How would children vote?

As the election campaign enters its final stage there’s one section of the population who the political parties will not be reaching out to, simply because when it comes to polling day they don’t count. None of the 12 million children across the UK have the right to vote.

Votes at 16

That of course could change if Labour or the Lib Dems form the next government and follow through on their commitments to give 16- and 17-year-olds the vote. For now, however, the campaign has been pretty silent on what matters to children. The leaders haven’t been quizzed by schoolchildren and the televised debates have largely focused on big policy issues such as the NHS, migration, defence, the economy and Europe.

Free childcare

Looking at the manifestos however, there are some significant commitments that could make a difference to children and young people. The Conservative manifesto has a section entitled "Giving your children the best start in life". Its eye-catching centre piece is the offer of 30 hours free childcare each week for the three- and four-year-olds of every working parent. All children of this age, regardless of whether or not their parents are working, are already entitled to 15 hours of free childcare each week. Under a Conservative government this would be doubled but only for the children of working parents. Labour and the Lib Dems have also made commitments to increase the number of hours of free childcare for children under four. Whoever forms the next government, extending free childcare will be a major reform.

This will be widely welcomed. But making a difference to young children is not simply about providing more childcare places. What makes the difference is the quality of care. The skills and training of staff working in nurseries are critical. Only the Liberal Democrats have promised to address this by improving the qualifications of early years professionals. Both Labour and the Conservatives have been shortsighted in overlooking this.

Abuse and sexual exploitation

Tackling abuse and sexual exploitation is another issue that has been in the headlines and features in the party manifestos. There are two clear commitments from all parties. Firstly, addressing the training of social workers by extending a scheme to fast track graduates into the profession and secondly taking action by ensuring that all agencies – the police, social services, and health services – work together in a more joined up way to keep children safe.

Neither of these proposals are new but it doesn’t mean they aren’t needed. Social workers have long been much maligned and are rarely given the same status by the public as police officers or nurses. And the task of working together, particularly to share information across hospitals, schools, the police and other services, continues to remain an enormous challenge. The elephant in the room of course, is the lack of money. Different ways of collaborating can make a difference but ultimately keeping children safe costs money and with the number of children at risk increasing, the need for more not less money can’t be ignored.

Improving child health

The third area for children that stands in the manifestos is health. All parties commit to tackling obesity and to improving mental health provision. It’s heartening that both are now recognised across the political divide as being critical issues. But there are no simple solutions, as the causes of obesity and mental health issues are complex. There are multiple factors at play, including poverty, parenting, bullying and peer pressure, to name a few. This demonstrates that if the next government is going to be serious about tackling the health problems children face it needs to take a holistic approach that requires action across government departments.

Children’s issues in the round

And that perhaps is the gap in all the manifestos. There is no recognition of the need for children’s issues to be addressed in the round, with every part of government championing their needs and taking a child-centred approach. Without this there will continue to be some potentially important individual reforms that make a piecemeal difference to children’s lives but there won’t be the more fundamental change that is needed to ensure the UK is the best place for every child to grow up.

• NCB analysis of the how party manifestos relate to children and young people is at: www.ncb.org.uk/what-we-do/policy 

Enver Solomon is director of evidence and impact at the National Children’s Bureau