleep on trolleys overnight and corridors have been used as makeshift holding bays for sick patients at the largest hospital in Wales.
Source:- IC Wales  Friday 17 February

Inquiry urged after school worker’s suicide
A school support worker committed suicide because he feared false allegations of child abuse had been made against him.
David Baines was suspended from his role at a special school in Wrexham but not informed why. He wa found dead the next day in a fume filled car.
The pressure group Falsely Accused Carers and Teachers called for an inquiry into the tragedy.
Source:- IC Wales  Friday 17 February