CYP(3) PAP 12

Children and Young People Committee

Inquiry into Parenting Action Plan

Response from  Welsh Local Government Association Childrens Services Group.docIntroduction:

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) represents the 22 local authorities in Wales, and the three national park authorities, the three fire and rescue authorities, and four police authorities are associate members.  

It seeks to provide representation to local authorities within an emerging policy framework that satisfies the key priorities of our members and delivers a broad range of services that add value to Welsh Local Government and the communities they serve.

The WLGA welcomes the opportunity to submit evidence to the Children and Young People Committee regarding the inquiry into the Parenting Action Plan in Wales.  The Association hopes that the evidence submitted will prove to be constructive in informing your inquiry.

.The Parenting Action Plan: Supporting mothers, fathers and carers with raising children in Wales was welcomed by local authorities across Wales when it was published in 2005.  Local authorities value the role of parents and carers and the positive impact that they have on their children’s lives.  The way in which a child is nurtured at home has an impact on the child’s future development, both emotionally and educationally.  

.Every local authority strives to meet the varying needs of parents and carers, who can include young parents; single parents; step-parents; grandparents; parents in prison; working parents etc.  There are a number of initiatives at a local level which support parents and provide information and advice, including Children’s Information Services (now Family Information Services); Flying Start; Community Focused Schools; Childcare Strategy and Integrated Children’s Centres.

Delivery of the Parenting Action Plan

The Parenting Action Plan has been welcomed by local authorities as a benchmark for parenting in Wales.  However, a number of the action points have not been completed or only partially completed and as such the success of the action plan could be questioned.  There have been limited resources both from the Welsh Assembly Government to local authorities and at a national level in order to complete the action points identified.  

The WLGA does not feel that a renewed Parenting Action Plan in Wales is necessary.  It is disappointing that some of the action points have not been completed or are only partially completed and the WLGA believes that it is necessary for the Welsh Assembly Government to carry out an assessment of the plan and the extent to which the action points have been met.  There may also be a need to determine whether extra resources should be directed at ensuring implementation of outstanding action points in Wales.  The children and young people’s partnerships are well placed to pull together the policies that relate to parenting and through the children and young people’s plans (CYPP) ensure that local authorities can respond to need and deliver parenting support and services.    

.All interventions are important, there is no single way of supporting parents and carers in Wales.  Innovative developments at a local level have been bought about by flexible working allowing local authorities to use resources to meet the needs of the most vulnerable families.  A wide range of policies and services for children, young people and families and the strategic view of the CYPP enable local authorities to focus resources and deliver appropriate services, support and information.  

Since the publication of the Parenting Action Plan in 2005 the amount of support offered to parents and carers across Wales has increased.  Local authorities are supporting parents and carers to ensure that they have sufficient access to information through services such as the children’s information services/family information services (CIS/FIS).  CIS/FIS have been proactive in outreach work and in many local authority areas have secured satellite points in integrated children’s centres and secondary schools ensuring access to information on services for more parents and carers.  The role of the CIS/FIS in Wales is crucial in ensuring that parents and carers know how to access services that are on offer in the local area.  However many CIS/FIS lack the resources necessary to extend their services beyond their statutory duties, which were enhanced by the Childcare Act 2006, and to provide vital outreach services and to inform parents and carers of the numerous services available to them.

The Childcare Act 2006 states that the information provided by the CIS/FIS should be accessible to all parents and carers of children and young people aged 0-19, who might otherwise find it difficult to access the support they need, including linking to partner organisations to increase take up from disadvantaged and low income families.  The Childcare Act 2006 guidance specifies that this should include those who may be socially excluded, including those from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities, those where English is not their first language, parents of children with a disability, refuges, asylum seekers, families with disabled or mentally ill parents and gypsy traveller families.  The CIS/FIS services across Wales are working hard to meet these extended duties.   However, resources for these services are limited and as such some CIS/FIS are struggling to ensure that all parents, including fathers and carers, have the support and information that they need.

Many services are available in a local authority area for parents and carers, which offer vital support and information.  These services have not necessarily been implemented as a result of the Parenting Action Plan but do link closely with the aims of the Plan in ensuring greater support.  As such it is important that the Parenting Action Plan is not viewed in isolation.  These services include those provided through Flying Start, Integrated Children’s Centres, Family Learning, Language and Play, On Track, Cymorth, and Community Focused Schools as well as numerous projects run in each local authority area.  

Parent and carer participation has also increased across Wales.  Through the children and young people’s partnerships many parents and carers are now actively engaged in service design, delivery and evaluation, many have also accessed volunteering opportunities, and often progressed into paid employment.  Parent networks exist in many local authorities giving parents the opportunity to be involved in planning services.  Many local authorities also have parenting strategies which enable participation.  

