Friday 2 February 2024
 Childcare support is expanding
The BBC is reporting today that the government is planning a cash incentive and a campaign to raise the profile of childcare workers in England, in efforts to recruit more staff.
The plans come ahead of the Government's extension of their childcare offer. From April, their current scheme will be gradually expanded so that by September 2025, working parents of all children over the age of nine months will be entitled to up to 30 hours a week funded childcare.
It's estimated that around an additional 5,430 children in Devon will require a funded childcare place by September as a result of the Government extension to the scheme.
The BBC report that, in England, 27,500 early years professionals will be needed to meet the expected rise in demand for places.
This week, we published a special edition of our newsletter to help you understand the changes and what support you might be eligible for.
We're also running some online information sessions about how to access more early years funded childcare and other financial help. The details are at the bottom of our special edition newsletter.
A campaign by young people to make care leavers in Devon exempt from paying Council Tax has been heralded a success, as each of Devon’s eight District Councils have agreed the proposal.
The campaign was brought by our Stand Up Speak Up group, comprising care experienced young people, who felt that waiving council tax would put all care leavers on a firmer footing financially as they move into independence.
Young people in care often live with their foster families, and some choose to continue those arrangements as care leavers once they’ve turned 18-years-old. But some move on to live more independently, and with bills and rent to pay, it’s often difficult for those young people without the financial security of a family behind them.
You can read the full story, including what care leavers have said about the decision, on our website.
 Courtlands Boardwalk re-opens on Exe Estuary Trail
Courtlands Boardwalk on the Exe Estuary Trail has re-opened following the completion of repairs.
The section of the Trail between Lympstone and Exmouth has been undergoing a major overhaul after it was found that timber structural beams and deck planks had deteriorated and become unsafe.
Over 94 tonnes of timber have been removed during the repair scheme, and it has been replaced with 70 new spans of a more durable fibre-reinforced material, known as Glass Reinforced Polymer (GRP).
There is more detail in the story on our news page.
 Buddy the Bear and Bradley Sercombe
Our Civil Parking Enforcement Team has been working closely with Broadclyst Parish Council on a new road safety campaign.
The campaign, featuring Buddy the Bear, launched in January, with Buddy meeting crowds of excited children to hand out badges and talk to their parents about the campaign aims.
Buddy’s main message to children is to “Travel safely every day” and to encourage them to be especially careful on some of the busier roads nearby.
Civil Parking Enforcement Officers are also listening to parents’ concerns and working with local people to see if there are ways the area could be made safer.
The next stage of campaign will see a leaflet for parents and children and a map of the school area highlighting places where children and motorists need to take particular care. These will be shared with parents at upcoming after school “Meet and Greet” sessions.
Read the full story on our news page.
Devon residents, who have been loaned community equipment, such as walking frames, that they no longer need, are being asked to arrange for it to be collected, free of charge.
Every month, around 5,000 items of equipment are returned, more than 80 per cent of which are refurbished, sterilised and then put back onto warehouse shelves ready for reuse.
And almost 70 per cent of the equipment collected and refurbished in this way is reissued within a month to someone in the community.
Returning these items not only reduces how long people who need them have to wait it also saves on having to buy new equipment – it saves up to £100,000 a month which could then be spent on other things.
We and Devon's Integrated Care Board, and Millbrook Healthcare Ltd, which provides community equipment to people on our behalf, launched an equipment ‘amnesty’ last month, asking people who no longer need their community equipment to organise a collection free of charge.
The amnesty is in its final week, running until Monday 5 February. Please call 0330 1244491 to arrange a free collection.
You can read more in the story on our news page.
You may have seen national news reporting that cases of measles are rising in England.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has shared a blog that provides information for parents about measles, including a description of the symptoms and what parents should do, with regards to going to school, if they are worried that their child may have measles.
Measles is a vaccine-preventable disease, so it is important for everyone, children and adults, to catch up any missed doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
To find out if you or your child is up to date with MMR vaccinations, you can check your NHS app, your child's Personal Child Health Record (red book), or check with your GP.
|
