Children in care ‘dumped on coast’

Children in care ‘dumped on coast’
Thousands of children in care are being “dumped” in coastal towns miles away from their home area, according to a report from MPs .
Councils in London, Northumberland and Lancashire send children to seaside areas where foster or residential care can be provided more cheaply, it claims. But although the authorities sending children pay for accommodation, they do not pick up the extra costs of education, healthcare and youth services, which the host council has to fund.
The Commons Communities Committee recommends that children should be sent away only when it is in the best interests of the child, not to save money.
It also criticises the government for neglecting coastal towns, which include some of the most deprived pockets in the country.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 30

Action on teenage runaways
The government is set to announace action to tackle youth homelessness today and highlight the plight of runaways kicked out of their family homes.
In a speech today, housing minister Yvette Cooper  will announce plans for families with a spare room to take in teenagers for short periods.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 10

Check on health trusts over fear of starving patients
Twenty three NHS trusts are to be inspected by the Healthcare Commission amid concerns they are failing to meet standards on the care of older people, notably on nutrition.
The commission said it had reason to suspect that the trusts may not be meeting standards on dignity and nutrition.
Source:- Daily Telgraph, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 2

To be a charity, you must first pass a test
Today, the Charity Commission publishes a consultation, Charities and public benefit.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 4

Value of foster care queried
The harshness of life in care homes is chronicled in Phil Frampton’s moving memoir. So why does he believe it is better than being fostered? 
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 7

EU enlargement hits charities’ pockets
Charities providing employment and training for homeless people and the long-term unemployed are predicting mass redundancies and cuts in services as a result of delays in setting European social fund budgets.
Homelessness charity St Mungo’s faces an 86% cut in ESF cash and says it will be forced to shut projects that last year secured jobs for 125 long-term homeless people and provided training for 1,000 more.
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 2

Cannabis relief
A grandmother who uses cannabis for pain relief has vowed to continue using the drug if convicted of cultivating and possessing it, even though she faces eviction. Patricia Tabram, 68, of Hexam, Northumberland, suffers from depression and has attempted suicide 11 times, Carlisle crown court was told.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 23

Paedophile jailed
Clifford Lindley, 68, a businessman, was jailed for six years by Harrow crown court for child sex offences involving a north London girl. Lindley, of Wolverhampton was on bail for allegedly arranging a child sex holiday in the Philippines.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 23

Bang to rights
The teenager pictured on newspaper front pages making a gun gesture behind David Cameron, the Tory leader, was sentenced at Manchester city magistrate’s youth court to 18 months’ dentention in a young offender institution and given an Asbo. Ryan Florence, 17, had admitted burglary and motor vehicle interference.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 23

Patients miss best DIY health sites
Worried patients who search the web for health advice often reject the best sites in favour of those with a human touch, researchers have found.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 10

Private schools will have to prove charitable status
Independent schools are to be compelled to demonstrate how their charitable status benefits the poor, and to account for every penny they save through tax breaks valued at £88 million a year.
Source:- The Times, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 11

Unions braced for blow on minimum wage rise
The Low Pay Commission looks set to recommend that the rise in the minimum wage this year should be pegged to the rise in average earnings for the first time in the salary floor’s history. The news today is set to disappoint union leaders, who had been arguing for the wage to rise from £5.35 to £6 an hour, rather than £5.50 as expected.
Source:- The Financial Times, Wednesday 7 March 2007, page 4

Scottish news

Scotland’s suicide rate on rise
Suicides in Scotland have increased significantly in the past 15 years, figures show.
A study analysing data from 1989 to 2004 has revealed that the suicide rate in men has increased by 22 per cent, while in women it is up 6 per cent. The rates are almost double those in England.
High levels of deprivation, alcohol and drug abuse and large numbers of people living in remote areas are possible risk factors.
Source:- The Scotsman, Wednesday 7 March 2007

Legal move to end free care meals
Older people are to have their right to free food-preparation enshrined in law to force reluctant councils to pay for the service, under plans being proposed by ministers.
Many have been denied free help by local authorities who claim that existing guidance from the Scottish executive is ambiguous.
But a series of recent legal rulings have seen several councils forced to pay multi-million-pound payouts. Now the executive is looking at bringing in legislation to force councils to fulfil their duty.
Source:- The Scotsman, Wednesday 7 March 2007

Welsh news

‘Employers must share responsibility for providing childcare’
Employers need to do more to provide crèches for their workers children it was claimed last night.
The director of the Equal Opportunities Commission in Wales, Kate Bennett, said that childcare was the responsibility of parents, employers and society as a whole through public provision.
She made the comments as a group of workers prepared to protest against the closure of in-house nursery facilities at the BBC in Wales.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 7 March 2007