Children on register fear paedophiles

By Mithran Samuel, Derren Hayes and Simeon Brody

Poorer pupils tend to do as well as their more affluent counterparts at grammar schools but research published today finds access to selective education is heavily weighted towards the better off.

The conclusions come in three reports released by Research in Public Policy.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 November 2007 page 16

Children on register fear paedophiles

Children are concerned that information on them held on the government’s new database of all 11 million under-18s, ContactPoint, will fall into the wrong hands, a survey by Ofsted has found.

Around 330,000 people who work with children will have access to the database.

Source:- Daily Telegraph Wednesday 21 November 2007 page 16

The number of people with chronic hepatitis B in the UK has nearly doubled in the past five years, a report from the Hepatitis B Foundation has found.

Government policy currently is to only immunise at-risk groups – injecting drug users, prisoners and those who attend clinics for sexually transmitted infections – but experts claimed there was a case for moving towards universal vaccinations.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 21 November 2007 page 11

Treatment and the law stem rise in users

The number of “problem drug users” – those using opiates and/or crack cocaine remains stable at around 332,000, according to the latest official estimate published yesterday.

But there is some evidence in research released yesterday by the Home Office that law enforcement measures and treatment programmes are having some effect, with a decline in the government’s “drug harm index” from 89.1 to 83.8 from 2004-5.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 21 November 2007 page 15

Migration from eastern Europe and asylum applications fall

Asylum applications have reached their lowest level since 1992 though removals of failed asylum seekers are at their lowest levels for three years, official figures published yesterday showed.

The figures also showed that migration from the 2004 EU accession states fell to 56,000 in July to September this year, down 9,000 on the same time last year.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 21 November 2007 page 16

Lost in the post – 25 million at risk after data discs go missing

The government was forced to admit yesterday that the personal records of 25 million individuals, including their date of birth, addresses, bank accounts and national insurance numbers had been lost in the post, opening up the threat of mass identity fraud and theft from personal bank accounts.

The information went missing after it was posted by officials at Revenue and Customs to the National Audit Office in the internal post.

Source:- The Guardian Wednesday 21 November 2007 page 1-2

Mother-to-be flees as social workers warn her they will take her baby away at birth
 
A mother-to-be has fled her home after social workers threatened to take her baby within minutes of her birth. Fran Lyon, 22, hopes a new local authority will take a different approach. She insists that the mental health problems she had as a teenager are now behind her and there is no evidence she will harm her child.
 
Source:- Daily Mail, Wednesday 21 November 2007, page 9
 
Measures of Success

How do we know that our donations to charity actually make a difference? What does our money buy? Some say it’s time to start looking more closely at how charities spend the millions of pounds donated to them.

Source:- Guardian Society, Wednesday 21 November
 
Question of priorities

Schemes that tackle social exclusion have been popular with both policy leaders and ministers. Many of these schemes have been passed over and developed by councils, but with budgets tightening will some of them be lost?

Source:- Guardian Society, Wednesday 21 November
 
Empty beds may blot the care landscape

David Brindle looks at the economics behind bed blocking and asks whether society is getting the payback for its investment in preventative care.

Source:- Guardian Society, Wednesday 21 November
 
Worth their weighting

Good care costs. So will recipients of direct payments be prepared to pay this price, and if not what will the consequences be?

Source:- Guardian Society, Wednesday 21 November
 
Dreams can come true if we really care for young people

Writer Simon Fanshawe highlights the good work of a residential respite centre in Hampshire.

Source:- Guardian Society,  Wednesday 21 November