Family Information Service
Welsh Government Update – January
2018
Issue:
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Parenting. Give it Time campaign
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Background:
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Our #Face of parenting competition closed on 31
August with over 200 entries from parents across Wales.
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Update:
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Four families
have been named as the new faces of the Parenting. Give it time campaign. The
families, from across Wales - Rhydyfelin, Rhyl, Newport and Swansea - were
selected by a panel of parenting experts. On the Parenting. Give it Time website
and Facebook page the chosen families will be sharing their personal
experiences of the joys and challenges of bringing up a young family, in the
hope that other parents can benefit from their stories. They will also be
featured on new resources which will be provided to the FIS in the next few
months.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Legislation to remove the defence of reasonable
punishment
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Background:
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The First Minister confirmed in his legislative statement in July 2017
that the Welsh Government remained fully committed to removing the defence of
reasonable punishment and would consult on proposals in the next 12 months,
with a view to introducing legislation in Year 3 of the legislative
programme.
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Update:
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The Minister
for Children and Social Care launched the consultation on legislative
proposals to remove the defence of reasonable punishment on Tuesday 9 January
when he delivered an oral statement in plenary. The consultation exercise
will remain open until Monday 2 April.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Childcare Offer
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Background:
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In September 2017, we began delivery of our Childcare
Offer in seven early implementer local authorities across Wales. Our offer,
which commits to providing 30 hours of early education and childcare for
working parents of 3 and 4 year olds for 48 weeks of the year, is an
ambitious one. This programme of early
implementation is central to ensuring the offer meets the needs of children,
parents and providers once rolled out across Wales in September 2020.
Early
implementation is currently underway in Anglesey, Gwynedd, Blaenau Gwent,
Caerphilly, Flintshire, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Swansea. Blaenau Gwent is the only one piloting the
offer across the whole authority. Learning
from these early implementers will be important in helping us fine-tune
policies and systems prior to a wider roll-out.
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Update:
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Interest in the offer from parents has been strong,
with 50% of anticipated autumn term applications received by the end of
September. Initial feedback from both eligible
parents accessing the offer and childcare providers has been generally positive. Parents are reporting that it is already
making a difference to their lives, reducing the strain on family income and
helping ensure childcare is not a barrier to them taking up employment or
increasing their hours.
Having closely reviewed the take-up rates over recent
months, we have decided that we are in a position to expand the current
eligible areas in order to maximise the learning and spend from the first year
of implementation.
Following detailed discussions with the early
implementer local authorities over which areas, numbers of children and cost,
the Welsh Government has confirmed
the offer is now being expanded to include the following areas:
From December 2017
·
Flintshire:
Wards of Connah’s Quay South, Connah’s Quay, Wepre, Fllint Castle, Flint
Coleshill, Flint Oakenholt, Flint Trelawny, Holywell East, Holywell West,
Saltney Mold;
·
Gwynedd:
The well-being area of Caernarfon. Includes following wards; Bethel,
Bontnewydd, Cadnant, Clwt y Bont, Cwm y Glo, Deiniolen, Groeslon, Llanberis,
Llandwrog, Llanllyfni , Llanrug, Llanwnda, Menai (Caernarfon), Peblig
(Caernarfon), Penisa’r waun, Pen-y-groes, Seiont , Talysarn, Waunfawr,
Clynnog,
From January 2018
·
Anglesey: Valley 2, Trearddur 1 and 2, Llanfihangel Esceifiog,
Brynteg, Llanbedrgoch, Pentraeth, Amlwch rural, Bodorgan, Llanfair yn Neubwll
1 and 2, Aberffraw and Rhosneigr 1, Parc ar Mynydd, Llaneilian, Moelfre,
Llanfaethlu, Mechell;
·
Gwynedd: Well-being area of Penllyn, which
includes Bala, Llandderfel, and Llanuwchllyn;
·
Caerphilly: Wellbeing Area of Caerphilly Basin
wards: Aber Valley; Bedwas; Trethomas; Machen; Llanbradach; Morgan Jones;
Penyrheol; St James; and St Martins; Lower Islwyn, wards: Abercarn;
