Increase in the number of babies born with Down’s Syndrome

The number of Down’s Syndrome babies born in the UK has risen to a level higher than before ante-natal testing was brought in. Figures released this week show there were 749 Down’s births in the UK in 2006, up from 717 in 1989 when the test came in. Changing attitudes have discouraged increasing numbers of women from terminating foetuses affected by the condition.

Stuart Mills, Down’s Syndrome Association, told Good Morning Scotland the figures were “immensely positive” and represented a change in society’s attitude to those affected by Down’s Syndrome. “One of the really big influences has been the mainstreaming of education for people with Down’s Syndrome.” This had been greatly helped by increasing numbers of appearances of actors with the condition on TV programmes and in cinema films.

Mr Mills said that although higher birth rate amongst older women was a contributory factor in these figures the majority of Down’s babies were born to under 35s.

MPs debate Sex Education and call for inclusion of relationship information

Schools should be required to provide a high standard of sex and relationship education, MPs heard this week. Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate, Schools and Learners Minister Jim Knight said that following the report of a sex and relationship education review that was published last month, he had taken the decision that Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Education should be a statutory requirement in all schools.

Children only spent 15% of their time in school, he continued, and so it was vital that parents play an active role in the content of schools’ SRE content. However, international evidence showed clearly that sex education was effective at bringing down teenage pregnancy rates and other factors. It was clearly better for children to rely on facts in the classroom than myths in the playground, he argued.

Conservative Shadow Minister for the Family Maria Miller said that whilst sex education should work, there had been room for improvement thus far, and it was important that well-qualified teachers were taking the lessons. Making something statutory did not make it effective, Ms Miller argued, and the Minister should not see this move as a panacea to cure all ills. The role of the family and a stable family unit was vital, she continued, and she urged the Minister to reassure the House that parents would be involved more closely in sex and relationship education in their communities and schools.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Annette Brooke had been arguing for PSHE to be made compulsory ever since she was elected, she claimed, and welcomed the Government’s conversion to her point of view. The full range of PSHE subjects should be taught, in an age-appropriate manner, from as young as the age of five, she argued. The rate of calls to Childline asking for basic information about sex and relationship matters, from children of all ages, showed how much need there was for a proper system.

The debate was brought by Conservative backbencher Philip Davies, who argued that there was too much sex education in schools and that this was taking too much responsibility away from parents, who should have control over how their children learn about such personal matters. Too many benefits were provided to single parents, he argued, and this had destroyed the strong family structure that kept unwanted pregnancy rates down, as seen in countries as diverse as Holland and Italy.

Labour backbencher Graham Allen agreed that sex education should not simply be a matter of physical and reproductive facts, but should include relationship information and wider ‘life skills’. He welcomed the Government’s choice.

David Foster appointed as Deputy Chief Nursing Officer

David Foster has been appointed to the post of Deputy Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health. He will replace Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Janice Sigsworth, who left the Department of Health in October this year. The appointment will take effect on 1 December.

David’s new role will focus on modernising nursing careers and driving up the quality of nursing and midwifery care as part of the Next Stage Review that set out reforms to the NHS. He has been working in the Chief Nursing Officer’s team at the Department of Health since April 2008. His recent work has included responsibility for midwifery, acute care, workforce, education and clinical academic training issues.

David came to the Department of Health from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust where he was Director of Non-medical Postgraduate Development. Prior to that, he was Director of Nursing at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust for a number of years during which time he also chaired the Association of UK University Hospitals Directors of Nursing Group for a two-year term.

A registered nurse and midwife, David spent much of his clinical career in intensive care and midwifery before embarking on his management career. He also has a particular interest in research and was awarded a PhD for his research into developing nurses as managers. David is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Darling announces Pre Budget Report

Chancellor Alistair Darling used his Pre Budget report on Monday 24th November to announce that the standard rate of VAT would fall to 15 per cent as of the beginning of December. The introduction of the Health in Pregnancy Grant was also reaffirmed in the report and will be given to all women after the 25th week of pregnancy at a value of £190.

