Society daily: 07.04.2010

Today's top Society Guardian stories Home Office to be censured over £1.2bn-a-year drug user scheme 'MOT' scans to be curbed because of cancer risk NHS cancels swine flu vaccine order Tenfold rise in stay-at-home fathers in 10 years Residents given powers to block lap-dancing clubs In pictures: Changing the face of human rights From today's Society Guardian Supplement The social policies we want from a new government Attention-grabbing antics for autism NHS cash has not gone where you might think National promises on child protection so often ring hollow Other news The BMA claims that even well-off households are being priced out of sending their children to medical school , according to the Daily Telegraph NHS hospitals are offering their staff 10-week English courses , according to the Daily Mail Tell us about the cuts If you're employed in the public sector directly or indirectly, what do you think about the main political parties hazy stance on post-election spending cuts? As Chris Giles in the Financial Times points out today: The mantra from all parties is that the coming spending round will be the toughest for decades and even tighter than those under Mrs Thatcher. The looming squeeze on the public sector poses a dilemma for politicians. Before the election, none have dared to launch an all-out assault on public employees – a voting bloc five million strong whose support could prove pivotal. But would you prefer if the parties were more truthful about their plans, more specific about which services and sectors are in-line for a cut? As the FT says: Transparency over cuts has also been ruled out by all political parties, since almost everyone benefits from state spending and polls show that the services voters use command affection. Instead, the political strategy adopted by the main parties has been to marry the prospect of vague cuts with pledges to protect frontline services. It would appear inevitable that well-used and beneficial services will be severely pruned whoever gets in, but don't the workers and users of these services have a right to know where the blade is about to fall? Society Guardian events National Commissioning conference 10 Beyond efficiencies, doing things differently, 15-16 June, Lowry Centre, Manchester. Speakers include: Solace chief executive David Clark , former Department of Health lead on social care personalisation John Bolton, new Kings Fund chief executive Chris Ham , and Social Care Institute for Excellence chief executive Julie Jones . The Public Procurement show . The UK's leading event for public sector procurement, 15-16 June, ExceL, London Society Guardian Social Enterprise summit We are starting to plan this year's Society Guardian Social Enterprise Summit. Last year's summit was a great success - you can read about it here . Once again we are looking to showcase inspiration, innovation and practical ideas on how social enterprises can deliver public services. Whether you are from the public sector or from a social business, we want you to tell us who you'd like to see and what you would like to see discusssed. Email to [email protected] . You can Follow Guardian Social Enterprise on Twitter Society Guardian blogs Joe Public Sarah Boseley's global health blog Society Guardian Links Sign up to Society daily email briefing Society on Twitter 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 Email the Society Daily editor: [email protected] Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected]