Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins blogs about his visit to Oxford Grove Children’s Centre, a pilot project aimed at increasing the number of children ready to start school aged 5.
Every bit of the public sector needs to do their bit to pay off the inherited deficit, including local government which accounts for a quarter of all public spending.
Coping with the challenges of delivering high quality services with less money is tough – but there are lots of places which are cracking on and doing it.
Greater Manchester – through Bolton and Wigan - have looked at how they can increase the number of children who are ready for school at 5 years old. Success will not only mean those children get a better education and jobs later in life, but it will reduce costs down the line such as additional learning support in schools and out of work benefits.
They have a clear outcome and business case, and they understand the investments must be made to reach them, which is why my department was happy to provided £313,000 additional funding to help them get the programme going.
Last week I visited one of their pilot projects at Oxford Grove Children’s Centre and met the people who are delivering those services and, as is always my experience, it was evident that they are not only extremely professional, but also genuinely caring.
I met health carers, parent volunteers, teachers and day care nursery providers and every one of them is making sure they understand each child’s and parent’s needs so they can provide the right support when it is needed to make sure that child is ready for school in a few years’ time.
Because of the strong relationship between each professional - teacher to health worker, social worker to nursery assistant - they know how to create the best service for each family.
The other key thing I took away from my time in Bolton was the fact that the driver for all these interventions is economic outcomes and reducing the sometimes quite intense poverty that an individual may experience.
It is not enough just to care and desire to look after that individual child or parent. It has got to be about giving those individuals the best chance of standing on their own two feet and become economic contributors to society.
Every single professional I met last week had bought into that idea. As one person I spoke to said: it is all about breaking the cycle.
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