Parent Pages new website

With 50 million global subscribers, including half of the UK’s under-11s, the Moshi social network and games platform is poised to take over the world

Michael Acton Smith, 36, the founder of Moshi Monsters, looks more like a rock star than a businessman: a neater, more polite Bob Geldof, all tousled hair, black T-shirt and trousers set off by cool white shoes.

Maybe that’s because every year or so, Acton Smith and his former partner, Tom Boardman, plus fellow tech entrepreneurs, run a music festival from his three-storey house in Berwick Street, Soho. It was called Berwickstock – a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the 1969 Woodstock festival – which took place five years before Acton Smith was born.

In his day job of internet entrepreneur, Acton Smith appears to be on the way to becoming the dominant global player in children’s online space, with one child signing up to Moshi Monsters every second – a Neopets-meets-Facebook site.

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Low-income parents encouraged to sign up their children to trigger pupil premium payments

Hundreds of schools have driven up the amount they will be paid under the Government’s “pupil premium” initiative – designed to “reward” them for taking poorer children – by encouraging parents to apply for free school meals (FSM) for their children, even if they don’t eat them.

Amid growing concerns over pressures on school budgets, headteachers and local councils have targeted the premium, allocated to those pupils eligible for FSM, as a key source of extra income. Teachers estimate the device is worth at least an extra £10m.

They have co-ordinated a widespread campaign to persuade all low-income families eligible for FSM to register, qualifying their schools for an extra £430 per child.

But health campaigners complain that registering for FSM simply as a way to get more money undermines the message that free meals are a vital element of a child’s education.

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Surveys suggest you’ll spend over £9,000 on a child’s first 12 months. Nonsense, says Hilary Osborne, you can do it for much less

I’ve never wheeled Wyn round in a £1,000 Silver Cross pram. He’s never had a cashmere babygro, nor Waitrose baby food. And those surveys, such as one by LV=, which tell you that the cost of a baby’s first year averages £9,152? Well I’ve done my own survey – kept all the receipts, recorded everything since his birth in June last year – and the truth is that you can give a baby everything he or she needs and keep the cost down to the hundreds rather than the thousands.

Yes, I admit that in those first few weeks it was a struggle to remember to pick up the nappies and cotton wool I’d paid for, let alone the receipt. I have no idea how much we spent on those emergency missions to the shops, but things calmed down relatively quickly, and since then I have been able to keep track of my spending.

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

Surveys suggest you’ll spend over £9,000 on a child’s first 12 months. Nonsense, says Hilary Osborne, you can do it for much less

I’ve never wheeled Wyn round in a £1,000 Silver Cross pram. He’s never had a cashmere babygro, nor Waitrose baby food. And those surveys, such as one by LV=, which tell you that the cost of a baby’s first year averages £9,152? Well I’ve done my own survey – kept all the receipts, recorded everything since his birth in June last year – and the truth is that you can give a baby everything he or she needs and keep the cost down to the hundreds rather than the thousands.

Yes, I admit that in those first few weeks it was a struggle to remember to pick up the nappies and cotton wool I’d paid for, let alone the receipt. I have no idea how much we spent on those emergency missions to the shops, but things calmed down relatively quickly, and since then I have been able to keep track of my spending.

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

That’s £640 a week for family with two children

£224,000 a year puts you in richest 1 per cent. A family with two children needs to bring in £640 a week after tax to be classed as true Middle Britons – at least in terms of income.

The figure equates to a single earner with a gross income of £45,000, according to research published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The details of wealth and earnings shine new light on the huge gulf between the nation’s haves and have-nots.

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Almost a fifth of graduates trainees would rather be working for another employer, according to a new survey.

More than half of new graduate recruits plan to leave their current role within two years, with two fifths hoping to find a new job in the next 12 months, the study found. Some 16pc want to switch roles immediately, despite the rocky jobs market and fierce competition for jobs.
Graduates said their top three interests were challenging work, a high salary and career progression, the survey of 1,900 graduates and managers published by the Institute of Leadership and Management found.
More than half of graduates expect to be appointed to a management role within three years of starting work, the study revealed. At least one in 10 believe they will be promoted to a management position within a year of their first job.

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Former model and TV presenter Annabel Giles has been forced to sell her home to raise money for her autistic son’s school fees.

Miss Giles – the one-time face of Max Factor and former wife of pop star Midge Ure – revealed that her fortunes were so diminished she was selling her house to send her son Ted to a specialist school.

She has set her sights on the £31,000-a-year Stanbridge Earls School in Romsey, Hampshire – a boarding school that specialises in educating children with learning difficulties.