Crosskeys; Risca East; Risca West; and Ynysddu;
·
Rhondda
Cynon Taf: Wards of
Ynyshir and Pontyclun;
·
Flintshire: Wards of Hope, Caergwrle and Higher
Kinnerton;
·
Swansea: The wards of Gowerton; Penllergaer;
Llansamlet; Penderry;
Kingsbridge; Upper Loughor; Lower Loughor; Penyrheol; and Cockett (Subject to any call-in of the Cabinet decision)
Currently the offer is being piloted in:
·
Anglesey and Gwynedd: Anglesey is
testing in Menai Bridge, Llandegfan, Llanfairpwll, Beaumaris and Llangoed;
the villages of Niwbwrch, Dwyran, Brynsiencyn, Llangaffo, Llanddaniel and
Llanedwen; and the town of Llangefni and Talwrn. Gwynedd is testing in the
well-being area of Bangor which includes Bethesda; the well-being area of
Porthmadog which also includes Criccieth, Penrhyndeudraeth, Harlech and
Garndolbenmaen; the well-being area of Ffestiniog which includes areas down
to Trawsfynydd; and the well-being area of Dolgellau which includes the area
around Barmouth, Corris, Dinas Mawddwy, Dyffryn Ardudwy and Llanbedr. From January
2018, the well-being area of Caernarfon which includes Bethel, Cwm y
Glo, Bontnewydd, Deiniolen, Llanberis, Groeslon, Llanllyfni, Clynnog,
Llanrug, Llanwnda, Penisarwaen, Penygroes, Talysarn and Waunfawr will also be
testing the offer.
·
Blaenau Gwent will implement the offer across the
whole local authority
·
Caerphilly
is testing the offer in the Mid-Valleys East region which incorporates urban
areas such as Blackwood, Newbridge and Crumlin as well as a number of smaller
communities.
·
Flintshire is
testing the offer in Buckley, Bagillt and Broughton, and within areas of
Aston, Connahs Quay (Central and Golftyn), Garden City, Greenfield, Higher
Shotton, Holywell (Central), Mancot, Queensferry and Sandycroft.
·
Rhondda
Cynon Taf is currently testing the offer in four school catchment
areas spread across the three valleys and one Welsh-medium catchment area to
ensure an even spread across the authority. These are Ysgol Gyfun
Rhydywaun, Bryncelynnog, Ferndale and Mountain Ash school catchments.
·
Swansea
is testing the offer in wards spread across the city including Dunvant,
Penclawdd, Llangyfelach, West Cross, Morriston, Pontarddulais and Gorseinon.
We are very
grateful to the early implementer local authorities for their hard work to
date. They have worked with us to
develop and deliver the policy, including the eligibility criteria for
parents, the application process, and the payment methods for childcare
providers.
The second
phase of our successful #TalkChildcare campaign is about engaging further
with childcare providers, through online questionnaires, focus groups and
direct consultation.
We have committed to fully roll-out the Childcare Offer by September
2020. As part of the Draft Budget, the
funding to support the childcare offer increases to £25m in 2018-19, and to
£45m in 2019-20. This will allow us to expand and test aspects of the
delivery of the offer in other local authorities from September 2018
onwards.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Childcare – general
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Background:
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CWLWM
Funding for the Cwlwm consortium under the Children and Families
Delivery Grant (CFDG) was extended
until March 2018.
Childcare Sufficiency
Assessments
All local authorities have submitted their 2017
CSAs to the Welsh Government.
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Update:
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CWLWM
Cwlwm worked
with Welsh Government, Business Wales and Aware to arrange business
networking events in November in north and south Wales which FIS
representatives attended. Intelligence
from the events will inform how we can improve arrangements to ensure
the childcare and play sector get appropriate targeted support.
Childcare Sufficiency Assessments
We are
currently analysing the individual local authority CSAs to ensure they comply
with regulations. Local authorities will be receiving feedback early in the
New Year. The CSA progress reports are due to be submitted to Welsh
Government by end of March 2018.
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Contact:
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Email: ChildcareandPlayMailbox@gov.wales
Website:
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Issue:
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Play – general
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Background:
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Play Sufficiency Assessment progress
reports and Action Plans
Local
authorities have submitted their progress report on the Play Action Plan for
2016-17 and their Play Action Plan for 2017-18.
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Update:
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Play
Wales has conducted a review of the local authority Play Action Plans for
2016-17 and 2017-18 on behalf of the Welsh Government.
