NCVYS STRATEGIC INFORMATION SERVICE BULLETIN NO. 460
9 October 2009

CYPF Grant and Social Investment Wholesale Bank
NCVYS has submitted a response to the Department for Children, Schools and Families consultation on the Children, Young People and Families Grant recommending flexibility and a balance of investment in universal and targeted services. NCVYS has also responded to the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) consultation on the Social Investment Wholesale Bank suggesting that the OTS enters into discussions with NCVYS about putting purchasing power into the hands of young people.
http://www.ncvys.org.uk/index.php?alias=fundingpolicy

Community empowerment and health and wellbeing
Speaking Out (joint project between NCVYS and Children England) has published two new briefing papers based on research reports commissioned as part of the project. Demos produced A scoping study concerning community empowerment relating to children and young people, and ECOTEC produced A scoping study concerning health and wellbeing issues relating to children and young people. Both scoping studies consider the policy background to the relevant area and provide recommendations to Government and the children and young people's voluntary and community sector.
http://www.ncvys.org.uk/index.php?alias=sohealthwellbeingbriefing
http://www.ncvys.org.uk/index.php?alias=socommunityempowermentbriefing

ContactPoint
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has opened a consultation on ContactPoint which seeks views on proposed amendments to The Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007 (the ContactPoint regulations) which were made under section 12 of the Children Act 2004 and came in to force on 1 August 2007. Deadline for responses is 29 December. NCVYS will be responding and would welcome input from member organisations. If you have any comments you would like to share please contact Hannah Dobbin, Policy Officer, hannah@ncvys.org.uk
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=consultationDetails&consultationId=1644&external=no&menu=1

Information sharing
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published guidance and supporting materials on information sharing which have been updated to apply to those working with adults as well as with children and young people. DCSF has published a flyer which outlines the resources available to support good practice in information sharing.
http://publications.everychildmatters.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-00414-2009&

Children missing from home or care
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published data on the self-evaluation scores given by local authorities (LAs) in relation to available measures to monitor and respond to cases of children missing from home or care. In a range from 0 to 3 (low-high), LAs provide a self-evaluation score in areas including how local information about running away is gathered and how local procedures meet the needs of runaways.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STR/d000875/index.shtml

Home schooling
Schools Minister Diana Johnson MP has announced better access to qualifications and more support for home educated children with special educational needs as part of a new commitment from the Department for Children, Schools and Families to support families who chose to educate at home. The new support package includes better access to GCSEs, vocational qualifications and further education.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/news/content.cfm?landing=diana_johnson_announces_new_support_package_for_home_educating_families&type=1

Race equality
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls MP has announced plans to promote the Stephen Lawrence Education Awards and the other best equality initiatives like the Rights Respecting School Awards in Hampshire to all local authorities (LAs) across the country. This will include the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) co-hosting an event with Education Leeds to showcase the awards to other LAs so they can spread the benefits of awards to help schools work in partnership with their local community and other schools to promote equality in all they do. DCSF will also prepare a tool-kit to help other areas who want to introduce awards in their schools.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0179

Special Educational Needs
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has published new information about children in England with special educational needs (SEN) alongside further interpretation of existing findings. This includes breakdowns of existing information by primary SEN type. All figures are provided at national level, with some Government Office Region and Local Authority level information. The publication is divided into key themes including characteristics of pupils with SEN and absence and exclusions from school of pupils with SEN.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/STA/t000851/index.shtml

Higher education
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published several documents to support young people into higher education. Your future, your choice: post-16 guide to higher education is aimed at sixth form students at school or college, outlining the opportunities that they could benefit from if they choose to go into higher education. Don't Stop Doing What You Love provides information about higher education for prospective students and Help Your Child Into Higher Education is a guide for parents.
http://bis.ecgroup.net/Publications/HigherEducation/WideningParticipationAimhigher/091157.aspx
http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/H/HigherEd-DontStop
http://www.dius.gov.uk/~/media/publications/H/HigherEd-HelpYourChild

Knife crime
The Home Office has launched new advertising highlighting the cost of carrying a knife as part of the ‘It Doesn't Have to Happen' campaign which aims to reduce knife carrying among 10 to 16 year olds. The Home Office has also formed a youth taskforce of young people aged 15 to 20 from communities touched by knife crime who will be spreading the campaign message to their peers.
http://press.homeoffice.gov.uk/press-releases/adverts-highlight-knife

Children's Commissioner
The Children's Secretary, Ed Balls has written to the Chairman of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee to invite him to hold a pre-appointment hearing with Maggie Atkinson, who he has nominated to be the next Children's Commissioner when Sir Al Aynsley-Green comes to the end of his five-year appointment on 28 February 2010. Maggie Atkinson is currently Director of Children's Services for Gateshead.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0177  

Play
Play England has published Embedding the Play Strategy, draft strategic planning guidance to assist local authorities and their partners to fulfil their key role in delivering the longer-term aims of the national Play Strategy. The guidance will assist local decision-makers to put children's play at the heart of their local communities and shows how planning and investing in local play space can benefit children, families and whole communities. The guidance is open for consultation. Deadline for responses is 30 October 2009.
http://www.playengland.org.uk/Page.asp?originx_810vt_2882626708979r61u_2009352357k

Conservative Party conference
Speeches from the Conservative Party conference are available on the Conservative Party's website. These include David Willetts' speech on how the Conservatives will help families and David Cameron's main speech which includes thoughts on schools, community and family, and crime.
http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches.aspx

