A new report from the Social Exclusion Task Force, DCSF and the National Care Advisory Service has been launched.  ‘Realising Young Potential: supporting care leavers into education, employment and training‘ aims to support Local Authority Leaving Care Teams and their partners to further help young people who have left care to access education, employment and [...]

CHANGEit Award.  Do you know a young person who has taken action to make a difference in their community? Does a young person you know have a passion to change the world they live in? Nominate them for a CHANGEit award.  CHANGEit recognises, supports and rewards young people aged 11-18 who want to create a [...]

Millions of people across the country will get extra help to tackle anti-social behaviour with up to ten thousand front-line staff and community champions receiving training and support to use tough powers and solve local problems, Communities Secretary John Denham and Housing Minister John Healey announced today. Many local councils and social landlords working with [...]

Leaders of Children’s Services departments today laid down a challenge to Ofsted, which inspects children’s services, to change its ways. In anticipation of the annual report from the Chief Inspector of Children’s Services due on Tuesday, the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) today released a document which outlines initial proposals for a radically [...]

A new TUC online publication, Lone working – A guide for safety representatives, provides a one-stop source on the issue. The guide covers the law, risk assessments, dynamic risk assessments – where workers make operational decisions based on the particular circumstances at the time – violence, working in remote areas, and homeworking. There’s also an [...]

Employers, unions and the government joined forces this week to promote new guidance on preventing harassment and violence in the workplace. The guidance, which follows a Europe-wide agreement between employers’ organisations and unions, aims to give practical help and support to firms and their employees. It signals the first time the employers’ organisation CBI, the [...]

Young Equals is a campaign to end age discrimination.  It’s run by a group of charities and young people. The Equality Bill, which is going through Parliament now, will promote equality, fight discrimination and protect against age discrimination: but only if you are over 18. We think everyone should be protected from unfair age discrimination. [...]

The Union has written to Christine Gilbert, HMCI, expressing extreme concern about the impact of the introduction of the new Section 5 inspection framework. Evidence that has been received in regional offices and divisions suggest that OFSTED’s attempts to “raise the bar” are leading inspectors to use arbitrary and trivial issues to downgrade schools. Please [...]

If you missed Beyond Crisis, the TUC conference on progressive responses to the financial crisis, check out video highlights and presenters’ articles on the ToUChstone blog.

The minimum age at which benefits can be drawn from an occupational pension will, as specified in the Finance Act 2004, increase across the board from the current 50 to 55 from 6 April 2010. This applies to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and the Local Government Pension Scheme and raises the minimum age at which [...]