The care and attention a child receives when young will affect their health, behaviour and ability to learn throughout their lives. A recent survey suggests that 85% of mums and dads want more practical help on caring for their baby to provide the best possible start for their children.

The Prime Minister outlined that the support being offered to parents will include:

• a brand new digital service for parents-to-be and new parents, providing regular emails and texts with timely information as their pregnancy develops and their child grows;
• free parenting classes to all parents of children aged five years and under in three trial areas;
• expert organisations to deliver relationship support for first time parents in four trial areas of the country from this summer.

Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“Parents are nation-builders. It’s through love and sheer hard work that we raise the next generation with the right values. That’s why this Government is doing everything possible to support parents.

“We’re doing the big, long-term things to make this country stronger for our children – dealing with our debts; having a massive push for better schools; working to create more good, skilled jobs in our economy

“But we’re also focussed on making life easier for parents day-to-day, from extending childcare to increasing the number of health visitors. The parenting classes and films we’re launching this week are an important part of that, providing clear, professionally-led advice on everything from teething to tantrums.”

Digital service for parents-to-be and new parents

 From today, the NHS Information Service for Parents will give mums and dads advice they can trust covering a wide range of issues related to staying healthy in pregnancy, preparing for birth and looking after their baby.  

Those signing up to the service will no longer be faced with information overload while surfing the internet, but will have relevant, timely NHS approved advice sent directly to their phones and inboxes. This includes links to specially commissioned videos showing midwives demonstrating practical advice such as bathing your baby and parents discussing issues that affected them and how they supported each other.

Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley said:

 ”We all want to give our children the best start in life. But sometimes, particularly for first-time parents, bringing a new baby home can be a daunting as well as a happy experience.

 ”That is why we are determined to help people become more confident in becoming a parent – from pregnancy to the start of their children’s lives. From now on, this new information service will be at parents’ sides to support them in the first stage of their child’s journey, guiding them with relevant information and first-hand experience from other parents.”

Cathy Warwick, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives, welcomed the new service:

 “We warmly welcome this innovative online and multi-media service for parents. We hope that the email and text alerts will bolster the work that midwives do with women and their families by providing additional information that will empower and signpost parents to further appropriate sources of support and help.

 “We know that pregnancy and maternity care are in many cases the first time most parents will interact with the health service and this presents a unique opportunity to provide health promoting messages to families. This is why good quality information, which this service promotes, during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period can have a significant long-term impact on the health and well-being of mothers and babies.”

Free parenting classes

 This service is announced alongside free parenting classes to all parents of children aged five years and under in three trial areas – Middlesbrough, High Peak in Derbyshire and Camden in London.

 Mums and dads will be able to use vouchers, available from Boots stores, children’s centres, health visitors and professionals who have contact with families to pay for the classes. The NCT, Coram, Save the Children, and the Fatherhood Institute are among those who are delivering classes.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

“All parents want the best for their children and we want to help them. Most parents go to ante-natal classes before their child is born and the benefits of these are well-documented.

“We want mums and dads to be able to access similar help and advice in the earliest years of their child’s life and for this to be a normal part of family life.”

The trial will help Government understand how classes could be made available to every mum and dad. Decisions on national roll out will be informed by the independent evaluation.

 Mary Rose Brady, Head of Coram’s Parents’ Centre said:

 “Parents tell us, no one gives you a manual when you have kids- so here’s our manual.

 “Each session that Coram is delivering is based on what years of evidence show will best support children in their early development. Parents are the experts in their own children, but everyone can benefit from understanding the key ingredients.”

 

Relationship support

Relate, The Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships and the Fatherhood Institute will deliver relationship support sessions for first time parents to support them with the transition to parenthood in four areas of the country from this summer.

The government wants to support strong and stable families and research shows that the birth of a new child can be a stress point for couples. A trial starting in July will offer subsidised relationship support sessions for all expectant mothers and fathers and those with children up to the age of two in the trial areas – York and Leeds, North Essex, Hackney and City of London, Islington and Westminster. Up to £1m has been made available for the trial between April 2012 and March 2014.

