VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
EXCLUSIVE: Family decision making model keeps children out of care
15/05/2025 A new charity report highlights how an evidence-based model of family-led decision making can help keep children out of care. |
Number of children living in hygiene poverty surges
12/05/2025 A recent study has revealed a staggering number of children are living in hygiene poverty, with over one million children unable to access essential products such as shower gel, deodorant and toothpaste. |
Local authority launches robot pilot project in schools
09/05/2025 Wakefield Council is set to trial a pilot project involving robots, enabling students to engage in school remotely. |
Record number of children in temporary accommodation
30/04/2025 A record 165,510 children are now homeless and living in temporary accommodation, according to the latest homelessness figures. |
Directors of children’s services criticise pepper spray policy
24/04/2025 Council directors working in children’s services have criticized the Government’s decision to allow the use of pepper spray in young offender institutions. |
Temporary accommodation crisis ‘utterly shameful’, MPs say
03/04/2025 Council chiefs have urged the Government to increase the temporary accommodation subsidy as MPs warn homeless children are living in ‘appalling conditions’. |
One in three children in relative poverty
28/03/2025 Almost one in three children are living in relative poverty, according to the latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). |
Disadvantaged children ‘priced out’ of childcare
20/03/2025 Council leaders called for a review of who is entitled to free childcare after a survey revealed disadvantaged children were ‘priced out’ of nursery places. |
New animation raises air quality awareness
17/03/2025 BCP Council is raising awareness of the dangers of air pollution among children across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole using the power of animation. |
Local areas failing to address racism in child safeguarding
11/03/2025 Local areas are failing to address the safeguarding needs of Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage children, a new report into child safeguarding has found. |
Ministers consider exemptions to benefit cap
27/02/2025 Parents of children under five reportedly could be exempt from the two-child benefit cap. |
Tameside children waiting too long for care reviews
27/02/2025 Tameside Council is taking too long to review children’s education, health and care (EHC) plans, an investigation has found. |
Children in prison failed by ‘multiple services’
27/02/2025 Children in prison have been failed by ‘multiple services’ and youth custody worsens their disadvantages, according to the Children’s Commissioner. |
Nearly 70,000 children to benefit from free breakfast clubs
24/02/2025 Around 67,000 children from some of the most deprived areas in England are set to receive free school breakfasts. |
Unions brand reunification service closure ‘callous’
19/02/2025 Cambridgeshire CC’s decision to close down a service helping children in care would harm vulnerable children and cost more money, unions warn. |
Council chiefs warn of ‘stark inequalities’ in oral health
11/02/2025 Local authority leaders have urged the Government to take urgent action to address ‘stark inequalities in oral health’. |
Hundreds of children forced ‘out of area’ for mental health care
10/02/2025 Hundreds of children are forced to travel out of their local area for mental health treatment, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP). |
Children stuck in limbo amid delays for mental health support
05/02/2025 Young people seeking mental health support are not getting the help they need, according to a new survey. |
Children's mental health crisis costs over £1tn
05/02/2025 The failure to tackle the children's mental health crisis costs the UK over £1tn in lifetime lost earnings, researchers focusing on mental health warn. |
Quarter of children need social care by 18, study finds
03/02/2025 One in four children in England require social care services by the time they turn 18, a new study has revealed. |
Growth alone won’t cut child poverty, research finds
29/01/2025 Labour will make no progress on child poverty by the end of this Parliament unless it invests in social security, new analysis has found. |
Racism not main driver of children joining riots, report says
28/01/2025 Young people who took part in last summer’s riots were not primarily driven by social media misinformation or racism, according to new research by the Children’s Commissioner. |
Rising number of child deaths linked to temporary housing
28/01/2025 An estimated 80 children died in temporary accommodation in the year up to 30 September 2024, according to new research. |
Schools Bill criticised by commissioner
27/01/2025 The children's commissioner has criticised Labour's schools Bill, arguing it does not include details on how councils would cope with the extra responsibilities. |
Number of school children receiving SEN support surges 40%
21/01/2025 The number of British school children receiving support for special educational needs (SEN) has surged by 40% since 2016-2017, a new study has revealed. |
