Equality laws enshrine mothers’ right to breastfeed in public

Equality laws enshrine mothers’ right to breastfeed in public

The Disability Rights Commission has said a new green paper on tackling discrimination and inequality “fails to measure up” because it contains no measures to toughen up enforcement or make it easier to bring anti-discrimination cases.

The paper was produced yesterday by the Department of Communities and Local Government as a prelude to a Single Equality Bill designed to streamline existing legislation.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 13 June 2007 page 14

Prison suicides up to two a week as jail numbers soar

Prison suicides have risen to two a week as a result of overcrowding, chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers told a committee of MPs yesterday.

Owers said the increasing practice of holding inmates in police cells was increasing prisoners’ vulnerability because of the lack of support services.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 13 June 2007 page 15

Social care ‘Oscar’ for Guardian man

The Guardian’s public services editor David Brindle has won the annual Social Care Association merit award.

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 13 June 2007 page 2

Rebel with a cause

The executive director of drugs charity Release, Sebastian Saville, says 10 years of New Labour may have made the state of drugs policy worse due to its exclusive emphasis on the links between drugs and crime, rather than the rights and wellbeing of individuals.

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 13 June 2007 page 5

Online observation

A system of “virtual wards” in Croydon, under which people at most risk of hospital admissions are given intensive treatment at home by community matrons, will be catering for 1,000 people by the end of the year, mostly with long-term conditions.

Under the system, a ward administrator acts as a contact point for community matrons, social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists working with service users and they hold a daily teleconference “ward round”, in which the most vulnerable people are discussed.

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 13 June 2007 page 7

Strength in numbers

The number of charities working in collaboration with each other is increasing rapidly to better influence policy makers, increase public support and improve access to public funds.

Source:- Society Guardian Wednesday 13 June 2007 page 11

‘Honour’ killing used to threaten others

The murder of a woman by her father and uncle on “honour” grounds is being used to intimidate others at risk of “honour crimes”, it has emerged.

Surrey Police have started an investigation into the case of a woman who received a death threat saying she would become the “next Banaz”.

This was in reference to Banaz Mahmod, whose father and uncle were convicted this week of her murder, which was motivated by her relationship with a man of whom they disapproved.

Source:- The Times Wednesday 13 June 2007 page 15

Paedos to be chemically castrated

Home Secretary John Reid will say he wants to test giving convicted paedophiles hormone injections that suppress their sex drives. Offenders will be told they must agree to take the hormones if they want to be let out of jail early.

Source:- Daily Mirror, Wednesday June 13, page 7

A spoonful of cod liver oil can combat depression

New research from Norway suggests that cod liver oil cuts the risk of depression by 30%.

Source:- Daily Mail, Wednesday June 13, page 4

Hospitals risk lives of elderly by sending them home too soon

Elderly patients are being released from hospital too soon, putting their lives at risk, charities warned yesterday.  Last year, 147,257 patients over 75 had to be sent back to hospital as “emergency admissions” within 28 days of being discharged.

Source:- Daily Mail, Wednesday June 13, page 20

Schools need to teach happiness

Every school should teach children how to be happy, according to economics expert Professor Richard Layard.

Source:- The Independent, Wednesday June 13, page 6

Scottish news

More cash sought for affordable housing as homeless rate soars

Ministers have been urged to provide more money for affordable housing after official figures revealed homelessness is still on the rise.

A parliamentary answer showed the number of people registering as homeless stood at 36,625 in 2005-6, nearly 2000 more than the year before.

This was despite the passage of the Homelessness Act in 2003 by the previous executive, which stated that everyone in Scotland should have decent, secure accommodation by 2012.

Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 13 June

Executive moves to protect asylum children

Scottish ministers are exploring what influence they can bring to bear on Westminster over asylum issues.

The new approach was disclosed as another family was detained by immigration officers in a dawn raid – believed to be the second enforced removal from a home since the new administration was formed in May.

The issue of dawn raids flared up under the previous administration, when Jack McConnell, as the then First Minister, intervened by seeking a new protocol with his Westminster counterparts on the issue.

Source:- The Herald, Wednesday 13 June

Welsh news

Eastern Bloc Transforming Wales

A picture of the immigration patterns of Eastern Europeans to Wales can be drawn for the first time.

A study, carried out by the Welsh Assembly Government, shows that between May 2004 and March 2007, 17,300 people from the A8 countries, the eight Eastern European states which joined the EU in May 2004, applied to be given National Insurance numbers in Wales.

Source:- Ic Wales  Wednesday 13 June