Coronavirus daily round-up: Friday 29 May
Fiona Simpson
Friday, May 29, 2020
Families facing financial crisis due to the impact of Covid-19 have been left with “nowhere to turn” due to government cuts to local authorities, a charity has warned.
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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.
Council funding cuts leave families impacted by Covid-19 ‘without support’
Government cuts to local authority budgets have left families affected by coronavirus with “nowhere to turn” in a financial crisis, The Children’s Society has warned.
New research by the charity finds that spending on local emergency schemes designed to support those facing financial hardship has fallen by 86 per cent (£250m) in under a decade.
In 2010/11 £2911m was spent on crisis provision for local authorities through the nationally administered Discretionary Social Fund, compared with just £41m in 2018/19 on the replacement Local Welfare Assistance schemes, figures published by The Children’s Society show.
The charity has joined a coalition of anti-poverty charities calling on the government to allocate £275m extra funding to local authority hardship schemes.
Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: “The coronavirus crisis is likely to have a devastating financial impact for many families for months or even years to come. Without savings to fall back on, this virus could leave them unable to feed and clothe their children, heat their home or pay rent. Local welfare assistance must be there to help in these circumstances, but it's erosion has meant too many people are left with nowhere to turn.”
Government urged to guarantee apprenticeships for school leavers
The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) has called on the Department for Education to ensure that support for England’s apprenticeship training providers remains in place as part of the post-pandemic recovery plan.
The call comes following the Prime Minister’s statement to the Commons Liaison Committee yesterday in which he agreed to “look at the idea” of giving young people aged 16 to 25 an "apprenticeship guarantee". The proposal was put to him by the education select committee chair Robert Halfon.
Mark Dawe, chief executive of the AELP, said: “AELP welcomes the Prime Minister’s commitment to consider the proposal put to him yesterday by Education Committee chair Robert Halfon that there should be an apprenticeship guarantee for every 16 to 25 year old who wants one. We believe that such a guarantee would make a huge impact in supporting the economic recovery needed after the pandemic.”
Half of parents ‘too worried’ to send children back to childcare settings
Just four out of ten parents will send their children back to childcare or nursery next week, a new survey from the Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY) reveals.
Of the 1,000 parents of one-to six-year-olds asked, 48 per cent said they are either not planning on sending their child back to a childcare setting or haven’t yet decided.
Some 60 per cent of these parents said they were concerned about their child’s health and 70 per cent raised concerns that social distancing measures can’t be enforced with children.
Make streets safer for children to walk to school, experts say
A coalition of 10 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are calling on local authorities to ensure streets are safe for young pedestrians and cyclists as schools reopen.
The group is calling on local authorities to make use of £250m emergency travel funding made available from Department of Transport to trial a “School Streets” scheme, where cars are prevented from going up to the school gates at drop off and pick up times.
The call comes after a survey, carried out by the coalition, found that 71 per cent of parents would support initiatives to make roads safer for children as lockdown measures are lifted.
