Event Details

Key Speakers

	Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group
	Ross Hendry, Director of Policy, The Office of the Children's Commissioner

Overview

Successive Governments have sought to underpin the pledge to “end child poverty within a generation” through progressive initiatives and measures aimed at breaking the cycle of deprivation and disadvantage. Poverty can be a destructive force due to its long-term grip on families and communities, holding them back generation after generation. Tackling childhood disadvantage is particularly vital as childhood experience lays the foundations for later life. Children growing up in very low-income households are more likely than others to have poor health, achieve low educational attainment, become teenage parents, come into early contact with the police, be unemployed as adults or have a lower income.

With child poverty costing the country £25 billion a year, the Government’s recently published strategy, “A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families' Lives” (April 2011) sets out a new approach to tackling poverty and securing social justice. The strategy sets out key goals for the next decade and details a number of actions and commitments for 2011-2014. Seeking to focus on the longer term causes of poverty, it increases the emphasis on strengthening life-chances, tackling family breakdown, reforming the welfare system and halting educational under-achievement.

The strategy is set against the backdrop of the Child Poverty Act (March 2010), which established income targets for 2020 and a framework to provide local decision-makers with the right tools to work together to tackle child poverty in their local areas in a sustainable way.

To underpin these goals, the Government unveiled the Social Mobility Strategy; “Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers” (April, 2011) aiming to tackle unfairness at every stage of life with specific measures aimed at the Foundation Years. The strategy outlines the attempt to ensure ability and potential are the driving determinants of adult circumstances.

One year on from the launch of the Child Poverty Strategy and Social Mobility Strategy, this timely symposium provides an invaluable opportunity for local authorities, family practitioners, government agencies and other stakeholders to assess the progress made thus far in tackling child poverty. The symposium offers an essential platform to share best practice and discuss how the latest measures can be implemented in your area in order to achieve the goals set out to eradicate child poverty by 2020.

Delegates will:

• Examine the latest Government strategies and discuss the latest evidence on how we can successfully tackle deprivation and improve life chances
• Explore the challenges that lie ahead and find solutions to tackle child poverty
• Assess the implications for local child poverty strategies and how the most successful approaches can be implemented
• Discuss ways in which to strengthen multi-agency working at the local level

Programme

Who Should Attend?

• Local Authority Officers and Councillors
• Central and Regional Government Agencies
• Child Poverty Strategy Teams
• Children and Young People’s Services
• Children’s Centres Representatives
• Social Services
• Health Visitors
• Children’s Trusts
• Sure Start Teams and Early Years Teams
• Childcare Provision Teams
• Parent Support Teams
• Welfare Officers
• Teenage Pregnancy Teams
• Community Cohesion Officers
• Education Authorities
• Head teachers and Education Authorities
• Faith Organisations
• Equal Opportunities Officers
• Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Practitioners
• Race Relations Practitioners and Race Equality Councils
• Regeneration and Worklessness Teams
• Employment Service Providers
• Community Engagement Officers
• Community Relations Advisers
• Refugee and Asylum Support Officers
• Social Inclusion Officers
• Neighbourhood Renewal Officers
• Health Service Professionals
• Financial Advice Units
• Benefits Managers
• Youth Offending Teams
• Youth Engagement Teams
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
• Neighbourhood Policing Teams
• Safer Neighbourhood Partnerships
• Student Welfare Advisers
• Housing Officers
• Third Sector Practitioners
• Trade Union Representatives
• Academics
• Analysts and Researchersments

“ Every child deserves a happy life free from poverty and free from fear. Children face too many difficulties in today’s Britain. In this strategy we re-commit ourselves to ending child poverty by 2020 and breaking the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage that has blighted children’s lives and aspirations for too long ”
— Children’s Minister, April 2011

“ Poverty is about more than income, it is about a lack of opportunity, aspiration and stability. As poverty covers this broad range of issues, we believe that the aims of the Child Poverty Act – to dramatically reduce levels of child poverty in the UK – will not be achieved through simply throwing money at the perceived symptoms. ”
— Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, April 2011