Councils, health organisations and police forces are to face joint inspections of child protection services from four public sector watchdogs, it has been announced today.
The development of poorer children in early years education remains behind those whose families are better off, despite overall improvements in quality, Ofsted has concluded.
Children and families minister Edward Timpson has made £4.5m available to help councils form regional adoption agencies as part of moves to ensure all authorities are collaborating in groups by...
Councils are footing the bill for local child protection initiatives because the police, NHS and schools do not contribute a fair share of funding, the Local Government Association has claimed today.
Prime Minister David Cameron is bringing forward plans to double free childcare offered to working parents from 15 hours to 30 hours per week and pledged to review funding for the scheme before the...
A coalition of more than 50 charities, think-tanks and public finance experts has called for the next government to prioritise investment in early intervention programmes in a bid to unlock savings...
A Conservative government would double the amount of free childcare available for three- and four-year-olds from 15 hours to 30, David Cameron announced.
Day-to-day spending on schools has been ‘remarkably’ well protected under the coalition government, but regardless of who wins the next election cuts of 7% or more are possible, the...
Ineffective inspections from Ofsted contributed to the failure to tackle child sexual exploitation in Rotherham and the watchdog may be offering false assurance to authorities across England that...
The chair of the Public Accounts Committee has accused the Department for Education of ‘an alarming reluctance’ to work with local authorities to improve services for children in care.
Many councils are struggling to protect vulnerable children amid funding pressures and increasing public scrutiny on social care services following failures in places such as Rotherham, an analysis...
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has appointed Sir Derek Myers, former chief executive of Hammersmith and Fulham and the Kensington and Chelsea London boroughs, to lead the government’s...
Public services spend almost £17bn a year on addressing the impact of a host of social problems affecting young people, a study by the Early Intervention Foundation has found.
Commissioners are to be sent in to run all the executive functions of Rotherham Borough Council following a damning report into the authority’s governance.
Over 3,300 ‘coasting’ schools could be taken over by academy chains or have their head teachers replaced if they do not improve, Prime Minister David Cameron announced today.
Low-income families with children and the very well off are the two groups that have lost the most from the coalition government’s changes to tax and benefits for working-age people, the Institute...
Auditors say the Department for Education is not able to hold local authorities to account for their spending on children in care because central government does not have indicators to measure the...
Commissioning for children’s services should be transformed to ensure services are joined up and meet long-term needs, an expert report has recommended.
Councils have been slow to ‘face up to their responsibilities’ on child sexual exploitation, Ofsted has warned today in its first examination of the issue.
Business leaders are urging the government to boost the living standards of low earners by raising the National Insurance threshold and expanding the provision of free childcare and maternity pay.
An independent review of the work of Ofsted must be held to address concerns about the independence and credibility of the schools watchdog following a number of ‘media driven’ revisions to its...
The government scheme offering free pre-school places for infants has helped only a small number of women into work, a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found.
The successful implementation of a new IT system for the administration of child maintenance payments carries lessons for the public sector, a parliamentary report has said.
Councils should be allowed to establish and run academies, the Policy Exchange think-tank has recommended as it warned that a fifth of primary schools ‘could be set to fail’.
