The Parenting Fund 2004 - 2006
Our new report tells the story of the Parenting Fund during its first round from 2004-2006.
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Number 55: 04 July 2008
The Family Policy Digest lets you know about key events and publications over the last month across Government, the voluntary sector and the research community. It enables you to track the progress of legislation and debate on family policy.
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Child health and wellbeing
UK Children's Commissioners' report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
The UK's four Children's Commissioners have joined forces to submit a joint report to the UN Committee on their experiences of monitoring how the state treats children and young people. They highlight issues including child poverty, youth justice, disabled children's right to a voice, limited rights for children seeking asylum, and the physical punishment of children.
The report can be downloaded from the 11 Million website.
June 2008
Children's Rights Alliance for England report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has not been incorporated into UK law. This report makes 152 recommendations for improvements in the implementation of the Convention in England. The report criticises the Government on issues including children's civil rights and the treatment of children in conflict with the law and children seeking asylum.
The summary is available from the CRAE website, as well as the children's report to the Committee.
June 2008Young runaways action plan
The action plan for young runaways sets out the government's future work on this issue including:
- Assessments and support for each young runaway
- Review and development of emergency accommodation provision, to ensure young runaways have somewhere safe to stay.
- A new indicator on young runaways within the National Indicator Set
- Guidance relating to particularly vulnerable groups of missing children, including making links to victims of sexual exploitation and trafficking
- New resources to educate young people about the dangers of running and encourage them to seek support rather than run away
The action plan can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
June 2008The Byron Review action plan
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This report sets out how the Government will take forward the recommendations from Tanya Byron's review into children's use of the internet and video games. The main actions will be:
- Setting up the UK Council for Child Internet Safety: a forum for Government, stakeholders and industry to develop the Child Internet Safety Strategy
- Better regulation: Government will explore self regulatory standards for industries to sign up to
- Public information and awareness campaign: e-safety will be included in the Government's major child safety awareness campaign which will begin in summer 2008
- Better education: an increased emphasis on internet safety in the ICT Curriculum and a strategy from UKCCIS
- Reforming the classification system for video games (subject to forthcoming consultation)
- Information and support to parents on video games (including standards for in-store information)
The report can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
June 2008Housing and disabled children
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
This round-up provides an overview of what is known about the housing circumstances of disabled children and their families. The great majority of families with disabled children report that their homes are unsuitable for their child's needs and the associated needs of other family members. Families with a disabled child are 50 per cent more likely than other families to live in overcrowded accommodation, to rate their home as being in a poor state of repair, and to report problems with wiring, draughts and damp in the child's bedroom.
All disabled children and their families, not just children with physical disabilities, are likely to experience difficulties with their housing. After housing adaptations, improvements or changes experienced by children reported by parents included increased independence, more confidence and greater self-reliance
The summary is available from the JRF website.
June 2008Health Inequalities: Progress and Next Steps
Department of Health
This document outlines the Government's approach to hit the 2010 Public Service Agreement targets on health inequalities, assessing what has and has not worked, and setting the direction of travel beyond 2010.
The report is available from the Department of Health website.
Data have also been published for each local authority on key health indicators including breastfeeding initiation, teenage pregnancy, children's physical activity, obesity and tooth decay, and smoking in pregnancy. They are available from an interactive website at http://www.healthprofiles.info.
June 2008 Children's services
Disabled children: numbers, characteristics and local service provision
A Mooney, C Owen and J Statham; Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Thomas Coram Research Unit was commissioned to undertake a survey of all Directors of Children's Services in England to collect and analyse data on the numbers and characteristics of disabled children and the services provided to them. It was not found possible to compare local authorities on their numbers of disabled children, and therefore on the adequacy of services provided because they do not use a consistent definition of disability. The report concludes that it is important that DCSF provides a common definition to local authorities for the purposes of statistics.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2008Government response to select committee report on the Children and Young Persons Bill
Children, Schools and Families Committee
The Children and Young Persons Bill will implement measures from the White Paper on children in care, Care Matters: Time for Change. The Children, Schools and Families Committee made recommendations on the Bill in its First Report, and the Government has now responded.
