News round up: Families hit with £1,300 rise in cost of living

By Caroline Lovell on February 12, 2008 in Child safeguarding, Children, Substance misuse, Workforce, Youth justice

Families hit with £1,300 rise in cost of living

Families are having to pay an extra £1,300 a year in household bills as food and fuel prices rise at their fastest rate for 17 years.

Sonic youth deterrent ‘should be banned’

A device used to disperse congregating teenagers with a high-pitched whine only audible to the under-25s should be banned, according to children’s campaigners.

Children who try to buy alcohol ‘go unpunished’

Under-age children who try to buy wine and beer have only a one in 282,000 chance of being punished, it has been claimed.

Drunken teenagers who kicked a father to death are jailed for life

A judge highlighted the culture of underage drinking plaguing Britain yesterday as he jailed three teenagers for life for the murder of Garry Newlove.

Immigration officers banned from making raids at weekends – to save cash

Immigration officers have been banned from searching for illegal immigrants at weekends or on bank holidays because of a crippling budget crisis.

Crime-ridden neighbourhoods are told by the police to Do It Yourself

Teams of Neighbourhood Watch members are to be asked to do jobs previously left to the police. The civilian groups could spy on villains, patrol crime-hit estates at night and even check car tax discs. In some cases they would form secret groups to gather intelligence. Details of the plan are contained in a leaked memo sent to chief constables in the last few days.

TUC acts to thwart US ‘union busters’

British employers are hiring aggressive US-style “union busting” consultants to persuade workers against joining trade unions, Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, warned on Tuesday.