He also unveiled plans to increase the top rate of income tax to 45 per cent for those earning more than £150,000. The Chancellor pledged ‘fair and responsible steps to protect and support people and businesses’ whilst living within the UK’s means. He expressed confidence that thanks to the Government’s intervention the slowdown in the UK would be shorter and shallower than would otherwise be the case. Putting the blame for today’s problems on the US housing market, he went on to highlight the inflationary pressures of high food, fuel and commodity prices. The scale of the current global crisis was ‘unprecedented’, the Chancellor claimed.

Financial Stability

Restoring and maintaining financial stability was ‘absolutely crucial’, Mr Darling said. He pledged to make supervision and regulation more effective, noting that the Financial Services Authority was looking at accounting rules, capital and liquidity requirements, and pay structures. Crown Dependencies such as the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands attracted depositors without providing money to the Exchequer, Mr Darling noted. This was unacceptable, he said, stating that a review had been launched.

He also highlighted the shortcomings in compensation arrangements for other international banks, citing the collapse of Icelandic financial institutions. The European Commission had been asked to look into this, he said. The process for raising equity capital would be made faster and simpler, Alistair Darling told MPs.

UK Economy

Mortgages were harder to get and more expensive, while share prices had fallen, Mr Darling observed. Inflation was expected to continue to fall, and for this reason the Bank of England had cut interest rates to a fifty-year low of three per cent, he added. Britain’s economy would enter recession at the end of the year and remain in negative growth for the first two quarters of 2009, he told the House. The economy would begin to grow again in 2010 and eventually recover to a rate of trend growth of 2.75 per cent, the Chancellor said.

Mr Darling rejected the adoption of a ’sink or swim attitude’, pledging to support people through the downturn. He announced a £20 billion fiscal stimulus package between now and 2010. The National Audit Office had reported that the last fiscal cycle ended in 2006, the Chancellor said, stating that the Government had achieved a surplus over the period. However, he stressed that in the current circumstances a rigid application of the fiscal rules would be damaging.

Instead the Treasury would loosen rules now with a view to return to surplus as economic conditions improved, Mr Darling pledged.

Tax Revenues

Tax receipts were falling globally and therefore borrowing would be significantly higher than forecast, Mr Darling admitted, revealing that it would hit eight per cent of GDP next year. Public debt would increase to 57 per cent in 2013/14, the Chancellor admitted, but argued that the CBI, the Institute of Fiscal Studies, the Institute of Directors and the IMF all recognised the need to bolster spending in order to support the economy.

The Government would find an additional £5 billion in efficiency savings to 2010, Mr Darling said. These savings would help fund the necessary action to help families and businesses, playing a part in bringing public spending to £682 billion a year by 2010, he said. All rates of national insurance contributions were to increase by 0.5 per cent from 2011, and the starting rate of national insurance was to be aligned with that of income tax, the Chancellor said.

There would be a new rate of income tax of 45 per cent for those paying more than £150,000, while personal allowances would be withdrawn for this group, he announced. Higher-rate tax payers earning less than £150,000 would now only receive the same benefit as the rest of the population, the Chancellor told MPs. Petrol and diesel duties would be raised, but this would be offset by the fall in oil prices, Mr Darling said.

Turning to the reform of air passenger duty, the Chancellor announced it would become a four-band system, with those travelling further paying more. The changes to Vehicle Excise Duty would be phased in at lower rates, Mr Darling said, stating that in 2009 rises would be limited to a maximum of £5. For 2010, the maximum would be £30, he stated.

Stimulus Package

Bringing forward capital spending would help secure jobs and boost business, the Chancellor said. He stated that £3 billion worth of contracts would be brought forward from 2010/11 to 2008/09.

The rate of VAT would be cut from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent until the beginning of 2010, Mr Darling announced, calling on retailers to pass on the changes ‘as soon as they can’. The £120 income tax allowance would be made permanent and increased to £145 a year from next April, Mr Darling said. The Chancellor announced an exemption for foreign receipts for 2008/09 for large and medium firms. Small firms would benefit from relief on empty property taxes, he said. Mr Darling added that smaller companies would be allowed to stagger tax repayments.