The report is available from the committee website.
June 2008 Family relationships
Parenting 'mixed' children: negotiating difference and belonging in mixed race, ethnicity and faith families
C Caballero, R Edwards and S Puthussery; Joseph Rowntree Foundation
This report aims to provide insights about parenting mixed children to inform debates about family life and professional strategies for support. The study analysed census data and interviewed 35 parent couples from different backgrounds about their every day negotiations of cultural differences and their approaches to fostering children's sense of identity and belonging.
The researchers conclude that it is important that family support, health, education and social services do not make assumptions about mixed families. Families who seem to share a form of mixing can differ from each other. 'Mixedness' may be insignificant for some, compared to other issues. Mixed families would benefit from policies and practice that further tackle prejudice based on race and faith.
The report can be downloaded from the JRF website.
June 2008Joint birth registration: recording responsibility
Department for Work and Pensions
This White Paper sets out plans to require unmarried parents to jointly register the births of their children. Sole registration may take place where it is impossible, impracticable or unreasonable for the father to be identified in the birth register, for example:
- the father's identity is unknown
- his whereabouts is unknown or he is away and cannot attend the register office
- the father has been convicted of rape or violence against the mother
- in the case of a young or vulnerable mother, where a responsible person, such as a social worker or medical practitioner, advises it would not be in the mother's or the child's interest to register the father.
The paper can be downloaded from the DWP website.
June 2008Domestic Violence, Forced Marriage and "Honour"-Based Violence
Home Affairs Select Committee
The committee, although recognising that the Government has made significant steps to improve its response to domestic and so-called "honour"-based violence and forced marriage, highlights important gaps in provision:
- a lack of education about these issues in schools
- a "postcode lottery" in provision of services, including a "desperate shortage" of refuge spaces and other emergency housing
- a dire shortage of places on Probation Service perpetrator programmes, which has led to some courts being expressly prohibited from using the programmes as a sentencing option
The committee calls on the Government to adopt a national strategy on domestic violence, or on violence against women more generally, to include an explicit emphasis on prevention.
The report is available from the Committee website.
June 2008"I can't tell people what is happening at home"
S Izzidien; NSPCC
This report examines the experiences and support needs of South Asian women, children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse, the barriers that deter them from seeking help and the gaps in current service provision. The findings of the report point to a need for a more targeted and culturally-appropriate approach to responding to the specific issues and barriers that exist in these communities.
The report can be downloaded from the NSPCC website.
June 2008 Family services
Supporting parents in promoting early learning: The evaluation of the Early Learning Partnership Project
M Evangelou, K Sylva, A Edwards and T Smith; Department for Children, Schools and Families
Funded by the DCSF and coordinated by the Family and Parenting Institute, this project involved a total of seven charities and their partners working together to see how best early learning for one to three years olds can be encouraged in the home.
Given the short timescale, the evaluation was limited in its conclusions, but found that practitioners gained skills and understanding about working with parents to support children's learning, from the training they received. Practitioners valued the knowledge about learning and development that they gained from training and shared it with parents. Parents felt they had an increased capacity to understand and respond to their children's needs.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2008Funding extension for the Parenting Fund
Projects funded through the Parenting Fund are to have their funding continued until March 2009. It was also announced that there will be a new bidding cycle for the third round to cover the financial years 2009/10 and 2010/11.
June 2008Parents on council care
Children's Rights Director for England
This report highlights the very strong emotions conveyed by parents about having their child taken away from them or living away from home. Of the 184 parents who responded to the survey, three-quarters felt their child was treated well in care. Sixty-four per cent of parents had seen their child's care plan (10 per cent were not sure), and 41 per cent said they had a say in it. Around a quarter did not know whether the council planned for their child to return home.
Over half (57 per cent) of parents said they were getting no support for themselves as parents now their child was in care. Similarly, over half (59 per cent) said there had been no support to help stop their children needing to go into care.
