News round up: Doubts cast on ‘memory clinics’ for dementia

Doubts cast on ‘memory clinics’

When care services minister Phil Hope announced last month that “memory clinics” offering ongoing support for people with dementia would soon be a feature of every town, it was greeted as a welcome precursor to the national dementia strategy scheduled for publication later this month. However, two weeks on from the announcement, reservations about what they might entail are emerging.

Read more on this story in Society Guardian

Thousands being made bankrupt thanks to council tax arrears

Councils are increasingly using bailiffs and court summonses to collect unpaid council tax, resulting in thousands of householders being made bankrupt, it has been reported.
Read more on this story in The Daily Telegraph

Lib Dem leader wants fathers to get a year off work

Men should be given up to a year off work when they become fathers, the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said, as he prepares to take paternity leave himself.

Read more on this story in The Daily Telegraph

Suicide inmate’s mother warned prison

The mother of a prisoner who was found hanged in the segregation cell of a troubled privately run prison after being placed on suicide watch told an inquest yesterday how she repeatedly warned officers of her son’s deteriorating mental state. The death of Michael Bailey, 23, at HMP Rye Hill near Rugby in Warwickshire led to the trial and subsequent acquittal of four serving prison officers. A damning inspectors’ report in the month after his death found conditions at the jail to be “unsafe and unstable” for both inmates and staff.

Read more on this story in The Independent

MP blast for Baby P bungler

Politicians have slammed social services boss Sharon Shoesmith for appealing her axing over Baby P’s death.
The 55-year-old claims councillors were wrong to sack her without notice.

Read more on this story in The Sun

Tax set to be scrapped for under £10k earners

Workers earning less than £10,000 a year could soon be exempt from paying tax in a bid to boost the economy.

Gordon Brown plans to help millions of low-paid and part-time staff cope with the financial crisis by scrapping their contributions.

Read more on this story in The Daily Mirror

We’ll get ‘Shameless’ families out of bed, says Blears

A crackdown on ‘Shameless’ families could see state officials turning up at people’s homes to get them out of bed for work and make sure their children go to school.
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said the Government was prepared to take drastic steps to tackle a ‘hardcore’ of workless neighbourhoods where no one has a proper job.
Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

Police forces top gay equality index

The police service, banks and management consultants top the league table of gay-friendly employers in Britain, outperforming the public sector, the media and education, according to the latest workplace equality index.

Read more on this story in The Guardian