Children taken away from mother who filmed them fighting

Children taken away from mother who filmed them fighting
A mother has lost custody of her two young children after she forced them to fight and filmed them bursting into tears. Zara Care, 21, from Plymouth, was told that her son, aged 2, and daughter, 3, would be brought up by their father’s parents and that she would never get them back.
Source:- The Times, Saturday 21 April 2007, page 25

Girl carer, 13, overdosed on mother’s morphine
A coroner is demanding to know why schoolchildren are being left to care for sick relatives after a 13-year-old girl died from an overdose of the morphine prescribed for her terminally ill mother.
Source:- The Times, Saturday 21 April 2007, page 15

Law to prevent forced marriage moves closer
New measures to protect women from forced marriage could become law by the end of the year, after the government yesterday confirmed it would back the bill.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 21 April 2007, page 8

OFT to look at £30,000 bill for ear implant
The parents of a six-year-old girl who was born profoundly deaf are complaining to the Office of Fair Trading after the NHS refused to provide her with a second “bionic ear” implant, leaving them with a £30,000 bill for the operation.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 21 April 2007, page 10

University pays drug addicts to join trial
Crack cocaine addicts and other hard drug users are to be paid by Cambridge University to take part in a medical trial to investigate how the substances influence their behaviour. “As this trial involves users and non-users, it would be unethical to compensate one group and not the other. Also, recruiting for such a study without compensating for inconvenience would be nearly impossible,” a university spokeswoman said. Detective Chief Inspector Gary Ridgway said that any research leading to a greater understanding of the effects of drug misuse was useful.
Source:- The Guardian, Saturday 21 April 2007, page 16

4m women beaten by brutes
Four million women are victims of domestic violence in Britain, says a shocking poll, carried out by OnePoll.
Source:- The Sun, Saturday 21 April 2007, page 31

Expelled aged five
A five-year-old is expelled from school every week and 20 are suspended, it was revealed yesterday. Department for Education figures showed 60 reception year children – aged five or even younger – were expelled in 2004-05, up from only 20 the year before.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Saturday 21 April 2007, page 34

Anger as Age Concern ‘loses’ £16m
One of Britain’s largest charities is facing a full-scale investigation into how it ‘lost’ up to £16m invested in it by setting up a company to harness ‘grey power’ that failed to attract enough members or make any money.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 22 April 2007, page 8

Plans for clamp on teenage smoking
Radical plans to clamp down on the way cigarettes are sold are being considered by the government in an effort to tackle historically high levels of smoking among teenagers.
Source:- The Observer, Sunday 22 April 2007, page 1

Special needs pupils ‘being taught in sin bins’
Increasing numbers of children with learning difficulties are being sent to education “sin bins” – to be taught beside badly behaved and often violent pupils. Figures from the Conservatives show that the number of children with physical and emotional problems who are schooled in so-called “pupil referral units” has more than doubled since 1997.
Source:- Daily Telegraph, Monday 23 April 2007, page 12

Kelly under attack for setback on pay equality
Labour MPs are accusing Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, of watering down an equality measure. Campaigners say that her department is nine months late in a review of British and European discrimination law, which Labour promised to merge into a single form.
Supporters want new moves to close pay gaps between men and women, the same legal protection for black and disabled people and new laws against discrimination on age, sexuality and religious faith.
Source:- The Times, Monday 23 April 2007, page 27

Huntley ‘admits sexually abusing girl decades ago’
Ian Huntley has admitted for the first time that he sexually assaulted a child, it was reported last night.
Source:- The Times, Monday 23 April 2007, page 5

Raid on lottery costs good causes £2.2bn
The Big Lottery Funding has promised to protect voluntary and community groups against funding cuts from the money it must provide for the 2012 Olympics, meaning public bodies, such as councils and health trusts, will be hit by the bill of £425m over four years.
Source:- The Guardian, Monday 23 April 2007, page 14

Blair created ‘irresponsible society,’ Cameron claims
Conservative leader David Cameron has promised a future Tory government will give individuals responsibility for their own actions rather than managing them through antisocial behaviour orders, parenting orders and other state-led measures.
In a speech today, he will flesh out his vision, saying governments should not seek to solve every social problem that arises.
Source:- The Independent, Monday 23 April 2007, page 7

Scottish news
 
School pilots guide to parenting
A guide to parenting which gives families advice on how to motivate children to do well at school is being piloted at a Scottish primary.
Drawn up by staff and parents at a school run by Glasgow Council, the guide encourages families to identify how their children learn and then adopt strategies to encourage them.
Advice includes getting children to express their feelings and thoughts, encouraging them to think through the consequences of their actions, turn boring activities into fun games, think for themselves and praise effort as well as achievement.
Source:- The Herald, Monday 23 April 2007

Welsh news

Brown pledges to extend child trust funds
Gordon Brown has pledged to back plans to increase the child trust fund for children in Wales announced by the Welsh Labour party.
Every child will get an extra £50 on top of the £250 they are given by the government if Labour is still in power in Wales after the assembly election next month.
Source:- Western Mail, Saturday 21 April 2007

Care workers face 40 per cent pay cut, claim union
Former council care workers employed at older people’s homes taken over by the private sector are set to face dramatic reductions in pay this summer.
Public sector union Unison has now attacked Torfaen Council for selling off the homes to Hafod Care Association Ltd.
When the homes were sold in 2002 the company agreed to maintain the terms and conditions for five years but this period is almost up.
Source:- Western Mail, Monday 23 April 2007