child poverty and local government - child...child poverty and local government 8 section one: why...

child poverty and local government

the local authority contribution to eradicating child poverty

September 2003

234

All rights reserved. Reproduction of this document is welcomedproviding the copyright holders are acknowledged and the text is notedited.

Copyright Local Government Association September 2003

Published by LGA Publications, the Local Government AssociationLocal Government House, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HZ.Tel 020 7664 3000, fax. 020 7664 3030.

LGA code F/SS106ISBN 1 84049 343 7

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all those local authorities who provided informationabout their work on child poverty, not all of which could be explicitlymentioned. Without their contribution, this paper would not have beenpossible.

This paper forms part of the work of the LGA’s Social Inclusion Executive. Formore information, see www.lga.gov.uk.

contents

page

introduction 6income poverty 6recognising the other dimensions of poverty 6

section one: why local government is wellplaced to tackle child poverty 8local authorities as community leaders 8local authorities as employers 9local authorities and the delivery of services 9

section two: how local authorities are tacklingchild poverty 12opportunity for all: making work possible 13opportunity for all: providing financial securityand inclusion 14opportunity for all: breaking cycles of deprivation 16opportunity for all: improving public services for all 19

conclusion: what does local government needto help eradicate child poverty? 24

some useful resources 25

The government placed child poverty high on itslist of priorities when in 1999 at the Beveridgelecture, the prime minister, Tony Blair, pledged tohalve child poverty by 2010 and eradicate it withina generation. In local authorities across the landthis is an ambition that is shared. This jointcommitment is encapsulated in one of the sevenshared priorities for public services agreed bycentral government and the Local GovernmentAssociation (LGA) in 2002:

'Improving the quality of life for children, youngpeople and families at risk, by tackling childpoverty, maximising the life chances of children incare or in need and strengthening protection forchildren at risk of abuse'

Many local authorities have been committed totackling the causes and effects of poverty andsocial exclusion for many years. Since the 1970s,local authorities have developed and acted uponanti-poverty strategies - and more recently socialinclusion strategies. There is a wealth of experiencewithin local authorities and their local communitiesupon which national policies can be built. Howeverwith almost one in three children in poverty, clearlymuch more needs to be done.

This paper aims to further the understanding ofthe contributions that local government - ascommunity leaders, employers and serviceproviders - has to make to the challenging task oferadicating child poverty.

Income poverty

Given that the government's first child povertytarget was to reduce by one quarter the numberof children in low-income families by 2004/05, theLGA understands that the government has had torely chiefly on increasing family income as themeans of meeting this first step of the childpoverty pledge. Clearly, increasing the weeklyincomes of poor families is an effective andimmediate way of lifting families out of povertyand it is primarily a task for central government'stax and benefits policy. The LGA commends the

government for the increased benefit and taxcredit rates for the poorest families, and suggeststhat there is still more that needs to be done toensure all families with children can afford thenecessities of life.

Local government of course has a clear role to playin helping to ensure take-up of those entitlements,and in 2003/04 the LGA's quids for kids campaign(a benefits and tax credits take-up campaign forchildren and families) is making a contribution.

Despite the national minimum wage and tax creditchanges, there are still children in wagedhouseholds who have not been lifted out ofpoverty. We suggest that there is more to be doneto ensure that work does indeed provide thefinancial basis which families require.

Recognising the other dimensions ofpoverty

The LGA is pleased that central government hasrecognised on numerous occasions that poverty isnot just about income, and that it understandsthat people's expectations and opportunities arealso affected by their education and skills, byaccess to quality health and social services, bydecent housing and by the area in which they live,and its amenities including cultural and leisurefacilities. Despite the complexity, it is importantthat the role of these other aspects in theeradication and prevention, is built into a strategyto achieve the child poverty pledge and fundedaccordingly. We therefore very much welcome theTreasury's current cross-cutting review of childpoverty and its acknowledgment of the role ofpublic services.

The breadth of this examination is clearly to bedetermined by the outcome of the government'scurrent work to find an unambiguous long-termmeasure for child poverty.

child poverty and local government 6

introduction

“There are many dimensions to poverty thataffect not only a child's current livingstandard, but also their prospects in the longerterm and into adulthood. Whilst low income isimportant to poverty, it is not the onlydimension. A child's quality of life is alsoimportant. Access to education, decenthousing, good quality health service, a safeenvironment - as well as income - all affectthe quality of a child's opportunity.”

Preliminary conclusions,

measuring child poverty consultation,

Department of Work and Pensions, May 2003

The LGA is keen that the measure does indeedsupplement the relative income target (which willremain for the 2004/05 Public Service Agreement)in order to recognise the importance of theseother factors in the reduction of child poverty. Weare reassured that this is the government's aim,given the widespread support for an approachwhich includes some measure of materialdeprivation and for a tiered approach or multi-dimensional indicators to measure progress as wellas low income.

We recognise that it would be difficult toacknowledge every single aspect of local servicewhich has an impact on child poverty. However theLGA believes strongly that any dimension notdirectly recognised by the government's measureshould not be dismissed as irrelevant to achievingthe government's target.

Currently the government's annual report onprogress on poverty Opportunity for All uses a setof 17 indicators in addition to three on low incometo monitor child poverty. This set can becategorised as:

• education - nine indicators;

• health - five indicators;

• worklessness - one indicator;

• child protection - one indicator; and

• housing - one indicator.

These - while a welcome start - do not encapsulatethe range of activities carried on at a local levelwhich could still make a vital contribution toachieving the child poverty goals; for example,provision of free sports or cultural activities,improving local transport and the localenvironment, access to good quality food ataffordable prices, work to tackle fuel poverty andprojects to promote financial inclusion. Early yearswork should make an impact on the educationtargets in the medium term and the provision ofgood quality childcare likewise should make adifference to progress on the worklessnessindicator, but only if there are jobs to be had andother barriers to employment are also overcome.

It is important therefore that the message whichcomes with the publication of the government'smeasure, due by the end of 2003, makes clear thewide range of factors which need to be tackled.Secondly, it is important that there are bothincentives and rewards for local authorities that dotackle crucial issues which may only make adifference to the child poverty measure in thelong-term. Without this practical encouragement,it could be difficult for all local authorities to playas full a role as they are able to and indeed wishto.

We hope to work with the government over thecoming months to ensure that the criticalcontribution of local government is acknowledgedand resourced. Indeed we are extremely pleased tobe currently discussing terms of reference for anAccord between the LGA, the Department forWork and Pensions and the Treasury involvingcloser working on child poverty and a forum inwhich to progress these issues.


