Committee warns of further cuts to bus services
The Transport Committee reveals that extensive cuts to rural, evening and weekend bus services will prevent disadvantaged people from reaching essential facilities.
The report, 'Bus Services after the Spending Review’ (HC 750) details how severe cuts, scheduled to commence in 2012-13, will affect the old, young and disabled substantially leaving them unable to participate in employment, education or voluntary work and to access vital services such as healthcare and retail facilities.
Dilnot suggests cap on adult social care contributions
In support of fair funding for adult social care in England, Chair of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support Andrew Dilnot proposes a cap of £35,000 for individual care costs.
The Dilnot report, 'Fairer Care Funding: the Report of the Commission on Funding of Care and Support', sets out recommendations for a balanced and sustainable funding system for adult social care in England.
Restriction urged on sexualised content available to children
An independent review calls for the media and businesses to take more care to prevent children from being exposed to parts of adult culture that could damage the innocence of childhood.
'Letting Children be Children: Report of an Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood' (Cm. 8078) details that nine out of ten parents believe children are forced to mature too quickly as a result of sexual and commercial content readily available for young people to view.
Special needs services to receive largest overhaul in 30 years
Proposals for the biggest programme of reform for education and health support for children with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities in 30 years have been released in the report 'Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability’ (Cm. 8027).
Official report exposes poor care for the elderly by the NHS
A report from the Health Service Ombudsman has revealed an unacceptable standard of care paid to the elderly whilst in public health care.
'Care and Compassion?’ (HC 778) details ten accounts of maltreatment of individuals over the age of 65 across England investigated by Health Service Ombudsman Ann Abraham.
Approach for child protection reform in England outlined in report
Well-planned reform is essential for child protection as previous well-informed decisions from former Governments have led to unpredicted complications rather than improvement.
Since June 2010, Professor Eileen Munro has thoroughly analysed how children are being protected from abuse and neglect in England, with findings detailed in the first of a series of documents, ‘The Munro Review of Child Protection’.
Schools to be given more freedom to improve underlying behavioural problems
Serious incidents of bad behaviour in schools should be noted in conjunction with a review of current teaching methods to encourage learning and keep the attention of problem students.
Persistent poor behaviour in schools can have far-reaching and damaging consequences for children and can limit their horizons: positive steps needs to be made to address this issue.
MP Graham Allen urges parents to provide support for children in early childhood
A report written by Graham Allen MP on behalf of the Coalition Government details the recommendations for parents and carers to provide their children with the necessary foundations to reach their full potential in later life.
The report ‘Early Intervention: The Next Steps’ outlines the general approaches and specific policies and programmes for parents to consider in the first three years of their children’s lives to establish good health, social values and behaviour sooner rather than later.
Department sets out plans to reform child maintenance system
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has acknowledged that services provided by the child maintenance system need to be reformed to contribute more effectively to family support.
Children need a well-balanced home environment in order to become healthy, happy and successful adults, and the inclusion of both parents in their lives is essential for maintaining this balance.
Increased demand for children and family court service
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) have had to deal with around 40% more care cases in the last two years.
The report, 'Cafcass's response to increased demand for its services: Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service’ (HC 289) reports on Cafcass’s management of an extra 200 new care cases each month from November 2008.
Department reviews management of the Community Care Grant scheme
The report ‘The Community Care Grant: Department for Work and Pensions’ (HC 286) concludes that there is not enough clarity as to whether money from the Community Care Grant scheme is being claimed by people who need it most.
The Community Care Grant, supported by £141 million worth of funding aims to help vulnerable people and their families to establish themselves and remain in their community.
Plans to tackle teenage drinking proposed
This publication, 'Youth Alcohol Action Plan' (Cm. 7387), from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Home Office and the Department of Health sets out the Government's aim of addressing the problem of teenage drinking.
Gender pay gap 'worryingly stubborn'
'Jobs
for the Girls: Two Years On' (HC 291-I) seeks to examine what action has
been taken to implement the 2005 recommendations of the Women and Work
Commission concerning job segregation and the gender pay gap.
Care for vulnerable babies examined
This National Audit Office (NAO) Report
‘Caring
for Vulnerable Babies’ (HC 101) examines the reorganisation of neonatal
services in England.
Plan for children, young people and families set
out
'The
Children's Plan - Building Brighter Futures' (Cm. 7280) from the Department
for Children, Schools and Families sets out the Government's ambitions for
improving children and young people's lives over the next decade and was
conceived after consultation with both parents and professionals.
Family mediation reviewed
This Report, 'Legal Services Commission: Legal Aid and Mediation for People
Involved in Family Breakdown' (HC 396), examines the shortcomings of the
current system for referring clients to mediation in situations of family
breakdown.
