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Each day, CYP Now will summarise the key issues affecting the children and families sector as it tackles the effects of the pandemic. The daily update signposts children’s services practitioners and leaders to the latest developments, expert views, advice and resources.
Sunak unveils ‘kickstart’ job scheme
The Chancellor has announced plans to pay employers to provide “good quality” jobs for 16 - 24-year-olds.
The government will pay the wages for young people on the £2bn scheme, Rishi Sunak said, adding that applications will soon open for the scheme with the first employees planned to be in place by autumn.
More funding will also be provided for trainee and apprenticeships and careers guidance for young people, the chancellor added.
Guidance changed for STCs
The government has passed emergency legislation allowing children in secure training centres (STCs) to be locked in cells for up to 22-and-a-half hours a day.
The Ministry of Justice has made amendments to the Secure Training Centre Rules using the Coronavirus Act 2020.
The changes, which campaigners say “legitimises” the use of solitary confinement for children as young as 12, apply to STCs in England and Wales. Currently, two STCs are operating - Oakhill in Milton Keynes, run by G4S and Justice Services, and MTC-managed Rainsbrook in Northamptonshire.
Headteachers call for 2021 exams to be cut back
Thousands of headteachers across England are calling for exams to cut back next year amid concerns over a mental health crisis among pupils.
The headteachers, from 78 English local authorities and represented by the campaign group Worth Less?, are calling for a significant cut in curriculum content and fewer exams in each subject to ease pressure on pupils and allow teachers to focus on student wellbeing.
They also want primary assessments cancelled for the coming year and an overhaul of school performance league tables.
ADCS president delivers speech on Covid-19 recovery
Financial, social and educational inequality should be addressed as a “priority” as the UK eases out of Covid-19 lockdown, the president of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) has said.
Jenny Coles said in a speech to mark the start of the virtual ADCS Annual Conference 2020 that the pandemic had “spotlight on inequalities and social injustice in our society”.
#Chances4Children: Young people’s panel advise lottery funders on post-Covid 19 strategy
An advisory panel made up of young people is working with the UK’s largest funder of community activity to develop a support strategy for those affected by the Covid-19 crisis.
The panel of 12 young people, aged 16 to 25, had been picked from a selection process held earlier in the year and were all involved in National Lottery-funded community projects, the fund said.
Those chosen represented a diverse range of lived experience of social issues affecting young people across the country, it added.