Local authorities have a combination of roleswhich touch children's lives at so many points andin so many ways. Local authorities are thusuniquely placed to play a critical role in movingchildren out of poverty and preventing othersfacing poverty again later in life. They:

• unlike other local players, have democraticlegitimacy;

• are the leading local partners for strategic planningand ensuring action;

• are instrumental in bringing together key localagencies in touch with children and families, andensuring the voice of those families is heard;

• provide and commission a whole host of services;and

• have a scrutiny role, not only for council services,but also health and other services.

Local authorities as community leaders

In England and Wales, local authorities have a dutyto prepare community strategies and a power topromote the social, economic and environmentalwell-being of their communities. The communitystrategy is almost without exception prepared bythe local authority in conjunction with the LocalStrategic Partnerships. These partnerships, ofwhich the local authority are key members, bringtogether the key public service providers, as well asbusiness, voluntary and community sectors, todevelop and implement the community strategy.They attempt to ensure that as many members ofthe community as possible have a say in localissues. The community strategy provides animportant vehicle for local authorities with partnersto mainstream anti-poverty and social inclusion,through the full range of services includingeducation, housing and health.

Within councils, work on poverty issues is not thesole preserve of officers. Elected members areextremely concerned about disadvantage in theirwards, and a number of elected members have

taken on social inclusion strategic roles. All cabinetmembers will now find that they are involved inthe cross-cutting issues that impact on the povertyagenda. Elected members are in touch with theirown communities and provide an invaluableinsight into the needs of local families. Moreoverthere is often an expectation from local peoplethat 'the council should do something'; thatexpectation of turning to the local authority forsolutions should be built upon.

Consultation of the local community and of serviceusers is now an integral part of local authorityways of working, one of the tenets of the BestValue regime. Local authorities have been workingwith partners, including community groups, to findways of involving not only communityrepresentatives, but also disadvantaged individuals,often called the 'hardest to reach'.

Local authorities are key players in localneighbourhood renewal strategies and arecatalysts for economic regeneration. Regenerationis not only about providing business parks and the


section one: why local government is well placed to tackle child poverty

The LGA has collaborated with the NationalYouth Agency in producing Hear by right onyoung people's participation in local democraticprocesses which includes a set of standardsagainst which councils can examine their currentpractices.

Wiltshire's Tomorrow's Voice Youth Panel, set upin 2000, consists of 2,000 13-18 year olds fromall over the county, recruited through schools andyouth and community centres.

Dream, Oldham is an independent body run bytwenty-five young people aged 15-16, supportedby local authority youth workers, and concernedwith representation, inter-community conflict andyouth friendly services.

Wirral council supported young people in thedesign and building of their own leisure provisionat Birkenhead.

like. It is also about delivering the sort of areawhich people taking up the new jobs will want. Itis about housing, schools, childcare, leisurefacilities, parks, entertainment, the working andsocial environment, all of which local governmenthas a leading role in planning, procuring anddeveloping.

Local authorities as employers

Local government is often the largest employer inan area, employing 2.15 million people in Englandand Wales, almost three-quarters of whom arewomen. In March 2001 the LGA reported inOpportunity to prosper beyond the New Deal thatthe recent government initiatives seeking to raiselocal employment and skill levels had focused onthe employment service, private employmentagencies and voluntary sector groups to theexclusion of local government. However joint workbetween the Department for Work and Pensionsand the LGA is seeking to rectify this, as testifiedby the recent Accord between the LGA andJobCentrePlus. The Accord pledges localauthorities to using JobCentrePlus as the“recruitment agency of choice”, and to workjointly to develop a public sector 'routeway' intoemployment whereby unemployed people canobtain work experience and waged work in localauthorities.

A wide range of actions are being taken in localauthorities, such as:

• recruiting from a wider range of people, includingthose who find it hardest to obtain a job;

• training local authority employees and expandingopportunities for lifelong learning;

• providing childcare and other forms of flexible andfamily-friendly employment; and

• promoting in-work benefits.

And that is without considering the range of othermeasures which will improve the generalemployment situation locally, such as improvedpublic transport and job creation.

Local authorities and the delivery ofservices

"Most local authority services and functionshave an impact on children either directly orindirectly. Direct impacts relate to day-care,childminding, social services, education andyouth services. Indirect impacts on the qualityof children's lives include housing, leisure,environmental health, planning and transportpolicies".

Joint LGA, DTLR and Cabinet Office report Makinga difference; reducing red tape and bureaucracy inlocal government 2002

Almost every local authority service impacts on thelives of children and can have a positive effect onthe quality of life of the poorest children. Keyservices such as education, social services, housing,local employment and regeneration initiatives,transport and leisure services have a role andresponsibility to help families out of poverty andcurb the cycle of deprivation.

Although much service provision is the directresponsibility of local councils, local services arebest planned in partnership with those who liveand work within local communities and in manycases by contracting others to deliver the serviceson behalf of the community. This approach isembedded into local authority practice by the BestValue regime.


Camden council has its own work-life balancescheme, which enables council employees torequest flexible working. The council supports anyinitiatives to expand flexible and family-friendlyemployment practices, recognising that the abilityto balance work and home is a crucial factor inhelping vulnerable workers such as parents(particularly lone parents), people with chronic illhealth or disability, carers and others to enter orstay in the work place.

The Treasury's 2001 report Tackling child poverty:giving every child the best possible start in lifehighlights the need to harness the power andexpertise of the voluntary and community sectorsproviding support for innovation and goodpractice. This is an issue that local authorities arevery much engaged with, and not just in terms ofimproving service provision, but also as part of thecommunity leadership role in reaching andempowering local communities.

There is currently much innovation in serviceprovision, most of which involves partnershipsapproaches, where planning does not take placefrom the point of view of a single monolithicservice provider, but from the point of view of theneeds of the community and individuals withinthat community.

Serving children well: a partnership modelfor children's services

An important element of the work that targetsvulnerable children is 'serving children well' aproject led by the LGA in partnership with ADSS(the Association of Directors of Social Services), theNHS Confederation, the Association of ChiefEducation Officers, the Confederation of EducationService Managers, and the IDeA (Improvement andDevelopment Agency). Serving Children Well is anew model for delivering joined-up services to allchildren. It proposes giving local areas thediscretion to plan and co-ordinate services locally,building on and extending partnershiparrangements. Fundamental to the model is theinvolvement of children, their families and thewider community in identifying problems, settingpriorities, finding solutions, and determining thestyle and delivery of services.

Currently 36 Serving Children Well pathfinders arepiloting the approach, and a dedicated IDeAwebsite has been established to allow thepathfinder authorities the opportunity to discussprogress. Evaluation is attempting to focus on theoutcomes for children and their families.

