Welcome to October's issue of the Family and Parenting Institute's newsletter – Family Focus. To subscribe to this newsletter click here

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1. News
2. Family Policy Digest
3. Horizon scan
4. Forward look
5. Notice board
6. Consultations

News

Protecting children from exploitation on TV and online

The United Nations' Committee on the Rights of the Child report was published on October 3. One of the issues raised was the need to protect children in the UK who are involved in reality TV programmes.

UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS)

The new council has been set up following recommendations from the Byron Review. It will consider children's safety online including harmful material, gaming and advertising. The Family and Parenting Institute's Chief Executive Mary MacLeod is on the Executive Board.

Parents and Divorce

New research from the Ministry of Justice has found no evidence that non resident parents as a group are systematically unreasonably treated by the family courts.

And a new report from One Parent Families|Gingerbread revealed that fifty-three per cent of resident and 64 per cent of non-resident parents said that their current relationship was either neutral or friendly after separation or divorce. However, 29 per cent of resident parents said that their child never sees their other parent.

New research from the Grandparents Association has revealed how four out of 10 children lose contact with their grandparents when their parents separate prompting the charity to call for legal rights for grandparents.

Maternity support

The EU has unveiled new plans which give mothers an entitlement of 18 weeks full paid maternity leave after the birth of their child.

UK maternity charity MIDIRS is offering advice on maternal health through a resource called Informed Choice. It gives guidance on pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.

Keep the Promise attracts over 10,000

The End Child Poverty 'Keep the Promise' event on Saturday October 4 attracted over 10,000 people from around the country. Charities and members of the public were out in force to send a message to the Government that they must stick to their promise to halve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it by 2020.

End Child Poverty

Teenglish

Parentline Plus is offering a helping hand to parents of teenagers with the launch of a new website called gotateenager.org. The site includes an online dictionary to help mums and dads who are struggling to understand their teenager's colloquialisms.

Parentline Plus

Reshuffle

The Department for Children, Schools and Families has two new government ministers following the Cabinet reshuffle. Baroness Delyth Morgan is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and Families and Sarah McCarthy-Fry MP is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools and Learners.

DCSF

Rebrands

Two well-know charities have changed their name. Children's charity NCH is now Action for Children and the Family Welfare Association is called Family Action.

Action for Children

Family Action

Annual flu campaign

One in three people believe flu is just a 'severe cold', despite potentially life-threatening consequences and half of Britons still succumb to 'old wives tales' instead of seeking GP advice. That's according to the Department of Health as it launched this year's annual flu campaign.

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Family Policy Digest

This month's policy digest includes research on the views of children in care and those privately fostered, and those of disabled children and young people on how they could have 'things to do and places to go'. It also contains government consultations and new reports from the Centre for Social Justice.

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Horizon Scan

New publication

We will be launching a new publication called 'Putting Sibling relationships on the Map: a multidisciplinary perspective' in mid November. It is a compilation of the contributions at our siblings seminar earlier this year edited by Dr Martina Klett-Davies, Research Fellow at the Family and Parenting institute. Full details will be available on our website soon.

Free school meals

Primary school children in two areas of England will receive free school meals in a pilot project run by the Government as part of its obesity strategy. The pilot programme will start in September 2009.

New course from the Open University

The Open University will be running a new course called Family Meanings. The next start date for the course is April 2009 and it will focus on what family means in our everyday lives.

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Forward Look

Check here for upcoming events in the family and parenting world. Please let us know of your forthcoming events so we can include them.

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Notice board

PC2008 – Beverley Hughes to open conference

You can still book a place at PC2008 which will be opened by Beverley Hughes MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families.

Maria Millar MP, Conservative Shadow Minister for Families will address delegates at a drinks reception at the end of the first day of the conference.

And two extra debates on current issues have also been announced:

  • 13 November – should parents be expected to protect their children from commercial pressures?
  • 14 November - can parents be expected to solve youth crime?

Parents' Week – register for your free guide

With Parents' Week fast approaching, we have a great range of events taking place across the UK – you can browse the Parents' Week noticeboard here and add your own to the listings by emailing brief details of your event to linington@familyandparenting.org.

There's still time to register for your free guide for practitioners 'Supervising family and parenting workers: a short guide' simply leave your details here. The guides will be posted out after the free registration closes on Sunday 26 October.

New statistical service

The Family and Parenting Institute has launched a new service providing statistical information on all aspects of families and parenting to practitioners, government, private and voluntary institutions and the public.

APGPF

This seminar is now full: Associate Parliamentary Group for Parents and Families, Tuesday 21 October 2008, Child and Adult Mental Health Services

Please visit the FPI website after 21 October for a summary of the seminar presentations and discussion.

Family Learning Festival

The Campaign for Learning's Family Learning Festival started on October 1 and will run for a whole month with events up and down the country.

ESRC seminar series

The ESRC is running a series of seminars over the next few months exploring aspects of life for people from mixed racial and ethnic backgrounds (which may also encompass faith differences) and their families.

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Consultations

Forced marriage statutory guidance: Consultation paper

The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 provides for the government to issue statutory guidance setting out the responsibilities of all agencies dealing with forced marriage issues.

Deadline: 15 October 2008

No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility

This latest Green Paper on welfare reform proposes abolishing Income Support and creating a system based around Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and the new Employment and Support Allowance (the replacement for Incapacity Benefit).

Deadline: 22 October 2008

Revised Statutory Guidance for local authorities in England to identify children not receiving a suitable education

This draft revised guidance aims to provide practitioners across all relevant agencies and the voluntary and community sector with information about how to implement the duty placed on local authorities by the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to identify those children not receiving a suitable education. It will replace the current version of statutory guidance which was issued in 2007.

Deadline: 24 October 2008

Consultation: Legislating for Sure Start Children's Centres

The Government is consulting on proposals to give Sure Start Children's Centres (SSCCs) a specific statutory legal basis, as part of the forthcoming Education and Skills Bill.

Deadline: 6 November 2008

Consultation on implementing the extension of the right to request flexible working to parents of older children

The right to request flexible working will be extended to parents of children aged 16 and under. This consultation asks what more the Government can do to assist businesses, particularly small businesses, in implementing these flexible working arrangements.

Deadline: 18 November 2008

Video games consultation

As part of the Government's implementation of the Byron Review recommendations, on children and new media, the Department for Culture Media and Sport is seeking views from gamers, children, parents, the games industry, retailers and other stakeholders on the current classification system for video games.

Deadline: 20 November 2008

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Emma Brennan Press & PR Officer
www.familyandparenting.org
October 2008
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Last updated: 6th November 2008 at 06:11:46