A new book examined debates about the role of children in public space, setting them within an academic framework and drawing on a range of interdisciplinary work on childhood, young people and parenting.
Source: Gill Valentine, Public Space and the Culture of Childhood, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Dec
A report looked at the experiences of 50 young witnesses, aged 7-17, giving evidence in criminal court proceedings - the majority giving evidence in sexual offence cases. Child witnesses often waited long periods before their cases came to trial, making their experience even more drawn-out and painful. The experience of giving evidence was often traumatic, leaving many children feeling distressed, upset and angry.
Source: Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson, In Their Own Words: The experiences of 50 young witnesses in criminal proceedings, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2500) and Victim Support
Links: Summary | NSPCC press release | Children Now report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report brought together existing research and knowledge about children and young people involved in prostitution. It covered the legal context, as well as how and why young people become involved, their experiences, and the barriers they faced in exiting. The report recommended a range of changes to legislation, policy and services, as well as further research.
Source: Abigail Levy, Stigmatised, Marginalised and Criminalised: An overview of the issues relating to children and young people involved in prostitution, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Dec
A report was published of 270 notifications of, and 122 visits to, children and adolescents detained under the Mental Health Act on adult psychiatric wards, including key findings, recommendations and guidance.
Source: Safeguarding Children and Adolescents Detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 on Adult Psychiatric Wards, Mental Health Act Commission (0115 943 7100)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Dec
A joint inspectorate report was published on the second wave of Children's Fund partnerships.
Source: The Children s Fund: The second wave partnerships, HMI 2295, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833) and Audit Commission
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release
Date: 2004-Dec
An article said that unhappiness among children seemed to be rising: but labelling it as depression and prescribing antidepressants was ineffective and possibly harmful.
Source: Sami Timimi, 'Rethinking childhood depression', British Medical Journal, 11 December 2004
Links: Article | BMJ press release
Date: 2004-Dec
New national police guidance for dealing with prostitution was launched. It advocated a 'holistic' approach, involving joint working with partners in local government and non-governmental agencies, to: tackle the harm done to individuals; support them in finding routes out of prostitution; protect communities; and prosecute those who abused and exploited vulnerable women, men and children.
Source: ACPO's Policy, Strategy and Operational Guidelines for Dealing with Exploitation and Abuse through Prostitution, Association of Chief Police Officers (020 7227 3434)
Links: ACPO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Dec
A report summarized key emerging lessons from the first round of case study work with six Children s Fund partnerships undertaken by the national evaluation team. (The Children s Fund is a funding stream, launched in 2000, directed at developing multi-agency working for preventative services for children aged 5-13 in all 149 local authorities in England.)
Source: National Evaluation of the Children s Fund, Children, Young People, Parents and Carers Participation in Children's Fund Case Study Partnerships, Research Report 602, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Dec
The Scottish Executive announced proposed amendments to its Protection of Children and Prevention of Sexual Offences Bill. The Bill would be extended to criminalize pornography and prostitution involving those up to the age of 18, in line with optional protocols relating to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Executive also published the results of a consultation exercise on protecting children from sexual exploitation.
Source: Press release 22 December 2004, Scottish Executive (0131 556 8400) | Linda Nicholson, Protecting Children form Sexual Harm: Analysis of consultation responses, Scottish Executive, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: SE press release | Consultation responses (pdf)
Date: 2004-Dec
The government launched a review of how children gave evidence in court proceedings.
Source: Press release 1 December 2004, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Home Office press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A survey found that only 1 in 3 local authorities in England had basic plans to protect young runaways - despite government guidelines which required all local authorities to respond to the needs of runaways.
Source: Press release 10 November 2004, Children s Society (020 7841 4415)
Links: Children's Society press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A report examined the provision of mental health services for children and young people. It made a series of recommendations to government and other agencies, aimed at plugging the gaps and ensuring that children facing the most complex and damaging problems had access to the support they needed.
