Labour must focus on child poverty, says minister

Labour must focus on child poverty, says minister
A cabinet-level policy review was told that Labour must make eradicating child poverty the focus of the party’s fourth term yesterday. The welfare minister Jim Murphy put the proposal to a Downing Street seminar.

Source:- The Guardian, Friday December 15 2006, page 21

£1bn of public cash is wasted as bills from consultants soar
Consultants have cost £7.2bn of taxpayers’ money across the public sector in the past three years, with no proof of any benefits, a National Audit Office report says.

Source:- The Times, Friday 15 December 2006, page 14

Database flaws eclipse gains
Plans to hold details of every child in England on an electronic database could lead teachers to make wildly inaccurate and unhelpful assumptions about the welfare of individual children, Britain’s independent schools have said.

Source:- The Times, Friday 15 December 2006, page 28

Welsh news

Cleared GP may face new cases
A decision over whether a Welsh GP cleared of killing three men will face a fresh prosecution will be taken by police in the new year it has emerged.

A jury cleared 71-year-old Dr Howard Martin, of Penmenmawr, Conwy, of murdering three seriously ill men last year but detectives are looking into the deaths of a further 16 people he treated.

Source:- Western Mail, Friday 15 December 2006

Mum faces jail for “allowing murder”
A mother is expected to be jailed today for failing to prevent her boyfriend from murdering her baby son.

Rebecca Lewis was found guilty of familial homicide at Swansea Crown Court last month.

Source:- icWales, Friday 15 December 2006

Scottish News

Plan to name sex offenders who breach bail
Sex offenders who breach their conditions of release could face being identified in the community and on the internet, or even rearrested and returned to prison for serious breaches under new plans from the Scottish Parliament.

But the report by MSPs stops short of recommending a full-scale “Mark’s law” similar to the practice in some US states where all released sex offenders are routinely identified to their local community.

A further proposal to give police the right to search the homes of registered sex offenders without a warrant if they fear children are at risk has split MSPs.
Source: The Herald, Friday 15 December 2006

GP anger as first minister backs bid for surgery
Jack McConnell was last night criticised by one of Scotland’s leading doctors after he said there was no problem with a private prison company being hired to run a GPs’ practice.

Dr Dean Marshall, chair of the General Practitioners’ Committee of BMA Scotland, said he “completely disagreed” with the First Minister, and predicted patients would suffer if outside firms ran surgeries.

If the company beats off competition from two groups of doctors, the Harthill practice would become the first in Scotland not to be run by GPs.
Source: The Herald, Friday 15 December 2006