He welcomed the Royal Bank of Scotland’s announcement not to increase repayment rates for small firms, calling for this to become the benchmark for all banks. The European Investment Bank was offering £1 billion to banks to lend to small businesses, while the Government was setting up its own £1 billion fund, the Chancellor told MPs. The Export Credit Guarantee Department would also offer a further £1 billion for firms trading internationally, he said.

The increase in the rate of small company corporation tax would be deferred for 2009, Mr Darling told the House. Losses of up to £50,000 could be offset against profits made over the last three years, he announced.

Energy

The Warm Front scheme would be given an additional £100 million of new money, with another £50 million brought forward, Mr Darling announced. Ofgem would monitor energy prices and the Government would step in with statutory powers if firms did not pass on price falls to consumers, he pledged.

The Government would bring forward investment of £535 million on renewable energy, the railways and environmental protection, Mr Darling told MPs. The Renewables Obligation would be extended for a further ten years, the House heard.

Housing Market

The Government would create a panel to monitor banks’ lending levels and practices, Mr Darling said. Furthermore, Ministers would consider how best to increase the availability of house finance. Major lenders had agreed today to wait three months after homeowners fell into arrears before beginning repossession procedures, Mr Darling observed. He stated that £15 million was being allocated for the provision of financial advice.

Mortgage support for the out-of-work would be increased to cover mortgages of £200,000 and there would be extra support for those in work as well, the Chancellor said. The Government would bring forward additional spending of £775 million for new social housing, he stated.

Employment

There would be greater support for those facing redundancy, Mr Darling pledged, stating that Jobcentre Plus’s provision of pre-redundancy support would be extended to cover all firms. The National Employment Partnership, chaired by the Prime Minister and including firms such as Tesco, Centrica and the Royal Mail, would help to train and place people in jobs, the Chancellor said.

There would be additional funding to increase the capacity of Jobcentre Plus and the New Deal, MPs heard.

Welfare

The Chancellor announced that the Savings Gateway would be rolled out across the UK, available from banks and the Post Office. Changes to tax credits and child benefits would take effect in 2009 representing extra support for moderate-income families of over £2,000 a year, he said.

The Pension Credit would increase to £130 a week for individuals and £198 a week for couples, Mr Darling said. The state pension would rise to £95.25 for single pensioners, he added. Pensioners would receive a one-off payment of £60 in January 2009, while families of disabled children would get £70, the Chancellor stated.

Fatherhood Institute calls on children’s services to redouble efforts to deliver services to encourage strong relationships with dads

The Fatherhood Institute – the UK’s fatherhood think-tank and leading provider of training, consultancy and publications on father-inclusive practice – has called on Local Authorities, children’s services and Primary Care Trusts to redouble their efforts to deliver services that meet the needs of children for strong relationships with their dads as well as mums.

New Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) commissioned research published this week confirms that national policies on fatherhood need to be driven forward more effectively at local level by managers from public and voluntary agencies across a variety of sectors, including maternity services, Children’s Centres, schools and youth services. The research found that almost all (98%) of family practitioners, Local Authorities and policy officials surveyed thought services were more likely to be used by mothers than by dads. Only a fifth (22%) felt that fathers’ needs were explicitly met in their local authority. Click here to download the Research Brief, and here for the full Report.

 

Over the next six months, the Institute will be working with the DCSF on ‘Think Fathers’, a new campaign launched by children’s minister Beverley Hughes, who called on family services to think distinctively about fathers rather than treating them as the ‘invisible parent’: “Let’s grasp the nettle. Let’s make sure we ‘think fathers’ in every service we deliver and every policy we unveil.”

 

Bringing together employers, children’s services, practitioners and voluntary organisations to look at what more can be done to give dads the support they need, the campaign will include: 

• a ‘Think Fathers’ guide to help children’s services to improve the way they work with dads 
• a ‘Think Fathers’ summit to encourage public services, professionals and the voluntary sector to look distinctively at fathers – not just generically at parents, and 
• an online ‘Dads Dialogue’, with fathers, mothers and children creating a user-generated collection of views, feelings, anecdotes and memories about fatherhood, family policy, challenges and successes.