The sessions will be delivered by one of three providers and parents will have the choice of face to face and/or online support. They will be designed to help parents understand that it is normal for their relationship to go through a transition period after they have a child and to give them strategies to work through this as a couple. The trial will be managed and promoted by the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) to encourage couples to feel that it is normal to access relationship support in the first few years of their child’s life – just as they would go to an antenatal class.

The offer will be distributed by professionals working in the early years – for example, from nurseries, children’s centres, midwives and health visitors.  

Notes to Editors

1. The Parental Opinion Survey 2010 (published by DfE Nov 2010) found that 85% of parents with children under three were found to have sought information to help with parenting in the previous year. https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DFE-RR061.pdf The survey from the Family and Parenting Institute showed that almost 60 per cent of parents thought they should automatically receive information and the offer of parenting classes. http://www.familyandparenting.org/news/Press-releases/2012+Press+Releases/Research+reveals+approval+of+parenting+classes+info+for+parents 

The NSPCC survey shows that almost three quarters (72 per cent) of all new mothers said they would have liked more professional advice before their baby was born.  There are 670,000 visits per month to the  Pregnancy and Baby content on the NHS Choices site from people searching for information. More evidence around the support for new parents can be found at http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_125891

Parenting classes

2. Mums and dads will be able to use vouchers, available from Boots stores, children’s centres, health visitors and professionals who have contact with families to pay for the classes. They can also go to the CAN Parent website www.CANparent.org.uk to find local distribution points.

3. Six organisations will deliver the classes in all three areas:

National Childbirth Trust

Family Links

Save the Children

Fatherhood Institute

Solihull Approach

Race Equality Foundation (with Mumsnet)

Providers only in Camden:

Montessori St Nicholas

Mind Gym (Parent Gym)

Coram

City Literary Institute

Only in Middlesbrough:

Barnardo’s

Only in High Peak:

Derbyshire Council

Family Lives

Family Matters Institute

4. The providers are being paid on a delivery basis only – they will have a concession contract which allows them to claim reimbursement for delivering classes to a voucher holding parent.

NHS Information Service for Parents

5. Parents will be invited to sign up to this new service at booking appointments with midwives. They will also see widgets linking them to the sign up page on NHS Choices. The widget will also be available for organisations like Mumsnet, Netmums and the National Childbirth Trust to include on their websites – the new service links to these organisations’ websites as part of the emails sent to parents. They will then receive regular, relevant and tailored information via email or text as their pregnancy develops and their child grows. At launch the new service will be available to parents-to-be and parents with new babies aged up to 1 month. The content of the service will increase and develop in response to feedback from parents and professionals and as the babies of the parents who have signed up grow.  Visit www.nhs.uk/parents to sign up to the service or find out more information.

Relationship support

6.  The sessions will be open for booking from July this year and will be delivered from the end of July. The four areas were chosen in partnership with providers to give a spread of geography and socio-economic characteristics.

7.  The providers will be paid on a delivery basis only – they will be offered a concession contract which allows them to claim reimbursement for delivering a session to an eligible parent/couple.

8.  The sessions are likely to involve helping first time parents deal with the emotional and relationship changes that they may experience after having a baby, including:

• managing new roles and responsibilities in your relationship
• dealing with the emotional impact of having a child
• learning negotiating and compromising skills
• balancing your role as a parent and as a partner
• coping with issues like lack of sleep and mess.

9.  The online only sessions will be delivered by the Fatherhood Institute in all the trial areas. Sessions including online and face to face elements will be delivered by Relate in North Essex, York and Leeds and the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships in Hackney and City, Islington and Westminster. The trial will be managed and promoted by the NCT.

Mr Cameron said:

“This is excellent news for Ellesmere Port and for UK manufacturing.

“Once again we have seen the success of the UK automotive industry and the crucial role it plays in growing and rebalancing our economy.

 

“This has been a real team effort with the government, the company, unions and workers all focused on keeping production in the UK.

 

“And the workforce at Ellesmere Port should take great pride in their skill, hard work and commitment which has proved vital to ensuring this great result today.”

 

Biographical Notes

Alan Henry Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough, was born in 1952 and succeeded his father to the title in 1987.  On the death of his father Lord Brookeborough took up his seat in the House of Lords, and in 1999 was returned as an elected peer, where he sits as an Independent Crossbencher. 