The partners are using an approach which drawson the outcomes framework being developed bythe Children and Young Peoples Unit. This involvesfive themes of social engagement: materialwellbeing, staying safe, health and emotionalwellbeing and fulfillment. Manchester's ServingChildren Well pathfinder is developing an actionplan particularly aimed at improving outcomes forchildren's material deprivation.

The Serving Children Well model is entirelycompatible with Children's Trusts, and indeed tenof the LGA pathfinders have recently beenaccepted as Children's Trust pilots.

The LGA is delighted that the government hasappointed a Minister for Children, and the greenpaper on children offers an opportunity to focuson the wide range of needs of disadvantagedchildren, but in the context of the needs of allchildren.

Extended schools

From summer 2001 the LGA worked on a twoyear project known as 'Schools for theCommunity', as part of the LGA's six commitmentswork. It supported schools to play a fuller role intheir local communities by developing schoolfacilities and activities which would both tackleimmediate social exclusion and raise achievement,thus helping prevent future social exclusion. Sevenauthorities were chosen as LGA pilots: Durham,Gateshead, Lincolnshire, Newcastle, Sefton,Tameside and Warwickshire, all havingsignificant pockets of deprivation, poor health,inter-generational under-achievement, poverty ofaspiration, and low levels of adult literacy andnumeracy. Some were able to demonstrate astrong correlation between statistics of deprivationand pupil performance.

The range of services provided in the schoolsranged from broad health services, financialservices, housing and general advice, leisure andcultural projects; to family support - not to


mention those activities more usually associatedwith schools, such as breakfast clubs, homeworkclubs and classes for parents.

We are extremely pleased that the LGA project wassuch a success that it has now been included inthe Department for Education and Skills (DfES)'extended schools' programme whereby all localeducation authorities (LEAs) will be funded by2005/6 to have at least one extended school.

The shared priorities for public services

The Serving Children Well project and the Schoolsfor the Community project illustrate quite clearlythat central government programmes are learningfrom and building on local government experience.This approach is fundamental to taking forwardthe shared priorities that the LGA and centralgovernment have agreed for public services. It isnot just the shared priority which addresses qualityof life for children and families which is relevant tochild poverty - all of the other six shared prioritieswhich have a role to play in the eradication ofchild poverty:

• promoting healthier communities and narrowinghealth inequalities;

• promoting the economic vitality of the localities;

• meeting local transport needs more effectively;

• transforming our local environment;

• creating safer and stronger communities; and

• raising standards across our schools.

It is important that the effects of reducing childpoverty are considered in the joint work which isbeing undertaken on each of these priorities.Certainly at local authority level these links areclearly shown by the range of projects beingsupported, especially in those authorities withaccess to area-based initiative funds.


Hartlepool has a strong tradition of socialinclusion work with a variety of regenerationschemes including New Deal for Communities,SRB funding, City Challenge, NeighbourhoodRenewal Funds and Sure Start. The raft ofresulting projects tackle employmentopportunities and the access to jobs, increasingeducational attainment, improving health,environmental and housing improvement,community safety initiatives and a range ofcommunity support and development schemes inthe most deprived areas. Its local Public ServiceAgreement has children as a key theme, aimingto reduce infant mortality. There is also aChildren's Fund strategy led by the local authoritybut with its projects run by the voluntary sector.All these initiatives are being delivered in thecontext of a strong Local Strategic Partnershipand the well developed Community Strategy.

The LGA believes that the work to be carried outunder the shared priorities for public servicesprogramme can play an important role indeveloping approaches to tackle child poverty.

The LGA published Local inclusion: case studies ofthe local government role in promoting socialjustice and social inclusion in 1999. At that time140 local authorities in England and Wales hadanti-poverty strategies. Already a broad definitionof poverty was informing that work withconsideration for those who lacked the material,social and cultural resources to participate fully inthe life of the community. In addition, as many as121 were already involved in at least one area-based initiative; then Education Action Zones,Health Action Zones, Employment Zones, NewDeal for Communities pathfinders, and Sure Starttrailblazers. Less than two years later, with theLGA's publication of All together Now: a survey oflocal authorities’ approaches to social inclusion andanti-poverty, nearly three-fifths of all localauthorities had established or were working onsocial inclusion/anti-poverty strategies, and threequarters had social inclusion as an agreedcorporate priority. Many authorities havedeveloped action plans to deliver such strategies.

Some of the initiatives which have been promotedas part of social inclusion strategies have beenspecifically aimed at families with children,whereas others have improved the lives of childrenas members of the wider community.


section two: how local authorities are tackling child poverty

In April 2003, Harlow District Council adopteda social inclusion strategy to ensure that it hasthe necessary structures in place to drive thesocial inclusion agenda effectively. Its frameworkdraws on the work undertaken by the LocalAuthority Social Exclusion network of whichHarlow is a founding member. It ensures that theneeds of hard-to-reach families are addressed,and its ultimate aim is to ensure that everyonewho lives and works in Harlow has an equalopportunity to take advantage of the things thatmost consider a normal part of life. All committeereports have to state the implications for anti-poverty and a corporate charging policy ensuresthat concessions are targeted appropriately. Thecouncil also has a whole raft of initiativescontributing to the reduction of child poverty,including:

• the Young People's Information Centre, offeringa wide range of advice and counselling to youngpeople aged 13-25 (including matters of sexualhealth, problems relating to the abuse of drugsand alcohol, smoking cessation, benefits andwelfare rights, training and careers, housing andhomelessness and free childcare) and resourcingof the local Youth Council to enable youngpeople to participate in decision-making;

• childcare and support to families (includingsubsidised pre-school combined nursery anddaycare provision, subsidised after-school andschool holiday childcare, a resource centre forfamilies with a child with disabilities; a 'Gatewayto Childcare' scheme targeting socially excludedfamilies; a range of parenting workshops andfree vocational courses, with childcare andtransport provided and targeted at womenwishing to return to paid employment);

• a range of free or highly subsidised leisureactivities for children and families, eg sportsprovision, play activities, paddling pools, a skatepark; and

Suffolk County Council has had an anti-povertystrategy and action plan since 1994. Its secondedition in 1996 involved a range of partners. Thiscovered a wide range of initiatives, including aprofile report mapping poverty in Suffolk, eventsto make services more accessible, an Anti-povertyInitiatives Fund for the voluntary sector (£30,000),a discount card for services, a code of practice ondebt collection, joint working with healthagencies, a library link project and a benefit take-up campaign. The anti-poverty strategy becamethe Social Inclusion Strategy and in 2001 wasamalgamated with the Diversity Action Plan toproduce a 'Diversity and Inclusion Plan' which isreviewed and updated twice a year. The InitiativesFund is £100,000.

