Rethink use of restraint on young offenders, urges coroner

Rethink use of restraint on young offenders, urges coroner
A coroner called yesterday for an urgent review of the use of restraint on young offenders after a jury returned a suicide verdict on a vulnerable 14-year-old who hanged himself with his shoelaces at a privately-run secure unit.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 1 June 2007, page 11

Jobless who look after grandchildren ‘bullied’ by benefit officials
Thousands of grandparents who have taken over the upbringing of their grandchildren are being “bullied” by job centre staff to go back to work, Frank Field, a former Labour welfare minister, claimed last night.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 1 June 2007, page 15

Men ‘afraid to work with children’
Men are refusing to volunteer to work with children because they are frightened of being labelled a paedophile, according to a survey.
Source:- The Times, Friday 1 June 2007, page 37

Unions press Brown to pause reforms to public sector
Trade union leaders have called for a “fresh start” on public services from prime minister elect Gordon Brown in their submission to this year’s comprehensive spending review, which will set government expenditure limits from 2008-11. Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber called for a pause on reforms to the public sector to allow existing changes to bed in and for a national debate on how public services should be paid for.
Source:- The Financial Times, Friday 1 June 2007, page 4

Poor families fail to claim tax credits, say Lib Dems
Low-income families are shunning tax credit payments because they fear the error strewn system will force them to repay thousands of pounds in benefits, the Liberal Democrats said yesterday. Official figures showed that more than two million people failed to claim between £1,410 and £1,778 a year on average. Up to 260,00 people earning less than £20,000 missed out on tax credits worth £2,500 to £3,577. More than £6bn was overpaid in tax credits between 2003 and 2006, much of it clawed back by HM Revenue & Customs. HMRC said it was “nonsense” to argue people were put off claiming.
Source:- The Guardian, Friday 1 June 2007, page 30

Segregation concerns over academies
An increase in the number of schools running their own admissions will cause an increase in social segregation, a report by think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research claims today. Amid government plans to increase the number of academies and develop trust schools across England, both of which run their own admissions, the IPPR said this power should be taken away from schools unless a newly strengthened admissions code significantly reduces social segregation.
Source:- The Financial Times, Friday 1 June 2007, page 2

Police get power to foil paedophiles
Police won new powers yesterday to prevent known paedophiles from striking again.
Source:- The Sun, Friday 1 June 2007, page 2

Male victims of forced marriage
How men can be victims of forced marriage and what charity Karma Nirvana does to help.
Source:- The Sun, Friday 1 June 2007, page 29

Care home residents get six hours to go
Frail pensioners were booted out of their care home – with just six hours’ notice. Families were forced to find their loved ones somewhere to live after they got a phone call from social services chiefs telling them it was to close that day. Relatives of 15 women, some with dementia and Alzheimer’s, were told to collect the OAPs’ possessions in a 2pm call on Tuesday and be out by 8pm.
Residents and staff at private Astley House care home in Darwen, Lancs, were in tears as they left. Planning permission was recently given to convert the building into a 36-bed care home and they thought their future was secure. But owners Brightcrest Ltd have gone bust.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Friday 1 June 2007, page 6

Disabled parking bay rumpus
Most drivers caught illegally parking in a disabled bay would hang their heads in shame – but not Tory MP Anthony Steen. Even after leaving his ancient Volvo blocking the space for three days he refused to say sorry and instead complained that there were too many disabled spaces.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Friday 1 June 2007, page 17

Police, not teachers, should frisk pupils for weapons, says union
Teachers’ union the Association of Teachers and Lecturers has warned its members not to frisk pupils without their consent in response to new government powers for them to search pupils for weapons. The union said that the new policy, under which pupils can be searched without their consent, had “potentially fatal consequences”.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph, Friday 1 June 2007, page 4

Children banned from playing in street
In a letter to the residents of the Glenfield area of Leicester, county council officials warned parents that they face a £100 fine if their sons and daughters flout a council ban to stop children playing on the streets.
Source:- The Daily Mail, Friday 1 June 2007, page 23

Scottish news

Council tries to sell home left to elderly people in Dunblane
When Thomas Brittain, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, left his home and a substantial trust fund to the elderly people of Dunblane, his hope was that future generations would benefit.
After his death in 1964, Abbotsford House was converted into a nursing home and the bulk of his estate was sold to pay for its upkeep.
But four decades on, the older residents of the Stirlingshire town are struggling to find out what became of this bounty. Abbotsford nursing home has long since closed and the building lies abandoned and derelict while a tortuous legal process to establish its ownership rumbles on.
Source:- The Herald, Friday 1 June 2007

Welsh news

No social care news today.