Sure Start

Bill strengthens Sure Start children’s centres

By Catherine Gaunt, Nursery World, 11 February 2009

Local authorities in England will be given new duties to ensure that there are sufficient Sure Start children’s centres in their area, the Government said last week.

The plans to put children’s centres on a firmer legal footing are included in the new Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill. The Bill states that the staffing, organisation and operation of children’s centres may come in for regulation, such as requiring local authorities to set up governing bodies for children’s centres.

Other measures include setting up statutory children’s trusts so that schools and social services work together to protect children.

Children’s secretary Ed Balls said, ‘We are also legislating to ensure that every local authority has a Children’s Trust Board with responsibility for improving the well-being of children in their area. This will allow us to strengthen local arrangements to support children as they are growing up, and their parents.’

Children’s Trust Boards will work with schools, academies, sixth form colleges, further education colleges and Job Centre Plus to promote children’s well-being.

In the first overhaul of apprenticeships legislation for nearly 200 years, the Bill will put apprenticeships on a statutory basis by giving young people access to apprenticeships for on-the-job training.

The Bill will also put rights in place so that all employees can ask for training at whatever stage of their career.

Other measures set out in the Bill include:

- setting up a new School Support Staff Negotiating Body

- ‘lighter touch’ inspections for successful schools

- setting up Ofqual as an independent regulator of qualifications and assessment

- transferring the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s non-regulatory functions to a new Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency

- extending school and college powers to cover alcohol, drugs and stolen items.

- Teachers would get more help and support to identify children with special educational needs (SEN), under new recommendations from Sir Alan Steer in the latest report from his ongoing review that examines the link between SEN and pupils’ behaviour.

Sir Alan called for children with special needs to be correctly identified and supported from an early age.

The fourth interim report recommends ongoing reviews and monitoring to ensure that schools spend money on effective interventions.

The Review of Pupil Behaviour: Interim Report 4 is available at www.dcsf.gov.uk.

Deprived area out of school services

Cuts threaten deprived area out-of-school services

By Melanie Defries, Nursery World, 11 February 2009

Huge funding cuts to children’s services being planned by a local authority could lead to the closure of 14 after-school clubs and 23 summer play schemes in deprived areas.

The Unite union, which is planning a rally to protest against the cuts, claims that the Conservative-led Coventry City Council is planning to slash more than £250,000 from the budget of its Children and Family Education Services department, which funds the out-of-school clubs, in the next financial year. A further £360,000 was cut from the Youth Service over the two years from 2007 to 2009.

Unite estimates that 22 full-time jobs are under threat. The union criticised the council for spending £64,000 on management consultants for a three-month review of its Youth Service.

News of the council’s plans broke just one week after children’s minister Beverley Hughes called on local authorities to do more to ensure out-of-school clubs are sustainable (News, 5 February).

A protest aimed at stopping the cuts, which could affect more than 6,000 primary school children, is to be held in Coventry on Saturday (14 February), and a petition has already attracted hundreds of signatures.

Doug Nicholls, national secretary for Unite, said, ‘This will give the people of Coventry the chance to show their opposition to the cuts, which will hit some of the most vulnerable families and children in the community.’

A spokesperson for the council said, ‘Coventry is the only local authority in the country currently providing this kind of service at 13 venues across the city. The after-school clubs are heavily subsidised, with parents paying 40 pence for a two-hour session which actually costs £18 for us to deliver. We delivered 19 play schemes at a cost to us of £18 a session for a total of 681 children over the summer holidays. Parents paid just 80 pence a session. We need to reallocate the resources used to subsidise these schemes to focus on the children in the city most at risk.’

However, at a scrutiny meeting last Wednesday (4 February), Labour councillor Dr Lynette Kelly accused the council of being ‘disingenuous’ for claiming that the funding would be reinvested.

Speaking after the meeting, Dr Kelly said, ‘Only part of the funding is being reinvested and the overall budget has been reduced by £250,000. The council is misleading the public by trying to put that spin on it.

‘The out-of-school clubs are in deprived areas where it is not safe for children to play outside. All of the after-school clubs based in schools are closing at Easter because the schools are not willing to take over the running of them. All the clubs in community centres are closing because of a lack of funds. The council has not even considered other options, such as increasing the price per session that parents pay.’

