A coalition of over 70 organisations and experts concerned with children’s rights and welfare has today (6 November) published a series of 30 pledges which would transform the lives of children and young people, and their parents and carers. The priorities include tackling child and family poverty, building an inclusive education system, ensuring children in care and care leavers are loved and supported and providing timely and close to home mental health support. Several measures seek to end the harmful treatment of children in contact with the immigration and criminal justice systems. Carolyne Willow, Director of children’s rights charity Article 39, said:
“Children have no vote but what’s promised and delivered through this general election will have a massive impact on their lives, happiness and future. We want to see children and their rights at the heart of manifestos – not the odd mention here and there but a systematic strategy for making our country among the best in the world for children’s rights. Five years can make or break a childhood, so the weeks ahead really matter.”
With a quarter of children growing up in poverty, a number of pledges concern social security support for families and fighting socio-economic disadvantage. Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, said:
“Child poverty is on track to reach a record high yet, incredibly, in the UK we no longer have a strategy to reduce it. Every corner of a child’s life is jeopardised by poverty – from school results to health outcomes to predicted wellbeing in adulthood. As a nation that cares about children, we must make sure that childhood is a joyful time for all. Every party leader must now publicly commit to bringing in a cross-departmental strategy to reduce child poverty – with clear targets and success measures. If that doesn’t happen we will compromise the life chances of a whole new generation.”
This general election coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Children Act, which Parliament passed in November 1989. The Act requires local authorities to provide comprehensive support to children and families, as well as care and protection to children unable to live with their families.
It is also 30 years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), an international treaty guaranteeing all children an adequate standard of living, development to their full potential, the best health, equal access to education, and the right to be heard and taken seriously. Children’s best interests are meant to be a primary consideration in all government action and decision-making. Bringing the treaty fully into domestic law is the coalition’s first pledge. Louise King, Director of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, part of Just for Kids Law, said:
“A comprehensive child rights law would ensure that children are placed at the heart of both central and local government decision-making and result in a more extensive realisation of the CRC. It would also empower children to seek redress when their rights are not being respected. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has repeatedly called on the UK Government to take this step and the children we work with desperately want the government to do much more to ensure their rights are protected. We urge all parties to commit to full CRC incorporation to make sure all children, including the most vulnerable, have the best possible childhood and the opportunity to reach their potential.”
Kathy Evans, Chief Executive of Children England, added:
“Over the thirty years since we signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, government policy affecting children has been increasingly fragmented, and departments have struggled to co-operate on a shared, holistic vision for children’s wellbeing. These pledges set out a thorough framework that all departments can use to ensure children are at the heart of policy-making.”
Many of those signing the pledges have direct experience of the care system. Ian Dickson was in care in the 1950s and 1960s and then spent 40 years as a social worker, children’s homes manager and an Ofsted inspector. He recently helped to organise the country’s first national conference for people of all ages (14 to 82 years) with care experience, and said:
“Notwithstanding the overwhelming moral imperative to protect and care for our children, (which should be enough on its own), it simply is unfathomable that we wouldn’t want to. No business would fail to invest in research and development if it wants to survive. Yet our children are our future. If you fail our children, you fail their today and everyone’s future. It seems so obvious. The question should not be ‘Can we support these 30 general election pledges?’ but ‘Can we, morally, ethically and practically, afford not to!’”
David Graham, National Director of The Care Leavers’ Association, added:
“People with direct experience of the care system know more than anyone what makes them feel loved, secure and hopeful for the future. They also know what needs to change urgently to ensure every child in care has their rights upheld. We invite all political parties to adopt our 30 pledges and work with us to guarantee no young person leaves care until they’re ready and that support in adulthood is there for as long as they need it. This is what good parenting looks and feel like.”
Maggie Atkinson, who was Children’s Commissioner for England between 2010 and 2015, is one of many children’s rights experts backing the pledges. She said:
“Children, and how they fare, are central to a civilised, progressive society: its education and health provision, interventions by social care teams, or what happens to children cared for by the state. We have refreshed opportunities to do this well whenever we choose who is going to govern us. These 30 pledges are not trying to steer voters’ choices on the 12th of December. They are challenges, put to powerful adults on children’s behalf, in a society with decisions to make about its future whoever is returned to Parliament. How we protect and promote our children’s rights and safeguard their life chances matters for every child, family and neighbourhood in the country. The pledges ask us to step up and make that happen.”
Rita Waters, Chief Executive of NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service), said:
“By putting our weight behind one clear set of demands, Together for Children is sending a clear message to politicians that the sector is united in recognising changes that need to be prioritised. Ultimately, we want to ensure that the voices of care-experienced children and young people are heard and acted upon, and with these pledges there is no excuse for any future UK Government not to really hit the ground running.”