Labour candidates talk about the hearth
Thu 29 Oct 2009 By Daran Hill The Hearth
IT’S CHILDREN and families in the spotlight with camp Carwyn today so we’re taking a view of the policies being advocated by all three candidates.
We’ll start with Edwina Hart who, as Social Justice Minister between 2003 and 2007, was responsible for families and communities policy for four years. She emphasises these issues in her manifesto too. Her key commitments are:
Leading the work on child poverty as First Minister, also tackling poverty of opportunity, service and aspiration – all of which combine to prevent too many children, in Wales, from making the most of their lives, and the most of the contribution which they, in return, can make to their communities.
Investing in the conditions which create success, not mopping up the consequences of failure, therefore spending money early in the lives of children. Therefore supporting Flying Start, Foundation phase and investigating in children’s health but also optimally configuring and aligning the policy levers at our disposal so that they bear down and have a major impact on levels of child and family poverty.
More children looked after by their own families rather than being taken into local authority care, fewer children drawn into the youth justice system, and fewer young people made homeless and left to fend for themselves far too early on in life.
She funded and then managed Communities First and wants to build on it to provide a more outcome-based and integrated approach to community regeneration.
“Over the next few years our budgets may be squeezed, but the scale of our ambitions for fairness, SOCIAL JUSTICE and EQUALITY should not,” says Huw Lewis in the preamble to his manifesto chapter on that topic. As someone with a strong interest in child poverty from his time as a Deputy Minister and also as Chair of the Expert Group on child poverty, he argues “We should view child poverty as an issue that requires total commitment from every department of Government.” His specific policy pledges are:
As well as doing more to help tackle in-work poverty, we must do much more provide Welsh people with the options and flexibility they need to fit employment around family life and childcare commitments;
We must work with Welsh businesses and the trade unions to reshape and recast our attitudes to flexible working, breaking down traditional 9-5 work patterns, increasing social mobility in the long-term and freeing up sections of our workforce that are currently ‘locked out’ of the workplace;
Develop a wrap-around ‘Dignity for Children’ family support programme to assist Wales’s most vulnerable families. Offering early intervention and a comprehensive package of community based support for the child and their family to help break the grip of poverty and realise the potential of many thousands of children across Wales;
Raise the profile of the Credit Union movement in Wales until it has a presence in every Welsh high street. By mentoring their development and encouraging their growth, we can help credit unions to tackle financial exclusion, helping individual savers and small businesses across Wales;
Create a new, stronger Child Poverty Unit with the ideas and leadership to better coordinate government policy across departments, bolstering the capacity of the Assembly Government to deal with the enormous challenge of eradicating child poverty; and
Remodelling childcare to allow families to work themselves free of poverty and allow businesses to recruit and retain more talented staff for the benefit of the Welsh economy
Carwyn Jones unveiling his policy platform today with words that are not that different from his rivals: “We are proud in Wales of our community socialist values – core values that have stood our people well in times of hardship. I want to see the public pound go further in creating stronger communities across Wales, whether it is providing good housing, promoting shared neighbourhoods, reducing crime and violence or rewarding creativity. In tough times, we will be judged as socialists by how we treat the most vulnerable. Social justice is our defining principle.” He makes the following specific policy pledges:
Ensure there a new requirements on local authorities to include Communities First partnerships when planning community strategies and ensure public bodies do more to bend their programme services to the real needs of our poorest communities.
The deprivation grant previously paid to local authorities is now part of the Rate Support grant and should be distributed in line with the new Children’s Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Commit to redouble our efforts to tackle the hidden epidemic of violence against women in our communities and continue support for organisations such as Welsh Women’s Aid and also look at one stop shop services for victims.
Pledge to continue to provide support them through council tax discount.
Create better integrated and affordable childcare, building on schemes like the Genesis programme, with a focus on developing social enterprise solutions;
Build on Sure Start and Flying Start, targetted at our most deprived communities in Wales;
Invest in the Child Trust Fund through credit unions as part of a Children are our Future programme;
Deliver a co-ordinated government plan to support looked-after children, putting energies into engaging directly with children affected, reducing educational disruption, enhancing independent advocacy and providing a personal support plan for children leaving care;
Support organisations to provide family support to families who don’t need social services, building on the Homestart model;
Learn from best practice schemes such as On Track, which provides both targeted and general support for parents, including fathers, avoiding stigmatisation;
Support the crucial role of health visitors in improving children’s health;
Review youth services across Wales to make sure they are fit for purpose; and
Child-proof all Assembly Government policies.
So a bit less clear red water between the candidates today.
Tagged as: Carwyn Jones, Edwina Hart, Huw Lewis, Labour leadership race, poverty
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It was interesting to note the similarities in the three candidates’ policies on children and families earlier this week; focussing on child poverty, looked-after children, child care and flexible working.
All important issues, but for those of us who have been campaigning for some time on improving the lives of disabled children and young people in Wales it was a little disappointing to see that none of the candidates made any reference to the specific needs of disabled children and their families.
In response to the Disabled Children Matter Wales campaign the Welsh Assembly Government produced “We are on the way – a policy agenda to transform the lives of disabled Children and Young People” back in December 2008. The DCMW campaign has highlighted how for disabled children and young people government policy has rarely resulted in real improvements in the long standing problems they face accessing the same everyday opportunities as other children and young people.
If disabled children and young people have truly achieved a higher profile on the policy agenda in recent years it would be useful to hear more from the candidates about how, as Labour leader, they would further the ideals of social justice for this particular group of children.
Keith Bowen
Manager
Contact a Family Wales