Regional
events for local authority play officers were jointly delivered by Welsh
Government and Play Wales in November and December 2017. The events reported
on the findings of the review of the Play Sufficiency Assessment progress
reports and Action Plans and shared information from the Welsh Government’s Play
Cross Policy Network meeting which was held on 8 November.
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Contact:
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Website:
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I
ssue: |
UK Government Tax-Free Childcare
scheme
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Background:
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The scheme enables working parents to receive up to
£2,000 of UK government support per child, aged under 12 years, per year
towards their childcare costs. If they have a disabled child aged up to
17, they can receive up to £4,000 per child per year. This money, accessed
via a childcare account which parents can apply to open, can be used to pay
their childcare provider. Parents can only pay their provider from their
childcare account if their provider has signed up to Tax-Free Childcare.
For every £8 a parent pays into their childcare
account, the UK government will pay in an extra £2. Parents can check whether
Tax-Free Childcare is the best offer for their circumstances by using the
on-line childcare calculator.
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Update:
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The UK Government is
continuing to roll out the Tax-Free Childcare scheme. Parents
of children born on or after 24th November 2011, and parents of
disabled children, can now apply to
access the scheme.
In response
to a query from FIS at the last network meeting about the Childcare choices
website not being available in Welsh, Childcare colleagues havefed
back the comments to HRMC.
Unfortunately we haven’t had an update on this at this point.
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Contact:
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Websites:
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Issue:
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Childcare, Play and
Early Years Workforce Plan
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Background:
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Early Years
is one of the five cross cutting priorities of the Prosperity for All: the
national strategy published on 19 September. We want children from all
backgrounds to have the best start in life.
In December
2017, the WG published its 10 year Childcare, Play and Early Years workforce
plan. The plan will play a vital role
in supporting this aim and sets outs its vision to professionalise the sector
under 3 key themes. These being:
·
raising skills and standards;
·
attracting high quality new entrants; and
·
supporting the sector to build its capacity and
capability.
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Update:
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Implementation
of the plan will initially focus on the actions to be taken in this assembly
term and will include support for new and existing businesses, a reduction in
business rates, and the development and delivery of a new suite of
qualifications for the sector covering levels 1-5.
We have been
working with the sector on the development of business support and skills assistance to
ensure we are providing support which will assist to address the challenges
and issues faced by the sector in the current economic climate; and to help
support the sector in taking up the opportunities offered under the
development of the governments free childcare offer.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Advice Services
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Background:
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Advice
Services - Funding
There
is £5.97 million grant funding in place this year to provide advice on social
welfare issues, delivered through three projects: Funding for Front Line
Advice, Better Advice Better Lives and the Communities First Shared Outcomes
projects.
Two
independent reports, published in 2015 and 2016, examined the effectiveness
of the services delivered within the Better Advice, Better Lives and Front
Line Advice Services Grant and recommended both projects continued given the
significant need and demand placed upon existing services. The findings of the reports, together with
the ongoing monitoring of the providers by Welsh Government officials,
provides clear evidence that the funding of social welfare information and
advice services represents value for money for the public purse and enables
services to be delivered, which play a significant role in bringing positive
improvements to the social and economic prospects of many people within Wales
Information and advice Quality Framework
The Welsh Government has committed to the
development of an Information & Advice Service Quality Framework for
Wales. It is expected that this will be rolled out from January 2018.
IAQF Wales is focused on social welfare law (this
includes debt, benefits, housing, money, immigration, employment and
discrimination advice) and offers:
(i) A
unifying accreditation offering funders and public a recognisable quality
mark;
(ii) Flexible accreditation routes for
information and advice providers which allow the market to develop new and
existing standards to meet and exceed minimum passporting requirements for
IAQF Wales;
(iii) The
potential for transfer to other areas of law.
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Update:
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During
last year (April 2016– March 2017) the Front Line Advice Services funding
contributed to organisations responding to over 48,000 requests for
information and advice, securing over £12.7 in income gains.
During
the first half of this year (1 April – 30 September) the Front Line Advice
Services funding contributed to organisations responding to over 29,713
requests for information and advice, securing over £7.9million in income
gains, whilst the BABL project helped over 9,946 people in the first half of
this year, securing over £9,959,727 in income gains, bringing the total to
over 103,400 people with confirmed gains of more than £111.4million since the
project started in 2012.