In a lengthy blog post, Miss Giles said they had been turned down for financial assistance and so she would sell her £500,000 home in Brighton to raise the funds.

She wrote: “I’ve got quite a lot of collateral in it, certainly enough to fund the next two years’ fees. The school has said that once he’s established there, he stands more of a chance of a bigger bursary as other funded children leave.

“I won’t get another mortgage, because I’ve had no earnings to speak of over the last three years. So I’ll come off the property ladder and rent instead.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

The gap between the poorest pupils and their better-off peers in struggling schools in England is wider than in other schools, research suggests.

A Sutton Trust study found pupils eligible for free school meals in schools below national standards were a third as likely to reach GCSE targets as better-off peers elsewhere.

White British pupils “seemed to pose the biggest challenge”, the study said.

The government said it was targeting funds at the poorest pupils.

The trust studied 165,000 pupils in primary and secondary schools in England whose results fell below targets set by the government.

It found only 40% of these children reached expected standards at primary school, compared to 81% of children not eligible for free meals who attended schools which attained the government targets.

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Extra cash to soften the blow of new £26,000 limit

Big families claiming tens of thousands of pounds a year in welfare payments could escape the Government’s new ‘benefits cap’ for years under plans being considered by ministers.

Liberal Democrat sources said ‘transitional arrangements’ would provide extra cash to soften the impact of the flagship policy, which aims to cap the benefits a family can claim at £26,000 a year.

A senior source said Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was signed up to the benefits cap ‘going forward’ and was happy for it to apply to new claimants.

But there is ‘an issue around large families already living in properties in London and the South East’, the source added.

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There is little difference between an academies group and a local authority, says Fiona Millar, apart from a lack of accountability

The recent flurry of government announcements about academies and free schools was accompanied by the trumpeting of now familiar themes – autonomy, liberation, devolution of funds to the front line and the banishment of bureaucracy.

A few weeks before Michael Gove issued his latest call to arms, Sir Bruce Liddington, schools commissioner in the last Labour government, now director general of the academy chain E-ACT and one of the movers and shakers in the academy world, made a speech in which he set out his vision for a “world-class education system”.

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Some families in London are continuing to receive more than £100,000 a year in housing benefit, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.

As the Coalition Government faces mounting criticism over plans to cap housing benefit at £500 per week, figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show that some local authorities in the capital are still to paying private landlords up to four times that amount.
In Westminster, the most expensive borough in the country, five families are currently claiming the maximum allowance of £2,000 a week in housing benefit.
This means the council, which has announced 450 job cuts as part of a bid to save £60 million, is handing out more than £500,000 a year to just five families.
Elsewhere in the capital, private landlords are also continuing to rake in staggering amounts in housing benefit under the system that was introduced by the Labour government..

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The generosity of public sector pensions has been laid bare after official calculations showed that a typical teacher can expect to retire with a taxpayer-funded scheme worth more than £500,000.

Thousands of schools are to close today as a result of industrial action over proposals to make public sector staff work longer and contribute more for their pensions.
Unions representing the 750,000 employees involved in the strike say their members are being unfairly treated. But Treasury figures released today expose how public sector retirement funds dwarf their private sector counterparts.
The calculations show that a mid-ranking teacher on £32,000 a year will receive a final salary pension that is the equivalent of having built up a £500,000 pension pot.

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London and the South East once again dominated the graduate recruitment market, collectively offering more than half of all graduate jobs in 2010-11, a new survey shows.

By Louisa Peacock, Jobs Editor

The annual research by the Association for Graduate Recruiters, out on Tuesday, found 44.2pc of all graduate vacancies were in the capital. Just under 10pc were in the South East, while the rest of the UK carried the remaining jobs.
Wales and Northern Ireland were the worst places for graduate jobs, with 2.2pc and 0.9pc of the total vacancies, the analysis showed. The North East, North West and Yorkshire only generated 12pc of all graduate vacancies collectively last year, raising fears that the North-South divide over jobs is alive and kicking.

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Men who lose their jobs are more likely to divorce – and be divorced by – their working wives, according to research into the emotional impact of unemployment.

A study of employment and divorce suggests that while social pressure discouraging women from working outside the home has weakened, pressure on husbands to be breadwinners largely remains.
The research, led by Liana Sayer of Ohio State University to be published in the American Journal of Sociology, was designed to show how employment status influences both men’s and women’s decisions to end a marriage.
According to the study, a woman’s employment status has no effect on the likelihood that her husband will opt to leave the marriage. An employed woman is more likely to initiate a divorce than a woman who is not employed, but only when she reports being highly unsatisfied with the marriage.

