Tireless intervener

Dame Clare Tickell arrives late for our interview at Action for Children’s glass-fronted headquarters in Holborn. She is a little flustered and apologetic as a result of an over-running meeting at the Cabinet Office.

“I rode the Boris Bike so fast I lost half my body weight,” she exclaims as she gulps down the water swiftly provided by a sympathetic colleague, before collapsing somewhat dramatically into her chair. “When I got here, I couldn’t find anywhere to put it – have you ever had that problem?”

Tickell is used to being in demand. Since qualifying as a social worker in 1984, she has held a series of high-level posts ranging from deputy director of youth homelessness charity Centrepoint, when she was still in her 20s, to chief executive of Stonham Housing Association, before being headhunted for her current post at the helm of charity Action for Children.

Tickell’s rise up the ranks in the charity world has gained her the respect of peers in the third sector as well as the ear of ministers across government.

She has sat on charity commissions covering a diverse range of topics including the future of hospices and English prisons, and acted in advisory positions for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department of Health, among others.

Advisory posts
Despite a track record of high-level advisory posts, the opportunity for Tickell to lead the review into the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) caught her off guard.

“It was a surprise,” she says. “I was invited in by [children’s minister] Sarah Teather and thought it was just a meeting with some of the larger charities, because it was soon after the coalition government came into power.

“She was very clear that Action for Children was about the most vulnerable and most disadvantaged children, and it was very important that the review was carried out by someone who had a deep understanding of the kind of issues facing the most disadvantaged families.

“She also made clear that she wanted someone who understands enough about children, but is not so steeped in early years ?that they can’t stand back a bit. I was really surprised, but very flattered that she asked me.”

The process of reviewing the early years curriculum was something that Tickell was happy to undertake, not only for the chance to improve a policy central to the development of children in their early years, but also for the opportunity to learn more about the sector.

“It was really interesting because it gave me a chance to understand more,” she recalls. “People feel very passionate about how children learn and how they develop. Lots of people had very strongly held opinions and were absolutely sure they were right.

“So the only way to tackle something like the EYFS is to go through the evidence. We also listened. There was a lot of support and there was also a lot of unanimity from people about what they thought was wrong, what could be improved and what they were happy with.”

The EYFS review was one of a series of government-commissioned reviews that helped to fundamentally shape the policies of the coalition. Tickell recalls spending time with Graham Allen, Frank Field and Eileen Munro as they too investigated aspects of children’s policy – early intervention, child poverty and child protection respectively.

“It was a great time because there were four of us doing work,” she says. “We had long conversations about early intervention in the early years and early intervention at any stage in a child’s life.”

Early intervention ?has long been at the heart of Tickell’s thinking on children’s policy. Action for Children’s Dundee Families project in 1995 helped to shape the model for what are now commonly known as family intervention projects, providing intensive support to get to the root of family problems and preventing these reoccurring for subsequent generations.

In September 2009, the charity published its Backing the Future report, which proposed the model of social impact bonds to fund early intervention and prevention work.

Policy buzzwords
So given that early intervention and social finance have become buzzwords across government and the children’s sector, is Tickell pleased with the way things are going?

“When we did Backing the Future there was all-party support because early intervention is a no-brainer – a stitch in time saves nine,” she says. “It gets sticky though when you are thinking about how you find the money in order to intervene early.

“There has never been any difficulty in getting people to understand the importance of early intervention. In fact, the coalition government, and particularly the Liberal Democrat end of the coalition, have put a huge amount of effort into schemes such as the free entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds, which is brilliant.

“I am delighted that everybody has got it, but I think it would be helpful if people would think of early intervention across the entire childhood and keep reminding themselves of that. If we are not careful and focus too much on the early years, there is a risk that we shift the resource too much and forget the other points in a child’s life.”

Action for Children is the largest provider of children’s centres in England, running more than 120 across the country in rural, urban and inner-city areas.

The charity’s Red Book, published in October last year, found that 64 per cent of the charity’s centre managers were facing budget cuts and reductions in staff, resulting in a move away from universal services.

Tickell says that while children’s centres are not a panacea to families’ problems, they provide a vital means to understanding and supporting whole communities. She believes that centres must prioritise children’s wellbeing and development, but says that they should be “community assets”, helping to ease the pressures facing people of all ages in local areas.

Collaboration between charities, local authorities and other agencies is fundamental for this work, but Tickell warns there are variations in how partnerships are working across the country.

“There are a number of local authorities that are thinking very creatively and genuinely coming to the voluntary and community sectors and asking us to work in partnership with them, which is commendable,” she says.

“If I have one worry, it is the extent to which voluntary organisations are having to compete as a result of the opening up of the market.

“Relatively speaking, the sun had shone on the children’s sector for some time. Now things are more difficult and we are having to deal with higher thresholds, less money and greater need. What is really important is that we have an evidence base for what we do, and that we are working as efficiently as possible. It is very important for larger charities like mine to think about how we can support the smaller charities. There is a moral thing in there, we need to have a diverse sector.”

Despite the tough economic climate, Tickell is optimistic about the future. She believes charities and the wider children’s sector must now face up to the realities of the current landscape – from new ways of funding interventions to evidence-based practice and beyond.

“It feels a bit like we have spent three years in a place of uncertainty,” she says.
“We know that we can’t afford to do the same things we used to do any more, but actually we haven’t yet been able to step into a new way of operating.

“I hope this year will bring many more new approaches to work and people taking ownership of what the future looks like, rather than grieving for what it used to be. It is beginning to feel like that.”

Dame Clare Tickell CV

• Tickell was made a Dame in the 2010 honours list for services to young people
• She sits on the community, voluntary and local services honours committee and chairs the recently established Commission into the Future of Hospice Care
• In 1991, Tickell became chief executive of Phoenix House and from 1997 headed Stonham Housing Association before becoming chief executive at Action for Children in 2004, when it was known as NCH
• From 1986 to 1989 she was deputy director at Centrepoint before becoming director at homelessness charity Riverpoint
• Tickell qualified as a social worker from Bristol University in 1984. Before that, she had been assistant warden at Avon Probation Service, which was offering an alternative to custody for young male offenders