‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

The Child Poverty Strategy: setting the national context

NAVCA Newcastle Event – Child Poverty: everybody’s business

Melanie Duffield, Head of Implementation, Child Poverty Unit

12 October 2010

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

What I want to cover today

• The scale of the challenge – the Child Poverty Act and the National Strategy

• The Local Picture

• The role for VCS – how we can build the agenda

The scale of the challenge

44‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Making a legal commitment to end poverty by 2020

The Act sets out four targets to eradicate child poverty by 2020 and beyond:

• Relative low income – less than 10% in 2020

• Combined low income and material deprivation

• Absolute low income target – less than 5% in 2020

• Persistent poverty target

Low income is defined as below 60% median income before housing costs.

It also requires government to minimise socioeconomic disadvantage for children

The Act also sets out how government will be held accountable, by publishing:

• A strategy every three years to 2020 and an annual report. The first strategy must be published by March 2011, and will cover the first 3 years of the strategy. The Government must consult on the national strategy.

• Part 2 of The Act requires local authorities and their delivery partners to produce local strategies, based on local area needs assessments

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The scale of the national challenge

Where we need to get to:

Where we have come from:

Where we will be in 2020 without further action:

Where we are: 22% = Percentage of UK children in households withIncome below 60% of median income in 2008/9

26% = percentage of UK children in householdsbelow the relative poverty line in 1998/9

<10% The relative income target for 2020 is for lessthan 10% of children to be in poverty in 2020

25% Projected percentage of children in poverty in 2020, on current trajectory

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EMPLOYMENT & SKILLS

PLACE(Communities, housing,

local areas)

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

FAMILY and LIFE CHANCES(Education, health,

early years)

AT RISK GROUPS

Meet 2020 targets and reduce

socio economic disadvantage

The Strategy will need to: (a) propose the action needed in each area in order to meet the

targets and minimise socio-economic disadvantage, and

(b) assess what progress needs to be made by 2014

It will also need to assess: which groups are most at risk of poverty and disadvantage; & consider the impact of policy measures for each group

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Development of the strategy is being structured around the building blocks, plus cross-cutting issues

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2010-11 MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR

Timeline for developing the UK, Devolved and Local Strategies and work of other key bodies

Developing the UK child

poverty strategy

Development of local and

DA strategies

Budget & Spending Review

Budget 2010

Spending ReviewBudget

2011

Child Poverty Consultation

Report of Frank Field Review

Deadline for CP Strategy

Frank Field Review of Life ChancesIndependent review commissioned by Number 10

Graham Allen Review of Early Intervention

Evidence review and analysis of poverty impact

Policy evaluation: Ensuring cost effectiveness and value for money

Monitoring Progress: establishing interim measures & indicators

Drafting of strategy & development of

Implementation Plan

Timeline for work of other

Bodies

Consultation on the Welsh Strategy

Timing and scope of the Consultation to

be decided

Local authority needs assessments

Local child poverty strategies

Deadline for local strategies

Deadline for DA Strategies

Indicative timing for needs

assessment

The local picture

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Supporting all local areas to tackle child poverty

The Child Poverty Act requires Local Authorities and their Named Partners to:

-Cooperate to reduce, and mitigate the effects of, child poverty in their local area. -Produce local child poverty needs assessments. -Prepare joint local child poverty strategies.

The Guide produced on the duties signals the importance of local authorities engaging with voluntary and community organisations – both to support consultation around the needs assessment but also to consider contribution to the local area strategy.

The emphasis is not on areas meeting the national targets at a local level – but on developing local strategies across the building blocks and driving action that makes a difference to the deprived communities in their area. Therefore all local areas should be making a contribution.

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Massive variations across the country

• NI 116 (income data) allows us to see the variation that exists between Local Authorities.

• Least deprived authorities have NI 116 rates of around 10%. Most deprived have rates of over 40%.

• Other indicators (e.g. educational attainment) have the same variation.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Local authorities sorted by value of NI 116

NI1

16 2

007

Source: NI 116 2007, excludes Isles of Scilly

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

But there are pockets of deprivation everywhere

• By looking at data at ward level we can see the variation within authorities. • It shows that even authorities with low levels of deprivation overall can have

pockets where deprivation is well above the national average

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Local authorities sorted by value of NI 116

NI1

16 2

007

Source: NI 116 2007, excludes Isles of Scilly. Vertical bars show the min and max ward

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Just a handful of examples of what is going on…

The Child Poverty Unit has funded pilots including a suite of innovation pilots. These include:

-Tyneside have set up a model of community entrepreneurs – now consideringhow that model can be sustained and expanded.

- Knowsley have set up a model of family mentors in the community who providepeer support to struggling families.

- Sefton have worked with the sector to share local community hubs to provide services around employment and childcare.

Examples of where the sector can contribute are broad and varied – likely to be growing scope for delivery, and potential new routes for funding…

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

The Core Offer of Support

The Child Poverty Unit

website

ResearchCPU updates

Data Tool

CPAG Child

Poverty Toolkit

GovOffices

C4EO Sector

SpecialistC4EO

Take Up Taskforce Report & Materials

Beacons

active personalised

support

Good Practice Examples

Online Resources:Child Poverty Community of Practice (CoP)

C4EO websiteLGID

C4EO Validated

Local Practice

RIEPs CWDC

NCL

StC

Child Poverty Unit’s website and CoP

Child Poverty Pilots

The role for the VCS

The Government’s new approach to the Big Society

‘The Big Society is about a huge culture change, where people, in their everyday lives, in their homes, neighbourhoods and workplace, don’t always turn to officials or government for answers to the problems they face, but instead feel both free and powerful enough to help themselves and their own communities’

- Prime Minister, Liverpool, July 2010

Three Themes

• Social Action

•Public Service Reform

•Community Empowerment

Three Techniques

• Decentralisation

•Transparency

•Building capacity

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Child Poverty Unit response so far… where can we and the VCS engage more?

Cross-Govt Policy

• Embed child poverty thinking – everybody’s business

• Community Budgets – scope for stronger VCS role

• Commissioning White Paper

• Localism White Paper

Local Delivery

• Local Needs Assessmentsand Strategies – what can you bring to the table and how foster LA engagement?

• Championing role of VCS for local communities

• Demonstrate Good Practice e.g. Local Pilots and Projects

•Big Lottery Fund - innovation

National Consultation

• Engage in CP strategy

• Work with VCS reps

• Ministerial visits

• Voice of CYP

• Shaping Services

• Lessons Learned

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Thank you

How can we work together to involve and engage

the VCS in tackling child poverty?

• What can you tell us about the policy and delivery issues that impede progress on child poverty?

•Where are the barriers to working together with Local Authorities and other partners?

• Where across the Building Blocks is there greatest scope for the sector to influence and drive delivery? Where across vulnerable groups (against a backdrop of spending cuts) can the sector best lend support?

• What examples of good practice and innovative delivery can you share and how can we support this?

‘Ending child poverty everybody’s business’

Register at the LGID community of practice (we will be ramping up activity on this site):

http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/reg/sp.do

Have a look on our website and in particular at the guide and materials on the local duties we are loading up this week on the ‘tackling child poverty

locally’ pages:

www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/childpoverty

If you would like to stay linked into national developments and the work the CPU and ‘Core Offer’ group are developing…