The report is available from the Ofsted website.
June 2008New pilot projects aim to help families in poverty
The package of measures announced include:
- A new Child Development Grant of around £200 for low income parents with children under the age of five, to be piloted in 10 local authorities from early 2009. The grant will be conditional on taking up services such as the free childcare entitlement and support from children's centres.
- Pilots providing financial incentives for both parents to move into work.
- £7.6m for 30 Children's Centres across 10 Local Authorities to offer enhanced work-focused services
- Funding to extend the London Childcare Affordability pilots
- Improved supported accommodation for teenage mothers
- Grants to local authorities to develop new and innovative approaches to tackle the causes and consequences of child poverty, totalling at least £20m.
More information is available from the DCSF website.
June 2008Carers at the heart of 21st century families and communities: a caring system on your side, a life of your own
Department of Health
The Carers Strategy is supported by £255 investment. Plans include:
- £150 million extra available to fund short breaks for carers over two years. The money will be allocated to Primary Care Trusts, who will have to work with local authorities.
- £38 million towards supporting carers to take up employment with more guidance for employers, and more flexible and accessible skills training for carers.
- An awareness raising campaign to ensure carers and employers are aware that carers have the right to request flexible working.
- Development of a Common Assessment Framework for adults.
- Pilots of annual health checks for carers in a number of PCTs.
- Training for GPs to recognise the role that carers play and pressures on the carers' own health.
- £6 million towards support for young carers
- Pilots on new ways of providing breaks.
- Commitment to giving every person using social services, including carers, a personal budget over the next few years.
- Training for professionals in local authorities for their day-to-day dealings with carers and decisions about services.
The full strategy is available from the Department of Health website.
June 2008Just Care? A fresh approach to adult services
S Moulin; IPPR
This paper sets out to answer the question, not of how care is funded, but of what sort of system we want to fund, why and for whom. It starts from the premise that the state cannot support adults with care needs to maximise their independence without better supporting care within families and across communities, and suggests that the government develops a framework of desired outcomes from a range of services that applies to all adults with care needs, both those self-funding and those funded by the state, and carers.
The report is available from the IPPR website.
June 2008Second great parenting experiment - effects of media-based delivery of parenting advice
R Calam, C Miller, V Sadhnani, S Carmont and M Sanders; Department for Children, Schools and Families
Parents enrolled online for this research, measuring the impact of watching the TV series, "Driving Mum and Dad Mad" with associated web resources available. The series depicted the experiences and emotional journey of families with severe conduct-problem children as they participated in the Triple P programme.
Among the 123 parents who completed the intervention, significant improvements were reported in parental self-reported child behaviour problems, parenting practice problems, parental conflict, parental anxiety and depression and parental self-efficacy. Positive changes were maintained over the 6 month follow-up period. Many of the predictors of non-completion seen for more traditional intervention approaches seemed not to have an impact in this study.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2008Think research: Using research evidence to inform service development for vulnerable groups
Social Exclusion Task Force
This publication aims to help commissioners and providers of services use research evidence to ensure services are based on the best available evidence of what works. It covers finding relevant research, evaluating it and how to use the evidence in planning a service. It also provides information on monitoring and evaluating a service to measure outcomes.
The report is available from the Cabinet Office website.
June 2008Reforming the legal aid family barrister fee scheme
This paper sets out proposals for reforming the Family Graduated Fee Scheme under which barristers are paid for legal aid advocacy work in family cases. Currently barristers in family cases are paid significantly more than solicitors for the same advocacy work, and the department wants to move towards a system where we pay the same for the same service to the client, regardless of whether the advocate has a background as a solicitor or barrister.
The paper is available from the Ministry of Justice website.
June 2008Draft Charter for Bereaved People
Ministry of Justice
The Charter for Bereaved People brings together many of the services bereaved people will receive from coroners in a reformed system. This is a final opportunity to give views before the draft charter is again put before Parliament alongside the Coroners Bill.
The charter is available on the Ministry of Justice website. The deadline for comments is Wednesday 10 September 2008.