Viscount Brookeborough was commissioned into the 17th/21st Lancers in 1970 and later served in The Ulster Defence Regiment and The Royal Irish Regiment and was Honorary Colonel of The 2nd Battalion, (TA) The Royal Irish Regiment 1997-2008. He is President of the Soldiers Charity (The Army Benevolent Fund) Northern Ireland.  He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant for the county in 1987 and served as Sheriff of County Fermanagh in 1995.  He has been a Personal Lord-in-Waiting to Her Majesty The Queen since 1997.

Viscount Brookeborough lives with his wife, Janet, in the family home of Colebrooke Park near Brookeborough.

The summaries follow commitments made in the 2011 Budget and the Written Ministerial Statement on Business Plans. Their primary purpose is to make more of the management information currently held by government available to members of the public on a regular basis.

This information is not audited and the quality and accuracy of the data needs to dramatically improve. However, over time with improvements in data quality and timeliness the public will be able to judge the performance of each department in a meaningful and understandable manner.

Departments’ outturn data for 2011/12, against each of the QDS indicators will be included in their Annual Report and Accounts.

The information is presented in excel format to allow the information to be presented in a re-usable format.

• Cabinet Office

• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

• Department for Communities and Local Government
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Department for Education
• Department of Energy and Climate Change
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
• Department for Health*
• Department for International Development
• Department for Transport
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• HM Revenue & Customs
• HM Treasury
• Home Office
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Justice

The summary template is the same for all departments, though many of the individual indicators are unique to the department (especially input and impact indicators).

This is the first time Government has published this kind of information, and while this is a good start, there is room for improvement. Before using this data people should ensure they take full note of the caveats noted in each Department’s measurement annex and treat with necessary caution.

At the moment, people should not be using this data to make direct comparisons between departments for several reasons. Firstly, the business of each department is unique and it does not make sense to compare some measures across all departments. Secondly, many of the measures are not directly comparable because they do not have common definitions, time periods, or data collection processes.

We will be regularly updating the QDS each quarter.

*Department of Health have also published their revised business plan on 19 July 2011, following the conclusion of the NHS listening exercise.

He replaces the Rt Hon Lord Shutt of Greetland OBE who is retiring from the Government.

Notes for Editors

The Right Reverend Martin Warner (aged 53) trained for the ordained ministry at St Stephen’s House, Oxford. He served his first title at St Peter’s, Exeter from 1984 to 1988. From 1988 to 1993 he was Team Vicar of the Parish of the Resurrection, Leicester. The Right Reverend Martin Warner was the Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham from 1993 to 2002, and also Priest in Charge of Hempton with Pudding Norton from 1998 to 2000. He was an Honorary Canon of Norwich Cathedral from 2000 to 2002. From 2003 to 2010 he was Canon Residentiary of St Paul’s Cathedral. Since 2010 he has been Suffragan Bishop of Whitby.

The Right Reverend Martin Warner has wide ranging interests in the arts, including opera, theatre and medieval and contemporary art.  He enjoys writing and has been widely involved in the area of theological and spiritual exploration. Preaching engagements have taken him round the world, and he has led pilgrimages in Europe and the Holy Land. For relaxation he enjoys travel by bike.

Speaking to Energy Ministers from 23 leading economies, the Prime Minister said:

“There are huge challenges facing governments across the world today, and one of the most important of all is how we meet our growing energy demands in a way that protects our planet for our children and grandchildren.

“With global demand forecast to increase by more than 40 per cent in the next two decades, we urgently need a more diverse, cleaner mix of energy sources that will give us energy security without causing irreparable damage to the planet. 

 

“Renewables are now the fastest growing energy source on the planet. And I am proud that Britain has played a leading role at the forefront of this green energy revolution. 

“Britain has gone from virtually no capacity for renewables, to seeing them provide almost 10 per cent of our total electricity needs last year. And we’ve added more capacity for renewables in the last two years than at any time in the last decade. 

 

“Our commitment and investment in renewable energy has helped to make renewable energy possible. Now we have a different challenge. We need to make it financially sustainable.”

