Drink-drive row :sx Council chief resigns .sx By Carl Slater .sx A COUNCIL chief at the centre of a drink-drive storm has resigned .sx Mr Michael Suter , chief executive of Shropshire County Council , stepped down following talks with leaders of political groups on the authority .sx Mr Suter , who lives near Market Drayton , was on paid leave pending an inquiry into his disqualification from driving .sx Convicted He was banned after being convicted of a drink-drive charge earlier this year .sx Mr Suter , 47 , was convicted of the offence in Nottinghamshire , where he was the former county deputy clerk .sx No one from the county council would comment about Mr Suter's resignation , but it is believed it follows talks between Mr Suter and political group leaders about his driving ban .sx Paid leave .sx Last week , a secret letter was circulated to all councillors informing them that an investigation was to be conducted by a small group of elected members into the conduct of Mr Suter in connection with his disqualification .sx Mr Suter had agreed to take paid leave while the inquiry was held but has now resigned .sx Mr Suter , who lives at Weston-under-Redcastle , near Market Drayton , had been with the county council for five years .sx He was unavailable for comment .sx MP pledges all-out battle on merger .sx A FINAL plea for a rethink on controversial Government plans to merge the Staffordshire and Cheshire Regiments under a cut back of the armed forces is to be made by Stafford MP Bill Cash .sx He pledged to fight an all-out battle to persuade Defence Minister Tom King to change his mind and reprieve the two battalions .sx Mr Cash said he would be seeking to meet Mr King right up to the crucial armed forces debate on Monday when Parliament reassembles after the summer recess .sx The Stafford MP , who is spear-heading the fight to halt the amalgamations , said :sx " I hope the Government will listen .sx These are important matters which go to the heart of this country and the defence of the realm .sx " .sx The amalgamation has been put forward as part of a plan to reduce the size of the Army from 55 battalions to 38 .sx Earlier , Minister of State Mr King said claims that defence cuts had not been thought through were unjust .sx Meanwhile , top-level talks will be held at the House of Commons on Monday in a bid to stop the merger .sx The move will coincide with the presentation of a 100,000-name anti-merger petition to the Ministry of Defence .sx Six coachloads of Staffordshire Regiment supporters will travel to London from Whittington Barracks in Lichfield to hand it over .sx Miners will be balloted on pay claim action .sx By Peter Holmes .sx MINERS at North Staffordshire's closure-threatened pits are to be balloted on industrial action over a pay claim .sx Leaders of the National Union of Mineworkers opted for the vote at a special meeting at the union's Sheffield headquarters .sx The leaders are believed to want an end to inflation-linked pay rises imposed on the 69,000-strong union by British Coal after the miners' strike of 1984-5 .sx Secret voting will take place among members at Trentham Superpit and Silverdale Colliery within the next four weeks , with the union recommending industrial action to press its " substantial " pay claim .sx The NUM has not revealed details of the demand .sx Mr John Connon , president of the 3,000-strong Midlands Area , said :sx " The decision of the special conference was to ask the members to approve - on an individual basis - industrial action .sx .sx " Although we do not want to take industrial action , we may be forced to press British Coal to discuss a substantial pay rise .sx .sx " It would be a start if they agreed to negotiate with us at all .sx " .sx The union has refused to join pay talks with British Coal since the end of the miners' strike because of the presence of representatives from the rival Union of Democratic Mineworkers .sx Negotiated In return , BC has negotiated rises with the UDM which have then been imposed on the NUM members .sx Industrial action being considered would involve an overtime ban with the miners refusing to carry out safety work outside normal hours .sx This could lead to major disruption in the pits with underground workers forced to wait for safety inspections - normally done at weekends - to be completed before they start work .sx It was revealed last week that all surface work at the Florence , Longton , site of the Trentham mine would end next year with operations transferred to the Hem Heath site .sx And a leaked report to the Government said that both the remaining pits were ear-marked for closure with the loss of 3,000 jobs under plans for privatisation .sx Tories are urged to curb the 'feudalism' of big breweries .sx Landlords fear hundreds of pubs may close .sx By Andrew Stanistreet .sx PUBLICANS are to lobby the Tory Conference in Blackpool in a bid to prevent hundreds of licensees losing their jobs .sx They claim brewers have taken advantage of new legislation to introduce controversial leases which will drive tenant landlords into bankruptcy .sx Agreements Licensed victuallers' association officials say breweries have used a Monopolies and Mergers Commission decision to cut the number of pubs they run as an excuse to boost rents and scrap maintenance agreements in their remaining premises .sx Jim Hayburn , spokesman for the Macclesfield and Congleton LVA , said :sx " The new leases are a recipe for bankruptcy .sx Rents are going up astronomically while the breweries at the same time are divesting themselves of responsibility for care and maintenance .sx " It will mean that prices will rise , hundreds of pubs will no longer be viable and many landlords will be forced out of their livelihoods .sx " What we want is for the Government to force the brewers to either allow us to buy the pubs in a competitive market , or to rent them at a commercial rent , not just to let us be dictated to through a feudal system of ownership .sx " .sx And Mr Roy Peddie , a former chairman of the North Staffordshire LVA and now the national organisation's president-elect , said :sx " We will be lobbying the conference to drive home the fact that the Government is not doing enough to protect licensees .sx .sx " In many cases the new brewery leases are little better