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This week on the Guardian Teacher Network you can find resources for Wrong Trousers Day, which raises money for the Wallace and Gromit Children’s Foundation

By Emily Drabble

It’s Wrong Trousers Day on Friday – the charity fundraising day that invites children (and adults) to pay £1 for the right to look “wrong” in a pair of wacky or weird trousers.

All the money goes to the Wallace and Gromit Children’s Foundation, set up with the support of Nick Park, at Aardman Animations, who created the loveable pair. The foundation raises funds to improve the quality of life for sick children in hospitals and hospices in the UK.

On the Guardian Teacher Network we have pulled together resources for the day and beyond to use at school and home. The education website Pencil Street has created worksheets for primary school-aged children. You can find them all here.

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36 per cent see finances deteriorate this month
Half believe cost of living will worsen
One in five take on more debt during June

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

More and more of us are increasingly having to dip into our savings to cover the rising cost of living, research suggests.

Six times as many households (36 per cent) reported seeing their finances deteriorate this month, compared with those who saw an improvement (6 per cent), according to the Household Finance Index (HFI) carried out by Markit.

One in five admitted to taking on more debt during June to cope with falling incomes and increased prices, with just 15 per cent saying they had managed to reduce their debts in the month.

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Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones is at the centre of a row over £9million of taxpayers’ money given to a charity he set up for young entrepreneurs.

By Martin Delgado

The chief executive of the National Enterprise Academy founded by Mr Jones resigned after just a week in disgust at the shambolic way he believed the charity was being run.

Tom Bewick claimed the project was on the brink of running out of money and that the millions of pounds of public expenditure was ‘hard to justify’.

Source: DAILYMAIL

Royal College of Midwives brands withdrawal of central funding for 18-year campaign ‘disappointing’

By Sarah Boseley, health editor

The government has stepped back from a campaign launched 18 years ago to encourage new mothers to start and continue breastfeeding, in spite of the low proportion of women who breastfeed their babies in the UK for any length of time.

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week, which begins on Monday, is no longer receiving central funds from the Department of Health. Events will take place around the country, organised by local hospitals or groups such as the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), but there will be no central co-ordination or national campaign, which the Royal College of Midwives said was “very disappointing”.

Source: GUARDIAN

Our son and his girlfriend are going to different universities. We would like to give her a gift but don’t know what

Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.

Source: GUARDIAN

Schools across the capital are preparing for summer fêtes with teachers hoping barbecues, bric-a-brac stalls and tombolas raise much needed funds.

But parents and children at one London primary are looking forward to a fête with a difference – food from top chef Mark Hix and “pop-up” versions of London haunts including the Groucho Club and The Ivy.

Some of the capital’s leading chefs and restaurateurs have rallied round to help Soho Parish School at what is being called the Soho Food Feast.

The event on Saturday, 25 June is expected to attract hundreds of visitors eager to sample dishes from restaurants they might otherwise have to book months in advance.

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Welsh universities say they still hope to charge students tuition fees of up to £9,000 after initial plans were rejected in the last few days.

They have a month to improve their proposals turned down by the body that funds higher education.

Education Minister Leighton Andrews said they had not done enough to attract students from poorer backgrounds.

To charge more than £4,000 they have to come up with more ambitious targets.

Their fee plans must be approved by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (Hefcw).

Source: BBC NEWS

Britain will donate an additional £814 million to vaccinate more than 80 million children against diseases such as pneumonia and diarrhoea, David Cameron has announced.

The Prime Minister said the money would help save 1.4 million lives in the developing world over the next five years.

He was speaking at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) conference in London, where world leaders, charities, private companies and philanthropists, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates, were discussing how to generate the funds to ensure children receive protection against potentially fatal diseases.

Mr Cameron told the conference: “Britain will play its full part. In addition to our existing support for Gavi, we will provide £814 million of new funding up to 2015. This will help vaccinate over 80 million children and save 1.4 million lives.

Source: Evening Standard>> Read full article and comment

The legislation to impose a £26,000 limit that a family can receive in annual benefits enters its final stages in the Commons on Monday 13 June. It enjoys Conservative support but not all Liberal Democrats are behind it.

David Cameron has repeated his determination to impose the cap in a bid to tackle the ‘dependency culture’.

Adam Fleming recalls George Osborne’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference and spoke to Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Willott, Lord German and welfare reform minister Lord Freud.

Source: BBC NEWS

Hopes are rising that political leaders will agree on Monday to pledge enough cash to save the lives of millions of children in the world’s poorest countries.