Source: Carole Easton and J. Carpentieri, Can I Talk to You Again?: Restoring the emotional and mental well-being of children and young people, Childline (020 7650 3444)
Links: Report (pdf) | Childline press release
Date: 2004-Nov
A study examined the legislative and practice response to a 1997 report which made recommendations for improving safeguards for children living away from home. One report of the study covered all the original recommendations; and a second report examined issues of sexual abuse, children in prisons, and disabled children. Legislation, policy and procedures had been much improved: but effective implementation had been more problematic.
Source: Marian Stuart and Catherine Baines, Progress on Safeguards for Children Living Away from Home: A review of action since the People Like Us report, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033) | Marian Stuart and Catherine Baines, Safeguards for Vulnerable Children: Three studies on abusers, disabled children and children in prison, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd
Links: Progress report (pdf) | Safeguards report (pdf) | JRF Findings N54 | JRF press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Nov
A Bill was approved by the Scottish Parliament giving mothers in Scotland the legal right to breastfeed in public. The legislation, which would take effect in early 2005, made it a criminal offence to deliberately obstruct breast or bottle feeding in any public place where children were allowed.
Source: Breastfeeding etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, TSO (0870 606 5566)
Links: Text of Bill (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
A survey found that peer pressure and the threat of bullying were prompting schoolchildren to choose highly processed snacks and fast foods over healthy options.
Source: Anna Ludvigsen and Neera Sharma, Burger Boy and Sporty Girl: Children and young people's attitudes toward food in school, Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Nov
The Welsh Assembly government began consultation on proposals from a study group aimed at promoting play opportunities for children.
Source: Play Policy Implementation Group Recommendations, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | WAG press release
Date: 2004-Nov
Researchers reported early findings from an evaluation of the Children's Fund, focusing on the extent of collaborative work between agencies. (The Children s Fund is a funding stream, launched in 2000, directed at developing multi-agency working for preventative services for children aged 5-13 in all 149 local authorities in England.)
Source: National Evaluation of the Children s Fund, Collaborating for the Social Inclusion of Children and Young People: Emerging lessons from the first round of case studies, Research Report 596, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf) | Children Now report
Date: 2004-Nov
Researchers found that the vulnerable children grant was seen by the vast majority of interviewees to be a positive step, allowing greater flexibility to take into account local circumstances, needs and priorities. (The grant, introduced in April 2003, amalgamated and built on existing standards fund grants for individual groups of vulnerable children - for example, looked-after children, children unable to attend school because of their medical needs, Gypsy/Traveller children, asylum seekers, young carers, school refusers, teenage parents, and young offenders.)
Source: Sally Kendall, Annie Johnson, Caroline Gulliver, Kerry Martin and Kay Kinder, Evaluation of the Vulnerable Children Grant, Research Report 592, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Appendix (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Nov
A study examined the first five years of a community-based programme of early intervention, targeted at children living in communities and families deemed to put them at risk of developing social problems. The evidence indicated that, if implemented well, the approach could make a long-term contribution to the development of services and maybe also on levels of risk and protection. (The programme was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.)
Source: Iain Crow, Alan France, Sue Hacking and Mary Hart, Does Communities that Care work? An evaluation of a community-based risk prevention programme in three neighbourhoods, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | JRF Findings N14
Date: 2004-Nov
The Welsh Assembly government began consultation on a national service framework for children, young people and maternity services. The framework set out a 10-year vision for developing high quality services and reducing inequalities in service delivery. It set standards for health and social services, as well as other areas that had an impact on the health and well-being of children and young people - including, education, housing, leisure and transport.
Source: National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 3657)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Consultation document (pdf links) | Wales NHS press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A study found that children felt speeding, selfish driving and busy roads were preventing them from walking, cycling and playing in their own neighbourhoods, and in extreme cases forcing them to stay indoors. It called for increased funding for traffic calming and speed cameras in the most deprived residential areas, where there were large numbers of child pedestrians. All new housing developments should include children's play space.
Source: Stop, Look and Listen: Children talk about traffic, Barnardo s (01268 520224) and Transport 2000
Links: Report (pdf) | Barnardo's press release | Children Now report
Date: 2004-Oct
The government began consultation on proposals (in a Green Paper published in 2003) to develop information-sharing databases to support early intervention to help children and young people in England. The consultation sought views on two aspects of the databases: recording practitioner details for potentially sensitive services, and recording concern about a child. The government said that the databases should have the scope to record any concerns of doctors and other professionals, even if the child or their family did not give consent.
