An ambitious three-year plan to help Nottingham’s children, young people and their families get the best start in life and access all the services they need when they need them, is due to be published this month by organisations and agencies working to give them a brighter future.

At the heart of the plan is the vision that Nottingham’s young people should be safe, have high aspirations and ambition, and have every opportunity to realise their full potential. It ensures inter-agency co-operation and joined-up services across the city, so that children and young people can stay safe, lead healthy lifestyles, have fun and achieve, be included and involved in decision making, have a reasonable standard of living and be respected.

Almost a quarter of Nottingham’s population of approximately 286,000 are under 20, with an estimated 49,000 aged below 16. And although the city’s earning power makes it the sixth richest area in the country, 38,000 children and teenagers under 18 live in households where no adults work or where State help boosts low earnings.

The Children and Young People’s Plan, the second produced by Nottingham City Council and its partners - Nottingham City Primary Care Trust, Notts Police, Nottingham City Homes, Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership, Connexions, the Probation Service, the Learning and Skills Council, the Government Office for the East Midlands and the voluntary and community sector - incorporates the views of children, young people (including Nottingham Youth Council), parents and carers. These agencies make up Nottingham’s Strategic Partnership for Children, Young People and Families which is responsible for delivering the plan.

The plan has five key objectives and promises:

1. early and effective support and protection for children, young people and families by refocusing services on prevention and early intervention and by improving the safeguarding and outcomes of children and families with complex needs.
2. supporting families to be strong and healthy by tackling childhood obesity, improving oral health, reducing infant mortality and ensuring that those with learning difficulties and disabilities get co-ordinated high quality services.
3. increasing the maturity of decision making by aiming to reduce substance misuse, teenage conceptions and the incidence and impact of bullying, and diverting children and young people from anti-social and offending behaviour.
4. ensuring lifelong learning and skilled economic activity by raising educational attainment and skills, improving school attendance and students’ progression into further education, training and employment.
5. reducing deprivation and its impact by increasing the proportion of the working age population qualified to five GCSE standards or equivalent and cutting the number of working age people receiving benefits.

Special help is earmarked for those with additional needs, such as: children in care and care leavers, young people with learning difficulties or with disabilities and emotional or behavioural difficulties, pregnant teenagers and teenage parents, young offenders, young carers, refugees and asylum seeker children, children and young people in substance-misusing families and children and young people experiencing domestic violence.

The Plan is a statutory requirement of the 2004 Children Act and outlines how children, young people and families will be offered the help and support they need, when they need it, throughout their childhood and adolescence and into adulthood.

Services will be accessible, tailored to meet individual and community needs and designed to support social inclusion and cohesion.

Councillor David Mellen, Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, said: "We have come a long way, with strong partnerships across the agencies that are already seeing more young mothers not smoking and breastfeeding their babies, higher education results and more 16-year-olds in education, training and employment. We are on track to have 16 Children’s Centres opened by the end of this year and we have introduced the CityCard360 to give young people easier access to leisure services.

"We don’t underestimate the challenges that still face many children, young people and families in Nottingham. This plan outlines the commitment of the City Council and our partners in working on shared objectives and joining up services to help families overcome the barriers to higher aspirations."