Disability
The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services (C4E0) has published a series of resources on the wellbeing of children, young people or families with disability. C4EO's work on disability supports Directors of Children's Services and their Children's Trust partners by providing the knowledge, data and tailored support they may need to help improve outcomes for disabled children and their families. As part of the theme, three key priorities are being addressed: early interventions, access to positive activities and services to meet diverse needs.
http://www.c4eo.org.uk/themes/disabledchildren/default.aspx?dm_i=7SL,22RI,12Q4PW,6N5A,1

Domestic violence
NSPCC has published a new report based on research by the University of Central Lancashire. Together to Safeguard Children Living with Domestic Violence looked at 251 incidents of domestic violence, involving at least one child witness, in two areas in England. In one of these areas children's services were notified by police in just 28% of cases and in only 44% in the other area. In 85% of cases analysed, children's services provided no support or assessment.
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/Findings/children_experiencing_domestic_violence_summary_wdf68552.pdf

Young people, knives and guns
The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has published a new report Young people, knives and guns. The report examines evidence over the period 1998-2008 in order to assess the effectiveness of anti-weapons interventions and policies. The report asks what is the evidence base as to `what works' in `anti-knives' and `anti-guns' strategies targeted at young people? What does research tell us about their impact on young people's perceptions, attitudes and behaviour?
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/gunandknifecrimeexecutivesummary.html

Impact of the recession
The Audit Commission has published a report which analyses how local authorities (LAs) are responding to the recession. Findings included that about a third of LAs have seen increases in demand for mental health services, children's services, and state school places and that there is evidence of children moving from private to state sector schools. The Audit Commission has also published The Impact of the Recession on Benefit Services.
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nationalstudies/localgov/Pages/whenitcomestothecrunch12aug2009.aspx#downloads
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/localgov/goodpractice/benefits/Pages/benefitservicestool.aspx

Surviving the recession
The Charity Finance Director's group and accountancy firm PFK have published a study urging charities to plan ahead to survive the recession. The report, Managing Risk - keeping in control, says most charities have weathered the downturn in the short term but need to focus on long-term strategies. The report states that 46% of charities expect income to fall significantly over the next year, with "a number also anticipating write-offs". Although the impact of this will be mitigated for some by high reserves, most expect to make cost savings.
http://www.pkf.co.uk/pkf/publications/charity_risk_report&goto=4

ISA questionnaire
Clinks has compiled a questionnaire around the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) to get views on the forthcoming Vetting and Barring Scheme (VBS). The findings will be fed back to the Ministry of Justice and the ISA in a joint meeting on 24 November 2009. Deadline for completed questionnaires is 13 November 2009.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=gBLqIrW1SSflXNBpJIHowA_3d_3d     

Adoption
The British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) has seen a 38% increase in the number of families found for children through its family finding services. In total families were found for over 500 children between April 2008 and March 2009. The figure includes 279 children matched with prospective adopters through the Adoption Register for England and Wales.
http://www.baaf.org.uk/media/releases/091005.shtml

Youth volunteering
The National Youth Agency (NYA) has published an online resource designed to develop, test and learn from a range of approaches to involving young people in service development, delivery and evaluation in the public sector. The resource is at practitioners supporting youth volunteering. It shares the findings of a two-year programme that looked at different approaches to involving young people in public services.
http://www.nya.org.uk/information/100598/142284/doersandshaperswebsite

Campaigning
A consortium of organisations, including the bassac and NAVCA, has launched Louder.org.uk - ‘the new home for e-campaigning'. The site draws together a range of online activist tools for people who want to change the world, enabling you to create and run your own campaigns and connect with others. Tools and resources include: e-petitioning, viral video, targeted letter writing, blogs, event organising, donation widgets and campaign wizards to guide you though. You will also be able to connect to, update and mange your profiles on other social media sites such as youtube, facebook, twitter and word press, helping you better coordinate supporter action.
http://www.louder.org.uk

Commissioning
The Commissioning Support Programme is holding a series of Regional Young People's Commissioning Roadshows, which will take place between 15 October and 6 November 2009.  The roadshows cover the commissioning and provision of effective positive activities for young people in your region, and are about networking and developing a solutions-focussed dialogue between commissioners and providers. There will also be a national event on 18 November in London.
http://www.commissioningsupport.org.uk/news__events/national_events/positive_activities_roadshows.aspx
http://www.commissioningsupport.org.uk/cs/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/cs/CSP/events/ViewEventDetails.aspx

Diversity management
London Metropolitan University is inviting equality and social justice charities and sector infrastructure groups to take part in a series of ‘learning groups' on diversity management that will form part of a research paper to be presented at a National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) conference next year. The groups will allow charities' project managers to discuss the practical difficulties they face when managing diverse workforces. The learning groups will take place once a month between November and May. Charities interested in taking part should contact Christina Schwabenland. E: c.schwabenland@londonmet.ac.uk

Parliamentary workshops
Parliamentary Outreach is hosting a series of free workshops for voluntary and community organisations across the north east of England, focusing on how Parliament works and the ways in which organisations can get involved with the House of Commons and House of Lords. The events will run during October and November 2009.
http://news.parliament.uk/2009/10/parliamentary-training-for-north-east-organisations/

THIS WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

Further education
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Iain Wright MP has answered a written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Lab, Coventry South) about what recent steps the Government has taken to encourage young people to enter further education.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm091005/text/91005w0002.htm#0910053000022

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has answered a written question asked by Baroness Walmsley (Lib Dem) about what consideration has Government given to adopting a comprehensive plan of action for implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in England and across the United Kingdom.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldhansrd/text/91005w0011.htm#0909023001264