Source: Information Sharing Databases in Children's Services, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Consultation document | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
The High Court ruled that the quality of life of a premature baby (Charlotte Wyatt) would be so poor that further 'aggressive' treatment was not in her interests.
Source: Portsmouth NHS Trust v. Derek Wyatt, Charlotte Wyatt by her Guardian (CAFCASS), EWHC 2247 (Fam), High Court of Justice, 7 October 2004
Links: Text of judgement (Word file) | Catholic Church press release | Mencap press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Oct
A private member's Bill aimed at improving children's health, and preventing food-related ill-health, fell through lack of Parliamentary time.
Source: Debra Shipley MP, Children's Food Bill, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
The Children Now magazine launched a charter for children's play, supported by a range of children's organizations. It said that play was essential for the healthy mental, physical, emotional and social development of every child; and it called for children to be given time and space to play freely.
Source: The Play Charter, Children Now, 26 October 2004
Links: Charter
Date: 2004-Oct
An article examined the ways in which the legal system attempted, through actual legislation and a graded sentencing policy, to control child pornography. It concluded by suggesting that the function of law needed to be more carefully defined, so as to focus more clearly on child protection and on the surest means of delivering this.
Source: Katherine Williams, 'Child pornography law: does it protect children?', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 26 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-Oct
A review presented the findings of research about the impact of parental mental health issues on children and other family members. It supported the case for bridging the gap between providers of services to adults and services to children.
Source: Jo Tunnard, Parental Mental Health Problems: Messages from research, policy and practice, Research in Practice Network (01803 867692)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Oct
Campaigners calling on all political parties to commit to a national play policy - including full implementation of the recommendations in the Dobson Report (on the allocation of 200 million lottery funding for children s play), and a major focus on local streets, neighbourhoods, parks and open spaces, to make them safe, attractive play places for children and young people.
Source: Manifesto for Play, Children s Play Council/National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6029)
Links: Manifesto (pdf) | NCB press release
Date: 2004-Sep
A survey found that 3 out of 4 lunchboxes for children failed to meet official nutritional standards for school meals.
Source: Angie Jefferson and Kathy Cowbrough, School Lunch Box Survey 2004, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000)
Links: Report (pdf) | FSA press release
Date: 2004-Sep
The Children Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was designed to create clear accountability for children's services, to enable better joint working and to secure a better focus on safeguarding children. A coalition of organizations representing children called for the Bill to be amended to require schools to co-operate with social services and other agencies in protecting children.
Source: Children Bill [HL], Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 13 September 2004, columns 1000-1086, TSO | Press release 13 September 2004, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2775) and others
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC Library research paper (pdf) | NSPCC press release | Barnardo's press release | Children's Society press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
A report explored how the citizenship of children their entitlement to recognition, respect and active participation in society could be built into everyday practices and relationships between adults and young children.
Source: Carolyn Willow, Ruth Marchant, Perpetua Kirby and Bren Neale, Young Children s Citizenship: Ideas into practice, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2004-Sep
Deaths in England and Wales categorized as 'sudden infant death' dropped in 2003 by 13 per cent. But campaigners expressed doubts about the reliability of the statistics.
Source: 'Sudden infant deaths, 2003', Health Statistics Quarterly 23, Autumn 2004, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 19 August 2004, Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (0870 787 0885)
Links: Article (pdf) | FSID press release
Date: 2004-Aug
An article said that whether children walked to and from primary school made no difference to their total activity. Although children who walked to and from school recorded more activity in the process, their total weekly activity was identical to non-walkers. The additional activity recorded by walkers during the school journey was only 2 per cent of the children's total weekly activity.
