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In Detail, In Brief: Taking Action to give Children the best Start in Life

Bristol South

In Detail, In Brief is a series of articles on the progress the Labour government is making on policy.
In Detail, In Brief is a series of articles on the progress the Labour government is making on policy.

January 2025 has seen the Labour government bring forward the most significant child welfare legislation in a generation, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. The government has also allocated over £1.7 million of funding to Family Hubs and Start for Life programmes in Bristol. One of Labour’s 5 Missions going into the General Election was to break down barriers to opportunity at every stage. This mission centres on making sure children and young people can thrive no matter the challenges they have faced in life. Our plans will support children from the first days of their life into their adulthood. 


In the most recent IoD rankings, Bristol South counted in the bottom 5% of constituencies in England for deprivation in education, skills and training and in the bottom 3% with respect to the risk of victimisation by crime. The impact abuse and neglect on children lingers well into adulthood, damaging mental health, educational attainment and long-term employment prospects. The lack of educational attainment in Bristol South has also been my main motivation to hold my annual Jobs and Apprenticeship Fair. My constituents deserve an excellent education system, accompanied by an environment where children feel safe, and I am proud that Labour is putting these issues at the heart of our mission for government.  

 

This legislation covers two broad categories, from raising standards in schools to improving safeguarding and welfare for children:  


On education, the bill:  

  • Provides for free breakfast clubs in primary schools to boost attendance, attainment, behaviour and readiness to learn and saving parents £450 per year per child 

  • Limits the use of branded school uniform, easing the financial burden on parents by over £50 on the back-to-school shop. 

  • Puts more qualified teachers in classrooms, creates a cutting-edge curriculum and gives schools and local authorities more freedom to recruit and build new schools.  


On children’s welfare, the bill:  

  • Improves monitoring of children by introducing a register of children not in school and a unique number for every child.  

  • Strengthens safeguarding by improving data-sharing and implementing multi-agency child protection teams. Where possible, we want to keep families together and create family-led care plans. 

  • Supports children in the care system by raising standards, extending ‘Staying Close’ support to help care leavers and expands support to Local Authorities to support kinship care.  

  • Limits the use of agency staff in children’s social care, strengthens the accountability of children’s homes and improves protections for 16- & 17-year-olds.  


Additional funding for Family Hubs & Start for Life Programmes: 


The government allocated £69 million in funding for family hubs and a further £57 million for Start for Life services of which over £1.7 million has been allocated to Bristol City Council.  


These services will:  

  • Improve mental health support for families, promoting positive relationships early in life 

  • Improve infant feeding services and providing practical support with breastfeeding 

  • Enhance support for expecting parents and for those with babies aged 0-2, focusing on promoting bonding and attachment 

  • Make sure that advice on home learning is based on the best evidence allowing parents to create a positive environment in those earliest years of a child’s development.  

 

© 2024 Karin Smyth MP. Promoted by Tom Mitcham on behalf of Karin Smyth, both at 74 Chessel Street, Bristol, BS3 3DN.

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