News feeds

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:30:00 GMT Manchester councillors are set to debate proposals for the city's early years service, which will keep all children's centres open and increase the outreach service, but gradually close council-run daycare services.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:01:00 GMT There is wide variation in the take-up of the free entitlement to early education for three- and four-year-olds across England, with children from the most disadvantaged families less likely to use their allowance, the National Audit Office (NAO) has found.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:34:00 GMT Protests against cuts to youth services are gathering pace after young people marched in Derbyshire and an online petition calling on government to ringfence funding passed 1,000 signatures.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:38:00 GMT Strong partnerships between social workers and other agencies are integral throughout any child protection case, two experts have warned following a BBC documentary about a social work team in Bristol.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:06:00 GMT Plans to close City YMCA's largest hostel will leave 250 young people in need of rehousing, the London-based charity has warned.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:11:00 GMT Inspections of adoption services have been too lenient in the past, the deputy chief inspector of Ofsted has admitted.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:48:00 GMT Nearly four in 10 social workers do not feel they have sufficient time to work effectively with children and young people, a survey by Ofsted has found.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:30:00 GMT More young people believed they could get into university after spending six months on a mentoring programme, a study has found.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:18:00 GMT The coalition government has moved to scupper House of Lords opposition to controversial welfare reforms by invoking a rarely used 340-year-old rule to ensure parliament approves the measures.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT Funding of £10m to train thousands of new volunteer leaders for youth groups like the Scouts, Girlguiding UK and Police Cadets has been announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:52:00 GMT The number of custodial places in secure children's homes (SCH) is to be cut again due to falling custody levels, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) has announced.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:02:00 GMT A BBC 2 documentary following the day-to-day work of a Bristol Council child protection team revealed a lack of support for the parents featured in the programme, a family advocacy charity has warned.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:59:00 GMT A total of four inquiries will be held into the deaths of two teenagers in custody last week, it has emerged.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:13:00 GMT The College of Social Work has used its inaugural event to pledge to champion the role of social workers from across children's services through a time of "unprecedented change".

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:50:00 GMT Further weight has been added to the campaign against government welfare proposals after the UK's four children's commissioners joined forces to criticise the plans.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:29:00 GMT The Scottish government has unveiled plans to create 230,000 additional training places over five years for young people as part of its strategy to address rising unemployment.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:02:00 GMT More than 3,000 vocational qualifications will be excluded from school performance league tables from January 2015, the government has announced.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:01:00 GMT Forty per cent of pupils in Wales are entering secondary school with a reading age that is more than six months below their actual age, the chief inspector of Welsh education inspectorate Estyn has warned.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:01:00 GMT Ofsted has finalised plans to begin two-week long spot checks of local authority child protection services from May.

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:25:00 GMT The effectiveness of the youth justice system will be put under the spotlight in an inquiry launched by the justice select committee.