 

Emphasising that the renewable energy sector can move from its strong position today to become a truly global industry, the Prime Minister spoke about collaboration between government and business to drive down costs, the need to develop a global carbon price and the importance of enhanced international trading.

 

Watch the full speech here:

Mr Cameron highlighted that between April 2011 and February 2012 investment announcements to the value of £4.7 billion and supporting 15,000 jobs have been made in UK renewable energy and its supply chain. The Prime Minister also welcomed further industry announcements, including a major new contract let by E.ON for its Humber Gateway offshore wind farm, investment by JDR Cables in a significant expansion of its facility in Hartlepool and the progression of three biomass and wind projects in the UK representing £350m of investment and as many as 800 jobs at the peak of construction.

Finally, the Prime Minister announced a new industry partnership bringing together key players with an interest in making the most of the North Sea’s renewable energy resource.

More than twenty firms based in several different countries have already signed up to a shared vision to create a major new renewable energy power centre in the North Sea and to maximise the significant opportunities that come with it. Early signatories include major offshore wind developers (such as Scottish Power, Dong, Mainstream, Statoil and Statkraft); manufacturers (such as Siemens, Gamesa, Alstom, Areva), as well as a wide range of supply chain companies (such as TAG Energy Solutions, JDR Cables and David Brown Gear Systems).

Under the provisional name of Norstec, which takes inspiration from the Desertec solar initiative, this brings together key players who recognise the enormous opportunity offered by the North Sea. This network will come together around the time of the June RenewableUK conference on global offshore wind to confirm in more detail how the new partnership will operate.

Energy investments confirmed today include:

E.ON is announcing a major new cable installation contract for its £736m Humber Gateway offshore wind farm awarded to British company Balfour Beatty. Over 30km of wholly UK-manufactured cable will be installed to connect the wind farm.

JDR Cables, a leading provider of specialist high performance subsea cables and umbilical systems for the offshore oil, gas and renewables market is announcing that it has completed investment of £30million in its Hartlepool plant, bringing the company into a new phase of growth.

Helius Energy is announcing that it is working with a club of banks to project finance its 100MW Avonmouth dedicated biomass project at the Port of Bristol. The project will cost around £300m to construct and will create approximately 450 full time jobs during the construction phase and 40 new full-time long-term operations jobs. Further jobs will be created in relation to the maintenance and supply of the plant.

ECO2 announced that construction will begin on the Sleaford Renewable Energy Plant within the next fortnight. Up to 250 people will be working on the site during construction of the 38MW straw fuelled biomass combined heat and power plant which is expected to employ up to 80 people when operational in 2014.

Banks Renewables is expected to announce a £21.9m funding agreement with The Co-operative Bank to fund the construction of the 20.4MW Penny Hill wind farm near Rotherham. The scheme will create 30 jobs during construction and a number of contracts will be awarded to local firms to supply material and conduct sub-contract works. Towers for the turbines will be manufactured by British engineering firm, Mabey Bridge, at their purpose-built factory near Chepstow.

Commenting on his appointment, Lord Luce said:

“It is a great privilege to have been invited by the Prime Minister to chair the Crown Nominations Commission for the selection of the next Archbishop of Canterbury. I approach the task with humility and a strong sense of the responsibility that I and my colleagues on the Commission share.”

“I am very conscious of the significance of the Archbishop’s role both nationally and across the world. It is, of course, of great importance both to the Church of England and to the wider community in our country, given the Church’s contribution to our society at all levels. The Archbishop is also the head of world-wide Anglican Communion. And the appointment of an Archbishop of Canterbury also means a great deal for other Christian denominations and for other faiths.”

 

“Archbishop Rowan has made an outstanding contribution in all of these spheres. Finding a worthy successor will not be an easy task for the Commission.”

 

“The responsibility of chairing the Commission is, of course, a heavy one. But I am fortified by the knowledge that I will be supported and advised by the other members of the Commission who have a wide range of talents and experience.”

 

Notes for Editors

Richard Luce, age 75, has long experience in public affairs. In the House of Lords he sits on the Cross Benches as an independent Life Peer. He is currently High Steward of Westminster Abbey. His career spans the overseas civil service, business, Parliament (Conservative MP for 21 years), a Minister for 10 years (Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Minister for the Arts and Minister for the Civil Service), Vice Chancellor of the University of Buckingham and Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar.