The government's fifth annual report on povertyand social exclusion Opportunity for All stated in2003 that poverty in the UK is being tackled by:

• making work possible;

• providing financial security and inclusion;

• breaking cycles of deprivation; and

• improving public services for all.

Local authorities are playing a role in all of these.As illustrated by the work on children's servicesand extended schools, local government has along tradition of partnership working and deliveryon national programmes, adding local value, localknowledge, resources and democraticaccountability, and thus tailoring national schemesto fit local needs and circumstances. This crucialrole in ensuring that central government initiativestranslate from the theoretical into local services hasperhaps been downplayed in the past. The co-operation and participation of local authorities isnecessary to ensure that the Opportunity of Allagenda can happen.

Opportunity for all: making workpossible

Employment is clearly one of the routes out ofpoverty, although by no means all poor childrenlive in workless households. Two years ago theLGA set up Helping the hardest to reach intowork, another of the LGA's six commitmentsprojects. It aimed to reduce poverty and encouragesocial inclusion through the use of innovativeapproaches by supporting workless people intojobs. Improving both employability of local peopleand the employment opportunities within the areais a continuing priority for local councils, as it is forcentral government. The project gave thepathfinder councils the freedom to develop flexibleand effective local employment and trainingschemes, individually tailored to help those facingthe greatest barriers to finding work, for exampleusing welfare budgets for transitional employmentprojects.

The 'helping the hardest to reach into work'project has provided a basis for the on-going workof a larger group of authorities (approximately 50)that have agreed local public service agreement(PSA) targets on tackling employment rates. Therewill now be an examination of whether thefreedoms and flexibilities negotiated by the localPSA authorities on employment should beextended to other authorities.


• support to other agencies, in particular thevoluntary sector (including acting as lead agencyon the local Sure Start programme; providinggrant aid and support-in-kind to a range ofvoluntary sector groups; to work in partnershipto provide services such as toy libraries,residential holidays for children with disabilitiesand their siblings).

Harlow plans to develop neighbourhoodregeneration projects to address the underlyingissues and improve the problem of deprivation inall areas of the authority, given that all wardshave higher than average child poverty.

Nottinghamshire County Council, first an LGAsix commitments pathfinder and now a BeaconCouncil for 'Removing Barriers to Work' soughtto build on their already very successfultransitional employment programme by focusingon the use and recycling of welfare payments tofund and enhance intermediate labour marketsand other transitional employment schemeswhich may ostensibly be expensive but which areproven to have good job outcomes.

The LGA and its pathfinder councils have workedclosely with the Department for Work andPensions (DWP) and JobCentrePlus (JCP) to developa Partnership Accord to further improve futurelocal collaboration. Joint work includes looking atways of boosting the effectiveness of localneighbourhood renewal strategies in raisingemployment levels in deprived areas. Training andimproving basic skills levels is an objective whichalso occurs in many programmes under the other'opportunity for all' themes.

The availability of affordable, quality childcare is ahuge barrier for many job seekers, particularly loneparents, and local authorities play a key role indeveloping local strategies on childcare provision.

Transport clearly has a role to play in helpingparents get to work. Indeed public transport is vitalfor children and families to be able to takeadvantage of all services - education, training,lifelong learning, health and play facilities etc.

Local government has a leading role, often as anadvocate on behalf of local communities to movethis agenda forward. Some authorities have nowestablished their own school bus fleets which areused for community transport needs when not inuse for the school run.

The LGA published in September 2003 Children onthe move - accessing excellence which outlines aseries of recommendations for central government,local education authorities and schools toencourage improvements in home to schooltransport.

Opportunity for all: providing financialsecurity and inclusion

Central government has the responsibility ofensuring that the benefits and tax credit systemadequately provides for the needs of families.What local government can do is work to improvethe take-up of those benefits and tax credits bothfor those unable to work and those in work.Indeed benefits take-up work formed a keyplank of many early local authority anti-povertystrategies, and there is an ever-growing wealth ofexperience amongst local authorities.

The LGA is contributing to this strand of work withits quids for kids campaign. On 7 April 2003 theLGA launched this year-long campaign to promotebenefits and tax credit take-up for children inEngland and Wales with the publication of a goodpractice guide and an electronic toolkit. The LGA isin discussion with central government on some ofthe strategic issues which have arisen from quidsfor kids, such as:


Bristol City Council in effect extended thegovernment's New Deal by offering the sametype of service to those not then eligible for theNew Deal (lone parents, people with disabilities,offenders awaiting release and other non-eligiblejob seekers). The project exceeded its 2000-02target of assisting 700 by helping 884 people.Now the Pathways to work programme 2002-04has a target of 800 clients drawn from acrossBristol and south Gloucestershire.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council,already a Beacon Council for 'Removing Barriersto Work' has made an SRB6 funding bid forchildcare costs for lone parents in order to coverthe period before the childcare element of theworking tax credit is actually paid. Thisapplication follows discussion with JobCentrePlus,lone parent advisers and agencies working withlone parents.

North Warwickshire Borough Council andpartners are working with businesses to helpthem formulate travel plans to enable localpeople to take up suitable jobs. A new bus routehas been introduced by Warwickshire CountyCouncil to serve those in a rural area who werehaving difficulty travelling to work at one of thelarge local employers.

• evaluation of different take-up methodologies;

• better use of existing data sources held locally andnationally;

• better statistics on awards and take-up rates, andother methodologies to understand non-take-up atlocal level and amongst particular groups (forexample black and minority ethnic communities);

• capacity building in the advice sector to enabletake-up work to be done; and

• more incentives for local authorities to carry outtake-up work.

Local authorities are the biggest funders, and oftena direct provider, of local advice services whichcontribute not only to take-up work, but also tosocial justice and financial inclusion. Localauthorities are key members of the CommunityLegal Service (CLS) partnerships, and welcome theforthcoming review of CLS as an opportunity toraise concerns about unmet need for adviceprovision.

The LGA remains unconvinced by the ability of thesocial fund to fulfil the needs of our poorestfamilies and we are undertaking research in2003/4 to further probe the experience of socialservices departments.

Housing benefit provides poorer households with asafety net aimed at preventing homelessness, andthe current proposals to remove housing benefitfrom households with anti-social behaviour areextremely unhelpful and will serve to exacerbatechild poverty and social exclusion.

As administrators of housing and council taxbenefit, local authorities have faced a wide rangeof challenges over the past year. In particular theeffect of the new tax credits was difficult despitethe work of the LGA with the Inland Revenue andthe Department for Work and Pensions. The LGAwelcomes reform and simplification of the housingbenefit system, and we are working with the localauthority pathfinders charged with advancing

reform to ensure that the new system is fullyevaluated before it is further implemented.