Source: Brad Metcalf, Linda Voss, Alison Jeffery, Jenny Perkins and Terry Wilkin, 'Physical activity cost of the school run: impact on schoolchildren of being driven to school', British Medical Journal, 18 August 2004
Links: Article (pdf) | BMJ press release
Date: 2004-Aug
A study found that children s accounts of their play experiences had changed little since the 1940s. Key themes included the importance of boundaries, the significance of traffic, the need for children to tell parents where they were going, the nature of rules, and the impact of territorial rivalry between different groups of children. However, the area in which children were allowed to play seemed to have shrunk over time. In the 1940s, some children were allowed to roam freely over a wide area, whereas 21st century children were more strictly controlled by their parents.
Source: Colin Pooley et al., Changing Patterns of Everyday Mobility, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Aug
The Food Standards Agency adopted an action plan (following consultation) on the way in which foods were promoted to children.
Source: Action Plan on Food Promotions and Children's Diets, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000)
Links: Report (pdf) | FSA press release
Date: 2004-Jul
The schools inspectorate criticised 'patchy and often unsatisfactory' teaching on healthy eating and the importance of exercise. Nurseries were much better at promoting and including food and nutrition in every aspect of learning when compared with primary schools.
Source: Starting Early: Food and nutrition education of young children, HMI 2292, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833) and Food Standards Agency
Links: Report (pdf) | OFSTED press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
The television watchdog ruled out a ban on advertising junk foods to children. It said the role of advertising in obesity was small compared to other factors such as exercise and family habits.
Source: Childhood Obesity: Food advertising in context, Office of Communications (020 7981 3000)
Links: Ofcom press release | BMA press release | NCC press release | Consumers' Association press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jul
A report described the views of over a thousand children in Northern Ireland aged 5-18 on the issues which most concerned them. 57 per cent expressed concern over the amenities available to them; 16 per cent felt paramilitary/sectarian activity affected their lives; 10 per cent raised issues around racial and homophobic discrimination.
Source: Shout Out Soon, Children's Law Centre (028 9024 5704)
Links: Report
Date: 2004-Jul
Low-income consumers were asked for their views on a range of options to address the way in which foods were promoted and marketed to children. Parents and teenagers generally welcomed the idea of forcing manufacturers to be more honest about their products, and said they found existing labelling confusing.
Source: Research Works Limited, Food Promotion and Marketing to Children: Views of low income consumers, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
On 1 June 2004 section 175 of the Education Act 2002 came into force, making 'safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children' a statutory duty for schools and education authorities.
Source: Education Act 2002, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A report reviewed the evidence relating to effective service provision for children's social and emotional development, and the implications for Sure Start settings.
Source: Zarrina Kurtz, What Works in Promoting Children's Mental Health?: The evidence and the implications for Sure Start settings, Department for Education and Skills
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
A manual sought to assist practitioners in identifying families with children aged 4-12 who were at risk of becoming involved in criminal or antisocial behaviour. It reviewed evidence about risk and resilience; described the processes involved in making assessments; and suggested instruments which might assist in detecting whether a range of risk factors were present in the four key domains of the lives of children - the neighbourhood, the school, the family, and within the individual child.
Source: Peter McCarthy, Karen Laing and Janet Walker, Offenders of the Future?: Assessing the risk of children and young people becoming involved in crime and antisocial behaviour, Research Report 545, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
The report was published of an official inquiry into events leading up to the murder (in 2002) of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, aged 10. It found 'serious failures' in the recording and managing of information about the previous offending behaviour of their killer. The government said that it accepted the main recommendations and would act on them immediately. A separate inspectorate report into the handling of the police investigation concluded that, at national level, there was an 'inconsistency of understanding' as to the nature of critical incidents and the implication for forces dealing with them.
Source: The Bichard Inquiry Report, HC 653, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Ronnie Flanagan, A Report on the Investigation by Cambridgeshire Constabulary into the Murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells at Soham on 4 August 2002, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (01527 882000) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 22 June 2004, columns 1185-1201, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Bichard report (pdf) | Hansard | Home Office press release | Flanagan report summary (pdf) | NCH press release | Nacro press release | Information Commissioner press release (Word file) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jun
A report said that, in terms of their day-to-day experiences of the conflict in Northern Ireland, there was little to distinguish Protestant from Catholic children. The major influence on the children s lives was where they lived - for example in deprived working class areas as against relatively affluent, middle-class areas.
