The plans to put children's centres on a firmer legal footing are included in the new Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill. The Bill states that the staffing, organisation and operation of children's centres may come in for regulation, such as requiring local authorities to set up governing bodies for children's centres.
Other measures include setting up statutory children's trusts so that schools and social services work together to protect children.
Children's secretary Ed Balls said, 'We are also legislating to ensure that every local authority has a Children's Trust Board with responsibility for improving the well-being of children in their area. This will allow us to strengthen local arrangements to support children as they are growing up, and their parents.'
Children's Trust Boards will work with schools, academies, sixth form colleges, further education colleges and Job Centre Plus to promote children's well-being.
In the first overhaul of apprenticeships legislation for nearly 200 years, the Bill will put apprenticeships on a statutory basis by giving young people access to apprenticeships for on-the-job training.
The Bill will also put rights in place so that all employees can ask for training at whatever stage of their career.
Other measures set out in the Bill include:
- setting up a new School Support Staff Negotiating Body
- 'lighter touch' inspections for successful schools
- setting up Ofqual as an independent regulator of qualifications and assessment
- transferring the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's non-regulatory functions to a new Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency
- extending school and college powers to cover alcohol, drugs and stolen items.
- Teachers would get more help and support to identify children with special educational needs (SEN), under new recommendations from Sir Alan Steer in the latest report from his ongoing review that examines the link between SEN and pupils' behaviour.
Sir Alan called for children with special needs to be correctly identified and supported from an early age.
The fourth interim report recommends ongoing reviews and monitoring to ensure that schools spend money on effective interventions.
The Review of Pupil Behaviour: Interim Report 4 is available at www.dcsf.gov.uk.