But the Institute is also today calling on key managers across the public and voluntary sector to take the lead on engaging more effectively with fathers in the areas for which they are responsible. Key barriers to engaging fathers in children’s services, as identified by the DCSF research, include:

•  A lack of training and skills among managers and practitioners to help them understand the needs of fathers and engage effectively with them 
• An absence of systematic engagement with fathers, eg health services (including midwifery and ante-natal services) not adequately identifying and engaging with fathers (particularly young fathers) during the important initial stages of pregnancy and birth 
• The fact that many fathers thinking that children’s services are ‘not for them’, and not feeling included by communications which are aimed at generic ‘parents’, rather than referring directly to fathers and using positive images of fathers and their children. 

In an email briefing sent today to more than 6,000 key decision-makers in Local Authorities, children’s services and primary care trusts across England today, the Institute outlines five key approaches managers can take to play their part in making services more father-inclusive:

1. Be well-informed. Familiarise yourself with the fatherhood ‘elements’ of existing and new policy frameworks, and keep up to date on the key research on fathers and fatherhood relevant to your field 
2. Be strategic. Develop strong leadership and strategic planning around fatherhood in your local area, and ensure that you have robust processes for monitoring and evaluating your services’ engagement with fathers 
3. Be systematic. Ensure local services engage systematically with fathers (including groups of fathers often referred to as ‘hard to reach’) and communicate routinely and proactively to mums, dads, children and others that all local services are for fathers as well as mothers. 
4. Develop your workforce. Train your managers and staff to ensure that father-inclusive practice is understood and seen as a priority 
5. Work in partnership with other local agencies, and with fathers and their families, to develop integrated services which adequately support father-child relationships.

The briefing also points managers towards the many sources of support the Fatherhood Institute can provide. These include training and consultancy services – including support to run specific interventions (such as the Hit the Ground Crawling antenatal peer-support programme for dads – and publications – including the Toolkit for Father-Inclusive Practice, a range of online research summaries and Dad cards and Dad packs to hand out to fathers. Between now and the end of March 2009 the Institute will also be launching a set of posters, a set of fatherhood-themed photo-cards which can be used to train staff and work with mums, dads and children, and a guide on working with young fathers.

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families makes statement on Children’s Trusts

Ed Balls made a statement this week regarding the publication of statutory guidance for the Children’s Plan, announced in December 2007.  The children’s plan set out a vision in which local authorities, schools, the health service and other local providers work together and support each other, both in setting the direction and in driving delivery. The Statutory guidance proposals, taken together, are the framework that will help make this happen.

 

The statutory guidance:

• clarifies what a children’s trust is, what it does and how it relates to other local partnerships;
• discusses in more detail the vision and priorities in the children’s plan as they relate to children’s trusts and the five every child matters outcomes;
• identifies the challenges that now need to be addressed; and
• offers guidance on how the priorities in the children’s plan should be taken forward across the whole children’s trust.

 

The guidance also confirms the Government’s intention to legislate to:

• extend the number of relevant partners under a duty to co-operate to include schools-including academies-sixth form and FE colleges, and Job Centre Plus;
• make the children’s trust board a statutory body; and
• give the board responsibility for producing the children and young people’s plan, which will then be ‘owned’ by the full children’s trust partnership

Ministers attend London Summit to address Child Poverty

Children’s Minister, Beverley Hughes, Financial Secretary, Stephen Timms, Minister for London, Tony McNulty, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and London Councils’ Chairman Councillor Merrick Cockell met this week to discuss the issue of child poverty in London and to announce a joint target to raise the number of parents in employment by three percent by 2013.

 

The meeting, chaired by Kate Green of the Child Poverty Action Group, looked at more ways to work together to help bring an end to child poverty in the capital in line with the Government’s target of eradicating national child poverty by 2020.

As part of the plans for the capital, which has the highest child poverty rate in the country with 31% of children living in poverty, Ministers introduced the London Child Poverty Pledge which they signed at the meeting to highlight the Government’s continued commitment to ending child poverty.

