North East DCSs urge greater focus on poverty in Care Review reforms
Fiona Simpson
Monday, May 15, 2023
Recommendations from the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care that have been backed by government do not go far enough to address high levels of poverty in the North East of England, the region’s directors of children’s services (DCSs) say.
“A new child poverty strategy is key to tackling the underlying drivers of rising demand and the long-term intergenerational impact of poverty and deprivation,” say a cohort of 12 North East DCSs in reply to the government’s response to the Care Review, which takes forward a series of recommendations made by review chair Josh MacAlister.
While the group welcomes plans to shift the focus of children’s services away from crisis intervention and towards early help, it notes in its response that the impact of child poverty has “not been picked up” in either the review’s final recommendations or the government’s response to it.
The latest child poverty data indicates the North East now has the highest child poverty rate in the UK, with 38 per cent of the region’s children estimated to be affected.
The DCSs’ response adds: “Whilst both need and demand for services in the North East continue to be above the national average, the challenges faced are reflective of those faced across the country as a whole.
“Concerns about poverty, low aspiration, exploitation, and violence have only been exacerbated by the rising cost of living and serve to amplify the need for the socioeconomic context to be tackled by current and future governments.”
The 12 DCSs also say that higher priority should be given to children in the health system and directors of children’s services should be given more control over children’s health services at a local level through a formal role in an integrated Care Board.
They add that children’s mental health services need further improvements to properly support young people.
Cath McEvoy-Carr, chair of the North East Association of Directors of Children’s Services, and director of children, education and skills at Newcastle City Council said: “We are seeing a continued increase in the numbers of children needing care and a new way of working needs to be implemented quickly to address this.
“We welcome the acknowledgement by government of the current issues this service area faces in the region and believe some of the issues we highlighted locally have been listened to, however, many of the proposals do not go far enough, have timelines which are too long or are not allocated adequate funding.”
The consultation on the government’s response to the Care Review closed on 11 May.
