The new Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls has set out a mission to drive up standards and improve the lives of every child in the country. He announced a total of £456 million for projects to support the wellbeing of children and families across the country, and a focus on play which enables children to have healthy, safe and happy childhood.

{mosimage}Addressing a conference of experts in children’s services, sponsored by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), he said: “Our aspirations are straight forward and ambitious. Every child deserves to be safe and loved and have a healthy and happy childhood, free from harm. And every child should have the chance to make the most of their talents and fulfil their potential.”

He continued: “To do this, we must provide excellent universal services for all children and their families; be able to identify potential problems early, before things go wrong; and when children are at risk, do something quickly to help children and their families get back on track. Some commentators claim there has never been a worse time to be a child in this country. I reject this view.

“Of course we face real challenges, but this pessimism fails to recognise the new opportunities children have today, and it undermines the dedication of parents and the immense passion and commitment of many in schools and children’s services to give children the best possible chance in life.”

Supporting children, young people and families in the community is integral to helping all children, promoting excellence and closing the achievement gap in schools. Ed Balls said however that key challenges remained in tackling the attainment gap, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

There is also work to do in joining up services for children, particularly mental health services. Further improvements can also be made in intervening early and decisively with children at risk of truanting, poor behaviour before it escalates into offending behaviour.

A North Yorkshire NHS trust is to axe 600 jobs – a third of its workforce – under plans to save £10m, union leaders have been told. Managers from the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust gave the news to staff on Wednesday.

Laws making possession of cannabis a largely non-arrestable offence could be reversed, Gordon Brown has said. The prime minister told MPs a consultation on reclassifying cannabis will be launched next week as part of a review of the entire UK drugs strategy.

The Royal Institute of Public Health is launching a new Level 2 qualification in ‘Decontamination’, specifically intended for those working in care settings – such as care homes, day centres, nurseries and GP surgeries.

The early release of more than a thousand prisoners has failed to solve the crisis that is undermining prison healthcare and prisoner rehabilitation programmes, the BMA has said.

The government will look into reclassifying cannabis as a class B drug, following concerns about stronger strains of the drug. Gordon Brown has announced the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) will look again at penalties for possessing and using cannabis.