One in three British children lives in relative poverty

One in three British children lives in relative poverty, Government advisers claim. Soaring numbers are depressed and in fear of crime, says a report from the four children's commissioners in the UK. Compared with youngsters in mainland Europe, they drink a lot more alcohol, start having sex earlier and are more likely to use cannabis, it adds. The findings, to be presented to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva this week, will be a setback for Gordon Brown, who has placed a high priority on closing the gap between children from rich and poor families.A third of children in the UK are now living in poverty, according to Government offendersIn the report, the commissioners say: 'It is unacceptable that a country as wealthy as the UK has 3.8million children (one in three) living in relative poverty.'Nearly 1.3million children are living in severe poverty in the UK and there is a relatively high likelihood of severe poverty among children living in London, Wales and Northern Ireland.' The mental health of children in England has 'deteriorated' over the past 30 years, say the authors. They place some of the blame on the 'target-driven' education system which leads to 'increased anxiety and stress'. They insist that a key priority for the Government must be to tackle the 'adverse effects of testing on children'. The report declares: 'Children feel increasingly pressurised, in particular, by school, exams and commercial marketing.' <br />It is also critical of high-profile attempts to tackle bullying which largely fail to work.

One in three British children lives in relative poverty

One in three British children lives in relative poverty, Government advisers claim. Soaring numbers are depressed and in fear of crime, says...

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study by the children's commissioners covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland found: "Compared to other European countries

A study by the children's commissioners covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland found: "Compared to other European countries, children drink a lot more alcohol, engage in early sex and are more likely to use cannabis."Children feel increasingly unsafe in their local area, with one in four concerned about violence, crime and weapons."The commissioners also hit out at growing "discrimination" against youngsters.They said shop signs banning two or more children made them feel like second class citizens.The report, to be given to the United Nations in Geneva this week, also criticised the education system for setting too many targets and exams.

study by the children's commissioners covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland found: "Compared to other European countries

A study by the children's commissioners covering England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland found: "Compared to other European c...

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British children are being "demonised" by a society that is locking too many of them up, according to watchdogs.

British children are being "demonised" by a society that is locking too many of them up, according to watchdogs. The joint report by children's commissioners for all parts of the UK said attitudes towards youngsters were hardening across the country. <br />The experts said crime committed by children had fallen between 2002 and 2006, but the numbers criminalised had gone up by just over a quarter. Their conclusions are part of a United Nations review of standards in the UK. <br />The four commissioners were appointed in a move to ensure children's rights are more effectively recognised by policy-makers. Their report will be presented to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. In their document, the commissioners said most children were happy and that policy-makers were trying to improve the situation. Ben Kelly on how he's turned his life around<br />They added that too many children were being put through the criminal justice system and the poverty experienced by one in three youngsters was unacceptable for a rich nation. The experts said more children were scared in their neighbourhoods and, citing previous studies, drank more alcohol, had deteriorating mental health and felt more pressure at school than their European peers. <br />Public bodies are legally bound to put the best interests of a child first in decision-making. But the commissioners said this key legal safeguard had failed in some parts of the youth justice system for England and Wales. "The system is dominated by a punitive approach and does not sufficiently distinguish between adult offenders and children who break the law," says the report. "Compared to other European countries, England has a very low age of criminal responsibility and high numbers of children are locked up. Too many children are being criminalised and brought into the youth justice system at an increasingly young age." <br />The report attacks the use by some shop-keepers, businesses and local authorities of the Mosquito teen deterrent. <br />The device emits a high-pitched squeal which can generally only be heard by the under-25s. While ministers had not endorsed Mosquito, the commissioners said they had also done nothing to ban technology which indiscriminately affected those within its range. <br />This over-use of custody absorbs vast resources which would be better spent on tackling the causes of these problems by preventive work in the community Paul Cavadino, Nacro Kathleen Marshall, Scotland's commissioner, said: "We have highlighted areas that remain a concern, including significant differences in juvenile justice in some parts of the UK and the public's attitudes towards children and young people. She added: "We look forward to briefing the Committee in Geneva to outline the findings of our report and to work with the Committee to make sure we can help improve things for children and young people in a tangible, sustainable and meaningful way." Responding to the report, Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said: "We are 100% committed to improving children's wellbeing. Over the course of this government more than 600,000 children have been lifted out of poverty, almost 3,000 children's centres have been built and school funding has been increased by 87%.

