It's the preventative services, stupid
Ravi Chandiramani
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Bill Clinton unseated George Bush (Senior) in the 1992 US presidential election owing partly to the slogan, "It's the economy, stupid".
The phrase sought to highlight Bush's shortcomings in managing the economy as America was gripped by recession.
Now, with the UK emerging from recession and braced for a lengthy, full-blooded election campaign of our own, many of the shortcomings that will be highlighted are social. According to Action for Children, the UK has to spend a third more in addressing the consequences of social problems - crime, mental health, family breakdown, drug use or obesity - than the next most troubled nation.
The charity's Backing the Future report, in partnership with the New Economics Foundation, sets out the case for a comprehensive investment programme in preventative services for children and young people. While vast sums continue to be spent fixing social problems, it advocates pumping much more into preventing them emerging in the first place. In so doing, the report claims the UK could save £1.5 trillion over 20 years, or £486bn after you factor in transition and implementation costs. The sums are mindblowing - but suffice to say, a £486bn saving equates to five times the NHS's annual budget.
To finance such an undertaking at a time when public spending cuts are the order of the day, it calls on government to issue bonds to investors, who will recoup their outlay with interest after 10 years. The Centre for Social Justice think-tank, led by ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and a key influence on the Conservatives, is also exploring the idea of a bond scheme.
As the economic and social arguments stack up, the main parties should make funding for preventative services a key manifesto commitment. They must put aside the "Broken Britain" and "spending versus cuts" rhetoric and bite the bullet. It would be stupid not to.
New monthly C4E0 section
This week we introduce a two-page spread, What Works?, in partnership with the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services, or C4EO (see pages 26-27). It will appear in the third edition of each month. As financial pressures put even more focus on commissioning services proven to be effective, the piece aims to be a treasure trove of best practice and evidence of what works, as discovered by C4EO.
- Ravi Chandiramani, editor, Children & Young People Now