Society daily 07.12.10

Ken Clarke in prison — Justice secretary Ken Clarke (right) talks to a prisoner at HMP Peterborough in Cambridgeshire. Photograph: Chris Radburn/Press Association

Today's top Society Guardian stories

• Prison system failing to tackle reoffending, says Clarke

• More than one in 20 pregnant women severely obese

• Disabled people claiming benefits face new medical checks

• Aspirin a day helps to keep cancer at bay, say scientists

• Christmas charity appeal 2010: Helping young people in Bolton

• Christmas appeal quiz: How much do you know about vulnerable young people?

• Kids Company school faces funding axe

• Polly Toynbee: These brilliant protests on tax-dodging can unite us all

• Patrick Butler's Cutsblog: Cuts - fantastic ... or not?

• Rachel Tonkin: Let's widen the debate around poverty and parenting

• A Christmas survival guide

All today's Society Guardian stories

Other news

• The London boroughs of Camden and Islington have abandoned plans to share a chief executive in a bid to save money, reports the Evening Standard. Moira Gibb, currently Camden chief executive, had been tipped to take the "superboss" role.

• Further cuts to benefits appear almost inevitable if Iain Duncan Smith is to achieve his goal of a single means-tested benefit for people of working age, Bristol University economics professor Paul Gregg has warned, raising the likelihood of political opposition to the scheme, according to the FT.

• Homelessness charities are urging pan-capital organisation London Councils to reverse its decision to end funding for 28 services for single homeless people, says Community Care.

• Council officials in Burnley, Lancashire, have been given police escorts after a drive to seize "extra" wheelie bins provoked anger among residents, reports the Telegraph.

On my radar ...

• An X Factor for councillors. That's how Grant Shapps has described plans in the localism bill to widen the pool of local government talent (thanks @kate_murray).

• The Philanthropy Review, described as "a fresh look at the role of giving in shaping our society", which was launched today. The review aims to identify actions and policy changes that will allow the quantity and quality of giving to flourish in a difficult economic climate.

• This viral campaign urging MPs to act on bankers' bonuses.

• This blogpost from Alastair Campbell, who is magnanimously supporting Ken Clarke's prison reform plans, but believes some Tories will take a lot of persuasion about taking a new approach to tackling mental health and addiction issues behind bars:

"Osborne will have gone along with it for financial reasons. For him, it is not so much that prison works, but prison costs. Clarke is doing it because he genuinely believes in a different approach. Where he will get into difficulty is when he finds that the mental health services he wants to use for the treatment he rightly says many prisoners need are also being cut.
He is promising to divert thousands of prisoners from custody onto treatment programmes. Sounds sensible. However, such treatment programmes are already under threat, and we need to make sure that the resources for this part of his new policy are not being provided at the expense of others who need mental health support, and have never committed a crime in their lives."

My colleague Andrew Sparrow will be following Clarke's announcement on the politics liveblog this afternoon.

• Charity TimeBank, which is marking its 10th anniversary with a debate this afternoon on how the voluntary sector can deliver on the Big Society agenda. Nick Hurd is the keynote speaker and the panel includes Paul Twivy, co-founder of Big Society Network; Robin O'Kelly, head of corporate affairs at T-Mobile and director of corporate communications for Everything Everywhere; and the TimeBank chief executive, Helen Walker.

• The cost of childcare. Representatives from the charities Daycare Trust and Gingerbread are on the panel today for this live Q&A from 12.30pm today on the Guardian's Money site.

• Day centres, which as Vern Pitt reports could have, erm, had their day. This piece for Community Care suggests that the age of personalisation is allowing other organisations to step in and provide support.

• This report from charity the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, (pdf) which says befriending schemes are an effective way of improving the health and wellbeing of vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

• The children's commissioner, Maggie Atkinson, who has launched a survey of young people's views of GP services.

On the Guardian Professional Local Government Network

The network is running a seminar today on Big Society and its role in local government and you can follow events remotely on Twitter #gdnLocalGov.

Guardian and Observer Christmas Charity Appeal 2010

Charities working with disadvantaged young people in the UK will be the beneficiaries of this year's Guardian and Observer charity appeal.

Read profiles of our 10 chosen charities, see our pick of their photographs and make a donation in the Christmas Charity Appeal area of our site.

Events

HR Summit, 18 January, London

Creating the workforce you need to meet the challenges ahead. 2 for 1 delegate place offer if you book before 17 December.

Public Services Summit New models, new relationships, a new era. 10 & 11 February 2011, St Albans.

Join leading thinkers, practitioners and policy makers for discussion and debate about the future of our public services. 15% early bird available.

Mobile and Wireless Healthcare Enabling access to care at the point of need. 16 February, Birmingham.

This conference is aimed at ICT and service delivery teams in the NHS to give them practical advice and guidance at a time where all we can be certain of is a reduction in public sector budgets. 2 for 1 delegate place offer available.