Children, 9, recruited by council to report antisocial behaviour

Teenagers who fail GCSEs to be offered apprenticeships
Tens of thousands of teenagers who will leave school without a single GCSE when today’s results are announced are to be offered apprenticeships under a new multimillion pound scheme.
Source:- The Guardian, Thursday 23 August 2007, page 7 

Study shows older people still sexually active
A high proportion of older men and women remain sexually active, according to a study of 3,000 Americans.
Source:- The Guardian, Thursday 23 August 2007, page 7

MEPS back sex offenders list
The vast majority of European parliamentarians back the creation of an EU-wide sex offenders register, according to a poll published yesterday by the parents of missing Madeline McCann.
Source:- The Guardian, Thursday 23 August 2007, page 22

Proof that teens are doing good
British teenagers are being painted in a bad light, according to a study which claims they carry out 2.5 million acts of kindness every day.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Thursday 23 August 2007, page 2

The ABC of beating youth crime
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announces a massive crackdown on Britain’s spiralling yob culture today – using Acceptable Behaviour Contracts.
Source:- Daily Mirror, Thursday 23 August 2007, 6-7

Britain ready to back down on asylum for its interpreters in Iraq
The government has accepted privately that interpreters who face persecution and death for helping British troops in Iraq must be given asylum in Britain.
Source:- The Times, Thursday 23 August 2007, page 2

Treat ‘yuppie flu’ more seriously, doctors ordered
People with ME should be given individual care plans to manage their condition, including cognitive behavioural therapy, in guidance issued yesterday by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

Nice’s chief executive Andrew Dillon said the guidance was designed to tackle current uncertainties in the diagnosis and management of myalgic encephalomyelitis, whose symptoms can include debilitating fatigue, headaches, sleep propblems and muscle pain.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 23 August 2007 page 5

Population errors ‘could cause tax rises’
Government funding to London councils may prove inadequate if based on population figures that do not take into account levels of immigration, boroughs warned yesterday.

London Councils said figures from the Office for National Statistics issued yesterday, on which government grants will be based, could lead to tax rises or service cuts because they underestimated population levels.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 23 August 2007 page 12

Cameron: Ban young offenders from driving
Young offenders should be barred from getting a driving licence when they reach 17 as a punishment for their crimes, Conservative leader David Cameron said yesterday.
He said young offenders needed to understand that crime would lead to curbs on their lifestyles.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Thursday 23 August 2007 page 12

Labour’s reforms will suck children into Net gambling, say experts
The Royal College of Psychiatrists has issued a last-minute warning of the impact on children of moves to allow foreign gambling websites to advertise on British TV and radio, which will come into force next week.

It said that children can take advantage of security loopholes to pose as adults and gamble on the sites despite age restrictions.
Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 23 August 2007 page 19

The one-minute test for Alzheimer’s
Scientists are developing a 60-second test for common brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s to help promote early diagnosis and treatment.

The scan, being developed at the University of Minnesota in the US, is non-invasive and researchers claim it could have clinical application within two years.
Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 23 August 2007 page 24

Doctor who hit his wife 24 times is spared jail
Women’s Aid has criticised the courts’ failure to jail two men for domestic abuse in the past week.

They criticised the decision to fine Stuart Brown and give him a 24-month supervision order for throwing his wife to the floor and punching her several times following a row, and to fine Colin Read for branding his wife with an iron.
Source:- The Daily Mail Thursday 23 August 2007 page 41

‘Changes must be made’ to GP contracts
The GP contract will not deliver the expected long-term benefits to patients unless it is revised according to a new report from the Wales Audit Office.

The study recommends better monitoring of the money paid out to GP practices and changes to the way the contract is run.
Source:- Western Mail, Thursday, 23 August 2007

Scottish digest

Tackling youth crime: A £100m waste of money
A £100 million Scottish Executive crackdown on youth crime has had no measurable effect on offending, according to a damning report published today.

Ministers in the previous administration launched a stream of initiatives to target youth offending, from antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) and youth courts to rehabilitation schemes for young offenders.

But Audit Scotland today suggests some of the schemes may have been worthless. While the new programmes have raised youth-justice by a third to £330m, the number of persistent young offenders (PYOs) has gone up, rather than down.
Source: The Scotsman, Thursday 16 August

Anger and disbelief after time called on ‘last-chance saloon’
Dubbed the “last-chance saloon”, the Airborne initiative – a nine-week “boot camp” at Braidwood House in Lanarkshire – tackled the most persistent offending behaviour and attempted to steer youths on to the right path.

But in 2004, ministers pulled almost £600,000 of annual funding amid claims the project had failed to perform. Young people were instead sent to court. Hugh Henry, the then deputy justice minister, said the decision was taken in the light of “a body of evidence” collected from evaluation and inspection reports.

Now the new SNP administration is looking into incorporating some elements of the scheme into existing youth offending initiatives. 
 Source: The Scotsman, Thursday 16 August

Children, 9, recruited by council to report antisocial behaviour
A local authority is aiming to clean up the streets by enlisting primary-school children to join its antisocial behaviour investigators.

Perth and Kinross Council plans to give children as young as nine a uniform and encourage them to report antisocial behaviour. The initial scheme will last for six weeks.

A council spokesman said the children would be given notebooks and encouraged to take down and report details of any antisocial behaviour they observe.
Source: The Scotsman, Thursday 16 August