Another direct way in which local authorities cancontribute to support for those on low incomes isthrough discount schemes. Such schemestypically apply to leisure facilities and travel, butcan range across a wide variety of services, such asthe Dacorum card introduced by DacorumBorough Council which gives discounts at over 180local business and facilities.

The scale of the problem of financial exclusion -the inability to access financial services, rangingacross areas such as simple access to cash, currentand savings accounts, credit, insurance andfinancial advice - is great, and the LGA welcomesthe interest of the government in promotingfinancial inclusion. The LGA has signed up to theDebt on the Doorstep initiative; this nationalnetwork of over 150 organisations came togetherto campaign to relieve the burden of debt on lowincome households and develop solutions to theproblem of financial exclusion within the UK, andwas launched at the House of Commons in April2000.

A number of local authorities have facilitatedCredit Unions - some for many years such asLeeds City Council and others set up morerecently, ranging from the multi-cultural LondonBorough of Newham to the rural South NorfolkDistrict Council. Some local authorities are seeingfinancial inclusion as part of the anti-povertyagenda and are attempting to develop a widerrange of solutions.

There is also a need for better enforcement of theNational Minimum Wage, as illustrated byLeicester’s Highfields two-year project in a recentLow Pay Commission report. In its first year,£47,000 of unpaid wages were recovered forworkers.


Opportunity for all: breaking cycles ofdeprivation

Although this section looks at a number of serviceareas, many local authorities have alreadydeveloped strategies across services consideringthe needs of children in a holistic way and whichstraddle more than one 'opportunity for all' theme.

Education

“The class gap is profound … poor childrenare still one-third less likely to get five goodGCSEs as their wealthier classmates; youngpeople from unskilled backgrounds are overfive times less likely to enter higher educationthat those from professional families.”

David Miliband MP, Minister for Education, 2003

Improving the educational achievement of youngpeople from poor families is clearly crucial not onlyto their chances of lifting themselves out ofpoverty but also of preventing their children beingpoor. While improving the education standards ofall children is important, concentrating on thosechildren from disadvantaged families serves a dualpurpose. This government has targeted someeducation programmes in the poorest areas, suchas Education Action Zones and Excellence in Cities.Standards Fund money, representing 10 per centof school's budgets, is strongly linked todeprivation. There is emerging evidence that theseprogrammes may be beginning to make adifference and that this is most likely to be thecase for locally-led approaches which reflect thedifferent circumstances in different areas.

To reduce the link between poverty andachievement, a more holistic approach needs to betaken to tackling children's issues. The LGAbelieves that this can best be done by those atlocal level, using a multi-agency approach. Thelocal education authority (LEA) is well placed tointegrate education with other services to localcommunities. There are a number of keychallenges which need to be addressed, including:

• the relative under-performance of young people indifferent racial and faith groups;

• demotivation of children in years seven and eightwho are not engaged by their first years insecondary school and suffer educationally as aresult; and

• the continuing difficulties over behaviour andattendance, and how LEAs support schools andpupil referral units to ensure inclusive education.


In addition to an extensive programme forextending employment opportunities,Nottingham City Council has a range ofmeasures to support vulnerable families early onto reduce the risk of children needing childprotection services and to improve theeducational attainment of disadvantagedchildren, with particular emphasis on behavioursupport. These cover a wide range of areas:

• improved local authority provision of daycare andearly education, plus a childcare voucher scheme,and the development of a children's centre;

• a range of inclusive play projects after schooland in the holidays;

• emotional support for children in primaryschools and the 'positive pupil programme' insecondary schools;

• giving children a say in the city with 'children'svoices';

• working with the community sector to giveparticular support to black and minority ethnicfamilies;

• developing the life skills of people leaving care ;and

• a range of provision for young people inaddition to youth centres which includesMillennium Volunteers, Art Sparks, a street crimeinitiative called 'Positive Activities for YoungPeople', European exchanges and adventureprojects as well as counselling. A Best Valuecross-cutting review is focusing on the yearsbetween 10-14 with the transition from primaryto secondary school.

Effective strategies to tackle these issues ofteninvolve action in more than one school as well asintegration with broader local social and economicpolicies, delivered by the local authority and otherLSP partners. Some of the success stories include:

• Birmingham’s placing of education supportofficers in temporary accommodation;

• Dorset's small schools support strategy;

• Lincolnshire's rural academy which integrateseight senior schools, a primary school and a specialschool; and

• Derbyshire's community education project.

Early years and Sure Start

Work with pre-school children and their families iscrucial if poor children are not to begin schoolalready at a disadvantage. The LGA is pleased toacknowledge the significant increase ingovernment investment in early years educationover the last few years, especially in deprivedareas. We believe that likewise the governmenthas acknowledged that local authorities have beencentral to transforming this funding into localprojects which make a difference.


Coleshill Heath School in Solihull is located on adisadvantaged public housing estate. Despitenumerous difficulties, the head teacher workingwith the new unitary local authority was able todeliver high standards of education for groups ofchildren that needed it most. Key elements were:

• housing policy leading to a more balancedallocation of families to the estate;

• the introduction of family literacy and basic skillsprogrammes through the school and the localfurther education college;

• the employment of a special support manager forchildren and families in crisis;

• the provision of high-quality support for childrenwith special needs and those at risk of becomingtruants;

• support for the school from wider communityservices including the police, local GPs and thehealth authority; and

• the introduction of new extra-curricular activities- sports, music and drama.

The partnership between school and localauthority resulted in improved attainment, areduction in truancy, more pupils on the roll andgreater involvement by parents in the life of theschool.

London Borough of Hillingdon early yearsservice provides not only information on the fullrange of childcare and other community servicesavailable to pre-school children and their families,but also subsidy for childcare and parentingsupport where it is needed. Services signpostedinclude toy libraries; parent and toddler groups;lone parent advisors in the JobCentrePlus whocan give advice regarding training courses,employment and financial support for childcare;basic skills training for parents; women's projects;Homestart; out of school provision for school-aged children; and Sure Start in Townfield. TheSure Start team provides many of those servicesalready mentioned, and includes a range ofsupport and training for parents with a crèchesupplied, as well as activities for children andparents together. A smoking cessation clinic isalso being established. The involvement of thesocial services Children With Disabilities team inthe early years work has ensured that specialneeds are being addressed.

The Portsmouth Network provides a similarrange of activities and services for families withchildren aged 0-14, some at early yearsrooms attached to a primary school. As well as'good grub' workshops, the healthy eatingmessage is integrated into breakfast clubs andafter-school clubs with a range of activities,including cooking, tasting, self-awareness, andgardening.