Source: Paul Connolly and Julie Healy, Children and the Conflict in Northern Ireland: The experiences and perspectives of 3-11 year olds, Northern Ireland Executive (028 9052 0500)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jun
Child casualties in road accidents fell by 8 per cent in 2003. The number of children killed or seriously injured was 4,100 (down 11 per cent on 2002). Of those, 2,381 were pedestrians, 16 per cent down on 2002. There were 171 child fatalities, 4 per cent fewer than in 2002.
Source: Road Casualties Great Britain: 2003 - Main results, Transport Statistics Bulletin 04/30, Department for Transport (020 7944 3098)
Links: Bulletin (pdf) | DT press release
Date: 2004-Jun
A journal article explored children's and young people's views and experience of public space in regeneration areas. It considered whether children's perspectives were accurately reflected in public policy. It drew on primary research with young people aged 10-14, and representatives from local organisations, in a disadvantaged urban area in Scotland.
Source: Susan Elsley, 'Children's experience of public space', Children & Society, Volume 18 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2004-May
A literature review found that children facing a range of difficult domestic circumstances wanted to talk about these issues, but rarely did so, particularly with professionals. Their experiences when they did have contact with support services were mixed.
Source: Sarah Gorin, Understanding What Children Say: Children s experiences of domestic violence, parental substance misuse and parental health problems, National Children's Bureau (020 7843 6028) for Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: JRF Findings 514 | JRF press release | Children Now report
Date: 2004-May
A think-tank report said that school pupils should be entitled to out-of-classroom learning activities, including regular school safaris , to enable them to explore their local environment, help them overcome fears about it, and connect them to wider green issues. Outdoor play improved children s health, well-being and personal development: but children living in poverty, in areas of high deprivation, had restricted access to such opportunities.
Source: Guy Thompson and Gillian Thomas, A Child s Place: Why environment matters to children, Green Alliance (020 7233 7433) and Demos
Links: Report (pdf) | Green Alliance press release | Demos press release | Barnardo's press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2004-May
A report highlighted the problem of child trafficking into the United Kingdom, based on evidence from London social services departments.
Source: Carron Somerset, Cause for Concern? London social services and child trafficking, ECPAT UK (020 7501 8927)
Links: Report (pdf) | ECPAT press release | UNICEF UK press release | Community Care report
Date: 2004-May
A paper examined the correlation between income and health, by examining routes by which parental disadvantage was transmitted into child disadvantage. Children from poorer households had poorer health: but the direct impact of income was small. A larger role was played by the mother s own health and events in her early life.
Source: Carol Propper, Simon Burgess and John Rigg, The Impact of Low Income on Child Health: Evidence from a birth cohort study, CASEpaper 85, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Links: Paper (pdf) | Abstract
Date: 2004-May
The Attorney General announced that only a small number of cases would be referred to the Court of Appeal in which mothers had been convicted of killing their babies on the basis of expert evidence.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 6 May 2004, column 90WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | NSPCC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-May
The government said that it accepted the recommendations of an official taskforce which had called for the overhaul and consolidation of legislation relating to the employment of children.
Source: Letter to Better Regulation Taskforce from Margaret Hodge MP (Minister for Children, Young People and Families) 20 May 2004
Links: Text of letter (pdf) | TUC press release | Task Force report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A report explored the ways in which peer advocacy for children and young people had been used in a selection of funded projects, and evaluated the relative success of different models in achieving desired outcomes.
Source: Robert Harnett, Models of Peer Advocacy Developed by Selected Projects Funded by Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund: Evaluation report, National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6029)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-May
A private member's Bill was introduced which would require the Food Standards Agency to draw up guidelines on healthy and unhealthy foods: these would then be used to inform a ban on the promotion of unhealthy foods to children. It also called for tighter regulation of school meals, and a ban on the sale of unhealthy foods in school vending machines.
Source: Debra Shipley MP, Children's Food Bill, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2004-May
Researchers found that, despite different starting points, all 'On Track' projects surveyed had incorporated into their delivery plans evidence of strategic planning that drew on multi-agency partnerships and community consultation. (On Track is a multiple interventions crime prevention programme targeted at children aged 4-12 and their families.)