A decision about the funding is due to be made at Coventry council’s budget meeting on 24 February.

Measles

Measles epidemic is feared as nursery children are hospitalised

By Melanie Defries, Nursery World, 27 May 2009

Outbreaks of measles among children in England and Wales have raised fears that the UK may be facing an epidemic.

Four children from a nursery in south-west Wales have been treated in hospital for the disease and a further 123 cases have been reported.

In England, 53 people in the north-east have caught measles since January and over 100 more cases are under investigation.

The number of cases is already more than four times the total in Wales last year and far exceeds the total number last year in the north-east, when only 17 cases were reported.

The four nursery children, who are all aged under two and attend Hapus Dyrfa, a 58-place nursery in Burry Port, were too young to have received both the MMR jabs that are routinely given at the ages of one and before children start school. The four have now been released from hospital and were due back at nursery on Monday (25 May).

Sioned Saer, one of the nursery’s owners, said, ‘When we were told that one of the children had measles we got in touch with the National Public Health Service in Wales and followed the advice that they gave us. They visited the nursery on a Friday evening to talk to the parents and immunise the children. By the end of the evening 40 children had been vaccinated.

‘We think we are over the worst of it now. It was quite frightening, especially when we realised that four children had been affected – we wondered how bad it was going to get.’

Health officials are urging parents to ensure their children are fully protected against the disease by taking up the MMR jab.

Dr Roberta Marshall, Acting Regional Director for the Health Protection Agency in the north- east, said, ‘The measles outbreak is very alarming, especially as the majority of these cases in England could have been prevented, since most were in children who were not fully protected with MMR.

‘There are still many children out there who were not vaccinated as toddlers over the past decade and remain unprotected. Unfortunately, this means that measles, which is highly infectious, is spreading easily among these unvaccinated children. Many of these children are now teenagers and still remain at risk.’

To successfully eliminate measles, 95 per cent of a country’s population needs to be immunised with two doses of the measles vaccine. Figures show that in Wales only 86 per cent of two-year olds have been given the MMR vaccine, compared with 95 per cent in Scotland. Take-up is even lower in England, where only 85 per cent of two-year-olds have had the MMR.

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Nurses lack decontamination areas

Some nurses are having to decontaminate vital equipment in hospital bathrooms because they have no access to a dedicated cleaning room, a survey says.

A Royal College of Nursing (RCN) survey of 2,000 nurses found 37% had no access to a room for cleaning equipment.

Of those, a third have had to use a bathroom as an alternative.

The RCN described the results as “shocking”, but the Department of Health said it was for individual trusts to make proper arrangements.

“ Every nurse should have access to round-the-clock cleaning services ”
Dr Peter Carter Royal College of Nursing

Dr Peter Carter, RCN chief executive and general secretary, said: “Having the time and space to clean and then store essential everyday hospital equipment such as IV stands, commodes and patient cushions is crucial in keeping patients safe from dangerous infections.

“It’s shocking that some nurses have no choice but to store equipment in hospital bathrooms.

“People need to recognise that fighting infection is about much more than just hand washing.”

The RCN survey also found that more than one third (34%) of nurses who have responsibility for decontaminating patient equipment have never received any formal training in how to do it.

Four out of 10 nurses said their organisation did not provide cleaning services 24 hours a day.

Training budgets

Dr Carter added: “Every trust should protect training budgets for nurses and make sure that every nurse in the country is given the opportunity to update their infection prevention training.

“Every nurse should have access to round-the-clock cleaning services.

“Overall, infection rates have been going down over the past couple of years, but that’s from a very high point indeed.”

Shadow health minister Anne Milton said: “This is yet more evidence that nurses aren’t getting the support they need.

“Given that three times as many people now die from hospital infections each year than die on Britain’s roads it is simply unacceptable to find basic standards of hygiene are not being met because the resources aren’t available.

“Nurses are being put in an impossible position. It’s unfair on them and unfair on patients.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “We have made substantial investment – an additional £270m a year by 2010/2011 – for the NHS to tackle healthcare associated infections.

