News

Cllr Nick Forbes, Senior Vice Chair of the Local Government Association, responds to a survey by YouGov commissioned by Playbrush showing that three in five parents in Britain say their children brush their teeth for 90 seconds or less, below the two minutes recommended by dentists.

Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, Cllr Roy Perry, responds to The Children’s Society’s annual Good Childhood Report, which examines the state of children’s well-being in the UK.

“We are pleased that the Government’s strategy has placed youth services back on the agenda, and we look forward to working with them on the review of youth services guidance in light of the increasingly challenging context that councils are working in."

Figures reveal only a small number of eligible youngsters are taking part in the Government’s National Citizen Service (NCS), despite hundreds of millions of pounds of government investment.

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Chair of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responds to the latest special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) statistics published today by the Department for Education.

"We need to develop a system that says yes to all children and young people, rather than no, when they ask for help. Children and their families need help and support right now - depression, anxiety, bereavement, and family crises do not wait."

"Ninety children a day entered care in the last year, and councils saw the biggest annual increase of children in care since 2010. "

Councils called for sex and relationship education (SRE) to be made compulsory in all secondary schools, and were pleased when the Government announced this would happen last year.

Protecting children and helping them to get the very best in life is one of the most important things that councils do and it is positive that the proportion of children’s services departments rated good or outstanding has increased

Cllr Roy Perry, Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Children and Young People Board, responds to a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Children on varying levels of social care support for children.