Source: Lesley Noaks, Karen Moreton and Howard Williamson, On Track Thematic Report: Partnership Working, Research Report 527, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Apr
Research found children had a good understanding of physical illness by the age of 5 in terms of causes and consequences. However, they did not develop a similar understanding about mental illness until they are 8-9 years old, and younger children did not always distinguish between mental and physical illness.
Source: Eithne Buchanan-Barrow and Martyn Barrett, The Development of Children's Conceptions of Mental Illness, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Apr
A report charted progress on achieving the government's road safety targets. In the first three years of the strategy there had been a 17 per cent drop in the number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads, and a 33 per cent reduction in the number of children killed and seriously injured.
Source: Tomorrow's Roads - Safer for Everyone: The first three year review, Department for Transport (020 7944 3000)
Links: Report | DT press release
Date: 2004-Apr
Campaigners said that more than a million children were growing up in squalid housing that was damaging their health, education and life prospects.
Source: Sarah Jones, Toying with their Future: The hidden cost of the housing crisis, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report (pdf) | Shelter press release | National Energy Action press release | Guardian report | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Apr
An article said that children's waistlines had expanded by two clothing sizes in the space of 20 years.
Source: Mary Rudolf et al., 'Rising obesity and expanding waistlines in schoolchildren: a cohort study', Archives of Disease in Childhood, Volume 89, Number 3
Links: Abstract | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
Infant deaths fell by 3.5 per cent in England and Wales in 2002: but stillbirths rose by 6.7 per cent.
Source: Mortality Statistics: Childhood, infant and perinatal, Series DH3 35, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
A qualitative study looked at the impact of mentoring on young people, based on three different services in Scotland. The researchers concluded that, while mentoring could not remedy all the ills facing vulnerable young people, it could be a useful part of the range of interventions. To be effective, the range of mentoring approaches needed to suit young people's individual circumstances. Existing typologies of mentoring and befriending did not address the variety of styles of mentoring described by young people in the sample.
Source: Kate Philip, Caroline King and Janet Shucksmith, Sharing a Laugh? Qualitative study of mentoring interventions with young people, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report (pdf) | Findings | JRF press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A report contained an analysis of health and health-related behaviour among those aged under 20 years in the United Kingdom during the period 1990 to 2001.
Source: The Health of Children and Young People, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: Report (pdf links) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2004-Mar
A briefing paper urged local authorities to take a strategic approach to children s play. It showed how local authorities could work across the public and voluntary sectors to provide the play spaces and activities children needed. It also emphasised how good play provision could help to meet other local policy objectives, including revitalising rundown areas and reducing anti-social behaviour.
Source: Planning for Play: A briefing for local authorities, Children s Play Council/National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6016)
Links: Briefing (pdf) | NCB press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A guide book provided factual material on the welfare of children, together with expert commentaries. It contained an in-depth examination of areas such as health, education, children at risk, poverty, children in care, young offenders, homelessness and runaways. It also provided an extensive directory of charities, professional bodies and other organisations working with children. (It replaced the previous annual publication, 'NCH Factfile'.)
Source: Working with Children 2004-05, SocietyGuardian (0870 066 7850) and NCH
Links: NCH press release (1) | NCH press release (2)
Date: 2004-Mar
A survey in 2003 of children aged 11-15 found that 21 per cent had taken drugs in the previous year (an increase from 20 per cent in 2002 and 2001); 12 per cent had taken drugs in the previous month (unchanged); 9 per cent were regular smokers (down from 10 per cent in 2002) and 25 per cent had drunk alcohol in the previous week (24 per cent in 2002).
Source: Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking among Young People in England in 2003: Headline figures, Department of Health (020 7972 5581)
Links: Report (pdf) | DH press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A report outlined the action which the government and local agencies should be taking to promote mental health in young children. Evidence suggested that the attachment between a new-born baby and his or her primary carer was the foundation of lifelong mental health.
Source: Mental Health in Infancy, YoungMinds (020 7336 8445)
Links: Report | YoungMinds press release
Date: 2004-Mar
A children's charity said that more than 15,000 children aged under 16 were thrown out of home each year by parents who hit, neglected and rejected them. Of these, one in five were physically or sexually assaulted while away from home. Few of these children were ever reported missing to the police by their parents, so their plight often went unnoticed.