The initial experience of Sure Start showed thatservices did need more co-ordination and morecoherent streams of funding, and the LGAwelcomes the response of the government to datein improving this. Bringing together the Sure Startprojects with other early years and childcareinitiatives into one government unit was a goodstart. We applaud the fact that from April 2004more Sure Start funding will go to local authorities,with less ring-fencing, enabling better integrationof early years and childcare services. The LGA hasalso been lobbying for the replacement of the EarlyYears Development Plan by auditing early yearswork through other existing planning mechanismssuch as the Community Strategy or EducationDevelopment Plan: this is now being activelyconsidered by the Sure Start Unit.

Many local authorities will now be playing thesame role in the development of children's centres.Furthermore, local authorities are the key toensuring that such projects do not exist inisolation, but are part of a strategic approach totackling child poverty which involves otherpartners.

Services for 5-13 year olds

Local authorities have similarly played a role insetting up Children's Fund and Cymorth projectstargeted at services for 5-13 year olds who areshowing signs of difficulties.

Young people

Local authorities have a range of services aimed atyoung people, which tend to have a dual role.They provide activities in deprived areas at little orno cost, and access to support which enablesyoung people to recognise that there areopportunities for them to get involved and achievetheir personal ambitions. Similar projects are ofteninitiated from different origins - from crimeprevention, health inequalities and improvingemployability to reducing drug use. For example,London Borough of Southwark's Kickstartscheme was started to help tackle youth crime onits housing estates; yet its wide range of sport,recreational and educational activities for 8-18year-olds is familiar to planners working from ageneral social inclusion or neighbourhood renewalperspective.


The local education authority is taking the lead onchildren's centres in the City of Stoke on Trentwith a target of one centre in every one of itsseventeen deprived wards. It is also the localauthority which has taken the lead on movingchildren’s services up the agenda through theChildren and Young Peoples Strategic Partnership,the creation of a Children's Commissioner, and aChildren and Young Peoples Board chaired by thecouncil manager. There is a social inclusion officerwithin the social services department who is amember of the regional social inclusion groupfacilitated by West Midlands Local GovernmentAssociation. The Stoke Local Strategic Partnershipwill be monitoring child poverty as part ofevaluating its community strategy theme of a'healthy city'.

A partnership approach in Dartford andGravesham has led to a range of projects: 'don'tsit, get fit'; 'feel-good groups', 'Earthworms' (aneducational programme to give disadvantagedchildren the opportunity to learn about theenvironment), 'Stress Crew' and after-schoolgroups for children with significant behaviouraldifficulties.

Bedfordshire Libraries' homework centres areopen for two evenings a week staffed by ahomework centre organiser, supported by librarystaff. It targets 8-13 year olds needing help withhomework. The homework centre staffencourage children to make the best use of theresources - whether books, extensive ICT orhelping each other. The first two homeworkcentres, launched in 2001, have proved sosuccessful that they are now funded permanentlyand two more have opened recently.

With the level of teenage pregnancy in the UKhigher than any other European country, localauthorities are involved - usually with partners - toreduce this level or to support young parents sothat they and their babies are not disadvantaged,for example by:

• improved awareness of sexual health andrelationship issues;

• advice and support;

• initiatives to help school-age mothers back intoeducation and employment; and

• supported housing projects for pregnant girls andyoung mothers.

Domestic violence

Given that domestic violence accounts for aquarter of all recorded crime in England andWales, we welcome its inclusion as part of thegovernment's family policy initiative. We recognisethat domestic violence can be experienced bypeople from different social classes. However it isoften linked to wider family problems and canhave serious and long-lasting consequences,including poverty for mothers who leave the familyhome. We welcome the Home Office's funding todevelop a local co-ordination infrastructure totackle domestic violence, and the LGA's role in thisdevelopment. We are pleased that an inter-departmental review is also considering futurefunding of all forms of supported housing,including refuges for women and children fleeingdomestic violence.

Opportunity for all: tackling inequalitiesby improving public services for all

Securing improvement in local services throughmanaging performance and community leadershipis a key priority for councils, and much effort isbeing made to achieve this. The LGA similarly hasa clear commitment to work to improve publicservices by influencing both central governmentpolicy and local government practice.


'Underpinning the place of young people aged 0-25' is one of the four themes of the work ofthe Kendray Initiative, a neighbourhoodmanagement pathfinder in BarnsleyMetropolitan Borough Council. The work to-date includes a programme of summer recreationactivities, a series of successful consultationevents, and a youth inclusion project whichworks with children who are 'at risk' and thosewho are offending. The initiative has prioritisedchildren and young people doing better at school,and discussions have taken place with schoolsand the local education department about futureplans, such as study support and out-of-schoollearning.

Cannock Chase Council and the Forest ofMercia are providing opportunities for youngpeople to gain horticultural and arboricultureskills via a New Deal-funded training schemeproject. At the same time this is helping toimprove the parks and other open spaces withinthe district.

With EU funding, Derby City Council andGreater Derby Primary Care Trust has led atransnational project into the prevention ofexclusion of children and young people resultingfrom poor sexual health and teenage pregnancy.This project aims to improve understanding andpractice by sharing effective policy and practice;influencing future policy development andimplementation; preventing exclusion resultingfrom poor sexual health; reducing the risk factorsleading to poor sexual health and ensuring thatyoung people are able to influence policy andservice development.

Local Public Service Agreements provide a focus onpriorities for improvement. In order to securegreater buy in by public sector partners to nationaland local priorities, the LGA has proposed thatLocal Strategic Partnerships should be moreinvolved in the next round of LPSAs. This wouldmean that all the major players in the localityagree to the LPSA targets, contribute to theirdelivery and share rewards for success.

The comprehensive performance assessment (CPA)can also help focus efforts and resources on whatneeds to change. CPA complements othermethods of improving outcomes such as the BestValue regime and in future Best Value reviews willconcentrate on areas of weakness identified by theCPA. Local Strategic Partnerships also have animportant role to play in improving services. Unlesswe have a multi-agency endeavour to join up andimprove services, we cannot hope to break thecycle of deprivation that is a key element of childpoverty.

Access to services

Access to services is being tackled by localauthorities in a variety of means, not just byimproved information. The role of transport intackling social inclusion has been covered in depthby the Social Exclusion Unit in the report earlierthis year Making the connections: final report ontransport and social exclusion. This report includesthirty-eight case studies, over half of which havethe local authority as the key contact. Theparticular situation of rural families is one whichthe LGA has been highlighting in a number ofways, currently including (in 2003) the provision ofchildcare.

Health inequalities

We welcome the Department of Health's recentpublication: Tackling health inequalities: aprogramme for action. This report includes anumber of examples of work involving localauthorities; such as Kingston Upon Hull's reductionof child pedestrian casualties.