Funding
In
line with the Welsh Government’s simplification agenda, the current three
advice service funding streams will be merged into a single fund and a
competitive grant application /procurement exercise will commence in early
2019 for provider/s to deliver integrated, community based and pan-Wales
advice services from October 2019.
The
funding specifications of the new fund will promote the development of person-centred
advice services, which are planned and delivered collaboratively, including,
where practical, cross-sector partnership working. Specific emphasis will
also be placed upon service design models being based upon co-production with
service users, and on the quality assurance of the providers who will be
involved with a collaborative service delivery model. Working together with the advice sector we
aim to develop new outcomes that are better able to capture and evaluate the
full value of the services delivered.
In the
meantime, as demand for access to advice services is projected to increase,
it is important to maintain the stability of advice service provision across
Wales, as much as practical. Therefore, the former Cabinet Secretary for
Communities and Children also agreed that the current funded projects will be
continued during the period April 2018 to September 2019.
Throughout
the coming months we will be working with the grant recipients, other advice
providers and key stakeholders, including LA’s and funders, to develop the
framework through which we aim to ensure there is joined-up and sustainable
approach to the future funding and delivery of advice services.
Information
and advice Quality Framework
Following
a competitive tender exercise the Welsh Government has awarded a contract to
EMBARC to design, implement and manage the IAQF independent assessment
service.
The
contract will run for a period of 12 months commencing from January 2018. The
first phase of the contract (January to March 2018) will involve the complete
design of the assessment service and the recruitment and training of
Assessors.
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Contact:
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Email:
financialinclusion@gov.wales
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Issue:
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Parents,
Childcare & Employment (PaCE)
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Background:
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PaCE aims
to help parents who are out of work improve employment prospects. It does this by providing access to
training and development or job opportunities that might not otherwise have
been possible due to childcare commitments.
PaCE helps with the cost of childcare while parents undertake training
and development to gain the skills they need to get a job.
PaCE is a £13.5m programme backed with £8.5m EU funds, aiming to support approximately 8,200 people across Wales and help over 1,600 in to employment over the course of the project. |
Update:
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UP to
December 31st 2017, PaCE had engaged with 2577eligible parents and
helped 784 of those in to employment, so just over 30% of people we work with
are moving into jobs over 16 hours per week.
Over 43
PaCE advisers are in post across the majority of local authorities in
Wales. They all have access to an
array of promotional materials in hard copy and also electronically,
including posters, leaflets and flyers, so if you need any PaCE publicity please
let us know.
Please
contact the PaCE mailbox if you don’t know who your local PaCE contact is,
and we’ll help you make contact with them.
Welsh Government PaCE team would like to express their thanks to all FIS teams for the continued support in working closely with PaCE at a local level. We are always seeking to improve ways of working together and are happy to talk to your teams individually should you think it would be helpful. |
Contact:
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Issue:
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Welfare Reform
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Background:
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The UK
Government have been introducing many changes to welfare benefits as part of
the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the Welfare and Work Act 2016. Two new Welfare Benefits are Universal Credit (UC), which will
replace 6 in and out of work benefits and Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
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Update on Universal Credit:
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The UK
Government continues to expand its Universal Credit (UC) full service in
Wales. In the Autumn Budget the UK Government announced that UC roll out
schedule has been further amended and for new claimants will be complete by
December 2018.
Local
Authorities which have now rolled out UC full Service in Wales are
Flintshire, Torfaen, Wrexham, Neath Port Talbot, Newport and Swansea. DWP will continue working with the Welsh Local Government
Association and Welsh Government on engagement with Local Authorities as they
move onto the UC full service.
Also
announced in the 2017 Autumn Budget:
a)
From January 2018, those who need it and, have an
underlying entitlement to Universal Credit, will be able to access up to a
month’s worth of Universal Credit within five days via an interest-free
advance. The UK Government will extend
the period for the interest-free advance of recovery from six months to
twelve months, helping Universal Credit claimants to manage their
finances. New Universal Credit claimants
in December 2017 will be able to receive an advance of 50% of their monthly
entitlement at the beginning of their claim and a second advance to take it
up to 100% in the New Year, before their first payment date.
b)
From February 2018, the UK Government will remove the
seven-day waiting period so that entitlement to Universal Credit starts on
the first day of application.
c)
From April 2018, those claimants already on Housing
Benefit will continue to receive their award for the first two weeks of their
Universal Credit claim. This will be a
non-recoverable payment. Also from April 2018, Temporary Accommodation will
be removed from Universal Credit and moved back to being paid as Housing
Benefit (subject to secondary legislation changes). The UK Government will
also make it easier for claimants to have the housing element of their award
paid directly to their landlord.
