Foster care crisis

Foster care crisis
A shortage of foster families means that more than 10 per cent of children are being moved three or more times a year, according to a report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 12

Fresh inspiration
For just two pounds sixty pence per day, a group of care homes is not only serving residents with delicious healthy food but also showing how to reduce billions spent on treating diseases arising from malnutrition.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 3

Up to the challenge
The new learning difficulties tsar Nicola Smith will be the first to be able to draw on personal experience – something she believes will be crucial in making a difference and confounding her many doubters.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 5

Special needs education ‘flawed’
Educating children with special needs in mainstream schools has failed and the policy must be changed immediately, the country’s biggest teaching union has said.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 12

Man cleared of bullying abused wife into suicide
An abusive husband who allegedly drove his wife to suicide will not face trial for her manslaughter after the case against him collapsed. Domestic violence charities demanded an end to “archaic” laws.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 8

Lord chancellor defends Britain’s human rights commitment
Lord Falconer, the lord chancellor, said yesterday that Britain would not leave the European convention on human rights or repeal the Human Rights Act and sought to dispel fears that the act protected criminals at the expense of public safety.
Source:- Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 8

Life in prison for killer of 15-year-old
A suspected serial rapist who attacked women for more than two decades was jailed yesterday for the rest of his life after being convicted of murdering and dismembering a teenage girl.
Source:- Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 1

Protection racket
A spate of murders by people released from prison on licence has led to claims that the probation service is in crisis but is it that simple?
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 1

Charities held to account
Save the Children and Nacro are among charities named and shamed by the Charity Commission for failing to file their accounts on time.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 2

Drugs minister smoked cannabis
Yesterday Britain’s new drugs minister at the Home Office Vernon Coaker, admitted to “one or two puffs” while a student many years ago.
Source:- Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 5

School dinner firms feel cost of parental backlash
The catering company that brought the infamous Turkey Twizzler into Britain’s school kitchens yesterday admitted that Jamie Oliver’s campaign against sub-standard school dinners had taken a healthy bite out of its earnings, wiping ten million pounds of sales in six months.
Source:- Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 8

Patients win right to faster surgery abroad
NHS patients have the right to be treated abroad at public cost if they face “undue delay” getting surgery at home, the European court of justice ruled yesterday.
Source:- Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 13

Council must pay for holiday, says ombudsman
Last week the ombudsman’s office said Leeds Council should fund a two-week holiday for a disabled tenant and his family, after the council neglected to make appropriate adjustments to his property. The tenant also received five thousand pounds in compensation  – but the holiday, said the ombudsman, would “reflect the strain placed on family relationships as a result of the council’s failure.”
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 2

Councils and police should make people feel safer
Councils and police forces need to tackle graffiti, dirty streets, abandoned cars and noisy neighbours to make people feel safer, says the Audit Commission in a new report.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 10

Dereliction of duty
More than two thirds of local authorities are failing in their statutory duty to promote equality and good race relations around gypsy and Irish travellers’ sites, an inquiry by the Commission for Racial Equality has found.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 17 May 2006, page 10

Welsh news

Council bans staff smoking
A council has banned workers from lighting up anywhere during work hours. Staff at Denbighshire Council have been told not only are they banned from smoking in the local authority’s buildings, but also immediately outside.The ban could also stop people from smoking in their own homes, if council workers are visiting the house.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 17 May 2006

Transform NHS, says Welsh assembly
The Welsh Assembly government wants to transform the NHS into a world-class health service in the next 10 years. It wants some health services to be delivered more locally to communities, while also keeping people out of hospital as much as possible. The proposals emerging from the three regions in Wales, also include plans for new hospitals, which will essentially be mergers of existing hospitals.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 17 May 2006

Scottish news 

Inquiry finds fraud and error in public sector
An anti-fraud drive has uncovered scams and errors in the public sector. The Audit Scotland initiative found 270 cases of occupational pension payments still being made even though the pensioner had died, 215 instances of students receiving too much in housing payment and 564 housing benefit cases involving public sector employees. Other frauds included a council employee who had claimed housing benefit since 1998 without declaring their earnings.
Source:- The Scotsman, Wednesday 17 May 2006

Too young to be pregnant
Two Lothians girls aged 12 and five aged 13 fell pregnant last year, new figures have revealed. The figures have prompted calls for reforms in the way sex education is taught and greater openness from parents on the subject. It comes after it emerged that a 12-year-old West Lothian girl is set to become the UK’s youngest mum after falling pregnant aged 11.
Source:- The Scotsman, Wednesday 17 May 2006 

1400 girls offer street sex
Latest figures show 1400 cases involving prostitutes soliciting for sex on Scottish streets. Most are in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with a few cases elsewhere. No figures exist for men seeking sex, as this will not be an offence until the law is tightened in 2008. The figures – for the year up to October 2005 – are up 40 per cent over 10 years.
Source:- The Record, Wednesday 17 May 2006