Liverpool City Council, a Beacon Council forSocial Inclusion through ICT, has been involved ina number of projects to improve electronic accessto services for residents at the same time asraising the level of computer usage in deprivedareas. One current project is built on a successfulmodel used to engage 3,000 people in Dingle inHealth initiatives. It aims to engage 3,600 peopleby recruiting and training 100 volunteers to actas intermediaries between service providers andtheir neighbourhood or community network. Thevolunteers will be rewarded with a computer, andthe recruited households supported in the use ofinteractive learning. This will be complementedby the promotion of electronic delivery by publicservices. This pilot will then look at whether thehousehold's situation has improved as a resultwith particular emphasis on jobs, housing and e-democracy and housing.

A one-stop shop has been sited in a very deprivedward of Oadby and Wigston Borough Council.Advice and information on any topic is given toresidents - the highest percentage of enquiriesare about welfare benefits. Funding for thisproject has been provided by the local authority,local business, welfare funds, National Lottery,Rotary Club and the Police Fund amongst others,but raising funding has been extremely time-consuming for the project's workers. 22,000people have used the centre over the last fiveyears, which was commended by the Best ValueInspectors. Support for the one-stop shop is acore part of this local authority's anti-povertystrategy and the model is being replicated inanother part of the borough.

Many of the other projects mentioned in othersections of this paper will also have an effect onhealth inequalities; for example, sports promotion,teenage pregnancy work and Sure Start.Furthermore the new power of health scrutinymeans that local councillors have another route forimproving health services in the community.

Lack of money, inadequate shopping facilities,conflicting information about food and health andpoor transport mean that many people are deniedhealthy food choices - this has become known asfood poverty.

Housing is clearly another area which impacts onboth the health and general well-being of childrenin poverty. Good practice of local authorities inboth tackling homelessness and tackling fuelpoverty has been recognised by the BeaconCouncils scheme.

The LGA is pleased that the government has issuedguidance to authorities to ensure that children intemporary accommodation get access to regularhealth checks. Many authorities are workingconstructively with other agencies to ensurechildren are not disadvantaged by the place thatthey live in. Authorities are committed to reachingthe Decent Home Standard and the LGA welcomesthe initiatives in the housing bill that aim to helplocal authorities regulate conditions in the privatesector.

Cultural and leisure services

There has long been a recognition by localauthorities that cultural and leisure services canplay an important role in tackling poverty, socialexclusion and health inequalities as well asimproving the quality of life in our localcommunities. Such services include arts, heritage,libraries, information technology, parks and openspaces, play and sport. In a number of localcouncils, cultural service departments are workingwith partners to develop healthy living centres andpromote diversion from crime. There is a longtradition of councils providing non-stigmatisingdiscount leisure schemes for those experiencingpoverty. Oxford City Council has used data fromhousing benefit records to promote the council'sBonus Slice leisure discount card as well as taxcredits.


Newham Food Access Partnership (NFAP) is aborough-wide umbrella group with twenty-twomembers from statutory, voluntary andcommunity sectors. NFAP seeks to alleviate foodpoverty and encourage healthy eating, and aimsto increase consumption of fresh fruit andvegetables by families on low incomes. Thisinvolves improving the supply of quality freshfruit and vegetables to communities in deprivedareas at affordable prices, developing foodprojects in schools, raising awareness of healthyeating message (in particular the five-a-dayinitiative), and increasing knowledge and skills.The council seeks to ensure that all projects arecommunity-led and that sustainable projects arecreated by developing joint funding bids. Projectsinclude:

• fruit tuck shops in schools;

• free home delivery service for those who mayhave particular trouble shopping, includingmothers in advanced pregnancy; and

• breakfast clubs to provide students with anutritious meal before the start of the school day.

Kerrier District Council is one of a number ofpartners involved in a health action zone schemecalled 'a breath of fresh air' which is examiningthe link between asthma and poor housing.

Prominence is being given in many places to thissocial inclusion role, as illustrated by Leeds CityCouncil using its local PSA to promote sportparticipation amongst young people in their mostdeprived wards, both in schools and in the widercommunity. In the summer of 2003, freeswimming was provided in a number of places,most notably across Wales. Hull City Council haveprovided this for some years. Other localauthorities have targeted their resources toproviding free transport to subsidised activities orto providing free swimming to schools in deprivedareas.

Arts and libraries also have a contribution to make,the latter being recognised by the round threeBeacon awards.

Child poverty in black and minority ethniccommunities

The government is well aware that research hasshown that different black and minority ethnicgroups within the UK suffer different levels ofpoverty and deprivation, for example Pakistani andBangladeshi families experience higher levels ofunfit housing, poor health and greater povertywhen in work than even jobless white households.Furthermore joblessness is a key factor with adifference of 17 percentage points between theaverage UK employment rate and those of blackand minority ethnic people. Other factors includefamily size, language barriers, and educationalachievement as well as racism and discrimination.The problem of schools and their exclusions ofblack boys has been identified, and a number ofinitiatives are currently under way to address theissue, often as part of a wider community cohesionor other strategy to engage young black people ina variety of ways, including through sport andother leisure activities. For example, GloucesterCity Council supports Conscious, a footballproject with police and African-Caribbean youth.

Tackling pockets of deprivation

The government's neighbourhood renewal strategywith its aim to tackle "postcode poverty" has beenunderpinned by the welcome investment of £900million over three years for 88 of the most


North Cornwall District Council leisure serviceshas a number of initiatives which contribute tothe social inclusion agenda:

• many free events in different communities andschools, ranging from playdays to sports tastersessions to a disability awareness day and asports festival;

• outreach activities for rurally excluded children(through the provision of free transport to acentre or by taking activities into the community);

• family learning weekends; and

• Flashpoint safety centre who delivered life skills toover 2000 children per year.

Some activities for children are run alongsidesupport for unemployed parents to obtaintraining and jobs. This programme of work willbe extended as funding has been securedthrough the Active Communities DevelopmentFund to deliver a five-year project aimed atchildren and families who are socially excluded.

Wrexham Arts Agency was established in July1999, initially as a three year project, to deliver aprogramme of arts-based activities to youngpeople throughout the county borough with alink to the borough's corporate strategy. The ArtsAgency has run fifty-three residency, training andpartnership projects involving 10,500 residents,and provided advisory and consultancy support.Skills being developed include not only creativeskills, but also communication skills, teamleadership and confidence building, numeracy,literacy and ICT through a programme of dramaand scripted animation projects.

deprived local authority areas. However the area-based approach has also been much criticised bymany - including local authorities - for ignoring thepoverty of those who do not live within large areasof deprivation. In July 2003, the LGA published apaper on tackling pockets of deprivation withexamples of local authority activity in those areaswithout access to additional funding, and foundthat there is no shortage of ideas nor willingpartners to work with. However funding for suchinitiatives is precarious, and full funding from alocal authority source requires very difficultdecisions to be made. Additional centralgovernment resources would allow these sort ofinitiatives to become more widespread.


