The Home Office has announced that police and crime commissioners (PCC's) will be required to pledge an oath to represent 'all sections of the public without fear or favour'. The oath is designed to provide a platform for PCCs to set out publicly their commitment to tackling their new role with integrity. The government has launced an informal consultation on the wording of the oath. Once agreed, secondary legislation will be laid to set the wording of the oath and make its swearing compulsory.

New figures show one in six 16 to 24-year-olds in England were NEET in June this year. The latest figures show a 0.2 percentage point drop from June last year. A Government spokesperson underlined that more needed to be done, stating a record £7.5bn was to be spent on 16 to 19-year-olds most in need of education and training. The spokesperson added that £126m would be spent over the next three years as part of the Youth Contract. Visit: www.bbc.co.uk/news

The coalition government has published an action plan designed to tackle ritual child abuse and neglect in the name of witchcraft, spirit possession, the supernatural, and faith. The National action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or belief aims to raise awareness of such practice and sets out urgent practical steps to build intelligence on the ground to identify children at risk and act to protect them.

The framework sets out plans designed to deliver long term and sustainable benefits in response to the newly emerging needs facing the heritage sector.

It plans to:

The Compact Awards are designed to celebrate and showcase the most outstanding Compact working across England.

Young people leaving school, college or university are facing the bleakest outlook since 1994, the TUC has warned.
An analysis by the trade union body, released to coincide with the latest unemployment figures, shows that the proportion of young people not in employment, education or training is at its highest level since 1994.
This means that 20.4 per cent, or one in five, young people are neither working nor studying full-time – the highest level since October 1994.

Inspirational women unite to tackle role model deficit among ‘TOWIE generation’

Girlguiding UK has launched ten videos featuring successful women in range of careers, as a part of a drive to reverse what it describes as the “role models deficit” affecting girls and young women.

Councils, housing associations and the private property sector are failing to support disabled young people to live independently, research by a group of youth campaigners has found.

The not-for-profit company Active Learning and Skills has been handed its fourth council contract to run youth services in Somerset.

The organisation, which recruits young volunteers to work alongside youth workers has now added Crewkerne Town Council to its portfolio.