June 2008 General
Framework for a Fairer Future - the Equality Bill
The forthcoming Equality Bill will contain a new streamlined Equality Duty for public bodies to replace the race, disability and gender equality duties, which will also cover gender reassignment, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief. Public bodies will have to report on important equality areas such as gender pay, ethnic minority employment and disability employment.
The Bill will allow employers to take under-representation into account when selecting between two equally qualified candidates. It will outlaw pay secrecy clauses and make it unlawful to stop employees discussing their pay. The Bill will also allow employment tribunals to make general recommendations to employers about the way they operate, even if the person concerned in the case is leaving the organisation.
It will also make it unlawful to discriminate against someone (over 18) because of their age when providing goods, facilities and services or carrying out public functions.
More information is available from the website of the Women and Equality Unit.
June 2008 Poverty and social exclusion
Households Below Average Income (HBAI) 1994/95-2006/07
Department for Work and Pensions
The latest edition of the Households Below Average Income statistics show that child poverty has risen in the two years to April 2007. The overall reduction in child poverty since 1998/99, which was 700,000 in 2004/5, is now 600,000.
The full statistics are available from the DWP website.
June 2008Government reponse to the Work and Pensions committee report on child poverty
In the original report, The best start in life? Alleviating deprivation, improving social mobility and eradicating child poverty, the Select Committee on Work and Pensions raised a range of issues. These include:
- the definition of 'eradication' of child poverty
- childcare quality and availability
- additional costs related to education
- the level of Disability Living Allowance and the need for a campaign to improve its uptake
- the limit to the Childcare Element of Tax Credit for families with more than two children
- whether the Jobseeker's Allowance regime is flexible enough for lone parents
- the gender pay gap
- the need for a review of the uprating formulae presently used for adult benefits
- poverty among ethnic minorities
The report is available from the Committee website.
June 2008Employment transitions and the changes in economic circumstances of families with children: Evidence from the Families and Children Study
M Barnes, N Lyon and J Millar; Department for Work and Pensions
This report uses longitudinal data from the Families and Children Study (FACS) to explore the impact of movements in and out of paid employment on income poverty and living standards hardship (combining material well-being, accommodation and housing conditions, and the state of family finances).
Following a transition into work, 70 per cent of families had moved out of income poverty a year later, and this figure was the same for lone parent and couple families. Moves out of hardship following a transition into work were less pronounced and happened at a slower rate than moves out of income poverty. Three quarters of couple families and half of lone parent families who left and remained out of work for two years moved into and stayed in income poverty. Again, the proportions moving into hardship were lower.
The report is available from the DWP website.
June 2008Delivering the government response to the Corston Report
Ministry of Justice
This is the government's six-month progress report on its strategy for addressing the needs of women offenders, in response to Baroness Corston's independent review of women in the criminal justice system. The Corston Report recommended that the government should replace existing women's prisons with suitable, geographically dispersed, small, multi-functional custodial centres within 10 years. The government has not accepted this model, citing practical difficulties. The report sets out progress on other commitments, including increasing community provision for women offenders.
The report is available from the Ministry of Justice website.
June 2008 Schools
Transistion Information Sessions: Year two evaluation
L Day and K McKenna; Department for Children, Schools and Families
This report sets out the evaluation findings from the demonstration project for Transition Information Sessions for parents of children starting school. Over 80 per cent of parents felt the sessions had helped with knowing what to expect for their child's school, and over 70 per cent felt they had helped with 'supporting your child to learn through play'.
School staff who were interviewed in year two consistently reported that TIS helped to establish a dialogue with parents. Some sessions had very low parent numbers, and many more mothers than fathers attended, particularly for primary sessions. Fathers were also less likely to feel that the sessions helped with knowing where to go for information. The report makes recommendations for future development of Transition Information Sessions.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2008Parent Support Adviser pilot evaluation: Second interim report
G Lindsay, M Cullen, S Band, S Cullen, L Davis and H Davis; Department for Children, Schools and Families
Parent Support Advisers (PSAs) in schools appear to have been effective and parents were generally very positive about the support they gave: 9 out of 10 rated them very helpful. Interim suggestions for action include:
- Ensuring that all PSAs have access to appropriate training and supervision and tackling the concern that some PSAs are 'holding' parents with serious, often chronic and highly challenging difficulties for too long.