Claimants who have their Housing benefit paid directly to their
landlord will have this arrangement when they transition to UC.
DWP have
issued revised guidance on the introduction to Universal Credit for people
who are claiming it; link below:
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Update on Personal Independence
Payment (PIP):
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Section
89 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 committed the Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions to publish two independent reports on the operation of Personal
Independence Payment (PIP) assessments. Paul Gray CB has led on both reviews.
The
second review was published in March 2017 which built on the recommendations
from the first review and considered how effectively further evidence is
being used to assist, the correct claim decision and the speed and
effectiveness of information-gathering.
The UK Government published their response to the second review in
December 2017 – a link to the response is shown below:
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Welsh Government Warm Homes – Nest
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Background:
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Welsh
Government Warm Homes Nest provides households in Wales with access to a
range of free, impartial advice and support to help them reduce their energy
bills and maximise income. For those households most in need, support
includes a referral for eligible households for a package of free home energy
improvements.
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Update:
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After a
procurement conducted by NPS, the new Nest contract was awarded to
British Gas in December 2017.The new contract starts from 1 April 2018.
(British Gas are the scheme manager for Nest for the current contract which
ends on31 March 2018.
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Contact:
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Website: www.nestwales.org.uk
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Issue:
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Cymraeg
i Blant/Cymraeg for Kids
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Background:
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The Cymraeg
for Kids programme offers practical support for parents and prospective
parents and their children to use Welsh. As well as offering help and advice
on Welsh-medium education / childcare, Cymraeg for Kids staff across Wales
offer fun, free activities through the medium of Welsh.
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Update:
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Copies of ‘Your
Guide to Welsh-medium Education’ – a booklet for parents and prospective
parents – have now been distributed to each FIS. Thank you for agreeing to
assist with the distribution of these booklets.
If you have
any questions, or need further copies of the booklet, please contact us at
the email address below.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Dewis
Cymru
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Background:
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The Dewis
Cymru wellbeing website has been developed to assist local authorities to
discharge their duties under part 2 of the SSWB Act.
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Update:
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Legacy Fund (formerly Communities
First programme)
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Background:
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On the 14th February 2017, the Cabinet Secretary for
Communities and Children announced that the Communities First Programme would
be phased out by March 2018. The
decision followed a broad period of engagement with Communities First staff,
community members and supporting partners and stakeholders across Wales.
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Update:
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During the last six months considerable work has been
undertaken to develop the principles which will underpin the Legacy fund.
A co-productive approach has been used to develop guidance
principles as well as full guidance with eligible local authorities, Lead
Delivery Bodies (LDBs) and other key partners being involved in the
development of the principles. They were issued to eligible Local Authorities
and LDBs on 11 September 2017. Formal
guidance was then issued on 21 December 2017.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Discretionary
Assistance Fund
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Background:
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On 1 April 2013, the Welsh
Government set up a national scheme called the Discretionary Assistance Fund
which is managed by Northgate Public Services. Following a second competitive
tendering exercise Northgate Public Services (Northgate) are working in
partnership with Family Fund and Wrexham County Borough Council. This
contract will run until March 2020 with the option to extend annually for a
further three years.
The Fund can also be accessed to enable
or maintain independent living.
These payments are made available to
people who have no other means of meeting the immediate cost of living and
are not intended to meet the cost of ongoing expenses.
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Update:
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From June 2015 the DAF also provides financial assistance to enable
parents and carers to maintain contact with children receiving Child and
Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) inpatient treatment. Only applicants
who are in contact with the CAMHS service are able to apply for this support,
and all applications are verified by the CAMHS consultant.
During June 2015 – November 2017 there have been 320 applications to
the DAF for this support, with over £66,500 being awarded.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Additional Learning
Needs (ALN) Transformation Programme and Additional Learning Needs and
Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill *
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Background:
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The
Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill is part of a
wider transformation programme which aims to ensure that all
learners with ALN are supported to overcome barriers to learning and can
achieve their full potential.
