Climbie’s worker to return

By Mithran Samuel on June 4, 2008 in Carers, Children, Pay and conditions, Substance misuse, Workforce, Youth justice

Climbie’s worker to return

The woman blamed for failing to prevent the murder of Victoria Climbie has been given permission to reregister as a social worker.

Lisa Arthurworrey, 38, was sacked by Haringey council in North London, for not spotting signs of abuse when she visited the eight-year-old at her home in 2000.

But a tribunal panel will announce today that Arthurworrey, now a debt collector, can apply for social services positions again.

Warning as council workers accept pay deal

Council workers grudgingly voted to accept a below inflation pay offer because they could not afford to strike, said their union on Tuesday.

The GMB union, representing 250,000 local government workers, said the offer, worth 2.45 per cent, had been accepted by a four to one majority. Brian Strutton, GMB national secretary, said the size of the majority was only because workers felt that they could not afford to go on strike.
Read more on this story in The Financial Times

‘Children happier under care of grandparents’

Children grow up happier if their grandparents are involved in their upbringing, researchers have said.
Academics at Oxford University and the Institute of Education, London, found that grandparents can help young children because they often have more time to spend with them than working parents.

Country faces a crisis of drink and violence, MPs told

Teenagers are downing alcohol as if it is fizzy pop as incidents of drink-fuelled violence and rape soar, a chief constable told MPs yesterday.

Stephen Otter, head of Devon and Cornwall police, painted a desperate picture of the heavy drinking culture scarring Britain.

Tories: Charities to be paid for services

Charities will be allowed to earn “substantial” fees from delivering public services as part of a shakeup of Britain’s voluntary sector under a future Conservative government, David Cameron said yesterday.

Thousands choose between food and care

Thousands of vulnerable people are going without food and heating to pay the soaring costs of homecare services provided by local authorities, a coalition of 18 charities says in a report out today.

The charities found that charges for assistance with dressing, washing and eating have more than trebled since 1997 as cash-strapped councils try to limit growth in the social services budget.
Read more on this story in The Guardian

Watching the boys in the bands

John Pitts’ research shows that the proliferation of youth crime and gang culture is a product of inequality, and the government has failed to stem the tide despite 10 years of throwing cash and resources at them.

Hidden Heroes

A report launched this week from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) dared to ask carers, what they want and offers one answer: rather than let family members be paid from the older or disabled person’s personal budget, carers should get separate support for themselves. An individual budget for carers would recognise carers’ needs as individuals. And, by not introducing wage relations within families, it would avoid distorting loving relationships

Read more on this story in Society Guardian