The children and young people’s partnerships now have a duty to produce the CYPP under the Children Act 2004.  The CYPP will be one of the four statutory plans for local authorities in Wales and the statutory driver for all services for children, young people and families.  The Shared Planning for Better Outcomes: Planning Guidance and Regulations for Local Authorities and their Partners on Children and Young People’s Plans 2007 sets out the key importance of participation of children, young people and families in the needs assessment and strategy development and delivery.  The guidance also states that local parent groups should be consulted on the final CYPPs in each local authority area.   

Schools are also beginning to actively engage with parents and carers although currently there is no guidance on this.  Through arrangements such as Home-School Agreements and Community Focused Schools many parents are engaged in the school process.  

The National Behaviour and Attendance Review (NBAR) Report: An Independent Review conducted on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, chaired by Professor Ken Reid, sets out as one of its four tasks to explore ways in which parents, children and young people and the community as a whole can be more effectively supported and engaged in the promotion of positive behaviour and attendance in school.  The report clearly sets out the important role of the parent in helping to secure better behaviour, attendance and outcomes for children and young people at school and ultimately within the community.  Parenting support and information for parents of teenagers is therefore of vital importance and should receive adequate resources in line with the extended duties of the Childcare Act 2006.

The youth service, via the Youth Work Curriculum Statement for Wales delivers a number of projects which are educative, empowering, expressive and participative and include relevant life skills such as parenting, budgeting, cookery, nutrition, financial literacy etc which are often accredited.  Many youth services run young mums and young mums and dad’s projects, educating and supporting young parents in a variety of flexible learning settings. Adult Community Learning (ACL), also offer similar non-formal and informal programmes of support and guidance in community settings.

Although parent and carer participation has increased across Wales it can still be difficult for local authorities and schools to actively engage parents.  Parent participation uses time, staff resources, travel allowances, childcare provision, venue hire etc.  All of which can be costly to local authorities and schools and consideration of these extra resources should be made.  

.Although numerous services exist for parents and carers there are still a number of barriers to accessing services.  One of the biggest barriers is the lack of awareness of support services available and how to access them.  The CIS/FIS service has a large role to play in this but unfortunately they are not promoted nationally and they do not have the resources to undertake this.  Although locally the CIS/FIS are active in promoting their service and signposting to available support.  Other barriers include transport, childcare provision, stigmatisation, fear of social service intervention and geographical location.  Many of these barriers are overcome at a local level by ensuring that there is a wide variety of support services available both for parents and carers to attend and to access through a number of formats.  

Flexibility at a local level is important to ensure that children and young people’s partnerships planning local services are able to ensure that services, support and information meets the needs of parents in the area.  A range of services is important and to this end the Parenting Action Plan should not be viewed in isolation.  It is important however that services are sustainable and that there are resources in place to ensure that programmes can be run at a local level.  Many accredited parenting programmes require trainers to run training courses for deliverers of the service locally and this can be costly in terms of staff resources, venue costs and the need to meet childcare needs.

Continued Work on Parenting

It is important to develop an understanding of the continued good work that is taking place in Wales in supporting parents and carers through the numerous and varied policies that have been implemented over the last few years.  The Parenting Action Plan in Wales has taken steps towards focusing resources on parenting but unfortunately did not complete on all of the action points contained within it.  

The children and young people’s partnerships are well placed to ensure that parenting and preventative interventions are key services for children, young people and families through the CYPP.  Bringing together the key services under the CYPP will provide a strategic vision for parenting and allow local authorities to respond to local need.  It is important that resources are focused on developing and evolving services that are currently being rolled out across Wales and which are having a positive impact on family life to ensure sustainable services.  

The National Service Framework for Children Young People and Maternity Services in Wales (NSF) is coordinated by the children and young people’s partnerships in each local authority area.  The Parenting Standard in the framework asks local authorities, Local Health Boards and NHS Trusts to work together to ensure that parents and carers have access to a range of services to help them nurture the physical, social and emotional growth of children and young people in their care.  There are 3 key actions in the framework which the above organisations are asked to report on annually and give a self assessment score between a 1 (poor score) and 6 (high score).  The scores that have been collated in 2007/2008 illustrate that there is an improvement in the NSF actions on the previous years.  Actions from the NSF are now, where appropriate, being integrated into CYPPs and processes as well as into organisations key plans and strategies.

Future developments such as the Vulnerable Children’s Strategy and work resulting from the NBAR report are well placed to include parenting and family support services.  The needs of children, young people, parents and communities can not be easily disaggregated and as such policy and service development in this area should be joined up.  

In conclusion, future work on parenting should ensure that the current policies in place to meet the needs of children, young people and parents are viewed together and that resources are focused on ensuring greater implementation of frontline services.  The children and young people’s partnerships are well placed to pull together the policies that relate to parenting and through the CYPP ensure that local authorities can respond to need and deliver parenting services without the need for a renewed Parenting Action Plan.