14-19 Network Briefing

14-19 Network Core Aim—The Early Years (0-7) / Y blynyddoedd cynnar Income Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Where To Go?

Education Costs Parents living on low incomes in Wales are struggling to meet increasing and diverse "hidden" costs of sending their children to school.

Utilise the Children in Wales: good practice guide for schools (training available)

Tackling Child Poverty in Wales - A Good Practice Guide for Schools Or Contact anita.myfanwy@childreninwal es.org.uk

Vocational Skills The opportunities to work with parents accessing early years provision on improving skills for work are not always maximised.

Review the links between early years provision, vocational training, skills development and access to employment.

Ymyriad a chefnogaeth Mae ysgolion llwyddiannus yn gweithio mewn cymunedau o amddifadedd yn gosod targedau uchelgeisiol i ddisgyblion, yn eu holrhain yn rheolaidd ac yn ymyrryd ar unwaith os oes disgybl yn syrthio nôl

Datblygu dulliau cadarn o olrhain a chefnogi disgyblion ncsl.org.uk Report:-narrowingsydd mewn perygl o dangyflawni the-gap reducing in school variation in pupil outcomes

14-19 Network Education and Learning Opportunities / Addysg Income Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Working with Parents The impact of parental involvement and support on children’s education has been widely acknowledged.

Parental engagement in deprived areas is often lower than in other areas.

Consider doing more outreach work, including out of hours support and working with vulnerable families.

Working with others Schools alone are unable to tackle and overcome the effects of child poverty on education. Effective schools working in deprived areas develop creative methods of working with others.

Develop creative methods for the recruitment and retention of staff. Consider recruiting from the local community and ex pupils for all staff positions.

Sustainable Procurement In 2005 it was estimated that 35% of the ÂŁ4 billion spent each year by the public sector in Wales was won by indigenous business supporting some 70,000 jobs. Every 1% increase to this figure should relate to an increase of some 2,000 jobs.

Develop a common partnership approach to sustainable procurement that ensures opportunities to support the local economy and skills development of young people are secured.

Where To Go? "not too hard to reach: developing a tool to reach the most disadvantaged families" Teaching Expertise atricle

Buy Wales http:// www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/ node/1413 http://www.s-p-i-n.co.uk/ toolkit.asp#Socio-Economic

14-19 Network Education and Learning Opportunities / Addysg Income Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Where To Go?

Charging Policies Charging policies and practice that do not fully consider concessions can limit the life chances of the poorest.

Develop robust school charging policy and practice that effectively considers the needs of pupils experiencing poverty and disadvantage.

Oldham Policy on charging for school activities

Travelling to learn/work

Review local policy and guidance and develop travel plan to ensure that learners and workers in disadvantaged areas are able to access learning opportunities in the most efficient way possible. Developing a Transport impact assessment maybe a useful evaluative tool.

Sustrans travel planning WAG Funding Advice

Transport is a significant barrier to accessing learning/ employment and training. Learners from less well-off backgrounds are further disadvantaged if they are not funded to travel to work placements.

14-19 Network Participation and Decision Making / Cymryd rhan yn y broses benderfynu Income Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Where To Go?

Lack of Awareness There is limited awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Raise awareness of children and young people’s right to participate under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Welsh Assembly Government policy e.g. Extending Entitlements.

Useful supporting websites on the UNCRC – list some here. Save the Children Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group and Funky Dragon information on website on UNCRC for children and young people. http://www.sccyp.org.uk/ participation/resources.php

Being Worse Off Children and young people experiencing poverty should not be worse off as a result of their participation.

Fully review the individual costs of participation and ensure that up front costs are minimised.

Camden documents

Lack of money Monetary issues can often act as a barrier to attending participation activity.

Develop good practice in relation to the reward, remuneration and recognition of Children and young people’s participation, ensuring that it takes into account the complexities of the welfare benefits system.

Good practice Guide www.participationworkerswale s.org.uk

14-19 Network A Safe Home and Community / Cartrefi a chymunedau diogel Income Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Where To Go?

