News round-up: Teen abortions rise prompts call for reform

June 20, 2008 in Community Care

Rise in teen abortions prompts call for reform
Half of pregnancies among girls under 18 are now ending in abortions although the number of pregnancies is falling, an analysis by The Times has shown.

Ministers’ teenager problem improves
England’s Neet rate – the proportion of teenagers not in education, employment or training – has dropped for the second year in a row, signalling the beginning of the end of one of ministers’ most intractable problems.

Low-performing schools to get £1m each to lift standards
The schools secretary, Ed Balls, yesterday promised £1m for every struggling secondary modern as he launched a concerted attack on selective education and the 164 remaining grammar schools, saying they were consigning children to failure from the age of 11.

Jersey abuse inquiry: suspected milk teeth total reaches 48
Investigators searching the Haut de la Garenne former children’s home in Jersey have found a another 21 suspected milk teeth in the past week, police said today.

The care home ‘chemical cosh drugs’ which could be killing dementia patients
Ministers launched an urgent inquiry yesterday into the way care homes use inappropriate drugs to keep dementia sufferers placid.

Police attitudes
More than 40 per cent of police officers attend a stabbing incident once a week, according to a survey of 1,200 officers by the think-tank Policy Exchange.

Child curfew threat
Parents on the Hamptons estate in Worcester Park, Surrey, may lose their homes if children under 14 break a 9pm curfew.

Escape blunder as Jacqui Smith launches immigration crackdown
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, faced embarrassment today after seven illegal immigrants broke out of a detention centre on the day she unveiled a new crackdown on immigration.

16-year-old held over stabbing
A 16-year-old boy was arrested today in connection with the stabbing of a 14-year-old.

Television psychiatrist Raj Persaud faces being struck off medical register
Raj Persaud, the television psychiatrist, could be struck off after he was dishonest and brought his profession into disrepute by plagiarising scholars’ work, the General Medical Council has said.