Business chief and philanthropist Bill Gates and Prime Minister David Cameron are to lead the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) conference in London, which will see political leaders discuss how to generate sufficient funds to ensure children receive the vaccines they need.

Gavi is facing a shortfall of £2.3 billion for its work over the next five years, charities have warned.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said Britain would show leadership at the conference, where Mr Cameron is expected to pledge an increase in Britain’s contribution to Gavi.

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Mumsnet’s peer-advice guide to being the perfect parent suggests that common sense should take precedence over rules

Mumsnet is massive. It gets more than 30 million hits a month and 25,000 new posts appear on its talkboards every day. During the last election, politicians fell over themselves to be interviewed by its users in live chat sessions. Mumsnetters were to the 2010 election what Mondeo man was in 1997, the swing voters seen as the key to power.

They were also fearsome and raucous and could sometimes seem like an angry mob. Gordon Brown was rounded on for failing to name his favourite type of biscuit; Ed Miliband – climate change secretary at the time – for choosing disposable nappies over reusable cloth ones. This January, the mother of a disabled child wrote a despairing post about the government’s refusal to ring-fence the funds allocated for respite care. Her story made the newspapers’ front pages. She had reason to expect something to be done, since after a previous exchange on Mumsnet David Cameron had paid her a visit.

Source: GUARDIAN

Drinks giant Diageo will pay for 10,000 midwives to be trained in highlighting to pregnant women the dangers of drinking alcohol, it has been reported.

The move is an example of the Government’s bid to attract the private sector into public health.

The Department of Health hopes the initiative will help more than a million expectant mothers over three years, the BBC reported.

But the British Medical Association has expressed concern about the drinks industry financing such programmes.

Public Health Minister Anne Milton told the network: “Midwives are one of the most trusted sources of information and advice for pregnant women. This pledge is a great example of how business can work with NHS staff to provide women with valuable information.

“This will help over a million women over the next three years to make an informed decision about drinking during their pregnancy. It will potentially improve their health and also give their baby the best start in life.”

Source: ThisIsLondon>> Read full article and comment

Drinks retailer Diageo is to pay for 10,000 midwives in England and Wales to be trained to offer advice on the dangers of alcohol during pregnancy.

The Department of Health hopes the training initiative will in turn help more than one million expectant mothers over three years.

It is part of government moves to bring the private sector into public health.

The British Medical Association has expressed concern about the drinks industry funding such a scheme.

Government guidance is for pregnant women to avoid drinking alcohol, but if they do to drink only one to two units, once or twice a week.

The Department of Health said the UK Infant Feeding Survey 2005 suggested that 34% of women gave up drinking while they were pregnant, 61% drank less and 4% did not change their drinking pattern.

Public Health Minister Anne Milton said: “Midwives are one of the most trusted sources of information and advice for pregnant women. This pledge is a great example of how business can work with NHS staff to provide women with valuable information.

“This will help over a million women over the next three years to make an informed decision about drinking during their pregnancy. It will potentially improve their health and also give their baby the best start in life.”

Source: BBC NEWS

Drinks giant Diageo will pay for 10,000 midwives to be trained in highlighting to pregnant women the dangers of drinking alcohol, it has been reported.

The move is an example of the Government’s bid to attract the private sector into public health.

The Department of Health hopes the initiative will help more than a million expectant mothers over three years, the BBC reported.

But the British Medical Association has expressed concern about the drinks industry financing such programmes.

Public Health Minister Anne Milton told the network: “Midwives are one of the most trusted sources of information and advice for pregnant women. This pledge is a great example of how business can work with NHS staff to provide women with valuable information.

“This will help over a million women over the next three years to make an informed decision about drinking during their pregnancy. It will potentially improve their health and also give their baby the best start in life.”

Government guidance is for pregnant women to avoid drinking alcohol, but if they do to drink only one to two units, once or twice a week.

Diageo is one of the biggest drinks businesses and its brands include Guinness, Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff.

Source: ThisIsLondon>> Read full article and comment

Scouts told they’re too well behaved to get council funds to repair their hut

By Jaya Narain
Last updated at 1:51 AM on 9th June 2011

For more than 100 years, the Scout movement has been supporting the community, helping young people realise their potential.

So when one group in a deprived area applied for funding to help renovate a dilapidated hut which is almost as old as Lord Baden-Powell’s initiative, they thought they were in with a strong chance.

To their dismay, they were told they were not eligible for the cash – because their work does not involve drug rehabilitation for addicts or services to help young offenders.

Source: DAILYMAIL

Money Mail

By Sylvia Morris
Last updated at 10:17 PM on 31st May 2011

Children whose parents have chosen cash child trust funds are being paid peanuts in a pathetic range of accounts.

