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This legislative scrutiny report on the Children and Families Bill deals with issues to do with adoption and looked after children (Part 1 of the Bill), family justice (Part 2), Special Educational Needs (Part 3), the Children's Commissioner (Part 5) and statutory rights to shared parental leave and pay (Part 6). The Report also includes an analysis of two issues connected with the Energy Bill.
The last five years have seen a range of international developments, ranging from the growth of radicalisation and fundamentalism, to growing concerns around our energy supply, and rising aggression from Russia. The NSS must be flexible enough to support contingency planning, and in this Report the Committee recommends that the Government produce a classified NSS or annex which can be used in Government departments to influence planning assumptions for a range of scenarios. In its report the Committee said that the next NSS should look hard at the UK's place within the international order, and what strategic thinking should underpin its actions over the next five years. It also needs to influence the Comprehensive Spending Review, to ensure that the Government can make fully-informed decisions on security-related spending. The next NSS should set clear objectives for the UK's future place in the world and geopolitical priorities, and inform the Strategic Defence and Security Review's assessment of the means required to achieve them.
In 2012 around 1,200 unaccompanied migrant children sought asylum in the UK, and around 2,150 unaccompanied migrant children were being cared for by local authorities. The Committee heard evidence of the range of issues that unaccompanied migrant children face during their time in the country. Children who had often faced traumatic journeys, many of whom are fleeing violence or who have been subject to abuse and exploitation, faced intensive interviews on arrival for which there were too rarely interpreting facilities available. There was also evidence of children being placed in inappropriate accommodation facilities without suitably trained staff to provide support, which was a point of particular anxiety where children were victims of trafficking. Concerns were also expressed about the educational services provided, with delays in enrolment due to documentation and too little development as language skills improved. These concerns built upon those expressed in a recent inquiry by Members of both Houses regarding destitution and inadequate support. The Committee concludes that, despite the rights to protection and support owed to those children by the UK under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, immigration concerns are too often given priority. The report calls for a change in emphasis to put the best interests of such children at the heart of the often complex and stressful asylum and immigration processes affecting them.
John Dunford was asked to undertake a review of the office, role and functions of the Children's Commissioner for England. The review also examined the relationship with other Government-funded organisations carrying out related functions, and value for money. Chapter 1 explore the unique role of the Commissioner. The UK has obligations to meet as a result of being a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the role of the Commissioner is crucial to compliance with the Convention. In chapter two, the report recommends strengthening the remit, powers and independence of the Commissioner. Areas addressed include: children and young people's rights; focus on vulnerable groups; credibility; casework; independence; additional powers. The relationship with other organisations is the topic of chapter 3. It is recommended that the Office merges with the Children's Rights Director, currently located in Ofsted, with safeguards built in to protect the interests of vulnerable children covered by the CRD's remit. The Office is not expensive to run but has not yet provided value for money (chapter 4) principally due to the flaws in the present model. The proposed new model would provide that value for money in future, particularly with robust performance measurement to assess its impact. A new Office of the Children's Commissioner for England should be established through the merger. The review believes it will meet the Cabinet Office tests of technical expertise, impartiality and independence.
This report welcomes the overall direction of the Government's proposed legislation to reform provision for children with special educational needs (SEN), but warns that the NHS Constitution cannot be allowed to prevent the imposition of much stronger duties on commissioning boards to ensure that adequate, joined-up services are put in place. Draft legislation relies too heavily in its current form on the duty of joint commissioning between Health and local authorities to ensure co-operation throughout the system. It will be essential that the forthcoming regulations commit Health providers to specific timetables when conducting SEN assessments and that responsibilities for Health and local authorities in providing certain therapy services are substantially clarified. The Committee also calls for all current protections afforded by a Statement of SEN to be maintained and recommends that the Code of Practice should also remain a statutory document. The Committee notes how the 'pathfinder projects' set up to test the approaches described in the 2011 Green Paper on SEN have not had time to report back in order to advise on the development of the legislation. MPs welcome the Minister's decision to extend the Pathfinders for a further 18 months, but point to several aspects of the new legislation where learning from the Pathfinders will be particularly important, not least how to ensure the 'Local Offer' put in place is sufficient to ensure the needs of young people with SEN, as identified in an Education Health and Care Plan, can be met.
This book describes the unfolding of a global phenomenon: the legal prohibition of physical punishment of children. Documenting the stories of countries that have either prohibited corporal punishment of children or who are moving in that direction, this volume will serve as a sourcebook for scholars and advocates around the world who are interested in the many dimensions of physical punishment and its elimination.
This exceptionally well-researched book's intention is to reveal what is really happening in our society and to spur people into action to turn this shameful and complex problem around so that abuse stops and healing can begin. It should be a compulsory handbook for all whose work involves children, especially in the legal system, all human services, schools, pre-schools and foster care. It covers all aspects of child abuse and neglect and presents recent case studies of acts of abuse and the ways they have been dealt with in recent times. It is books such as this that 'get the message out there' so that something is done in this supposedly enlightened age.
In this report the Education Committee stresses that the Department for Education must maintain sufficient focus on the critical children's policy agenda to ensure this is given adequate resources and receives enough attention from senior officials and ministers. Children's policy must retain sufficient status alongside schools and colleges, which appear to occupy the majority of Ministerial and officials' time. The Committee's report - which considers evidence from current and former DfE Board members, and independent experts - commends several aspects of the DfE's governance and leadership, including the appointment of four skilled and experienced new non-executives. The Committee recommends, however, that the Board be subject to increased external scrutiny. The DfE should also consider appointing a non-executive Board member with expertise in children's policy issues, and must do more improve staff morale. MPs also suggest a number of improvements to the DfE's current restructuring plans. Central amongst these is a recommendation for the Department to evaluate the impact of structural change on the front line and on customer service.