Leading charities and organisations launch a petition to urge the government to appoint a Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People, and put children at the heart of crucial decision making.
Supported by Lucy Powell MP, Central Manchester Constituency, Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England and pop star and father of four Peter Andre, Children’s Alliance and Water Babies are co-ordinating sector-wide support for the Government to appoint a Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People. The campaign launched last night with an event at the House of Commons and a public petition on Change.org. The event saw key guest speakers in attendance including: The Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield OBE, Steve Franks, Lead spokesperson for Children’s Alliance and CEO of Water Babies and Peter Andre.
Children are becoming the least healthy adult population in living memory, menaced by five 21st century ‘evils’, including:
- Obesity and physical inactivity
- Adverse childhood experiences
- Rising mental health issues
- Dominance of social media and screen time influence
- Socioeconomic disadvantage and cultural/ethnic divide
Children’s Alliance and Water Babies is bringing an authoritative voice within the Cabinet to bring all these issues together and devise solutions that will be more than just firefighting on an individual policy front.
This strong voice for children at Cabinet level would work in the same way that the interests of women are served by the current Cabinet Minister for Women and Equalities. Ultimately, Children’s Alliance want the appointment of a full Secretary of State supported by a dedicated Department and Select Committee.
Children need help now and therefore taking significant action in the short term must be considered to be not only desirable but essential.
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England: “I am more convinced than I ever was that we need a Cabinet Minister for children. This is a complicated world and what we need is someone around the top table that will be there to shout about children, to lead change and champion and speak up for children.
Take current political issues. In the three major documents around Brexit, there were only three mentions of children, and these were footnotes. We need impactful changes to give children a voice at the top table.”
Peter Andre said: “We need this campaign to take off and quickly. Times are changing, the things facing our children are very different to when we were growing up. Social media is pouring in, video games are dominating. We need to help them get ready for the future”.
Steve Franks, Chief Executive of Water Babies and Board member of the ukactive Kids Council, said:
“Understanding that our future generation is worth fighting for and giving them a voice in politics is paramount to Children’s Alliance the Water Babies vision.
Our children are facing a wealth of 21st century “evils” and we hope our campaign will ultimately lead to the appointment of a new Cabinet Minister for Children and Young People, to give children an authoritative voice to help devise solutions to issues such as physical inactivity and rising mental health issues, together.”
For more information on how you can support visit: https://childrensalliance.org.uk/