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Update:
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The Bill was
passed by the National Assembly for Wales on 12 December 2017 – information
including the Bill, draft Code, impact assessments and committee reports can
be found on the Assembly’s website.[1] Our
focus in 2018 will therefore shift to the subordinate legislation, including
a consultation in the autumn on some of the draft regulations and the next
iteration of the draft ALN Code.
A public
consultation took place between February and June 2017 on how the Welsh
Government should implement the ALN Bill.
A summary of the consultation responses were published alongside our
proposed approach on 11 December[2].
This will now
be used to develop and refine an implementation guide for delivery partners
setting out detailed guidelines to support implementation. The five ALN
Transformation Leads will all take up post by spring 2018. These new roles will support the ALN
transformation programme by managing the implementation grants for local
authorities and further education institutions, including coordinating the
delivery of regional, multi-agency training and professional development on
the new legislative framework[3].
The
£20million package of support allocated to the ALN transformation programme[4]
will allow for a significant investment in the workforce development strand
of the programme. This will enable us to invest in up-skilling ALNCos and
specialists more quickly and provide high quality continuing professional
development to help ensure a highly skilled workforce to support the delivery
of these fundamental reforms.
Specialists
play a vital role in supporting learners with ALN, which is why the Welsh Government have recently allocated
£352,000 to support the postgraduate training of local authority-based
specialist and advisory teachers of learners with visual impairment (VI),
hearing impairment (HI) and multi-sensory impairment (MSI). This funding may also be used to facilitate
training in Braille and British Sign Language for local authority-based
specialist staff.
The Welsh
Government have also recently commissioned Eliesha Cymru to develop a suite
of learning and training materials to support implementation of the ALN
transformation programme, as a result of the feedback to the consultation on
implementing the Bill. These will form the basis of multi-agency
implementation training once the Code and subordinate legislation are in
place.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Foundation
Phase
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Background:
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The Foundation Phase (FP)
is a flagship policy to provide developmentally appropriate
learning/curriculum for 3-7 year olds modelled on Scandinavian approaches. It
is the bedrock of the education system and links to education reform set out
in Successful Futures; to tackling deprivation and to National Literacy and
Numeracy Programmes (and early language development).
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Update:
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Parent Information booklets
A revised
guide for parents and carers on Foundation Phase ‘How is my child doing in
Foundation Phase’ was updated and published in Summer 2017: http://gov.wales/docs/dcells/publications/170627-hwst-foundation-en.pdf The guide has been updated to include
information on learning through play and the Foundation Phase Profile.
We are
looking to publish and promote a new digital booklet towards the end of
February 2018: ‘Foundation Phase nursery:
A guide for parent and carers’, which will raise awareness of the early education
offer and the Foundation Phase in Wales for parents and carers of 3-4 year
olds.
To support
the digital booklet a parent campaign will be launched in early spring 2018
to raise awareness and promote the benefits of Foundation Phase nursery.
Estyn thematic report
On 14
December 2017, Estyn published its thematic report, Active and experiential
learning: Effective Foundation Phase practice in literacy and numeracy in
Year 1 and Year 2. https://www.estyn.gov.wales/thematic-reports/active-and-experiential-learning-effective-foundation-phase-practice-delivering?utm_source=ENG-link&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=active-and-experiential-learning
A response to
the report was published by the Welsh Government on its website shortly
after: http://gov.wales/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/raisingstandards/estynremit/estynreports/active-experiential-learning/?lang=en
The report drew on evidence collected during primary school inspections
since 2010 as well as visits to 27 schools across Wales to observe Foundation
Phase practice in deliverying literacy and numeracy in Years 1 and 2. The report and the recommendations have
been cascaded to all our stakeholdes.
The Welsh Government will work with schools and edcucation services to
ensure that the recommendations are taken forward.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Family Point
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Background:
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Promo Cymru
was grant funded by Welsh Government under the Children and Families Delivery
Grant (CFDG), from 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2017, to deliver the
Informed Families Project, now known as Family Point Cymru.
The Family
Point helpline has been developed as an alternative to the Family Point
website as not everyone in the community has access to the internet and to
ensures that families, as far as is practicably possible, are appropriately
informed about support available to them.
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Update:
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The CFDG funding
came to an end on 30 September. The
Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children agreed further funding to
support the helpline element of the project until 31 December 2017.