Cash-based child trust funds (CTFs) are run on behalf of more than 850,000 children and typically offer less interest than adults can earn on easy-access accounts, our research reveals.

Money Mail’s Free Our Child Trust Funds Now campaign believes parents must be released from the shackles of these accounts and have the freedom to move their money to new Junior Isas when they are launched in November.

Source: Excerpt from DAILYMAIL

Quality feedback from teachers is more effective in raising grades than homework, uniforms and smaller classes, a Durham University study says.

26 May 2011 Last updated at 11:10 GMT

The summary of evidence on different strategies was published by the Sutton Trust, tasked with helping schools in deprived areas improve results. It is intended to help schools decide how best to spend the pupil premium – additional funds for low-income pupils. It looks at value for money, saying funding does not always raise grades. Giving pupils clear and effective feedback was considered “very high impact for low cost” in the study. Comments should be specific, related to challenging tasks, given sparingly so they are meaningful, and encourage self-esteem by focusing on the positive, the researchers said.

Source: BBC NEWS

Alan Bennett has been accused of ‘madness’ for claiming that closing libraries was akin to ‘child abuse’.

By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 1:59 AM on 26th May 2011

The playwright condemned the closure of hundreds of libraries, saying that many children do not have computers and books at home. The Coalition has cut the grant to libraries, putting hundreds of the 4,000 nationwide at risk of closure. Mr Bennett is supporting a campaign to save Kensal Rise library, one of six earmarked for closure by Labour-run Brent Council in north London—half the libraries in the borough. The campaign group is raising funds for a legal challenge to the council’s decision to close half the libraries in the borough. If successful, it could become a blueprint for other challenges in the rest of the country. The 77-year-old Yorkshire-born humourist told a 400-strong public meeting: ‘Closing libraries is child abuse.’

Source: DAILYMAIL

Soaring caesarean section rates have more to do with saving lives than women’s fear of labour, says Cherrill Hicks.

By Cherrill Hicks 7:39PM BST 24 May 2011

Are affluent middle-class women swallowing up precious NHS funds by insisting on caesarean sections? Are the “too posh to push” brigade following in the footsteps of celebrities like Posh Spice and Patsy Kensit in their desire to keep their nether regions unscathed by normal, messy childbirth? Do we, in fact, need psychiatric help to overcome our pathological fear of labour?

Certainly, that seems to be the case if you read the draft of the latest guidelines on caesarean sections produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. According to Nice, women who are so afraid of giving birth normally that they want a caesarean section should be offered counselling by a mental health specialist, presumably to be helped to see the error of their ways; or as the watchdog puts it, to help them “address their fears in a supportive manner”. It also points out that, since a normal birth is £800 cheaper than a pre-booked c-section, every 1 per cent reduction in the number of women having caesarean sections would save the NHS £5.6 million.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Parents who saved their child trust fund (CTF) voucher in some of the most popular funds have endured pathetic returns, Money Mail research reveals.

By James Coney
Last updated at 12:41 AM on 25th May 2011

In some cases, the Government’s £250 gift has withered to just £217 in five years. On average, the most popular investment CTFs have grown by 13 pc in five years — almost half the level of growth achieved by the average UK All Companies fund. Had these parents been allowed to save their child’s money in a cheap tracker following the FTSE 100 stock market index they could have made returns of 20 pc. The pathetic returns and high charges demonstrate why it is essential children are allowed to transfer their savings from under-performing CTFs to the Junior Isa when it is launched in November.

Source: DAILYMAIL

The average cost of insuring a car for young drivers has soared to a record high of £3,688, new research shows.

Kara Gammell

24 May 2011

Figures from Moneysupermarket.com show that drivers aged between 17 and 22 would face monthly payments of as high as £546 when opting to pay in instalments, after the additional charge of around 10pc is taken into account. Newly qualified drivers now face annual premiums of around £5,957.

Premiums have always been higher for young drivers, due to higher risk or traffic accidents. According to road safety charity Brake, one in five new drivers has a crash within six months of passing a test and newly qualified drivers are more likely to be involved in a traffic accident during the first two years after passing their test.

But it is young male drivers that pose the biggest risk – figures from the charity show that 74pc of deaths among young adults are now on the road, and in 2009, more 16 to 19 year-olds died as passengers in cars than those who died as drivers.

Chief Superintendent Geraint Anwyl told the Transport Select Committee meeting last November that for young drivers the greatest problem was “adrenalin, not drugs or drink”.

“The greatest risk for a young lady is being in a car being driven by a young man,” he said.

