Tim Loughton MP, shadow children's minister - Waiting in the wings
Neil Puffett
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
"We are absolutely committed to the Every Child Matters agenda but we need to go through everything in the department's budget to make sure it is justified." Tim Loughton, the Conservative shadow children's minister says.
Speaking in advance of his party's conference in Manchester, Loughton tells CYP Now that policies for the children's and youth sector are to play a significant role in the party's general election campaign.
Loughton takes pride in his affinity with the sector. He is renowned for spending significant amounts of time speaking face-to-face with key figures and frontline practitioners. This has led to some suggestions that his party worries he might have got too close and "gone native".
"That's a new one on me," he says. "There's no danger of me going native. I have been doing this job longer than any other shadow minister on our side. That either means David Cameron thinks I am doing a good job or they have forgotten about me!" he quips.
Loughton concedes that the gloomy economic outlook for public services means tough decisions will have to be made. He highlights children's sector quangos as an area for potential cost savings, but beyond that refuses to speculate where else the axe may fall.
National Citizen Service
One project not facing the chop is the Conservatives' proposed National Citizen Service (NCS), lauded by David Cameron as a modern-day equivalent to National Service. The voluntary project, which would see 16-year-olds complete tasks such as charity work, is being piloted in two areas of London with feedback so far being positive. "NCS is one of our flagship policies at the next election," Loughton says. "David Cameron has identified his number one priority as repairing broken Britain and it forms part of that. The sooner we can roll it out the better."
In addition, Loughton sees scope for a degree of investment in preventative and early intervention schemes. He points to intensive fostering pilots as an example of expensive work that can reap significant rewards.
"It can be an expensive investment up front but can save an awful lot of money in the long-term and turn people's lives around," he says.
"We will be doing as much as possible where there is clear effectiveness based on best practice. But they have got to be doubly justified now because it is going to be that much harder to fund them."
Improving provision
Another focus for the Tories is improving provision in early years and social care settings. Loughton backs the rationale behind Labour's Sure Start children's centres, but claims they could be doing better.
"They should be focused more on the areas of greatest need which they were originally rolled out to serve," he says. "We want to make sure new families in particular get the right skills, the right intervention and the right help to bring up their children."
Alongside this, the Conservatives want to boost the health visitor service, the quid pro quo casualty being the Sure Start outreach service. The aim is to employ an additional 4,200 health visitors, although Loughton admits this may take some time.
Loughton says he is also eager to boost the morale and status of social workers and others tasked with protecting children. As well as scrapping the government's ContactPoint database, he wants rid of the computer-based Integrated Children's System (ICS), plus a clampdown on what he sees as excessive meetings.
With a general election just months away, the Conservatives are hot favourites to form the next government. Loughton says he has a good relationship with shadow children's secretary Michael Gove, which he is keen to continue after the election.
"It's not up to Michael, but he would be delighted, as far as I know, if the team as it stands is the team in government. I would be delighted to be part of that."
CV TIM LOUGHTON MP
- Tim Loughton has been shadow children's minister since November 2003, in the year that Every Child Matters was launched
- His responsibilities include looked-after children, special educational needs, personal social and health education, child welfare and social work, and youth justice
- The Tory front bench team also comprises families spokeswoman Maria Miller, schools spokesman Nick Gibb and shadow children's secretary Michael Gove
- Loughton was elected to Parliament in 1997 and is the MP for East Worthing & Shoreham
- Prior to entering Parliament he was a fund manager and director at a merchant bank in the City of London
- He is married with one son and two daughters