The coronavirus pandemic has had a widespread impact on the lives of every child and
young person in the country. The National Children’s Bureau (NCB), as part of a recovery coalition of organisations, is calling for a new vision of childhood to support children, young people and their families to recover from the crisis.
But the NCB says that ‘with rising child poverty and services at breaking point’, recovery does not mean going back to the way things were before. Its vision calls for a cross-government approach considering needs from conception to age 25, and it has set out the key principles and action required to turn the vision into a reality..
The principles are:
- An integrated and holistic approach
- Protect and promote children’s rights and entitlements
- Treat children, young people and their families as partners
- Have an explicit focus on reducing inequalities
- Invest in children and young people’s futures through a comprehensive, long-term funding settlement
- Understand how needs have changed and respond
- Value and invest in the workforce
- Value strong relationships and take a person-centred approach to new models of service delivery
Supported by the NCB, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Children held a virtual event to consider the national action needed to underpin recovery. The event featured a look at the approach to recovery taking place across government departments, arms-length bodies and the Opposition, and identifying gaps that may need further action.
Chair of the APPG Tim Loughton underlined that children have ‘not always been on the radar’ during the crisis.
Members of the forum Young NCB gave their views. One young carer said people like her had been ‘left in the dark’. She added: ‘From this whole COVID-19 there’s a new generation of young carers that have come from it.
‘Those are young people who have had no experience in the system at all and have had to learn to care and learn to do everything while no-one is there. And I think it’s a really important thing that the Government listen.'
Another said: ‘Throughout this process, young people’s voices are not heard.’ Minister for children and families, Vicky Ford, and shadow minister for children and early years, Tulip Siddiq, put questions to the young speakers at the event, and also took questions from them.
Asked by the minister if there were ‘some good aspects they would want to take from the crisis that they would like to take forward’, Alicia replied: ‘There are so many young people willing to put their voice out there and be heard, but they are being silenced because there isn’t enough being done to consult them. At the end of the day it’s our future and we want
the opportunity to be a part of it.’
She continued: ‘Something that has been really good is that I found a lot of schools are doing more now to try to ensure students are still being supported. I know the Children’s Society are pushing for a wellbeing check-up, and a lot more schools are doing that, which is really helpful.’
The minister said protecting vulnerable children ‘is at the heart of the Government’s response’ – and that the Government has ‘changed our way of working to really understand how children and families’ needs have changed, and to provide an integrated and cross government approach’.
She added: ‘We have set up a task and finish group that brings together all government departments to focus especially on vulnerable children. The support that we have put in place for vulnerable children has been extensive.’
She said that of a ‘massive £1bn catch up package’ two thirds will go across all schools over the whole of next year to ‘support our education settings, putting in the right catch up’. This would be ‘not just educational catch up, it’s also wellbeing support for when children return – and the other third of the package is of course for children from disadvantaged backgrounds’.
The Government is ‘absolutely committed to enhancing mental health and wellbeing’, she added.
She also said the Government had prioritised ensuring care leavers were able to stay in their homes during the pandemic, supported 61,000 adoptive families using the Adoption Support Fund and helped 72,000 families with disabled children through the Families Fund. The Government had also ‘made sure those with no recourse to public funds can access free school meals’.
Director of policy and research at The Children’s Society Dr Sam Royston said experts from across the children’s sector have been working closely together to produce a set of briefings that begin to lay out an approach for delivery that works for children across six key areas. These are child poverty and social security, mental health and wellbeing, early years recovery, supporting children in care and care leavers, safeguarding and child protection and school returns. He said these were ‘the beginnings of a blueprint that could make recovery work for children’.
Matthew Dodd is head of policy and public affairs at the NCB. He said the NCB had worked with 160 organisations, so that when the Prime Minister gave his first major speech on recovery, ‘we came together to ask him to put children at the heart of his recovery plans. Our big ask was that children and young people become one of the three pillars of the Government’s recovery strategy, alongside the nation’s health and the economy’.
That coalition came together again when the chancellor made his summer statement ‘to ask him to put children at the centre of the Treasury’s investment decisions’. He welcomed the Kickstart scheme to support employment, but he added: ‘There are many other aspects of children and young people’s lives we think demand attention too.’
In conclusion, he was adamant he does not want things to do back to exactly to what they were before, ‘whether that’s the financial state of local authority children’s services, the waiting times to see a mental health professional, or the levels of child poverty. We know we can do better than this’.