26 January 2007

TSA report Supporting Young Fathers: Examples of promising practice

To strengthen its work on young fathers the Teenage Pregnancy Unit commissioned the Trust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA) to draw together examples of 'good practice' of current work with young fathers. The executive summary of the report is now available.

Read more: http://www.tsa.uk.com/research/projects_completed/young_fath...

25 January 2007

The UK's household debt problem

For the typical household, debt problems are not as bad as often painted despite the increase in debt levels, but for low income families, access to high quality credit remains a problem, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Read more: http://www.ifs.org.uk/press.php?publication_id=3836

24 January 2007

EU must work together to help cross border couples

With nearly one in five divorces having a cross-border element, countries in the EU must work together to make sure family justice operates effectively, according to the Family Justice Minister Harriet Harman.

Read more: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=258916&Ne...

24 January 2007

Annual report of the Family Procedure Rule Committee

The Family Procedure Rule Committee is a non-advisory departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Constitutional Affairs. Its function is to make rules of court governing the practice and procedure in family proceedings in the High Court, county courts and magistrates' courts. The annual report for 2006 is now available.

Read more: http://www.dca.gov.uk/procedurerules/familypr_annualrpt06.ht...

24 January 2007

40 areas to lead the Respect programme

The government is to establish the first wave of 40 Respect Areas which have earned the right to be exemplars of the Respect programme. All of the 40 Respect Areas have signed up to Family Intervention Projects to tackle 'neighbours from hell' and to provide more parenting classes with troublesome children among other anti-social behaviour initiatives.

Read more: http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/respect-progra...

17 January 2007

Births, marriages and deaths records to go on the internet

The Office for National Statistics has announced that facilities to search indexes of births, marriages and deaths will start to be available on the internet from early 2008.

Read more: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/frc0107.pdf

17 January 2007

Guide for voluntary and community sector organisations working with families

Making Connections; A guide for Voluntary and Community Sector organisations working with families has been produced by the Campaign for Learning to support the work of voluntary community organisations and their partners who are working with families and offering learning opportunities.

Read more: http://www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk/familylearningnetwor...

15 January 2007

Child Trust Fund Week

The Economic Secretary, Ed Balls, today launches Child Trust Fund Week. The week will run from 15 January to 20 January and is part of a national campaign to increase families' engagement with the Child Trust Fund by encouraging eligible parents to use their voucher, make an informed decision about their provider and account type and consider making additional contributions for their child.

Read more: http://www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=256280&Ne...

15 January 2007

Research into the amount of time parents spend with their children

Recently published research concludes that today's U.S. mothers and fathers spend at least as many hours caring for their children each week as parents did four decades ago. In their book, Changing Rhythms of American Family Life, Suzanne Bianchi, John Robinson and Melissa Milkie suggest that there is a gap between parents' self-evaluations and the currently high cultural expectations for "intensive parenting", according to the Population Reference Bureau.

Read more: http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/Conten...

12 January 2007

Boost for family and child reading

Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, and the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, have urged families to read more and read together. They have launched a Family Engagement Toolkit funded by the Department for Education and Skills giving advice to schools on how they can engage parents and encourage them to read with their children.

Read more: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2007_0006

10 January 2007

Local authorities to provide positive activities for young people

All local authorities will now be expected to secure access for young people to 'positive activities', including youth clubs sports facilities and art projects. Local authorities will also be expected to take account of young people's views on activities and facilities currently available to them as well as any new ones they would like to see in the area.

Read more: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2007_0002

10 January 2007

Children and young people's policy discussion paper

A discussion paper covering children and young people's policy has been launched as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown; Beverley Hughes, Minister for Children, Young People and Families; Ed Balls, Economic Secretary to the Treasury; and Ed Milliband, Minister for the Third Sector. In the 2006 budget the government announced that the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review would be informed by a series of policy reviews, including the joint Treasury and Department for Education and Skills review, which is the subject of this discussion paper.

Read more: http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/?asset=News&id=51201

08 January 2007

Women still under-represented at the top

Women make up just 10% of directors of FTSE 100 companies and barely 20% of Parliament, according to Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? 2007, the Equal Opportunities Commission's annual survey looking at women in senior positions across the public and private sector.

Read more: http://www.eoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=19839

04 January 2007

Increase in the number of specialist domestic violence courts

The number of specialist domestic violence courts will increase by 15, bringing the total to 64 across England and Wales by next April. Specialist domestic violence courts systems work to ensure different agencies, such as police, Crown prosecutors and probation, work together to identify, track and risk assess domestic violence cases and better share information so that more offenders are brought to justice, victims are protected and better supported; and further violence is prevented.

Read more: http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/DOMESTICVIOLEN...

04 January 2007

Britons put in £23 billion of unpaid overtime a year

Employees in the UK who do unpaid overtime do an average of seven hours six minutes extra work a week, and would take home an extra £4,800 a year if they were paid the average wage for those unpaid hours, according to a new analysis of official statistics published be the Trades Union Congress.

Read more: http://www.tuc.org.uk/work_life/tuc-12819-f0.cfm

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