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Contact:
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Website: familypoint.cymru
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Issue:
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ACEs
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Background:
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As part of
the focus on supporting the development of resilient communities, and on
improving outcomes for children and young people, Welsh Government is
promoting a focus on preventing and mitigating the impact of Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Welsh Government already funds and
supports a number of programmes and interventions which are aimed at
preventing ACEs, or intervening early to reduce their impact. These
programmes often also address other key issues in improving outcomes for
children, for example neglect, early attachment and bonding, or poverty.
Alongside
this, the Cabinet Secretaries for Communities and Children and for Education
have contributed £400,000 to the setting up of the ACE Support hub, the aim
of which is to enable ACE informed professionals and organisations, and
develop an ACE aware society. Public Health Wales is also contributing
to the setting up and running of the ACE Support hub.
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Update:
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Welsh
Government is continuing to develop a cross-government approach to the
prevention of ACEs, incorporating existing work and linking with new
initiatives such as Children First, alongside its funding of the ACE Hub
which aims to enable ACE informed professionals and organisations and develop
an ACE aware society.
The Welsh
Government is currently in discussions with Cymru Well Wales about the
continuation of support for the ACE Support Hub for 2018-19.
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Contact:
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Email: Wayne.Warner@gov.wales
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Issue:
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Children First
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Background:
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In October
2016, the former Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, invited
organisations to develop “children’s zones for Wales, collaborating
seamlessly to improve children’s and young people’s outcomes”.
This approach
- now called Children First in Wales – aims to enable organisations to come
together:
•
around
a specific place
•
to
work collaboratively for the children and young people in that place
•
to
reduce the inequalities these children face compared with children and young
people in more socially advantaged areas
It is an
approach, facilitated and enabled by Welsh Government, rather than a new
funded programme.
The following
five proposals have been selected to pioneer the approach.
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Update:
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The Welsh
Government is continuing to work with the five pioneer areas to take forward
Children First. It has met with the Pioneer areas and a programme of meetings
have been agreed through to the summer of 2018.
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Contact:
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Email: Email: Wayne.Warner@gov.wales
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Issue:
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Safeguarding
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Background:
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National Protection Procedures: Cardiff and the Vale Safeguarding
Board have received Welsh Government funding to lead a review of current
safeguarding policies and procedures for children and adults.
The review will include an assessment
of existing good practice and areas where the processes for children and
adults reflect each other and where they differ and where these differences
are necessary. It will also link in to
the guidance issued by Ministers under Part 7 of the Social Services and
Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014, (in particular Volumes 5 and 6 on Handing
Individual Cases) to clarify the requirements of the revised policy and
procedures.
Professor Jan Horwath acts as the Independent Development
Consultant for this project. The Association of Directors of Social Services
Cymru sponsors this work in close agreement with national representatives
from the statutory partners who make up the ADSSC National Safeguarding
Group.
National Safeguarding
Week: Welsh
Government has provided £22,000 funding for the second annual National
Safeguarding week.
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Update:
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National Protection Procedures: The Welsh Government is supporting
the work on the National Protection Procedures over the next 12 months. A
number of Task and Finish Groups are being established to produce practice
guidance on specific safeguarding issues for children and young people. These
are intended to be used in conjunction with the National Protection
Procedures. Invitations for nominations to these subject specific Task and
Finish Groups have been shared via various networks including Safeguarding
Children Boards. Draft content of practice guidance will be provided to
Cardiff and the Vale Board who will consult on and issue them with the
National Protection Procedures. This work should be complete by the end of
December 2018.
Guidance under Part 7: (Working
Together to Safeguard People) Volumes 5 and 6 (Handling Individual Cases) of the
Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 will be published this Spring.
National Safeguarding
Week: The
National Conference on Safeguarding in Sport was a well attended and received
event and there was activity across the regions of each of the 6 Safeguarding
Boards.
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Contact:
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Email:
sam.clutton@gov.wales
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Issue
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Tackling poverty
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Background
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Levels of poverty are projected to rise in the coming
years. The Institute for Fiscal
Studies (IFS) projects that the absolute child poverty rate (after housing
costs) in Wales will increase from 28.0 per cent in 2013-15 to 34.9 per cent
in 2019-21 – more than in any other part of the UK.
