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Children & Young People - National Context

The Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda has been central to the national development of services for children and young people in recent years. The programme revolves around developing services to support children and young people (generally defined as the 0 to 19 age group, but also including some specific groups of older young people) to:

  • be healthy
  • stay safe
  • enjoy and achieve
  • make a positive contribution
  • achieve economic well-being

The Children Act 2004 is described on the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) ECM web section as "...the legal underpinning for Every Child Matters". Central to this Act is Section 10 which talks about the promotion of co-operation arrangements between relevant partners / other bodies at children's services authority level, providing a basis for the development of Children's Trust arrangements (you'll find more information about local Children's Trust arrangements in the ‘Local Context / Children's Trusts' section). To read more, go to www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters (click on ‘About Every Child Matters' section).

To further promote the improvement of services and outcomes for children and young people (and further developing the ECM agenda), in December 2007, the DCSF published The Children's Plan: Building brighter futures. The Plan spans a ten year period, and states in the introduction that by 2020 the DCSF wants England to be "..the best place in the world to grow up". To improve the lives of children & young people, the DCSF talks about 6 strategic objectives in the Plan.

secure the health and wellbeing of children and young people;
safeguard the young and vulnerable;
achieve world-class standards;
close the gap in educational achievement for children from disadvantaged backgrounds;
ensure young people are participating and achieving their potential to 18 and beyond; and
keep children and young people on the path to success.
                                                                                   (Page 15 of the Plan)

Importantly, the Plan was developed "...with regard to the principles and articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" (Page 15).  You can find out more about the Plan and download a copy at www.dcsf.gov.uk/childrensplan.

You can find out more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/strategy/strategyandgovernance/uncrc/unitednationsarticles/uncrcarticles

To help achieve what the DCSF wants to in The Children's Plan: Building brighter futures, the agenda is being led at the local level by Children's Trust arrangements.