At 06:29 am, headlined and repeated throughout the morning, we heard:
‘There are still 79 [Scottish] people with special needs and autism in care in England and Wales.’
I don’t mean to diminish the suffering involved for these 79. I just want to understand how big a problem this is at a national level. Comparable figures for England & Wales don’t seem to be available. Is that because BBC Salford and BBC Wales don’t have an awesome ‘disclosure team’ burrowing away under the foundations of trust in government? Makes you feel your licence fee is worth it. Using your own money to make you feel anxious in the morning. Also, the longer website piece is geography-free, so we can’t see how many are, for example, placed just across the border in a neighbouring region.
However, I did find this from 2011, on the BBC website:
‘Children in care far from home ‘at risk’, charities warn. Charities are warning that thousands of children placed in care far from home are more vulnerable to criminality, drug abuse and sexual exploitation. A third of the 64,000 children in local authority care in England and Wales live outside their local area. The charities say long-distance placements often traumatise children who are already damaged and vulnerable.’
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-12295701/children-in-care-far-from-home-at-risk-charities-warn
So that’s around 21 000 children in care placed away from home. Is 79 evidence of a crisis in Scotland?
Come on, BBC Scotland, surely these people are also at risk of criminality and drug abuse too?
Why does the early morning repeat dose matter? See:
Talking-up Scotland 
Again we must read to the very end of the web article to get some balance. It says:
“It [the Scottish Government] said Dr MacDonald’s work meant they were much better informed about the gaps in services and were able to address them.
Clare Haughey, the minister for mental health, said: “We are committed to considering how best to take forward work based on Dr MacDonald’s findings, including discussing this with Health and Social Care Partnerships in relation to the commissioning of local services, developing community services, transition planning and specialist skills.”
The BBC’s File on 4 radio programme has revealed the use of restraint in inpatient units in England has risen sharply and that thousands of people with learning disabilities are still trapped in institutional care across the UK. ”
Sounds rather positive to me.
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Yes, 🙂
for those who read to the end and can soften the headline and initial statements with their minds. Always start with the bad and your propaganda will work.
‘In the words of O’ Sullivan et al. (2003), “the front page or cover of newspapers and magazines is the key to creating both a sense of identity and a point of contact with the potential reader” (p.122).
O’Sullivan, T. et al. (2003). Studying the Media London: Arnold.
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BBC and Radio Scotland reportage without context, perspective or balance makes this propaganda rather than journalism.
The Scottish Tories are reported as wanting more freedom of information.
I agree, and would make a start with the BBC. While there are reasons that makes journalism exempt, there is much we are entitled to know about this organisation and its motives.
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not on topic (apologies) but interesting report in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/oct/02/never-return-teach-england-refuge-abroad
If you can read past the England/Britain/UK mixture and the assumption that Britain/UK has one education system… then it seem to indicate that many thousands of teachers in England are leaving for overseas positions. I wonder if any figures exist for numbers of teachers in the Scottish education system leaving for foreign work? I suspect they will show a massively smaller outflow of teachers – becuse of Scottish government action to reduce their non-teaching workload, better pay and conditions and a repeat shown to them by government ministers.
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repeat = respect… oops my typo!
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It sometimes amazes, their blind Anglocentrism.
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Developing individual plans for each current resident in these establishments will help reduce the incidents which are being reported. The development of local services will create local jobs and provide appropriate support and individual housing for each person repatriated to their home area. The Scottish government will improve the quality of life for each person supported and assist them making a contribution to their community.
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I agree. Remember, I’m only criticising the coverage.
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