MONDAY 24 APRIL 2006

Child obesity has doubled in a decade
More than a quarter of children in English secondary schools are clinically obese, almost double the proportion a decade ago, according to the national health survey. Girls are suffering more than boys from a crisp and chocolate-fuelled life of too much eating and too little exercise.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 22 April 2006, page 1

Waste alert over public service targets
There is a risk of the government wasting time and money by setting targets for public services without working out how they will be achieved, the Audit Commission and the National Audit Office have warned. Few of the targets set by the government through public service agreements could be met by Whitehall departments alone, the watchdogs said in a joint report.
Source:- Financial Times, Saturday 22 April 2006, page 4

Royal colleges support overseas doctors over immigration change
Hundreds of overseas doctors demonstrated outside the Department of Health yesterday against an abrupt change in the immigration rules which will force many of them to quit the UK. Up to 15,000 doctors, mostly from the Indian subcontinent are working in British hospitals while training to become specialists but last month the government announced that any EU applicant must have priority.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 22 April 2006, page 9

Pill for under-16s at Tesco
Tesco warned it may be forced by NHS trusts to hand out the morning-after pill to children, claiming some primary care trusts are ordering new pharmacies to supply the pills free to under-16s.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Saturday 22 April 2006, page 10

Boys shouldn’t be sent to school until they are six
Boys shouldn’t start school until they are six because before that they are too easily distracted to learn, research by an educational psychologist with Glasgow Council suggests.
Source:- Daily Mail, Saturday 22 April 2006, page 9

Attorney General looks at paedophile sentence
The Attorney General has intervened to consider whether a five-year jail sentence given to a paedophile who repeatedly raped a girl is too lenient. At the time of the attacks he was on probation, under community supervision, and on a sex offenders’ treatment programme.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 10

Ex-prisoners ‘make better recruits than today’s teenagers’
Young convicts who have served time in jail are better suited to Army life than today’s ordinary teenagers, according to Ministry of Defence research. The detailed study, Culture Shock and the British Infantry Recruit, found that those recruits who had been introduced to a disciplined lifestyle – were more likely to cope successfully with Army basic training.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 4

Government under fire over tax credits blunder
The government will come under fire this week for clawing back tax credits of more than £20,000 from some of Britain’s hard-pressed families. In a report due out on Tuesday the Commons public accounts committee will also reveal that at least 780,000 people have been underpaid by the error-prone system.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 10

‘Disadvantaged’ get easier entrance to college
University places will be offered to “disadvantaged” pupils with examination grades lower than minimum course requirements under a new national government-funded scheme.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 10

Graduate’s case illustrates asylum system ‘lottery’, say campaigners
Winning the right to remain in Britain is little more than a lottery, campaign groups for asylum seekers said last night.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 10

Latest games consoles handed out to young jail inmates
Thousands of young prisoners are getting free access to the latest computer games while behind bars, according to figures obtained by the Sunday Telegraph.
Source:- Sunday Telegraph, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 22

The Asbo kids
A generation of British children is being “demonised” because of misplaced hysteria over teenage crime, according to Rod Morgan, chairman of the Youth Justice Board.
Source:- Independent on Sunday, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 1

Why a working wife does wonders for your marriage
New research suggests that women with jobs are less likely to experience marital problems than those who stay at home, reports the Journal of Family Issues. Separate new research at the University of Stirling on single dads has challenged the accepted wisdomthat a woman is always the best partner to bring up children, with growing numbers of new men becoming self-sufficient fathers.
Source:- Independent on Sunday, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 9

Our favourite aunt
Her own battles with depression and illness have helped to make Claire Rayner the nation’s best-loved confidante.
Source:- Independent on Sunday, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 27

They sniff glue, steal cars…and write poetry
Why is our society so keen to criminalise, exclude and lock up so many young people? asks former social worker Bernard Hare.
Source:- Independent on Sunday, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 35

Ten-year-olds lead rise in child crime
Britain is being hit by a wave of child crime, with figures from the Youth Justice Board showing the under-13s bucking the national trend of falling levels of offending.offending.
Source:- Sunday Times, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 4

Baby Charlotte ready to move from hospital
Charlotte Wyatt is now well enough to be discharged from hospital. She does not yet have a stable home to go to and social services are considering putting her temporarily into foster care.
Source:- Sunday Times, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 7

Innocent parents accused of abuse
Innocent parents are being falsely accused of abusing their children, according to a report backed by MPs. Consensus, a group of parents and professionals, says government guidelines on Munchausen’s by proxy are phrased in such a way as to trigger referrals of parents to social workers even without any evidence.
An all-party group of MPs and peers is next month to meet children’s minister Beverley Hughes, to discuss concerns that the hunt for potentially abusive parents might be out of control.
Source:- Sunday Times, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 10