Preventing Arrears

Help to improve tenancy security and transition into Financial Inclusion Briefing stable housing by linking the council’s approach to im- (cih) proving financial literacy skills of vulnerable young people and families to Local Housing Allowance agenda. This could be achieved by developing working arrangements between housing departments/housing benefit administrators and financial literacy educators.

Economic inactivity In 2005-6 men and women living in social housing in Wales had a lower rate of economic activity and higher unemployment than those living in other tenures and of economic inactivity.

 Explore ways of working in partnership to join up employment and housing solutions.  Review housing related procurement processes and investigate the potential for social clauses and employment skills development.  Link housing options advice with employment advice

DWP Report on Social Housing and Worklessness

14-19 Network A Safe Home and Community / Cartrefi a chymunedau diogel Income Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Where To Go?

The new Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme aims to increase financial inclusion by paying housing benefit directly to individuals this poses two risks: 1. There is a possibility that more vulnerable families and young people will put their tenancies at risk through non-payment of rent.

2. Private landlords may face greater risk of non payment if the LHA process is not managed effectively and may be less likely to rent to people receiving LHA.

Develop a robust Local Housing Allowance Safeguards Policy for tenants and landlords that ensures that safeguards are in place to prevent the risk of tenants falling into arrears with their rent and losing their home due to eviction and to provide some assurances to landlords about potentially vulnerable tenants and those who are unlikely to pay.

Local Housing Allowance Safeguards for tenants and Landlords Policy Sefton Safeguards policy

14-19 Network Income Maximisation / Employment / Heb fod dan anfantais o achos tlodi Income Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Where To Go?

Unemployment and worklessness in families are major factors in child poverty. Paid work is seen by the government as a route out of poverty, however the ability to achieve higher quality and sustainable jobs is also important.

Develop in partnership a cohesive local approach to reducing worklessness. That co-ordinates local resource, understanding, data and expertise.

Consider the use of outreach services and IT solutions to assist in reducing Worklessness.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation : Local initiatives to help workless people find and keep paid work

The nature and degree of partnership working between Job Centre Plus and the local councils varies across Wales. To date only a small percentage of Council’s have signed up to the Job Centre Plus Local Employment Partnerships initiative (which aims to bring together Government and large employers to help 250,000 disadvantaged people into jobs within three years).

Consider the appropriateness of committing the Coun- Local Employment Partnercil to the Job Centre Plus’s Local Employment Initiaships tive (the following public sector bodies have signed up to this Scheme Somerset County Council, Coventry City Council, Glasgow City Council, Middlesbrough City Council, NHS Wales, North Glamorgan NHS Trust, West Lothian Council, Birmingham City Council).

Review HR policies to ensure that recruitment practices are inclusive and do not disadvantage vulnerable groups.

14-19 Network The Early Years (0-7) / Y blynyddoedd cynnar Service Poverty

Current Challenges Basic Skills Improvement

What Can Be Done?

Develop robust approached to improving basic skills.

Where To Go? http://www.basic-skillswales.org/bsastrategy/en/ resources/early_years.cfm http://www.basic-skillswales.org/bsastrategy/en/ resources/early_years/ family_programmes good_practicepack.cfm http://www.basic-skillswales.org/bsastrategy/en/ cross_phase/ financial_literacy_homepage.cfm

14-19 Network Education and Learning Opportunities / Addysg Service Poverty

Current Challenges

What Can Be Done?

Where To Go?

Curriculum and Teaching Priorities community schooling in schools with high Extended Schools and out of school activities propopulations of pupils entitled to free school meals. grammes that provide effective and complementary educational support to vulnerable children play a significant part in reducing the gaps in educational attainment.

Literacytrust.org.uk/ socialinclusion nfer extended schools

Basic Skills Lack of basic skills limit the ability of pupils to partake in educational and skills based activities.

Basic Skills Agency

Work with the Basic Skills Cymru to develop a robust approach to developing Basic skills attainment at secondary level.