Care home fees rise by 50 per cent in five years

Care home fees rise by 50 per cent in five years
Some elderly people face a rise of up to 25 per cent in care home fees this month, says new research which warns that the cost of living in a home has already escalated by more than 50 per cent in five years. A Help the Aged report says a raft of care home fee increases due by the end of this month could leave those having to meet their own care costs struggling to bridge the financial gap.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 28 April 2006, page 2

Women kept in hospital for two years
Two elderly women have been left in hospital for two years even though they do not need medical treatment because of a row over who should pay for their social care. The two women have not left Royal Hampshire county hospital in Winchester because of a mixture of “family and funding issues” the local NHS trust said.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 28 April 2006, page 14

Depression is UK’s biggest social problem, government told
Depression, anxiety and other forms of mental illness have taken over from unemployment as the greatest social problem in the UK, Richard Layard, the government’s adviser on mental health warns today in an article in the British Medical Journal.
Source:- The Times, Friday 28 April 2006, page 9

Families suffer as Child Support Agency gets further behind
The disastrous performance of the Child Support Agency is getting even worse, with the number stuck in the backlog of cases climbing to 330,000 – 6,000 higher than December last year.
Source:- The Daily Mail, Friday 28 April 2006, page 6

Sex,drug and robbery crime rise adds to ministers woes
Charles Clarke came under further pressure last night after figures showed a big increase in robberies and sexual and drug offences.
Source:- The Times, Friday 28 April 2006, page 2

Teenager confesses to killing boy aged 11
A teenager has admitted to killing an 11-year-old schoolboy who suffered from cystic fibrosis, Manchester crown court was told yesterday. The 14-year-old boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, is accused of murdering Joe Geeling, who lived in Bury.
Source:- The Times, Friday 28 April 2006, page 27

Boy dies in fight
A 13-year-old boy died in hospital after a street fight between rival high street pupils in east London. He was a pupil at Brampton Manor comprehensive school in East Ham. Five pupils held by police are all pupils at Brampton Manor or Lister community school.
Source:- The Times, Friday 28 April 2006, page 34

Overhaul of regulation needed for new NHS to work, warns minister
Big changes are needed to the way healthcare is regulated, according to health minister Lord Warner. The changes are required to respond to recent developments that shifted care out of hospitals, created foundations trusts and allowed independent providers to enter the NHS market, he said.
Source:- Financial Times, Friday 28 April 2006, page 4

Class sizes increase in infant schools despite 1997 pledge
The number of infant school classes with more than 30 pupils has soared 25 per cent in the past year, figures have shown.
Source:- The Independent, Friday 28 April 2006, page 4

MPs’ committee defies Hewitt with demand for NHS job cuts inquiry
The Commons health committee is to investigate the financial crisis affecting the NHS.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 28 April 2006, page 4

Scottish news

First minister wants councils to issue more Asbos
First minister Jack McConnell has criticised councils for not using many of the new powers created to tackle antisocial behaviour.
He said there had not been enough authorities using dispersal orders to break up gatherings of troublemakers, or closure orders for sealing up buildings used by criminals.
His criticism came days after it was revealed that just three dispersal orders and two under-16 Asbos had been granted in the first year after they came into effect.
Source:- The Herald, Friday 28 April 2006

Council faces bill of millions for abuse at Kerelaw
Glasgow Council is bracing itself for the financial fall-out from the convictions of two workers at Kerelaw school in Ayrshire for child abuse.
It expects to face sizeable claims from up to 150 former pupils, with alleged victims in line to get an average of £50,000 each.
Last week, art teacher Matthew George and care worker John Muldoon were found guilty of physically and sexually abusing children in their care.
Source:- The Herald, Friday 28 April 2006

More crime – but record number of offenders spared jail terms
The use of tagging orders, probation and other community punishments has outstripped prison sentences for the first time, new figures reveal.
Nearly 17,000 offenders were given community service, probation or other non-custodial sentences in 2004/5 – up 9 per cent on the previous year’s 15,557. The number sent to prison or a young offenders’ institution rose marginally from 16,503 in 2003/4 to 16,531 last year.
The figures revealed the number of people convicted of crimes in Scotland rose for the sixth year. Nearly 134,500 people were convicted, one per cent up on the previous year.
Source:- The Scotsman, Friday 28 April 2006

Welsh news

Plans for city school closures are thrown out
Controversial plans to close 22 schools in Cardiff were canned last night.
Cardiff councillors threw out the plans after hundreds of parents, children and teachers protested about the reorganisation.
Around 500 people went down to the council’s headquarters in Cardiff Bay while the meeting about the plans was being held to voice their opposition.
Source:- Western Mail, 28 April 2006

Mum unhappy with verdict at inquest on son
The Welsh mother of a teenager with severe epilepsy who an inquest found died of natural causes is unhappy with the verdict it has emerged.
Nathan Pritchard, 18, was found unconscious at the David Lewis centre in Great Warford, Cheshire, where he lived, and staff were unable to revive him.
His mother Susan Griffiths says that the monitoring system at the centre needed to be improved and that she is plans to take up the matter with her local Cardiff MP Julie Morgan.
Source:- Western Mail 28 April 2006