British children are being "demonised" by a society that is locking too many of them up, according to watchdogs.

British children are being "demonised" by a society that is locking too many of them up, according to watchdogs. The joint report ...

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new study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, reveals the depth of the nation's drink and drug problem and its relation to homicide and suicide.

new study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, reveals the depth of the nation's drink and drug problem and its relation to homicide and suicide.Researchers found there were 500 killings in Scotland over five years and 5000 suicides over six years. Both these figures amount to almost double the rates for England and Wales.<br />The report, Lessons for Mental Health Care in Scotland, looked at all suicides and homicides as well as those committed by people who had sought help from mental health services.It shows suicide rates in Scotland stood at 18.7 per 100,000 of the population, compared to 10.2 per 100,000 in England and Wales.Homicide rates north of the border were 2.12 per 100,000 people compared to 1.23 per 100,000 in England and Wales. Only 28% of the people who took their own life and 12% of killers had recently been mental health patients.This north-south divide was highest among teenagers, the report, carried out by Manchester University, found.<br />"Alcohol and drug misuse runs through these findings and appears to be a major contributor to risk in mental health care and broader society," said Professor Louis Appleby, director of the study."The findings suggest alcohol and drugs lie behind Scotland's high rates of suicide and homicide and the frequency with which they occur as antecedents in our report are striking."The stark revelation comes as ministers prepare to unveil radical legislation.New Action on Alcohol proposals will make it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy alcohol to take away, mirroring similar approaches in Sweden, Iceland and the US. However, 18-year-olds would continue to be served in pubs, bars and clubs.The proposals, expected to be made public tomorrow, include setting minimum prices for alcohol and banning three-for-two or buy-one-get-one-free deals.The Manchester study by the university National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness is to be published today.<br />"There has been a welcome recent fall in the suicide rates among the general Scottish population but, despite this, the most striking feature of rates north of the border is how much higher they are than in England and Wales," Mr Appleby said.<br />"Similarly, the homicide rate in Scotland is substantially higher than in England and Wales."Unlike suicide rates, national homicide rates were boosted by concentrations in certain areas of the country, namely Glasgow and Argyll and Clyde.<br />The report found that, in common with England and Wales, homicide was a crime committed primarily by young men against young men, the weapon usually a knife.<br />"The rise in homicide rates in recent years is the result of an increase in killings by young people, mainly men under 25 years, but most are not mentally ill. Therefore, a public health approach to homicide would target alcohol and drug use before mental health illness," said Mr Appleby.<br />Of the 1373 patient suicides in the report, there was a history of alcohol misuse in 785 cases, an average of 131 deaths per year; a history of drug misuse was seen in 522 cases, or 87 deaths per year.<br />Of the 58 patient homicides, 41 had a history of alcohol abuse and 45 had drug misuse. Among all perpetrators, whether patients or not, drug and alcohol dependence were the most common diagnoses. In both suicide and homicide, most were not under the care of addiction services.<br />Meanwhile, a separate report out today highlights that Scotland's drinkers are failing to recognise they are consuming alcohol in quantities damaging to health.<br />The research by NHS Health Scotland found half the drinkers, who completed drinking diaries as part of the study, drank at least twice the recommended weekly drinking limit - 21 units for men and 14 units for women - and three-quarters reported at least one episode of binge drinking the previous week.<br />Although problem drinking was still strongly associated with deprivation, high levels of consumption among affluent and middle-aged groups were apparent.<br />Susan MacAskill, senior researcher from the Institute for Social Marketing at Stirling University and Open University, said: "When people were asked to itemise their drinking over the previous week, many were very surprised by how much they had really drunk."

new study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, reveals the depth of the nation's drink and drug problem and its relation to homicide and suicide.

new study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, reveals the depth of the nation's drink and drug problem and its relation to homicid...

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Sweeping plans to toughen up community penalties and restore confidence in the criminal justice system will be published this week.

