News round up: Foster parents not warned of teen sex offender

Foster parents not warned of teen sex offender who raped their son

Social workers failed to warn foster parents about sexual offences committed by a teenager placed in their care who went on to rape their two-year-old son and abuse their nine-year-old daughter.

The youth, 18, attacked the children within months of being welcomed into the family, a court was told yesterday.

Minimum price plan to curb Scotland’s drink problem

Radical measures aimed at breaking Scotland’s “unacceptable” relationship with alcohol were set out yesterday by the Scottish government.

Announcing the “bold strategy” to introduce a minimum price at which alcohol can be sold, Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary, said the measures were an attempt to prevent strong drink being sold for “pocketmoney prices”.

Scotland would be the first country in Europe to introduce minimum pricing and there would also be a ban on “irresponsible” offers, including buy-one-get-one-free and the sale of drink as a loss leader.

Read more on this story in The Times

A therapeutic programme hailed by ministers as a hi-tech, cost-effective solution to Britain’s growing problem of depression and anxiety has been widely ignored by the NHS, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without access to treatment.

Parents’ fears about child safety is fuelling obesity, survey finds

Two thirds of parents said they thought children were getting fatter because of safety concerns about them playing outside and getting exercise without supervision.

Read more on this story in The Daily Telegraph

Tax credits DO help to break up families: Parents encouraged to divorce to claim higher benefits, says report

Labour’s tax credits have caused thousands of families to break up, an authoritative study said yesterday.

Read more on this story in The Daily Mail

Head of Shelter quits to helm consumer watchdog

The chief executive of homelessness charity Shelter, Adam Sampson, is quitting to head a new consumer watchdog.

Read more on this story in The Guardian

UK ageism cases rise with joblessness

Age discrimination claims in the UK have risen sharply as the recession drives up joblessness, a firm of employment lawyers will report on Tuesday.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Tribunal Service by Eversheds, the international law firm, show that age discrimination claims are on course to rise by more than 27 per cent in the 12 months to the end of this month.