Daily roundup: Youth services, school improvement, and children's centres
Laura McCardle
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Closure of Devon youth centres approved; North East Lincolnshire Council warned over school improvement support; and children's centres reach vulnerable families, all in the news today.
Devon County Council has approved plans to close 32 youth centres in a bid to save £970,000 from its £3.8m youth service budget. The Express and Echo reports that council’s cabinet gave the go-ahead to close all but eight centres.
North East Lincolnshire Council has been told it must develop more effective school improvement support. Ofsted has written to the region’s director of children’s services expressing “significant concerns” following a series of brought forward inspections.
More than 90 per cent of the most vulnerable families are accessing children’s centres, according to research by the Department for Education. More than 88 per cent of families also told the DfE that services provided by their local children’s centres are good.
The UK is behind other European and western countries in reducing deaths among children, research shows. A paper in The Lancet reveals the UK had the second-highest mortality rates for infants and children aged one to four years in both sexes between 2005 and 2008. Around 70 per cent of infant deaths related to largely preventable factors such as being born premature and with a low birth weight.
Numbers of young people out of work are continuing to fall. The BBC reports that the total number of 16- to 24-year-olds out of work is now at its lowest level for more than five years at 853,000.
The Scout Association has put out a call for four strategic partners to work alongside the organisation up until 2018 to create 8,000 projects per year that have a positive impact in local communities. The youth charity has asked for notes of interest from organisations that are keen to develop hands-on, practical projects.