This is driven by welfare benefit changes such as the
limiting of tax credits and Universal Credit to two children, and the freeze
to most working-age benefits. Analysis for the Welsh Government by the IFS
shows that households in Wales lose around £460 a year (1.6 per cent of their
net income) on average from the UK government's tax and benefit reforms introduced
between 2015-16 and 2019-20.
We know lower-income households, particularly those
with children, lose considerably more on average (around 12 per cent of net
income). Large families are especially hard hit losing around £7,750 a year
or 20 per cent of net income on average.
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Update
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We are taking a whole government
approach to prosperity for all. Welsh Government’s National Strategy: Prosperity for All reflects how we can respond
to the needs of citizens in Wales, including the needs of those living in
poverty.
Under the Well-being of Future
Generations (Wales) 2015 Act, a set of 46 National Indicators for Wales will
measure national progress towards achieving the seven well-being goals. A
number of these link with the objectives of the 2015 Child Poverty Strategy for Wales and we will report on the
National Indicators through the annual Well-being Report for Wales.
In 2019, we will also publish our
next statutory report on the extent to which the objectives in our Child
Poverty Strategy have been achieved, as required under the Children and
Families (Wales) Measure 2010. The five key priority areas are childcare,
housing and regeneration, mitigating the impacts of welfare reform, in-work
poverty and food poverty.
Education in Wales: our national mission is the education plan published on 26 September which
sets out how we will continue to raise standards and reduce the attainment
gap between disadvantaged learners and their peers.
The Economic Action Plan was released on 12 December. It is wide-ranging
and draws on levers across Government to support economic growth, spread
opportunity and promote well-being. We are committed to creating a strong
economy and labour market which supports the tackling poverty agenda and
reduces in-work poverty.
Recognising that work provides the
most effective route out of poverty; our Employability Delivery Plan will be
published shortly. It underpins the Taking
Wales Forward commitment to reshape employability support for job-ready
individuals and those furthest from the labour market to acquire the skills
and experience they need to gain and maintain sustainable employment.
The Taskforce for the Valleys has
also published the delivery plan for Our
Valleys, Our Future. This sets out a range of aims and actions in the
three priority areas of jobs and skills, improved public services and the
local community. We will report on progress made and identify best practice
which can be shared across the rest of Wales.
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Contact
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Issue:
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Flexible Funding
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Background:
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Over
many years Welsh Government has introduced a number of programmes aimed at
supporting vulnerable people and communities. Each programme is
accompanied by a specific grant with its own requirements and restrictions.
Viewing these programmes and their funding as distinct and separate does not
reflect the reality of people’s lives nor does it reflect the need for joined
up citizen centred services.
Since 2016 we
have been working with LAs to align the various grants and reduce bureaucracy
and administration. Early in 2017 the decision was taken to increase
the scale and ambition of this work; consequently all LAs were invited to
submit expressions of interest to pilot greater funding flexibilities in
support of service re-design.
In 2018-19,
there are 7 LA pathfinders who will have 100% flexibility across 10 grants in
order to achieve increased programme alignment, make more effective use of
funding and meet local needs. This greater financial freedom and flexibility
is expected to enable the pathfinders to work differently, giving more scope
to design services to support the Government’s drive for more preventative,
long-term approaches. The remaining 15 non-pathfinder LAs will have
flexibility to reallocate funds – up to 15% - across 5 grants.
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Update:
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Over the last
few months, we have been liaising with LAs and other stakeholders to work
through the operational details of the grant and how it will be monitored for
2018-19. This includes developing supplementary guidance, a series of
outcomes and an overarching template delivery plan.
For 2019-20,
no decision has yet been made on whether there will be a single grant.
However, we will use the learning from the pathfinders and an independent
evaluation to inform a decision (in early 2018-19) on whether a single grant
is developed for 2019-20.
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Contact:
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Issue
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Family Information Service Guidance
refresh
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Background
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Delivering
quality information for families together:
A guidance document for Family Information Services in Wales
provides FIS teams with detailed guidance on the design and delivery of FIS
in Wales. The content of the document
is wide ranging and a recent review of the content found some of the
information within was outdated and needed updating.
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Update
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Work is underway to update the
guidance to ensure it is fit for purpose.
We are working with key teams within the Welsh Government to update
the text and the layout and once the first draft has been completed it is our
intention to circulate it to the FIS network for comment. It is hoped the first draft will be
completed by the end of January, with a view to the refreshed guidance being
published in the spring.
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Contact
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