Mothers got wrong advice for 40 years
Breast-feeding mothers have been given potentially harmful advice on infant nutrition for the past 40 years, the World Helath Organisation has admitted.
Source:- Sunday Times, Sunday 23 April 2006, page 1

Far-right BNP will fight all 40 seats
The BNP is for the first time contesting all 40 seats up for re-election in Birmingham.
Source:- The Financial Times, Monday 24 April 2006, page 3

NHS cuts put elderly in danger, say nurses
Nursing leaders said that “easy victims” in the NHS, such as care for the elderly and the mentally ill, were bearing the brunt of widespread job losses, bed closures and other service reductions because of a £700 million deficit.
Source:- The Times, Monday 24 April 2006, page 1

Probation service axes anger courses
The prison and probation services are to scrap anger management courses for convicted armed robbers, wife beaters and stalkers because the classes helped some violent offenders to manipulate the system to their advantage.
Source:- The Guardian, Monday 24 April 2006, page 1, page 4

Labour pushes law and order agenda
Labour will this week ram home the law and order message at the heart of its local election campaign, despite a warning from the government’s chief youth justice adviser that children are being demonised because of its hysteria over teenage crime. The party believes that its Respect agenda is crucial in persuading disenchanted supporters to vote.
Source:- The Guardian, Monday 24 April 2006, page 13

Scottish news

Saughton is top Scottish prison for drug finds
More drugs seizures take place in Edinburgh’s Saughton jail than in any other Scottish prison, new figures have revealed.
Statistics released by justice minister Cathy Jamieson showed a total of 184 incidents were recorded at Saughton in 2004-05 where illegal drugs were seized from inmates or visitors, or found concealed inside the jail.  That compares with 176 seizures at Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison, 164 at Perth and 137 at Polmont Young Offenders Institution. But the figure is down from the previous year when there were 256 seizures at Saughton.
Source:- The Scotsman, Saturday 22 April 2006

McConnell in row over gay adoption
First minister Jack McConnell has been criticised by a senior Roman Catholic for refusing to take part in a radio debate on gay adoption.
Despite saying he wants an open debate on the issue he has rejected an invitation to engage in a discussion with the Bishop of Motherwell on Premier Radio, the London-based Christian broadcaster.
The Adoption (Scotland) Bill will give gay couples and unmarried partners the same rights to adopt as married couples.
Source:- The Herald, Monday 24 April 2006

Brown puts shackles on Executive spending
The Treasury has frozen £1.5 billion of Scottish executive funds and told Holyrood ministers they must justify their spending plans before the money will be released.
It has imposed conditions on the return of money from the savings account which the department holds for the executive.
The Treasury insists the executive must be treated like “any other department” and confirmed Scottish ministers will have to persuade officials that their spending plans fit with Westminster policy objectives.
Source:- The Herald, Monday 24 April 2006

Work project success for asylum seekers
A group of refugees have become the first to secure jobs through a scheme designed to help them find careers in Scotland’s health service.
The pilot project was launched last November by NHS Greater Glasgow to tap into the skills of thousands of unemployed people in the city.
Manuel Bernardo, a former soldier who fled civil unrest in Angola, was the first person to complete the four-week course. He is now working as an assistant technical officer at the Cowlairs decontamination centre in Glasgow.
Source:- The Herald, Monday 24 April 2006

Welsh news

First policeman to get Asbo quits force
A Welsh policeman is thought to be the first officer to be given an Asbo.
David Burrows, 43, received the order yesterday which bans him from using his local pub, The Travellers’ Well in Rhydyfro, Pontardawe.
The order follows a fight between Burrows and two brothers at the pub seven months ago during which he used an extendable baton.
Source:- Western Mail, Saturday 22 April 2006

‘Children will suffer’ if special school is moved
Parents have raised concerns that their children will suffer if a special school is moved onto a new site.
Greenhill Special School in Rhiwbina, Cardiff, could be moved to between Woodlands and Riverbank special schools in Vincent Road, Ely, Cardiff as part of a school reorganisation programme.
Source:- South Wales Echo, Saturday 22 April 2006

‘We can’t give patients care they deserve’
Nurses claimed that patient care was suffering in Wales due to there not being enough of them last night.
Welsh senior nurses said that staff shortages and a lack of resources were hindering nurses’ ability to look after patients.
They also said that morale amongst the nursing workforce was low due to cost-cutting in the NHS.
Source:- Western Mail, Monday 24 April 2006