Sweeping plans to toughen up community penalties and restore confidence in the criminal justice system will be published this week. Under the proposals, offenders serving community sentences could be required to wear jackets identifying that they are being punished for breaking the law. The plans have been drawn up by Louise Casey, former head of the Government's Respect Unit. The Guardian reported that while they appeared to have the backing of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, some ministers close to PM Gordon Brown believed they were too punitive and would play to Conservative claims of a "broken society". Other measures were said to include the appointment of a public commissioner to represent victims of crime and giving police community support officers powers to detain and issue fixed penalty notices for disorder. Community punishments would be redesignated as "community payback" and responsibility for running them transferred from the probation service to a new organisation focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation. The courts service would be encouraged to set up websites to publicise convictions and sentences passed, while responsibility for publishing crime statistics would be taken away from Home Office ministers in order to restore credibility. <br />Officials however played down suggestions that the report would call for the publication of the "conviction posters" showing people who have been found guilty of a crime. Ms Casey was commissioned by Mr Brown to draw up the proposals after the Respect Unit was disbanded last year. A Cabinet Office spokesman confirmed the report was "due to be published shortly".

Sweeping plans to toughen up community penalties and restore confidence in the criminal justice system will be published this week.

Sweeping plans to toughen up community penalties and restore confidence in the criminal justice system will be published this week. Under th...

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alcohol, which is reputedly "often cheaper than water" in some Scottish supermarkets.

The Scottish government has "bold proposals to deal with the issue" of the "impact on crime and anti-social behaviour" of people drinking alcohol, which is reputedly "often cheaper than water" in some Scottish supermarkets.<br />(Where that leaves the stereotype of Scots as careful with money, I don't know. Why would they buy water from supermarkets rather than getting it near-free from a tap? Perhaps they are all drunk.)To solve the problem of cheap and plentiful products and consumers willing to consume them, it is proposed to institute minimum prices - with the enthusiastic support of specialist retailers, from whom the "cheaper than water" claim comes - and to raise the minimum age for buying alcohol to 21 in Scotland. The evidence that this will do anything to mitigate the alleged problems is, of course, lacking.Also in the absence of evidence, I have a prediction about the effect on crime of minimum prices and reduced availability for alcohol. Crime will go up. Not only will new criminal offences have been created, but since many will find it more difficult to get booze, some of them will steal it.

alcohol, which is reputedly "often cheaper than water" in some Scottish supermarkets.

The Scottish government has "bold proposals to deal with the issue" of the "impact on crime and anti-social behaviour" o...

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Misuse and Addictions Week

Misuse and Addictions Week, an awareness week supported by the home office runs from June 23-30th. During this week treatment agencies have an open door policy allowing addiction-treatment providers, referrers and commissioeinrs along with the general public to learn what services are available to them to help curb addiction. The awareness campaign coincides with the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse which is held on June 26th. The UN Office on Drugs & Crime launches this day every year to raise awareness. <br />Dan Butcher, founder of The Recovery Network (a social networking internet platform that provides real time education, a support network and social assistance to anyone affected by addiction) has been lobbying for some time now to have June 26th recognized as not only a global day of awareness but also UK Day against Drug Abuse. He's had several meeting in the house of Lords in order to achieve this goal. He hopes awareness campaigns such as these will help people to realise that it is an illness rather than a weakness. The Recovery Network launched on November 5th 2007 and the website currently helps to support an online community of over 2,000 registered members. Its members consist of addicts wishing to confront their addiction for the first time, recovering addicts and the friends and family members of both. Recovering Coke Addict and Founder Dan says: "This campaign is only one step in winning the war on addiction. The UK government needs to take a much more active role in supporting those affected by addiction. Millions of people have been affected either directly or indirectly by the devastating implications of drug addiction'. As well as tackling drugs and reducing drug-related crime in communities across the country, National Drugs Tackling Week will also highlight support services available such as The Recovery Network. Dan Butcher aims to create as much awareness as possible during this crucial week.

Misuse and Addictions Week

Misuse and Addictions Week, an awareness week supported by the home office runs from June 23-30th. During this week treatment agencies have ...

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