Edd Balls announces that the Children's Fund will continue for 3 more years

20/07/2007

The Department for Children, Schools and Families press release.

EVERY CHILD MATTERS: A STRAIGHTFORWARD BUT AMBITIOUS MISSION

18 July 2007

The new Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls today set out a straightforward yet ambitious mission to drive up school 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.

Addressing an NCB-sponsored conference of experts in children’s services, he said:

“Our aspirations are straightforward 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.

“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; joining up services for children, particularly mental health services; and intervening early and decisively with children at risk of truanting, poor behaviour before it escalates into offending behaviour.

To this end he announced:

• £396 million investment to continue the Children’s Fund over the next three years, supporting projects that specialise in early intervention and prevention, and are having a notable impact on school attendance. They are improving the skills and emotional wellbeing of parents to help them better support their children, and improving relationships between families and professionals;

• £60 million over the next three years to support schools in working with mental health practitioners to improve the emotional wellbeing of pupils, and have mental health experts working in schools to identify problems and provide children and young people with support – some 10% of children are diagnosed with a mental health problem;

• a ‘Staying Safe’ consultation to support parents in striking the right balance between protecting their children and allowing them to learn and explore safely, without being wrapped up in cottonwool; as well as extending anti-bullying policies to children’s homes, extended school services, and youth groups;

• taking on dual responsibility for play with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to develop fun, safe, and effective children’s play – the central part of any happy childhood and essential to learning and development;

• announcing the key focus of the nationwide consultation to develop a new Children’s Plan to examine:

- prevention – how universal and targeted services can work together better to head off problems before they start;

- personalisation – how services can tailor their support so that all children can reach their potential;

- positive childhood – the role of parents and various services can provide a happy, healthy and safe childhood for all;

- families – to consider the role families play in each phase, and how we can support them.

Just last week Ed Balls set out plans to further drive up school standards for children, including £265 million to fund an extended schools subsidy over the next three years to ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from extra out-of-hours tuition and after-school clubs in sport, music and drama.

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. A copy of Ed Balls’ speech is posted on the DCSF website at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/speeches

2. Starting this month, Mr Balls and his Ministerial team will lead a nationwide consultation with education and children’s services experts, as well as children and families themselves to bring together all aspects of policy affecting children and young people into a new Children’s Plan. Three working groups will look at education and other services for children and young people - one for 0-7 year olds, one for 8-13 year olds and another for 14-19 year olds.

3. The working groups will be chaired by members of the National Council for Excellence in Education to ensure a fully joined up approach: Jackie Fisher, Principal of Newcastle College; leading London headteacher Sir Alan Steer; and Jo Davidson, Director of Children’s Services in Gloucester. The consultation will report in October.

4. The Children’s Fund funds additional preventative services for children aged 5-13, often delivered through the voluntary and community sector. The Children’s Fund was a time-limited programme originally due to end in March 2008. Funding in 2007-08 is £132m nationally. Funding was initially ring-fenced and distributed through local Children’s Fund partnerships, but has been moving towards funding being distributed to local authorities. Today’s announcement means that funding will now continue at £132m in each of the three years from 2008 to 2011. The money will be distributed through local authorities and pooled with other funding to form a new area-based grant. The Government is encouraging local authorities and their partners to maintain a strong engagement of the voluntary and community sector in using these funds.

3. 10% of children are estimated to have a mental health problem. Early problem behaviours are closely related to academic underachievement, and an increased likelihood of school exclusion, offending, anti-social behaviour, marital breakdown, drug abuse, alcoholism and mental illness in adulthood. Voluntary and community sector organisations have developed models of targeted support in schools for pupils with social and emotional health problems. New funding of £9.6m in 2008-09, £19.5m in 2009-10, and £30m in 2010-11 will enable more schools and local authorities to introduce effective early intervention services in and close to schools, which will supplement and complement existing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

Press Notice 2007/0134

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