Daily roundup: Separating families, race and youth unemployment, and the last day at the GSCC
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
A £14m boost for separation support, young people sought to advise on reducing unemployment and the General Social Care Council closes its doors, all in the news today.
Voluntary and community sector organisations are being invited to bid for a slice of £14m to provide support for separating families, from the Department of Work and Pensions. The money will go towards helping parents maintain a “collaborative relationship” after separation, in the best interests of children. Organisations offering everything from legal advice to marriage counselling are encouraged to apply.
Young people are being sought to join a youth panel that will advise business leaders on reducing unemployment levels for black, Asian and minority ethnic young people in the UK, amid concerns they are more likely to be out of work. Race for Opportunity, a campaign run by Business in the Community, is looking for 16- to 24-year-olds living in London and the South East to sit on the panel.
The General Social Care Council (GSCC) will close today, following the government's decision to scrap a number of arms-length bodies. From tomorrow (1 August) the Health Professions Council will take over its remit as regulator of the social work profession in England. To reflect this new remit, the body will change its name to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Ofsted has said that children in Walsall are “at potential risk of harm". Inspectors rated safeguarding in the area as inadequate, with social worker assessments and performance management coming in for the most severe criticism. In a separate inspection, the overall effectiveness of safeguarding services in the London Borough of Wandsworth has been judged as good by Ofsted, with outstanding capacity for improvement.
Meanwhile, the BBC reports that Welsh inspectors have recommended that education services in Anglesey should be put into special measures. A report by the Welsh education watchdog Estyn criticised standards, low school attendance, planning and the quality of leadership, rating services as “unsatisfactory". The council has been given 50 days to draw up an action plan.
Finally, children’s charity Barnardo’s is urging schools to do more to tackle the root causes of bad behaviour. The charity is concerned by exclusion statistics released last week showing that children with special educational needs are nine times more likely to be excluded. The say children with problems at home may be “acting out” rather than “acting up”.