Good morning. Children and young people are at the top of the agenda today, with the publication of a hard-hitting report from Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, and a Times article by Andy Burnham. They are focusing on slightly different cohorts – Burnham is writing about young people who leave school and enter the benefits system, while the de Souza reports covers the experiences of young children in multiple aspects of their lives – but their overall message is the same: the younger generation is being let down.
De Souza has studied more than ۱۶۰ datasets to examine how what happens to children as they grow up varies across England and she says the variation is “staggering”. In her report, The Childhood Lottery, she explains:
In four local authorities, the total amount spent on youth services per teenager is the princely sum of £۰, £۴۲۱ less than in the highest spending local authority. Some areas of the country are sending nearly ۹۰% of their looked after children to out-of-area placements, compared to the almost ۲۰% in the areas making least use of these – although given this means being away from family ties, and friends, that is still worryingly high.
But what stands out is not merely these differences, but how much work there is to do to deliver a happy, healthy childhood in every postcode. I have made the difficult decision to highlight the ۲۰ places where it is hardest to grow up. I want to be clear that this is not a review of the local authority, this is an assessment based on a wide range of measures looking at the challenges faced, the full range of services available and the outcomes we see.
We cannot shy away, though, from the fact that poor education outcomes, long health waiting lists or simply feeling unsafe converge in particular places.
The report identifies Middlesbrough as the most challenging place to be a child, and Cheshire East as the least challenging place. I will publish fuller tables shortly.
The overall picture is grim too. Here is an extract from the report’s summary.
The data pulled together in the Childhood Lottery highlights the scale of challenges faced by children across all areas of the country and all areas of their lives. For example that:
-Over ۱ million children (۱,۰۴۸,۹۶۵) had active referrals to children and young people’s mental health services in ۲۰۲۴-۲۵.۱
-Most pupils (۵۵%) do not achieve a good standard in their English and Maths GCSEs (grade ۵ or better in both) at the end of key stage ۴.
-There are around ۱ million young people in the UK aged ۱۶ to ۲۴ not in employment, education or training (NEET)
-Approaching half (۴۴%) of looked after children are placed outside their local authority area. Far too many care leavers (۴۰%, plus ۶% with unknown activity) are Neets [not in education, employment or training].
-۱۲% of children said they did not feel safe in their local area.
The Burnham article is specifically about Neets. The government was expected to publish Alan Milburn’s final report with recommendations on Neets before the budget. Now it is coming next month, which means the pitch-rolling process ahead of publication is unusually protracted. Milburn has given an interview to the Guardian and, as Anna Bawden and Kiran Stacey report, he is explicit about wanting some benefit payments to be cut to fund more employment support.
In his article, Burnham accepts that many people people today feel “shut out”.
There is no shortage of people lining up to take a swing at the next generation but, if we are honest, the blame for this failure lies with politicians. At the very moment growing up became harder, the support young people relied on was stripped away. Youth services were practically abolished. Children’s mental health services were cut. Families were left to fight for support for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The pandemic stole two years, and social media is too often taking something much deeper: their confidence and sense of belonging. Add an education system focused on the university route and a job market offering too few opportunities, and we should not be surprised that so many are shut out.
And he signals that he is going to follow Milburn’s recommendations on benefits.
Today, the welfare system provides an assessment, a payment and, after that, a goodbye. Too often there is no support, no offer of skills and no opportunity to get a job …
This will be our offer: a clear guarantee of support. But it will also be matched by an expectation that young people will take up the opportunities made available to them. This will mean big changes to the way our welfare system operates. Benefits will become the backstop, not the starting point. The system will no longer begin by establishing which benefits a young person is entitled to. It will begin with their ambitions and the help they need to achieve them.
Here is the agenda for the day.
۱۰am: Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson, holds a press conference on Lib Dem budget proposals.
Morning: Andy Burnham is on a visit in South Wales linked to the ۶۰th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster (which is on Wednesday).
۱۱.۳۰am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
۲.۳۰pm: Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
۳pm: Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, gives a speech at at the launch of her Childhood Lottery report.
After ۳.۳۰pm: MPs debate amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles bill.
۵.۳۰pm: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Welsh first minister, gives a speech on devolution.
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