Policy Alert 27th September 2012
AGMA
For more information go to http://www.agma.gov.uk
Children & Young People
Children in Europe start learning foreign languages at an increasingly early age
Places for National Citizen Service autumn roll-out
£100m to expand early education and childcare
Disadvantaged children get cash boost
National, regional and local authority results for the Year 1 phonics reading check and Key
Stage 1 results have been published
Economy
Government formalises the first wave of city deals
Average income falls in the last year
Citizens Advice and partners show how social housing landlords can help tenants be £40 a
month better off
New business bank to support up to £10 billion of business lending
Environment & Sustainability
£12m boost to help cities kick-start Green Deal
Health & Wellbeing
Stoptober campaign kicks off in one week
Improvement
Open Data User Group issues call for open data requests
Action now to open up more public services to competition could save £22.6 billion
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Reports & Statistics
CIPD - Employers need more encouragement and support to take on young people and
reverse the youth unemployment trend
Kalsoom Iqbal
Policy Officer
Corporate Services-Performance & Transformation
27th Sept 2012
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Funding Opportunities
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Adult Care
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AGMA
For more information go to http://www.agma.gov.uk
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Children & Young People
Children in Europe start learning foreign languages at an increasingly early age. According
to a report published by the European Commission most pupils begin when they are 6-9
years old.
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Places for National Citizen Service autumn roll-out Places are being announced all over
England and Northern Ireland for young people to take part in National Citizen Service
(NCS), starting in the October half-term holiday, Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd
announced today. Previously, NCS has only run in the summer holidays, but following the
success of this year’s programme the Government is looking for ways to offer it all year
round for every 16- and 17-year-old. For the first time, NCS will also take place in Northern
Ireland for 15- and 16 -year-olds.
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£100m to expand early education and childcare The money will be used to support new
nurseries and childminders in getting established, as well as helping existing providers to
create and provide additional places. The Government will extend free childcare to 130,000
of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds from September 2013, rising to around 260,000
(40 per cent of all two-year-olds) in September 2014.
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Disadvantaged school children get cash boost England’s most disadvantaged pupils are to
benefit from extra cash next year when the Pupil Premium rises to £900 per pupil – around
50 per cent higher than last year.
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National, regional and local authority results for the Year 1 phonics reading check and Key
Stage 1 results have been published. The results for the phonics reading check show that
58 per cent of six-year-olds reached the expected standard (32 out of 40) with teachers,
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having identified over 235,000 pupils who will now receive additional reading support from
the school
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Communities
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Culture & Tourism
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Data & Information Technology
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Economy
Government formalises the first wave of city deals. Click here for details about the
Manchester City Deal.
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Average income falls in the last year The Office for National Statistics has published the
article ‘Measuring National Well-being: Personal finance’ as part of the series analysing the
domains selected to measure national well-being. After taking account of prices inflation
the median income for a household in the UK has fallen from £373 per week in 2009/10 to
£359 per week in 2010/11. Increases in inflation have outweighed the rise in income, with
income buying less due to higher prices, resulting in households being squeezed
financially.
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Citizens Advice and partners show how social housing landlords can help tenants be £40 a
month better off Citizens Advice launched the results of a unique survey of 150 social
housing tenants, funded by Santander, which shows how the tenants could be £10 per week
better off as a result of one-to-one financial skills training by their landlords.
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New business bank to support up to £10 billion of business lending Business Secretary
Vince Cable has announced the first steps in creating a Government-backed business bank,
including new Government funding of £1 billion. It will aim to attract private sector funding so
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that when fully operational, it could support up to £10 billion of new and additional business
lending.
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Equality
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Environment & Sustainability
£12m boost to help cities kick-start Green Deal Seven cities across England received a
share of £12m recently to help them kick-start the Green Deal in their regions. The cities –
Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield – have put
forward ambitious proposals to lower their carbon emissions and this new funding will
support their plans to test key elements of the Green Deal.
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Health & Wellbeing
Stoptober campaign kicks off in one week Just one week to go until the nation’s smokers get
a chance to start their 28-day joint quit attempt.
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Improvement
Open Data User Group issues call for open data requests
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Action now to open up more public services to competition could save £22.6 billion The CBI's
Open Access report shows how open public service markets can lead to an increase in quality, choice and
value for money.
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Consultation & Responses
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Reports & Statistics
CIPD - Employers need more encouragement and support to take on young people and
reverse the youth unemployment trend. The research is the latest output from the CIPD’s
Learning to Work campaign, designed to encourage more employers to invest in
tomorrow’s workforce.
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Events & Conferences
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