ADCS: Cuts have led to poor safeguarding outcomes for children
14/01/2025 The combination of poor-quality housing and the cost-of-living crisis is contributing to ‘family distress and breakdown’, safeguarding report concludes. |
Tower Hamlets to introduce school uniform grants
10/01/2025 The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is set to introduce school uniform grants for families on low incomes. |
Council takes steps to tackle toilet training crisis
08/01/2025 Teachers in the Welsh county of Blaenau Gwent will no longer change pupils who have wet or soiled themselves, according to the local authority. |
Phillipson open to Government funding local grooming inquiries
08/01/2025 Ministers have promised the Government will ‘take whatever steps necessary to keep children safe' when asked if Whitehall would fund local inquiries into grooming gangs. |
Labour urged to take action on child poverty
07/01/2025 The Government will need to take ‘action on multiple fronts’ to lift more children out of poverty, a think-tank has said. |
Jay distances herself from fresh inquiry calls
07/01/2025 The former head of a national inquiry into child sexual abuse has warned against ‘politicising' the issue. |
Landmark Bill to introduce ‘children not in school’ registers
17/12/2024 Council chiefs welcome Bill that could bring in new registers to identify children who are not in school but say it should go further to ensure child safety. |
Call for change after Sara Sharif murder
13/12/2024 Some 485 children in England died or were seriously harmed by abuse or neglect in a year, a report by the child safeguarding practice review panel has revealed, as experts called for change in the wake of the murder of 10-year-old Sara Sharif. |
Newcastle to auto-enrol pupils for free school meals
10/12/2024 Eligible families in Newcastle will be automatically signed up to receive free school meals, the city council has announced. |
Scottish Government pledges to scrap two-child benefit cap
05/12/2024 The Scottish Government has announced plans to scrap Westminster’s ‘pernicious’ two-child cap on benefits. |
Child put in care after councils fail to adapt home
05/12/2024 Errors made by two councils left a child with significant and complex needs living in an unsuitable home for ‘far too long’, an ombudsman has found. |
Government sets out junk food ban legislation
03/12/2024 Junk food ad ban legislation designed to curb childhood obesity has been set out by the Government. |
500% rise in unregistered and illegal home use
28/11/2024 The number of vulnerable children in care placed in unregistered and illegal homes has shot up by 500% in three years, data released by Ofsted has shown. |
Councils will need 13,000 new social workers over next decade
27/11/2024 Councils in England will need to hire 13,000 more social workers over the next 10 years amid growing need for the care and support of young people, according to new research. |
Council’s poor understanding of SEND ‘incomprehensible’, says Ombudsman
19/11/2024 Worcestershire County Council has committed to providing better training after an investigation revealed it had failed a child with special needs. |
A third of children in care placed 20 miles from home
11/11/2024 A third of young people in council care were placed in accommodation more than 20 miles from their local area last year, a new report has revealed. |
Data map reveals ‘stark disparities’ in children’s mental health
07/11/2024 Local government policymakers have been urged to take immediate action after a data map revealed ‘stark disparities’ in children’s mental health across UK. |
Violence reduction schemes found to benefit parents’ mental health
07/11/2024 Support services for parents in communities affected by violence have been found to positively impact their mental health and improve communication with their children. |
Councils urged to improve adoption processes
07/11/2024 Local authorities in England need to learn from past failures to get support for adoptive families right, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman says. |
Biggest barrier to inclusive education is lack of funding, report finds
05/11/2024 Schools in the capital must become ‘genuinely inclusive’ to improve outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), a new report has argued. |
Council to celebrate children’s successes
29/10/2024 Medway Council has launched a new initiative to celebrate the achievements of local children. |
Many children not getting the right support, care regulator warns
25/10/2024 Many children and young people are not currently getting the support they need, England’s health and social care regulator has warned. |
First national guide on kinship care published
10/10/2024 The first national guide on kinship care, designed to help local leaders in children’s services support kinship carers, has been published. |
LGA: ‘Emergency cash injection’ needed to tackle child abuse
08/10/2024 Local authority leaders have called for emergency support for children’s social care as figures reveal councils investigate 600 child protection cases a day. |
