Children

  • Public Finance
    10 Jul 03
    Minister for Children Margaret Hodge is to propose a commissioner for children in a green paper to be published in the autumn. She told a Local Government Association conference on July 8 that the...
  • Public Finance
    3 Jul 03
    Patients harmed by substandard NHS care will be offered an explanation and compensation of up to £30,000 under proposals unveiled this week that aim to cut the burgeoning health service clinical...
  • Public Finance
    3 Jul 03
    Threatening to prosecute parents has caused a marked reduction in classroom truancy, the government claimed this week. Figures from the Department for Education and Skills on July 2 showed that...
  • Public Finance
    19 Jun 03
    Education watchdogs have attacked the standard of sports lessons in England's schools, claiming that only a third are rated 'good' or better. In a report published on June 16, Ofsted inspectors...
  • Public Finance
    29 May 03
    Local authority bosses have been armed with statistics on private sector salaries to rebut allegations that they are overpaid. The information has been issued by the Society of Local Authority...
  • Public Finance
    29 May 03
    A Bill to abolish NHS trusts and establish community health partnerships in Scotland will be one of the first priorities of the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition Executive, First Minister Jack...
  • Public Finance
    22 May 03
    Teaching unions have described Education Secretary Charles Clarke's overhaul of tests for primary school children as an 'awkward halfway house' that will give the false impression that the government...
  • Public Finance
    15 May 03
    Councils in Scotland look set to be elected by proportional representation after a deal was agreed between the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats for a new ruling coalition in Scotland. MSPs...
  • Public Finance
    15 May 03
    Chief executives and social services directors must clarify their roles and lines of accountability to ensure there is no repeat of the Anna Climbié case, a report has warned. Shared...
  • Public Finance
    15 May 03
    Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council is failing to meet its statutory duties to vulnerable children, and its services for adults are in need of 'radical overhaul', inspectors have found. A damning...
  • Public Finance
    14 May 03
    Councils should be prohibited from placing families with children in bed and breakfast accommodation for more than six weeks, the government said this week. New proposals on housing homeless people...
  • Public Finance
    24 Apr 03
    North Tyneside's elected mayor, Chris Morgan, has resigned after being questioned by police on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children. Morgan, one of 11 US-style executive mayors...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    The Home Office has rejected the key recommendation from an inspection of asylum seeker detention centres that children should not be held for longer than seven days. Chief inspector of prisons...
  • Public Finance
    10 Apr 03
    Britain's largest teaching union has signalled its intention to take industrial action if the government pushes ahead with plans to allow unqualified staff to take classes. The National Union of...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Local education authorities must act to tackle a 'very worrying' level of violence and abuse against teachers. That was the message from Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary of the National Association...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Education Secretary Charles Clarke has launched a £435m programme to provide children's centres in the most deprived parts of England. The centres will offer childcare, nursery education, parenting...
  • Public Finance
    27 Mar 03
    Scottish Education Minister Cathy Jamieson has used a local government conference to announce an extra £80m to guarantee full implementation of the McCrone agreement on teachers' workloads....
  • Public Finance
    20 Mar 03
    Teenagers who speak English as an additional language need greater support to develop their literacy during their examination years, according to Ofsted inspectors. The education watchdog says many...
  • Public Finance
    13 Mar 03
    The government is in danger of leaving more children in care and custody than ever before, despite its good intentions to tackle anti-social behaviour, the children's charity Barnardo's warned this...
  • Public Finance
    6 Mar 03
    Education Secretary Charles Clarke has admitted that the national curriculum is suffering, particularly in sports and modern languages, because teachers are too focused on targets. Speaking on...
  • Public Finance
    20 Feb 03
    Holloway prison in north London continues to have a 'grossly inadequate' regime, despite showing signs of a commitment to tackle its problems, according to the latest report from inspectors. Anne...
  • Public Finance
    20 Feb 03
    The National Union of Teachers has accused Education Secretary Charles Clarke of 'bully-boy' tactics after he declined an invitation to speak at its annual conference. Clarke said the education...
  • Public Finance
    20 Feb 03
    Ofsted, the schools' inspectorate, has insisted that it will meet its March deadline to inspect and register all childminders and nurseries, despite a growing backlog of checks. A spokeswoman told...
  • Public Finance
    6 Feb 03
    Prison reformers have demanded a review of the Home Office's policy of jailing minors after a damning report was issued this week on the privately run Ashfield young offenders institution in...
  • Public Finance
    30 Jan 03
    Child protection agencies have joined forces to try to stop vulnerable children slipping through the net as Lord Laming's damning report on the Victoria Climbié case was published.

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