Councils are being encouraged to harness the potential of social networking sites to engage with young people. The think tank, the Local Government Information Unit believes the online sites can be used to increase youth participation in the democratic process and in the delivery of children’s services and it is leading a group of authorities to promote the idea. 

In the first partnership of its kind a local authority is opening a children’s centre in a church which will also remain open for Sunday services. The collaboration is between Herefordshire Council and local parishioners in the village of Peterchurch.
Work to prepare the building for its new role begins this week using staff from the council’s Learning Disability Team who will remove pews and re-order the rear of the nave. 

This report summarises the results of consultation following the publication of the White Paper on transferring funding for 16-19 year olds to local councils to give greater leadership at local level. The consultation sought views on how to implement proposed reforms to education and training for pre-19 and post-19 learners.