Many people have a responsibility in addressing child poverty, from children and young people, members of the community, local business, health, jobcentre plus to local government officers etc. This step entails gathering representative views on child poverty and ideas on how to address it.
It is important to decide in advance exactly what information is required. Be mindful, the information will be used to inform the setting of priorities for the strategies, so it makes sense to ask what people see as the most important issues to address, and how they would like to see them addressed.
There are two elements to involving stakeholders at this stage.
- Engaging partners in strategy development, securing their support for the work, and building ownership.
- Information gathered from stakeholders, should inform decisions about what to prioritise in the strategy.
A range of mechanisms already exist to support this process e.g. schools' councils, corporate consultation arrangements etc. It is important for these methods to fulfil the second element of this step – i.e. to build ownership, ideally, stakeholder involvement at this stage would be wide-ranging and carefully targeted so that everyone gets an opportunity to contribute, and is given that opportunity in an appropriate way.
It may be necessary to conduct a stakeholder analysis to help identify who should be engaged, and is useful to ensure that key stakeholders have not been forgotten.
Engaging stakeholders
There are a number of ways of engaging stakeholders at this stage eg surveys, focus groups, public meetings, road shows when planning the involvement include:
- What information is required?
- Other planned consultation that could be adapted to include child poverty.
- How the results of the consultation will be communicated to participants?
- Who is to be involved - who are the stakeholders?
- Representativeness - it is important to reach out into the community, and not just engage those with a loud or persistent voice, or those with organisations or groups that represent them.
- 'Hard to reach' groups - community involvement processes require specific attention to the needs of groups and individuals who, for a variety of reasons, may face barriers to their participation, unless they are specifically addressed.
- Publicity and communication about the process.
Engaging children and young people
Involving children and young people who may have experienced child poverty is a key part of the process. However, this should be done with sensitivity we advise that you consult with experts such as the Participation Unit and the participation standards will help you frame this work. Any approach to the reduction of child poverty should ensure the active participation of children and young people in the design and delivery of services. Much of this can be done through the genuine participation of the voluntary sector, children and young people and other partnerships, at the same time as the authority consults on the development, review or delivery of the children and young people’s plans.
Engaging the voluntary and community sector
Engagement with the voluntary and community sector are also key to developing a local approach to reducing child poverty. This can be achieved by:
- The involvement of the sector in aspects of public service delivery other than direct provision – such as service design, commissioning and evaluation
- The way in which the sector delivers a public service – for example, by increasing community participation, building the skills and experience of volunteers and by strengthening trust within the community.
- The way the sector puts people at the heart of what it does and engages the local community.
Often the voluntary and community sector have good links with specific groups of children and young people who are at risk of poverty. They may also already be delivering a wide range of local services in many areas, from health to social care, advocacy and campaigning, education and learning, housing, employment and welfare support and safety.
We encourage you to include these organisations as early as possible, to ensure an inclusive approach.
Engaging the private sector
The potential of the private sector has not been fully explored in relation to the child poverty agenda. However, this sector has a lot to offer in terms of employment opportunities, enterprise, skills etc. that all impact on the reduction of child poverty. A recent example was the partnership between Communities in Morfa and Barclays Bank to develop a multi use games area. The Child Poverty Unit have recently developed a London Child Poverty Pledge, that has proved a useful tool in engaging employers.
The following publications may be of use: