Society daily 14.12.11

Sign up to Society daily email briefing Today's top SocietyGuardian stories • UK unemployment hits 17-year high • Female employment hit by public sector cuts and childcare costs • Unemployment campaigners protest outside No 10 • Public sector strikes announcement postponed until new year • 'Big society' project lacks clarity and leadership, say MPs • NHS whistleblowers 'are being gagged' • Roger Kline: NHS whistleblowers must be protected • 24,000 'avoidable deaths' a year from diabetes • Civil servants fear ruling over emails and texts • David Orr: Welfare reform may see families lose homes All today's SocietyGuardian stories In today's SocietyGuardian print section • Coaches help young people get back on track • Faisel Rahman: Look to banks to reduce use of payday loans • Call to cut overcrowding burden on prisons • Peter Hetherington: Where's the real freedom for cities? • Vidhya Alakeson: It's not only the poorest families who need help • Carlene Firmin: We need to respond to the real reasons why children go missing • Poor families facing a 'triple whammy' of benefit, support and service cuts Other news • BBC: Government may expand definition of domestic violence • Children & Young People Now: Sure Start inquiry set to hear local authority evidence • Community Care: Funding for student placements 'to be cut by £5m' • Independent: Pay off your debts, public tells Government • Inside Housing: Economic fears cut housing association borrowing • Localgov.co.uk: 'Big Society Minister' needed to give clear policy steer • Public Finance: Transport spending cuts might not be sustainable, auditors warn • Telegraph: Doctors - ban cut-price alcohol to save lives • Third Sector: Pears Foundation to launch national campaign to encourage philanthropy On my radar ... • The "big society" project, which is confusing the civil service, charities and the public, according to a new report from the public administration select committee. The committee has called for a single minister to take control of the policy , otherwise, it warns, the government risks seeing it flop for a fifth time. The report says: The minister for civil society [Hurd] did not recognise the problem, arguing that 'people fundamentally understand it [the big society]. I think that national consciousness is one thing we have achieved.' On the evidence before us, we must disagree. My colleagues on Comment is free are inviting people to define the big society in 140 characters . Alexa Muir tweets Big Society means Goverment avoids responsibility and turns everything into a business. It's wave two of Tory privatisation. While Judith Flanders says The Big Society = millionaire men telling (mostly) poor (mostly) women that they should be doing more for no pay. But there are some less cynical contributions too. Lauren John suggests A big society thinks outside the box, is proactive, and works together to achieve a better life. And Ariana Yakas adds : Big Society means thousands of school governors giving up their free time to help improve education standards in schools Meanwhile Orbit Housing Group is conducting its own big society research , asking its residents about what matters to them. Vivien Knibbs, the managing director of Orbit East and South, writes: You might say we should know all of this stuff already – we spend plenty of time and energy engaging with residents, but the new Big Society and localism agendas are starting to deliver the shift from central to local control. We need to identify how we can support our residents to both make the most of and not miss out on the opportunities available. (thanks to Boris Worrall for the link) • Reading the Riots . A conference in London is today debating the findings of the Guardian and LSE project studying the causes of this summer's unrest . Speakers at the event include Ed Miliband, home secretary Theresa May, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, Lynne Owens, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Louise Casey, the former "respect tsar" who is leading the government's response to the riots and Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger. My colleague Paul Owen is live blogging the conference and you can follow it on Twitter via the hashtag #RTRconf • The Guardian/Mixmag drug survey, which closes in nine days' time. Already nearly 15,000 people from all over the work have completed the survey, which asks people about their use of drugs (from cocaine to pain killers), and the health, social and criminal justice consequences of their drug use. It is set to become the biggest survey of people's real experiences of drugs. More details about the survey here and you can fill in the survey here • The Guardian Christmas charity appeal 2011. Speak to your favourite journalists this Saturday and raise money for our Christmas appeal. Alan Rusbridger will be among staff from the Guardian and Observer answering calls and taking donations from readers for eight charities that specialise in turning around the lives of disadvantaged young people. Call 0203 353 4368 on Saturday to speak to the editor and writers including Tim Dowling, Polly Toynbee, Lucy Mangan, Zoe Williams, Simon Hoggart, Grace Dent, Jon Ronson and many more. Find out more about this year's appeal here • A scathing post on the Pride's Purge blog, Government responds to banking crisis by cutting benefits for disabled kids . Blogger Tom Pride (whose categories are listed as cattiness, cynicism, hopeless naivety, pettiness, sarcasm and vindictiveness) imagines a coalition spokesperson's response to the news that support for all but the most disabled children, currently provided through the disability element of child tax credit, is to be halved under the new Universal Credit system (as mentioned in yesterday's Society daily ): It's extremely important we learn from our mistakes in the banking crisis. Which is why we are making sure that the irresponsible actions of disabled children and their parents will never be able to cause such a systematic breakdown in the management of our financial system ever again. (thanks to Disability Diva for the link) • The power of panto. This heatwarming post on Paul Brook's Dippyman blog describes how appearing in the village panto has helped boost his self-esteem during a period of depression : ... this panto is a story with a happy ending. As I made my way home from our after-show party, I felt content. And, in the last couple of years, feeling truly content has been such a rare experience that I tend to write it down when it happens. ... So why the contentment? It was a heady mix of positive things, but most notably I had enjoyed being me – the real me, the person who actually knows how to have fun and enjoy being in the moment, doing spontaneous things for no good reason other than it was funny at the time, and not worrying about everything. During my depression, I've found this person rather elusive. I've found nights out overwhelming at times. Joining in with other people who are having fun has often been too daunting. I've had to give my apologies for various events, even the most minor and unthreatening of outings, because I just haven't had the self-confidence to take part in them. To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this party either. I knew it would be busy in the pub; full of excited, happy people, having a great time. I thought I'd probably drop in for a while, hang around the edges of the main throng, then say my goodbyes and mooch off. But I underestimated the power of the party. I underestimated the special atmosphere that my friends – some of whom I've known for years and others for a very short time – could create. And I underestimated myself. On the Guardian Professional Networks • Live discussion from noon: join us to discuss what this year has meant for local government and what next might hold • A customer ratings website for care homes is an attempt to do away with the need of professional regulation , says the Not So Big Society blogger Ermintrude • While many glass ceilings remain, Mark Smith speaks to female permanent secretaries about how they broke through • Another 6,000 health visitors will have to be recruited in the next four years to sustain existing services, reports Debbie Andalo Events and seminars The Guardian Public Services Summit 2012 2 and 3 February, Sopwell House, St Albans A new landscape for public services Debate new models, challenge opinions and celebrate innovative thinking with a range of esteemed speakers, including Sir David Normington, Geoff Mulgan, Ben Page, Dame Mary Marsh and many more… Register before 31 December for 15% early bird discount SocietyGuardian blogs Patrick Butler's cuts blog Joe Public Sarah Boseley's global health blog SocietyGuardian on social media Follow SocietyGuardian on Twitter Follow Patrick Butler on Twitter Follow Clare Horton on Twitter Follow Alison Benjamin on Twitter SocietyGuardian's Facebook page SocietyGuardian links SocietyGuardian.co.uk Guardian cutswatch - tell us about the cuts in your area Public Leaders - the Guardian's website for senior managers of public services The Guardian's public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs SocietyGuardian editor: Alison Benjamin Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected] SocietyGuardian.co.uk editor: Clare Horton Email the SocietyGuardian.co.uk editor: [email protected] Interested in education policy and news too? 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