Society daily: 07.09.10

Follow Society Guardian on Twitter Follow Patrick Butler on Twitter Sign up to Society daily email briefing Today's top Society stories Young gay men fuelling HIV epidemic Substance abuse, not mental illness, causes violent crime, says study Benefit health tests unjust, say charities Social housing firm "on brink of collapse" Gove's free schools to teach etiquette and fine dining Stephen Burke: social care and the importance of good advice Alan Leaman: the NHS doesn't waste money on consultancy Datablog: NHS spending on management consultancy All today's Society Guardian stories Other news • Up to a quarter of junior doctors are dropping out just two years into their training, reports the Daily Mail On my radar ... • Naomi Jacobs, who asks on Comment is Free: have you ever entertained a disabled person in your home and how can you be sure? • John Philpott, chief economic advisor of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, who has blogged on the gloomy consequences of cutting the deficit too quickly ... (thanks @FlipchartFT) "Unemployment will rise, especially in those areas of the UK most dependent on public spending; living standards will be squeezed; and the social fabric will come under greater strain than for any time in a generation." • Mike Baker on the controversial £400m school opening in Los Angeles on the site of Bobby Kennedy's assassination ... • Blogger Redundant Public Servant rightfully questions my lazy description of him in yesterday's Society daily as a "victim" of public sector spending cuts. (Apologies, hasty journalese) ... • Blogger Mike Chitty takes issue with Leeds's "Knightsbridge of the North" city centre redevelopment strategy (and see also John Baron's GuardianLeeds blog and poll , with thriving debate as to whether Leeds city centre is "dead and sanitised") ... Preview: tomorrow's Society Guardian supplement Cuts special: Anna Bawden reports on frontline services starting to be hit by cuts and our specialist writers examine where the full force of next month's spending review will be felt. Randeep Ramesh on the NHS; Tom Clark on welfare; Alison Benjamin on the voluntary sector, Patrick Butler on children's services, David Brindle on adult services, Rachel Williams on youth, Peter Hetherington on housing; Alan Travis on criminal justice and Mary O'Hara on mental health. Carlene Firmin on why services for girls must be saved. Nick Seddon, from thinktank Reform, on how to make smart cuts. David Brindle on a survey that reveals charging for some council services may be an option to save others. Nick Johnson, chief executive of the Social Care Association on why the General Social Care Council quango should be saved. Leading Questions: Bob Kerslake, outgoing head of the HCA on how to make cuts. Plus there's an interview with the leading scientist Heinz Wolff on the limits of technology for helping older people. Events Driving efficiencies in public sector ICT , 30 September, London: a one-day conference for senior IT professionals to re-examine the way they work, cut costs and deliver vital efficiency savings. Public sector online , 4 October, London: a one-day conference examining how public sector professionals can engage with their audience to deliver services more effectively and strategically online. Society Guardian blogs Joe Public Sarah Boseley's global health blog Guardian awards Guardian Public Services awards 2010 Guardian charity awards 2010 Society daily blog Society daily blog editor: Patrick Butler Email the editor: [email protected] Society Guardian Links SocietyGuardian.co.uk Public - the Guardian's website for senior public sector executives The Guardian's public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs Society Guardian editor: Alison Benjamin Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected]