Children and families
All Standard Notes
25 Documents
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 19.07.2013 | Community budgets and city deals |
| There have been many recent initiatives to join up or pool budgets between local authorities and other public sector bodies. These have taken various forms since the early 1990s. The latest iteration is a series of pilots of 'community budgets', taking place in fourteen neighbourhoods (within ten different local authorities) and in four 'whole place' areas across local authorities. | |
| 23.05.2013 | National Citizen Service |
| The National Citizen Service (NCS) is a voluntary programme for 16 year olds, designed to take place after pupils have finished year 11. | |
| 04.03.2013 | Calls for reform of the criminal law on child neglect |
| The current criminal offence of child neglect is set out in section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933. The charity Action for Children has launched a campaign calling for reform of the law, arguing that the legislation needs to "catch up" with modern society's understanding of neglect. However, the Government has said it has no plans to change the law in this area as the courts and children's services already interpret the 1933 Act "in a contemporary way". | |
| 21.01.2013 | Inter-racial adoption |
| This note provides information on the current law and policy on inter-racial adoption. It also provides an update on the Government's proposals to reform the system to reduce delays in placing children for adoption. | |
| 08.01.2013 | Confidentiality and openness in the family courts |
| This note provides information on the new rules which enable duly accredited media representatives (but not the wider public) to attend certain family proceedings held in private, subject to a power for the court to direct their exclusion. It also deals with the rules governing communication of information and statutory reporting restrictions for family proceedings. | |
| 02.11.2012 | Children: Residence and contact related matters for parents, grandparents and others after separation |
| Children: Residence and contact related matters for parents, grandparents and others after separation. By Manjit Gheera. SN/SP/3100. | |
| 10.09.2012 | Family Justice Review update: Contact and other issues for parents following separation |
| A brief overview of the Family Justice Review's proposals relating to child contact issues and Government's response to them, as well as the subsequent steps being taken. | |
| 16.07.2012 | Office of the Children's Commissioner for England |
| This note provides information on the development of the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England since its establishment in 2005. | |
| 02.05.2012 | Viral 'Breadwinner' hoax email alleging abuse of fostering allowances |
| A number of MPs have contacted the Library concerning an e-mail that constituents have forwarded alleging abuse of the fostering system in order to benefit from the allowances available. The e-mail in question is not based in fact, and is a hoax. This short note explains the many errors in the 'Breadwinner' email, and notes that an almost identical US version is also in circulation, which seems to be the source of the version discussed in this note. | |
| 02.05.2012 | Fostering - long-term, emergency, temporary and private placements; and care orders |
| This note provides information on the different types of fostering arrangements available, and the arrangements for taking a child into care. | |
| 01.05.2012 | Support for family and friends carers looking after children |
| This note provides information on support available to friends and family carers looking after childre. | |
| 16.04.2012 | Child Benefit for higher income families |
| At the Conservative Party conference in October 2010 the Chancellor announced that from January 2013 Child Benefit would be withdrawn from families with a higher rate taxpayer. Revised proposals were set out in Budget 2012 under which Child Benefit will instead be clawed back gradually from families with a taxpayer with an income between £50,000 and £60,000 a year. | |
| 03.11.2011 | Parental responsibility |
| This note provides information on acquiring parental responsibility, including for unmarried fathers, civil partners and step-parents. | |
| 16.09.2011 | Children: Enforcement of contact orders |
| This note outlines the powers of enforcement available to the courts when a parent does not comply with a contact order. | |
| 25.03.2011 | The ContactPoint database |
| 10.02.2011 | Restriction of the Sure Start Maternity Grant |
| The June 2010 Budget announced that from April 2011 the Sure Start Maternity Grant would be restricted to the first child only in a family, saving around £73 million a year. The Social Security Advisory Committee believes that the measure "lacks a coherently argued rationale", and the House of Lords Merits of Statutory Instruments Committee has suggested that the Government needs to set out more clearly the rationale for the change and its anticipated impact. A particular concern is that changes to the Social Fund Budgeting Loans scheme to mitigate the impact on families will not come into effect until early 2012. | |
| 13.08.2010 | Child abduction |
| This note provides information on the legal framework which operates in cases where a parent takes a child to another country or retains that child in another country without the permission of the other parent. The key international rules are set out in the European Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning Custody of Children and the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction of 1980. The note also provides advice on the steps parents can take in cases where they suspect their child may be at risk of abduction. | |
| 20.05.2010 | Lone parents and Jobseeker's Allowance |
| By April 2011 most lone parents with a youngest child aged seven or over will no longer be able to claim Income Support but will instead have to claim Jobseeker's Allowance and be available for and seek paid work. | |
| 20.05.2010 | Lone parents with younger children: the Progression to Work pathfinders |
| The Welfare Reform Act 2009 includes provisions to enable piloting of mandatory 'work-related activity' for lone parents on Income Support and partners of benefit claimants with a youngest child aged 3-6. The Labour Government announced proposals to run 'pathfinders' in four Jobcentre Plus districts in England from October 2010. | |
| 08.02.2010 | Youth Services |
| 05.01.2010 | Home education |
| In January 2009 the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families asked Graham Badman, former Director of Children's Services at Kent County Council, to carry out a review of elective home education in England. The review reported on 11 June 2009. It proposed a compulsory registration scheme, in which all parents who plan to home educate their children have to inform their local authority. This note outlines the current position on home education, and provides background on the Government's proposals for change. It relates to England only. | |