Source: TELEGRAPH

David Cameron’s vow to make work pay could be “shattered” by cuts to childcare support, a think tank says.

Changes to childcare tax credits, due to come into force in 2013, could leave some parents losing 94p for every extra pound they earn, the Resolution Foundation said in a report.

Mr Cameron promised to end the “injustice” of low-paid lone parents losing out by working extra hours.

A government spokesman said the policy was still being worked out.

The planned changes to the benefits received by lone parents are part of the government’s plan to replace Britain’s complex benefit system with a single Universal Credit.

This flagship policy – broadly backed by Labour – is meant to end the “benefit trap” and make work pay for all.

Source: BBC NEWS

London primary gets funds for state boarding school

The government has committed £17m to help an inner London primary school to offer its pupils free places at a new state boarding school in Sussex.

Students from the Durand Academy in Lambeth would stay at the secondary school in Sussex from Monday to Friday.

The trust running the primary school bought the 20-acre Sussex school site for £3.4m last year, using income from a gym and flats on its London site.

It comes as Lambeth council is struggling to provide primary places.

Durand Academy, which has a high proportion of pupils on free school meals, plans to open a new junior school on its site in Stockwell, south London, in 2012.

It also hopes to open a boarding school in Sussex, which students would attend from the age of 13, in 2014.
‘Transform opportunities’

Under the plan, pupils would be driven out to the leafy Sussex site on Monday morning, and return on Friday afternoon.

A trust connected to the school manages the income from a gym and some flats on its London site, and says it will pay for the construction of the junior school and accommodation for sixth form boarders, as well as the boarding costs of pupils.

The Department for Education’s £17.34m, which will be spread over four years, will fund the construction of the boarding school’s main teaching and accommodation building.

Source: BBC NEWS

Employers that offer generous maternity pay packages could land themselves in legal hot water if they fail to extend the benefit to fathers, experts have warned.

By Louisa Peacock,

19 May 2011

Under Government proposals announced this week, mothers and fathers would be able to share parental leave from 2015, with men able to take up to five and half months off work to care for their child.

Couples would be entitled to take time off together, rather than separately, and parents could request to take leave in blocks throughout the year. Currently, men and women must take any parental leave in one continuous period.

Employers would not be obliged to pay “enhanced paternity pay” to fathers under the new rules but those that only award women the perk could have to justify their actions at a tribunal, lawyers said.

In a generous workplace maternity leave scheme, mothers can be offered as much as six months off at full pay, with another three months at half pay.

Setting aside 22 weeks of leave, which must be reserved for the mother under the new rules, the employer in this scenario would pay an extra 14 weeks of enhanced pay to the woman – nine months in total.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Families are quitting a tiny Hebridean isle amid claims residents are frustrated at having little control over island life and homes they rent.

18 May 2011

Canna’s population of 22 could drop to 14 by the end of the year.

Geoff Soe-Paing, who is about to leave with his wife Eilidh and their four children, said islanders needed a “hand in their own destiny”.

Owners the National Trust for Scotland said departures were disappointing but a new family was expected soon.

Since the start of the year four people have left, the Soe-Paing’s family of six is poised to quit and a couple are planning to leave later this year.

The Soe-Paing’s departure will leave Canna’s school with no pupils.

The new family of four expected to arrive on the island over the next few weeks has children of pre-school age.

Mr Soe-Paing and his family have lived on Canna for five years.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

Why can’t we keep people here? Surely that is the question.”

End Quote Geoff Soe-Paing

He said depopulation was an issue for other small Scottish islands and was a result of residents not having a big enough say.

“There should be attempts made to let them have a little bit of hand in their own destiny and give them not just lip service to community empowerment,” he said.

Source: BBC NEWS

The 2.5 million increase in population over the last decade has been driven entirely by non-’white British’ people migrating to the country and higher birth rates among ethnic minority groups, official figures have indicated.

By Harry Wallop

18 May 2011

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics have shown that between 2001 and 2009 the population of England and Wales increased by 2.45 million to 54.8 million.

However, the numbers of white British people actually fell by 36,000 in that period, while the group of people the ONS classify as non-’white British’, increased from 6.64 million to 9.13 million. This group includes everyone from Chinese, black African, Pakistani, mixed white and black Caribbean as well as Australian, Canadian and European.

The proportion of the population in England and Wales that is from an ethnic minority group has increased from 13 per cent in 2001 to 17 per cent in 2009.

The figures have once again opened up the debate over whether levels of immigration were too high over the last decade. Of the 2.45 million extra people in the country, 1.75 million came from net migration, while 733,900 came from births.

