Facts
Social Exclusion Task Force Key Facts
The Government Action Plan – ' Reaching Out: An Action Plan on Social Exclusion' – was launched on 11 September 2006.
The Action Plan sets out a renewed drive to improve the life chances and opportunities for the 2-3% of the population at highest risk of lifetimes of poverty and exclusion, such as children in care, teenage parents, and adults and families with multiple problems including severe mental illness.
It established the principle that where possible, Government should identify those most at risk and intervene early and holistically. The five key prinicples set out in the Action Plan are:
- better identification and early prevention
- identifying what works
- multi-agency working
- personalisation, rights and responsibilities
- supporting achievement and managing underperformance.
Why it was needed
Social exclusion has been a priority for this Government since it came to power. When Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997, his first speech on taking office was on this theme (2 June 1997, Aylesbury Estate); and the original Social Exclusion Unit was created in the Cabinet Office in 1997.
Since then, much progress has been made but because of these successes, the persistent and deep-rooted exclusion of a small minority stands out ever more starkly.
To address this, in May 2006 Hilary Armstrong was appointed the first Minister for Social Exclusion with a mandate to 'spearhead a renewed drive to address the most socially excluded in our society'. Gillian Merron was made Minister for Social Exclusion in June 2007.
As social exclusion issues cross the boundaries of any one Department, a new Social Exclusion Task Force (SETF) was created in the Cabinet Office to coordinate the agenda across government. The SETF draws together the expertise of some staff from the former Social Exclusion Unit in Communities and Local Government (CLG) and policy specialists from the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit. The SETF, which was launched on 13 June 2006, is headed up by Naomi Eisenstadt, formerly Chief Adviser on Children's Services at the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
An Action Plan update was published in February 2007.
What we are doing
Family Nurse Partnerships (formerly refered to as health-led parenting demonstration sites)
‘Reaching Out: An Action Plan on Social Exclusion’ highlighted 10 pilot projects to test a model of intensive health-led parenting support delivered to first-time mothers from pregnancy until two. Following a rigorous assessment process, a formal announcement of the 10 successful family nurse partnership projects was made on 8 February 2007. For more information on the projects, contact Kate Billingham – project lead.
Adults facing chronic exclusion pilots (ACE)
‘Reaching Out: An Action Plan on Social Exclusion’ outlined plans for pilots to assess how we can change the way services are provided and/or accessed in order to improve outcomes for adults facing chronic exclusion. The 12 successful projects were announced in June 2007. The adults facing chronic exclusion team in the Department for Communities & Local Government is charged with designing these through a process of joint work with the voluntary, community and government sectors. Consequently, they have been running a series of stakeholder groups that bring charities and government departments together to contribute their ideas to the programme. For more information on the pilots, contact Gus Jaspert or email Nick O'Shea
Families at Risk Review
The SETF is leading a cross-Whitehall review on excluded families. The aims of the review are:
- To set out a vision of an effective family support system for families with additional or complex needs.
- To identify barriers and practical solutions to the provision of a coherent whole family approach for these families. A key focus will be how adults' services respond to their clients as parents with a view to building protective factors
- To agree action to better integrate adult, child and community services around the needs of excluded families in order to tackle the drivers of deep seated exclusion
The first stage of the review Reaching Out: Think Family was published in June 2007. The report sets out interim analysis and themes on the multiple problems faced by some of the most excluded families in society. Policy proposals will follow in autumn 2007.
Multi-systemic Therapy pilots
These pilots will aim to test different interventions for tackling mental health problems in childhood, such as 'Multi-systemic Therapy'. The project is led by the Department of Health (DH), with active support from the Social Exclusion Task Force. DH is aiming to select areas for these pilots by autumn 2007. For more information please contact Nick Benefield.
Public Service Agreements
The Task Force is working with Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) and other government departments to ensure that the next generation of Public Service Agreements (PSAs) address the unique challenges of the most socially excluded. We are also specifically investigating how to support the most socially excluded adults, who risk falling between the gaps of current service provision. This proposal will be considered as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
