New priorities set for Children's Plan
A detailed update on the work of the Children's Plan, published on its first anniversary, has set out its progress so far and priorities for 2009.
The Government also launched last week its 2020 Children and Young People's Workforce Strategy to improve recruitment, training and support for the workforce.
Early years workers and other professionals will receive a summary document of the Children's Plan progress report, which will be sent to every school, every head teacher, every children's centre, every GP and all directors of children's services.
A new interactive website, designed as an online Children's Plan 'village', was also launched to enable children's professionals and parents to see how the Children's Plan works in their community (www.dcsf.gov.uk/oneyearon).
Stressing the need for 'a culture of early intervention and prevention', children's secretary Ed Balls said, 'We've made substantial progress in the last year, but there is still a lot more to do to make sure that children are safe, that their well-being is promoted, that we have proper engagement with parents, that we're really intervening early to spot problems, that agencies are working closely together.'
As part of the Children's Workforce Strategy, Mr Balls said, 'Alan Johnson and I are now launching a new taskforce to look at improvements in frontline social work practice, which will be clearly informed by events of recent weeks' - a reference to the Baby P case in Haringey. He added, 'But that's only one part of the strategy. There's a real emphasis on raising skills and professionalism and support for the early years workforce.'
Also announced was a £200m fund to incentivise locating children's services on school sites, with more details due shortly.
In response to the report, the charity 4Children said it was 'worrying' that the child health strategy had been delayed.Chief executive Anne Longfield said, 'Despite some disappointments in the areas of health services and youth justice, which must go further to prioritise the needs of vulnerable children, many encouraging developments have taken place. Major proposals to improve play opportunities and settings for children and young people and extend access to childcare will help millions of children and families to realise their full potential.'
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said it was important that the private, voluntary and independent sectors were properly supported. She said, 'It is essential that issues are resolved before a universal free offer is extended to two-year-olds. Extending to two-year-olds is highlighted as a priority for 2009, but without resolving the problems with the offer for three-and four-year-olds, an extension of free care could further impact upon sustainability.'
PLAN PRIORITIES
- Government to legislate to end child poverty by 2020 with a routemap to achieve it
- Extend the offer of a free place to more two-year-olds
- Work with schools to get more parents involved in children's learning
- Publish a new child health strategy
- Government response to review on impact of commercialisation on child wellbeing, due in the spring
Extend Family Nurse Partnerships to 20 sites by April 2009.