The net migration figure would have been far higher had the white British population not suffered from a net migration fall, with 396,000 more white Britons leaving the country than returning.

Source: TELEGRAPH

A south London council has warned it cannot guarantee a primary school place for every child in the borough by 2015.

18 May 2011

Lambeth Council said the demand for school places has risen by 40% in the past four years in some areas and it would need 800 extra places by 2015.

The authority is asking residents to write to the government over its plea for £50m funding over two years.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it had given £800m to local authorities for additional places for 2011/12.

The council has received £40m from the government since 2006, for primary school places, and another £12m for 2011/12.

The money went into creating 11 permanent and 13 temporary facilities and 300 additional places since 2009, but it will need to find funds for another 800 additional places by 2015.

Source: BBC NEWS

Mothercare has blamed greedy high-street landlords and the cash-strapped British consumer for its decision to close more than a quarter of its UK stores with the loss of 250 jobs.

By Alistair Osborne

18 May 2011

The baby goods retailer said it would shut 110 stores and renegotiate rents on 40 more to focus on its international operations, where sales rose 16.3pc last year to £571m.

Ben Gordon, chief executive, said the “acceleration” of Mothercare’s strategy was driven by 120 shop leases expiring over the next two years. Some 80pc of the closures are from the estate of the Early Learning Centre – the toy retailer Mothercare bought for £85m in 2007.

Mr Gordon said that, given the growth of out-of-town and internet shopping, high-street rents were exorbitant. “There is an unrealistic expectation from high-street landlords,” he said.

The closures will cut Mothercare’s UK stores from 373 to 266 by March 2013 – though selling space will only reduce by about 12pc. It expects annual savings of £18m – and £5m costs from closing shops without expiring leases.

Mr Gordon said the focus will remain on franchising Mothercare abroad, where the retailer now has 894 stores in 54 countries, including joint-ventures in Australia, China and India. He expects 150 openings this year, including its first stores in Latin America, in Colombia and Panama.

Source: TELEGRAPH

The rise in popularity of ‘staycations’ is set to give the UK tourism industry a £7.3billion boost this year, it is claimed.

By Daily Mail Reporter

18th May 2011

Known as ‘staycations’, it is expected that there will be a 10 per cent rise in the amount of money generated by the tourism industry as people look to make a saving.

It is believed that the weak pound, along with the warm start to the year have encouraged more people to stay closer to home to enjoy their time off.

Despite the cost of living rising, many people are refusing to give up their holidays and are prepared to make sacrifices elsewhere in their lives.

Holidaying in the UK can provide savings with a seven-day break costing, on average, £433.69 – £144.31 cheaper than last year.

Source: DAILYMAIL

Families at ‘breaking point’ as bills jump £54 a week in just six months and inflation hits 4.5% to spark mortgage rise fears

By Becky Barrow

18th May 2011

# Retail Prices Index falls slightly from 5.3% to 5.2% in April
# Fuel soars in price by a huge 15.9% in a YEAR
# 2% inflation target missed for the sixth successive quarter

The typical family has been stung by an increase of £54 a week in their bills over the past six months, alarming research reveals today.

The report, from the comparison website Moneysupermarket, highlights the pressure on households on all fronts from petrol prices to energy bills.

Kevin Mountford, the website’s head of banking, said: ‘Many families will feel like their finances are approaching breaking point.’

It comes as official figures, published yesterday, show inflation surged to 4.5 per cent last month, the highest level since October 2008 and more than double the Government’s 2 per cent target.

It means homeowners could be hit by interest rates rises imminently, meaning their monthly mortgage payments will jump if they do not have a fixed-rate loan.

The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, expose crippling price rises, including air fares being 29 per cent higher in April than in March.

Source: DAILYMAIL

Class of 2011 make record number of job applications, survey finds, but finalists snub public sector

18 May 2011

It’s as if the credit crunch never happened. Amid rumours of £50,000-a-year starting salaries, investment banks are back on campus this year and once again the top destination for student jobseekers.

A survey of final-year students at 30 sought-after universities, published on Wednesday, finds that among those already looking for jobs, investment banking is the most popular choice – with 8.5% applying.

The revival of interest in banking – after a sharp dip during the last two years’ recruiting seasons – appears to have influenced students’ views on pay.

The class of 2011′s expectations for starting salaries have risen to an average of £22,600, the first increase for three years. Finalists at the London School of Economics, Imperial College London, Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick and University College London have the highest hopes on pay, anticipating earning at least £25,000 a year on graduation.

