The Children and Families Bill 2012-2013 (which you can access here) has now been presented to Parliament, with its first reading yesterday (4th February) in the House of Commons, and is now starting to make its way through Westminster.
The Department for Education’s website tells us a little more about the Bill:
The Children and Families Bill takes forward the Coalition Government’s commitments to improve services for vulnerable children and support strong families. It underpins wider reforms to ensure that all children and young people can succeed, no matter what their background. The Bill will reform the systems for adoption, looked after children, family justice and special educational needs. It will encourage growth in the childcare sector, introduce a new system of shared parental leave and ensure children in England have a strong advocate for their rights.
Community Care have written a helpful piece on The Bill, but you can track The Bill’s progress on Parliament’s own very snazzy website. As we type, The Bill is currently awaiting its second reading in the House of Commons.
And now, there’s tons of information on The Bill on-line, all housed on the Department for Education’s website:
- A Summary Page of the Bill’s purpose, what it includes and The Bill itself
- A Fact Sheet on The Bill and;
- The Children and Families Bill (actual document)
The DofE tells us the main provisions relate to:
- Adoption and Virtual School Heads (VSH)
- The Family Justice System
- Special Education Needs
- Childcare
- Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) and;
- Shared Parental Leave and Flexible Working
And here are some more articles on The Bill which have started to emerge:
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on The Bill…..
Researching Reform 