Category: news

David Cameron met teenagers on a team-building course during the 2010 election campaign

The cost of the government’s National Citizen Service volunteering scheme is not justified at a time when youth services are being cut, MPs have said.

The education select committee said in a report that services for young people faced “disproportionate” cuts.

It estimated that offering NCS to all young people would cost more yearly than 2009-10 youth services spending.

The government said the money for the NCS was extra and it was consulting on a new vision for youth services.

The programme has been championed by Prime Minister David Cameron as a type of “non-military national service” to encourage young people from different backgrounds to mix.

It aims eventually -through external providers – to offer every young person in England the opportunity to attend a two-week residential, outdoor activities course and to spend a further three or four weeks working on local community projects.

But the committee, chaired by Conservative MP Graham Stuart, said the current cost for pilot schemes was £1,182 per young person – whereas Germany provided an entire year’s volunteering for just £1,228 per participant.

“We do not see how the government can justify spending the same for a six-week programme,” the MPs said.

The government has dedicated £13m for the scheme in 2011, and £37m in 2012, aiming for 10,000 participants this summer and 30,000 next year.

But the select committee estimated that, given the government’s aim to offer the scheme to all teenagers, if half chose to participate, the total cost could amount to £355m per year.

That is more than the £350m spent in total on youth services in 2009-10, the MPs pointed out.

“Given the degree to which year-round youth services are being cut, and in light of our concerns about cost and practical implementation, we cannot support the programme’s continued development in its current form,” the report concluded.

It said there had already been “very significant, disproportionate” cuts to local authority youth services, ranging from 20% to 100% of spending.

It cited David Wright, the chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People’s Services (CHYPS), who spoke of a “double whammy” to youth services, with ring-fencing removed from previously allocated funding sources, in addition to overall cuts of 28% over the next four years to local authority budgets.

Dedicated youth-services funding has been amalgamated with other grants into an Early Intervention Grant – which itself is 10% less than the total of the funding streams it replaced, the MPs said.

They cited a survey by the CHYPS in February 2011, which found that cuts to youth services averaged 28% and some local authorities were cutting 70%, 80% or 100% of their services.

Cuts totalling more then £100m were planned by March 2012, and open-access youth clubs and centres were hardest hit, the study found.

The committee’s report also cited a Department for Education document which said local authorities in many areas were cutting youth projects in favour of protecting early-years and child-safeguarding services.

The budget reductions “may be both dramatic and long lasting”, the MPs said.

“The government’s lack of urgency in articulating a youth policy or strategic vision is regrettable, is compounding an already difficult situation, and should not be allowed to continue,” the committee said.

The MPs recommended that the National Citizen Service scheme be turned into an accreditation scheme for existing youth-development and volunteering programmes, and that the funds earmarked for it be diverted into general, year-round youth services.

In response to the report, Children’s Minister Tim Loughton said he was “disappointed” that the committee had “sought to undermine the NCS pilots before they have even got off the ground”.

It said the funding for the scheme was “additional money for youth services, not an alternative to them”.

“Local areas need to think more creatively about how they do this and consider what more the voluntary and community sector can provide,” he said, adding that the government was consulting on a “new vision” for youth services to be published in the autumn.

He also said it was “a shame” that the committee did not hear from many young people, including those who took part in the NCS, who “universally said they benefited enormously from the unique experience”.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Heads say Sats results’ do not reflect properly what individual pupils or a school can do

A review of Sats tests in England’s primary schools is calling for changes to English tests to increase creativity – but with more focus on the basics.

The review of the controversial national curriculum tests taken by 11-year-olds, headed by Lord Bew, will be published later on Thursday.

It recommends greater use of “teacher assessment” in English composition rather than the current written test.

Last year 4,000 schools boycotted Sats, saying they narrowed pupils’ education.

Teachers and head teachers in two unions had been calling for the tests – in English and maths – to be scrapped.

The coalition government promised to reform a “flawed” testing system, subsequently commissioning this review.

Lord Bew, a cross-bench peer and Professor of Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast, was asked to look at how best to ensure schools were held accountable for the achievement and progress of every child.

He was also asked how to avoid “the risk of perverse incentives”, such as the drilling of children for testing at the expense of a rounded education.

The BBC understands Lord Bew is to call for “more trust” to be placed in teachers and changes to the system, creating a “fair balance between teacher assessment and tests”.

He is also expected to say more data should be published to give a rounded picture of a school’s performance, including new measures focusing on the progress of lower-attaining pupils.

In detail, he is expected to say the current writing composition test should be replaced by teacher assessment (when a teacher grades a child’s work generally rather their performance on a particular test).

This is aimed at allowing children to be more creative and at discouraging “teaching to the test”.

Critics, including many authors, had complained that the English Sats tests were killing children’s natural creativity.

A group of authors, including Michael Rosen and Roger McGough, issued a statement in support of the boycott last year, saying reading for pleasure was “being squeezed by the relentless pressure of testing” and that Sats were creating an “atmosphere of anxiety” around reading.

Authors had said Sats were creating an atmosphere of anxiety around reading

Lord Bew believes tests in reading and speaking and listening should remain, although the reading test should be “refined”.

And there should be a distinct writing test which covers spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, the review recommends.

The inquiry panel, which includes several head teachers, believes this will raise achievement in these areas.

At the moment, national curriculum tests, or Sats, are taken by children in English and maths.

In addition, schools are required to make statutory teacher assessments in English, maths and science, which are published alongside the test results.