He retired in 2006 having served six years as Lord Chamberlain to The Queen, the senior official in the Royal Household. He is serving, or has served, as President, Chairman or Trustee of a number of charitable bodies. In 2008 The Queen made him a Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter.

Richard Luce is a lifelong Anglican. He and his wife, Rose, who is a lay minister in the Church of England, worship at a parish church near their home in West Sussex.

The appointment has been made by the Prime Minister after taking soundings of senior figures in the Church.

The Crown Nominations Commission will put its recommendation for the next Archbishop to the Prime Minister, who will seek the agreement of Her Majesty The Queen. It is expected that the name of the new Archbishop will be announced in the Autumn.

The Commission is a largely Church-elected body, including both clergy and lay members and representatives of the worldwide Anglican Communion. For the See of Canterbury the Prime Minister appoints its chair.

Set up in 1999 in the period following the Good Friday agreement, a key aim of Public Achievement is to help young people get involved in democracy and the running of their community. One of the most well-known outcomes of this work is the website Where Is My Public Servant?, run by and for young people.  It is a searchable database of all public representatives in Northern Ireland at local Council, NI Assembly, Westminster and European Parliament levels. Any registered WIMPS.TV member can use it to send messages to representatives about the issues they want to raise and it also features videos members film with representatives to explain how they relate to their lives and communities. 

During his visit Hugo Swire recorded an interview with WIMPS members which will be available on the site shortly.

Congratulating Public Achievement on the award, the Prime Minister said:

“Involving young people in their local communities and showing them how they can help to shape them has huge benefits not just for them but for society as a whole.  We’ve recently launched the National Citizen Service to do just that but Public Achievement has been successfully involving young people in democracy for over ten years.

“This is a fantastic example of young people getting involved in the Big Society but I’m also pleased to see them helping to make government more transparent and accountable.  It is important that everyone in a community is able to give their views on local transport, schools, leisure facilities and everything else that affects them and understanding how to do that is the first step in achieving this.  Where is my Public Servant is helping young people in Northern Ireland to have their say in their local, national and international communities and I would like to congratulate them for their success in doing this.”

 Presenting the award, Northern Ireland Minister Hugo Swire said:

“It is an honour to present Public Achievement with this award today. I would like to offer my congratulations both to Public Achievement and to all the individual young people who make this project the inspiration that it is.

“Public Achievement is Northern Ireland’s leading youth focused civic education organisation which supports young people to do real work on real issues in their communities. I have seen how the organisation works with young people in ways which encourage active citizenship,   particularly on working with communities that face social and economic disadvantage and many which have also been adversely affected by the former conflict and its legacy.

 

“It is this democratic engagement and commitment to making their communities better places to live and work that will be essential in moving Northern Ireland away from a legacy of violent conflict to becoming a thriving, vibrant, pluralist society. 

 

This is exactly what Big Society is all about and I wish Public Achievement every success in the future.”

 

Accepting the award, Paul Smyth, Director of Public Achievement said:

“We are delighted that the Prime Minister has decided to recognise our work in this way. In our model of ‘Civic Youth Work’ we are working with young people from tough social realities to help them to become more successful members of their communities, and citizens of this society. It is wonderful that their energies, determination and commitment are being celebrated in this way.  Northern Ireland is a society with enormous potential, and young citizens – including those who are socially disadvantaged – have a significant to building a new society in which the tragedies of the past are a bad memory, and where a shared society values all of its citizens.”

 

Biographical Notes

Sir John Peace is a former High Sheriff and was knighted for services to business and the voluntary sector last year. He is Chair of Standard Chartered plc, Burberry plc and founder and Chair of Experian, which is headquartered in Nottingham. He was Chair of the Board of Governors of Nottingham Trent University for ten years and has been a trustee of the Djanogly City Academy in Nottingham since 1999. Sir John chairs the Nottingham Economic Resilience Forum, focusing on issues associated with the recession and local unemployment. He is the East Midlands ambassador for Business in the Community and is a keen advocate for maximising opportunities for young people. He has served as a Deputy Lieutenant for the last seven years. Sir John lives near Newark with his wife, Christine, and has three daughters.