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Outstanding challenge for Ofsted

    Opinion
  • Monday, February 1, 2010
  • | CYP Now
Ofsted-bashing has been on the rise for several months. Cries of exasperation over the way the children's services inspectorate goes about its business have come in fits and starts from all quarters.

Editorial: Role models' foolishness is a sobering thought

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, February 26, 2008
  • | CYP Now
Alcohol is big news at the moment. Barely a day goes by without a national newspaper or radio phone-in devoting ample coverage to pore over the state of "Binge Britain", with the focus frequently on young people's excessive drinking.

There is funding beyond Whitehall

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, February 3, 2009
  • | CYP Now
There's no doubting that the 201.7m the government is investing in youth facilities will create some fantastic venues for young people over the next few years.

Tory policy still needs some improvements

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, September 30, 2008
  • | CYP Now
There is a very real prospect that the next government will be a Conservative one. So it's encouraging that apart from the small matter of a global economic crisis, issues affecting children, young people and families took centre stage at the party's annual conference this week.

What we need is a trusting society, Darling

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, October 21, 2008
  • | CYP Now
"What I want to avoid is getting ourselves in a position governments have done in the past where you face an immediate problem and cut back on things the country will need in the future," Chancellor Alistair Darling said last weekend.

Shhh... Every Child Matters lives on

    Opinion
  • Monday, August 9, 2010
  • | CYP Now
Watch out, the language police are about. An internal Department for Education memo lists 30 terms the government wants consigned to history, and the words that should be used in their place. Many relate directly to children's services.

Resilience prevails amid Osborne's bleak choices

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, December 11, 2012
  • | CYP Now
Like a piercing, bitter English winter, Chancellor George Osbourne's "autumn statement" was eye-wateringly harsh. It is, without doubt, children and young people growing up in the most deprived households who are being asked to bear the brunt.

Youth employment is key to revival

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, April 28, 2009
  • | CYP Now
The outstandingly depressing budget of 2009 has left children's services in limbo, braced for the tightest of public spending squeezes and a likely change of government.

Editorial: Inherent dangers lurk in staying safe plan

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, February 12, 2008
  • | CYP Now
With the publication of the Staying Safe Action Plan last week, the government has been at pains not to be seen to wrap children up in cotton wool. In presentation terms, the document's front cover depicts children happily participating in watersports, climbing and running. Meanwhile, the Department for Children, Schools and Families' press notice on the safety plan leads heavily on the proposal to encourage teachers to take pupils on outdoor school trips by providing advice and diminishing bureaucracy.

Capture the volunteers while we can

    Opinion
  • Thursday, July 2, 2009
  • | CYP Now
Volunteers are the life blood of youth work. According to the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, more than 500,000 volunteers give up their spare time to work with young people, outnumbering the number of paid employees by almost 10 to one.

Youth work is more vital now than ever

    Opinion
  • Tuesday, December 22, 2009
  • | CYP Now
This year is shaping up to be the most challenging one for youth services in recent memory. Further cutbacks in public services coupled with nearly one million 16- to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training are going to place a huge strain on youth services just at the time they are most needed.

Break down the wall of ignorance

    Opinion
  • Wednesday, April 1, 2009
  • | CYP Now
It's disappointing to hear of examples where the role of youth work is overlooked and under-appreciated. But sadly all too often this still is the case.

Protect the youth opportunity fund

    Opinion
  • Monday, June 14, 2010
  • | CYP Now
As CYP Now predicted last week, the Department for Education has removed the ringfence around the remaining 40.8m of the youth opportunity fund. The ringfence guaranteed that money went to local grant-making youth panels to spend on projects requested by local young people.

Keep a young hand on purse strings

    Opinion
  • Wednesday, June 30, 2010
  • | CYP Now
An impressive 2.5 million young people benefited from the youth opportunity and youth capital funds between 2006 and 2009, according to data compiled by the previous government.

Youth work needs fresh young talent

    Opinion
  • Monday, September 27, 2010
  • | CYP Now
It's easy to become consumed by your own job prospects in difficult economic times. But spare a thought for those looking to get a foot on the career ladder.

Big society could hit small charities hard

    Opinion
  • Wednesday, September 1, 2010
  • | CYP Now
Will small and medium-sized youth charities be among the biggest losers of the coalition government? It seems an odd question to ask given the now youth minister Tim Loughton's comments before the election that he would make it a personal priority to find new ways of supporting the voluntary youth sector.

Don't rule out single-faith projects

Successfully reaching out to young people from minority groups is something that concerns all providers of youth services - both statutory and voluntary.

Youth workers in hospital fill a void

    Opinion
  • Thursday, March 5, 2009
  • | CYP Now
I've become rather hardened to youth work projects. After writing about the youth sector for more than six years, it takes a lot for a project to really stand out from the crowd.

Embarrassing custody rates require creative solutions

    Opinion
  • Monday, July 25, 2011
  • | CYP Now
The high number of young people held in youth custody in England and Wales has been a cause of national embarrassment. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has quite rightly raised concerns at the levels of young people held in our youth jails in its recent reports. Despite impressive reductions in recent years, more than 2,000 under-18s were in custody in May.

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