A sample of schools (5%) also sits a science test, which is marked externally.

The published Sats results are used by media organisations to create league tables of schools’ performances and it is this which many school heads and teachers are opposed to.

They say the test results are unreliable and not a true reflection of what a school or individual pupils can do.

To give a clearer picture of school achievement, Lord Bew will recommend that a “three-year rolling average” of performance be published.

Sats tests only exist in England. They were abolished in Wales and Northern Ireland and were never used in Scotland.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Judges are set to deliver their verdict in the trial of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders for inciting hatred against Muslims.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The arson attack claimed the lives of Hameeda Begum and her granddaughter Alana Mian

Police investigating an arson attack which claimed the lives of a woman and her grand-daughter have appealed to people who hold “the final piece of information” about it to come forward.

Hameeda Begum, 71, and Alana Mian, four, were killed in the fire at Little Holme Walk in Bolton on 23 June 2008.

Alana’s mother Saima was badly injured and firefighter Steve Morris suffered a catalogue of serious injuries.

Police launched a murder inquiry but have never charged anyone with murder.

Three people have been sentenced for witness intimidation in connection with the case.

Alana and her parents, who lived in Australia, had been visiting their family in Bolton when arsonists set a wheelie bin alight and pushed it against the front door.

Ms Begum died on the night of the fire, having suffered 90% burns. Her four-year-old grand-daughter died of multiple organ failure weeks later.

Greater Manchester Police said they had interviewed a considerable number of witnesses and spoken to hundreds of people in the community.

“However, the final piece of information required to bring those responsible to justice remains elusive,” a spokesman said.

A £50,000 reward for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible has never been claimed.

Det Ch Insp Jon Chadwick, of the major incident team, said the fire had had a “devastating effect” on Ms Begum’s family, the community and the emergency services.

“We remain determined to find those responsible for the death of Hameeda and Alana, but we have been frustrated by the lack of that one piece of information that clearly links whoever did this to the crime,” he said.

“We have spoken to dozens of witnesses and we firmly believe that a small minority are holding out on us.

“We believe some have not given us the full story, or at least everything they know, and I want to appeal to them directly to speak to us again.

“The only people likely to get into trouble are the perpetrators of the original offence – our priority is to bring the killers to justice to give some small piece of mind to the family.”

He said the reward was a “life-changing amount of money”, adding that allegiances can change over time.

“Now is the time to do the right thing,” he said.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The government says its proposals will modernise the service

Plans to close coastguard centres around the UK would raise “serious safety concerns” and have little support, a report by MPs has said.

The government had wanted to reduce the number of coastguard centres open 24 hours a day from 18 to three.

But a Commons transport committee report said safety would be jeopardised if the proposals went ahead.

The government has already acknowledged the original proposals it was consulting on will be adapted.

Under the plans the coastguard service would have two nationally networked maritime operations centres, in Aberdeen and the Portsmouth-Southampton area.

There would be five sub-centres, operating in daylight hours only, in Falmouth, Humber, and Swansea. Two more sub-centres – in Belfast or Liverpool, and Stornoway or Shetland – will be retained.

In addition, there would be one sub-centre operating 24 hours a day in Dover, and the small centre at London would remain unchanged.

In May, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said he was re-examining the plans, and would instead consider keeping nine, rather than three, coastguard stations open.

The original consultation was extended so that the committee could have more time to complete its assessment of the proposals.

The committee also said the decision to withdraw funding for emergency towing vessels – large tugs which intercept disabled ships to prevent pollution – was “unwise and short-sighted”, and was “inviting disaster”.

The committee’s chairman, Louise Ellman, said the coastguard proposals were “seriously flawed” and there was little support for them.

She also expressed her disappointment that shipping minister Mike Penning had “instructed regular coastguards not to give evidence to the committee”.

“We accept there is a need for some modernisation, but the government’s proposals for the future of the coastguard service are seriously flawed,” she said.

“We found little support for the current proposals and we have no confidence that… the coastguard will in future be able to respond to emergencies at sea as well as they do now, let alone in a more effective way.

“A drastic reduction in the number of rescue co-ordination centres will result in a loss of local knowledge among coastguard officers who are responsible for taking calls from people and vessels in distress.

“The committee is not convinced by the government’s claim that technology can, at present, replace such local knowledge.”

Mrs Ellman added that any future reorganisation of the service should be based on 24-hour centres, rather than stations which open only during daylight hours.

Steve Todd, National Maritime Secretary of the RMT transport union, said: “The committee quite rightly exposes the dangers to the UK coastline posed by the very damaging cutbacks and closures to coastguard centres.

“Also the report rightly recognises that the government is reckless in proposing to completely axe the Emergency Towing Vessels (ETVs) and the fire rescue cover provided by the Maritime Incident Report Group.

“The ETVs were specifically introduced following the Lord Donaldson report to guard against the safety and environmental threats posed to the UK coastline following the (1993) Braer and (1996) Sea Empress disasters, and are crucial to the safety of our members working in the maritime industries.”

Mr Penning has said the proposals are “not set in stone”.

Commenting on the committee’s report, Mr Hammond said: “I welcome the committee’s recognition that the coastguard service is in urgent need of modernisation.

“The original proposals do not compromise safety and include increased resources for front-line rescue services.

“Reform will improve resilience in the system through improvements to IT and create better career opportunities for staff, as well as better pay and conditions.”

The government’s final proposals are due to be published later this summer.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

By Ross Hawkins

The scrapping of EMA sparked a wave of student protests during the winter