Source: Gwyther Rees and Jean Siakeu, Thrown Away: The experiences of children forced to leave home, Children s Society (020 7841 4415)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A report said that 84 per cent of parents felt that commercial marketing targeted their children too much. It provided a report of a seminar on marketing to children which brought together opinion formers and policy makers in an open debate on the topic.
Source: Hard Sell, Soft Targets?, National Family and Parenting Institute (020 7424 3460)
Links: NFPI press release
Date: 2004-Mar
The Food Standards Agency began consultation on an action plan on food promotion and children. The action plan called on government, schools, industry and others to work with the Agency to address the way in which foods were promoted to children, and in doing so to encourage children to eat a more healthy diet. The government said that it preferred self-regulation by the advertising industry to statutory regulation.
Source: Draft Action Plan on Food Promotions and Children s Diets: Consultation paper, Food Standards Agency (020 7276 8000) | Speech by Tessa Jowell MP (Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport) 3 March 2004, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Text of speech | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A survey found that children as young as 13 were starting to experiment with drugs, and that these early users were more likely to move on to hard drugs such as heroin. The study also discovered a big gap between the onset of drug use as a child and the point at which treatment was sought: most addicts sought help only when they reached 25.
Source: Sara Jones, Sarah Drainey, Lee Walker and Jennifer Rooney, Collecting the Evidence: Clients views on drug services, Addaction (020 7251 5860)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
Researchers sought to identify the difficulties for local education authorities and schools in moving to delegated funding; identify examples of best practice, both in administration and delivery of delegating budgets; look at the support and monitoring school staff and governors received to assist the provision of meals; and investigate the impact of the shift to delegated school meals funding on nutritional standards and the quality of food provision in school. Over 80 per cent of LEAs had delegated funding universally to all secondary and primary schools. In LEAs where the funding formula was based on free school meal entitlement rather than take-up, the sums schools spent on meals did not necessarily match the sums delegated. In schools that made savings on the budget, unspent sums were often absorbed into the general school budget. Conversely, some schools were known to be spending more on free school meals than the sum delegated.
Source: Pamela Storey and Mano Candappa, School Meals Funding Delegation, Research Report 512, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
A survey found that more than 9 out of 10 local authority by-laws on school-age working conflicted with national legislation.
Source: Carolyn Hamilton, Dazed and Confused: Why child employment laws in England are baffling parents and teenagers, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294) and National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2775)
Links: Report (pdf) | NSPCC press release | TUC press release
Date: 2004-Feb
The government published its response to a consultation exercise on the replacement of the welfare food scheme by a new 'Healthy Start' programme. The nutritional basis of the scheme would be broadened; greater access would be provided to healthy foods through a fixed face value voucher; and scheme members would be registered through health professionals. The government said that about 800,000 parents in poorer families would get vouchers for fruit and vegetables through the scheme.
Source: Healthy Start: Government response to the consultation, Department of Health (08701 555455) | Press release 16 February 2004, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: Response (pdf) | DH press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
Doctors called on the government and food industry to take urgent action to tackle the 'terrifying health consequences' of increasing levels of obesity. They warned that, if trends continued, at least a third of adults, a fifth of boys and a third of girls would be obese by 2020.
Source: Storing up Problems: The medical case for a slimmer nation, Royal College of Physicians (020 7935 117), Faculty of Public Health, and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
Links: Summary | Recommendations (pdf) | RCP press release | HDA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
A report described the ways in which sexual abusers could exploit the internet and mobile phones to gain access to children who would previously have been beyond their reach. It also showed there was a disparity between existing child protection practice, procedures and policies and the needs of 'hi-tech' child abuse victims.
Source: Tink Palmer, Just One Click, Barnardo s (01268 520224)
Links: Barnardo's press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Feb
An evidence briefing provided a review of reviews about the effectiveness of ante- and post-natal home-visiting programmes for improving child and maternal outcomes.