- Ensuring PSAs retain the flexibility and are given the time to respond to the varied needs of parents, especially those who have traditionally been hard to engage.
- Ensuring PSAs have sufficient status within, or independence from, schools to be able to advocate for parents where necessary.
- Increasing attempts to engage fathers and male carers and increasing efforts to appoint male PSAs.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2008Determinants of aspirations
LM Gutman and R Akerman; Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning
This review states that there is evidence that parental aspirations can help predict children's achievement, even after taking into account family background. Girls, young people from minority ethnic groups and from higher socio-economic backgrounds tend to hold higher aspirations. Parents from these groups also tend to have higher aspirations for their children. Conversely, socially disadvantaged groups such as teenage parents tend to have low aspirations for themselves and for their children.
Aspirations help mitigate the effects of low socioeconomic background for certain minority groups, such as Indian and Chinese students, but not for all. Girls' aspirations and educational achievement have tended to be higher than boys' in recent years, but this has not affected the gender pay gap.
The report can be downloaded from the centre's website.
June 2008Survey of Parents in England 2008
C Ivins; Department for Children, Schools and Families
In this national survey of parents, nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) said they were either extremely or very satisfied with the school that their child attends. A fifth (21 per cent) were fairly satisfied. Most parents thought their child's school was good at dealing with parents' concerns. Of parents who had applied for a place at a state school, 71 per cent said they felt they had had a choice of good state-funded schools within their own local authority area and 10 per cent said there was only one good state-funded school within their local authority area.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
June 2008 Work and the family
Maternity rights and mothers' employment decisions
I La Valle, E Clery and M Huerta; Department for Work and Pensions
This study was carried out by the National Centre for Social Research and involved face-to-face interviews (conducted between February and May 2007) of just under 2,000 mothers whose children were aged between 12 and 18 months and who had worked at some point in the 12 months before the baby's birth.
Seventy-six per cent of mothers overall had returned to work between 12 and 18 months after the birth, including 62 per cent of lone mothers but less than half of those working for an employer with no family-friendly arrangements available. Mothers were more likely to take more than 26 weeks maternity leave if: they and/or their partner had a higher income; they worked for a large employer; they worked in the public sector. Fathers on a low income or self-employed were less likely to take time off after the birth (around a quarter of each group did not). Slightly more than one-tenth of mothers (11 per cent) thought they were treated unfairly at work as a result of their pregnancy.
The report is available from the DWP website.
June 2008 Young people
Youth Alcohol Action Plan
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Youth Action Plan includes:
- Increasing enforcement activity to address young people drinking in public place, including a new offence to tackle persistent possession of alcohol
- The use of acceptable behaviour contracts and parenting contracts where young people are repeatedly caught drinking in public
- Implementing actions from the Licensing Act Review to tackle sales to under-age drinkers, and potentially further restrictions on alcohol advertising
- Providing more information to young people and to parents about young people, alcohol and health.
The Action Plan is available from the DCSF website. The deadline for comments on the strategy is 7 July.
June 2008Criminal damage: Why we should look up fewer children
Prison Reform Trust
The UK locks up a higher proportion of under-18s than any other western European country. This report argues that custody for children is harsh, ineffective and expensive and should be used only for those convicted of violent crimes who present a real physical threat to their community. Proposals for doing this include:
- transferring the child detention budget to local authorities to give them more incentive to invest in effective alternatives
- reducing the number of children remanded in custody
- ending imprisonment for those under 14
- getting local authorities to prevent so many looked-after children ending up in custody.
- expanding intensive fostering as an alternative to custody
The report is available from the Prison Reform Trust website.
June 2008Design:This Way Up
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