Taking society to task for failing to care for its children

We were told there was a crisis at the heart of our society in terms of the way children were treated by adults, who too often demonised them while, at the same time, vulnerable young people continued to die through poverty and neglect. High levels of deprivation, lack of time with parents and risky behaviour such as smoking, drinking and sexual activity were other areas areas of concern.

The then Children's Commissioner Sir Al Aynsley-Green joined in the debate, saying children existed in a state of great uncertainty, feeling unsafe in the streets and witnessing domestic violence at home. Bullying and endless testing at school contributed to children's unhappiness, as did poverty and a general lack of willingness to listen to young people.

Now Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced the appointment of a new taskforce led by the Prime Minister David Cameron, which will consider what can be done to make this a better place for children.

Not pulling his punches, the Deputy PM said: "...we have built a Britain not fit for our children to grow up in". The Childhood and Families Ministerial Taskforce will come up with a "small number of proposals" by the end of the year.

It will look at shared parenting, extending flexible working to all, greater availability of mediation for couples to help children in the event of family breakdown and increased funding for respite care for families of disabled children. More access to children for non-resident parents and grandparents after divorce or separation will also be explored.

While no-one, least of all charities working with children, would argue with the mission, the creation of the taskforce comes as our ears are ringing with the sound of words like "cuts" and "austerity". Those in the field agree that more money needs to be spent on health and social provision that affect children's life chances, but rationing is inevitable.

Stephen Pattison of UNICEF says access to free school meals, child tax credits, more good quality education in deprived areas and essential health services like vaccination should be up at the top of the taskforce's "to do" list.

"Four million children in the UK live in poverty, that's one in three. Poverty affects mental and general health throughout life, ability to access education and job prospects.

"Our 2007 report was based on interviews with children in many different countries. In the places where young people felt happier, the common thread was the targeting of money into early years education and health care. The benchmark is one per cent of GDP, and at the last count we were spending less than that."

"In times of fiscal hardship, the danger is that those who are already experiencing most deprivation will suffer even more. If we really want to help children and value them we should listen to them and involve them when policy is made."

Alison Garnham, chief executive of The Daycare Trust welcomes the taskforce and its general remit says, and says investment in high quality early years care and education is vital. "Currently there's not enough quality childcare for disabled children, older children and for the children of parents who work atypical hours and children living in disadvantaged areas.

"There's overwhelming evidence that they are the children who gain most from good early years education, and targeting them would help to narrow the gap between the life chances of children born into poorer and better-off families."

Anything that puts children at the centre of government is good, says Helen Donohoe, policy director of Action for Children. "But there is a danger that still the most vulnerable families who lead the most chaotic lives will slip through the net. We welcome the idea of deregulation and commitment to communities, and would like to see resourced commitment to early intervention when families are struggling.

"Prevention is so much more cost-effective than later intervention, when a crisis means involvement from several agencies. We don't want to wait until the next case like Baby P happens for proper investment in services that will engage with families that are hard to reach.

"We're constantly getting a message about less money, and that's why it's more important than ever that the right investment is made."

Jane Stacey, deputy chief executive of Barnardo's, says the Labour government did make progress in improving children's lives in the first years of its tenure, but did not achieve its target of halving child poverty by 2010. The charity would like to see a new target of 2015.

"They (Labour) made a big investment in the Sure Start pre-school programme, and in recognising the value of reaching out to communities. With cuts there will be a great need to focus the available funds on the most vulnerable, and to emphasise the importance of informal networks like grandparents and continued access to grandchildren after parents break up.

"To lessen poverty we have to improve the income position of disadvantaged families, which can be helped through a range of tax and benefit measures. We don't think child benefit should be means tested to take it away from those who are better off. A fairer system would be to have universal access to the benefit, but adjust the situation via taxation for higher earners."