| 06.11.2009 | Welfare Reform Bill: Lords amendments |
| 13.03.2009 | Variations in GCSE performance 2007/08 |
| Pupil and local area characteristics data added | |
| 26.02.2009 | Smacking children |
| 25.11.2008 | Child Labour |
| This note sets out the scale and nature of the problems associated with child labour and details the current action being taken to try to solve the issues. |
All Research Papers
14 Documents
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 31.05.2013 | Children and Families Bill Committee Stage Report |
| The Children and Families Bill introduces a wide range of legislation concerning adoption and children in care, aspects of family justice law, special educational needs, the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England, child care, statutory rights to leave and pay for parents and adopters, time off work for ante-natal care, and the right to request flexible working. This paper complements Research Paper 13/11 prepared for the Commons Second Reading. | |
| 15.02.2013 | Children and Families Bill |
| The Children and Families Bill introduces a wide range of legislation concerning adoption and children in care, aspects of family justice law, special educational needs, the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England, child care, statutory rights to leave and pay for parents and adopters, time off work for ante-natal care, and the right to request flexible working. This paper has been prepared for the Second Reading of the Bill. | |
| 25.10.2012 | Family Justice (Transparency, Accountability and Cost of Living) Bill |
| The Bill has three parts. Part 1 deals with transparency and accountability in connection with cases concerning children and proceedings in the Court of Protection. Part 2 contains other provisions relating to the administration of justice; and Part 3 deals with the cost of living and measures to achieve lower fuel bills. | |
| 05.05.2011 | Education Bill: Committee Stage Report |
| This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Education Bill. It complements Research Paper 11/14, prepared for the Commons Second Reading debate, which examines the range of matters covered by the Bill. As originally presented, the Bill sought to make provision relating to the National Assembly for Wales' framework powers. However, these clauses were removed from the Bill following the 'yes' vote in the Welsh Devolution Referendum. A Government amendment to clause 13 (reporting restrictions on alleged offences by teachers) was agreed to without a vote. This inserted new schedule 11B into the Education Act 2002, and was introduced to secure compliance with a European Electronic Commerce Directive. Several minor and technical Government amendments were also made to the Bill. The Opposition tabled many amendments, a considerable number of which were pressed to a division, but none was successful. | |
| 07.02.2011 | Education Bill [Bill 137 of 2010-11] |
| This paper has been written for the House of Commons Second Reading debate on the Education Bill [Bill 137] on 8 February 2011. The Bill seeks to implement the legislative proposals in the Department for Education's schools White Paper, 'The Importance of Teaching', and measures from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills relating to skills and the reform of higher education funding. It is therefore a very wide-ranging Bill. | |
| 15.02.2010 | Children, Schools and Families Bill: Committee Stage Report Bill No 8 of 2009-10 |
| This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Children, Schools and Families Bill. The Bill contained a clause on the charitable status of academies, but the Government decided it could achieve its objectives by non-legislative means, and at the end of the Committee Stage the clause was removed. No other changes were made to the Bill in Committee. There were many amendments proposed by the opposition parties but none was successful. | |
| 31.12.2009 | Video Recordings Bill (Bill 14 of 2009-10) |
| This Bill would repeal and immediately revive, without amendment, the Video Recordings Act 1984. Its purpose is to rectify a procedural error made during the passage of the Act, thereby to make the latter enforceable in UK courts. It would also allow the Act to be subsequently amended by the Digital Economy Bill 2009-10. | |
| 16.12.2009 | Children, Schools and Families Bill. Bill 8 2009-10. |
| This Bill provides 'guarantees' for pupils and parents in the school system, underpinned by new Home School Agreements, and makes provision for parental satisfaction surveys. It also makes changes to the powers of governing bodies of maintained schools; extends the remit of School Improvement Partners; provides greater powers for local authorities and the Secretary of State in relation to failing schools; paves the way for the introduction of School Report Cards; and makes provision to introduce a licence to practise for teachers. The Bill also seeks to implement the recommendations of several major reports. These changes affect the school curriculum; provide a registration system for home educators; and provide an additional right of appeal for parents of children with special educational needs. The Bill would also make changes to the reporting of information relating to family proceedings. Other provisions relate to Local Safeguarding Children Boards, Youth Offending Teams, the charitable status of academies, and the fees system for the inspection of independent schools. | |
| 03.12.2009 | Child Poverty Bill: Committee Stage Report. Bill 10 2009-10. |
| The Bill fulfils the Government's commitment made in September 2008 to enshrine the 2020 child poverty target in legislation. It establishes four separate child poverty targets to be met by 2020/21, requires the UK Government to publish a regular UK child poverty strategy, requires the Scottish and Northern Irish Ministers to publish child poverty strategies, establishes a Child Poverty Commission to provide advice, requires the UK Government to publish annual progress reports, and places new duties on local authorities and other 'delivery partners'' in England to work together to tackle child poverty. | |
| 07.02.2006 | Children and Adoption Bill [HL] [Bill 96 of 2005-06] |
| 10.09.2004 | Children Bill (HL) (Bill 144 of 2003/04) |
| Children Bill (HL) (Bill 144 of 2003/04). House of Commons Library Research Paper 04/68. | |
| 24.03.2000 | Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill: CAFCASS, disqualification from working with children and truancy (Bill 91 1999/2000) |
| Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill: Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, disqualification from working with children and truancy (Bill 91 of 1999/2000). House of Commons Library Research Paper 00/35. | |
| 01.02.2000 | Carers and Disabled Children Bill (Bill 10 of 1999/2000) |
| Carers and Disabled Children Bill (Bill 13 of 1999/2000). House of Commons Library Research Paper 00/10. | |
| 22.04.1999 | Adoption (Intercountry Aspects) Bill (Bill 18 1998/99) |
| Adoption (Intercountry Adoption) Bill (Bill 18 1998/99). House of Commons Library Research Paper 99/45. |
