Call to let Birmingham young people help shape services

The idea to develop an engagement process for young people to express their views is one of a number of recommendations included in the Birmingham Commission for Children’s report, published today, on how to improve childhood health and education in England’s second city.

Other proposals include developing child-friendly public spaces, having an annual “children’s day” across the city, and working with local organisations to offer free access to cultural and sporting facilities and events.

The commission’s report - It Takes a City to Raise a Child – is the result of a four-month inquiry into childhood in Birmingham, which included hearing evidence from children and young people aged five to 19, as well as children’s professionals and civic leaders.

The five-strong independent commission led by former government adviser Janet Grauberg, found children and young people in Birmingham felt their views were not being properly listened to and that existing democratic structures were ineffective.

The report states: “Children and young people want to have a say in the issues that matter to them. They want their voices heard and acted upon. School councils were not always achieving this. The desire for a voice went wider than school however; it was also about wanting to influence decisions relating to their community, such as transport and work opportunities.”

The commission said that the council should survey young people’s views and carry out focus groups, with panels being set up in each of the councils 10 districts to “enable young people to debate issues and set priorities for the year ahead, and be co-chaired by them”.

The inquiry, which was supported by The Children’s Society, follows high-profile problems with the council’s children’s services department, which resulted in Lord Warner being appointed as a commissioner earlier in the year to oversee improvements.

Although the inquiry did not include children’s social care in its remit, the commission called for more consistency in how children’s services are organised after it found evidence that partnership working with voluntary groups had been damaged by structural reorganisation at the council.

To solve this, it recommends that as much as possible the council should organise services that affect children and young people on the 10 district model, "to reduce duplication and allow professionals from all agencies to develop strong and stable working relationships".

It said the council should work with the NHS, local safeguarding children board and other statutory services, to develop a strategy linking universal services, early help, targeted and specialist interventions.

Although the inquiry did not include children’s social care in its remit, the commission called for the creation of a “robust, city-wide early help and intervention strategy” with children’s centres acting as “multi-disciplinary hubs”. It said the council should work with the NHS, local safeguarding children board and other statutory services to develop a strategy linking universal services, early help, targeted and specialist interventions.

“This should mean that professionals working with any child know how to access the support that is needed. This would involve developing and communicating clear arrangements for referring children who need additional help and the development of a common language and common assessment process between professionals from different agencies,” the report states.

For more on the report see this week’s issue of CYP Now or click here