After five years in work, graduates expect to be earning an average of £39,900, and a sixth of this year’s leavers believe their salary will be £100,000 or more by the age of 30.

Source: GUARDIAN

Throw a lifeline to six million children: Ministers must allow parents to reinvest £2bn trapped in child trust funds

By Tony Hazell And James Coney

17th May 2011

Money Mail today calls on the Government to rescue the savings of almost six million children.

Some parents and grandparents have contributed thousands of pounds to child trust funds (CTFs) on the back of promises from the previous Government that they would prove ideal long-term investments for their child.

But the new Coalition decided last year the £250 paid to every newborn was an expense the country could no longer afford. Payments ceased at the start of the year and the Government will, in November, launch a Junior Isa — which will not have a State contribution.

Those with a child trust fund — all children born between September 1, 2002, and January 2, 2011 — will not be entitled to have a Junior Isa.

Now investment experts fear that the £2 billion still in these funds could be condemned to years of poor returns.

If they are no longer trying to attract new customers, investment firms will have little incentive to put their best managers in charge, while banks and building societies are likely to pay derisory interest rates.

Source: DAILYMAIL

The Government will allow fathers to take up to five and a half months paid paternity leave under new proposals. We outline key questions and answers for businesses.

By Louisa Peacock

16 May 2011

What’s changing?

Currently, mothers can take 52 weeks in total, of which 39 weeks are paid at the statutory rate. Fathers get two weeks statutory paternity pay.

Under the proposals, mothers will automatically recieve 18 weeks of paid leave. The couple can then allocate the remaining 34 weeks – 16 of which is paid leave – between them.

Fathers will continue to get an extra two weeks statutory paternity pay after birth and an extra four weeks paid paterntiy leave, making six weeks in total.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Extending fathers’ leave is a positive step, but higher-income women are still benefiting at the expense of poorer mothers

Monday 16 May 2011

These guys – first David Cameron, then Nick Clegg, now Vince Cable – are proving to be quite enlightened, modern men espousing the benefits of active fathering in the early years.

Despite George Osborne’s indiscriminate slash and burn of employment regulations in the budget, the coalition is going much further than the last Labour administration with new plans announced by Cable to extend the amount of paid leave fathers can have by a month.

Labour’s last move was to introduce transferable leave, which came into force this April, whereby fathers could take up any of their partner’s unused maternity leave. But only 4% of eligible fathers are expected to take advantage of this.

The coalition is taking lessons, yet again, from Scandinavian countries like Sweden, where fathers have their own extensive leave entitlement on a use it or lose it basis. Unsurprisingly, full-time fatherhood is much more common. Cable’s new rule will give fathers in the UK, as well as mothers, an exclusive additional period of paid leave. Rob Williams, the chief executive of the Fatherhood Institute, says it will bring about a “significant culture shift in official assumptions about the role of mothers and fathers”.

Source: GUARDIAN

Town halls have spent £3million in the past five years trying to persuade parents to use washable nappies.

By Steve Doughty
Last updated at 8:42 AM on 16th May 2011

The taxpayers’ money was poured into ‘real nappy’ campaigns even though the notion that re-usable nappies are better for the environment was discredited years ago. Whitehall stopped putting money into propaganda for washable nappies in 2007 after research showed that while they reduce landfill they make an impact on the environment in other ways, such as the water and energy used in laundering them. But councils have continued to sink funds into nappy campaigns despite overwhelming evidence that they are pointless. The figures, obtained from Freedom of Information inquiries, show that since 2006 the total has been £3million.

Source: DAILYMAIL

I wanted to be a dustman but the draw of my family’s pizza dynasty was too strong

By Simon Watkins
Last updated at 10:31 PM on 14th May 2011

Jonathan Kaye was not an ambitious child. ‘When I was five I wanted to be a dustman and I made my parents follow dustcarts around so I could watch them working,’ he says. It was an unlikely early aim for the chief executive of Prezzo. The 162-strong restaurant chain, which also owns the Chimichanga Mexican chain and the Caffe Uno brand, turned over £105million last year and recorded profits of almost £15million. Kaye, 32, is worth at least £14million thanks to his ten per cent stake in Prezzo. Not bad for a would-be dustman. But the childhood flirtation with waste disposal was perhaps a case of needing to kick against the family business. For the Kaye clan have restaurants in their blood. Kaye’s father, uncle and cousins have all built restaurant businesses. His late father, Reginald, and his uncle Philip, Reginald’s brother, made their fortunes in food – first with the Golden Egg cafe chain in the Sixties and Seventies then in the Eighties with Garfunkel’s and Deep Pan Pizza.

Source: DAILYMAIL