Lone parents face cut in benefit if they refuse to go to work

Lone parents face cut in benefit if they refuse to work
Lone parents could have their benefits cut under government proposals to force them to start looking for work when their youngest child reaches the age of 12.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 12

Call to halt closure of special needs schools
The Conservatives demanded a halt to special schools closures yesterday as the government admitted that 9,000 places had been lost since Labour came to power.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 7

Third of dropped rape cases should have been pursued
Police and prosecutors are regularly failing rape victims by wrongly recording many cases as “no crime” and dropping others prematurely without following possible lines of investigation, according to a report today by the independent watchdogs for both services.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 7

Jail system in serious crisis says watchdog
Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, yesterday warned that the overcrowded jail system in England and Wales was in a “serious crisis” which the home secretary could not simply build his way out of.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 8

Brown determined to keep spending plans uncer wraps
The comprehensive spending review, which will set government spending limits from 2008 to 2011, may not be announced until October, giving public sector bodies just five months to plan their budgets for next year.
In evidence to the Treasury select committee, chief secretary to the Treasury said the review would be published before October.
Source:- The Financial Times, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 3

Treasury chief says Reid must work within Home Office resources
Chief secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms warned that the Home Office would not receive extra resources, despite criticisms from chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers that the criminal justice system was under-resourced.
In evidence to the Treasury select committee, on the day Owers published her annual report, Timms said the home secretary had to manage his beleagured department within available resources, endorsing a real-terms spending freeze on the ministry until 2011.
Source:- The Financial Times, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 3

Plea for disabled tax relief shake-up
A report today calls for an overhaul of tax relief on products used by disabled people, saying the current system is “arbitrary and irrational”.
The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers said some products did not attract VAT relief because they were not solely designed for disabled people.
Source: The Financial Times Wednesday 31 January 2007 page 2

Migrant surge ‘led to disorder and crime’
A report from the Audit Commission has said that the migration of people from European Union accession states to the UK has put pressure on services including education and health, and led to tensions with low-paid British workers.
It also said that many migrants faced destitution and homelessness.
Source:- The Daily Mail, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 6

Nurses top UK’s ‘hidden poor’ list
Social workers are among occupational groups at risk of unexpected poverty, according to Elizabeth Finn Care, an organisation which helps people whose careers are disrupted by tragedy.
It said nurses and midwives were most at risk.
Source:- The Independent, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 12

Cost for councils of caring for young asylum seekers
Young asylum seekers who arrive in Britain unaccompanied must be looked after by local councils, and that is putting unbearable pressure on services and leaving them near financial crisis.
Source:-Society Guardian, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 3

Return to practice courses for social workers
Specialised courses help fill the gaps for social workers wanting to return to their fast-changing profession.
Source:-Society Guardian, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 7

Disability: transfer from child to adult services
A report by the Commission for Social Care Inspection says urgent action is needed to ensure that when young people with disabilities and serious medical conditions transfer from children to adult services they continue to receive high quality services that promote their independence.
Source:-Society Guardian, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 10

Mental health: care in the community?
Policy makers must ensure that people with mental health problems do not miss out on the drive to move patients and resources from hospital into the community, says a report from the Mental Health Foundation,
Source:-Society Guardian, Wednesday 31 January 2007, page 10

Scottish news

Why educatiion and childcare are such key issues
Plans to force lone parents back to work early have been branded “hypocritical” by two single mums struggling to raise their children.
Anne-Marie Smith from Pollok in Glasgow said adopting the proposals must be combined with support for lone parents to pursue an education.
Smith said: “I’m all for lone parents returning to work, but a strong support network must be in place to enable them to get an education before their youngest child is 12.”
Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 31 January 2007
 
Council ordered to apologise to disabled teenagers
A council has been ordered to pay compensation and apologise for the “bureaucratic and unsympathetic” way it treated two severely disabled teenagers and their families.
North Lanarkshire was told to pay £1000 to each of the two families after their children missed out on 10 months of special-needs education.
Professor Alice Brown, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, condemned the authority and its education department for causing “anxiety and distress”.
Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 31 January 2007
 
Sharp rise in children excluded from school
Children as young as five are being suspended from school in increasing numbers while exclusions among girls have doubled over the past six years, according to a new report.
Official figures show 5779 pupils were excluded from Scottish primaries in 2005-06, a 9% increase on the previous year – with substance abuse, sexual harassment and gang-related incidents amongst the reasons – raising fears that discipline problems in Scottish secondaries are now spreading to the primary sector.
Girls accounted for 11% of all exclusions from Scotland’s schools in 1999, but last year the figure increased to 22%.
Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 31 January 2007

Welsh news

Tories to boost fund for social housing
The Welsh Conservatives said that they would increase spending on social housing if they came to power yesterday.
A Conservative assembly government would increase the housing budget by £16m raising it to £109m the party said.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday, 31 January 2007