Bridgnorth established a parent support groupfor pre-school children in isolated families, and aWheels 2 Work project to enable young people.

East Cambridgeshire set up a network of ITprovision and training in small villages.

Hambleton District Council's Flying Startscheme provides support in the summer holidaysto children who need help when moving up tomiddle school.

Mid-Suffolk District Council set up a project toprovide child safety equipment, such as stairgates and fire guards, to parents on benefits inrural areas.

Powys County Council set up a home-visitingwelfare rights service to increase benefits take-up.

Test Valley Borough Council with WinchesterHealth Care Trust and the Youth Service starteda Sex Care on Saturday clinic for young people.

Tewkesbury Borough Council supported afurniture recycling project.

Local government has a unique role to play in theeradication of child poverty. The LGA would wishto see the government's current cross-cuttingreview giving formal recognition of the communityleadership role that local government plays as wellas its role as a key employer and service deliverer.However alongside that recognition, there needsto be a strategy to ensure that this role isadequately resourced and supported by centralgovernment. The sustainability of area-basedinitiatives is of crucial concern to the LGA and localauthorities.

Collaboration over the past few years between theLGA and central government is proceeding in theright direction on issues raised by local authorities.We continue to work together to achieve:

• better and more timely data: knowing who is poorand where they are clearly affects the design ofsolutions;

• better and wider dissemination of good practiceand what works;

• more co-ordination between national, regional andlocal strategies;

• further progress on consolidating funding streams;and

• a continued expansion of funding, for example forSure Start and children's centres.

The LGA welcomes the 2003 UK National ActionPlan on Social Inclusion and in particular thecommitment of the DWP to co-ordinate follow-upaction to ensure progress is made. There will alsobe benefits to comparing action in each of thecountries of the United Kingdom, for example withthe work of the Child Poverty Task Group in Wales.

The approach to developing the evidence base andbuilding capacity in the government's programmefor action for Tackling Health Inequalities could be

usefully applied to the child poverty pledge. Giventhat the pledge is a long-term objective and thatsome of today's initiatives may only reapmeasurable dividends with the next generation,this does pose problems for local authorities andothers wanting to invest in approaches that willproduce real positive and demonstrable outcomesfor children. It also provides a challenge todecision-makers in local and central governmentcharged with working out where limited resourcesare most effectively targeted in order to achievethe 2010 and 2020 targets.

The LGA is pleased to be agreeing an accord withthe DWP and the Treasury for joint work on childpoverty, and believe this should provide a forum inwhich some of these difficult questions can beaddressed and we hope resolved.

Local Government AssociationSeptember 2003


conclusion: what does local government need to help eradicate child poverty?

LGA publications

These can be found on www.lga.gov.uk or fromLGconnect on 020 7664 3131

Children on the move - accessing excellence; thefuture of school travel, LGA, September 2003

Tackling pockets of deprivation: lessons from localauthorities' social inclusion work, LGA, July 2003

Quids for kids: a good practice guide on benefitsand tax credits take-up work for families withchildren, LGA, April 2003 (this is accompanied byan electronic tool-kit and campaign newsletters in2003/04 on www.lga.gov.uk/quidsforkids.asp)

Community cohesion, LGA joint guidance withODPM, Home Office, CRE and Inter-Faith Network.December 2002 (with accompanying good practiceexamples on the LGA website)

Serving children well: a new vision for children'sservices, LGA/NHS confederation/ADSS, August2002 (the LGA website also provides informationon delivering the serving children well vision)

Changing credit unions, paying dividends incommunity finance, LGA, November 2001

Tackling poverty and social inclusion throughcultural services: a toolkit for local authorities,LGA, October 2001

Value of parks and open space: social inclusionand community regeneration, LGA, December2001

All together now: a survey of local authorities’approaches to social inclusion and anti-poverty,LGA, April 2001

Involving young people in decision making: asurvey of local authorities, LGA, August 2001

Hear by right: setting standards for the activeinvolvement of young people in democracy,LGA/NYA, July 2001 (this work is being furtherdeveloped with the National Youth Agency - 0116285 3700).

Other publications

Britain's Poorest: Severe and persistent poverty andsocial exclusion, CRSP and Save the Children,September 2003

Agenda and poverty in Britain, Equal OpportunitiesCommission, September 2003

Local Authorities and Social Exclusion (LASE)Report 10: How Local Authorities can make adifference: Benchmarking Best Practice, LGIU andthe Local Government Centre at WarwickUniversity, July 2002 (this is the latest in a series ofuseful reports from the LASE Network: seewww.lgiu.gov.uk)

Making A Difference: reducing red tape andbureaucracy in local government, LGA/DTLR/Cabinet Office report, February 2002 (fromwww.cabinet-office.gov.uk)

Making the Connections: Final Report on Transportand Social Exclusion, Social Exclusion Unit, Feb2003 www.socialexclusionunit.gov.uk

Monitoring poverty and social exclusion, JosephRowntree Foundation and New Policy Institute,2002

Opportunity for All: Fourth and Fifth AnnualReports, DWP, 2002 and September 2003

Preliminary conclusions: Measuring child povertyconsultation, DWP, 2003

Social Exclusion (the role of legal and adviceservices in tackling social exclusion), LordChancellor's Department, December 2001


some useful resources

Still Missing Out? Ending poverty and socialexclusion: messages to government from familieswith disabled children, Barnardos, 2002

Tackling Child Poverty: giving every child the bestpossible start in life, Treasury, December 2001

Tackling disadvantage: a 20 year enterprise, JosephRowntree Foundation, January 2003www.jrf.org.uk

Tackling Health Inequalities: a programme foraction, Department for Health, 2003

UK National Action Plan on Social Inclusion 2003-05; DWP, July 2003

Other websites

The Improvement and Development Agencywww.idea.gov.uk for a range of good practiceinformation and Beacon Council information;particularly relevant themes are removing barriersto work; social inclusion through ICT; tacklinghomelessness and tackling fuel poverty. IDeA, DfESand the LGA have launched an electronic toolkiton extended schools available on the IDeAKnowledge website as well as on Teachernet(www.teachernet.gov.uk).

Child Poverty Action Group www.cpag.org.uk

End Child Poverty Coalition www.ecp.org.uk

Community cohesionwww.communitycohesion.gov.uk


For further information, please contactthe Local Government Association at:Local Government HouseSmith Square, London SW1P 3HZ

or telephone LGconnect, our information centre on 020 7664 3131Fax 020 7664 3030Email [email protected] www.lga.gov.uk

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