Welcome to the daily public services and voluntary sector news alert from SocietyGuardian.co.uk
· News: Labour donor sounds death knell for council housing
· Comment: hope at last for people with personality disorders
· Feature: confessions of a teenage binge drinker
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Today's top story - Hospital threatens court fight over sacked chairman
A flagship hospital trust today warned it may go to the high court in an attempt to get its sacked chairman reinstated.
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MORE NEWS
Housing
· Housing transfers: Labour donor sounds death knell for council housing
The government was today urged to force all councils to transfer their housing stock to housing associations within three years, under provocative new proposals launched by a Labour party donor.
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Social care
· Mental capacity bill: Last-minute deal with Catholics averts rebellion
Tony Blair strikes last-minute deal with Catholic church by promising government's mental capacity bill will not allow euthanasia by the back door.
· Child protection: Court rejects mother's appeal
A mother whose child is about to be placed for adoption has lost her last-ditch attempt to win her back, when the appeal court dismissed her application to re-open the case.
· Teen provision: Sport and culture card scheme for teenagers
Smartcard would help pay for "constructive activities".
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Health
· Foundation hospitals: Foundation hospital chairman sacked over financial crisis
Foundation hospital chairman sacked by the independent regulator for failing to address his NHS trust's financial difficulties.
· Binge drinking: Health ads urged for young drinkers
The government should fund television and other health warnings against excessive consumption of alcohol, says the charity Alcohol Concern.
· Exercise: Big cash injection will boost school sports
PM announces £519m package on same day as increase in central funding for sporting bodies.
· Medicines: Blow for AZ's new cancer drug
One of AstraZeneca's most promising experimental cancer drugs has been sent back to the laboratory after producing unexpected side-effects.
· Treatment: Cautious go-ahead for vCJD treatment
Scientists are preparing to monitor the increasing number of patients undergoing an unproven surgical treatment for the human form of BSE.
· Sexual health: Store's festive condom drive
Prices slashed as sexually transmitted infections soar.
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Voluntary sector
· Red Cross: Neutrality jeopardised by US action in Iraq, British chief says
The chief executive of the British Red Cross has warned that the international movement's neutrality is fast becoming a casualty of the global "war on terror".
· International aid: Concern at plans to alter OECD aid terms
Charities and aid campaigners are sounding the alarm about a move by some of the world's rich countries to redefine spending on peacekeeping missions as development aid and thereby duck a pledge to increase aid commitments.
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Local government
· Finance: Councils to get £2bn for congestion charging
Local councils will get the chance to bid for extra cash from a government fund of up to £2bn if they introduce congestion charging schemes, under an attempt to kick-start road charging outside London.
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OTHER NEWS
· Drugs laws: Magic mushroom case judge tells prosecutor - chill out
The law on the distribution and sale of magic mushrooms was thrown into disarray yesterday after a court decision to stay the prosecution of two men accused of illegally selling the hallucinogenic fungi at a record shop in Gloucester.
· Policing: Met berated for bias against black officers
Britain's biggest police force has been castigated for discriminating against ethnic minority officers and paying lip service to diversity in an official report.
· Benefits: Most incapacity benefit claimants could work, says minister
Nearly two thirds of the 2.7m people who claim incapacity benefit could work, says the welfare minister Jane Kennedy.
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FEATURES AND COMMENT
· Mental health: Twist of trait
Personality disorder, often seen as a "dustbin diagnosis", is being treated by new, more effective methods. David Batty visits a project that tackles self-harm and substance abuse.
· Personality disorders: A safe haven
People with personality disorders have been vilified and labelled untreatable but a new project offers hope of recovery. By Heather Castillo.
· Teen provision: Pool of light
Every Tuesday night, kids - some as young as 12 - flock to an office block in Milton Keynes. Mary O'Hara reports on the youth club providing a safe, supportive retreat for young gay people.
· Mental capacity bill: 'Living wills' are necessary
The government's mental capacity bill is welcome, but care must be taken to ensure that the scope of power given to professionals and carers is not too wide, says Edward Nally.
· Teen provision: Teenage kicks
The government's youth green paper needs to offer something far more ambitious, says Ravi Gurumurthy.
· Homelessness: Doctoring the house
Sophie Petit-Zeman on a refuge where homeless people get much-needed medical support without being bound by rules.