“Trusts must make adequate arrangements for decontamination, out-of-hours cleaning and staff training in infection prevention and control.”

Tory Duncan ‘claimed for garden’

Tory shadow cabinet member Alan Duncan, who oversees party policy on MPs’ expenses, claimed thousands of pounds for his garden, a newspaper has said.

Conservative MPs are braced for embarrassing revelations as the Daily Telegraph turns its spotlight onto the party’s expenses claims.

The Telegraph has been running leaks, hitherto largely of Labour ministers’ claims for their second homes.

Mr Duncan told the paper everything he claimed had been “legitimate”.

According to the Telegraph report, a £3,194 bill for gardening submitted by Mr Duncan in March 2007 was not paid after officials said it might not be “within the spirit” of the rules.

In a letter, the fees office said gardening costs were intended “to cover only basic essentials such as grass cutting”.

However, the paper said Mr Duncan recouped £4,000 in expenses for gardening costs over three years.

In March 2007, he claimed £598 to overhaul a ride-on lawn-mower, the Telegraph added.

‘Arm’s length’

Plans for an independent auditing body to oversee MPs’ expenses claims are expected to be approved on Monday, following weeks of damaging stories.

Senior Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell said MPs would be asked to approve the body, made up entirely of independent people.

“ If the reports are in all cases correct, then there clearly are instances where MPs have lost contact with the difference between right and wrong ”
Chris Huhne Lib Dems

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said MPs faced “a challenge and wake-up call” and the system needed to change.

Sir Stuart said an independent audit body – separate from the Commons fees office which agrees the claims – would be set up to analyse “every claim that is made”.

BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said currently the fees office is overseen by a committee made up of MPs and independent people – who in turn are overseen by the National Audit Office.

The new body would be entirely independent and cost about £600,000 a year to run. He said the final plan would be put to Parliament for approval on Monday.

“We will… create a new body, a different body that will be separate,” Sir Stuart – a member of the Commons Estimates Committee, told the BBC.

“I would hope that once this body is created and is up and running it will then be hived off to the private sector to another firm, so there is an entire arm’s length between members of Parliament and those who are dispersing amounts under allowances.”

He said MPs had “lost the confidence of the public and we need to get that back”.

Millions of receipts backing up all MPs’ expenses claims under the second homes allowance were due to be published in July after a long Freedom of Information campaign.

“ Politicians have tended to say ‘we were only acting within the rules’ but the public think the rules themselves are wrong ”
Liam Fox Shadow defence secretary

But details have been leaked to the Telegraph – which has been publishing selected excerpts over the last few days.

It has concentrated largely on Labour ministers, but says it will publish details of other parties’ claims next week.

For the Liberal Democrats, Chris Huhne said: “If the reports are in all cases correct, then there clearly are instances where MPs have lost contact with the difference between right and wrong.

“I think we need to make sure we’re saying that loud and clear because, frankly, the voters are not going to be at all sympathetic if we don’t.”

Conservative defence spokesman Liam Fox said every MP would have to answer for themselves.

But he told the BBC: “The trouble is that politicians have tended to say ‘we were only acting within the rules’ but the public think the rules themselves are wrong and go way beyond the legitimate needs of people who have to be in London to represent their constituents in Parliament.”

Seven further UK swine flu cases

Seven new swine flu cases in the UK have been confirmed, the Department of Health has said.

A spokeswoman said all the people diagnosed were in England, bringing the total in the UK to 55.

She added that the cases involved two adults and four children in London and an adult in the east of England.

“So far, all infections in the UK have been mild, and cases have been diagnosed and treated early,” the spokeswoman said.

Laboratory investigation

A Health Protection Agency (HPA) spokeswoman said the adult in the east of England and one of the London adults had been in contact with individuals who had previously been confirmed with swine flu.

The other adult in London and all four children “were swabbed last week and may have acquired their infection before the closure of their school”, she said.

She added that anti-viral drugs had been given to all children and staff as a precaution, and all symptomatic patients were recovering at home.

According to the HPA, a further 384 cases were under laboratory investigation as of 1500BST on Sunday.

Of the 55 cases in the UK, 50 have been confirmed in England and five in Scotland.

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