Interview: Graham Allen, chair, independent commission on early intervention
Gabriella Jozwiak
Monday, September 27, 2010
Heard the one about the MP who helped a 16-year-old mother called Sharon with her housing and child support, only for her daughter to return 16 years later, babe in arms, asking for the same assistance?
Sharon's story is one that MP Graham Allen uses to explain why early intervention is something he is determined to make a part of UK culture — and why an intergenerational cycle of deprivation must be broken.
Allen was appointed chair of the independent commission on early intervention in July this year, but he has a long history of working on the issue. His Nottingham North constituency labels itself "an early intervention city", where a range of projects have already proved successful.
As a Labour MP reporting to the Social Justice Cabinet Committee, who wants all political parties to endorse his final reports, Allen's passion to make early intervention successful overrides political allegiances. "The only reason to do this - to stick my neck out as a Labour MP for the current government — is to say there's going to be some action," he says. "I don't want to publish a report that doesn't go anywhere."
He stresses that cross-party commitment to such a long-term strategy is fundamental, saying: "You can't stop this after five years — it's essential everyone is on board if we are going to change people's social and emotional capabilities. Even if by then my Labour colleagues aren't talking to me any more."
Allen co-authored a study into early intervention in 2008 with Conservative Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith. This, alongside Labour's green paper on the subject published earlier this year, will feature heavily in the current review in terms of "how" and "what" can be achieved in early intervention.
However, the funding of initiatives is still a matter Allen is investigating. This month he made a public call for submissions of evidence to the review. "Given the economic climate, it's unrealistic to ask the government for funding," he says. "We want people with expertise in delivering financial tools to raise the money."
Proposed ideas include social impact bonds that offer private investors the opportunity to earn a profit through social investment. Or payment-by-results schemes, such as the Private Finance pilot in Peterborough, where projects working to cut reoffending rates among men leaving prison only receive payment after their targets are met. "It's not going to be easy," Allen says, "but I'm accumulating an army of great expertise from the private, banking, finance, local and central government and the voluntary sectors, which are working to create practical financial instruments to be the base load for early intervention in the next few years."
Allen has already consulted with Chancellor George Osborne and chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander, and plans to gain their support by demonstrating the scheme's financial viability in the report. He is optimistic. "Early intervention could be the poppy in the battlefield of expenditure cuts," he says. Last year, charity Action for Children and think-tank New Economics Foundation calculated that more preventative models of children and young people's services, such as early intervention, could save the economy £486 billion over 20 years.
The other grey area for Allen is what sort of organisation will manage the projects. "We want something national," he explains. "Not a government department, but maybe a university or a limited company."
He suggests the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, (Nice), is a good model. "We need an organisation capable of testing policies with rigorous methodology," Allen says. "It won't just promote our work, but also be the sort of vehicle through which finance can flow. This time next year I want to be telling people what will be happening, because the government will have accepted the recommendations."
If his vision becomes a reality, maybe Sharon's granddaughter won't be approaching him for help in another 16 years time.
BACKGROUND: KEY AIMS OF THE EARLY INTERVENTION REVIEW
- Focus on children from birth to 18
- Assess and make recommendations on the best models
- Advise on how early intervention could be extended across the UK
- Gather examples of best practice from current projects
- Consider innovative funding models, including non-government streams
- Investigate what national organisation could manage early intervention projects into the future
- Devise a strategy that meets cross-party agendas
- Report by the end of January 2011 on the issue of best practice
- Produce a final report on funding by May 2011