Time to axe ‘contradictory’ care laws, minister says
07/10/2024 It is ‘high time’ to axe outdated language and contradictory rules from laws on disabled children’s social care, the families minster has said. |
Charity says 10,000 children have fallen into poverty under Labour
07/10/2024 The two-child benefit cap has pushed 10,000 children into poverty since the Labour Government took office, new research has found. |
Lack of support leaves two-fifths of parents to teach their disabled child
03/10/2024 Some 200,000 children are being failed by England’s special educational needs system as their parents fight to get the right support, according to new research. |
Norfolk faces £45m budget gap
01/10/2024 Norfolk County Council is planning millions of pounds of cuts it does ‘not want to make’ in the face of a £44.75m deficit in its budget for next year. |
Labour pledges £15m to support 300 new nurseries
26/09/2024 Three hundred nurseries will be opened by next September to help address the rising demand for childcare, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announces. |
Mayors back Jamie Oliver’s call to ban junk-food advertising
25/09/2024 Nine UK mayors have signed up to celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s campaign to ban junk-food advertising. |
Hampshire CC approves £35m residential care contract
24/09/2024 Hampshire County Council has given the green light to a £35m contract aimed at securing residential care capacity for children in care with complex needs. |
‘Shocking lack of urgency’ to trace children missing from education
10/09/2024 More than 11,500 children in England went missing from education within a year, the children’s commissioner has found. |
Derbyshire could charge parents for children in care
09/09/2024 Derbyshire County Council is considering charging parents whose children are taken into care as it faces ‘unprecedented’ financial difficulty. |
Nine in ten felt lonely as a child in care
09/09/2024 More than nine in 10 (91%) care-experienced adults in the UK felt lonely and isolated during their time as a child in care, research has revealed. |
Social worker in Kirstie Allsopp referral ‘did nothing wrong’
29/08/2024 The council worker who responded to a social services referral involving the teenage son of celebrity presenter Kirstie Allsopp has been defended by a major social work association. |
Child neglect ‘normalised’, professionals warn
28/08/2024 Child neglect has become ‘normalised’ amid financial strain on families and a lack of early support, a major children’s charity has heard. |
Quarter of councils not ready for childcare expansion
27/08/2024 A quarter of councils lack confidence in their ability to expand Government-funded childcare support in September, Local Government Association reveals. |
Children face holiday hunger without support fund
21/08/2024 Children in more than a quarter of council areas could go hungry during the upcoming school holidays if the Household Support Fund (HSF) is not extended. |
Landmark report finds SEND system ‘broken’
25/07/2024 Major reforms introduced a decade ago have failed to improve educational outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), a report has found. |
Council resists calls for leader to quit after critical SEND report
15/07/2024 West Northamptonshire Council has resisted calls for its head of children’s services to quit following a damning Ofsted and CQC report. |
Council helps investigate after two children from same school die
11/07/2024 Liverpool City Council is working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) after two children from the same school died. |
Councils create largest fostering partnership
09/07/2024 Twenty councils in the south east of England have formed the country’s largest local authority fostering partnership in a bid to boost the number of carers in the region. |
Improving air quality in and around schools
08/07/2024 Megan Bennett, product marketing manager at Nuaire, looks at how poor air quality impacts children at school and what steps can be taken to improve it. |
Middlesbrough to trial auto-enrolment for free school meals
28/06/2024 Eligible children in Middlesbrough will be automatically signed up to receive free school meals from September. |
Councils’ confidence for childcare roll-out ‘worryingly low’
27/06/2024 Local authorities in England have raised concerns that they will be unable to meet demand in the next phase of the expansion of free childcare. |
Leicester urged not to close half its family hubs
26/06/2024 Parents have launched a petition calling on Leicester City Council to drop plans to close six of its 12 children, young people and families centres. |
Council to restrict new takeaway sites
20/06/2024 New measures to limit the development of new hot food takeaway sites have been introduced by Newcastle City Council. |
Decades of ‘neglect’ have left children shorter and overweight
19/06/2024 Children in England are getting shorter, more obese and sicker because of poor diets, food insecurity and poverty, health experts warn. |
Call for urgent action on childhood obesity
18/06/2024 ‘Urgent and decisive’ action is needed to combat rising levels of childhood obesity, a public health director has argued. |
