CYP Now - Editorial: What would the Tories do for the sector?

A rejection of "pie-in-the-sky tax cuts", backing the NHS "with all our hearts", and a commitment to "a new spirit of social responsibility", all sound like they could have come from the pen of Tony Blair's chief speech writer. In fact, they were three of the major themes under discussion last week at the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth.

Speaking for the first time as leader of the party, David Cameron usedthe event to set out where he sees the battle lines to be in thestruggle to win the hearts and minds of the British electorate. Most ofit looks like good news for children's professionals: a high profile forchildren and families, an acknowledgement of the importance of Labour'sEvery Child Matters agenda, and a desire to trust and empowerprofessionals, rather than the state, to solve problems such as poverty,crime and urban neglect (see Analysis, p11).

What's more, the recognition that professionals are fed up with changeand simply want to get on with the task in hand will resonate in manychildren's services departments up and down the country. So, on thewhole, it looks as if the progress that's already been made to improvethe lives of children and families in the UK will continue, even if theBlair-Brown project comes to a halt.

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