The National Youth Agency

eYPU Issue 233, 03 December 2008

3 Dec 2008
This issue includes details of the government's legislative programme for the coming parliamentary session, plus fast track funding for youth facilities.

Queen’s Speech

The Queen’s Speech today set out the Government's legislative programme for the coming parliamentary session. Announcements include:

Also of interest...

Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill

Aims to empower communities and individuals by involving them in the design and delivery of local public services and includes other measures designed to promote local democracy and larger numbers of active citizens.

Children, Skills and Learning Bill

Aims to promote excellence in schools; ensure a customer-driven skills and apprenticeship system that provides a statutory base for the apprenticeship programme and a new National Apprenticeships Service; and create a new regulator for qualifications and tests and a development agency for curriculum, assessment and qualifications.

Equality Bill

Aims to promote fairness and equality of opportunity; tackle disadvantage and discrimination; and to modernise or strengthen the law to make it fit for the challenges facing society today and in the future.

Child Poverty Bill

The Bill would enshrine the commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020 in law.

Royal Assent has been given to the Education and Skills Act 2008 and the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008.

Youth facilities

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has announced that almost £62 million of fast track funding will be awarded to 21 successful bidders across the country as part of the myplace initiative to create exciting and safe places for young people to go and take part in a range of activities. This is the first wave of funding from a total of almost £202 million. The Big Lottery Fund will oversee the projects which include £4.8 million for Stoke on Trent, almost £5 million for Carlisle and nearly £5 million for Leeds.

Communities

A cross government report produced by Communities and Local Government and the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit outlines the government's 'fair rules' agenda and sets out a wide range of policy initiatives designed to support strong communities and strengthen enforcement. The strategy includes a series of reforms covering welfare reform, crime and policing, children and young people, business rules, immigration and communities.

Local government

Communities and Local Government has confirmed the Local Authority Finance Settlement for 2009-10, for formal consultation, and the indicative allocations for 2010-11.

Voluntary work

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett has said that all young people between the ages of 16 and 25 should do at least six months of 'intensive' voluntary work. In a pamphlet for the Fabian Society entitled 'Mutual Action, Common Purpose: Empowering the Third Sector', produced following a year-long consultation by a working group of Labour MPs, he calls for 'civil volunteer corps' to be trialled in three or four demonstration cities - with incentives to ensure that all young people take part - as the prelude to a nationwide scheme dramatically extending existing youth volunteering programmes.

Third sector

Minister for the Third Sector Kevin Brennan has published a practical handbook to help public servants open up the consultation process to reach third sector workers on the ground and to use their experience to influence policy outcomes.

Crime

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls has announced a £22 million funding package for all local authorities over 2009-10 and 2010-11 to implement family intervention projects and the ‘Think Family’ reforms as set out in the youth crime action plan.

Business education

A new Ofsted report looking at young people's business education has found that although young people are eager to learn about business and economics, their keenness is not always matched by the quality of teaching they receive, which too often is ‘thorough but uninspiring’ and fails to bring a real sense of excitement to learning.

Black young people

Twenty individuals have been named by Communities Secretary Hazel Blears in the REACH role model programme to help raise the aspirations and attainment of black boys and young men. She is also expected to announce that the role model group and REACH project overall will benefit from an additional £1 million investment.

Forced marriage

New legislation about forced marriage came into effect on 25 November 2008. The Forced Marriage Unit and the DCSF have issued a range of materials to help practitioners raise awareness of the help available with victims and potential victims. Statutory guidance has also been issued to public bodies dealing with cases of forced marriage. Supplemented revised front-line practitioner guidelines are expected in early 2009.

Conferences

The editorial board of the journal Youth and Policy is holding a History of Youth and Community Work Study Conference from 6 to 8 March 2009 at Ushaw College in Durham. It will include a workshop on the Albemarle Report published fifty years ago and one to mark the fortieth anniversary of the launch of the Community Development Programme. To book a place contact cyw.conference@googlemail.com

The second issue of Youth Policy Quarterly is now available on The NYA website. Youth Policy Quarterly offers detailed summaries of the latest policy news and developments. Each section includes summaries, news in brief and links to further information on the key developments within the youth sector. For more information contact Alex Stutz.

The NYA’s Youth Work for Health Team is developing a Health Activities Resource Pack. The team would like to hear from youth projects that can help test out activities by trialling the resources with young people. Please email Roger Morford for further details.