NextGov: Scrapping the two-child benefit cap
17/06/2024 Rachel Walters, ECPC, and Amanda Bailey, NECPC, argue the next government should scrap the two-child limit on benefit payments. |
Councils looking after record 576k children with SEND
13/06/2024 Local authorities are looking after record numbers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), council chiefs warn. |
Annual welfare spending to rise by £20bn
13/06/2024 Welfare spending is set to increase by £20.8bn a year by the end of the next parliament, a think-tank has found. |
Child poverty ‘directly correlated’ with two-child benefit cap
06/06/2024 Child poverty is ‘directly and strongly’ correlated with the percentage of children affected by the two-child benefit cap within a constituency, analysis has found. |
Autism care plans in North Yorkshire rise by almost 400%
31/05/2024 The number of children and young people in North Yorkshire who have autism as a primary need on their care plan has risen by 387% since 2015. |
Child pedestrian casualties on England’s roads up 16%
31/05/2024 Nearly 50 child pedestrians are killed or injured on England’s roads every day, a new study has revealed. |
Councils team up for new fostering initiative
31/05/2024 Eleven local authorities in the East of England have teamed up as part of a new initiative aimed at recruiting more people to become foster carers. |
Nearly 85,000 childcare places needed, MPs warn
29/05/2024 Around 84,500 more childcare places and 40,000 extra staff are required by September 2025 if the Government is to deliver on its childcare support plans. |
Eight councils launch fostering hub
28/05/2024 A fostering hub has been created by eight councils in Cheshire and Merseyside with the aim of ‘urgently’ recruiting carers. |
Hull rolls out tool to tackle school absence
24/05/2024 Hull City Council is providing schools with an early intervention tool aimed to boosting pupil attendance. |
Safeguarding panel calls for register of home-educated children
15/05/2024 An expert child safeguarding panel has joined calls for a statutory register of children who are electively home educated. |
Brum council-owned company reprimanded for data breach
14/05/2024 A Birmingham City Council-owned company has been reprimanded following a data breach that saw the personal information of a child disclosed to another family. |
What do safety valve agreements mean for children with SEND?
14/05/2024 Catriona Moore, policy manager at SEND legal advice charity IPSEA, looks at the impact of safety valve agreements on local SEND provision. |
SEND experience in Bury has been ‘poor for too long’
09/05/2024 Ofsted has found ‘widespread and/or systemic failings’, its lowest rating, in Bury’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision. |
Government announces 16 new special free schools
09/05/2024 New schools for 2,000 children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are to open in 16 areas across England. |
£101m boost for new music hubs
08/05/2024 A ‘new generation’ of music hubs will receive £101m to provide music education to young people across England. |
Record 145,800 children live in temporary accommodation
30/04/2024 There are 145,800 children who are homeless and in temporary accommodation, new government figures have shown. |
Schools in disrepair due to funding ‘failure’, union warns
29/04/2024 More than four-fifths of headteachers (83%) have said they do not have enough money to maintain their school buildings. |
Two-fifths of children face barriers to education
26/04/2024 Millions of pupils are struggling to learn because of unstable family environments, mental health challenges and poor attendance, a major children’s charity has warned. |
Early years roll-out will get ‘significantly more challenging’
24/04/2024 Just one in 10 councils are confident they can provide enough early years places to deliver the Government’s childcare expansion on time, a spending watchdog has warned. |
Increasing number of Coventry children not in school
17/04/2024 A growing number of children in Coventry are not going to primary school due to their parents' reluctance to accept places that have been offered. |
Seven areas selected for £45m child protection trial
11/04/2024 Seven more areas in England have been selected to trial the Families First for Children (FFC) scheme, a £45m child protection programme. |
Lancashire plans to build 15 new children's homes
08/04/2024 Up to 15 new children’s homes, which aim to provide the 'right care in the right place at the right time', could be created across Lancashire. |
Union criticises Government’s ‘shameful’ SEND support
04/04/2024 Teachers and support staff are ‘losing faith’ in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system due to inadequate resources, a union has warned. |
Social workers’ concerns not addressed, union warns
02/04/2024 Welfare concerns raised by social workers are not being dealt with, putting vulnerable people at risk, a union has warned. |
Record 4.3m children in poverty
22/03/2024 More than 4m children are living in poverty, with an additional 100,000 children being pushed into hardship over the last year, Government figures reveal. |