Reform of cohabitation law needed
Cohabitation outside marriage in England and Wales has
become increasingly common over recent decades and is expected to become more
prevalent in the future.
This Report from the Law Commission
'Cohabitation:
The Financial Consequences Of Relationship Breakdown’ (Cm 7182) makes
recommendations to Parliament on certain aspects of the law relating to
cohabitants.
Empowering women: Ministers for Women set out
priorities
This statement
‘Priorities
for the Ministers for Women’ (Cm 7183) sets out the Ministers’
priorities for policies designed to empower and support women in Britain.
Dementia services “not delivering value for
money”
Dementia is a term for a range of progressive, terminal
organic brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s.
Some 560,000 people in
England are estimated to have dementia, with a steeply rising trend expected
over the coming years. Some 476,000 people are unpaid carers of people with
dementia. Direct costs to the NHS and social care are currently at least £3.3
billion a year, but the overall annual economic burden is estimated at £14.3
billion.
Child support reforms: implementation reviewed
Since it was established in 1993, the Child Support Agency
has consistently underperformed, plagued by enormous backlogs of unprocessed
cases and uncollected maintenance.
Where it works well, the Agency has
secured regular contributions from non-resident parents and helped lift an
estimated 100,000 children out of poverty. It has to administer complex
assessment, collection and enforcement processes and deal with complicated
emotional, financial and legal issues to bring about a degree of financial
stability for children and parents.
Promoting parental responsibility
The current law automatically assumes married couples will
be jointly registered on their child's birth certificate whereas unmarried
parents both have to agree before a father's name can appear on the birth
certificate.
Sole registrations in England and Wales account for around
7% of birth registrations each year. They are often linked to social exclusion
as mothers who register solely are likely to be younger, poorer, and with lower
levels of educational attainment than those who jointly register.
Openness in the family courts
The work of the family courts is crucial in ensuring the
welfare of the child is paramount when difficult decisions have to be made. It
is important that the courts can conduct their business with openness and the
confidence of the public.
Young black people in the criminal justice
system
Young black people are over-represented at all stages of
the criminal justice system; black people form 2.7% of the population aged
10-17 but represent 8.5% of that age group arrested in England and Wales. They
are more likely to be stopped and searched, less likely to be given
unconditional bail and more likely to be remanded in custody.
"More parental choice over maintenance", says
consultation
This document,
'A
New System for Child Maintenance - Summary of Responses to the Consultation'
(Cm 7061), considers key issues that have been raised in response to the
Government's White Paper,
'A
New System of Child Maintenance (Cm. 6979)' published in 2006.
Read
more about the White Paper.
Tackling bullying behaviour
Over the past few decades there has been an increasing
awareness of bullying and the effect it has on the educational and social
achievements of children and young people.
Eradicating child poverty by 2020
This strategy document from the Department for Work and
Pensions
'Working
for Children' (Cm. 7067) sets out proposed measures to help achieve the
Government's target of eradicating child poverty by 2020. It is based on the
principle that improving employment opportunities for parents is the most
sustainable route out of poverty for themselves and their children.
Children in care suffer ill health and educational
underachievement
Examining the question ‘What is the best way to care for
children unable to grow up with their birth parents?’, this Report also
reviews children’s services reforms carried out under the
Every
Child Matters programme, and puts forward numerous proposals including
creating a Centre of Excellence for Children’s and Families' Services.
Number of poorly performing schools in England
falling
Around £837m was spent in 2004-05 on national programmes
to help poorly performing schools - schools failing or at risk of failing to
provide an acceptable standard of education.
1 in 8 schools are "inadequate"
This Annual Report from the education watchdog Ofsted states that more than one in eight English secondary schools were given "inadequate" status by school inspectors in 2006.
55% of Anti-Social
Behaviour Orders breached
Anti-social behaviour encompasses a broad range of
behaviours including nuisance behaviour, intimidation, and vandalism.
This Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General examines the work of the
Home Office's Anti-Social Behaviour Unit, a small policy unit created to enact
measures set out in the
Together
and Respect antisocial behaviour action plans, and considers the progress
made.
Tackling child poverty
critical for CSA reform
The Child Support Agency (CSA) was established on the
principle that, when parents neglect their responsibilities, the Government
must safeguard children’s interests.
However, the performance of the CSA
has largely been found to be unacceptable, with the current system often
working against parents and with significant numbers of children not getting
the maintenance they need.
Sure Start making good progress
The Sure Start programme was launched in 1998 to help give every child the best start in life - particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds - by bringing together early education, childcare, health and family support services.
While the first 800 centres were located in the most deprived areas, the Government has since pledged to create a children's centre for every community by 2010, committing £3.2bn until 2008.