We Can Only Build Back Better if the Needs of Children and Young People are Central to the Way We Do So. By Adam Colclough
Activists from North Staffs Green Party have backed the call by charities working with children and young people for their needs to be a key focus of the forthcoming Spending Review.
A spokesperson for North Staffs Greens said: “Government talk about building back better will always ring hollow if the needs of children and young people are central to way we do so”.
A coalition of organizations working in the sector, including NSPCC, Barnados, The National Children’s Bureau, and Action for Children have come together as part of the Children at the Heart campaign to demand better funding for children and families.
Under the banner Build Back Childhood the coalition will be putting pressure on Chancellor Rishi Sunak ahead of his announcement of government spending plans on 27th October.
They are calling for government policies to meet priorities including ‘levelling up’ resources for children and families and to give every child in the UK the best possible start in life.
In a statement on their website, the National Children’s Bureau who are coordinating the campaign say “The Spending Review is a turning point. Instead of going back to how things were, this is our chance to look to the future – a future where every child feels safe, secure and supported. This is our chance to Build Back Childhood”.
In a report published this month ‘Build Back Childhood: The Case for Investment’ the bureau set out recommendations, including increasing spending on the Supporting Families programme to £330 million to provide early intervention for families facing multiple disadvantages; a rapid expansion of Mental Health Support teams in schools, and a £500 million ringfenced uplift to the Public Health Grant over three years to train 3000 more health visitors.
In a pre-budget announcement, the Treasury have pledged to support struggling families through policies including the creation of a network of ‘family hubs’ and providing extra funding to support families dealing with complex issues.
Speaking to the BBC Neil Leitch of the Early Years Alliance said the extra funding was “welcome news for struggling families”, but criticized the government for failing to address other problems in the early years sector, particularly the number of nurseries and childminders who have been forced to close this year.
A total of £500 million in extra support for families in England has been announced by the government ahead of Wednesday’s budget. However, the seeming generosity is skin deep, much of the money announced is not new and where it is day to day budgets for services may face being squeezed to fund headline grabbing initiatives.
In their press statement the National Children’s Bureau say “The Spending Review is a turning point. Instead of going back to how things were, this is our chance to look to the future – a future where every child feels safe, secure and supported”.
After more than a decade of austerity, followed by eighteen months of upheaval caused by the pandemic that will only be possible if the government makes a genuine and long-term investment in services for children and young people.
Unfortunately, what the spending review is likely to offer looks like an all too familiar round of repeated announcements dressed up as new money hiding salami slicing of frontline services.