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News
This page will be updated irregularly. It contains comments, which are
not intended necessarily to represent the views of ACAL, but rather a
springboard for debate amongst interested parties. Please feel free to
contact us if you have
any comments.
News Index | Most
Recent Stories
| 11 July 2010 |
| Save abuse from Legal Aid cuts |
| Government have announced legal aid cuts. ACAL have launched a campaign to
ring fence abuse cases on behalf of vulnerable adults from the Treasurer's
knife.
Your president Peter Garsden wrote to both parties leading up to the
election but got no response. He wrote again to the Home Secretary, and the Ministry of Justice, but was told "it was too early to say what cuts would be made". The government has announced that there will be cuts to legal aid. ACAL are not satisfied with the response it has received, and has thus announced a new campaign.
We are encouraging all members to write letters to their MP's in order to exert some pressure on government to safeguard legal services for vulnerable adults.
If you are an ACAL member please draw their attention to the online letter, and/or send them a letter to forward to their MP. .....read
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| 26 May 2010 |
| Third of staff 'feel powerless' to stop child neglect |
 More than a third of social workers and police officers say they have felt powerless to act in suspected cases of child neglect, according to a survey.
Action for Children said the finding was "a real concern" and steps must be taken to allow earlier intervention. .....read
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| 17 May 2010 |
| Baby P social workers face misconduct charge |
 Two social workers involved in the Baby Peter case are to be charged with misconduct, it has been revealed.
The General Social Care Council (GSCC) said Maria Ward and Gillian Christou, both sacked by Haringey Council, will face a disciplinary hearing on 24 May. .....read
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| 16 May 2010 |
| Church completes independent child protection survey across dioceses |
| On 15th February 2010, the Church of England announced that it had completed an extensive exercise reviewing the outcomes of the Church’s handling of past concerns about child protection. This will now help in further developing the Church’s safeguarding policies......read
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| 26 April 2010 |
| It's time we laid down the law |
| One of the many issues hardly discussed by the main political parties during this dismal election campaign is legal aid.
Both the Tories and Labour promise "savings" or a "review" of provision, while the Liberal Democrats don't mention it - but neither do they ring-fence it against their proposed public spending cuts. .....read
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| 12 April 2010 |
| Cameron's views on legal aid. Popular People only. |
| David Cameron is quick to denounce tax-payer's money funding MP's in court. But it was the Tories who allowed the wealthy to claim legal aid in the first place......read
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| 20 March 2010 |
| 'Oaths were not binding' - Brady |
 Cardinal Sean Brady understood oaths which swore alleged victims of a serial abuser to silence were not permanent, the Catholic Church has said.
Complaints of abuse by two teenagers against Fr Brendan Smyth were probed by the Irish primate in 1975. .....read
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| 19 March 2010 |
| Civil settlement on abuse claims raises questions |
| Seamus Hegarty, the Bishop of Derry, was one of three clerics named in a confidential civil settlement after an eight-year-old girl said she was abused over a 10-year period from 1979.
The alleged victim's father has told the Belfast Telegraph newspaper that her family had not gone to the police at the time because "it was not the culture" in Derry to do so. .....read
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| 17 March 2010 |
| Kent baby killer warnings not followed up |
 The head of child services in Kent has blamed "human error" after it emerged a social worker was warned about a man who went on to kill his baby daughter.
Christopher Sellman, 25, was found guilty of the manslaughter of 25-day-old Tiffany on Tuesday. .....read
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