Family Information Service
Welsh Government Update – September
2018
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Issue:
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Parenting. Give it Time campaign
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Background:
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The
‘Parenting. Give it Time’ website provides a wealth of information and
support for those raising little ones from tips on managing tricky moments
and behaviours such as tantrums to advice on balancing screen time, brain
development, work-family balance and the importance of looking after
yourself.
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Update:
21/09/2018
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As
part of the ‘Parenting, Give it time’ campaign on 30 October 2017 we
announced the four Faces of Parenting in Wales winners, real families who are
the new faces of our positive parenting campaign. Since then, the public has got to know the
families, through reading their own accounts of life as parents of young
children, as well as through photographs, videos and posts on the campaign’s
website. *Update* Three of the
families have agreed to continue on and be part of the campaign for 2018-19,
we will continue to use the images and blogs of al 4 families. The families
will be trying their hand at Vlogging in the New Year and we have been
filming them to be in our ‘hub’ films to promote our messages through digital
channels. These will be launched at the end of October.
In
April 2018 we awarded the contract for the next phase of the campaign to SBW
advertising to manage the Media and PR for 2018 to 2021. SBW are assisting us
with creating a fresh new look for our Facebook page, with a move towards
creating themes for each month and then posts that compliment that theme. *Update* We have developed an advert
to promote our key messages which will be launched on October 24th
2018 at an event with the Minister in Swansea. The advert shows a child
growing from a baby to the age of 7, we purchased exclusive right to the
footage from a Dutch artist who filmed his daughter every day from birth to
aged 18. The original film had 17.5 million view on YouTube. Once live we
would appreciate your help to promote the advert.
SBW
will also be assisting us with promoting positive parenting techniques during
the launch of the legislation.
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Contact:
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Email: Parenting@gov.wales
Website: www.giveittime.gov.wales
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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:
20/09/2018
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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. The consultation closed on 2 April and the summary of responses
document was published on 6 August. It can be found here….
In his
statement of 17 July 2018 the First Minister of Wales reiterated the Welsh
Government’s commitment to children’s rights, by introducing a Bill to remove
the defence of reasonable punishment, with in year 3 of the legislative
timetable [between Sept 2018 and July 2019]. If passed this legislation will
prohibit the physical punishment of children by parents and those acting in
loco parentis within Wales.
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Contact:
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Issue:
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Play
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Background:
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Play Sufficiency Assessment progress
reports and Action Plans
Local
authorities will be asked to submit their progress report on the Play Action
Plan for 2017-18 and their Play Action Plan for 2018-19 by 30 June 2018.
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Update:
21/09/2018
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Wales was the
first country to legislate on Play.
“Wales - A Play Friendly Country” is Statutory Guidance to local
authorities in assessing for and securing sufficient play opportunities for
children in their areas. It supports local authorities in complying with the
duty under section 11 Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010, which
commenced on 1st July 2014.
Wales - A
Play Friendly Country sets out a number of underpinning principles which
Welsh Government expects local authorities to work to when responding to their
duties to assess and secure sufficient play opportunities:
• Partnership
working and collaboration
•
Consultation, Participation and Engagement
It refers to
the following Matters:
Matter A Population
Matter B Providing for diverse needs
Matter C Space available for children to play
Matter D Supervised provision
Matter E Charges for play provision
Matter F Access to space/provision
Matter G Securing and Developing the Play
Workforce
Matter H Community Engagement and Participation
Matter I Play within all relevant policy and
implementation agendas
The Play
Sufficiency Assessment Toolkit was developed in 2012 by Play Wales and the
Welsh Government in conjunction with play providers across Wales as a means
of supporting the implementation of the duty.
Local authorities must undertake a Play Sufficiency Assessment every 3
years and work with their partners to secure sufficient play opportunities
that meet the needs of families in their areas, including those living in
areas of deprivation and with diverse needs.
Welsh Government requires local authorities to develop and review
action plans each year to record progress and identify and set out actions to
be taken during the following year.
Over the last
five years the Welsh Government has provided local authorities with £6.7
million to help them meet their play sufficiency duties.
Local
authorities are due to submit their full Play Sufficiency Assessments (PSA)
by 31 March 2019. The PSA toolkit has
been updated based on feedback from the local authority PSA leads and will be
circulated shortly.
In May 2018
local authorities were reminded of the requirement to develop a clearly
identified play section on their website.
This information should be displayed in a way that supports children
and families to know what is available in their local areas. It should also
include actions that local authorities propose to take to achieve sufficiency
and to improve inclusive play opportunities.
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Contact:
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Email: PlayOpportunities@gov.wales
Website:
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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:
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raising skills and standards;
·
attracting high quality new entrants; and
·
supporting the sector to build its capacity and
capability.
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Update:
20/09/2018
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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, consideration
of business rates, the development and delivery of a new suite of
qualifications for the sector covering levels 1-5 from September 2019; and a
recruitment and retention campaign.
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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Email: EarlyYears@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. |
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Update:
20/09/2018
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Up to
31st August 2018, PaCE had engaged with 3314 eligible parents and helped 1105
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
(pace@gov.wales).
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Contact:
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Email: PaCE@gov.wales
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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:
19/09/2018
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Please find enclosed the new Welsh Government guidance for Local
Authorities on Foundation Phase provision for three and four year olds in
Wales.
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Contact:
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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:
19/09/2018
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Work around
raising public services awareness of, and action to tackle ACEs is
continuing. A task and finish group has been established to review the Flying
Start Programme through and ACE and Children’s Rights lens, with a view to
developing a toolkit which can be used by the Welsh Government and others to
review their own policies and programmes to make them ACE informed. The task and finish group is due to meet
for a second time next month, with a view to completing its task by next
spring.
Welsh
Government officials are working with the ACE Support Hub to support the
development of ACE informed public services which can help to tackle ACEs and
break the intergenerational cycle of ACEs. It is also working with other
partners as part of the Early Action Together project, which is funded by
central government via the Police Transformation Fund, to transform the
policing of vulnerability by adopting an ACE and trauma informed approach.
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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:
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around
a specific place
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to
work collaboratively for the children and young people in that place
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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:
19/09/2018
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Work to
develop Children First Pioneer areas is continuing. The Welsh Government has
offered each Pioneer area seed funding of up to £20,000 to help them to take
forward the development of their Children Community. The funding is being
used for a variety of purposes in the different areas including to bring in
additional staffing resources, to engage external expertise, to develop
resources and for community engagement activities. The Welsh Government has
also supported areas to develop their ‘Theory of Change’ models by facilitating individual workshops, which
have been attended by the partner organisations in each area. On Friday, 21st September, there was a
joint meeting held between the Pioneer and non-Pioneer areas, which was also
attended by representatives of the Wallsend (Newcastle) Children’s Community,
who were able to share their own experiences of developing a children’s
community.
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Contact:
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Email: Wayne.Warner@gov.wales
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