Hi mancman
When the app permissions says "Stops phone from sleeping" it just means that the screen won't Time out and go black. i.e. Sleeping, you then press Home button to wake the phone up.
Screen Rotate:
You may need to calibrate the accelerometer.
Go to - Settings - Display - Horizontal calibration...
Lay the phone down on a flat level surface, the Dot will line up in the centre of the Target, press Calibrate.
That should be it!
TSD 
Its not unusual to see that in an app. I believe all that it is doing is, once you have opened that particular app, the android system will not kill it if it is left on the screen, handy for game playing, maps and the like. You just kill it yourself by using the back button whenever you want to.
As for the auto-rotate you should first of all try a re-boot and see if that cures it.
I would agree that next step should be factory reset, take note of your apps as everything will go!
Could be another solution lurking about, flashing a different kernel. I run a different system on my phone, just put a new theme on and the auto rotate stopped for me as well.
I solved this by simply flashing a new kernel and everything works again. Now I am unsure about how this affects you warranty wise with vf/samsung but it might be something that you should look into.
@mancman
Seeing as your phone has just come back from repair if the Factory Reset does not work then I would be inclined to ask for a replacement as there is obviously some sort of inherent fault. The Phone should be deemed as not fit for purpose and replaced as I mentioned.
You might want to take it to a samsung service centre for repair. If they can't repair it they will replace it!
TSD
mancman wrote:having had a software problem where the the phone turned itself on when the charger was plugged in it was sent off to be fixed. when it came back i noticed the firmware has gone from 2.2 to 2.2.1 i noticed a couple of changes to the phone but when i went to download apps from andriod i noticed some of the permissions say stops phone from sleeping. if i download an app which says this will the phone turn itself on when the charger is plugged in , what is the difference between turned off and sleep . also i have gone into settings then display settings and have green ticked the auto rotate screen but the screen stays in portriat when i turn the phone
Sound like yet another top repair by Vodafone, This needs to go to samsung to sort this now and get them to fix this properly not just a firmware upgrade over the top