than notices to quit .sx .sx Adopted " We want an early review of how the new legislation has been adopted by the breweries .sx " .sx Dozens of landlords will travel to Blackpool today from North Staffordshire and South Cheshire to put their case at the conference .sx New services will cost Staffordshire pounds5 .sx 6m .sx Child care revolution .sx On Monday the Government's new Children Act 1989 becomes law .sx It is the biggest upheaval in care services since the welfare state was established more than 40 years ago .sx But the wide-ranging reforms will cost millions to implement .sx For Staffordshire county council , rocked by the Pin down scandal and strapped for cash , will it mean just another funding headache ?sx Reporter MARIANNE CURPHEY investigates .sx STAFFORDSHIRE'S social services department says it needs 145 extra staff and pounds5 .sx 6 million to put the Children Act 1989 into force .sx But director Christine Walby knows the county council faces the threat of charge-capping and having its budget cut by the Government .sx " It is a concern , " she says .sx " I am worried that we will not be able to do what we want to do .sx We may have to redefine our priorities , but that could mean closing down other essential services .sx " Nothing we do in social services is a luxury - it is all vital work .sx " .sx The new Act , presented in a White Paper even before the Cleveland child abuse scandal of 1988 , will mean the biggest changes to welfare in Britain for 40 years .sx Ministers hope the legislation will create a revolution in child care and a new emphasis on the responsibility of parents .sx Social workers .sx But it will also mean more work for social workers , courts , and child protection officers .sx More foster parents and social services staff will need to be recruited and day care centres for families in difficulties will have to be built .sx The new law aims to protect the child while ensuring that both child and parents have a say in their future .sx From Monday :sx black-square Children will no longer be received into voluntary care when parents have temporary difficulties in coping .sx Instead the stigma of being 'in care' will be removed and social workers will be responsible for setting up a support service for families so children can be " given accomodation " elsewhere .sx This could mean recruiting child-minders to take the pressure off parents , and counselling the whole family at one of the new day care centres .sx black-square Children are no longer seen as the property of their parents - they are now regarded as individuals who can have a say over their future .sx black-square Custody and access disappear and new orders covering where a child lives and who has contact with him or her come into force .sx black-square The old 'place of safety' order - under which a child could be removed from the family home for 28 days - ends .sx It is replaced by a new emergency protection order under which a child can be removed for up to eight days for protection .sx black-square Children in need of social services care will for the first time include disabled children .sx Every local authority will be required to keep a register of disabled children in its area .sx black-square Special attention must be paid to the racial group from which the child comes .sx Social workers must try to recruit foster parents from the same group as that of the child .sx black-square Children's homes , now called community homes , will have to issue special guidelines for staff on admittance and reception of the child , methods of care and control , log books and diary planning , confidentiality , and financial administration .sx black-square Independent schools with less than 50 boarders will be classed as children's homes and subject to the same rules and inspections .sx black-square Alleged abusers , rather than the children they abuse , will in some cases be persuaded to leave the family home .sx Social services worker Maggie Holmes explained :sx " The Act has huge implications for social services departments .sx .sx 70 new staff .sx " It is designed to bring in good working practices for social workers .sx " The main shift is from parental 'rights' to their responsibility .sx " Even when a child is in local authority care parents keep their responsibilities to the child .sx " .sx Christine Walby added :sx " A major change is the shortening of court deadlines when deciding the future of children .sx " We are taking on around 70 new staff but we would have liked to have recruited them 12 months ago .sx " Now our existing staff who are already stretched will face the full brunt when the new legislation comes into force .sx " .sx Social services committee chairman Mike Poulter welcomed the new Act as " a magnificent , major achievement .sx " .sx But he warned :sx " Unless the Government allows us to raise more money we will not be able to deliver the services that this Act requires .sx " There will be an enormous ammount of new services , new court work , preventative measures to try to prevent families breaking up .sx " But family counselling will require day care centres and at least one new centre will have to be built in each area .sx " .sx He wants the Government to allow the county council to raise more cash for the changes , even though it could cost the poll tax payer money .sx " At present we cannot raise more funds as we are within pounds1,000 of our spending budget and face being capped if we spend any more , " he said .sx " But the public wants to see children properly cared for and I believe they are prepared to pay for it .sx " The department has just advertised for almost 70 new staff and received four times as many applications as there were places .sx " .sx Around pounds2 million was made available to social services after the Pin down report by Allan Levy QC and Barbara Kahan was published in May this year .sx The pounds5,000 a day inquiry heard how children in homes were kept in solitary confinement dressed only in their underwear .sx It blamed a lack of skilled residential staff , inadequate staffing and staff under pressure .sx Special paid leave .sx When Christine Walby , 51 , moved into her pounds61,000-a-year post as social services director , she knew she was walking into a department in crisis .sx