The new UK Government has significant ambition for children, families and their communities. Its new Child Poverty Strategy aims to lift 500,000 children out of poverty by the end of this parliament, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s devolution plans promise to hand more power to regions and communities to ensure ‘good growth in every postcode’. These are key aspirations, and neither can be achieved without the other. If devolution stands for anything, it must be creating better childhoods. Child-centred devolution is the only way forwards.
Life is starting to get better for children. Policies such as new breakfast clubs, expanded eligibility to free school meals and childcare, and most of all the abolition of the two-child limit are making a real difference. But this must be the start, not the summit, of our ambitions to tackle child poverty. The DWP estimates that sadly 3.6 million children will still be living in poverty by 2029/30, and we must ensure regions are well equipped to support children in their earliest years. The next phase of action to reduce child poverty will be about how local communities can come together and use their skills, hopes and resources to help all children be happy, healthy and ready for the future.
Save the Children has already been looking at child-centred devolution in South Yorkshire through our partnership with Oliver Coppard, the Mayor of South Yorkshire. From our own learnings, and work with regional private investors and philanthropists we have four practical steps for leaders to take to create meaningful change.
Each region should create a child poverty and innovation fund. This multi-year funding bringing together different institutions which share an ambition to reduce child poverty, would allow strategic authorities to appoint a senior child-poverty lead who can build partnerships across sectors and involve children and families in decision-making. We have spearheaded a version of this in South Yorkshire, called the Dream Big Fund. The £500,000k fund has mobilised the private sector, philanthropists, and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to spend money on projects in the region that specifically help children. The senior child poverty lead position sitting within regional authorities would see them report on how their action builds on the UK Child Poverty Strategy.
They should use devolution powers to go further to address the barriers that families face. The Prime Minister should actively invite Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities to use the Right to Request to identify additional powers they can draw down from national government, as well as seek out funding or partnership arrangements they need to fulfil their child-poverty stewardship role. It should also invite Strategic Authorities without mayoral authorities to bring forward proposals for additional devolved functions.
And finally UK Government needs to give regions better access to data. Although progress has been made in sharing Universal Credit data between government and local authorities, gaps in access to relevant national social-security and financial-hardship data continue to limit effective regional and local child-poverty action. Without access to relevant information, regions can struggle to identify families who need support, improve benefit take-up, target support or evaluate what works.
Without doubt, the renewed emphasis on devolution coming from the Prime Minister will mean different sectors are right now lobbying for their cause. Those working in regional transport, infrastructure, business, community, manufacturing and health services will all have an idea on how devolved power and finance can improve their work and stimulate their local economy. We argue however that the foundational starting for decision makers should be that children in each region get the best start in life. Our work in South Yorkshire to create a specific regional fund to tackle child poverty with the regional mayor’s support has provided ample learning for us to know this is scalable and an idea to purse. Child centred devolution must be the way forwards and we hope regional mayors will rally behind this as their cause. After all, communities where children thrive are also ones where we can all thrive.
Dan Paskins is Executive Director of UK Impact.