 

Ending Child Poverty in London will require a contribution from a wide range of organisations – including local authorities, public services and charities. The Pledge asks these organisations to do more to tackle child poverty by improving the services they provide for poor families, and ensuring their employment practices support parents to enter, stay and progress in work. This will begin to generate the widespread commitment and action required to meet the challenging target of ending child poverty.

 

Work for parents who can, remains the best route out of poverty, particularly in London where the persistent rate of child poverty is driven by a low level of parental employment. The Government is committed to supporting them to find work, stay in work and progress so that they can build a sustainable future for their families.

Report launched on well-being of children and young people in Wales

Welsh Conservative Shadow Social Justice Minister Mark Isherwood AM has commented on the launch of a major report on the well-being of children and young people in Wales. The report aims to give a detailed picture of children’s lives in Wales, pulling together information about everyone under the age of 18, and looks at health, education, access to play and a whole range of issues.  It will help evaluate how well Government policies are working.

 

Mr Ishwerwood said: ‘We welcome the Assembly Government’s recognition that research and statistical data should underpin its policies and priorities for children and young people. However, as recession looms we are concerned that this may be used as a fig leaf for failure. We should not forget that reductions in child poverty in Wales bottomed out in 2004, child poverty in Wales has since been rising faster than in England, and that lack of work is the greatest factor in child poverty. Despite 16 years of economic growth we enter recession with almost 300,000 children in Wales living in families in poverty and almost one in five Welsh children living in workless households.’

Secretary of State re-emphasises breastfeeding in the war against obesity

Alan Johnson, Secretary of State for Health gave evidence this week, to the Health Committee on its inquiry into health inequalities.

 

Independent MP Richard Taylor asked what specific measures addressed health inequalities. Mr Johnson identified encouraging breast feeding along with smoking cessation and reducing cholesterol and blood pressure levels as key. He noted that the Government had announced £34 million for these programmes in spearhead areas with a further £13 million for ‘health ghettos’ – the areas of greatest deprivation within these. 

 

On the best ways of tackling obesity, Mr Johnson highlighted the ‘Change for Life’ programme, which is aimed at helping every family in England eat well, and steps to encourage breastfeeding. On the latter, he explained that there was a huge campaign on-going to encourage it through health visitors and schools.

 

When Charlotte Atkins raised concerns that a move from Sure Start to children’s centres would dilute health messages, Mr Johnson replied that the fact that children’s centres would be in more affluent areas would not divert from the focus on healthcare in more deprived areas. There was no evidence that children’s centres would be in Ms Atkins’ words ‘colonised’ by the middle classes, the Health Secretary maintained. The Government would continue to push for improvements in health across the board rather than focusing on the most deprived.

 

Ms Atkins also expressed concerns over a decline in health visitor numbers. More health visitors were needed, Mr Johnson admitted, but pointed out that this was partially compensated by a 37 per cent rise in the number of community nurses. There were now more people working at community level, he said and, given sufficient training, nurses could provide similar services to health visitors.

 

Commenting on the evidence, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said the only way to tackle health inequalities was by tackling poverty and the education divide.  He called for a reduction in poverty by cutting taxes for those on low and middle incomes.  He also noted a need to focus extra money on disadvantaged schoolchildren to raise their prospects and aspirations.

Support for women and children’s hospital with launch of ‘Time to Deliver’ campaign

SDLP West Belfast Assembly Member Alex Attwood and Councillor Tim Attwood joined the hundreds of parents and children at Stormont campaigning for the new regional women’s and children’s hospital at the Royal Victoria Hospital.  The ‘Time to Deliver’ campaign was launched by the Royal Maternity Liaison Committee at Stormont on Wednesday 19^th November.

Tim Attwood said “14 year ago, parents, staff and women’s groups started a campaign to build the new women’s and children’s hospital. After 7 consultation and 6 Ministers for Health, it is time for the Minister for Health and the NI Executive to deliver the resources needed to clear the site and build the new maternity hospital.”