The Health Bill proposes wide-sweeping reform of the NHS, by placing greater commissioning powers in the hands of GPs and by giving local authorities responsibility for delivering public health improvements. London Councils and the Society of IT Management call for the reforms to support closer working between the NHS and local councils.

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Despite some major initiatives in recent years to improve reading and writing, the standards being reached by some groups of children and young people still fall far below that of the rest of the population. Ofsted inspectors looked at the barriers to good literacy and found that poor development of speaking and listening skills at an early age is holding children back from learning to read and write.

Read more on POOR SPEAKING AND LISTENING SKILLS A BARRIER TO LITERACY SAYS OFSTED…