Source: Julie Bull, Geraldine McCormick, Catherine Swann and Caroline Mulvihill, Ante- and Post-natal Home-visiting Programmes: Review of reviews, Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
A report discussed the barriers encountered by maltreated children when 'telling' about the difficulties they were facing, from their feelings of shame to worries about their confidentiality being breached.
Source: Brid Featherstone and Helen Evans, Children Experiencing Maltreatment: Who do they turn to?, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (0207 825 2500)
Links: Summary (Powerpoint file)
Date: 2004-Feb
An official taskforce called for the overhaul and consolidation of legislation relating to the employment of children.
Source: The Regulation of Child Employment, Better Regulation Task Force/Cabinet Office (020 7276 2142)
Links: Report (pdf) | BRTF press release
Date: 2004-Feb
A research review provided an overview of information relevant to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people. It covered information relating to the extent of commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people; characteristics of those affected and those known to perpetrate exploitation; types of preventive strategies; and approaches that assist young people to exit and recover from abusive situations.
Source: Elaine Chase and June Statham, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young People: Overview of key literature and data, Thomas Coram Research Unit/University of London (020 7612 6957)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
A research paper examined recorded child abductions in England and Wales in 2002-03, and the reasons for a large apparent increase in cases compared to 2001-02. More than half (56 per cent) of all child abductions recorded by the police involved an offender not known to the victim. 23 per cent were committed by a parent of the child. At least 6 per cent (probably considerably more) were sexually motivated. The report said the Home Office should monitor the number of child abductions recorded by the police closely, and should undertake further work on why these offences were increasing, if this continued to be the case.
Source: Geoff Newiss and Lauren Fairbrother, Child Abduction: Understanding police recorded crime statistics, Research Findings 225, Home Office (020 7273 2084)
Links: Findings (pdf)
Date: 2004-Feb
A report drew together a broad range of information concerning the distribution of child pornography on the internet and its links to child abuse. It suggested a series of measures which it said the internet industry should implement to improve protection for children.
Source: John Carr, Child Pornography, Child Abuse and the Internet, NCH (0845 762 6579)
Links: Summary (Word file) | NCH press release | Community Care article | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Jan
The Welsh Assembly Government responded to the second annual report of the Children's Commissioner for Wales, detailing the action taken on the commissioner's recommendations.
Source: Response of the Welsh Assembly Government to the Second Annual Report of the Children's Commissioner for Wales: 2002-2003, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Response (Word file) | Commissioner's report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jan
A report examined the extent to which modern mental health systems were responding to service users as parents, and working in partnership with other agencies and groups who had a role in ensuring children's well-being and healthy emotional development. Within adult mental health services, it was found that the children of service users were not routinely assessed or offered any planned, purposeful therapeutic intervention , even though there was a wealth of evidence to suggest children could be adversely affected by a parent s mental ill health.
Source: Tony Gillam, Marie Crofts, Gr inne Fadden and Keren Corbett, The Interfaces Project Report: Exploring the links between mental health services for children, adults and families, National Institute for Mental Health in England (0113 254 5000)
Links: Report (Word file)
Date: 2004-Jan
The government announced the national roll-out of the National School Fruit Scheme, designed to promote fruit consumption ('five a day') by children aged 4-6. But a professor of nutrition reportedly criticised the scheme, arguing that it did not address the key nutritional problems facing children, and calling it a 'scandalous waste of money'.
Source: Press release 8 January 2004, Department of Health (020 7210 4850) | The Independent, 13 January 2004
Links: DH press release | News article
Date: 2004-Jan
A report by an independent review group (led by Frank Dobson MP) said that children would enjoy a healthier lifestyle if they had access to better-quality, safe and clean outdoor play areas. It recommended that play areas and facilities should be updated and modified to ensure that more disabled youngsters could have access to them; and should also be open to more children outside normal school hours. It said that most of the 200 million being offered by the government to upgrade and build new facilities (out of Lottery cash from the New Opportunities Fund) should be allocated to areas based on their levels of deprivation.
Source: Getting Serious About Play: A review of children s play, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6412)
Links: Report (pdf) | CABE press release | Mencap press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Community Care article
Date: 2004-Jan