LOCALISING CHILD POVERTY TARGETS: A TOOL KIT FOR LOCAL PARTNERS.

Background CPAG in Scotland - maximising incomes and influencing policy Working with Save the Children, Barnardos and others as members of End Child Poverty National campaign, but clear need for local focus Real potential for local authorities/partnerships to take a role City Strategies Concordat and Single Outcome Agreements – new opportunities to sharpen local role in tackling child poverty?

The child poverty target Reduce child poverty by one quarter by …. ….by half by 2010… …and eradicate it by 2020 “Our historic aim, that ours is the first generation to end child poverty forever …It’s a 20-year mission, but I believe it can be done” Tony Blair March 1999 “We have made clear our commitment…to doing all within the powers available to us to help achieve the milestone to halve child poverty by 2010…and eradicating child poverty by 2020” Scottish Government January 2008

The child poverty target Related Scottish Government targets (in National Performance Framework) Reduce income inequality – the Solidarity Golden Rule (one of six top level Purpose Targets) Decrease the proportion of individuals living in poverty (Indicator 10)

The scale of the problem Relative income poverty measure – households below 60% of median income children in poverty in Scotland in after housing costs (1 in 4) 3.8 million children in UK in (30%), What is the poverty line? Couple, 2 children aged 5 and 14£301 Single, 2 children aged 5 and 14£223

How well are we doing? first target to reduce child poverty by a quarter by met in Scotland (but not in UK) but child poverty in UK increased by 100,000 children in , and standstill in Scotland not on track to meet the target for 2010

What is being done to meet the targets? Key Policy measures to improve incomes: Investment in family incomes (tax credits, child benefit) and in Scotland take up and advice and information Increasing parental employment (W2W, Working for Families, rights at work) Improving earnings from employment (NMW, skills) But more investment needed… …and broader holistic approach

At local level: Local services Information and advice – benefits, tax credits,debt Employment and employability Childcare Education Housing Health Family support

How do we move forward? Raise public and professionals' awareness and understanding – scale of the problem and what needs to be done Work across government in Westminster, Holyrood and at local authority level to reduce child poverty - and have the tools and incentives in place to support this Work in partnership - statutory services, business, VCS

The Child Poverty Tool Kit Designed to help local partners to: −Frame an informed debate on child poverty in relation to employment, income, education, housing, health and social services −Analyse local child poverty trends using the most reliable data sources −Develop local targets −Ensure local policies are “child poverty proofed” −Design a multi-themed strategy for achieving this

Consultation & launch Newcastle Merseyside Birmingham London Launch in June 2008 Available to all, on-line Long-term vision is to provide training/support (info will be provided in the tool kit)

Web based content 1 – Child poverty review (policy briefs) −TOOL: Fact sheets on the child poverty target, work, education, health, access to services, housing, financial inclusion 2 – Analysing child poverty locally (data) −TOOL: Guide to child poverty-related data sources −TOOL: Child poverty data spreadsheet −TOOL: Information sheet on local evidence −TOOL: Communication/presentation template 3 – A strategy to eradicate child poverty (strategy elements) −TOOL: Guide to working together as partners −TOOL: How to model local targets −TOOL: Guide to poverty-proofing local services −TOOL: Guide to using local Outcome Agreements −TOOL: Strategy check-list −TOOL: Guide to measuring progress and identifying what works

Data Tools

LA: Child Poverty Data The Summary Presentation

Tackling child poverty – what can local authorities do? Preventing child poverty means improving family incomes Local authority services already deal with the consequences of poverty Service design is important

Children in Low Income Households Indicator: Percentage of children in families on benefits and tax credits Sources: HM Revenue and Customs (latest data )

Change since Feb 2003 in % children in workless families Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (latest data - May 2007)

Childcare: 3 and 4 year olds in pre-school places Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families

Key Stage 2 Achievement – NOTE: this is mock data Source: Department for Children, Schools and Families

What to do next? Understand the problem Work with partners Design and agree a child poverty strategy Monitor its effectiveness and improve Get going…

Data Tools

Post-launch and ongoing activity Outreach, marketing and communications Training and consultancy support Data maintenance and updating briefing materials Support from Inclusion and CPAG teams

Next Steps A Child Poverty toolkit for Scotland? Pilot authorities? What would be useful? Scottish data sources? How can we work together to ensure child poverty targets firmly within local priorities?