Today, the Family Commission is launching the result of 18 months of hard work, having spoken to families up and down the country about what messages they wanted us to take to Government about their needs and aspirations for the future.

The report released today, Starting a Family Revolution,  is both powerful and very timely. It is brimming with evidence of the challenges and solutions that families have  – and is being launched one week ahead of the Government Spending Review.  We will be following up on each of the recommendations and the challenges over coming weeks. 

One of the main asks of the report is for a ‘Family Test’ for Government and for all of us with a call for a new contract between the state and families that recognizes that families are assets not burdens. We want to highlight how families hold many of the answers and solutions that people are looking for – if they only had the help they need to harness them.  It has a wide range of recomendations and calls for a strengths based approach to family support which intervenes early to prevent crises. It also calls for an extension of Children’s Centres to include the extended family and older children.  These are the approaches that 4Children has been following in our own work in Centres and projects around the country which I am delighted to say are increasingly being seen as leaders in the field. 

Hopefully you’ll hear more about the findings in the media coverage we have planned throughout the week. We will also be disseminating the report widely across Government and across the sector over coming weeks. 

We met the Minister, Sarah Teather, yesterday to discuss it and she will be responding to it when she speaks at our Westminster ‘Big Society’ conference today.

4Children has replied to the recent Department for Work and Pensions consultation on 21st Century Welfare setting out our principles for reform including the need for a simplified system and making work pay, while at the same time ensuring that no one is worse off after the reforms. We also set out our support for the universal credit system.

We are looking forward to see the next step on this and the final design of the new system and how it will affect families.

I’m pleased to see that helping families to strike a healthy work life balance remains a priority in Government. Today the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced that the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents of children under 18 from April 2011.

Help in coping with the pressures of balancing work and family commitments has been one of the main asks of families we’ve spoken to over the 18 months of the Family Commission inquiry. This extension is estimated to benefit nearly 300,000 people . I hope  that people take advantage of this opportunity so that the practice becomes more commonplace. As well as benefitting families, employers will also find that they are able to hold onto valued employees that they may otherwise lose. I hope that in years to come flexible working will be something that all employers recognise as helping both families and businesses to thrive.

Today’s Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report commissioned by the End Child Poverty report contains some bleak predictions. While the full picture will not be clear until the October spending review, the IFS has drawn some worrying conclusions about rising child poverty as a result of the future increases to VAT and other benefit cuts proposed in areas such as housing.

Changes in tax credits for families in the £40k bracket are causing concern. Faced with the forthcoming benefit changes, many will be significantly less comfortable than some may suppose. Worryingly, new figures released by the IFS suggest that the poorest 10% with children could lose up to 5% of their income.  Reports suggest that those worst hit will be low income households of working age with children.  It is reported that according to Treasury figures, those on low incomes will be about £180 a year worse off in two years time.  

While the Treasury insists however that there will be no rise in child poverty and the Coalition remains committed to ending child poverty by 2020, the Treasury Select Committee has called for a wider analysis on the effect that the budget could cause on wealth redistribution.

It is hugely important that those from all income brackets are adequately supported to help raise their children in happy circumstances. Hopefully, the October spending review will result in brighter predictions for the kind of hard working families the Family Commission has met in abundance throughout its inquiry.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/child-poverty-will-rise-as-cuts-hit-families-2061214.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/budget/7963080/Budget-hits-families-and-pensioners-twice-as-hard.html

The TUC has today published a report on social mobility – entitled social mobility. The report highlighted the fact that in Britain 50 per cent of a child’s future earning potential is determined at birth, compared to less than 20 per cent in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Norway and Finland. The UK has the worst record on of any of the countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, lagging behind the US, Italy, France and Germany.

All political parties have stressed the importance of social mobility and giving every child a fair start in life. As part of the Family Commission inquiry we have seen firsthand the effects of intergenerational poverty and lack of opportunities for some children to break out of this. The report, due out in October, will set out plans for families to improve their economic capabilities and help increase social mobility in the UK.

Frank Field’s first report is interesting and highlights a vital area of support. It is right for parenting to be prioritised and put at the top of the agenda. It is an important way of supporting families and a key part of early intervention. By teaching the next generation of young people to be good parents it can help prevent and stop many of the long term problems arising and create a happy environment for children to grow up in.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/902779/Kids-should-do-parenting-GCSE-David-Cameronrsquos-poverty-czar-in-blast-at-Shameless-families.html

A study by Barnardo’s, widely reported today in the papers and BBC, has revealed that vulnerable children are waiting an average of 57 weeks before the family courts decide on their outcome. In some cases the wait is 65 weeks. Often this means that children are left in unstable family homes or emergency foster placements while they wait for the courts rule on whether to take them into care permanently.

This period is far too long and can mean children are left in potentially dangerous situations with their family or denied the long term security and stability by being moved from foster place to foster place.  More must be done to speed up the process to ensure that all young people get the chance at a stable and loving childhood.

The Family Commission has looked at vulnerable families and children in care as part of its research. The report, due out in the Autumn, will be setting out recommendations for improving the lives on vulnerable young people, particularly those in care.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/aug/09/family-court-delays-children-barnardos

This study says that when additional factors are taken into account, such as increased income which can result in higher quality childcare, there are some real benefits which can negate the downsides. When speaking to families across the country, it is clear that all mums want the best for their children but where generous maternity packages aren’t available, many have no option but to return to work early.  I hope this report come as a source of comfort and helps ease the guilt that many mothers feel when they return to work, whenever that may be.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/01/babies-dont-suffer-working-mothers

In a packed day the Commission met with families and professionals who had plenty to tell us about the projects they were involved with and the realities of family life in Wales. The Commissioners visited three local projects; a Barnado’s run Neville Street project engaging BME families, a flying start ‘fun start’ play scheme and Option Two, a targeted intervention programme for at risk families. The day’s projects have certainly generated some powerful ideas which will help in the formulation of the Family Commission report.

As well as the visits, the Family Commission held a seminar ‘helping families in Wales flourish’ at the Welsh Assembly. In an interesting session the Deputy Minister for Children, Huw Lewis, spoke about the future priorities for children and families in Wales. Other speakers included the Chief Executive of Children in Wales, the Director of a Director General of Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills and a local Head Teacher who spoke about his work at engaging fathers in family life.

Thank you for everyone who was involved with the day in Wales, to the speakers who took part in the seminar and the professionals and families we spoke to at the projects. There is some great work going on in Cardiff.

On the 8^th of July I went with the family commission to Phoenix High School in Hammersmith and Fulham, North London. The purpose of our visit was to conduct a focus group with about 20 young people aged 14-15, in which we asked them questions about their families and their lives.  What we learnt from the focus group will go on to inform the Family Commissions, ‘Youth Report’.

I spoke to a small group of five students in years 9 and 10 about a wide range of subjects. I was very impressed by the ease with which the students articulated their opinions on difficult issues, perhaps many adults would have found it more difficult. However, the thing that struck me above all else was their openness; they were very truthful when telling me things about themselves, and their experiences.

Perhaps as would be expected, the students were hesitant at first but soon became more comfortable. They spoke more openly and with increased vigour about issues close to their own lives. One common frustration between the five that I spoke with was the lack of provision for young people in their areas. Another topic that united the group was young people’s life chances. The students felt that negative stereotyping of young people from disadvantaged areas could make it hard, if not impossible, for those young people to go on and achieve what they wanted to achieve.

I have nothing but good things to say about the students at Phoenix High School. While they themselves probably don’t appreciate the strict rules at the school, the rules are obviously working because the children I spoke to were very polite, communicative and thoroughly interesting to speak to, a credit to their school and to themselves.