National advocacy strategy under way to boost support for vulnerable children in England

John Kemmis, who retired from the advocacy charity this month after more than a decade at the helm, said the strategy will aim to set out training requirements and standards for advocacy services across England.

According to Kemmis, while much has been achieved in recent years in recognising the importance of independent advocacy for children, huge disparities remain in the quality and availability of support.

"We've established that advocacy is something that matters as well as understanding the importance of involving children more in decisions about their own lives, but there is a way to go," he said.

Kemmis said that initiatives such as children in care councils, introduced by Labour under the Care Matters reforms in 2007, are a positive move but more needs to be done to ensure independent support is available to all young people who need it. Wales currently has a national strategy for advocacy, but Kemmis is keen to see this replicated in England.

"Children's rights director Roger Morgan's research has suggested that at least 25 per cent of children in care have never heard of advocacy as something that can help them," he said. "We need to look at the independence and the standard of advocacy because it has all been developed in a fairly haphazard way."

The Office of the Children's Commissioner has commissioned the initial scoping exercise for the strategy, which is expected to be published soon, Kemmis said.

Early next year, Kemmis hopes there will be a "symposium" to bring together advocacy champions to develop the strategy to be effective over the next two to five years.

"The strategy will include putting together requirements so that advocacy does become a service that is absolutely reliable for children," he added.